Acrobat reader for dialup

[Jeff]

The local chamber can't seem to open recent PDF's; I suggested they download the latest adobe acrobat reader only to discover that it is now 20 MB which would take them a couple of hours over dialup.

Is there a better (leaner) option for dialup users?

Is there an easy way to save the entire install to a CD for them?

[Tom E.]

If you're not picky about the version, you could go through old software CDs and look for one that came with Acrobat Reader to view the PDF documentation. You could just copy the install directory or just send them the whole disc.

Just an idea...

[Randall]

The local chamber can't seem to open recent PDF's; I suggested they download the latest adobe acrobat reader only to discover that it is now 20 MB which would take them a couple of hours over dialup.

Good grief. Our chamber switched to broadband years ago -- maintaining the web site over dialup would make me homicidal.

Is there an easy way to save the entire install to a CD for them?

You could burn the installation file to a CD. You just have to bypass Adobe's download "helper": http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adob...5_enu_full.exe

I'm finding that it helps sometimes to download Windows software on a non-Windows system. You find lots of "secret" download URLs that way.

Just be aware that version 7 only runs on up-to-date NT systems: NT4 w/SP6, Win2K w/SP2+ or XP. They'll need v6 for anything else.

Randall

[Jeff]

Thanks! And thanks for the heads up. Yes, their office PC is still running windows 98 (first edition), but I have a feeling their acrobat reader might still be version 3 or 4 as it is not opening PDF's for them that open fine here on 5 and 6.

[Jeff]

Edit: thanks very much again for the heads up -- appears version 5 is the latest that will run on their 98 system; at least that is only 10 MB instead of the new one which is 20 which is quite a bit more lean for a dialup connection

[ryount]

How about this? It's only 1MB.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

[Jeff]

Wow! Just downloaded the foxit reader and it seems to work great!

1/20th the size of the latest adobe reader and 1/10 the size of even the version 5 reader and it seems to display and print PDF's just fine. Nice! Perfect for this situation (though hopefully dialup will soon be a thing of the past everywhere )

[Randall]

Wow! Just downloaded the foxit reader and it seems to work great!

I'll be wanting to take a look at that too. I've been stuck in that same situation -- dial-up client needs to upgrade Adobe Reader, but we don't have two hours to sit arounbd waiting for it to download. Sometimes I can find a fairly recent version on one of my software CDs, just as Tom suggested, but a lightweight alternative would be highly useful.

I tried to install Adobe Reader 7 on my Mac and its installer crashed the machine. Haven't got around to trying it again -- I can view PDFs in OS X's Preview app, or use the PDF Browser Plugin.

Randall

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by ryount

How about this? It's only 1MB.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

That is nice. I had been wondering if there was an "alternative" pdf reader for windows users but hadn't actually gone looking for one yet.

I use xpdf which is only 589KB but it only works on UNIX systems with XWindows.

[Randall]

I use xpdf which is only 589KB but it only works on UNIX systems with XWindows.

If you want to go full-geek you can install Ghostscript and use GSview for viewing PDFs.

Randall