A slimmed down pdf viewer

I need a program that can read pdf files, but is not as bulky as adobe's.

Does anything like this exist?

 

Here's a small idea for cutting down the "bulk" of Adobe Reader, until you get an alternative reader for pdfs.

Everyone notices that Adobe Reader opens like an old man getting out of bed.
Open your Adobe Reader and notice how long it takes to be fully ready, whether you open a pdf with it or just open the reader empty.

One of the main reasons for its slowness is the quantity of plug-ins it loads by default. But most of those plug-ins are not even remotely useful to most of us -- ever. So here's a suggestion that takes a lot of the yawn and stretch out of opening Adobe Reader.

Open the Adobe folder and open the Reader folder. The plug_ins folder has about 20 MB of files and folders in it.

Okay, with the Reader not running, of course, rename the plug_ins folder plug_ins_old. Now create a new folder in the same set of folders, and name it plug_ins. Now open plug_ins_old, and drag (move) these to plug_ins:

EWH32.api
printme.api
reflow.api
Search.api
Search5.api

Nothing else. No folders and none of the other files. Your new plug_ins folder shd have only about a single MB of files in it.

Then run the Reader again, and you should see a huuuuge difference in the time lag before it's fully open and ready to read. And you shouldn't find that there's any difference in what you can do with it or read with it.

Now there's a fast and easy trimmer of "bulk" for ya.

Just a suggestion.

 

Great tip ...

Wow What A Difference !

Thanks !

Love Great tips Like This

 

No problem. There was a somewhat different version of the basic idea in a mag I read a while back (I've forgotten; don't ask), and I played around with it to see what the absolute minimum might be. I haven't had a single failure-to-read yet.

I THINK you can dump the search5.api back into the old plugs folder, too, with no loss if you don't use complex searches in your pdfs. Most users never use the search function, anyway. That would knock another few ticks off the loadtime.

 

Hey, old man! We old guys have to stick together, so believe me: I meant no insult to the other old far, er, ... guys here.
It was a mere figure of speech.
_____________________
Holiday spirit? I've got LOTS of holiday spirit.
Ho Ho Ho, dammit!

 

Re: I resent that Wisewiz....

Well, then, your Adobe is a prime case for my quick 'n' easy fix above. Takes less time to do the fix than the time you'll lose the next time you open the Reader without trimming down its plug-ins folder first.

And keep up the fast action, there, old guy!