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PDF in Adobe Reader

15 years ago

I recently subscribed to my local newspaper's e-Edition. When I pull it up, I get an error message in Adobe Reader which says... File does not begin with '%PDF-'.

I have Vista 64 bit, Adobe Reader 8.

A while back Kim Komando warned that there were security issues in Adobe Reader and I changed some settings. But I don't remember just what they were.

However I am able to bring up PDF's in my banking web sites successfully.

Can you help me?

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Comments (13)

zep516
15 years ago
I'd update the Adobe reader program to 10. It's the most current version. Running old versions of Adobe can be somewhat risky.

That may help the issue you're having too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Adobe reader 10
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
15 years ago
Kim is right and because of those problems with Adobe I no longer have it on any of my machines, I removed it and instead use the free and much less bloated PDF xchange, or another good free option is Sumatra

PDF-XChange Viewer 2.5.193

* Sumatra PDF Viewer 1.3
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Thanks for the responses and help. I am not using antivirus and removed the the antivirus before my Adobe problems. I checked/installed updates to Windows and IE. I went to Adobe.com and installed/reinstalled. This morning the issues seem partly fixed. When I am on a web page, such as Yahoo, whether in IE or FF, some of the boxes display and some don't. If I go to a web page page, like Yahoo's tech page, that has mostly boxes that have videos in them, I see the text in the boxes but they are otherwise blank. If I click on the box a video then starts playing. I know this isn't how it's supposed to work, but it's better than it was yesterday. Maybe if I wait till the next Adobe or Windows update it will sort itself out? Thanks for the suggestions. If you think of anything please let me know. I think I will put this laptop away for a week or two and use my Win7 laptop instead. I'll check on updates the next time I get it out and hope for the best.
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zep516
15 years ago
Yep, that's probably the best way to go following raven's excellent advice.
User
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you all for your help. I think I will do just that and install one of these others.

Again Thanks! Janice
DA_Mccoy
15 years ago
AR can be an absolute monster to remove. A free application called REVO is regularly recommended here for uninstalling. I would use it in the Advanced Mode.

It first creates a restore point, uses the target application's uninstaller, and then searches the drive and registry for leftovers. With AR don't be surprised if there are many. You will have an option as to whether or not to delete the findings. There is no backup so the choice will be yours and lasting. Personally I have never had a regret with anything I have removed which has been identified by REVO, nor do I recall any postings either.

DA
azinoh
15 years ago
Maybe AR is bloated...I wouldn't know. It surprises me that so many people complain about it. I've had it for years on two different machines and it hasn't caused me any problem yet. Maybe I'm just lucky. Sometimes, I will get an update which includes icons on the desktop that I have no use for so I just bury them my junk folder and forget about them.
mike_kaiser_gw
15 years ago
I've used Acrobat for many years on any number of computers and operating systems and never had a problem.

I would suggest updating to the latest, greatest version of Acrobat or using one of the aftermarket products instead.
User
Original Author
15 years ago
I have been reading how insecure Adobe Reader was. I don't need any problems. I did update to Adobe 10 on my 64 bit computer as PDF Exchange viewer didn't support 64 bit.
On my desktop, I did install the PDF Exchange viewer and it works great.

So thanks for all the help, I appreciated it.
mike_kaiser_gw
15 years ago
Don't think for a second that any of the aftermarket readers are "more secure." They likely have just as many flaws in their code as Adobe that could be exploited by a malicious individual. The difference is that no one is looking for the flaws.

That's not to say using an aftermarket viewer won't be beneficial to the end user.
bob414
15 years ago
PDF-XChange Viewer 2.5.193 works fine on my 64 bit HP laptop.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
15 years ago
Yes the latest versions of PDF xchange are 64bit compatible.
here is the compatibility view on the MS page
PDF XChange Viewer
DA_Mccoy
15 years ago
With AR being 46.29MB in size versus for example FoxIt Reader at 7.51MB, it is not hard for the general .pdf user to conclude AR is bloated. The same conclusion will be reached if a user compares the left over file and registry entry reports when using REVO.

DA
mikie_gw
15 years ago
3.18MB for Sumatra.
Super simple pdf reader program that seems to work just fine.

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