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Looking for very light PDF Viewer

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18 replies

by slayer_

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

I am looking for a PDF viewer that does nothing more than displays PDF's when opened. I don't want browser integration, I don't want anything even remotely close to adobe's reader. I for sure don't want it to start up with windows and require updates EVERY time you run it. I just want to be able to view the odd idiotic document stored in PDF form online for things like online documentation and such.

Any suggestions?

I know I could google this but saddly its very difficult to find free apps that aren't just crapware or malware. So suggestions/Recommendations would be appreciated.

18 replies

by robo_dev

the Adobe tools to do simple PDF annotation are ungodly expensive. Foxit is a much lower cost alternative that works well.

by slayer_

I just want something simple to view PDF's occasionally and print them out when needed. I prefer to keep installed apps to a minimum on my machines.

by rob miners

Posted the wrong content. Should have been friday Yuk.

I often look for Portable Apps that can be used when I'm not in a GUI environment.

Sumatra PDF Portable is the next smallest that I have found but it has to be installed.

http://portableapps.com/apps/office/sumatra_pdf_portable

Cool PDF Reader

http://www.pdf2exe.com/reader.html

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/portable-software-usb/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_portable_software

by slayer_

Glitch or feature? Gotta wonder.
This is very much something I've be looking for, works good enough aswell, enough to read and print PDF's, thanks.

by slayer_

I personally have no problem with apps that require you to do things like open then and use built in open dialog, or to drag and drop files onto the reader to view them, or manually setting the file association, I much prefer that over installs.

by slayer_

I thought its suposed to be an open format...

by shasca

There is a converter included in Office 2007.

by willcomp

The early versions of Foxit were a single stand alone file. It did register itself as the default PDF reader. No install was required and it did not integrate into browser as does new version.

I'll see if I still have the old version somewhere. If so, you can peer mail me and I'll email it to you.

by slayer_

It's not needed, using an older version is probably prone to security risks is it not?

I may in the future try the full version, but right now, that other suggestion, what was it, smartpdf? Is certainly good enough.

by ian3880

is Foxit. Even the free version is very usable (but puts a watermark on the document?). It is small and fast. It can be browser integrated, but only if you 'allow' it to.
I use paid versions of various Foxit programs because I reckon something this simple but extremely good needs to be supported.

by slayer_

That the free version of Foxit gimps itself when you could get the full featured adobe for free, as long as you can put up with the anouyances.

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