Had problems reading Adobe pdf files downloaded from the Internet? Here are a few notes that may help.

The first thing to try if you want to fix a cranky Adobe Reader is to reinstall it. Be sure to un-install the existing one first. You need to have Acrobat 5.0 or later. The latest version can be downloaded from many places on the Internet. Try this.

More recent versions of Adobe Reader are much larger and can cause problems on older computers. Older versions can be downloaded from OldApps free of charge.

Adobe Reader can run in either of two modes, as a plug-in or as a helper application. The difference is simply that plug-in mode displays contents of the .pdf file in your browser's window while helper mode displays in a separate window. The plug-in mode, while a little more convenient, can have problems that are solved by switching to helper mode.

You can configure Adobe Reader 4.x to helper mode by unchecking the Web Browser Integration check box found under File/Preferences/General. Acrobat Reader 5.x is configured by unchecking the Display PDF in browser check box found under Edit/Preferences/Options. Newer versions have similar settings.

Another trick that may help is to download the pdf file first, then open it. To do this, right-click on the link to a PDF file to get a menu that includes a command to save the file to disk. By saving the file to your hard disk, then launching Acrobat Reader and opening the file, you can avoid using the Web browser altogether.

Good Luck!