Newbie Has Downloaded the Portable Version

[anon_private]

I have just downloaded the portable version (6.82MB: zip file).

Are there any known exploits that I should be aware of?

Are there any disadvantages to using the portable version? I use Vista 32bit and IE 8.

Thanks.

A

Ps. I will install (unpack) the programme on my machine. I chose this version because it is small and will not involve my system files and registry.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello anon_private,

The disadvantages are that you will not get browser integration, association of the PDF File format with our Viewer, and no shell extension would be installed that will allow you to search inside the contents of PDF files directly in windows explorer (e.g. through the windows search).

And you will also need to download the manual/help file separately as it's not included in the portable download.

Other than that all functionality and tools available once you start the Viewer, are the same in both the portable and stand alone Viewer.

It's the system integration that is missing.

Best,
Stefan

[anon_private]

Thanks for responding.

IE 8 seems to recognise the viewer, although I have not tried to open a pdf file through IE as yet.

I decided to switch off the search engines in the viewer because I have them in IE. I also wondered about any security implications!

Would you recommend any particular options for switching on/off to enhance the security of the reader.

Is there an alternative icon that makes it clear that the file is pdf?

Thanks.

A

[anon_private]

You are right.

I am still getting the old pdf reader when trying to open a pdf file on the Internet.

Is there away that I can get the portable version to intergrate with IE, or do I need to download an install another version?

I use Windows Vista 32 bit and IE 8.

Thanks

A

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello Anon,

No it's not possible as you need a special IE plug-in which is not distributed with the portable version.
Please consider downloading and installing the stand alone Viewer:
https://www.pdf-xchange.com/PDFXVwer.zip
And make sure to select to install the browser plug-ins.

Best,
Stefan

[anon_private]

Hi,

I have downloaded and installed the package.

Things seem to be working. I used an Internet pdf test page.

I switched off the search engine facility because I have these in IE.

I noticed a facility called Live Update. Does this programme automatically search for updates to the viewer? Do I need to run it initially?

I'll run a few more tests.

Thanks

A

Ps Are there any settings that I should apply to maximise security?

[anon_private]

I've noticed that I can print from IE using the pdf print button, but the print button in IE is greyed out. Is this to be expected?

Although I disbled the search engine facility in pdf, I note that it is still active in IE. Is this to be expected?

Thanks

A.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

HI anon_private

if I am following your discussion correctly you are referring now to the installed version not the portable version, correct?

There is an IE addin for printing web pages to PDF that comes with the licensed PDF-XChange 4 Pro (and Standard print driver) but not the Viewer alone. What Print to PDF button are you referring to? Do you mean File --> Print from the PDF-XChange Viewer menu 'inside' the web page document window? When using the addin the entire PDF-XChange Viewer is inside the browser document window. If this is what you mean then yes, this is expected behaviour.

Please note also that your preferences in the stand a lone as opposed to the IE Addin are stored separately so seeing the Search Tool there is also expected.

hth

[anon_private]

The pdf facility appears to have few problems when I run IE 8 from the hard-drive.

I also have a Firefox browser on a pendrive. When I run FF everything is very slow and my system resources are very low. Everything seems to crash. I believe that this has something to do with the Pdf reader!

Can I solve this problem, so that I can run either browser.

the pdf facility is installed on the hard drive (ver. 2.5. Build 189.0).

Thanks

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello anon_private,

May we ask you to confirm the build of the Viewer you are using, and also which is your Anti-virus application on this machine at the moment?

Best,
Stefan

[anon_private]

Hi,

I confirm the build as: ver. 2.5. Build 189.0

I have Avira Anti Virus (Free Edition)
Also: Malwarebytes, and SuperAntspyware (Free Editions). All three installed on the hard drive.

Would it help to put a copy of the pdf viewer on the thumb drive (portable version). If so, can you indicate the location. On the thumb drive I have two versions of Firefox. One for Windows and One for Linux. I have only tried the Windows version (Major problem with system resources and very slow speed).

Ps. Pdf viewer works well on the hard drive using IE8 (Vista 32 bit).

Thanks

[anon_private]

Update.

I looked in the FF (portable) tools: options - applications and noticed that pdf-xchange was not seletced.

On selecting pdf-xchange things seem to improve markedly.

Could this mismatch explain the heavy demand for resources. That is, pdf files were linked with pdf-xchange, but the FF application was not.

I will continue with my tests. I noticed some crashing when attemting to close the options box in FF - may or maynot be reproducible.

As a matter of interest what does the xchange part in the pdf name suggest.

On a sepate point, I've noticed that when I login, I am not using a https site. Could lead to security implications

Regards.

A

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello Anon,

The FF on your removable device is a portable app - and as such the Viewer was not registered with it at install time, and if FF was then probably trying to find a default PDF Viewing application on it's own.
Being a portable and on a removable drive application though - digging in the registry could have caused one of your security apps to kick in and cause the performance issues.

I noticed some crashing when attemting to close the options box in FF - may or maynot be reproducible.

If you can reproduce the crash with certainty please provide us with a step by step instructions so we could have a look at it as well.

As a matter of interest what does the xchange part in the pdf name suggest.

XChange is the brand name - the company started with providing software for document exchange and tracking, and this later evolved in XChange - and if you look closely you will see all our products carry it in their names.

On a sepate point, I've noticed that when I login, I am not using a https site. Could lead to security implications

When you log in on the website or the forums?

[anon_private]

Couple of points:

I noticed a facility called Live Update. Does this programme automatically search for updates to the viewer? Do I need to run it initially?

In the event of needing to uninstall pdf-xchange, what would be the best method of achieving this. Would registry entries be cleared?

Thanks

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello anon,

Live Update is only working with the installed version of the Viewer for now, and you need to manually initiate it every time you want to check for updates.
There was a separate discussion in the forums requesting a sort of automated/background check for updates - which could also be considered, but for the time being no automatic connections are performed to check for updates.

If you uninstall the Viewer most of the registry entries would be removed, but a few like e.g. your registration information will be preserved - if you want you can always perform a registry clean to completely wipe it out of your system, and the amount of occurrences of "PDF XChange" in your registry should be low enough to be able to do this even manually.

Best,
Stefan

[anon_private]

Thank you.

I note that sometimes when viewing pdfs online I get a message at the top of the page asking form my permission to run Active X Control. I need to click on this to view the page. Is this normal?

I recently unistalled an old version of Adobe's pdf reader. After doing this I needed to re-establish pdf xchange as default viewer. Was this to be expected?

Thanks

A

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hi Anon,

Depending on your security settings yes IE might ask you to run a specific AX - but thisis for content coming from the website - it should not be asking if the link is directly to a PDF file, and should silently load the Viewer Plug-in and display the file in it.

As for Adobe uninstalling and removing the file associations - it is up to them and we can't interfere with that I am afraid.

Best,
Stefan