84,488,480 programs installed

Should I remove Adobe Reader?

What percent of users and experts removed it?
7% remove it93% keep it
Overall Sentiment
Good
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #14,471
United States Rank #9,090
Reach 0.0198%

Versions

VersionDistribution
8.1.4 100.00%

Other programs by Adobe Systems

Adobe Reader 8.1.4

What is Adobe Reader?

Adobe Acrobat and Reader are a set of applications designed to view, create, manipulate, print and manage files in Portable Document Format (PDF). Acrobat and Reader are widely used as a method of presenting information with a fixed layout similar to a paper publication. Adobe also allows Acrobat plug-ins to be developed by third parties, which can add extra functions to the Acrobat program.

About  (from Adobe Systems)

Adobe Reader allows more securely view, print, search, sign, verify, and collaborate on PDF documents, online as well as offline, from your home or office. Reader has a completely redesigned interface, new tools, and new options for viewing information more efficiently. Access to an online, real-time meeting in seconds...  Read more

Overview

Upon installation and setup, it defines an auto-start registry entry which makes this program run on each Windows boot for all user logins. A scheduled task is added to Windows Task Scheduler in order to launch the program at various scheduled times (the schedule varies depending on the version). The software is designed to connect to the Internet and adds a Windows Firewall exception in order to do so without being interfered with. The main program executable is reader_sl.exe. The software installer includes 53 files and is usually about 4 MB (4,192,256 bytes). adobeupdater.dll is the automatic update component of the software designed to download and apply new updates should new versions be released.

Program detailsProgram details

URL: www.adobe.com
Help link: www.adobe.com/support/main.html
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\
Uninstaller: MsiExec.exe /I{AC76BA86-7AD7-1033-7B44-A81300000003}
(The Windows Installer is used for the installation, maintenance, and removal.)
Estimated size: 4 MB
Language: English (United States)

Program filesFiles installed by Adobe Reader 8.1.4

Program executable:reader_sl.exe
Name:Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat SpeedLauncher
Signed by:Adobe Systems
Path:C:\Program Files\adobe\reader 8.0\reader\reader_sl.exe
MD5:392845e8d49b5f0e81aac4d795000a8c
Adobe Acrobat SpeedLauncher. Adobe Acrobat is a set of application software developed by Adobe Systems to view, create, manipulate, print and manage files in Portable Document Format (PDF). Acrobat and Reader are widely used as a method of...
Additional files:
  • pdfprevhndlrshim.exe - Adobe PDF Preview Handler Helper Application
  • rt3d.dll - 3D Run-time Dynamic Link Library (3D Run-time)
  • ahclient.dll - AdobeHelp Dynamic Link Library (Adobe Help Client Library)
  • pdfprevhndlr.dll - Adobe PDF Preview Handler
  • adobelinguistic.dll - Adobe Linguisitc Library (Linguistic Library)
  • adobeupdater.dll - Adobe Updater Library
  • acrordif.dll - Adobe PDF IFilter (PDF IFilter)
  • adobeupdatecheck.exe - AdobeUpdateCheck (Adobe Update Check 8.1)
  • adobe_eula.dll - Adobe EPIC EULA (Adobe EPIC EULA DLL)
  • axe8sharedexpat.dll - AXE8SharedExpat (AXE Shared EXPAT (UTF-8 native))
  • acrofx32.dll - Adobe Acrobat (Lotus Notes Field Exchange Module for Adobe Acrobat)
  • acrord32.dll - Adobe Reader (Adobe Reader 8.1)
  • acrord32.exe
  • acrord32info.exe - Adobe Reader 8.0
  • adobe_epic.dll - Adobe EPIC (Adobe EPIC DLL)
  • bibutils.dll - BIBUtils (Bravo Interface Binder Utilities)
  • cooltype.dll - CoolType (CoolType Typography Engine)
  • jp2klib.dll - JP2KLib (JPEG2000 Core Library)
  • axsle.dll - AXSLE (Adobe XSLT Engine)
  • ace.dll - ACE (Adobe Color Engine)
  • agm.dll - AGM (Adobe Graphics Manager)
  • bib.dll - BIB (Bravo Interface Binder)
  • adobecollabsync.exe - Adobe Collaboration Synchronizer 8.0
  • svgrsrc.dll - Adobe SVG Viewer (SVG Viewer Core 6.0 Resources)
  • nppdf32.dll - Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox and Netscape
  • svgcore.dll - SVGCore (SVGCore 6.0)
  • viewerps.dll - Acrobat Viewer ProxyStub Library
  • onix32.dll (by Lextek International) - Onix32 Dynamic Link Library (Onix32 Text Indexing and Search Library)
  • adobexmp.dll - Adobe XMP Core (Adobe XMP Core, 4.0-c320)

Program behaviorsBehaviors exhibited

Google Chrome Plugin
  • nppdf32.dll is loaded in the Google Chrome web browser as 'nppdf32.dll'.
Mozilla Plugin
  • nppdf32.dll is loaded into Mozilla Firefox under the product name 'Adobe Reader Plugin for Firefox'.
2 Scheduled Tasks
  • acrord32.exe is scheduled as a task with the class '{F4BA4E3E-9BA9-4302-955A-E0576A56F3BE}' (runs on registration).
  • reader_sl.exe is scheduled as a task named 'Adobe Reader Speed Launcher'.
Scheduled Task (Boot/Login)
  • reader_sl.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named Adobe Reader Speed Launcher.
Startup File (All Users Run)
  • reader_sl.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'Adobe Reader Speed Launcher' which loads as "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\Reader_sl.exe".
2 Windows Firewall Allowed Programs
  • acrord32.exe is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe'.
  • reader_sl.exe is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\Reader_sl.exe'.

Program resource utilizationResource utilization averages

acrord32.exe
Memory:31.65 MB
21.09 MB average
Total CPU:0.4148585783%
0.031193% average
Kernel CPU:0.19452084%
0.016088% average
User CPU:0.22033774%
0.015104% average
I/O reads/min:483.99 KB
435.61 KB average
I/O writes/min:13.81 KB
105.02 KB average

How do I remove Adobe Reader?

You can uninstall Adobe Reader from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
  1. On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
    • Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
    • Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
  2. When you find the program Adobe Reader 8.1.4, click it, and then do one of the following:
    • Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
    • Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
  3. Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Adobe Reader.

How do I reset my web browser?

If your web browser homepage and search settings have been modfied by Adobe Reader 8.1.4 you can restore them to their previous default settings.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Mozilla Firefox
Google Chrome

OS VERSIONS
Win Vista (SP2) 63%
Win 7 1%
 
HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
 
USER ACTIONS
Uninstall it 7%
Keep it 93%

Windows OS versionsWindows

Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
Windows Vista 72.24%
Windows XP 23.14%
Windows 7 4.63%
Which OS releases does it run on?
Windows Vista Home Premiu... 58.03%
Microsoft Windows XP 23.06%
Windows Vista Home Basic 11.14%
Windows 7 Home Premium 2.85%
Windows Vista Business 1.81%
Windows Vista Ultimate 1.55%

Distribution by countryGeography

75.04% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
  United States 75.04%
  United Kingdom 5.27%
  Canada 3.51%
  Australia 1.58%
  Israel 1.05%
  France 0.88%
  Netherlands 0.88%
  New Zealand 0.70%
  Romania 0.70%
  MK 0.53%
  Singapore 0.53%
  Greece 0.53%
  Philippines 0.53%
  Spain 0.53%

OEM distributionPC manufacturers

What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
Hewlett-Packard 38.01%
Dell 22.95%
Toshiba 14.38%
Acer 8.90%
Gateway 3.77%
GIGABYTE 3.42%
American Megatrends 2.40%
Intel 2.40%
Sahara 1.71%
Sony 1.37%
ASUS 0.68%
Common models
Dell Inspiron 530 4.90%
Dell Inspiron 1525 4.90%
HP Pavilion dv6700 Notebo... 4.90%
Hewlett-Packard Compaq Pr... 4.41%
HP Pavilion dv5 Notebook ... 2.94%
TOSHIBA Satellite L305 2.94%

About Adobe Systems

Adobe Systems Incorporated is computer program company focused on the creation of multimedia & creativity program products, with a more-recent foray towards rich Net application program development.
Publisher URL: www.adobe.com

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