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display pdf in firefox window

Is it possible to have accessed .pdf displayed in Firefox window rather than a separate Acrobat window with both Acrobat Pro and Acrobat Reader installed, though only one selected to display pdf in browser?

I realize this evokes the question "why both?", where Acrobat Reader will continued to be updated with future releases and Acrobat Pro updates will end with the next release though will still serve its present uses.

Using

Windows Vista Home Premium SP2

Firefox 3.6

Acrobat Pro 9.3.1

Acrobat Reader 9.3.1

Have referenced

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/328/328233.html

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Opening+PDF+files+within+Firefox

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Troubleshooting+plugins#Re_initializing_the_plugins_database

https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Adding_Extensions_using_the_Windows_Registry

"Display PDF in Browser" [Acrobat menu item edit > preferences > internet] is enabled in only one Acrobat application to prevent crashing Firefox and "use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox)" is selected [Firefox menu tools > options > applications > Adobe Acrobat document].

Accessing a .pdf link opens a separate Acrobat window when both Acrobat Pro and Acrobat Reader are installed, where uninstalling Acrobat Reader without any other change permits accessing a .pdf link to open in a Firefox window.

Comparison of

i. Windows registry entries;

ii. c:\users\user\appdata\roaming\mozilla\firefox\profiles...\extensions...; and

iii. c:\program files\mozilla firefox\plugins

show no difference and about:plugins from Firefox is the same with one or both Acrobat applications installed.

I have come to the conclusion that that is the price tag of having both Acrobat Pro and Acrobat Reader installed, but would be interested if others have found a fix.

Add comment viewed 535 times Latest activity about 1 year ago

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3 answers

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don_11 [ Editor ]

Your response prompted a test - change the default acrobat application for pdf files and enable "Display PDF in Browser" within that application and disable within the previous default application - without change.

The same acrobat application is set as default for both the desktop and for firefox.

Previously discovered [by accident] that if "Display PDF in Browser" was enabled in both acrobat pro and acrobat reader accessing a .pdf file within firefox both resulted in a blank window and while firefox could be used from other windows and visibly exited it never shut down, could not be restarted, was not visible with task manager to shut down, and required restarting windows to clear the problem.

It's not a significant problem as the accessed .pdf file is immediately opened in an acrobat window without having to first separately download the file and then open acrobat to open the downloaded file, but more of a puzzle when deleting acrobat reader and enabling "Display PDF in Browser" in acrobat pro without any other change results in the .pdf being opened in a firefox window [though a separate iteration of firefox which is exited by closing that iteration of firefox, not simply closing a tab window] and reinstalling acrobat reader without enabling it as default .pdf aplication, without enabling "Display PDF in Browser" or making any other change results in the .pdf being opened in an acrobat window.

As indicated above, it matters not whether acrobat pro or acrobat reader is set as default with "Display PDF in Browser" enabled in only the default application - when both are installed the .pdf is immediately opened in an acrobat rather than firefox window.

Thanks.....

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  • 1

don_11 [ Editor ]

Solved.....

Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens said "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."

Previously, firefox definitively failed to display accessed .pdf file or shut down completely if edit > preferences > internet > "Display PDF in Browser" was enabled in both acrobat pro and acrobat reader, where the solution was to disable "Display PDF in Browser" in one application.

With recent update to firefox version 3.6.2 and fact that firefox automatically checks if display pdf is enabled in acrobat with conflicting information if display pdf was enabled in one acrobat application and disabled in the other acrobat application, persistence suggested to retry enabling display pdf in both applications even though previously it had caused firefox to crash -- and it now displays accessed .pdf file in a firefox window and firefox exits normally.

As indicated, not a significant problem but nice to have it fixed.

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rowan [ Admin ]

I don't think it matters if you specify which browser should open PDF files in the browser. The only thing that matters is which application -- Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat -- is the default application for opening PDF files.

It's not possible to say something like: open PDF files on the desktop using Acrobat, but open PDF files from the web using Adobe Reader in Firefox.

You need to chose one default PDF viewer and in that PDF viewer you need to specify whether the PDF viewer can open the PDF within the Firefox browser or whether it should launch a separate window.

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