How to Reduce Adobe Reader and Photoshop Elements Load Time

Problem: Adobe Reader 7.0 and Photoshop Elements 2.0 take forever to load.

Solution: Remove unneeded plug-ins.

Adobe Reader 7

Adobe's free Acrobat Reader (more recently called Adobe Reader or simply Reader) is up to version 7.0 as I write this. Reader suffers from creeping featuritis, adding more and more abilities with every release. This is a good thing if you need all those features. If you don't, well, then it just means that it's taking longer and longer to load up that simple PDF file you want to print.

Since most of the load time seemed to consist of checking and installing various plug-ins, most of which I had no idea what they did, I decided to experiment and remove a few. I eventually realized that I could remove most of them and still view and print all the PDF files I threw at it. Load times shrunk from a minute or so down to a few seconds. More importantly, when I view a PDF file from within my web browser, Reader unloads cleanly and quickly when I'm done (as opposed to earlier behavior).

Naturally, once I had spent all this time and effort figuring this all out on my own, I found out that this information had already been discovered by others and was available on the web. Well, actually, their version only applied to Reader 6, but it's essentially the same as my fix for 7.

Regardless, here's how to fix Adobe Reader 6 or 7:

1. Find the folder where Adobe Reader is installed
2. Find the folder plug_ins and rename it as plug_ins_backup
3. Create a new folder called plug_ins
4. Copy the following files from plug_ins_backup to plug_ins:
   • EWH32.api
   • search.api
   • printme.api (if present)
5. Run Adobe Reader and see if your favorite PDF files load and print
6. If Reader complains of a missing plug-in, or if a feature you use isn't available, copy that plug-in from plug_ins_backup to plug_ins

Out of fairness, here are links to their articles:

• $link:http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/faq#acrobat$
• $link:http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11041$

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2

I know that Photoshop Elements 2 has been supplanted by Photoshop Elements 3, but I'm not planning to buy the new version while the old one still works for me.

Unlike Reader, the Photoshop Elements installation program did give me the option to not install many of the plug-ins it uses. However, I discovered that exercising that option resulted in a installation that crashed or locked up on me quite a bit, even when doing things that I'd supposedly kept the plug-ins for. The only option that really worked was the full install, which kept all the plug-ins, which took forever to load. Flush with excitement from my successful attempt to trim down Reader, I looked in the Photoshop Elements folder.

How to fix Adobe Photoshop Elements 2:

1. Find the folder where Adobe Photshop Elements is installed
2. Find the folder Plug-Ins and rename it as Plug-Ins-Backup
3. Create a new folder called Plug-Ins
4. Copy the following folders from Plug-Ins-Backup to Plug-Ins:
   • Extensions
   • File Formats
   • Import-Export
5. Run Photoshop Elements and see if your favorite image files load and print
6. If Elements complains of a missing plug-in, or a feature you use isn't available, copy that plug-in from Plug-Ins-Backup to Plug-Ins

These are the plug-ins that I use. Your mileage may vary. Unlike Reader, the Photoshop Elements plug-ins have names that pretty much describe what they do, so it's much easier to pick and choose what you want to keep.

Other Adobe Products

I assume, though I don't have them on-hand to test, that other Adobe products such as PhotoDeluxe and Photoshop will likewise benefit from weeding out unneeded plug-ins. If you have any experience in that regard, please drop me a line.

Disclaimer

Hey, it worked for me. Try it at your own risk. Adobe has probably never heard of me or my methods and certainly doesn't endorse them, so don't complain to them if you mess things up. Don't complain to me, either, for that matter. Uninstalling and re-installing the application should fix any problems.