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Win7's XP Mode-- Work well with Adobe Acrobat?

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V

Viper69

Member
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Joined
Feb 26, 2003
Has anyone used XP Mode at all on their Win 7 rig?

I have an Adobe Acrobat v8.x, I don't think it's 9.x, and I use it for merging PDF files. I haven't found a free utility for PDF merging that doesn't use the internet, I'm not upping files to some site.

I just learned about XP Mode recently. Does it work as well as it's supposed to??

I thought maybe I could use that, instead of shelling out A LOT of money for Acrobat for Win7. I don't merge PDFs too often, but when I do, I really need it.

The frequency of my use really doesn't justify the expense of the latest version of Acrobat.:shrug:
 
I have Adobe Acrobat 8 working under all my operating systems up to Windows 8. My Installation Instructions text file:

Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.0.0


WARNING! Do not run Adobe Acrobat 8 at the same time as modern versions of other Adobe products such as Photoshop or the program will crash.


Right click on Setup.exe > Properties > Compatibility TAB >
CHECK: Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 3)

Double click on Setup.exe to install the program.


[Select Custom Installation]

Do not install Create Adobe PDF > Acrobat PDFMaker under Windows Vista/7/8 because it installs Add-ons which may disable the program after initial use.


When prompted, navigate to the included AdobePDF.dll file.

Uncheck: Launch Adobe Acrobat Professional, UPDATE to v8.3.1 then REBOOT then set Compatibility mode for [...]Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe before starting the program:

Right click on Acrobat.exe > Properties > Compatibility TAB >
CHECK: Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 3)


Start the program > Download e-license.

Edit > Preferences... > Internet > UNCHECK everything
Edit > Preferences... > Trust Manager > UNCHECK: Allow opening of non-PDF file attachments with external applications [otherwise the system is open to security risks.]
Edit > Preferences... > Updater > Do not automatically download and install updates.



To disable right-click context menu items, delete the following folders in the system registry:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Adobe.Acrobat.ContextMenu

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Adobe.Acrobat.ContextMenu

Then search for and delete this registry entry:
{D25B2CAB-8A9A-4517-A9B2-CB5F68A5A802}

Registry locations where it may be:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Approved
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\


Start Menu > Control Panel > [View by: Category] > View Devices and Printers >

Right click on Adobe PDF > PRINTER properties [not Properties] > Advanced TAB > [middle of page] SELECT: Print directly to the printer > OK


Adobe icons and menus are inserted into Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel menus for older version of MS Office. You can move icons but Adobe Acrobat Menus inside MS Office applications cannot be moved. To be able to move or remove them:

Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Right click on Adobe Acrobat > Change > Next > Modify > Next > Click on + next to Create Adobe PDF > Acrobat PDFMaker > This feature will not be available > Next > Finish.


Advanced > Reduction to remove parts of scanned documents. See Reduction properties.


Update to v8.3.1 is the last version 8 update.

Apply updates in this sequence:

• 8.1.0
• 8.1.1
• 8.1.2
• 8.1.3

• 8.1.6
• 8.1.7
• 8.2.0

• 8.2.2
• 8.2.3

• 8.2.5
• 8.2.6
• 8.3.0
• 8.3.1


In case of error:

No valid Acrobat serial number found. Acrobat will now quit.

Reimage the system back to earlier state.
 

Attachments

  • Acrobat8.zip
    405.9 KB · Views: 37
c627627 said:
I have Adobe Acrobat 8 working under all my operating systems up to Windows 8. My Installation Instructions text file:

Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.0.0


WARNING! Do not run Adobe Acrobat 8 at the same time as modern versions of other Adobe products such as Photoshop or the program will crash.


Right click on Setup.exe > Properties > Compatibility TAB >
CHECK: Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 3)

Double click on Setup.exe to install the program.


[Select Custom Installation]

Do not install Create Adobe PDF > Acrobat PDFMaker under Windows Vista/7/8 because it installs Add-ons which may disable the program after initial use.


When prompted, navigate to the included AdobePDF.dll file.

Uncheck: Launch Adobe Acrobat Professional, UPDATE to v8.3.1 then REBOOT then set Compatibility mode for [...]Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe before starting the program:

Right click on Acrobat.exe > Properties > Compatibility TAB >
CHECK: Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 3)


Start the program > Download e-license.

Edit > Preferences... > Internet > UNCHECK everything
Edit > Preferences... > Trust Manager > UNCHECK: Allow opening of non-PDF file attachments with external applications [otherwise the system is open to security risks.]
Edit > Preferences... > Updater > Do not automatically download and install updates.



To disable right-click context menu items, delete the following folders in the system registry:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Adobe.Acrobat.ContextMenu

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Adobe.Acrobat.ContextMenu

Then search for and delete this registry entry:
{D25B2CAB-8A9A-4517-A9B2-CB5F68A5A802}

Registry locations where it may be:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Approved
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\


Start Menu > Control Panel > [View by: Category] > View Devices and Printers >

Right click on Adobe PDF > PRINTER properties [not Properties] > Advanced TAB > [middle of page] SELECT: Print directly to the printer > OK


Adobe icons and menus are inserted into Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel menus for older version of MS Office. You can move icons but Adobe Acrobat Menus inside MS Office applications cannot be moved. To be able to move or remove them:

Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Right click on Adobe Acrobat > Change > Next > Modify > Next > Click on + next to Create Adobe PDF > Acrobat PDFMaker > This feature will not be available > Next > Finish.


Advanced > Reduction to remove parts of scanned documents. See Reduction properties.


Update to v8.3.1 is the last version 8 update.

Apply updates in this sequence:

• 8.1.0
• 8.1.1
• 8.1.2
• 8.1.3

• 8.1.6
• 8.1.7
• 8.2.0

• 8.2.2
• 8.2.3

• 8.2.5
• 8.2.6
• 8.3.0
• 8.3.1


In case of error:

No valid Acrobat serial number found. Acrobat will now quit.

Reimage the system back to earlier state.
Click to expand...


Really? This is very, very helpful and most appreciated. I have a few questions on the above.


1. WARNING! Do not run Adobe Acrobat 8 at the same time as modern versions of other Adobe products such as Photoshop or the program will crash.

>> SO I should remove the Adobe Reader v. XI, I have, RIGHT?

2. Right click on Setup.exe > Properties > Compatibility TAB >
CHECK: Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 3)

>>So install Windows7 mode from MS, first.. Then in my case, my Adobe Acrobat is on CD. Will this present any issue? I wouldn't think so

3. To disable right-click context menu items

>> Do I need to disable the context menu items from appearing? Or is this a "cosmetic" thing?

4. Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Right click on Adobe Acrobat > Change > Next > Modify > Next > Click on + next to Create Adobe PDF > Acrobat PDFMaker > This feature will not be available >

>> What exactly is Acrobat PDFMaker, will I be losing functionality of some nature? It sounds like I won't be able to create PDFs. however, I doubt that is true, otherwise why install it?

5. Last question, once installed, if I click on a link from a web site, will the link open the PDF file within FireFox? Or will I be forced to always save these files to disk before reading them?

Just a bit confused..This is VERY VERY helpful. I thought I was going to have to throw away perfectly good software.
 
Viper69 said:
Really? This is very, very helpful and most appreciated. I have a few questions on the above.
Click to expand...


1. No, the warning I wrote was about not running them at the same time in case of problems.

2. No. The instructions are about normal installation of Adobe Acrobat 8. Before double clicking on Setup.exe, you:

Right click on Setup.exe > Properties > Compatibility TAB >
CHECK: Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 3)

3. Purely cosmetic stuff from my personal notes I copy-pasted.

4. I think it integrates itself with other programs and that is why I didn't want it messing up Windows stability. Adobe Acrobat is all I wanted, not buggy integration.

5. That is a Firefox question. You can setup Firefox to do either. Download or open with whatever you choose. You probably want to use modern updated Adobe Reader to open pdf files.

Best alternative for quick and simple use, and I have tested many, is this:
http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/download-free-pdf-viewer.html
 
Thanks I will give Adobe a try first as you provided the instructions.

Agreed on buggy integration.

Does Sumatra PDF allow for PDF file merging?

Thanks for the quick clarification, this is going to be quite helpful. I searched on the net and couldn't find a reliable method/path for this Adobe Acrobat to work, so I reached out here.

I really appreciate it. Adobe Acrobat is overpriced for what it does.
 
c627627 said:
Sumatra is a simple reader. Install GhostScript 8.6.3 http://www.plotsoft.com/download/gs863w32.exe then use PDFill PDF Tools freeware to merge, split, reorder, delete, encrypt, decrypt, rotate, crop and reformat PDF pages.
http://www.plotsoft.com/download/PDFill.exe

You will need the dll file I attached to Post#2 of this thread to install Acrobat 8 under Windows 8. Follow instructions carefully.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I like Win7 quite a bit, and I have zero need or desire to move to Win8 after reading about it and playing around with it.

I really appreciate the software help.:D:D:D:D
 
c627627 said:
Best alternative for quick and simple use, and I have tested many, is this:
http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/download-free-pdf-viewer.html
Click to expand...

Second that. It is one the first things I install on any fresh system. My only wish is that it had support for entering form data.

c627627 said:
Install GhostScript 8.6.3 http://www.plotsoft.com/download/gs863w32.exe
Click to expand...

Why use an old version, and why not get it from the semi-official Windows GhostScript site? http://www.ghostscript.com/download/gsdnld.html

On a random paranoid note, Itext wants at least $26.60 per install, and the price of a commercial license for Ghostscript isn't even listed on the site (they have an email to send licensing questions to). PDFill only asks for $20 per license. They might get discounts on the upstream license(s) for sheer volume, but that's a rather slim margin...
 
Last edited:
The point is to use PDFill PDF Tools freeware. GhostScript is a pre-requisite to using it. Why PDFill PDF Tools officially continuously point to version 8.6.3 on their official web site instead of later version, I don't know. I couldn't make the call that later versions are OK, if I could, I would install a later version of GhostScript. Or at least use a link to official v8.6.3 but GhostScript only has later versions for download officially as far as I can tell.

I assume you are talking about commercial licenses as all these are free for home use.


Viper69 said:
Thanks. I like Win7 quite a bit, and I have zero need or desire to move to Win8 after reading about it and playing around with it.

I really appreciate the software help.:D:D:D:D
Click to expand...
Yes we went over this in countless threads. Don't abandon a perfectly good WIn7 install. But choose Win8 when initially installing because http://www.classicshell.net/downloads/ makes it into a Win7, resolving all major complaints about using Win8.
 
c627627 said:
I assume you are talking about commercial licenses as all these are free for home use.
Click to expand...

PDFill is selling a product that depends on it, hence their license isn't "free for home use". Itext and Ghostscript are both AGPL unless a commercial license is purchased. PDFill has no link on their page to GPL sources, so they cannot legally be using the free distributions of Itext and Ghostscript. The price they sell their product for doesn't seem to match up with the license costs they need to cover, not to mention the license costs they need to cover for all the people who use the free version. Offering a free download does not satisfy GPL requirements.
 
Last edited:
Well to answer the question ;) Windows "XP" mode works fine.

I use it if I have a program that won't run under Win 7 x64.


XP Mode is probably the most useful thing Microsoft ever released :rofl:
 
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