Topics in this help page:

• Determining whether you have Acrobat Reader
• Downloading Acrobat Reader
• Using Acrobat Reader with your browser
• Downloading and opening files

You DON'T have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, if you see the following:

For Internet Explorer Users:

• When you click on the link to the PDF file, an option box pops up asking you to choose to open or save the file.
• If you chose to open the file, another box will pop up titled "OPEN WITH." It will ask you to locate the program you wish to use to open the file (you do not have it!). If you get to this point, cancel the request.
• If you choose to save the file, you can save it anywhere on your hard drive or server. Unfortunately, if you do not have the Adobe Reader, your computer still will not recognize the file when you try to open it. Cancel the request.

For Netscape Navigator Users:

• When you click on the link to the PDF file an option box will pop up titled "UNKNOWN FILE TYPE" (because you do not have Adobe Reader on your machine). If you get to this point cancel the request.

If you have determined that you don't have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer (or would like the most current version), you can download the Reader from Adobe's web site: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Complete Steps 1 and 2 at the bottom of this Adobe web page. NOTE: You will have to enter your name and e-mail address before you can download the FREE software. Then click the DOWNLOAD button in Step 3. Follow Adobe's instructions on how to download and install the Reader.

Then go back to the page in the browser that had the link to the PDF file. Click on the file again and your browser will automatically launch a plug-in that lets you view and print the PDF file directly from the browser. To go back to the previous page in the browser, simply click the back arrow in the upper left corner of the screen.

For users who already have Acrobat Reader installed

Your computer's combination of hardware and software -- and the versions of the software -- are important factors in determining what you will see when you click on a PDF file. Rather than trying to predict exactly what you will see under the numerous possible combinations of hardware, browsers, and Acrobat Reader versions, we will describe the most common situations:

Viewing via the Reader plug-in:

• When you click on a link to a PDF file, the browser launches the Acrobat Reader plug-in automatically to let you view and print the PDF file directly.
• To go back to the previous page in the browser, simply click the browser's "back" arrow in the upper left corner of the screen.

Viewing via the Reader application:

• When you click on a link to a PDF file, the browser asks whether you want to open the file or save it to disk. To view the file, choose the "open" option. The browser will launch Acrobat Reader and open the file in the Reader. Occasionally, you may have to use the Windows Task Bar (or the Apple Active-Applications list (in the upper right corner)) to activate Acrobat Reader after it's launched by the browser.
• If you chose to save the file, choose a folder and enter a file name in the Save dialog. Remember to note the name you give the file and which folder you put it in. Then you can launch Adobe Acrobat Reader from your computer's START menu and use the File/Open menu to open the downloaded file. Or you can find the file on your hard drive or server and double-click the file icon -- the file will automatically launch in Acrobat Reader.
• To go back to the previous page in the browser, simply close the Reader, click the browser's button on the Windows Task Bar (or choose the browser application from the Apple Active-Applications list).
• Note: Some older versions of your browser or Adobe Acrobat Reader may not offer this smooth click-and-open integration, in which case you should use the download option (see below).

Downloading the file:

You can download any file (Word, Excel, PowerPoint or PDF) to your hard drive or server according to the following table:

Platform	Browser	Mouse Action	Pop-Up Menu Command
PC	Internet Explorer	Right-Click	Save Target As
PC	Netscape Navigator	Right-Click	Save Link As
Mac	Internet Explorer	Control-Click	Download Link to Disk
Mac	Netscape Navigator	Control-Click	Save this link as

Older versions of the browsers may have slightly different menu command names.

• When the Save dialog comes up, select your folder location and enter a file name. Remember to note the name you give the file and what folder you put it in. After the file has been downloaded, you may need to close the download status box.
• Then you can launch Adobe Acrobat Reader from your computer's START menu (Windows) and use the File/Open menu to open the downloaded file. Or you can find the file on your hard drive or server and double-click the file icon -- the file will automatically launch in the Reader.

Other available topics:

• File Format Overview
  
• MS Word files
  
• MS Excel files
• MS PowerPoint files and the PowerPoint Viewer
• Go to main Help menu