Adobe Reader X and newer versions have become somewhat bloated with features and content. This can slow down older computers and be a nuisance even on new computers. To fix this you can downgrade to Reader 9.5, which fires up nearly instantly on a modern PC and consumes very little memory.

Warning: Not running the latest version of any software may leave you open to security vulnerabilities.

Adobe doesn't offer Reader 9.5 for download on their main site anymore, but you can still get it through their FTP site. Here is a link to the English US version for Windows:

ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/9.x/9.5.0/en_US/

Be sure to uninstall your current version of Adobe Reader first if you have one installed.

Other Versions and Languages

If you need a different Reader version, language, or operating system version, start at this page and select the appropriate folders:

ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/