Last Reviewed: November 1, 2005
Article: DTS0188
Applies to: dtSearch 6 or 7, Adobe Acrobat 6 or Adobe Reader 6
PDF files open very slowly in dtSearch Desktop, sometimes taking 30 seconds or more to open.
Installing Adobe Reader 7 and dtSearch Desktop 7.0 or later will make PDF files open much faster in dtSearch.
With older versions of dtSearch or Adobe Reader, there are two options:
(1) Open Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader and leave it open in the background while dtSearch is running. This eliminates the need for Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat to initialize to open each PDF file, so PDF files will open much more quickly. In dtSearch 7, there is an option to have dtSearch automatically open Adobe Reader in the background to make PDF files open more quickly. To enable this option, click Options > Preferences > External Viewers, and check the box labelled "Automatically open Adobe Reader to speed viewing of PDF files."
(2) Change the dtSearch option settings to display PDF files in a separate Adobe Acrobat window. To do this,
- Click Options > Preferences > Search Results
- Check the box "Display PDF files using Adobe Reader in a separate window"
- Click OK.
After making this change, dtSearch will launch PDF files in Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat rather than inside the dtSearch window. Hits will still be highlighted, and PDF files should open more quickly.