# Warning: PDF file **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 15, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-pdf-file/348497 "2006-03-15T18:51:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-pdf-file/348497/1 "2006-03-15T18:51:15Z")
What’s with always “warning” people that a link is to a PDF file? Has a PDF file ever injured someone? Do the five or ten seconds it takes for Adobe Reader to open leave computer users in a state of shrieking panic? Does having a PDF file on your desktop cause your co-workers to avoid you in the cafeteria? I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-pdf-file/348497/2 "2006-03-15T19:11:43Z")
What your computer may take five or ten seconds may take someone with a less powerful computer a lot longer, and may even crash their system. My parents still use a Windows '98 system that we bought at least six years ago, and sometimes PDFs are not kind to it. I have a relatively new laptop, and Firefox still sometimes chokes on PDFs (I know there’s an extension I should download, and since I have some time this week, I may do that). Also, when you click a link to another site, you generally have an expectation of how long it’ll take to load. A 40-page PDF will probably significantly exceed that expectation. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-pdf-file/348497/3 "2006-03-15T19:14:57Z")
This question comes up time and time again. To the point where I wish we could make it a sticky: This is why. Anyway, there were a couple of threads in which several posters - myself included - explained why pdf files need warnings. One of the reasons is what \*\*Garfield \*\* said. Slower computers just can’t handle a pdf. I know I can mouse-over, but there is a way that people code urls that don’t show the link. I don’t know how, but I’ve seen it done. Also, we warn for work-safe, don’t we? What’s the harm in warning for pdfs? We run on Citrix here, and opening up a pdf link really sloooooows me down and makes everything stop. I can surf here, it’s OK, but I like to be quick about it. So, it’s just a polite request. Please? Thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-pdf-file/348497/4 "2006-03-15T19:19:06Z")
Here are two of the older threads. I got bored and stopped searching after that. > **["Warning: PDF File." Why?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=359826)** > > This is the only board I know of where it’s standard to give a warning when linking to a PDF file. Why is this? > **[Why PDF warnings?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=356491)** > > In many threads, you see dopers who include a link in their posts that goes to a PDF file and explicitly say so in their texts. Why this? Is there some security concern about opening a PDF file from the internet that might make people shrink away... ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-pdf-file/348497/5 "2006-03-15T19:37:31Z")
Don’t forget that not everyone has broadband yet. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-pdf-file/348497/6 "2006-03-15T20:33:54Z")
[delete]kkk[/delete] ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-pdf-file/348497/7 "2006-03-15T20:39:00Z")
Oh, and one more thing. Everyone keeps telling me “Change your settings” “Use Firefox”. Well, at work I’m not allowed to change my settings and we have to use IE. No choice about it. So, just another request. And that second linky has lots of links to the other threads. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-pdf-file/348497/8 "2006-03-15T20:47:53Z")
I have Firefox, and a fairly new computer (2004, Windows XP) and PDFs crash my browser. I cannot handle them. Period. And even then, the few times I have been able to in the past, I hate them. They slow everything down, and they’re unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-pdf-file/348497/9 "2006-03-15T23:37:43Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > [delete]kkk[/delete] 😕 ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-pdf-file/348497/10 "2006-03-16T03:21:06Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > 😕 [del]kkk[/del]?