# Why are PDF files dangerous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944 "2008-10-21T21:12:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/21 "2008-10-22T08:02:23Z")
Just to add, _Adobe Acrobat Reader 8_ is actually much better, opening faster, and behaves better than it’s predecessors (but Foxit Reader is still faster, just has less complete functionality). So an upgrade to 8 can be worth it. The new default behaviour is to load all the plug-ins (for extended PDF functionality) on demand, instead of at startup as earlier versions used to do. Si ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/22 "2008-10-22T19:06:54Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > If you are using Firefox, there’s an add on that will prompt you when you click on a pdf link, and let you choose whether you want to download it, view it or view it as HTML. If you don’t want the html option, then you don’t need an add-on. Just go into tools/options/applications and change the action for pdfs to “always ask”. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/23 "2008-10-22T19:28:17Z")
My work computer, on encountering a PDF file, will freeze, then disconnect from the Internet. It will disconnect all windows that are connected to the net. It will resize my browser box. Now, if I have my Adobe program running, then everything is okay. If I save the PDF file, also okay. But if I try to open it, BAM! Other computers I’ve used will just open the file. Oddly, my work computer is the newest and most powerful of all of them, but it does this, so I have to be careful. It’s annoying, and has the potential to be destructive (if I’m doing Internet research and haven’t saved). ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/24 "2008-10-22T20:30:36Z")
People don’t seem to realize Adobe isn’t the only reader. PDF isn’t proprietary to Adobe. I used Foxit Reader and it is 90% quicker than Adobe. It’s free for the reader. I would suggest it strongly for reading PDF files ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/25 "2008-10-22T21:01:24Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > People don’t seem to realize Adobe isn’t the only reader. You’re the fourth person to mention Foxit Reader in this thread alone. But actually, I use Foxit and I don’t particularly like it. Fonts look uglier, the UI is clunky, it’s still a bit slow to open PDFs, and when the PDF has loaded it hogs the CPU for some moments and insists on coming to the foreground. All in all, not much less of a pain than Acrobat Reader was. Maybe I’ll try the newest version of Adobe’s reader, as suggested above. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/26 "2008-10-22T21:19:11Z")
I’ve had browsers that would sometimes hang or crash when trying to open PDF files. I’m having fewer problems these days, but someone might still be using an old browser. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/27 "2008-10-22T22:57:29Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > PDF isn’t proprietary to Adobe. Actually, it is, in the strict sense of the term. Adobe owns the PDF format. They just allow everyone else to use it royalty-free. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/28 "2008-10-22T23:15:51Z")
Some other factors related to the above replies: People often use the same warning for any file that isn’t automatically opened by browsers. Videos, powerpoint presentations, .doc files, for example, may also be linked with a warning because browsers may or may not display them automatically and people may or may not want to go to the trouble. If, on the other hand, you are linking to an image or webpage, those are universally viewable so no warning necessary (except for goatse). And on forums, the reason for linking to it may not be worth the trouble of reading it. Example: if a person wants to footnote\* something discussed on a forum but can’t find anything other than a pdf, I will just take their word for it. It usually isn’t worth my trouble. But the proof is there for someone who really wants to argue. \*[This](http://tinyurl.com/6b86dy) proves me right. (warning PDF) ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/29 "2008-10-23T03:40:19Z")
Also, some people have sever bandwidth limitations. With my system, I could download an 80MB .pdf file in seconds–before I even realized what was happening. But then my internet would be close to its limit and I could expect to be throttled for the next hour or so! Welcome to Hughes Net! ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/30 "2008-10-23T04:33:20Z")
I agree that they aren’t so much dangerous as annoying. My pet peeve is that Adobe likes to run it’s updater as a service on Windows machines, and opening a PDF invokes a process to check for updates. The problem is that the process often loads behind all the open windows, or hangs completely, and really messes up ones browsing. Hewlett-Packard does the same thing with some of it’s printers. Printing something invokes an update process. Very annoying, and tough to kill. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/31 "2008-10-23T05:30:16Z")
I use dial up and Foxit opens nearly immediately for me and has never caused any issues. Perhaps it’s your computer not the PDF file. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/32 "2008-10-23T05:34:34Z")
A **proprietary format** is a file format which is covered by a patent or copyright which is intended to give the license holder exclusive control of the technology Since Adobe owns it but it’s not exclusive it would not be proprietary, though I guess one could technically say anyone using PDF must meet Adobe standards. Still it’s really semantics ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2008, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944/33 "2008-10-23T05:40:58Z")
I have a firefox addon that changes my cursor depending on what the link i am hovering does, like pdf,or mp3, or new window, it comes in handy [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-pdf-files-dangerous/468944.md?page=1)