Adobe Reader vs Sumatra PDF memory usage

[weEvil]

I don't understand. Adobe used to make such a slow, bloated pdf reader. Now version 9.0 actually uses less memory than the tiny SumatraPDF.

15mb for Adobe, 21mb for Sumatra. Both opened the same document. Server 2008 x64 edition.

What is going on? Abode has a huge installation footprint. What's in all those files?

[DigeratiPrime]

Adobe has gotten smarted with v8 and v9 and has delayed much of the program from loading until needed.

Still how are you measuring memory usage? Working Set, VM Size, Private Bytes, Other?

Is the program window minimized in either test?

Have you tried Foxit Reader?

You should post a public PDF that others can use to compare experiences with.

[weEvil]

Vista measures using private working set. No it is not minimised in the test. The PDF is opened through both apps.

[CoffeeFiend]

You should have a look at private bytes.

Opening a 4.54MB PDF file, I get:

-acrobat reader 8: 46,320KB

-foxit: 8,220KB

Opening a 6.34MB PDF file, I get:

-acrobat reader 8: 47,032KB

-foxit: 10,456KB

If I start the app (no pdf open), I get these:

-acrobat reader 8: 35,824KB

-foxit: 3,952KB

That shows acrobat reader has a initial RAM usage that is nearly 10x that of foxit's. And also, that opening a PDF in foxit only takes about as much RAM as the size of the PDF you want to open, whereas acrobat reader uses about twice that.

Haven't tried with v9, don't particularly care enough about it to waste time downloading & installing it.

[TranceEnergy]

+10 for that foxit pdf reader runs as a portable program..

All you need to do is to import registry settings for the program as default reader for pdf files etc., on a fresh install of windows, being done unattended if u will, and it will act as it was part of the os, being set as default pdf reader already even before you start it.

[Martin H]

All you need to do is to import registry settings for the program as default reader for pdf files etc.[...]

Sorry if you know allready, but the Foxit Reader executable supports a switch for silently doing exactly that...

"%programfiles%\Foxit Reader\Foxit Reader.exe" -Register

@All

I had recently switched from Foxit Reader to SumatraPDF, since it was smaller in filesize and as i assumed it would be lighter also, but after having read this thread, then i did a quick test with the latest versions of Foxit Reader(v2.3.3201) and SumatraPDF(v0.9.1)...

Without a PDF loaded:

Foxit Reader: ~7.3mb

SumatraPDF: ~7.0mb

With a PDF loaded:

Foxit Reader: ~13mb

SumatraPDF: ~17mb

So as i also was having some issues with SumatraPDF that really bothered me, then i have now changed back to Foxit Reader again

Sorry that i didn't included Adobe Reader into my little test here...

Edit: I have now changed to Foxit Reader v2.0.1606(the last version of the 2.0 series - javascript support first appeared in v2.0), as that only uses ~9mb RAM for that same pdf i tested with above and it's also a couple of megs smaller in filesize...

Edited September 5, 2008 by Martin H

[narayanaswamy]

i use all the three...my experiences..with all documents viewed in'fit to width'

NB:i hav disabled all plugins of adobe except search in startup

with no file opened

adobe reader 8: 18MB

sumatra : .616MB

with a file of size 5.13MB opened

adobe reader 8: 24MB

sumatra : 6MB

the disadvantages of sumatra pdf reader is that if u load a big file then u cannot rigorously change pages for it will take some time to render the pages...also it doesnt hav a search facility...

[CoffeeFiend]

@narayanaswamy: those numbers surely aren't private bytes, acrobat reader actually uses more than twice that. Hint: the default column selected in XP's task manager is mostly irrelevant (doesn't reflect RAM used by the apps)

[TranceEnergy]

Martin H : Dont stop pouring out such useful information, i freakin love it! I didnt know!

However i can't use it since i keep Foxit reader and many many other programs(just counted, 120 portable programs + games) on a different partition then systemdrive, so i just import that registry at installation, and it will be valid when i have set partition letters correctly. Which is just about the only thing i havent made into an automatic event yet.

Thanks again, keep it up! B)

Edited September 5, 2008 by TranceEnergy

[narayanaswamy]

@crahak:these r just the values i took from the taskmanager just for reference...sorry for not referring this in the previous post...

[CoffeeFiend]

@crahak:these r just the values i took from the taskmanager just for reference...sorry for not referring this in the previous post...

That's precisely what I was saying. Those numbers (the default column) means nothing RAM-usage wise. Can't really blame people for not knowing though, as they're all named strangely and it's quite misleading. A process' RAM usage is called private bytes, and in XP's task manager, they call that "VM Size", which you need to select manually. Alternatively, you can use something else that labels stuff with proper names, like Process Explorer.

[TranceEnergy]

Crahak:

So use "VM Size" column instead of "Mem Usage" to see what memory usage programs have?

I'm going to make a registry export of that.

Any other values i should enable?

How to save your own

Start regedit, customize as you like, settings update speed and columns, and size of columns.

To export settings so you can take them with you on your next windows install:

Open regedit, goto this location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\TaskManager

Right Click on Taskmanager and select Export, and you're done and done.

SettingsTaskMgr.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\TaskManager]
"UsrColumnSettings"=hex:1c,0c,00,00,34,04,00,00,00,00,00,00,78,00,00,00,01,00,\
  00,00,1d,0c,00,00,35,04,00,00,01,00,00,00,23,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,1e,0c,00,\
  00,36,04,00,00,00,00,00,00,5d,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,1f,0c,00,00,39,04,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,64,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,20,0c,00,00,37,04,00,00,00,00,00,00,78,\
  00,00,00,01,00,00,00
"Preferences"=hex:9c,02,00,00,f4,01,00,00,02,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  eb,01,00,00,e8,00,00,00,66,05,00,00,7d,03,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,\
  00,00,00,03,00,00,00,04,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  00,00,00,60,00,60,00,3c,00,60,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,\
  00,00,00,02,00,00,00,04,00,00,00,05,00,00,00,0b,00,00,00,0e,00,00,00,10,00,\
  00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\
  00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,d4,\
  00,00,00,32,00,00,00,7c,00,00,00,27,00,00,00,41,00,00,00,46,00,00,00,3c,00,\
  00,00,3b,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,04,00,00,00,05,00,00,00,06,00,00,00,07,00,\
  00,00,01,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,47,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

Edited September 6, 2008 by TranceEnergy

[CoffeeFiend]

So use "VM Size" column instead of "Mem Usage" to see what memory usage programs have?

Yep. "Mem Usage" is the working set size, whereas "VM Size" is private bytes. Yes, MS likes naming stuff in weird misleading ways when it comes to the task manager. The names are different when it comes to perf counters too.

I personally always make private bytes the only column for memory (I don't normally need the others). But then again, I only use it for simple things (like killing a task quickly, without dropping to a shell) -- or starting/stopping services in Vista (the services tab is a very nice addition). Anything fancier and I just start Process Explorer anyways (I have it as a quicklaunch, so I only need to hit the windows key + the proper number to start it), which has everything named properly.

[narayanaswamy]

@Transenery:thanks for the registry value...

@crahak:Isnt the VM being used is the memory taken from the pagefile ??then it also should be in proportion to the RAM usage right??

[CoffeeFiend]

@crahak:Isnt the VM being used is the memory taken from the pagefile ??then it also should be in proportion to the RAM usage right??

No, and not really.

For more infos about this stuff, I'd highly recommend watching the sysinternals video library DVDs (don't recall which one precisely was talking about memory, sorry). Yes, I know it's $399