For the longest time, I clung to Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.1 because it was the last version compatible with Windows 95 and the last version without an IE dependancy.  Unfortunately, it isn't good for much these days.  Most contemporary PDF content is backwards-incompatible, and it makes 5.1 choke with a damaged-file error.

So, I gave Adobe Reader 8 a try.  Why 8, when Windows 2000 can run 9 as well?  The 8.x versions were the last ones to include a multi-document interface...the newer versions are unusable for viewing more than one document at a time.

There's a catch, though:  Not only does Adobe Reader 8 (and 9, for that matter) "require" IE, but it specifically wants the 6.0 version as well.  If you try to run the installer on Windows 2000 with IE 5, this rude message appears:

"This version of Internet Explorer is not supported. You should upgrade Internet Explorer to version 6.0.2600.0 and run setup again. Setup will now terminate."

While this message is on the screen, search for a temporary folder generated in Documents and Settings that contains "AcroRead.msi" and several other files.  Copy them to a different location.  Clicking through the dialogue will make the temp folder disappear.

Now, it's time to start hacking away.  Open the "setup.ini" file, remove the "RequireIE=6.0.2600.0" line, and save.  That'll make the first browser check go away, but now a second one will come up:

"Adobe Reader [version] requires Internet Explorer 6.0 or greater. Please visit www.microsoft.com to upgrade Internet Explorer"

To get rid of this, you need to open the "AcroRead.msi" file with the Orca installer database editor.  Remove these lines:
Property > "IsMinIE_Message"
CustomAction > "IsMinIE"

Save.  AcroRead.msi will now run and install without checking for IE 6.  And although there may still be issues, I haven't seen any with the Firefox-compatible plugin or with the application itself.

 

Question time, though:

* What was the last version of Adobe Reader 8.x?  I'm pretty sure there were several minor point releases, and one of them might be newer than what I have.

* Is there an easy place to find and download Orca?  I have a copy on hand that I downloaded for use on Win95 years ago, but I have no recollection of where I got it.

All you need is: AdbeRdr830_en_US.msi + AdbeRdrUpd831_all_incr.msp ... IIRR, they still are available from Adobe.

The Property/CustomAction still exists in the MSI so it still needs edited.

 

Why use ORCA?

http://www.instedit.com/

http://www.instedit.com/download.html

InstEd 1.5.13.24

System Requirement: Windows 2000 or later

HTH

Andrew T

For what it's worth, I use Foxit 1.3 on Windows 95 to open modern PDF files. I don't know if you enjoy Adobe Reader specifically, but Foxit is very light.

I use the 1.3 version from 2006: http://sdfox7.com/win95/FOXIT13.EXE

Hi.

 

Foxit has several security problem.

I recommended Smatra PFD.

It does not support Script, so more secure.

 

Andrew T

For what it's worth, I use Foxit 1.3 on Windows 95 to open modern PDF files. I don't know if you enjoy Adobe Reader specifically, but Foxit is very light.

I use the 1.3 version from 2006: http://sdfox7.com/win95/FOXIT13.EXE

Foxit has several security problem.

I recommended Smatra PFD.

It does not support Script, so more secure.

 

Yup, Sumatra is lighter than Foxit, the only drawback is not filling in pdf forms.

 

Current version can be had from http://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/free-pdf-reader.html

 

Older versions at http://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/download-prev.html, alternate builds at http://www.zeniko.ch/#SumatraPDF for W2k

 

supposedly either 1.6 or 2.1.1 was the last for W2k but some people say 2.4 works even though no longer officially supported, both will need gdiplus (kb915052) installed

Edited July 4, 201511 yr by w2k4eva