Adobe reader

Kathy is getting the same message that Yahoo isn't going to support her browser in the future and she's not thrilled having to move to a new browser. Leo says that if she doesn't care for Chrome, Firefox has gotten a lot better again and he's been using it a lot lately.

Dan wants to know what alternatives there are to Adobe Reader. Leo says there's tons of free alternatives and he's happy to recommend them because Adobe Reader has such poor security. Here are a few Dan could try:

Kathy downloaded an update for Adobe Reader and now she thinks she may have been bit by a virus. Leo says if Adobe Reader had an official update, she would really need to install it because it protects her from the viruses she fears. She was told to reset the browser and she lost all her booksmarks and extensions. Leo says that's actually what he would have advised because often it's extensions that cause the trouble. That's why Leo suggests using another browser like Google Chrome. Internet Explorer is a mess.

Mark hates Adobe Reader and has removed it in favor of using FoxIt. Leo says rightfully so! But he's concerned about security in FoxIt. Leo says that FoxIt has different issues. But with everything coming off the internet, it's a heck of a challenge to protect against it. Bad guys have moved on from trying to hack the operating system and are now going after third party software like Adobe reader or FoxIt. But since FoxIt has a smaller "footprint" on the internet, it's less risky.

Lloyd got a redirect virus. Leo says these days there really isn't an easy way to get rid of a virus because not only is he infected by this virus, but there's usually other viruses that get invited as well. Once it's on the computer, it can be so deeply embedded that any attempt to remove it can disable the operating system. So at the end of the day, the only thing he can really do is back up his data, format the hard drive, and reinstall Windows from a known, good source. Then he should run all the available updates.

Jeff is having trouble formatting PDF files with his Mac vs. his boss's PC. Leo recommends using the same program on both computers to make the PDF, like Adobe Reader. It's free. But Leo isn't crazy about it for security reasons. Another one that Leo likes is PDFPen, but it's not cheap. He can try it before he buys it, though.