Search not highlighting results consistently

[MClareS]

I have noticed the last couple of times I have used the search function that, although the word I am searching for is being found, it is not necessarily being highlighted, so that I can see where it is on the page.  Sometimes I get a vertical line (like this | ) next to the word, as if the cursor is there, but that is really hard to see on a page full of text.  Once today I got one out of three occurrences of the same word on a page highlighted in blue (great!) but the other two were not highlighted at all when searching forward.  Having got the third one highlighted, I then used search backwards and one of the other two (but not both) got highlighted in blue.

Surely this has something to do with Adobe Reader, rather than my laptop settings.  I did install the latest update this morning (I think there was also one either yesterday or the day before) and am now on version 9.4.5

MClareS

[Bryan_Capps]

Not that it would matter, but maybe a Better Business Bureau complaint

(

http://sanjose.bbb.org/ComplaintDetail.aspx?CompanyID=0000204797) would get Adobe's attention.

[Scriptpreneur]

I doubt a complaint is valid by users of the free Reader, but those of us who are PAYING for the Pro version might have a leg to stand on. It's now been OVER a month, & I was originally promised by an Adobe rep that it would be a few days.

Adobe has more than dropped the ball here. They've thrown it in our face.

[Bryan_Capps]

Agreed. I've been a well-paying user of every Acrobat version since version

3, and this functionality has been in all versions until now.

[HearingProtection]

I had the same issue, but after upgrading to X it was OK.

[Scriptpreneur]

SEPTEMBER. The JERKS who call themselves Technical "SUPPORT" (what a misnomer) are now saying to wait until SEPTEMBER for a fix to something THEY broken in mid June. JERKS!!!!

[Guest]

September? That's interesting. Were you told that directly from Adobe, and if so, when was that?

I'm a reporter for Law Technology News and just yesterday an Adobe spokeswoman told me they have a date in mind but that she's not at liberty to disclose it. I wrote an article about it here.

If anyone who reads this thread is a lawyer and experiences the bug, then I'd like to talk with you privately. My email address is ekoblentz(at)alm.com.

- Evan Koblenz

[Brett_W_]

Thanks for writing an article about this issue Evan!  Hopefully it helps to draw awareness to the problem.  I don't think Adobe is taking it too seriously.  I've already started looking into alternative PDF viewers/annotaters.

[Scriptpreneur]

As someone here suggested, I complained to the Better Business Bureau. I own the full Pro version, which is not cheap.

The BBB told Adobe to communicate with me.

I received the following from someone with poor English skills named Mradul Kumar [e-mail address removed]

Acrobat Engineering is working on these Bugs on priority and it should (not yet guaranteed) more likely be fixed in our next release(Acrobat 9.4.6). Next release should be coming somewhere around September month.

Please inundate Adobe & this person with your complaints.

This has gone on too long already, & to be told another 2 months (which we all know is a lie based on their past communications so far) is UNACCEPTABLE.

[Brett_W_]

Well I'm not waiting until September. I've found and installed a piece of software that fixes my problem, and no... it's not made by Adobe.

Foxit Reader

The Best PDF Reader – Over 100 Million Users

Whether you're a consumer, business, government agency, or educational organization, you need to read and annotate PDF documents and fill out PDF forms.  You need your PDF Reader to be:

• Fast - so you're not waiting forever to read files.
• Lightweight - so it's easily deployable and doesn't exhaust system resources.
• Secure - so you don't get infected with viruses and can keep sensitive information safe.
• A Platform - so you can extend the Reader by creating your own value added capabilities for internal use or for resale.

FYI: The most important feature not listed above is that it also HIGHLIGHTS YOUR SEARCH TERM!

Just in my quick tests today, I've opened the same document in Adobe Reader 9.4.5 and Foxit Reader 5.0.2.0718 and Foxit is consuming 25%+ less memory than Adobe.  The files appear more or less idential in graphical rendering, and Foxit lets you keep adding Callouts and Textboxes without having to keep clicking on the menu button.  Foxit saved PDFs open in Adobe just fine.

Foxit now has 100,000,001 users and counting 😉

Download it here:

[malware link removed]

Sincerely,

Inspired to Change (Brett W.)

Message was edited by: ʇɐb ɹəuəllıʍ

[Bryan_Capps]

Here's Adobe's response after telling the BBB that the Complaint I filed was really a technical support request:

Hello Bryan,

Thank you for choosing Adobe enterprise support. The two issues mentioned by you after running Acrobat 9.4.5 update have already been reported to Acrobat Engineering. Please find the Bug number along with details mentioned below.

Bug - 2899647  - Issue is if we search for some word in a multipage pdf document and when we click on occurrences that are present on other pages, the searched word is not highlighted in the page.

Bug - 2899192  - Issue is that after update from 9.4.4 to 9.4.5 it is no longer possible to select multiple pages in a PDF by command-clicking(MAC)\Control, Shift-clicking(WIN) on thumbnails in the Pages sidebar.

Acrobat Engineering is working on these Bugs on priority and it should (not yet guaranteed) more likely be fixed in our next release(Acrobat 9.4.6). Next release should be coming somewhere around September month.

Let me know if there is anything else where I may help you with.

Thanks

Mradul Kumar

[LauraSans]

Bryan - Thanks so much for posting the internal bug numbers.  I have contacted our Adobe Rep twice asking him about one of these two issues and was ignored.  I will say, my company has a long history with Adobe, their bugs and trying to get fixes.  From our experience, it takes on average 3-5 months to get a bug fixed.  I think that is because they don't put bug fixes in their monthly (or every other month) security patches.  Instead they seem to go into their quarterly update.  Every time we've reported a bug we've been told "this will be fixed in the next quarterly update" which is where I'm making my assumption from.  I think Reader 9.4.5 was a quarterly update but I can't remember at the moment.  What makes a bug a high priority?  Every time we've asked for priority to be increased I have to tell them how many users it is impacting and what the cost of that impact is to us (meaning $$ or customer loss).  Anyway, just wanted to post my "thanks" and some buggy thoughts   I hope this really does get fixed in the 9.4.6 update coming soon!

[pwillener]

Brett W. wrote:

Well I'm not waiting until September. I've found and installed a piece of software that fixes my problem...

Using and recommending alternate PDF readers is one thing, but posting links to software that installs spyware on users computers is not tolerated; I have removed the link in your post.

It has been well-known for many years that this particular software installs spyware, even if that "feature" is unchecked during the installation.

There are other free PDF readers around that do not come bundled with malware.

[Brett_W_]

ʇɐb ɹəuəllıʍ wrote:

Using and recommending alternate PDF readers is one thing, but posting links to software that installs spyware on users computers is not tolerated; I have removed the link in your post.

It has been well-known for many years that this particular software installs spyware, even if that "feature" is unchecked during the installation.

Well I downloaded the Foxit Reader program directly from Foxit's website and it had 3 check boxes that I had to uncheck to NOT install any toolbars.  And no toolbars were installed.  It's pretty simple to read what the installer says and uncheck the things you don't want.  Anyone who blindly hits next next next without doing so shouldn't be installing software in the first place.

If you would like to read about how to not install this toolbar, check out this link:

http://www.computer-maint.com/apps/blog/show/7197026-don-t-install-toolbar-when-updating-to-foxit-reader-5

If the moderator decides to delete the above link as well for some reason, just Google:

"Don't Install Toolbar When Updating to Foxit Reader 5" and look for the first link on Computer-Maint's website.

Or just got do your own research.... chances are you are here because Adobe has pissed you off like they have the rest of us.

Foxit Reader is awexome... don't let Adobe pull the "search" rug out from under you AND THEN bully you into staying away from their competition.  Foxit Reader is FREEEEE, of course they are going to try to bundle some stuff from Ask in there to make money, but at least they allow you to read what you are installing and uncheck it. Lots of software companies bundle toolbars, and you'd have to be a fool not to read it and uncheck the option.

Seriously Adobe, just focus on fixing your software please.

[pwillener]

Brett W. wrote:

Or just got do your own research....

Well, I did do my own research.

When Foxit Reader 1 was released, I tested it out of interest.  It did offer the Ask spyware, which I naturally unchecked.  It installed it anyway!

After uninstalling the software, the spyware remained on my computer with no way of uninstalling it, except restoring the system to a date before the malware was installed.

I didn't touch that software again until Foxit Reader 4 was released, and someone mentioned to me that they stopped the practice to install bundled software without consent.

This time the spyware offer was still there, but asked in such a way that was near impossible to understand.  I again ended up with the Ask malware!

This time I restored my system without trying to uninstall anything.

Brett W. wrote:

Foxit Reader is FREEEEE, of course they are going to try to bundle some stuff from Ask in there to make money....

It's not just "some stuff"; it is spyware - there is no excuse for that!  And installing it despite unchecking the "optional software" is a bit more than unethical!

[Guest]

Hello,

This is my first post here. I registered because of the post above.

I'm curious -- how do you know that the Ask add-on that's offered with Foxit Reader is spyware, or (just as important) that it gets on your system even if you decline the offer to install it?

The reason I "ask" is that I have Foxit Reader 4.3.0.1110. (I've been using it more and more ever since the Search function in Adobe Reader got messed up.) Not only do I not have anything evident from Ask on my system or browser, but no malware scanner that I have used suggests that there is malware on my system. I regularly scan my system not only with anti-malware programs from within Windows, but also with Linux-based live CDs that boot and operate from outside Windows in order to detect malware that manages to hide from Windows-based programs. In addition, I keep antivirus and antispyware programs resident at all times. All of the above are from major PC security companies. None identify malware of any kind on my system or hard disk.

How can you tell that you have persistent malware on your PC as a result of installing Foxit Reader? What did you do to detect it?

[pwillener]

I will try to answer your questions to the best of my memory, but my test with v4 was at least two years ago, and v1 was many, many years ago.

I do not remember what software detected the malware during the install; it may have been Spybot Search & Destroy that I used at the time.

I did not do any further scans at the time, but immediately reverted to a clean state from backup.

Doing a bit of googling reveals that I am far from the only one making this experience: example http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/2010/04/where-can-i-find-alternate-pdf-viewer.html

Now you are saying that you don't have any malware on your system.  Further research suggests that there are also foxit installers without bundled spyware.  These (MSI installers, for corporate usage?) may be harder to find, but possibly you may have used one of these.

[Scriptpreneur]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't this discussion about spyware (which is WAY OFF TOPIC) start because someone blasted us all with a "stop spamming me" plea? Could that plea be a resule of someone's email spamming some people (as a result of spyware)?

I'm no techy, so I'm lost on this. Plus, I'm a Mac user. I don't get viruses. Ever (in 30 years of using Apple products).

Either way, it seems all this FoxIt talk and spyware stuff is really distracting (& annoying to those of us patiently awaiting the promised FIX from Adobe).

[pwillener]

You are correct; this discussion has gone way off-topic.

I have posted the warning about spyware because two users have recommended that particular alternate reader in this topic, including links to the download site.

Using an alternate reader until Adobe has fixed the problem is a perfectly acceptable circumvention, but recommending malware as the "solution" I couldn't let stand without an appropriate warning.

As for the user who complained about "being spammed"; they must have signed up to this forum to receive update notifications.  All they have to do is to unsubscribe from the notifications to no longer receive update emails.

[Guest]

Now you are saying that you don't have any malware on your system.  Further research suggests that there are also foxit installers without bundled spyware.  These (MSI installers, for corporate usage?) may be harder to find, but possibly you may have used one of these.

My copy of Foxit came down via CNET. I didn't know there was an MSI installer for Foxit Reader. Apparently you have to jump through hoops (http://forums.foxitsoftware.com/showthread.php?19123-FoxIT-Reader-MSI-gone) to get that one as a private user.

Got the program back in January at the request of our typesetter, who wanted me to indicate corrections with the "sticky notes" function that Adobe Reader didn't yet have. During installation I do remember having to dodge a number of offers to change settings, install toolbars, and such, but I made it through the process unscathed.

And now I'm glad I got it, because the Search function works.

[Bryan_Capps]

Evan, I'm a lawyer and, in fact, I sent an e-mail to LTN giving them a

head's up on the bug. Let me know if I can help. Saw your article. Nice

job.

Bryan Capps

[Guest]

Bryan, I sent you a private message just now.

[onlinecaptain]

I joined this forum to find an answer to my problem. I thought I am the only one having such problem. I hope that this bug will be fixed soon.

[Dlscha]

I also had the same problem and fixed it by installing X.  (I uninstalled 9 first)

[shash_bosch]

Hey here is a solution.. You can search through Ctrl+Shift+f (or Edit -> search).. The result is highlighted if done this way.. Hope this helps !

[Brett_W_]

Are you kidding me!!?  With as many daily updates as Adobe pushes out for Acrobat and Reader... you'd have thought this was fixed by now.

PDF's are used for everything these days. I use them constantly at work.

It is completely unacceptable that Adobe flubbed this MOST USED feature in their software.

At first I thought this was some kind of screw up with my computer's operating system... or maybe even malware.  Nope, just a botched software update that's been ignored for over a month now.

Sincerely,

Pissed Off Adobe User (Brett W.)