Xelitan PDF Reader — The fastest way to open PDFs

Topic

New Reply

FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT By Deanna McElveen When I open a PDF file, it’s usually because I need to view it — quickly. I don’t want to wait for my Web browse
[See the full post at: Xelitan PDF Reader — The fastest way to open PDFs]

9 users thanked author for this post.

fisher75, madhackbt, dgc-art, geekdom, DLivesInTexas, Drcard:)), abbodi86, Alex5723, Fred

Reply | Quote

Replies

Thank you, a gentle and fast pdf opener

* _ ... _ *

Reply | Quote

I’ll stay with portable Sumatra PDF

1 user thanked author for this post.

Michael432

Reply | Quote

I have found Sumatra PDF to be the fastest loading and simplest to use.
It also has the ability to page through the PDF with a wireless presentation remote control. This makes it look exactly like a powerpoint presentation.
I always have a PDF version of my Powerpoint presentation ready in case of computer problems with Powerpoint.

Reply | Quote

Wow… such a tiny installer (4MB… ~11MB installed) or portable version (3MB) versus the ~240MB installed behemoth of my usual PDF reader… the apparently less able Foxit Reader.

Thank you, Deanna. This is a really useful utility. I played with the portable version and found it so useful that I ended up using the installer version.

Early days… but I suspect this may herald ‘Goodbye, Foxit’ (and its hoops that you have to leap through so its main product and ‘phone home’ propensity is either not accidentally installed or curtailed).

In my admittedly limited experience so far, both the portable and installed versions initially opened bottom-right of the desktop with sizing controls obscured. All I had to do was drag the program top-leftwards until I could could see the ‘Maximize’ control then clicked that and then closed the app. At that point an INI file was created to save the app settings for future use.

Reply | Quote

Deanna McElveen wrote:

Microsoft Defender SmartScreen is going to protect you by preventing this app from running, because it doesn’t recognize it. (My humble, opinionated translation: Someone didn’t pay the guys in the Cadillac when they came around to collect the “protection fees.”)

My translation of “Unknown publisher”: The author didn’t bother to sign their code, so no one can know the true origin of the program version they just downloaded.

4 users thanked author for this post.

Coelle Baskel, Microfix, Rick Corbett, EricB

Reply | Quote

Deanna said:

I don’t want to wait for my Web browser to open, if it happens to be my default PDF reader (increasingly the case these days).

Yes, the Xelitan PDF Reader does open a PDF very quickly and way faster than waiting on a web browser to open to open the PDF; BUT, in my testing if the web browser that is the default for PDFs is already open the PDF will open in the web browser faster than with Xelitan.   A lot of users have a web browser open all the time and in such cases Xelitan doesn’t offer much of an advantage.

HTH, Dana:))

3 users thanked author for this post.

Coelle Baskel, Microfix, b

Reply | Quote

Drcard:)) wrote:

Yes, the Xelitan PDF Reader does open a PDF very quickly and way faster than waiting on a web browser to open to open the PDF; BUT, in my testing if the web browser that is the default for PDFs is already open the PDF will open in the web browser faster than with Xelitan. A lot of users have a web browser open all the time and in such cases Xelitan doesn’t offer much of an advantage.

If, by ‘default browser’, you mean Edge then it’s usually already running in the background whether you want it to or not… unless you take (multiple) steps to stomp it into submission.

As such, Edge has very unfair performance advantages… so you’re not exactly comparing like for like; more like comparing smooth peaches with prickly pineapples.

If you disable or uninstall Edge completely then your ‘PDF-opening’ speed results will probably show differently… and with less system overhead.

Hope this helps…

 

1 user thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth

Reply | Quote

Rick Corbett wrote:

f, by ‘default browser’, you mean Edge then it’s usually already running in the background whether you want it to or not…

I was referring to Chrome which is what I have my PDFs default to.  I have Edge locked away.   The same PDF file opened when Chrome is already opened is 2 – 3 seconds faster than Xelitan.

I do like its text extraction function and especially the text to HTML.  I’ll keep it around for those functions, but will leave Chrome as the default PDF reader.

HTH, Dana:))

Reply | Quote

I downloaded XelitanPDF and unzipped it to C:\Program Files\Xelitan PDF. That was a guess since I couldn’t find a way to determine if it is a 64-bit program. Anyway, it runs and functions properly. However, when I try to exit the program, I get an error message stating that it could not create XelitanPDF.ini, and access is denied. The error window offers the options to press OK and “risk data corruption,” or press ABORT “to kill the program.” Any idea what the problem is? I also tried putting it in C:\Program Files (x86), and got the same result. Note that when installing and running it for the first time, I did not get the warnings from Microsoft Defender that you described in the newsletter.

Reply | Quote

Looks interesting but I don’t think I’ll give up on Foxit Reader.

I use Foxit’s annotation tools extensively and I don’t see those capabilities in the article. I run paperless as much as I can and the ability to check off items on credit card and bank statements is a feature I just can’t do without. I also love Foxit’s custom stamps that let me mark the PDF file with a big box at the top with the fact that the statement has been balanced and the date. Thus, if I open the statement again I can see instantly if it has been processed or not.

Of course, I might have missed those capabilities since I relied on the article and didn’t download the software.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

1 user thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth

Reply | Quote

I agree, RG. I will continue to use Foxit as my default for the reasons you stated. I will probably keep Xelitan on my PC for a few unique features like exporting all of the text (I just tested it on a page that was scanned from a book, and it extracted the text like OCR would).

Reply | Quote

Dave wrote:

I downloaded XelitanPDF and unzipped it to C:\Program Files\Xelitan PDF. That was a guess since I couldn’t find a way to determine if it is a 64-bit program. Anyway, it runs and functions properly. However, when I try to exit the program, I get an error message stating that it could not create XelitanPDF.ini, and access is denied.

Sounds like a simple ‘permissions’ issue.

By default, the INI file should be created in your profile’s AppData folder (which your logged-on account has write permissions to).

I suggest you uninstall it completely then download the XelitanPDF installer to a temporary folder (*not* C:\Program Files\…. [which your which your logged-on account does *not* have automatic write permissions to) then run it from that temporary folder.

Hope this helps…

Reply | Quote

Rick Corbett wrote:

By default, the INI file should be created in your profile’s AppData folder (which your logged-on account has write permissions to).

Not for portable versions:

If the app allows you to save settings, those settings are saved in files right inside the same folder.

Reply | Quote

Xelitan PDF Reader
That’s so nice — much more useful than my browser PDF.

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

Reply | Quote

Maybe I’m missing something – I used Xelitan to open a 43-page pdf. I right-clicked to delete page one. Now I want to save this pdf in it’s new 42-page state. But both the purple and green Save icons don’t offer a way to just save the changes. Crtl-S doesn’t do anything. Help!

Reply | Quote

It’s a reader, not editor.

Reply | Quote

What’s the point of Xelitan having the feature “Delete page” if you can’t save the pdf document with that page deleted?

2 users thanked author for this post.

DaveBoston, Cybertooth

Reply | Quote

I’ve been using Foxit PDF Reader for several years for the same reasons you mentioned in your article. I chose Foxit because they offered a ‘PDF Printer’ option back when Microsoft was only offering ‘Print to XPS’.

Thank you for OlderGeeks!

Reply | Quote

WSJNygren wrote:

I chose Foxit because they offered a ‘PDF Printer’ option back when Microsoft was only offering ‘Print to XPS’.

‘Print to PDF’ is what’s known as a ‘pseudo-printer’ driver, i.e. a virtual interface that mimics printing to a file rather than to a physical device.

It’s been a long time since I last compared them but, at the time, Microsoft’s output by size was very poor by comparison:

Just so you are aware.

As a result, I have always uninstalled MS’s built-in PDF pseudo-printer and, instead, used an alternative like Foxit Reader for both viewing and its pseudo print-to-PDF driver instead.

Hope this helps…

Reply | Quote

b wrote:

Not for portable versions

Obviously… or I would have pointed that out.

However, @Dave described what appeared to be a local install, not a portable un-zip location.

Perhaps challenge him to make clearer? 🙂

Reply | Quote

Rick Corbett wrote:

However, @Dave described what appeared to be a local install, not a portable un-zip location.

He said, “unzipped“. The installable version isn’t zipped.

Newsletter instructions and download are only for the portable version.

Reply | Quote

b wrote:

He said, “unzipped“. The installable version isn’t zipped. Newsletter instructions and download are only for the portable version.

So, once again, why not ask OP to clarify what exactly he means rather than challenge me about what I think OP has done?

 

Reply | Quote

I don’t need clarification. I’ve corrected the information you supplied because you did.

Reply | Quote

Rick Corbett wrote:

I played with the portable version and found it so useful that I ended up using the installer version

What benefits, beside contaminating your OS drive, you gain by installations vs portable ?

* I never install software if there is a portable version.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Microfix

Reply | Quote

https://xelitan.com/
Closed source with no information about developers for traceability on their website, just a contact us page to submit YOUR feedback and email address..yeah right..dream on development team. No supplied checksums for any of the versions?
And the scant website for me, is a red flag. YMMV

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

2 users thanked author for this post.

windbg, Cybertooth

Reply | Quote

Went to that website and my experience was similar to yours. No indication of the company’s personnel or location. And on the home page, whether I clicked on each of the categories “home”, “freeware”, and “libraries”, I kept landing on the same page listing the same four programs.

The company might be legit, but their Web presence sure looks dodgy.

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

2 users thanked author for this post.

windbg, Microfix

Reply | Quote

I suppose that eventually we people running 32-bit systems will fade away, but until that time, I would be happy if OlderGeek reviews commented on whether a software will run on 32- or 64-bit systems, or both. Xelitan PDF Reader says it won’t run on my 32-bit system, and I am sad.

Reply | Quote

I did download the Zipped version from Older Geeks.  I also noticed after my original post that the unzipped folder is read-only and cannot be changed (I tried).  Did not realize it was a portable version.  I tried unzipping it to a temporary folder and it does work as advertised, with no shutdown issue.

I totally agree that it would be very useful to know up front if a piece of software is 32 or 64 bit.  Both are still out there.

Reply | Quote

Followed Deanna’s instructions but I didn’t get all the screens as she shows. When I open a document I do not have the little book icon on the command button line and the info button just shows an about P, Xelitan PDF Reader 1.7. No information about size or fonts. The Info page comes up almost off screen, lower right hand corner.

As specified on the about page, AS-IS . . .

Reply | Quote

Version 18 of Xelitan PDF reader is now available (portable and installer) and Norton removed it following a download but this came as no surprise. On a second attempt, I ran the .exe file through VirusTotal and got the attached result: ‘4 security vendors and no sandboxes flagged this file as malicious’. I am not expert enough to fully understand these results, but I did a retrospective scan of version 17 (.exe version) and got the same warning on VirusTotal. Version 17 passed on VirusTotal yesterday. Like some others, I am suspicious about the lack of transparency on the developer’s website so I have now uninstalled Xelitan PDF Reader as a precaution. This is a real shame as it sure was fast in opening PDF files.

Reply | Quote

They could be false positives – often the case with less well known AVs.

cheers, Paul

1 user thanked author for this post.

dgc-art

Reply | Quote

After installation, I am now receiving an error message:

“Xelitan PDF Reader

System error, (OS Code 126):

The specified module could not be found.

Press OK to ignore and risk data corruption.

Press Abort to kill the program.”

How do I fix this?

Reply | Quote

Neil McPherson wrote:

After installation, I am now receiving an error message:

“Xelitan PDF Reader

System error, (OS Code 126):

The specified module could not be found.

Press OK to ignore and risk data corruption.

Press Abort to kill the program.”

How do I fix this?

Check if you have both files in the same directory:
XelitanPDF.dll and XelitanPDF.exe

Reply | Quote

Marcus Weldby wrote:

Maybe I’m missing something – I used Xelitan to open a 43-page pdf. I right-clicked to delete page one. Now I want to save this pdf in it’s new 42-page state. But both the purple and green Save icons don’t offer a way to just save the changes. Crtl-S doesn’t do anything. Help!

Check the manual:
http://xelitan.com/help/xelitan-pdf-reader#remove_page

1 user thanked author for this post.

tbkid

Reply | Quote

Alex5723 wrote:

What benefits, beside contaminating your OS drive, you gain by installations vs portable ?

As with any ‘install vs portable’, you get the *right*-click menu options within Windows’ Explorer that are not available using just the portable version.

Like you, I prefer portable versions… but there are times when the ‘installed’ options outweigh the benefits of ‘portable’. It’s a personal and ‘per app’ choice.

Hope this helps…

2 users thanked author for this post.

TechTango, Alex5723

Reply | Quote

Microsoft Defender SmartScreen is going to protect you by preventing this app from running, because it doesn’t recognize it. (My humble, opinionated translation: Someone didn’t pay the guys in the Cadillac when they came around to collect the “protection fees.”)

Funny!

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

Reply | Quote

Nice and simple, but it corrupts the filename it sends to my HP printer and will not print.  Otherwise, great for PDF viewing.

Reply | Quote

This reader does not appear to support using the links within the pdf file.

Reply | Quote

CRB, Were you at MacGregor? We used that moniker in the mail room…

Reply | Quote

Is this for Windows only? I downloaded and unzipped both (32/64) versions on my MacBook Pro and nothing happens when I try do drop a file on the .exe – it won’t even let me drop a pdf file on the .exe, in fact.

Reply | Quote

macOS doesn’t use .exe files. Doesn’t use the .exe file extension.
.exe is a Windows executable.

Reply | Quote

Thanks, PKCano. I was hoping that there was a macOS version…

Reply | Quote

I installed it on my Win10 machine as instructed. When I try to open a file I get this error message (image) – thoughts?

Reply | Quote

Don’t use it if it has errors.
Windows generally uses your current browser to read PDFs so you won’t lose anything.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

I don’t like the “open in browser” behavior so I disabled that (Firefox ESR) – it uses Adobe when it encounters a pdf. Which takes a long time to open.

Reply | Quote

Regularly updated to fix issues.
Always available and usually running, so it’s fast.
What’s not to like?

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

DaveBoston wrote:

I installed it on my Win10 machine as instructed.

Why ?

There are 2 Portable versions x64/x32

Reply | Quote

What’s a portable version. Serious question.

Reply | Quote

DaveBoston wrote:

What’s a portable version. Serious question.

Portable version of software doesn’t need installation/uninstall.
Just copy the files to a folder (preferably not C: drive), (extract if it in zip format to the folder) and launch the app.
If you want to “uninstall” just delete the folder.

Portable software doesn’t install junk files all over OS system, registry…

You can carry and run portable apps from a USB stick…

* 95%+ of software I use is portable.

Reply | Quote

Excellent answer, Alex – thanks. I knew about .exe files, vs. installed programs/apps but did not know that was the terminology.

I assume, then, that the zip file with the .exe and the .dll constitute a portable version…

Reply | Quote

Got the portable and set it up today. Tiny, fast, impressive. But it lacks the ability to do any markup in a PDF (like a yellow highlight on a line). Add that ability, and it’ll be my default PDF reader.

Reply | Quote

DaveBoston wrote:

Excellent answer, Alex – thanks. I knew about .exe files, vs. installed programs/apps but did not know that was the terminology.

I assume, then, that the zip file with the .exe and the .dll constitute a portable version…

Yes, the exe and the dll are all you need. The first time you run it, it’ll generate a tiny ini file in the folder you have the exe in.

Reply | Quote

DaveBoston wrote:

I assume, then, that the zip file with the .exe and the .dll constitute a portable version…

Yes.
Some time a portable app has .exe and extract like zip file. Example : all portable app at PortableApps.com / https://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/

Reply | Quote

Well, I tried it thoroughly after reading all of the above responses to Deanna’s article, and then I tried Foxit Reader (Portable) for the first time. I was really impressed by Foxit; not so much by Xelitan. I’ve been using PDF-XChange Editor for years, but I think I’ve found my new PDF app in Foxit. And free. And Portable available. Win-win-win.

1 user thanked author for this post.

DaveBoston

Reply | Quote

I went to the sourceforge link from Alex and searched for Foxit; found only the Reader (Portable) with Auto Update.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/foxitportable/

It looks (only a little bit ) sketchy, having had no updates since 2013, no reviews and the link to the home page is dead. Anyone else have experience with something like this?

Reply | Quote

Foxit portable is at this link.
https://portableapps.com/apps/office/foxit_reader_portable

cheers, Paul

2 users thanked author for this post.

DaveBoston, Alex5723

Reply | Quote