security exposure - Adobe reader

I just heard there is a PC security problem with Adobe Reader.

This is a surprise to me, as Adobe is a very good provider of useful products.

As with all media coverage, we must be patient and not be alarmed by the initial identification of a 'problem'.

However, as it does seem to be a security risk (hackers can access your computer without your approval), it is prudent to disconnect Adobe reader now and reconnect it when it is confirmed to b secure.

The simple answer is to uninstall Adobe Reader for now ... it is easy to re-install when they have fixed the exposure.

The more vague answer is there is no positive proof of if/what hackers extract from your system without your knowledge ... but they appear to be able to access your system without your approval.

If you need to read a PDF files in the near future, you can install this PDF reader which is quite safe and can be used for all PDF files. I have tried it and it seems to be faster than Adobe Reader.

I WILL STAY WITH THIS TOOL INSTEAD OF RE-INSTALLING ADOBE READER, FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE.

I will let you know when Adobe Reader is secure once again. Planned for JAN 12, 2010.

The impact of fragmentation

There is a good (and free) tool - CrystalDiskMark - that will show you the read and write times (aka speed) of your PC's hard drive.

Go to my free tools site and install both Smart Defrag and CrystalDiskMark.

Here is a before and after view of read/write timing for my c-drive.

The before had quite a bit of fragmentation.

The after (running Smart Defrag) had only a very few fragmented files.

This is signifcant speed improvement!

More validation for a defrag tool ... nothing better than the FREE version of Smart Defrag.