Adobe elements becomes pod program for acrobat pdf

[Chrystin Pleasants]

When I load elements onto my computer (running Home XP much to my dismay) all my pdf files become elements files. So now when I go to open a pdf file, instead of the usual pdf file I get this thumbnail photo of the document in elements and can't work with the darned things at all. I am running the full version of Acrobat. So I load Elements each time I want to use it, then uninstall it. Obviously, this is cumbersome. Any suggestions? I spoke to someone who's really experienced with adobe software from the NTXPCUG and he said he had never heard of this problem and had no suggestions for a solution.

[Ray]

Chrystin,

I'm not sure if I understand you correctly, but I'll assume you want to open
PDF file with Acrobat, rather than Elements. Very simple. Open Windows
Explorer, locate any PDF file on your hard drive. Right click on it, select
"Open With...". A list will be displayed. Click on Adobe Acrobat, then at
the bottom of this list, you should see an option like "always open this
file type with this application". Click in the checkbox. Then click on
open.

Next time you want to open a PDF file, the file will open with Acrobat.

If Elements is not currently installed, during installation, click on Custom
(I don't remember precisely because it's been a long time), and once you get
to the file association screen, click in the NC column for the PDF file.
This way, PDF will remain associated with Acrobat. NC means No Change.

Ray