Well, it seems you hit the answers to these questions and incidentally also solved the re-installation issue, by invoking Foxit reader.
Yes, it is free and yes, you can find words (subject to SNGX's comment) searching forward or backward, by using
Edit > Find Text…
But its important advantages are in being far lighter than Acrobat, quick to start, resource sparing and much less vulnerably to malware infection. Plus, you don’t have to keep updating it all the time to keep up with attackers exploiting its holes. Just be careful to avoid installing any toolbar it may offer, that’s of negative value.
Most, if not all toolbars are of negative value. The topic of "Foxit" came up the other day, and I think the conclusion was reached that you may not be able to opt of of the toolbars included. Just a word to the wise. I have a one year old installer, and I'm hanging on to that for dear life as a result.
do you think i should ninstall acrobat then? and if i did would i lose all my pdfs? as you can see i'm very thick about these things. i just assumed as most do that only acrobat reads pdfs.
You certainly won't lose all your PDFs, at least if you're controlling where there being stored. The program (AR) and the files are 2 separate entities
what does 'lighter' mean in this context? yes i don't like toolbars that i don't want being sneaked onto my computer by stealth, that annoys me
"Lighter" in this case, refers to the amount of space required to install the program, as well as the size of the installer package as well.
As I said earlier, approach the newest versions of Foxit with extreme caution, some say you can't opt out of the toolbars, and then can't get rid of them after it's been installed.
Agree, definitely don't like the direction that Adobe is heading. I picked up a copy of PDF Converter Professional for $50 and can do pretty much anything you can think of to a PDF document.
Adobe is heading down a path that will make them the most money, with the least amount of man-hour interventions as possible. Photoshop Elements has pretty much turned into a scandal.
And Adobe's becoming obnoxious. They seem to believe that they're the only company that can program to current video driver standards.
In any event, if our OP is that heavily invested in PDF storage, then your approach of paid 3rd party software might be the best option.
I am taking the liberty of linking your product suggestion;
http://www.nuance.com/for-individuals/by-product/pdf/index.htm
I notice they have a free version also. Can you tell us anything about that?