Website help

What are PDF files and how can I view them?

Occasionally on this site documents are saved as PDF files. We use PDF files due to their relatively small sizes and that they are viewable on all systems with the correct software installed.

To view these files you need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. This is free and available from the Adobe website.

Use our online demonstration to show you how to install Acrobat Reader.
High resolution version for larger monitors. (1.2Mb file)
Low resolution version for smaller monitors. (1.8Mb file)

I can't seem to view the material that I downloaded - I have Adobe Reader, what's wrong?

The ifs recommends using Adobe Reader 6 or later to view our files, if you already have an earlier version of Adobe Reader installed you will need to uninstall it first and then install a new version.

How do I uninstall an earlier version of Adobe Reader?

In Windows XP, access the Control Panel by clicking the "Start" icon in the bottom left hand corner of your screen and selecting "Control Panel" from the menu that is displayed. From the Control Panel, double click the "Add/Remove Programs" icon. A list of all the currently installed programs on your computer will now be displayed. If you have an earlier version installed, it will appear in this list entitled "Adobe Reader". Click on this item, and then click the "Remove" button that is displayed.

In other versions of the Windows operating system, such as Windows 98, ME and 2000, you will be able to access the Control Panel by double clicking on the "My Computer" icon and then double clicking on the "Control Panel" icon that will be displayed. The Control Panel will then be displayed, from which you will be able to select "Add/Remove Programs" as above.

The program will now begin to uninstall, you should follow the instructions displayed on the screen, leaving the settings as default, unless you have been advised otherwise. Once un-installation has been completed you should restart your computer. After the computer has rebooted you will be ready to install the latest version of Adobe Reader.

The PDF pages still don't appear in my Web Browser window - what can I do?

If you have followed the advice in the previous questions, and still cannot display the PDF documents in your web browser, Adobe have produced an in-depth document detailing various problems and their solutions that may be able to help you. This document can be found at http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/325875.html.

I still can't access, what else can I try?

Some customers have experienced problems because they do not have cookies enabled. You can do this by going to Tools, then Options.

What are cookies?

A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your web browser from our web server. It allows us to identify you as you move around this site. The information stored is a randomly-generated number that ensures we know who you are and you don’t have to log in to every page within myifslearning. A cookie cannot be used to extract data from your system. No other web service can access the ifs cookie, which will be deleted when you leave the site.

More information on cookies and how to enable them can be found at:

For Netscape users:
http://help.neocom.net/win9598nt/98webbrowsers/nccookies.htm
For Internet Explorer users:
http://www.microsoft.com/info/cookies.htm