Recently I repaved my laptop to make it a dual-boot Windows Server 2003 / Windows XP machine.  I use Windows Server 2003 as my primary operating system, but keep around XP for when I am not connected to a power source (server sucks up the power like there's no tomorrow).  Anyway, I installed the new Acrobat Reader 6, and it loads much too slowly!  So, after poking around the Internet, I found that it is all the plug-ins that are enabled by default slowing Acrobat reader down.  After removing all but 3, it loads pretty much instantly.

Here's how to do it:

1. Go to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader (replace the C if you installed on another drive, like I did).
2. Create a new folder called plug_ins_disabled.
3. Move all files from the plug_ins folder to the plug_ins_disabled folder.
4. You're done.

UPDATE:  See what the Acrobat Reader plugins do.

UPDATE 2:  It is better to put all the plug-ins that you want disabled into the “optional” directory.  This way the plug-ins will still work, they just won’t be loaded at startup.  So do this instead:

1. Go to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader (replace C if you installed on another drive, like D or E).
2. Move all files from the “plug_ins” folder to the “Optional” folder.
3. You're done.