Cognos 8.4 PDF problems

[hardstep]

Hi there

I've got a problem when trying to render PDF documents inside of Cognos 8.4
I can run up my reports fine in HTML - but when I select to view as PDF
I get the following error :

HTTP Status 404

I am running Cognos 8.4 on Windows 7 running IIS7 and IE8.
I realise that this is not a supported platform - but has anyone come across any similar rendering problems on Vista or similar ?.

I read that Adobe Acrobat Reader 9 has had some problems and that other PDF viewers might resolve this - I tried Foxit PDF reader and the error disappears - but it takes ages for a simple 4/5 page PDF report to render.

I'm not sure if it is a problem with :

1. PDF Rendering
2. IE8
3. Windows 7 and IIS7
4. All of the above

Anyone have any thoughts on this ?

Cheers for any insights you might be able to offer !.

[hardstep]

Also alongside this issue I am getting long delays in rendering HTML pages.

I have a starting portal page - which is taking almost 30 seconds to display.
If I access the page via the dispatcher URL then it displays almost instantly, however through
the web server (IIS 7.5) it takes forever !.

Public folders and my folders are ok.

[hardstep]

Latest update - problem seems to be tied to an RSS Viewer portlet.
If I remove it from my portal tab - the page renders instantly !.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm