Tech: Hints for Firefox users

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Mar 08 - 04:45 PM

Well, my bank doesn't support Opera, so I found a different place to download Firefox, again, and am now trying it. So far, so good. Maybe I did just get a couple of bad downloads. A funny thing...their spell check tells me I have spelled "firefox" incorrectly! It's nice to see it working, though.

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Mar 08 - 04:54 PM

That didn't take long. It's doing the same s-l-o-w going and errors galore. I htought maybe it might be spybot or AVG causing the problems with just Firefox. Could that be. Or, should I turn off all of the Windows firewall and virus detector? For now, I am back on Opera.

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: stallion
Date: 11 Mar 08 - 05:26 PM

My puter doesn't like the recent mozilla updates and I keep having to restore to a previous setting and the spellcheck facility has gone, also pages I used to peruse now say that the "browser does not support the page" or something like that.

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: Bill D
Date: 11 Mar 08 - 05:32 PM

kat...you 'might' fill in with the last version of Netscape. It is 'offically' discontinued, and not supported, but it still works fine, and is built on the Mozilla/Firefox engine.....which means that add-ons from Firefox will work with it and that it has the same ability as Firefox to get to your bank. (I am using it because of some instability in Firefox which causes crashes at weird times)

I suppose that in a couple of years, various things will make Netscape a problem for 'some' operations, and some updates to add-ons (extensions) probably won't be supported....but many software programs that are no longer being developed are still perfectly functional for most purposes.

I have ...ummmm... *blush* 7 versions of Opera, 2 of Firefox, I.E., Netscape, 3 of K-Meleon, and 2 of "Off-by-One" installed. I actually
use 4 of these semi-regularly, and 2 others now & then....and 2 more on rare occasions.

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Mar 08 - 07:05 PM

If you collect browsers, Bill;, here's one which is rather fun - Flock "the social web browser"

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Mar 08 - 10:27 AM

*grin*...yes, Kevin, I've seen listings for that one. It feels like an ad for "pen pals". If I am judgung hastily, correct me.

I don't exactly 'collect' browsers, I just accumulate them...if they seem useful. But thanks....

(I once had something called "Stealth Browser" which was designed to use in the workplace to fool the boss. It hid inside a window in another program. Very clever, but.....)

There at least 4-5 others that I see recommended, but most run on the I.E. engine, and I don't care for it at all. (I only keep IE because it is such a hassle to get rid of it, and a very few sites need it)

One virtue of all the choices is that people differ widely in what they want their browser to do and look like. My two main ones have a 'wood' background, almost no graphics in the toolbars (text only), and ways to NOT see all the toolbars until I wish.
I also choose the display fonts, how they use tabs, how they react when closed (save current tabs or not), what search engines are quickly available...etc., etc.

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Mar 08 - 12:35 PM

Thanks, Bill. I didn't look for Netscape because I'd heard they'd dumped it. I've now downloaded it, too. Do you know if Opera has a spellchecker like the one Firefox has? I see Netscape does and I have it ticked. I feel so sad about Firefox.:-)

kat

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Mar 08 - 12:54 PM

In Opera you do spell checking differently. You can highlight a word and right click on it, and it looks up the word, but as far as I know, there is no automatic 'as you type' method.....that is why I use the wonderful "TinySpell" which works ALL the time, no matter what you are typing, or where.

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 08 May 08 - 06:54 AM

WooHoo! Got FF 2.0.0.14 on Win9x to be able to change the text size permanently!

The trick is that I can't do it from INSIDE the browser - maybe some internal link broken in the Registry (9x doesn't do 'Restore previous setup' easily!)- I only get 4 windows with no 'header' on top.

But if you run 'Firefox.exe -preferences' it opens up a version of FF that ONLY gives all the preferences screens properly! I set the text font size (can also change the Font and colours!) so that I can see things clearer - no more rude comments about needing specs from JiK!   :-P

Funny I don't remember the earlier version doing that...

Now I only have to fix a few things like the 'go back a screen' button not working, etc!!!

Well couldn't post before... then discovered that that trick only worked once - now the 4 windows that come up are only that section for the options that allow me to change the text size.... !!!!!!!!

BTW, also broken is the bit that allow one under the edit menu to search a page for some text.

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 08 May 08 - 08:39 AM

May 8, 2008

Mozilla shipped Firefox plugin with malware attached
Virus scan missed Xorer Trojan in Firefox upload
Robert McMillan

Mozilla has admitted shipping a Firefox plugin that had virus-infected code in it.

Mozilla security chief Window Snyder said in a blog posting last night that because of a virus infection, the Vietnamese language pack for Firefox 2.0 was polluted with adware.

Mozilla said that a malicious program inserted adware code into a Firefox plugin that has been downloaded thousands of times over the past three months.

Firefox developers have now scanned all of their plugins. The Vietnamese language pack is the only one that had this kind of code, she said.

The open-source browser maker does not know how many people were infected with the adware, but the plugin was downloaded more than 1,200 times in the past week and has been downloaded 16,667 times since November.

"Everyone who downloaded the most recent Vietnamese language pack since February 18, 2008 got an infected copy," Snyder wrote.

/quote

If it is a virus, it is "transmissible." While only the Vietnamese language pack was infected at time of download, anyone who's communicated with anyone who's communicated with anyone who knows someone who might have used the Vietnamese package would be advised to scan with a current AV.

The Trojan carried by the virus apparently is adware, and may redirect you to sites that annoy. The article doesn't indicate a spyware content, or anything destructive to data on infected machines; but it's apparently quite recently discovered so it may have "features" unknown.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 08 May 08 - 09:51 AM

Thanks John,
I noticed that, but wasn't aware that it could leak to machines without that lang pack.

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 08 May 08 - 04:10 PM

The customary and usual meaning of the term "virus" is that it can "infect" and that it attempts to spread something. The term was used in the report, but is so frequently misused to mean "anything you don't want on the computer" that it's difficult to know when a reporter knows what (s)he's talking about or is just quoting someone who didn't.

The article (at the link) appeared to "de-emphasize" any risk that this malware could/would be spread, but a healthy dose of embarrassment could account for "neglecting to mention" all possible risks, especially in a "first report" of something recently discovered when all the risks aren't fully known.

The source that sent me the report is a reliable one (at least they tell me they are) but since it came from a UK publisher ... ... one never knows ... .

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 08 May 08 - 11:52 PM

Only Spypbot S&D still seems to work on Win9x (lucky I used to have several) - it produced a raft of crud accumulated over time - but not anything related to this - and the problems still exist.

It seems that I have suffered bit rot of many of the FF system JS & some css files.

Discovered that the FF updates assume that the Mozilla App_data lives in the standard Win directory sub tree - not on another partition as i had it set up. Un & Re installs had failed, wonder if that could be the problem - going to try a new install with the default set up. Can't find
any Registry entry that would point there though.

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: CarolC
Date: 09 May 08 - 12:30 AM

I haven't experienced any of the problems with Firefox that I described earlier in the last month or two, katlaughing. I don't know exactly why... maybe I installed an update that corrected it or something.

Subject: RE: Tech: Hints for Firefox users
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 09 May 08 - 01:21 AM

Well it looks like the 'search on page' is now working. But the info that info at the top of the page that normally gives the Title of the page currently viewed - seems to get 'stuck'...

But then it could be some interaction between the various add-ins...