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Tech: Browser's little Helper?
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Subject: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: Geoff the Duck Date: 28 Sep 07 - 04:05 PM It seems that everything I install on my computer these days wants to install a "Helper" Toolbar in Internet explorer. Google, Yahoo, my Epson printer, Old Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and All-bar. If I let them all do so, I would have a screen full of toolbars and a visible browser window the size and shape of a small arrow slit to view the virtual world through. My general attitude if "someone" (that is, software auto installers) say "I am going to install this thing you haven't actually asked for", would be "Oh no, you're bloody well not!". Do any of you have opinions or useful information on different ones? Some claim to defend you against problems, but do they do anything which isn't already done better by standalone programmes you have greater control over? Are any of them ACTUALLY worth having, or do they just slow your computer down with even more bloat? Are there any to be specifically avoided? Nasty bits of work masquerading as good guys (Yes I know Ad-Aware and Spybot will teke some of them out). What are your thoughts? Quack! Geoff. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: GUEST,GtD sans biscuit Date: 28 Sep 07 - 04:21 PM Me again. Acrobat Reader wanted to install one as well. Quack! Geoff. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: MMario Date: 28 Sep 07 - 04:23 PM My general attitude if "someone" (that is, software auto installers) say "I am going to install this thing you haven't actually asked for", would be "Oh no, you're bloody well not!". my attitude exactly! |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: Mr Red Date: 28 Sep 07 - 04:25 PM They must be useful to some folks - but if you are net savvy they are the net equivalent of Tescos smearing shops and supermarkets everywhere (and holding sites to prevent competitors using them). Market share. And whatever they tell you - they are snooping on what you surf too. To make your experience better - HA! So that 200 aggregator sites can tell me (several times over) they can sell me (at the cheapest) liver cancer, or nightmares or other such unsaleable ephemera. Yea really. That's why they do it. And they got rich on it. If I am asked to find out about liver cancer I want information not books, first. But information doesn't earn revenue. I don't even allow Flash on my browser - on dial-up it takes 5 minutes to find-out that the movie has no information content, and the text will follow. No it doesn't I move on quickly. Not everyone has Flash and I need to see what all visitors to my site see and I can only do that with basic equipment and installations. And by checking often. No snoopware at Rouge Towers. Geoff - if your library has the same kind of PCs as mine - install it on theirs and play with it. The PC is wiped clean when the next person logs on. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Sep 07 - 05:46 PM I hate having to fix my browser after some new program or device installation program brings along a buddy. I use one toolbar--the Google toolbar, because it has the most useful functionality for me. Image searching, spelling check, blocking popups, email, Google maps and Google earth. You can set it up to do lots of different features in the Preferences section--I prefer that it have a few basic jobs and leave the rest to me. Some of the others just don't play nice with the browser and as you say, all of those toolbars take up a lot of space. SRS |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 28 Sep 07 - 10:45 PM BHOs (Browser Helper Objects) can be a way for malware to get into your PC - they use facilites that can bypass 'normal security'!!! I use BHO Demon http://www.definitivesolutions.com/ What is BHODemon? Think of BHODemon as a guardian for your Internet Explorer browser: it protects you from unknown Browser Helper Objects (BHOs) in two ways: o First, by letting you enable/disable them individually. o Second, by alerting you immediately when some website or program installs a BHO on your PC. BHODemon is free, runs in the "tray" area, and works on Windows 95 or later operating systems. (For Windows 95, you will probably need a recent version of Internet Explorer - that is, IE 4 or later.) It should go without saying, but we'll say it anyway: BHODemon contains no ad-ware, spy-ware, mal-ware, or any other such nonsense. It doesn't do anything bad to your Registry, your files, or anything else. It doesn't contain any viruses, worms, BHOs, or key-loggers. It doesn't send us any information about your PC without asking you, and even then, the info it sends us in no way identifies your PC. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: katlaughing Date: 28 Sep 07 - 10:51 PM Or, you could just use Mozilla.:-) |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: Bonnie Shaljean Date: 29 Sep 07 - 06:57 AM I second that, Geoff. Firefox is free, easy to use, better at keeping out unwanted intruders, and will co-exist quite peacefully in your puter with IE. It also lets you selectively (or otherwise) delete cookies, something that I notice is now much harder to do with IE. I can't think of one reason NOT to switch (their email programme Thunderbird is good, too). http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/ |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: GUEST,Biscuitless Duck Date: 29 Sep 07 - 09:14 AM I tend to use Firefox or Opera when available, but I am in the process of reorganising the computer from scratch (well - actually two of them, the "good" one for me and the old one the kids trash). As a result, I am installing or reinstalling lots of programmes onto a blank canvas. I started by putting on security protection programmes, one of which is Win Patrol, which has a little scottie dog that gives warnings when programmes try to install themselves and allows me the option of allowing them or denying the change. I was surprised at how many browser based alerts there were, so thought I would check what mudcatters thought were worth having, or problems to block. I have installed the Proxomitron, which is recommended by some catters, and it will automaticaly stop things such as pop-ups by preventing them before the code reaches the browser. I haven't got it set up and configured for the browsers to use it yet, but it is there to do the job. I will probably go on and block the lot unless someone gives me a good reason not to. Quack! Geoff the Duck. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: JohnInKansas Date: 29 Sep 07 - 08:25 PM BHO Demon? In IE, click Tools, click Manage Add-Ons. It's all there. Why do you need a separate program? Any good System Protection program now will include AV, firewall, popup blocking, cookie blockers, anti-phishing, anti-spyware, and if you want it, content management for the kiddies. Recent versions of both Norton and McAfee (the ones I've seen and run at least briefly) will do a good job of cleaning out even trivial "tracking cookies." I'm sure that other "full suite" providers are comparable, and in some cases may be even better for an individual's special needs. I find it hard enough to keep up to date with what ONE INTEGRATED PROGRAM is doing, without adding a bunch of junkware. It's generally more productive to occasionally RTFM for what I've got, and find out how to make it do what I need, than to go out searching for new one-trick-punies for each new thing that comes along. Of course, if you're stuck with a really obsolete OS that actually needs a lot of band-aids you may find a few helpers that are "cute" or that add a little "spice and entertainment" to your mundane existence, but a serious look at what you really need to be safe and unhassled on the web is quite likely to show that you're nursing a lot of "unhelpful" extra baggage. John |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 29 Sep 07 - 08:48 PM "Why do you need a separate program?" 98SE? Old Machine? P3 1Gb 512Mb? :-P Now when I get Linux nailed down, I won't need to have a lot of 'one trick ponies' which I don't run all the time, just when needed... Oh wait on, now I remember my design theory on UNIX/Linux... :-O |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 29 Sep 07 - 09:30 PM Ohhhh....Ms. LaFr..... must you be so catty?
Opera is also good. Mozilla/Firefox foundation goes back to DOS 3.0 (perhaps before)
Also use free versions of: Symantic ON-LINE - free scans (recommend overnight)at least monthly.
Gibson Research Center - http://www.grc.com (to search for leaks) at least go their for the education of how your machine reveals "ALL" to the world.
NEVER click on ANY helpers (even the smile-faces) - use Contl/Alt/Del and close your browser if you get unexpected downloads.
Sincerely, |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 29 Sep 07 - 10:56 PM Nice JOKE - Joe
Well Done - brillant capture of a boasting fool.
Sincerely,
I have not seen things this vicious since the Netscape Wars....it is nice to have chaos on the open range....as long as you know which steer you are driving. interesting days ahead....politics, economics, open-range-on-the-web. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 30 Sep 07 - 05:28 AM Probably just simple paranoia.
After, posting at 9:30 - there appeared to be an attempted at a browser capture using a combination from tribalfusion and doubleclick and a third party.
Sincerely, |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 30 Sep 07 - 09:02 AM Gargoyle - admitting that he is paranoid... Lucky I'm sitting down.... :-P |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: Geoff the Duck Date: 30 Sep 07 - 09:10 AM We have drifted slightly away from my original question. I have software in place which alerts me when these things try to install themselves (and I'm talking about the ones from known companies, not the trojan horses and viruses). I can block their installation. I can remove, either through standard installers, by Scottie the Win Patrol guard dog, by that Tools option JiK has just mentioned (One I wasn't aware of until he told me where to look), or by other means. What I am wanting to find out is Are Any Of Them Worth Having? or should I just block the lot? SRS likes the Google Toolbar because it gives easy access to certain functions. Are they ones which cannot be accessed by other means, or does it just link directly without messing about? Are the different toolbars all trying to offer the same services (Anti-pop-ups etc.), but with their own name on it rather than a competitor's company. Is their motivation more sinister - reporting your web habits back to a data collection point? Does anyone here actually know? I'm not particularly paranoid, but that doesn't mean that they arent out to get me... Quack! GtD. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Sep 07 - 12:33 PM SRS likes the Google Toolbar because it gives easy access to certain functions. Are they ones which cannot be accessed by other means, or does it just link directly without messing about? Many of the toolbars are much more manipulative than the Google one. I'm sure they all report back to the mother ship, but I've set Google to do it anonymously. Between typos and inconsistent spelling skills the feature of the toolbar I use all of the time is the spelling check. I usually have it set for No Popups. I don't have it fill in forms, I don't want to accidentally send out info that way so I don't use it. I have the news icon there and the image icon in place. Those I use all of the time. I feel like the Yahoo and Earthlink toolbars try to direct me to their featured sites much more than Google, though the Google featured sites are conspicuous at the top of the page and with a blue background. I usually skip those and go down to the regular results unless it is precisely what I'm looking for, in which case I give Google a little of what it wants, a reading on the accuracy of the recommendations. But I don't do that very often. SRS |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: Geoff the Duck Date: 30 Sep 07 - 02:35 PM Thanks SRS. That is exactly the sort of feedback I am after. A straight analysis of WHY you find it worthwhile as opposed to other alternatives. Quack! Geoff. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Browser's little Helper? From: Bill D Date: 02 Oct 07 - 05:37 PM So far, I have not installed any of the add-on toolbars. I seem to have 'almost' all the functions they offer in stand-alone programs...searching, spell-check, access to GoogleEarth...etc. I suppose Google bar will be ok, but I hear it is kinda hard to uninstall if you don't like it. (I do have a source for special pre-configured Proxomitron filter setups..I'll post the info soon...) |
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