Windows XP-SP2

[Bunny]

Well it looks like you're all set then and your Internet Explorer is every bit the same as Firefox now.

Just trying to provide some help you didn't need, lol.

Aaron

[mx_sk8rkid_69]

You say you don't ever scan for adware or spyware Bruce?

an antivirus scan on my computer twice a year to insure that it's clean.  At the time I install what I need and then remove it when I'm done.  When I do scan I do not find anything on my computer.



Bruce

scan for virusus twice a year? holy crap i do it once or twice a week LMAO

[Bunny]

My cousin does it every night.
From what Bruce says though, he doesn't need to do it anymore than that.

[AheadBMX_6]

What is this SP2 thing? Is it a windows update from Microsoft via their auto-update or is it an independent thing? Never heard of it. XP hasn't dowloaded any windows updates in awhile for some reason. Maybe I just accidentaly disabled it.

Have you tried v9.0 of Firefox Bruce? I switched over and havn't found any problems. My take on it is that it is very secure. I used to use IE and I didn't have to many problems but it was still kinda scetchy. Sometimes it would attract spyware no matter what but Adware took care of that. IE's home page could be easily hijacked, to. It just seemed like a messy program. So far Firefox is doing a good job. It was a little bit of a pain to set up but once I got it set up theres where no hassles. There are a few things that are kinda weird like when it's loading a page sometimes you can't click a link until its done loading. But that only happens once in awhile. It can integrate stuff really easily. It integrated DAP(download accelerator)  with a few clicks. It has some neat right-click options like the 'Download with' option . I havn't had any of those 'would you like to send a problem report to microsoft' problems yet either. Each man his own though.

[AMA_DirtTwister]

Those "would you like to send a problem report" dialogs occur when a program that you are running abends.  If your system is setup properly those should be rare.  I would expect to get them after making a change.  Once my system is settled down I do not expect to get them. 

Adware and Spyware do not just easily install themselves.  You are letting them be installed.  IE allows you to set the options so that ActiveX controls and scripts can install themselves without you being notified.  Those options should be set to alert you to when it's happening.  BHO's (Browser Helper Objects) have been exploited and have caused many people problems.  They are in fact very useful, but if you allow anything to just install itself as one then you have opened yourself up to severe problems.

Yes I've tried 0.9 of Firefox.  Firefox's safety is because of it's lack of functionality.  If it implemented the same functionality as IE it would have the same problems.

Bruce

[MotoX395]

I will consider you a lost soul...heh

I can say this much tough. IE is the browser that holds back the web, IE is the browser with lack of support for all known web standards. I can name 1000nds of things that IE can't handle witch every other browser based on the gecko engine CAN handle. The reason why some sites not work in other then IE is because of bad coding and people being ignorant thinking that IE is the true browser. If you look at any site that's well coded you would know.

If you want me too I can explain every in and out of why you should use ANY alternate browser (opera, mozilla, mozilla firefox..) instead of IE but only if you want me to because then I can smell a 2 page long post witch I don't want to write without having someone to read it at all.

[AheadBMX_6]

Nah I don't think IE's THAT bad lol. Bruce how do you find out the problem of those 'send error reports'? My system always runs like a champ except for those every once in awhile. I used IE for years with very few hic ups. Bruce is right though about the spyware. It mainly installs in programs and stuff if you let it. I never never never click those pop ups asking if you want to install software. The only real thing I could think of about IE that pissed me off REALLY bad was the hijacked home pages! I don't know where the hell I got that *#*#* from but it was annoying as hell! I had to install a anti-page hijacker! Even that didn't stop it. Every time I opened up IE I got the MSN home page. Don't think Adaware or Spybot got those. Once I got rid of that I was bittin' by another one that sent me to some search page with a blank URL. That thing pissed me off so bad. Anyways enough ranting lol. So far Firefox has no hic uped.

[AMA_DirtTwister]

I can say this much tough. IE is the browser that holds back the web, IE is the browser with lack of support for all known web standards. I can name 1000nds of things that IE can't handle witch every other browser based on the gecko engine CAN handle.

That's a pretty strong statement.  I feel the opposite is true.  Microsoft (as much as I don't like this) is really establishing and leading the way as far as standards go.  The most pure and perfect standard is irrelevant if the vast majority of people are using a different one.   Standards promoted by IE haters are meaningless to me.  WASP is well intentioned but I feel is made up of IE haters.   I don't love IE and I don't love Windows, but I don't let my dislikes lead me to shoot myself in the foot and try to live with Linux and stuff like Firefox. 

I think it's great that other browsers are getting better.  It will make my Linux browsing a better experience.  I use Linux, I have a box in my house, but it will never become my desktop.

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As far as determining what's going on when programs abend, that is almost impossible to answer.  When I have programs abend I try to classify them.  For example, "Is it repeatable?", "Did I just make a change?", "Have I been playing games?", "Has it been a long time since I rebooted?", "What are my current resources (memory, diskspace, etc.).  Stuff like that.  If I just made a change (installed new software or hardware) does the error relate to the change.  If it has, I will try to determine if the abending program/dll is a driver or part of the application.  If it's a driver I'll make sure I have the latest one and I will contact the vendor.  If it's an application I will contact the vendor about their application. 

Sometimes you are just on your own to figure out your problem.  To help determine where the problem is I typically use some programs that you can get from http://www.sysinternals.com.  The most common ones that I use are filemon, regmon, process explorer, TCPView, and TDImon.

Bruce

[PRO_Westy]

The biggest issue here is quite simply that IE is the more popular browser to the masses not your computer tech or an average home user im talking the run of the mill joe who uses the pc here and there to send a few emails etc...

Now as IE is made by MS it gets attacked all the dang time because like anything in the real world the most widey used item or most well know item or person is always one persons fave thing or the most hated object in the world...

I myself have tried firefox and its a great proggie no question about it.. and it does have a huge userbase, but in comparison to the user base who uses IE ... well there isnt really any contest there is there?

Ppl will always knock ms products and say they can do better etc etc,, im sure they can,, but when there product becomes as succseful as a MS product then u will begin to see the leaks and the attacks on said program..

just remember its what you like best for your own personal usage that suits you best,,,

some guys like fat chicks some like thin   make sence

Westy