OT browser Norton issue

[Tim Lamb]

And then use what as a browser?

My explorer 8? is very dated and gets lots of criticism from visited websites!

>

[John Williamson]

I've seen lots of recommendations for Chrome.

[The Natural Philosopher]

reinstall the REAL firefox. Or Chrome.

[John Williamson]

I am beginning to find that under Windows XP and 7, the latest versions of FF are getting less stable every time it's updated.

[Tim Lamb]

I've been trying to avoid Chrome but can't remember why. General dislike of Google intrusion perhaps.

I'll have a go tonight. Norton seemed to uninstall OK when I last did it. There is an issue with a Norton toolbar on explorer but we'll come to that:-)

[Johny B Good]

Opera v12.17 ?

You think that's dated? You've never tried IE6 then :-)

[Johny B Good]

Not Chrome, Opera 12.17. Better still, don't bother with FF(S), just Opera. :-)

[polygonum]

Quite - that was what I meant. You haven't got Firefox now, you've got a pile of poo. Uninstall. Reinstall.

Not Chrome. Please not Chrome. It is so incompatible with so many things I need to use.

[Johny B Good]

It was always thus, going by the seemingly never ending stream of complaints I see in usenet postings.

I'm afraid that FF(S) seems to be the de-facto standard web browser for most Linux distros in the same way that IE is for Microsoft windows.

The only nice thing about this situation is that, unlike in windows, you can easily uninstall it before or after installing Opera.

Or better still _without_ Chrome. Google has enough of its tendrils intertwined into your web browsing experience as it is. Why collude with all those companies (sadly including Avast[1]) who use 'dark patterns'[2] styled installers to increase the risk of "Getting chrome plated by accident" just like any other adware/spyware/malware.

[1] When I first noticed the appearance of this 'extra option' I thought, "Oh well, they do have a point relating to improving security. _Any_ alternative to the de-facto IE has just got to improve internet security.", so I forgave them this little sin.

However, Once I spotted Chrome being offered by many more companies' product installation routines, I realised it was simply a nice lttle earner being picked up by Avast rather than a considered change to improve security so it's now simply an unjustifiable annoyance.

[2] That's an installer dialogue that tries to hide the included option to install something else like Chrome with a preselected option, you need to cancel if you don't want your perfectly good alternative web browser to play second fiddle to this Google nonsense.

Explains the problem in more detail.

I don't know about you, but when I see such aggressive efforts to inflict a particular product onto The Great Unwashed, I do have to question, "What's in it for _Them_ (at my expense) that they're investing this much effort?

You may have noticed; I'm rather cynical. Indeed, compared to most of my contemporaries, perhaps a little too cynical. Wrong Benchmark! I think I'm only barely cynical enough to survive this new electronic way of life and cold caller nuisance phone calls and door to door salesmen. The problem is the apparent naivety and innocence ('Lambs to the slaughter' comes strongly to mind) of most of my contemporaries who aught to know better.

And, that age old adage (a PT Barnumism, iirc) of "There's One Born Every Minute." that has been taken up as the battlecry of corporations worldwide, means our children and grandchildren are as Veal, never mind "lambs to the slaughter"!

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Johny B Good writes

I'm old enough to have tried them all:-(

[The Natural Philosopher]

Mosaic! Now that's a browser!

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Tim Lamb writes

Hmmm... Apart from rediscovering my lack of knowledge, last night's uninstall attempt was a dismal failure.

Partly site traffic issues (I think) but mainly that the support advice is not aimed at XP users.

I am struggling with Command Prompt instructions to empty the *temp users file* for example.

Busy day today but I'll get back to it later.

[Tim Lamb]

OK Chaps.

Mozilla and Norton stripped out and re-installed. Everything seems normal so far.

Bloody slow job!

Anything I should be checking before rushing off to change all my banking passwords?

Thanks for all advice and support.

[Lawrence]

Philosopher

Good

3

er

Check your router's DNS settings. A friend had similar problems and that turned out to be the root cause. TP Link provided a security update for the router to prevent it reoccurring but only when asked. Apparently many cheap end routers are vulnerable.

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Lawrence writes

er.. I suspect interrogating routers is beyond my skill set.

Look up times have increased hugely over the last 12 months. I just assumed this was Demon saving a few pennies.