What is the best Web browser?

This is from Kim Komando's web site, http://www.komando.com/.

It is presented below as written, with no changes. FYI, I prefer and still recommend Firefox. I have tried Chrome with each new release that comes along, but until/unless it implements a Bookmarks sidebar, like every other browser has, I just won't use it. It takes very little time to download it, install it, test it, and then uninstall it. I have done that many times!

Here is Kim's post:

"The browser world used to be simple. Basically, everyone used Internet Explorer (IE). If you wanted to be different, you could use Netscape. Or you could try Opera, if you knew it existed. And that was about it.

Now we have IE, Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari. And those are just the major ones. Which do you choose?

I'm going to focus on the top three market-share contenders. That would be IE8, Firefox and Chrome, respectively. Opera is excellent, but still a niche program. And Safari works better on the Mac than on PCs. I'll briefly discuss each browser's defining features, security and basic competence.

According to Net Applications, which surveys browser usage, IE was No. 1 in February. It had 62 percent of the market. Firefox was second with 24 percent. Chrome, Safari and Opera trailed, with 6, 4 and 2 percent, respectively.

Browsers are becoming homogenized. As time passes, they incorporate similar features to compete. If nothing drastic happens, they'll all be the same within a couple years. So, choose a browser with short term benefits foremost in mind. And don’t be afraid to switch.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Everyone knows about Internet Explorer. It's installed on every Windows computer by default. Until a few years ago, it was synonymous with the Internet. Now it is losing market share.
IE has no real advantages compared to other browsers. The latest version, IE8, is basically playing catch-up. It is often slower than other browsers and sometimes displays Web sites incorrectly. It also uses system resources heavily. However, users may not always notice these problems.

The entire IE line is plagued with security issues. IE8 is better than 6 or 7, but still not great. If you're using IE, upgrade to IE8.

Microsoft has been showing IE9, and it looks promising. A serious attempt is being made to create a good browser. I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out.

For now, I would ditch IE. Switching to a new browser is easy and free. You can even transfer all your bookmarks and settings with no hassle.

Mozilla Firefox

My long-standing browser recommendation is Mozilla's Firefox. It started the current browser wars after its debut five years ago. It is a descendent of IE's old rival, Netscape. Like all other browsers, it's free.

Firefox was originally designed for speed and simplicity. It is faster than IE and better conforms to Web standards. This means it displays most Web sites correctly.

Firefox is also strong on security. It's obviously not perfect, but the developers are responsive. They fix security problems in a timely manner.

Firefox is highly customizable. You can download add-ons—themes, extensions and plug-ins. Themes are buttons, colors and layouts. Plug-ins are core programs that make Firefox work better. They are usually included in the Firefox download.

Extensions are a particular strength. These are little programs, nearly always free, that add or enhance features. For instance, you can get an extension that pops up reminders. Another verifies the integrity of Web links. There are literally thousands of things you can add.
Mozilla also has regular upgrades. This continually improves Firefox's speed and stability. New features are always being developed.

Google Chrome

Chrome is the newest major browser. It has enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence in only two years. What else do you expect when it is developed by Google?

Google designed Chrome as a platform for using Web services. That could include Google Search, Google Docs, Gmail and so on. Hmm…Those are all Google products. That's probably just a coincidence!

Chrome is an excellent browser. It's consistently the fastest in browsing tests, although often only by  milliseconds. And it gets a 100 percent in the Acid3 test. That test determines how well a browser complies with Web standards.

By comparison, IE8 gets a 20 percent in the Acid3 test. Firefox comes in at 93 percent.
Chrome is also secure. Like Mozilla, it is responsive to security threats. It even implements security features Firefox doesn't have. This includes a sandbox feature that isolates Web pages from the system. Malicious code can't break out to infect your computer. That's scheduled for Firefox, but hasn't arrived yet.

Chrome's interface is a bit different. It wanted more screen area. So, the interface is minimal and streamlined. It works, but it takes some adjustment.

Where Chrome lags is extensions. Many useful extensions for Firefox aren't available for Chrome. Also, the extension database and installation procedures aren't user-friendly. This is improving, but it's still a consideration.

So, which browser should you choose? Well, I don't recommend Internet Explorer. It has too many security problems. Both Firefox and Chrome are fast and secure. Firefox is customizable; Chrome is simple. If you aren't sure, download and test both. Give Opera a try while you're at it. After all, they're free!

No matter how good your browser, you still need to take security seriously."

Thinking of buying a laptop? Read this first

Call That Girl is one of the many web sites I visit frequently. I readily admit that I don't know everything and like to pick up tidbits or pointers elsewhere whenever I can. Lisa has some very good advice in this blog post of hers, and for those of you in the market for a new laptop this post is highly recommended.

Thinking of buying a laptop? Read this first

Another Norton Bust

Yesterday I had the pleasure of uninstalling another copy of Norton Antivirus and replacing it with Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE), my current favorite, recommended, and FREE antivirus and antispyware product.

This particular customer's machine had been infected by one of the ubiquitous rogue programs. His fully-paid-up Norton license did NOT protect him. This is at least the second time I have seen a customer let down by Norton, and it was my pleasure to download and install and run the Norton Removal Tool (thank you for this one good product Symantec!).

Coincidentally, this customer had recently received a notice that his Norton product would expire in a month, and would he please agree to pay $44 to get it renewed for another year. What gall they have.

If you have not yet made the switch, now's a good time to consider doing it.

Windows 7 is a Success, On Track to Overtake XP This Year

I still like Windows 7. It is easy for an experienced Windows XP user to adapt to its minor changes. Likewise for a Vista user. This article comes from maximumpc.com.

"Over the last year, Windows 7 has slowly, but steadily been gaining market share. Now perhaps we can all just get together and call it a huge success. According to some Google analytics data, Windows 7 has blown by Vista, and should surpass Windows XP by year's end. What we're talking about here are usage statistics for various websites, but this is indicative of what regular consumers are running.

In July, Microsoft announced that they had sold 175 million Windows 7 licenses. That amounts to 30 million per month. Still, when Microsoft talks about this, there's no joy, no self-congratulations. It wouldn't be prudent to talk up the platform too much, but consumers seem pleased with Windows 7. Microsoft has avoided reliving the PR nightmare that the Vista launch turned into.

All the data shows that Vista users are upgrading at an astounding rate. This in and of itself is odd. In the past, most users have just waited until they bought a new computer to get the new version of Windows. It could be a symptom of widespread dissatisfaction with Vista, but the quality of Windows 7 is also getting XP users to take the plunge. Did you step up to Windows 7 from XP? Tell us about your experience."

Read More

MVPS HOSTS File for August

Remember, this is a very good time to run Spybot - before downloading and updating the HOST file.


MVPS HOSTS File Update August-18-2010

The MVPS HOSTS file was recently updated [August-18-2010]
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
Download: hosts.zip (149 kb)
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.zip
How To: Download and Extract the HOSTS file
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts2.htm
HOSTS File - Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hostsfaq.htm
Note: the "text" version makes a great resource for determining possible unwanted connections ...
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.txt (605 kb)

15 Things Every PC User Should Know

This is a very useful list of items from pcworld.com. I must say that I am a little disappointed that they didn't include "keep your desktop uncluttered". I work on some PCs that don't have room for another icon! Really. A cluttered desktop will slow down the startup process.

But I digress. Here's the article, worth your time for some good basic advice.

15 Things Every PC User Should Know

Vacation

I am in Maine and will be here all next week on vacation. I'll probably take the week off from blogging as well. I hope all of you readers are having a good summer. Hard to believe but people are talking "back to school" already.

Power Outage

I arrived in East Boothbay tonight at 10:45 PM and found that the power was out. My son informed me that power went out around 5 PM. Our cottage was lit by candles. The power came back on at about 11:20. I write this because we have the Time Warner version of their "Triple Play", the bundle that gives us TV, High Speed Internet, and Telephone. I was reminded that the TWC Cable Modem does not have a battery built in for backup. Thus we had no telephone.

I remember back in Vermont that Comcast had an 8 hour battery built in to their Cable Modem. With that one would still be able to make phone calls (in theory a least) with a phone attached to the modem, but I don't think I ever tested that out. Also, I never gave any thought to what kind of phone would work, if any. I guess maybe one of the old handsets. If true it might be a good idea to keep one of them around.

I mention this just as food for thought for all of you. If you are converting to one of the bundles, ask about backup and what else you would have to do to maintain telephone capability in the event of a power failure. I guess a PC directly attached via Cat 5 cable to the modem would work as long as the PC was a laptop running on its own battery.

A simple answer for most of you may be your cell phone, but I always manage to choose places to live that have no cell service available!

Tuning your system with the System Configuration Utility (MSCONFIG)

When I wrote up the accompanying document for this post, it was written for Windows XP. However, if you have Vista or Windows 7 you too will find this guide easy to follow and use. If something seems amiss it might be because you are using Vista or W7, but for the most part I think you'll find this guide something you can follow. One big change is that the referenced web site, Castlecops, is no longer available. If you do a Google search for STARTUP PROGRAMS you will find several other good web sites that will serve you well. Here is one: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/

The System Configuration Utility, an easy to use program in Windows,  will take you one step closer to having a well-tuned Windows system. I use it every time I visit a customer's home or office as a part of my system tune-up process.

The System Configuration Utility in Windows XP

Cleaning & Tuning

Today was a good day for me. I found enough time to clean and tune my own (primary) machine! Rarely do I get such a luxury. I rely on my recommended security suite (http://pcdocsblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/please-take-heed-and-secure-your-system.html)  to keep my machines safe from rogues and viruses and other malware, and they do a great job. Once a week I try to do a full scan with either Malwarebytes or SuperAntispyware. My MSE antivirus runs every night - a full scan - while I sleep.

But after some time has gone by it is always a good idea to do a focused and thorough cleaning and tuning, and today I did just that. I also reorganized my recent photos. It turns out that I had taken many hundreds of photos during July, so I created some sub-folders to further define the July photos.

Many of you have asked me about how to organize your photos. Here is what my photo library looks like (click on it for larger view):

If you want to know a program you can use to organize your photos, I'd recommend Picasa, but I do mine manually. I like being in control and programs like Picasa and others take that away from you. In those 10 years of photo folders I have 33,495 digital photos, mostly of family, and of course, these are all precious to me, so I back them up regularly. Like most other PC things, I do that myself too.

One thing I don't get to do each week is to run some of the utility programs within Tune-Up Utilities. I freed up disk space, I cleaned the registry, I defragged the registry, checked for broken shortcuts (there were none), ran CCleaner, and did general housekeeping tasks. I feel a lot better having a clean machine that I know is running at its optimum.

As you all know, I am available to perform this service for you if needed, but I take a lot of pride and get great satisfaction knowing that so many of you, who have been following me for years, can do the same for yourselves. It's very comforing knowing what you are doing, right?

Oh Brother!

What clever and devious people do in their spare time!

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00001997.html

Hard to believe we have yet another rogue program.

Bharath's Security Blog

A couple of new rogue programs to watch out for. There is no rest for the weary, although it was over a month since Bharath published the last new rogue. Be careful ou there. They are out to get you!

http://bharath-m-narayan.blogspot.com/ 

I recommend bookmarking this site and checking it regularly.

Browser Choice

I was looking at Kim Komando's web site (http://www.komando.com/) this morning, as I do every day, and happened upon this tidbit:

"Microsoft's Internet Explorer is rife with security holes. Over the years, many of these security problems have been patched through Windows updates. But new ones continue to appear. I recommend that you switch to the Firefox browser. It's free. I think it is inherently safer."

I happen to agree. I have encouraged all of you to use Firefox as your default browser. You can't get rid of Internet Explorer, but you can avoid using it. There are lots of browsers out there, and they are all free, but I personally have tried them all, like Firefox best, and recommend it for your use. You can download it at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/.

Baby Moose

Okay, we've all seen a moose or two on more than one occasion, but this video is quite remarkable IMHO. Even if you have seen it you might enjoy viewing it again.

Baby moose in sprinkler

The home page of the web site http://www.wimp.com/ claims "Best videos on the Web. Suitable for all ages." I have watched quite a few and there is sure to be something for all ages. Lots of fun.

Making Windows XP Last for Another 4 Years

This is an oldie but goodie that I first posted in 2008, and at that time the post was titled Making Windows XP Last for Another 6 Years! Note that the title has been changed to 4 years!!

I have come to use my desktop, referenced in the original post, much less these days. As a matter of fact since we moved I have not unpacked it. I have become quite happy using a laptop. I have 2 Acers, and one runs Windows XP and the other, my new primary machine, runs Windows 7. 

If you have Windows XP, whether a desktop or laptop, and want to continue using it for some time, you are in good company and can plan on using it for another 4 years if you keep it updated and follow my recommended security suite of free programs. One note I would make is that I did upgrade the RAM from 1GB to 2GB, and I would urge you to do the same if your machine has that capacity.

Making Windows XP last for another 6 years

Using the HOSTS file to block certain web sites

The oft-discussed HOSTS file is nothing more than a list of web sites that will be blocked if you try to get to them. If you use the recommended MVPS HOSTS file, the list of web sites contains web addresses of sites that have been known to cause trouble.

Suppose you have someone in your house who is visiting a web site that you'd like to block? If that is the case, you can manually add the site, or sites as the case may be, to your HOSTS file.

Here is how to do it. In order to follow these instructions you need to have view access to hidden and system files. To gain this access you can go into Windows Explorer, Tools/Folder Options/View. Once there, uncheck the boxes that prevent you from viewing these files.

Now that you can view hidden and system files, go to this location, C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. Once there you will see the HOSTS file. In XP, right click on the filename, select Open With, and then select Notepad.

Once the file is opened, you can simply insert a blank line anywhere you like, and either paste the web site you wish to block or key it in manually. Then SAVE the file. Voila, the offensive web site is now blocked on your system (after the next reboot). I would suggest you take note of the sites you add, and keep them all together like starting maybe at line 100,  because remember this file will become the OLD file next month with the latest update and you will have to copy them all into the new HOSTS file.

Write me if you need help with this.

Checking the health of your hard drive

An oldie but goodie, running Chkdsk (Check Disk). This is worth doing once every 6 months or when required. Complete detailed instructions are included.

Checking the health of your hard drive

Spybot's Immunize function and the new MVPS HOSTS file

I have known for a long time that Spybot's Immunize function adds a considerable amount of data to the end of the HOSTS file which, in my case is the MVPS HOSTS file. I remember having an e-mail discussion with the author of the MVPS HOSTS file and telling him this. At the time he was not aware of this, and so we agreed I would send him supporting data (before and after Spybot's run HOSTS files). It is quite clear what Spybot's Immunize does (at least in this regard) when one takes a look at the before and after HOSTS files.

What am I talking about you may ask?

What I am getting at is that the author of the MVPS HOSTS file was not, at that time, impressed by what Spybot did, and he seemed to say it was a waste, most likely redundant data added to the end- I forget. In any case, I am doing something new now because of this.

This morning I noticed that the new July version of the MVPS HOSTS file was available. I took a look at my current HOSTS file (the June version) and it was, best I can recall, 597KB in size. I then ran Spybot (update, immunize, and sarch & destroy). My HOSTS file went from 597KB to nearly 1MB, a substantial increase. FYI, the entire HOSTS file is loaded into memory at boot time, so this is a substantial increase which buys one little or nothing.

My new approach is this. When the new monthly MVPS HOSTS file is made available, I will first do a full Spybot run and THEN install the new MVPS HOSTS file. I will thus wind up with a HOSTS file in size of about 600KB vs. one of about 1MB, knowing the larger version would do me little or no good. Capiche? If not, please ask.

HOSTS News (worth bookmarking)

Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

I had 5 updates from Microsoft yesterday. You'll all have differing numbers, bu mine was 5. One of these was the monthly MS Malicious Software Removal Tool ( I call it MSRT for obvious reasons). I promised last month that I'd follow up with someI better information about this tool. This is what I found:

Microsoft will only run a Quick Scan with the tool after it is downloaded and installed. This is as I had thought and is why I have always recommended that we all manually run a Full Scan. MS will run a quick scan in stealth mode. You'll never know when it is running and you won't see any output from the tool - unless it finds a problem.

The first thing you should do once you have checked your updates (Check the update history to see if it was installed this week) is  to run a Full Scan. There is a quick and easy way to do this, much simpler than the method I have posted in the past. First click on START, then RUN, and enter MRT (go figure why they left out the S) in the command line then click on OK.

Yes, you can click on that picture above to see the larger version.

In the resulting window note the month in the application banner at the top of the window.

In this case it says July 2010, and yours should as well. Click on Next and then select Full Scan. Just let it run. It takes forever but should not impact your use of your machine. It seems to have very low overhead.

As I post this, mine has been running for over 2.5 hours and it may run a lot longer. I don't care because it is very cheap insurance. Go for it!

Summer Doldrums

Doldrums definition: a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or slump. Things have been busy and I am having trouble trying to post to this blog on a daily basis.

So, instead of being totally idle, I will from time to time provide links to some oldies but goodies. I had a customer tell me recently that she forgot how to defragment her hard drive. It's important that you do this regularly, like maybe every 3 months or so. At this link you will find detailed instructions on how to do this. Do it even if the Analyze step says you don't need to do it.

http://pcdocsblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/defragment-your-hard-drive.html