Author Topic: New Mozilla Beta. (Read 5728 times)

mistybear · « **on:** July 14, 2006, 09:23 »

I have installed the new Mozilla Firefox Beta 1, but I had to uninstall all the add-ons that I had with the older version, as they were incompatible.

I would like the email notifier toolbar, but have been unable to find one. I would really appreciate it if anyone knows if there is on available. I don't seem to be able to find any site at Mozilla just for the Beta Add-ons, if anyone knows if one exists that would be greatly appreciated as well.

The reason for the new Beta version is for security.

Simon · « **Reply #1 on:** July 14, 2006, 09:42 »

Personally, I wouldn't recommend using the Beta versions, as, by their nature, they are unfinished products. Stick to the official full releases and you should be OK with most of your plugins. I would suggest you go back to the previous version, which you can download from the link in my sig, and your plugins should then start to work again.

mistybear · « **Reply #2 on:** July 14, 2006, 10:17 »

Thanks Simon, but after being inundated with adware and spyware, I'm a little nervous about going back.
I discovered that SpyBot only protected IE and not knowing how to adjust FF to stop all the spyware, I uninstalled it and Zone Alarm and started again.

I've added SpyBlaster as it says that it protects FF as well as IE and reinstalled Zone Alarm.

If I reinstall the other version, what do I need to do to make sure it has all the security it needs?
Do I need to uninstall the Beta version to reinstall 1.5.0.4 , or can I keep it for future needs.

Simon · « **Reply #3 on:** July 14, 2006, 14:24 »

I'll come back to you in more detail later, but 1.5.0.4 has all the security you will need.

mistybear · « **Reply #4 on:** July 14, 2006, 14:49 »

Thanks Simon, there's no hurry, I'm off to bed.

I obviously didn't have the first version set up right. Even though it would say it had blocked a pop-up it would still be there. And after being on the net for a couple of hours, a SpyBot scan showed at least 15 items. Last one was 28.
Bit scarey as I had been doing some banking as well.

Simon · « **Reply #5 on:** July 15, 2006, 11:30 »

OK, first download Firefox 1.5.0.4 from the link in my sig. This will take you to the official site, so there will be no risk of getting any spyware bundled in with the download, which can happen with third party download sites.

I think you may be under a mis-apprehension that Firefox has spyware protection built in - it doesn't. It is, however, more secure then IE, because of the way it has been written, and due to the fact that spyware / trojan writers tend to target IE, as it is still (unbelievably) the most popular mainstream browser.

The default Firefox settings should be fine, and shouldn't really need adjusting, but just make sure that the Pop Up Blocker is enabled (Tools > Options > Content), and that you have allowed pc-pals.com by using the Exceptions button, or you may find problems logging in, like you did before. Also remember to go to Tools > Options > Privacy, and using the Exceptions button again, allow pc-pals.com cookies. The Pop Up Blocker may not block every single pop up (there are some pop-unders that can fool it), but it will certainly block most of them, and I don't believe a pop up can install spyware on your computer, just by 'popping up'. To safely remove a pop up, click the red X to close the window, rather than clicking OK, or any of the other buttons which may appear.

If you found you were inundated with spyware before, then you will need to use third party spyware protection, such as Spyware Blaster, which you said you have now installed. You must make sure that you Enable All Protection for Firefox and IE, and you must also remember to periodically check for updates, unless you want to pay the small amount to enable Auto Updates, which is worthwhile in my opinion. That should really be all the protection you need, especially if you don't make a habit of visiting 'dodgy' websites, and periodically using Ad Aware and SpyBot to scan for any spyware which slips through, should keep your PC nice and clean.

Of course, you still need adequate Anti Virus protection, and a Firewall to block intrusions, and if you have all these installed, updated, and running, you really shouldn't have any problems.

Check out our newly updated tabs at the top of the screen, for lists of available Anti Virus and Firewall applications. You will find that there are still a few free ones available.

mistybear · « **Reply #6 on:** July 15, 2006, 12:59 »

Thanks Simon,

I also added Adblock and No Script.

I checked the cookies and there are quite a few that are already blocked and yes I added pc pals to the allow list.

So with AVG, AdAware, A squared, SpyBot S&D, SpyBlaster and Zone Alarm, I think I'm now covered. And yes I have updated all of them.

A very nice selection of Anti-Virus and Firewalls.

mistybear · « **Reply #7 on:** July 17, 2006, 15:52 »

Sorry to be a pain with this, but I can't get the Email Notifier to work.
I have be trying different things and uninstalled it and reinstalled it a few times.
Now I have Movie Toolbar, but I have realised that the email notifier part is probably the same on all of them so not much point in swapping them.
One thing I did find and block in the cookies was users.effectivebrand.com, then I read on the Mozilla forum that it's part of the toolbar. (information gathering and not Spyware) :? So I unblocked it nothing changed, they all still say failed.?

I don't know if this has anything to do with it but I also installed Cookie Safe, Password Maker and No Script all of which I have now disabled, in case any are causing a problem. :?

Simon · « **Reply #8 on:** July 17, 2006, 17:03 »

You really don't need all those other third party applications, such as Cookie Safe, and No Script, as Firefox clears all your cookies when you exit, apart from the ones you have saved, and I don't think you need to worry about scripts with Firefox, but what you may have done, with No Script, is block JavaScript, which a lot of websites use, and is relatively harmless.

Quote

*Please note: The E-mail Notifier Toolbar collects anonymous usage data but it DOES NOT spy on your browsing habits. Please see our privacy policy here:
http://emailnotifier.ourtoolbar.com/customtemplmngr.aspx?ctl=clientprivacy&ToolbarId=CT227176&version=1.0.1.17

I don't think this is anything to be concerned about. In fact, I suspect many programs we all have installed, Microsoft included, function in this way, but don't bother to tell us. At least the developers of E-mail Notifier are being honest and up front about it. I would guess that it no longer works, because you have blocked the cookie, or one of the other third party applications has blocked a script it needs to function. Simply disabling these programs may not work, so try uninstalling them and see if that helps, and also re-enable the effectivebrand.com cookie.

The Password Maker should be OK, as, I am guessing, this is not connected with Firefox, as such, and therefore shouldn't affect anything.

Oh, where did Movie Toolbar come from? Is that part of Email Notifier? :?

mistybear · « **Reply #9 on:** July 18, 2006, 03:59 »

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2545/
This is the Movie Toolbar, I thought if I changed toolbars, maybe I could find one with an email notifier that worked.

But I'm guessing no matter which Toolbar you select with an email notifier included, the email notifier in it self is the the same in all of them.

I"m not sure if this is related, I had a look in Tools>Options>Privacy>Passwords, there aren't any email addresses in there.

I have uninstalled No Script and Cookie Safe and I uninstalled the Movie Toolbar and reinstalled the Email Notifier, no change.
I had actually deleted the user.effectivebrand.com, so I added it again.
I'll reboot and see if it makes a difference.

Simon · « **Reply #10 on:** July 18, 2006, 08:01 »

Yes, it seems that the Movie toolbar incorporates Email Notifier, and it's the same as the stand alone extension. Not having used it myself, I don't really know how it's supposed to work. Were there passwords stored in Tools > Options > Privacy > Passwords before? At what stage did you have to input your email passwords when you originally set it up? Is there an 'Options' within Email Notifier, which allows you to set it up again? I'm not generally a fan of toolbars, but if you don't manage to sort it, I'll install it myself and see how it works. When you say it's not working, is it just not doing anything, or do you get some sort of error message?

mistybear · « **Reply #11 on:** July 18, 2006, 08:56 »

Not sure about the passwords Simon, first time I've looked at it. That's what happens when you can't get something to work, you start looking into everything.

As soon as I installed the Email Notifier I add my email addresses, and when I wasn't recieving any notices I checked it and it has red X's next to them all saying "failed". Say's it all really.

But when you add your email addresses you have the option of testing it, a little box comes up with Establish network connection, green tick.
   Find mail server. green tick
   Login to mail server red cross
   Failed testing mail account red cross

This happened before I deleted the Add-ons and after. I've uninstalled reinstalled the same Email Notifier Toolbar and then the Movie one and back.
I have readded that cookie and unblocked it.
I had IE open with hotmail before when I tested it and it asked me to close it, which I did and msn as well, then I tested it again, still failed.

Simon · « **Reply #12 on:** July 18, 2006, 09:43 »

Are you sure you have used the correct log in and passwords for the email accounts? It seems that it's finding the servers, but not allowing you to log in, which is usually down to an incorrect user name or password. :?

mistybear · « **Reply #13 on:** July 18, 2006, 10:09 »

Just in case the Password Maker did anything strange or in case I've suddenly forgotten email addresses and passwords I've had for ages, I tried logging in through the hotmail site, no problems, and no problems with msn and IE.

Simon · « **Reply #14 on:** July 18, 2006, 17:10 »

I have just installed Email Notifier myself, and with no adjustments to cookies, or anything else, once I had set up my Gmail account, it worked fine. Sorry Kate, I'm at a loss as to what else to suggest. It worked when you first installed it, so something must have stopped it working between then and now. The only other thing I can suggest is to uninstall it, remove the effectivebrand.com cookie, then restart Firefox, re-install Email Notifier, remove any accounts which are still there, and start again.

Oh, just one thing I suddenly thought of - did you say you are using Zone Alarm firewall? I would be surprised if this is the answer, but it's possible that may be blocking it, so check in the programs list in ZA (sorry, I don't have it installed, so I can't tell you where that is), and see if Email Notifier is listed. If it is, remove it, and when it next asks for permission, allow it, and tick the box to remember the answer for next time. ZA does sometimes block things for no apparent reason, and it can be difficult to persuade it to allow the desired program again.