[nfbcs] Firefox Slowness was RE: Accessible Windows Explorer Alternatives

Sun May 11 17:56:34 UTC 2014

On the subject of using browsers other than IE, one of the reasons that I
don't use Firefox more is because I find it to be rather slow. I am using
JAWS 15 on a 64 bit Vista computer. Does anyone else have trouble with
Firefox being slow, and, if so, has anyone found a way to make it faster? In
case it makes a difference, I also have the Web Visum  extension.

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Blaine Clark
Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2014 10:41 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Accessible Windows Explorer Alternatives

Microsoft security problems are built-in and sometimes I'm positive they do
it on purpose. Internet Exploder - Explorer I mean! - is coded into the
Windows File Explorer which is coded into the system files. This is why it's
impossible to uninstall IE. It's not a stand-alone program.
That is also just one reason among many why it's so easy for malware of all
types to infest a MS system, there's a straight line of open command from
the outside, the internet, CDs, DVDs, USBs, what have you right into your
system files. One of the other reasons MS is so prone to infection is it's
file and system permissions. Microsoft by default sets all operators up
under the default Administrative account which is not secure because it
assumes all operator actions are OKed by the administrator. So what to do?

First, when your system is totally clean, get into your system settings and
create a new user account. Set this account to be guest only, with limited
privileges. Set this account to be the one that's automatically logged into
at startup and remove the autostart setting from the Administrator account.
Don't ever loose the passwords for either one!!
Even if you are the only user of the computer, this is important to do.

Second, install a good anti-virus and double-check to make sure it's set to
update at least daily, monitor all downloads, and scan your entire system in
a deep scan at least weekly while doing a lighter 'Recommended Scan' every
day. All other settings should be set to be as aggressive as possible such
as quarantine, delete, heal and maybe even see if you want it to notify you
when it finds a problem. Check it's status at least once a month because
brand new viruses many times have a 'feature' of trying to deactivate
anti-virus programs and on rare occasions they are successful. Note!! do not
install more than one anti-virus program at a time. The signature files each
one uses to identify viruses will cause another anti-virus program to heal,
quarantine or delete them which, when the altered anti-virus programs run
again using it's altered signature files, that can and will wreck havoc on
any files in your entire system!

Third, install a good anti-malware program such as Malwarebytes,
SuperAntiMalware or the like and set it up to operate as often and as
aggressively as your anti-virus program. As long as the anti-malware
programs do not extend their functions to virus cleaning you can add them to
your system and you can have more than one installed and running at the same
time. Unless your hardware is top-notch, your system may slow to a crawl,
but you'll be more protected!

Fourth, add more layers of protection to your activities. Since you cannot
uninstall IE and it is required by Microsoft to perform it's updates too,
install a couple of good alternative browsers such as Firefox and Chrome and
after you run them for a while to find out which one works best for you,
make one of them the default browser. Erase all icons for IE leaving only
icons for the other browsers available. Both Firefox and Chrome have several
add-ons that enhance safe browsing such as ones that will block Java Script,
malicious advertising, tracking cookies and more. There are some add-ons
that will tell you whether certain web sites are malicious and block them
altogether. I recommend disabling Java as well. Java is separate from Java
Script, they are two different animals even though their names sound the
same. Get some help and take your time going through the hundreds of add-ons
and settings to see what will be best for you.

Fifth is more layers. Read over the set up procedures for
http://www.opendns.com/. You can put this proxy service's settings on most
routers and modems to protect all computer devices in your house, or you can
add the settings to each device to keep them from accessing 'bad' sites.
There are a couple other such proxy services, I just mentioned OpenDNS as it
has a free account, though slightly limited settings.

After all of this, and adjusting settings to prevent auto-opening of disks
and disk files you may not want a replacement for the Windows Explorer, but
if you still do, read over these reviews;
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fun-and-useful-alternatives-for-windows-explore
r/

Sixth, how about an alternative to Microsoft that's totally more secure than
MS as soon as you install it? How about an alternative that with a little
bit of guidance first time through, mainly just sighted, hand-holding
support, you can install all by yourself as long as your computer will boot
from a peripheral device provided you don't have to change BIOS settings?
The BIOS is totally inaccessible, so far! There's an operating system that
has screen readers and Braille device support built right into the
installation files so you can install it all by yourself if you are
deaf-blind. With a decent internet connection you can install it in 20 to 30
minutes! You can use the installation disk to access a trashed Microsoft
system and recover files unless the hard drive is physically ruined. You can
load the DVD into the DVD drive, start your computer, have it boot from the
DVD rather than your hard drive, use the screen readers and/or the Braille
device support to browse your trashed MS files on the hard drive and move or
copy them onto another peripheral such as an USB thumb drive. This I have
done.
There are ways, far above my skill level, to add utility programs to these
DVD boot files that will let you actually try to repair a trashed MS system.
The MS alternative is Vinux which is a Linux operating system build.
Nearly virus proof, I've installed it for a few friends to get them started
with it and I haven't installed an anti-virus program on any of them! I've
also installed other builds of Linux for other friends to replace their
expired XP systems and again, I haven't installed an anti-virus program for
them either. I've also installed Linux on a couple of computers that just
wouldn't run MS of any version for a decent length of time without
instabilities that cause those black or blue screens of death you hear
about. Unless you have some super special MS programs that won't work on
Linux or that there aren't any Linux alternatives for, there's no reason not
to at least try it. That's another great thing about Vinux, you can boot it
from the DVD and experiment with it as long and as often as you want without
having to install it. Another good one is, if you decide to actually install
it onto your hard drive you can install it beside MS giving you what's
called a 'Dual Boot' arrangement rather than erasing MS from your computer.
On boot up a menu comes up giving you the choice of booting either Vinux as
the first and default choice, or you can arrow down and boot into MS. The
menu is accompanied by beeps so you know when it comes up queuing you when
to arrow down if you want to boot into MS.
Linux is nearly virus proof, free, accessible, just as easy as MS to use,
easier than MS to install, even for those who need assistive aids, and it's
also ten times faster, more stable and reliable than MS.
If you think Linux is some trick operating system, consider that both China
and Russia are moving on developing their own builds of Linux to get away
from MS and the NSA. Speaking of the NSA, the US military dropped MS as the
operating system for it's unmanned equipment, drone air craft and
submarines, and switched to Linux for security and stability. The US Postal
Service has used Linux to scan and read the addresses on letters through OCR
since 1998. Linux is used on the International Space Station. Linux is used
on most mobile smart phones as Android. Linux is used by the Federal
Aviation Administration for air traffic control because it's fast, secure
and stable. Think about it, would you want thousands of air craft and
millions of people being guided and protected by Microsoft? Linux is used on
95% of the world's super computers for scientific research because it's
faster and more stable than MS. Linux is used on smart TVs and other
entertainment consoles because it's light-weight and can be trimmed to run
efficiently on very low resource hardware. My local public library along
with many others across the country have switched their office and client
computers to Linux recently because of the retirement of XP. The city of
Munich, Germany has switched to Linux as has many other local government
entities around the world including the French Gendarme police force.
Google, the massive internet company uses Linux on almost all of it's
development stations and on nearly half of it's office stations. The
European Stock Exchange and the New York Stock exchange use secure Linux
servers to protect our economy. I haven't used MS on any of my personal
computers since 2007. I refuse to.
Linux is lagging as a popular desktop system only because so many people and
businesses have been brainwashed by Microsoft advertising and it's insane
popularity. I say insane popularity because it really is insane!
Linux doesn't advertise, it shouldn't have to, doesn't have to. With all the
trash that MS incorporates into its software I'm at a complete loss why MS
is popular. Do some searching on the terms malware, crapware, bloatware.
Compare and see how Linux and even Mac blow MS out of the water. Another
reason that Linux is lagging in popularity is that people are afraid of it
for some reason. Let me get this right, people are afraid of Linux yet they
wrap their entire lives around Microsoft so that MS can give all your
private goodies away to the highest bidder?
Makes perfect sense to me ... not!

No Microsoft garbage used here, sent by a very satisfied Linux-Mint
<http://www.linuxmint.com/> user (a former disgruntled Microsoft user).
You could check out Vinux, Linux for the visually impaired
<http://wiki.vinuxproject.org/>, and on FaceBook.
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/vinux>
This email and any attachments are not virus scanned either, that's up to
you poor Microsoft users to deal with.
Got Windows problems? Who doesn't? Don't toss your cookies, toss your
operating system.
I prefer to be a wild and wacky Linux Penguin than a docile, domesticated,
Microsoft sheep getting fleeced.

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