Posted on 02/11/2021 9:14:19 PM PST by sushiman
Just bought a new Windows 10 PC for downstairs where I am much of the day but am still using a 6 year old Dell Windows 7 with IE upstairs in the evening . Twitter and other sites no longer support IE so I would like your advice re: a new browser . Thanks in advance .
I second FM’s recommendation, but recommend Linux Mint. It is based on Ubuntu but an easier transition for windows users. If you have programs that require windows, use the virtualbox virtual machine that comes with Mint. Mint is stable, updated often, and comes with the basic software you need. (Office apps, email, browser, pdf stuff, etc.) As a bonus, Linux runs more efficiently than windows and will breathe new life into older hardware. Download the image and make an install DVD. It gives you the option to test drive Mint running it from the DVD. (Will be a lot slower than if installed but you will be able to kick the tires)
I’d go with Brave but the new MS Edge browser is not bad. You might have to do a manual download/install on Windows 7.
ps. The transition from W7 to W10 is a lot more jarring to the end user than the transition from W7 to Mint. Mint feels like Windows 95 thru Windows 7.
Pick the Cinnamon desktop.
Hello all, I picked out all the folks on this thread who recommended Brave to CC my question to. Hope someone can help.
I moved to brave about a month ago. In general I like it, except for 2 things.
1) It won’t remember usernames/passwords for sites. For just about every single site I go, I have to enter the user/pass. Brave asks “do you want me to remember this?” just about every time, and I say “yes”, yet it =doesn’t= remember. I am reasonably sure there is a setting somewhere that I missed, but I’ve been unable to locate it.
2) The Brave Rewards thing is annoying. OK, so I don’t really mind having a little box that will periodically pop up in the corner to help finance development and distribution of the browser. However, very frequently I have 4 or 5 of the damn things stacked up on the screen that obscure almost the entire right 4 inches of the screen, that I have to click to get rid of because they are obscuring what I am trying to read.
Other than that, it pretty much all works as expected. Any assistance with this would be appreciated. If it helps, I’m on a recent derivative of ubuntu.
What it took some time to get used to is the absence of ads. When I’d go to Weather Underground, my Outlook.com, etc., the top and sides used to be flickering ads for things I had looked for recently, and it took the sites forever to load. Now the sites are bare in that way, and load quickly.
I had that problem after the last update.
The last time I opened Brave, it popped up with a question about if I wanted to allow Brave to use the stored passwords. I said yes, and it started working again.
So I don’t know where the switch is... but try a full restart.
Quit BB and wait maybe 10 seconds
Start BB
- - -
In the URL address field, type:
brave://settings
Select “Appearance”
Scroll down to “Hide Brave Rewards button”
Disable that, if you want to hide that button
- -
You might be, unknowingly, clearing “Passwords and other sign-in data”
In the URL address field, type:
brave://settings/privacy
Under “Privacy and security” select “Clear browsing data”
Review all the “Basic” - “Advanced” - “On exit” . . . settings
In my opinion, large costly packages like Northon, McAfee, etc. have outlived their usefulness.
Yeah, they can protect against the older viruses and malware. But the vast majority of modern (last 10 years) attacks on personal computers are "human engineering" -- they attack the user first, getting him/her to click on a link or download something.
Malwarebytes and similar lightweight products are a better bet, in my opinion.
The best defense is a high level of human situational awareness. Think before you click.
Thanks. The “hide brave rewards button” appeared to just be the button beside the url field. I’ll see if removing that helped. For the ‘on exit’ thing, I had nothing selected. My browser generally stays open for weeks at a time, so the ‘on exit’ settings really shouldn’t have mattered. I’ll manually clear some cached stuff every couple of weeks, just because of the space they take up.
Linux Mint 20.1 with the Cinnamon desktop.
Got it thank you! I mostly use the computer for specific photo editing and cad design and the thought of transferring everything to a new system is daunting wine what I have still works just fine. With my limited internet use i think i am okay!
“Brave has addons?”
Sure. Just go to https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock-%E2%80%94-best-ad-blocker/gighmmpiobklfepjocnamgkkbiglidom or
https://www.ghostery.com/
and add it to Brave.
I like firefox but Mozilla has gone full leftist mode so I'm using Waterfox. They're more privacy oriented.
Waterfox does not collect any telemetry, meaning you do not have to worry about any tracking or usage information about what you do inside your browser.
The only thing that Waterfox sends back is your OS and browser version to check for updates to various components. That's it, and no more.
I would agree. My Win7 VMs are only used locally (no internet) for photo and audio editing, because like you I have a large investment in legacy software and can't reasonably convert everything to some newer product.
Remain extra alert when on the internet (even FR or email), and while there are no guarantees, you should be okay. Situational awareness is the most effective anti-malware protection. And it's free! :-)
start\control panel\system
or windows 10
start\settings\system\about
Win 7 then can be a flytrap for investigation of code attacking it! :-)
Also, Belarc is excellent!!
#58 I started out with this computer.... : )
I have not mastered it yet.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71SG6NVoPkL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
If you’re still on Win7, I recommend air gapping the network, so that it ISN’T on the internet.
Win7 does indeed make a great honeypot, and there are a ton of them in use to trap hackers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
