Monroe

Just a quick mention about this one registry cleaner that I use for XP and used to use with Windows 98SE ... RegCleaner 4.3.0.780. Maybe some newer people have come along and didn't know about this particular cleaner. This cleaner will show software that is registered to the registry that you may not know is still in your machine. A good example is when I install a newer version of Shockwave ... during the install, there are two check marks for Google junk that I never install ... if I remember correctly, one is for the Google Toolbar and then something with Google Chrome (?). I always remove the check marks but when I run RegCleaner 4.3.0.780 the two Google entries are always there along with the Shockwave entries ... it looks to me that the Google entries were still installed even though I requested that they not be. I remove them once and for all with RegCleaner. Many times when I uninstall a program this program will still show an entry or two by name so then I manually delete them and then run a few other cleaners for a nice clean registry ... plus it does several other things also. RegCleaner 4.3.0.780 http://www.majorgeeks.com/download460.html 01/23/2002 RegCleaner is an easy to use program. With RegCleaner you can easily get rid of those old and obsolete registry entries created by software that you have destroyed ages ago. And by easily, I mean easily. You don´t have to be any expert to use this program. Key Features # Remove file types # Remove entries of old software # Uninstall and remove Software from the Add/Remove list # Remove unused DLL files # Remove unused Shared DLLs (Automatically detected) # Automatic backup feature ... just to add, the last version of Shockwave Player that I just installed (current v12.0.2.122) I only seem to remember seeing one Google entry with RegCleaner even though there were two Google check marks during the install ... there usually were always two Google entries to remove. Maybe there is only one with newer versions, not sure. ...

Andromeda43 ... you bring up an interesting point that I have been thinking about over the last few weeks. Could future MS monthly updates start screwing up my XP setup? I installed the March MS updates and then did a Ghost backup of the whole setup. Everything was working just fine and I cleaned the registry with several cleaners that I use and defragged it ... all my settings were perfect, all the "junk" cleaned out and then a defrag of the whole drive ... anyway, I feel I have the best complete backup that I have ever made ... a 99.9% "Factory DVD" type backup. In the past I always thought I have finally made the "perfect backup" but a few hours later or a few days later I find something that was missed or not cleaned out. So I decided to stop with the March updates and make a good (perfect) copy to have something to fall back on if future MS monthly updates should screw up my XP setup. I installed the April updates and may go 5 or 6 months with more updates and burn another Ghost backup if all is working OK. I don't know if MS would "on purpose" try to destroy or "mess up" a computer with XP installed so as to force a person to think about buying a newer computer. Most people have limited knowledge about fixing or repairing a corrupt installation and might just consider buying a newer computer with Windows 7 or 8 or whatever new OS would be current. I just don't know ... open for discussion. Awhile back I started a thread asking about installing MS updates right away or maybe waiting a few weeks to be sure they were OK. Installing New Windows XP Updates The replies seem to be either way but CharlotteTheHarlot posted a very interesting reply that started me thinking about installing future updates ... just an excerpt from the complete post. CharlotteTheHarlot ... Posted 18 December 2012 "Windows Update is disabled. I haven't even manually ran the update scan in over two years. It is of course behind a router. The Windows Firewall is running ( the XP inbound-only firewall ) but I'd bet I could even kill that without consequence. I am using Opera 99% of the time (version 11.something ), and Firefox for the odd pages and things that cause hiccups. MSIE is very rarely used. And here is the kicker ... It is an Administrator account. ~shudder~ There is no anti-virus ( except for on-demand scan of folders and drives now and then, not because I am infected, but for the odd client devices I am working with ). This computer visits the darkest, deepest and most dangerous corners of the web too. No bull. No drive-by scripts have ever compromised it. No local files have caused problems and believe me I test a whole lot of crap. Try as I may, I cannot think of something that a critical Windows Update would need to fix as far as security that would affect anything positively. I would expect things might get broken by allowing Microsoft to just keep patching system files over and over again though. I always wondered how an ever-changing codebase can be considered "stable" but that's just me I guess. Anyway. I have always maintained that a properly configured Router + Opera is the first line of protection. It definitely works for me. However, I have a never-ending stream of infected computers being brought in for repair and it is always one or both of those ( Router + Opera ) that are missing. They always have Windows Updates on automatic so they are up-to-date, and they have a variety of realtime antivirus programs ( murdering the performance naturally ). Yet still they show up in various states of disarray. Go figure." ------------------------------------------------------------------ .... so I have my good working March backup to fall back on if there should be any future problems ... might be good for everyone to think about a good (as near perfect) base backup to have to fall back on in case the MS monthly updates should start to cause some real problems going into 2014. just to add ... I have Windows Automatic Update turned off and go there on my own and see what updates are listed and then using Google ... I download the updates to update three computers and then store on a CD. So I will have all the future monthly updates to come but may or may not use them. also the current MS monthly updates are always at -X-'s site. http://xdot.tk/updates.html ...

Just a brief update on K-Meleon and XP ... I have become aware of two more versions of K-Meleon that I know very little about ... next to nothing. I have just downloaded them to test with my XP setup later today. Rodocop at the KM forum added some information to a question that I asked JamesD about his version. JamesD has stated that he uses his version with Windows 7 ... K-Meleon 1.6.0 beta 2.4 Win 7 (32 bit) but Rodocop lists a slightly newer Beta version which I just downloaded two days ago and used it all day yesterday (heavy) and it was flawless (again with XP) ... using it now. I asked JamesD about the two different versions ... I got this answer. Posted by: JamesD Date: April 16, 2013 05:39AM The only difference between beta 2.4 and beta 2.5 is the method for calling spellcheck. In 2.4 it is internal and in 2.5 there is a macro. Desga wanted the 2.5 method. I don't remember why. K-Meleon 1.6.0 beta 2.4 Win 7 (32 bit) then rodocop posted some additional information later. Posted by: rodocop Date: April 16, 2013 01:30PM My defaults are KM Twin and Fred's build KM16-S2014. No other browser is comparable in usage convenience with KM up to me. _____________________________________ Using K-Meleon-1.6.17db+ / KM-16-S2014 1.6beta2.5 by JamesD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have downloaded both K-Meleon-1.6.17db+ and KM-16-S2014 and will give them a try. Perhaps some others may want to experiment with their setup ... back everything up first ... I know absolutely nothing about these two versions. They may not work for me but might be great for someone else. As I mentioned earlier, I don't do the Facebook thing and I know some people were saying at the KM forum that K-Meleon didn't seem to work very well with Facebook and maybe some other sites ... I didn't follow those posts very much since Facebook wasn't my interest. I seem to remember someone posting about changing some settings but whether it worked or not, not sure. There might be help there for specific K-Meleon problems. As for my personal experience ... the only site that I now have a problem with that will not work with K-Meleon is the PA State Lottery Site ... the only way I can get that site to fully work is to use IE8. They have made a lot of people mad in the state with this radical change since many people still have older computers, OSs and browsers. I sent an e-mail to them about the inconvenience of not be able to get information from the site anymore ... they sent an e-mail back telling advising me to get IE9, so much for "customer service" trying to be helpful ! ... they could care less about all of us with older computer setups ... I have since found several lottery sites (much better and not in PA) for checking my PA lottery tickets and K-Meleon works just fine with all of them. Just my story on one site that will not work with K-Meleon. However, these two new versions have yet to be tested at that site ... but I never go there anymore anyway so it really doesn't matter but I still will use the site as a "browser test". K-Meleon 1.6.0 beta 2.4 by JamesD https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1522294/K-Meleon1.6.0_Beta2dot4_en-US.7z ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K-Meleon 1.6.0 beta 2.5 by JamesD https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1522294/K-Meleon1.6.0_Beta2dot5_en-US.7z ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K-Meleon-1.6.17db+ http://home.dbdbdugbug.operaunite.com/Projects/content/KMFILES/Download-K-Meleon-db.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KM-16-S2014 (Fred) http://kmext.sourceforge.net/fred/KM-16-S2014.zip ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K-Meleon Twin+ (rodocop) http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/forum/read.php?1,123763 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KM links if anyone wants to also experiment. ...

Jody from Canada ... OK, I'm going to throw something else out that you might care to try. I will admit that I don't do Facebook but for me, K-Meleon has never been better ... now this is with XP Pro Sp3 ... Amazon, Google and pretty much wherever I go these days, all my web pages are OK to perfect using K-Meleon. I have no reason or idea why that is ... I did have lousy looking pages back maybe 6 months ago ... especially at Amazon sometimes. I am using Proxomitron by Scott R. Lemmon also and there are Google filters in there to filter out junk on the left and right sides of the web page and filters for other pages also. I will go into a little detail since it does work well with XP and maybe Vista but beyond Vista I have no idea. Slightly off topic but it may help with some internet surfing and web pages with XP and below, definitely Windows 98SE. I use the Sidki filter configuration ... Scott R. Lemmon has since passed away (age 36) but his work is being kept alive by many people, like what the people are doing here (MSFN) for older OSs. Proxomitron.Info http://www.proxomitron.info/ The Un-Official Proxomitron Forum http://prxbx.com/forums/ ... you will see a forum or thread named Sidki a little down the page ... he has since moved on but his filter set "sidki-config: Oct 23 2010" still seems to be OK ... there are some newer Google changes that you will also see ... others are keeping it updated at times also. ... I see JJoe has a new set of Google filters there dated March 30, 2013 ... he's the Administrator or one of them at the site. 2013.03.30 filters for Google ... I'm using the filters below. Has been working in latest IE9, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, K-Meleon with javascript enabled. Will break in a couple hours. ... JJoe .... I don't want to keep beating a dead horse dealing with K-Meleon but for some reason, surfing the web is OK these days with K-Meleon ... I have no real clue, maybe I did some setting adjustments, maybe Proxomitron is helping ... I just don't really know. .... maybe I'm just lucky in the fact that no matter where I go K-Meleon seems to work just fine. I am using the version by JamesD but the other versions that I mentioned before also seem to be OK. I have no clue for now. Others that understand computers much better than me may have some insight on the matter. ...

Jody from Canada ... we sort of exchanged some information in another forum dealing with the K-Meleon Twin browser. You did mention using SeaMonkey and I tried the portable SM version and it worked just fine but I still like the KM browsers with XP as I did with Windows 98SE. You mention concerns about banking in today's world. I am having no problem (so far) in doing my banking with K-Meleon ... also can still get into my brokerage account with KM. I am using JamesD's KM 1.6 beta 2.5 version and I added some UserAgents from KM Twin and some that I found on the internet ... I had no trouble using the KM default but I have the UA set to Firefox 15. Maybe the banking sites are more picky or stringent in Canada and just don't work well with "older browsers" but when I do have a real problem with a site then I fire up IE 8 and can usually get things to work OK with that. I have 3 KM browser versions on my XP notebooks: KM v1.5.4 ... KM v1.6 beta 2.5 by JamesD ... KM Twin. Maybe some additional modern UserAgents might be of help. I've been experimenting with various UAs and the whole thing is fascinating. Just to add ... I usually have JavaScript off but for banking and other sensitive accounts ... it usually has to be turned on. Just my 2 cents on the matter.

A standing ovation to dencorso ... still clapping !!! I hope you are correct in predicting the future ... I have given some thoughts to getting a newer computer with Windows 7 sometime "down the road" but I really don't want to. It's exactly one year ago that I was making the switch from Windows 98SE to Windows XP Pro. What a great year it's been ... everything working so well, sad to say that in one way ... no more challenges, have all the software programs that I'll probably ever need, I still do a little research trying to understand a few things about XP a little better but it's not really necessary. These days I turn my notebooks on and they work and run better than I could ever hope for. I go along with densorco with the 10 to 20 year thing ... I hope for a another 10 to 12 years, or maybe more ... but when the 20 year mark hits, it probably won't matter much to me, sad to say ... I'll probably be watching "birds and butterflies" and won't have any idea what a computer was or how it worked ... "sad to say" !

Andromeda43 ... liked reading your earlier post, agree with you about the "Permissions" thing. I'm totally happy with my XP setup and everything seems to be perfect these days as far as having a great running Windws XP computer ... but like you, the "Permissions" thing drives me crazy at times. Of course I have Unlocker installed and use it often but always when a person is in a hurry and just wanting to move a simple file from here to there ... well, you know !!! ... I guess I could fool around and "remove" or "do away" with the permissions thing but I prefer to leave it as is for the protection it offers, if I understand the whole permissions thing right. Also agree with your post from yesterday ... "XP will be alive and well and in everyday use, long after I'm dead, gone and forgotten. Count on it!" ... and also what dencorso posted: "That's my take on it, too! Don't worry... be happy. It simply cannot be killed anymore." Look at how Windows 98SE has developed, after being "dropped" by MS ... I see that same thing also happening with Windows XP down the road. ...

OK ... thanks for the "Thanks" ... I like having Stinger handy to check downloads every so often ... that I might not be 100% sure about. Just a nice little program. When I left Windows 98SE last year for XP Pro, Stinger still worked with Windows 98SE at that time. I can no longer be sure it still does but it's possible it still might work. ...

Been keeping McAfee Stinger handy for several years on my computer as I don't have an active running anti-virus program installed. These days it seems to be updated almost everyday but today is the first time I noticed they now have a version for x64 systems along with the 32 bit version ... for anyone interested. It's possible that 64bit version has been there but I don't remember seeing it there a week ago. Build Number: 11.0.0.204 Build Date: 22-Mar-2013 http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/free-tools/stinger.aspx Stinger McAfee Stinger detects and removes prevalent Fake Alert malware and threats identified in the "List Viruses" section of the Stinger application. While not a replacement for full fledged antivirus software, Stinger is updated multiple times a week to include detection for newer Fake Alert variants and prevalent viruses. ... The current Build Number and Date are always in the Stinger Release Notes on the right side. ...