
Mathwiz
MemberContent Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Everything posted by Mathwiz
-
My Browser Builds (Part 1)
Mathwiz replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
Of course, it could just be my aging ears too.... -
Windows XP security after POS Ready 2009 updates cease
Mathwiz replied to sparty411's topic in Windows XP
Well, it won't become less secure ... the risk, as always, is that someone will discover and exploit a vulnerability that was always there. So I'd keep an eye on security fixes for the nearest supported OS (probably Server 2008). Any vulnerabilities discovered in that are probably in XP also. Usually M$ gives an assessment of what it would take for an attacker to successfully exploit a new vulnerability. A lot of times it turns out to require physical access to the PC; most of us needn't worry about those (unless we're using XP machines at work!) If an over-the-network vulnerability is discovered, we could probably just block the affected port with Windows Firewall, unless it's something we really need. -
Looks like it will be a while before browsers supporting encrypted SNI come to the XP platform: If it's not even in the release builds of FF yet, I doubt we'll see it ported to Basilisk/Pale Moon (and thence to @roytam1's Serpent/New Moon) anytime soon.
-
My Browser Builds (Part 1)
Mathwiz replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
I can't even hear the processor fan on my desktop PC. I can see it spinning if I take the cover off, but it's very quiet. (OTOH, it's just a dual-core AMD processor, so it doesn't take much to get it to 100%.... If you have an I7, it might take a bit more fan than mine ) I can hear the PS fan, but its speed is constant.... As for why browsing uses so much CPU, take a look at the source code to a Facebook or YouTube web page some day It's not just a static page anymore either - they keep pumping in more Javascript as you scroll.... -
My Browser Builds (Part 1)
Mathwiz replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
Sounds like you need a new fan You should be able to run at 100% CPU without hearing anything; a bearing may be fixing to go out. At some point the Pale Moon team will probably strip out the multiprocess code entirely, or else I'll stumble across an incompatible add-in that I just can't live without, and I'll be back to square one; but meanwhile, I'll enjoy it while I can. -
MKVToolnix v.29.0 Unofficial Windows XP - Vista version
Mathwiz replied to FranceBB's topic in Windows XP
New version doesn't work for me: MKVMerge seems to be looking for "XPVCRT.dll," whatever that is. Should I rename MSVCRT.dll? Edit: That seemed to fix it. One of my pet peeves: a product drops support for users of an older product like Win XP, but only because they didn't think it looked "cool" enough. -
My Browser Builds (Part 1)
Mathwiz replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
My memory needs aren't as demanding as yours, but for me the big advantage is, much smoother browsing in one tab when another tab is busy auto-refreshing. Apparently dealing with the keyboard/mouse and dealing with HTTP(S) are done in the two separate processes. -
AIUI it's supposed to be similar to @Dibya's Extended XP. Unfortunately I think it's illegal: https://reactos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16868 I suppose it would be legal for you to use on your own system if you own licensed copies of all those OSes, but don't post any links here. It would get MSFN in big trouble.
-
Yes it is. When I hear Quantum I think of a line of Duracell batteries. But Wikipedia lists: Businesses and products Quantum Corporation, a manufacturer of computer data storage products Quantum Sports Cars, a British-built low-volume car manufacturer Volkswagen Quantum Quantum, a line of Maksutov telescopes that were manufactured by Optical Techniques Incorporated (OTI) Quantum, line of small engines made by Briggs and Stratton Quantum-class cruise ship MS Quantum of the Seas Computing QUANTUM, a suite of attack software by the US National Security Agency (NSA) Quantum compression, a file compression format QGIS, an open source GIS program for map-drawing and related functions, formerly called Quantum GIS A time slice in computer pre-emptive multitasking Quantum computing, the study of hypothetical computers based on quantum-mechanical principles Quantum (statistical programming language), a programming language for statistical analysis developed by Quantime Quantum Corporation, a manufacturer of Hard Disk products from 1980 to 2001 Quantum project of Mozilla to improve its Firefox web browser engine I see they mentioned Firefox but not Duracell. At any rate, only one of the above uses, quantum computing, has anything to do with the scientific meaning of the word. Don't even get me started on Spectrum....
-
Avast Antivirus to discontinue new versions, but still supporting Windows XP
Mathwiz replied to sdfox7's topic in Windows XP
I hope not too; and it's probably not the case. (Just about every time I thought I might have malware on my PC, it turned out I didn't.) But if nothing else works, don't rule the possibility out. -
Not long ago, someone (who I can't remember) was wanting some application (might have been @heinoganda's certificate updater, but I can't remember that for sure either) modded to run on XP SP1. Anyway, the question came up "why do you want to stay on SP1?" And I replied that AIUI SP2/3 don't support PAE. I was told that was wrong, but didn't really understand it until now. So SP2/3 do support PAE, but limit it to 4 GB (which mostly, but not entirely, defeats the purpose).
-
Avast Antivirus to discontinue new versions, but still supporting Windows XP
Mathwiz replied to sdfox7's topic in Windows XP
@dencorso, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe @Dave-H's PC has some kind of malware that's "securing" it from security software -
My Browser Builds (Part 1)
Mathwiz replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
Well, I just tried it in Basilisk 52. The about:config Boolean preference above doesn't exist by default in either the XP or official build; I had to add it . I didn't expect it to work, but it did! Task manager shows two Basilisk processes, just like the "old days." Guess all my add-ons are multiprocess-compatible. Even more surprising, it also worked on the latest official Basilisk/UXP build (2018.12.18) running on Win 7 Win 7 is where I could really use it; the XP version has always seemed responsive enough, even without multiprocess mode. So evidently the multiprocess code was never removed from either build; the default was just changed at some point. -
My Browser Builds (Part 1)
Mathwiz replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
I'd assume that closes the door on Basilisk 52 (UXP) at least. The e10s code may still be lurking within Basilisk 55 (Moebius) somewhere, I suppose. -
My Browser Builds (Part 1)
Mathwiz replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
In my limited research it looked like the nightly builds of some earlier releases had it, just not the release builds. But I couldn't figure out how many versions back that went. Anyhow, point being: it's not in PM to start with; @roytam1 didn't remove it. AIUI, e10s breaks compatibility with many legacy add-ons, to the point that e10s won't even start unless every enabled legacy add-on has an 'e10s-compatible' flag set. That may be a big reason why they won't add e10s to PM. Basilisk may have it though. I recall often seeing two basilisk.exe processes in Task Manager when I first switched to Basilisk and wondering what that was about. But I suspect a new add-on has disabled it since then (I no longer see two processes). WebExtension add-ons are inherently compatible, but Basilisk supports only some WebExtension calls (version 55 supporting more calls than 52), so a lot of add-ons for Basilisk probably disable e10s. -
My Browser Builds (Part 1)
Mathwiz replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
As you probably know, these browsers are all forks from various Firefox releases. AIUI Firefox did not enable multiprocess mode (e10s) until version 53. All these browsers except one (Basilisk 55) were forked from FF versions prior to 53. Multiprocess mode was not "removed;" it was never there in the first place. (I could be wrong about this, but that's my best understanding of the situation.) I don't know if Basilisk 55 supports multiprocess mode. AIUI it was forked from a pre-release version of FF 53 and I don't know what the status of e10s was at the particular release it was forked from. -
How to make Microsoft Security Essentials work to it's max protection?
Mathwiz replied to NojusK's topic in Windows XP
IOW, MSE is fine for the likes of us, but the masses (including our friends & relatives) will need something more comprehensive. -
Yeah but 7.38 is the one that nags you to "update"
-
How to make Microsoft Security Essentials work to it's max protection?
Mathwiz replied to NojusK's topic in Windows XP
Latest MSE version that runs well on XP is 4.4. I think 4.5 works too but nags you to upgrade. @heinoganda has a modded 4.8 that will work too. All still get updates (with the POSReady registry hack) but none are "supported" unless you're actually on POSReady. -
How to make Microsoft Security Essentials work to it's max protection?
Mathwiz replied to NojusK's topic in Windows XP
I think it's pretty much 'max' by default. Be prepared for sluggish browsing, though; at least that was my experience with MSE. I finally ended up excluding browsers from MSE in "Excluded processes" and using MalwareBytes' Anti-Exploit to monitor them instead. (MSE still monitors everything else; just not browser processes.) It was the only way to keep my Web browsing from becoming painfully slow. -
So I guess users who do have the POSReady entry, and who now receive MSE updates automatically, will also need to make this change (and start updating MSE manually) after POSReady EOS next April.
-
My Browser Builds (Part 1)
Mathwiz replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
That quote was from the browser.taokaizen.com (author of advanced Chrome for XP/Vista, etc.) forum admin. Guess they don't know about @roytam1's work -
I've had no issues with either XP or Windows 7. But then, I rarely use IE. @Dave-H might have seen a problem before most of us, since IIRC he has Eudora set to use Microsoft's rendering engine for emails. But emails don't generally have live Javascript, so even that wouldn't necessarily trigger a problem. Still, I'll hold off patching my home system....
-
My Browser Builds (Part 1)
Mathwiz replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
Now that there's a new official Basilisk release (2018.12.18), I can confirm that right-click menu options "copy image location" and "view image" do work. So hopefully there's a fix for the bugs in last week's XP version that will make it into the next XP version. -
I guess I should be fair: the bug also affects IE 11 and Edge, which folks do use. Had to apply the same update to my Win 7 system. IE 8 just got the update as a side benefit. Not that I'm complaining! There are still a tiny number of Web sites that use ActiveX so they only render properly in some version of IE, and this makes those sites less likely to host a virus.