NotHereToPlayGames

Falls within the category of "websites and boards" (but OT for "automatic scrolling" sub-thread). The "onslaught" (though perfectly LEGIT) was just too much to bare, lol.

And MOST IMPORTANTLY, it is *CSS* that is causing that, *not* JavaScript.

Yes, I did see that. BUT... That section of the page scrolls out of view and STAYS OUT OF VIEW once you scroll down to actually READ any article. On my end, once it is scrolled out of view, it NO LONGER drops the content of the page while reading.

I cannot replicate here. But the html code would suggest that your issue may be a CSS transition effect and not a JavaScript scroll.

Totally understood! For me, it's FIREFOX !!! To this day, it is the only program that has ever resulted in a complete reformat/reinstall. That was the late 90s and the sour taste still remains. Long before things like Proxomitron, uBO, NoScript, et cetera. The sour taste *never goes away*.

re: "lightweight" I'm showing Sphinx 6.1.9.53 (I've tried three different downloads for 7.5.100.200 but they all show 6.1.9.53 in Help/About) to use around 3 MB RAM. And Comodo 2.4.x to use around 11.4 (v2.4.16.174) to 13.5 (v2.4.17.183) MB RAM. But Sphinx is a LIMITED version that throws NAGS about not being able to do this or that without upgrading to Plus Edition !!! While Comodo 2.4.x is a REAL *FULLY FUNCTIONING* non-limited version that PUTS YOU IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT. Not to sound rude or whatever, but you can stick with lightweight and LIMITED or run something that actually WORKS but uses a little more RAM.

Any of the 2.4 versions. You can't go back as far as the 2.3 versions because they require a phone-home activation. The version I used to use is Comodo Firewall Pro 2.4.18.184. I could not find a download link without doing too much digging, but here is source (scroll all the way to the bottom) for 2.4.16.174 and 2.4.17.183. https://www.afterdawn.com/software/security/firewalls/comodo_personal_firewall.cfm#all_versions

Probably tried too NEW of a version.

Same here. Plus Edition messages and wouldn't let me EDIT but did let me DELETE. And since my XP is locked down and NOTHING at the OS-level tried to connect after deleting, they did not reappear. They "probably" would have reappeared at reboot, but I didn't get that far, my goal was just to get FDM to download.

Makes sense. And by that logic, isn't Linux a Ghost Gun? HACKED FIRMMARE on hardware devices that wouldn't be possible if it weren't for Linux. I know of routers that sell for three times their original value all because they are Linux-based and HACKABLE.

<OT> I'm not familiar with that term. We have a 3rd Shift maintenance technician that PRINTS his own guns (or at least parts of them). He uses them for squirrel hunting and makes jerky out of them. Doesn't even sound the least bit appealing to me, totally AFRAID to even try it! He's the same maintenance technician that will squirt WD-40 into a conveyor motor instead of replacing the brushes! Caught one on fire! So if that's the way he "fixes" a brush worn to the nub, I'm also AFRAID to stand next to him while he fires off his squirrel gun.

Herein is where your issue lies. You're thinking the problem is with FDM where it is technically with Sphinx. I tried with three other software firewalls. FDM worked with each and every one of them, "by default". It's only with Sphinx that FDM doesn't work "by default". But it can be made to work with Sphinx if you DELETE two of the firewall rules.

Screencaps of the profile that I use:

I technically don't do either. It's not "installed" but it's not truly "portable" either because I save my profile in the registry. Step #1) My XP installations simply get the .exe and the .chm "copy-pasted" / "extracted" into a folder. Step #2) I import the profile I use via an archived .reg file (herein renamed as MSFN). Step #3) I run the .exe, load the profile, and Apply Settings. Reboot (not sure if required, just good practice after these types of changes). This is the profile that I use:

Let me guess, *without even having to look it up and just knowing California politics*, some form of new "gun control"?

Well, I hope I didn't "react" too quickly. But I *deleted* my XP x86 SP2 VM (I technically have no use for it and don't have the time to slim it to my liking). So this is in my normal self-slimmed XP x86 SP3 VM. And when I searched for your version of Sphinx, I found a different version and ran with it. Good news - it did exactly what you cited, FDM could NOT download when Sphinx was installed !!! For me, it was the "default" SYSTEM and SVCHOST rules that Sphinx set. DELETE the SYSTEM and SVCHOST rules and FDM now works! I didn't screencap "before", and I'm going from memory that the rules were called "system" and "svchost". But at any rate, DELETE THOSE RULES and FDM works. Granted, I may have only needed to delete ONE and not BOTH. And Sphinx (in my opinion) SUCKS compared to the Comodo Firewall (older version) that I used to use.

Good point. But... As a grandparent that knows to let his own kids make the rules of their own homes, my 4yr old grandchild spends more time on a phone in one DAY than I spend on one in an entire YEAR. That's no exaggeration. My kids have to make their own rules, not exactly an easy lesson to learn for most grandparents. Today's 4yr olds will accidentally CLOSE the app that mommy loaded for them. And that 4yr old KNOWS how to launch that app after they accidentally closed it! My point is, it doesn't matter if that phone and its monthly fee is somehow associated with a "must by <this age>", there are 4yr olds using that phone.

Ah, okay. I guess it all kind of looks like a "joke" to me. Our local media has a constant "propaganda barrage" lately of 'over 50 privacy and safety features that are on by default' for TEEN TIKTOK accounts. No offense, but how many parents are falling for it??? We used to work closely with youth group kids and "troubled teens". Today's TEEN is smart enough to NOT register their TikTok, Instagram, you-name-it, AS A TEEN, they know to FAKE their age.

Can you "cliff note" summarize it for us? I cannot read "legaleaze" and gave up two or three sentences in, I cannot "follow" what they are TRYING to say. I'm reading AGE VERIFICATIONS and I'm not seeing how that ties in with "making Win9x great again".

I only tested we3fan's 3.9.4. I have archived downloads of FDM but it was just faster to download the 3.9.4 linked during the discussion.

That sounds more inline with expectations. I couldn't find an English version to truly explore. My Spanish is limited to "La chica es mui bonita". Comes in handy when Spanish-speaking are talking about people within earshot and they think we cannot understand them, so you point to the "ring leaders" wife/girlfriend and proclaim loud enough for the whole group to hear, "La chica es mui bonita". They will talk in ENGLISH for the remainder of the night! TRUE STORY!

<OT> I call "BS" This is UE7 *WITHOUT* any of the *ADDED* software (two cannot be disabled, I did enable XPize Lite). There's no way you have 200 MB on UE6 when UE7 *without* any of the *added* software takes 2.85 GB. For reference, my own tweaked XP (teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime) only takes 504 MB.

At the risk of sounding like what comedians here in the US refer to as "Captain Obvious", your FDM will work if you *disable/UNINSTALL* Sphinx. To coin another phrase, "Whoala! Problem Solved!"

I don't know what you are using as a firewall, but I do not use software firewalls (I block at the hardware level instead).

It gets installed on all of my XP systems/VMs before they are ever allowed internet access. I do not, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, allow access to "Windows Updates". Never have! Never will! And xp-AntiSpy is the "easiest" route to achieve that on new installs.