bellgamin

I have a work-around for dealing with the outdated browser problem. The work-around is an app called Shadow Defender.. That app lets me surf the web in Shadow Mode (SM). When I am in SM, I am surfing the internet with a virtual computer. While in SM, anything that happens to my virtual computer will disappear just as soon as I do a restart. If I do a download (d/l) while in SM, I do it to a flash drive that I only connect immediately before the d/l. After the d/l finishes, I test drive the d/l for malware using VirusTotal, Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool (KVRT), & a behavior blocker AV. If all checks out okay, I disconnect the flash drive until I restart & need it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There is yet another option for safely using an outdated browser and that solution is to use an UPDATED browser. Here's how: 1- D/l (to your computer) the iso file for a Linux Distro. Zorin is a good & easy one for this purpose. 2- D/l Rufus to your computer. It's an app for turning iso files into bootable flash drives 3- Insert a flash drive with at least 5GB capacity 4- Execute Rufus and tell it to process Zorin's iso file so as to make it a bootable app on the flash drive. 5- Restart your computer with the Zorin flash drive inserted. 6- Zorin will boot instead of Windows. 7- Zorin gives you 2 options: A-Trial mode, & B- Install. Select TRIAL mode -- not install. With Zorin in trial mode, you have a full-on "live" Linux operating system running in virtual mode on your computer. An updated Firefox browser is installed & instantly available -- you will see the Firefox red icon over toward the left side of Zorin's task bar You can surf the internet with NO permanent danger to your computer whatsoever. If you do a download, it will be put into Zorin's download folder. To access that folder: float your cursor over the icons on Zorin's task bar. One of them (it's gray, I think) will be the File Manager. Use File Manager to get to the downloads folder. Then insert a flash drive. Then copy your download to the flash drive using the right click menu just like you do when copying a file while running Windows. It's so easy that even I can do it (I'm 92 and am definitely NOT a computer geek.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ P.S. - I used Zorin in "live" mode for a couple of weeks, using the steps discussed above. Then I got curious & started messing around with other parts of Zorin. Its "Z" button (far-left side of the task bar) is just like Win7's Start button. That Z button is a treasure trove of all kinds of free apps. After fooling around for several days, I remembered that I had a "stand-by" laptop, gathering dust, so I decided to install Zorin Pro on it. Zorin now "owns" that laptop. I'm retired (you probably guessed that) so -- nowadays --I play around with Zorin almost every day. Zorin is extremely user friendly so that learning to use it is actually a lot of fun. .

Well.... My antivirus is German (G-Data) I love French dressing, French fries, & (in my youth) French kissing. As for Dutch. one of my favorite forum friends at Ukulele Cosmos is a Netherlander.

The strong possibility that there soon will not be ANY updated browser available for me (a Win7 die hard) is off-putting. Why? Because browser weaknesses are a prime entry point for malware & exploits. I am a computer security hobbyist so I have a decent ability to keep my computer safe while running Win7. Even so, HAVING to use outdated browsers gives me a case of jaws. (BTW -- the MOST vital security app is imaging software. But you already knew that, right?) So I am considering a move FROM M$ Windows TO Linux. I tried Win 10 & Win11. No joy. I bought a big ticket Mac & gave it a trial of several days. I kinda sorta liked it, & then my favorite granddaughter (she's in University) dropped by for an ukulele session. She is majoring in graphic arts & the classes all use Macs. Versus my new Mac, hers was 5 years old with much less Ram, smaller screen, & waay smaller SSD. So I gave her my Mac. So my pretty-much-final option became Linux. I tried several Linux distros. It's fun! My favorite, by far, turned out to be the Zorin Pro distro (costs $39 but worth every penny & then some). This distro is super stable. I hate reading help files & manuals so I mostly just fool around & click on stuff when trying out new software. That habit has sometimes caused Zorin to hiccup and f_rt a bit but it has always recovered -- never a BSOD. In just a couple of days I had Zorin looking a LOT like Win7 and running all my necessaries: firewall (marginally adequate one is built in), email (Thunderbird), password manager (KeePass), marginally adequate substitute for an imaging app (Timeshift), grrreat journal pad with calendar & other schtuff (Zim), browser (Firebird -- there are LOTS of browser choices that run on Linux), excellent built-in files manager, excellent built-in Software Manager (shows previews, downloads, installs, & uninstalls any of the hundreds of available Linux apps. MY LINUX GOALS: 1-get a better firewall for controlling connect-outs, & 2- get a user-friendly, full-on disk imager app. So far, I have NOT decided to stop using my Win7 laptop as my main go-to, but my Zorin laptop is my "just in case". As for the Win7's security with an outdated browser, I have tightened it a teeny bit, as follows: 1- I now image daily instead of only thrice weekly, 2- I have added VooDooShield --a default-deny/whitelisting/anti-exe behavior blocker. So my patrolling security consists of only 3 apps: G-Data antivirus, Evorim firewall, & VooDooShield. I haven't had an infection in over 15 years. I have high hopes continuing to defy the FUD. However, Pride goeth before a fall, right? Or (as they put in Texas) "There never was a horse that couldn't be rode BUT there never was a cowboy that couldn't be throwed."

Thorium? (Please excuse my ignorance)

Another new kid on the block -- me, bellgamin. Aloha from Hawaii. I have a collection of ~15 ukuleles at last count. "Uku" = flea or louse, & "lele" = jumping. Thus, I play a jumping flea -- my favorite is a Kanile'a Super Tenor. My father's ancestry was Spanish & Italian & my mother's was English & Irish. In Hawaii, my ancestry is known as "chop suey" (all mixed up). HERE's a nice Hawaiian song by a state senator & his family. .............And -- finally (finally!) here's a toast to all you folks:

Windows 7 Pro 64bit forever!!! I just joined this forum & am watching this thread with great interest, especially @msquidpl's posts. A browser is my one concern because browsers are major entry points for malware. However, I surf the internet while in Shadow Defender's "Shadow More" -- it's like a virtual computer -- so a permanent infection is extremely unlikely. Even so, an updated browser for Win7 would be delightful. My Plan B is Zorin Linux Pro -- it's very similar to Win7 & I am getting fairly proficient with it. Aloha to all from Hawaii... bellgamin