Extreme Explorer 360 Chromium 78-86 General Discussion

[Dixel]

3 hours ago, NoNameNeeded said:

I think I've found something useful to prevent the browser from connecting to chinese IPs.

Maybe a good idea , but that just would be too easy . It connects to plenty of US owned/located IPs too . Chinese folks use US companies for their dirty spying , no one cares , it's just business , lol .  Look at my list , just scroll back. 

Edited May 9, 2021 by Dixel
Dixel , The Famous King Of Typos mistyped again.

[Humming Owl]

Hello to all. I saw this forum quite a while ago and then I did my own way to block IPs (from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong) through Peerblock with this little program I made. It is supposed to run on Linux. I really want to know if there is a way to disable the telemetry completely by erasing the code that activates it. To use the program execute the .sh file and at the end a file named "union-final.txt" (that appears in the same directory as the .sh file) is the one you want. 

What this program does is the following:

1) Collects all IP Lists from "ipverse.net" and "ipdeny.com" of the countries listed above.

2) Merge every .txt file into one.

3) Then eliminates repeated entries.

4) And finally put the .txt in a format that Peerblock can read and apply to its custom IP block feature.

There are more pages from where you can pull IP lists from countries you want but the others are copies of these two that I mentioned in the steps. There is one in particular (ip2location) that adds more ranges of IPs to the file but to access the database, it has to be done manually. I searched how to automate the process but no luck with that. Almost all IP ranges from the ones I could gather are in the pages quoted in 1). 

The .php file that is inside the .zip is not mine, I have found it in GitHub and modified it a bit, I do not remember from where but when I find it again I will post it here.

I do not know a lot about programming. I just want to make a good use out of a old laptop I have that runs XP and somehow I have ended doing this. 

I Hope it can be useful to some of you. I want a safe browser based on a relatively recent version of chromium that can run on XP computers. 

Greetings. 

 

IP-Blocker.zip

Edited May 19, 2021 by Humming Owl

[NotHereToPlayGames]

The repack is at version 13.0.2250.0.

But like the last five or six releases, the Dev Tools is still in Chinese.

Looks like I may be forever stuck at build 2206 when the Dev Tools was last released in English.

[dmiranda]

On 4/5/2021 at 8:28 PM, Cixert said:

Is it possible to limit memory consumption?
I have a serious memory problem with 360 Extreme Explorer 11.0.2251.0 on a computer when I reach more than 150 open tabs, if I close 360 Extreme Explorer it is not able to start.
I had 4 GiB RAM limited to 3 GiB for the i3 processor video card.
I observe that when reopening 360 the memory consumption increases in a few seconds to 5.36 GiB, then 360 crashes. Playing with the restoration window, I manage to open 360 and close some tabs, at which point the problem disappears.
So I think it is necessary to increase RAM memory, so I install 8 GiB RAM.
Now when opening 360, with the same tabs, the memory consumption increases up to 9.36 GiB RAM, at which point it crashes.
I have tried to remove and put the Windows XP virtual memory (I have SSD disk). I have tried to override the 360 cache but the problem continues anyway.
How can I limit the 360's memory consumption?
I cannot understand why if I cancel the Windows XP virtual memory the consumption increases up to 9.36 GiB RAM with 8 GiB RAM installed.

I do not use this 360 browser, but I may, so I follow (which helps in other areas too, given the input provided from users like yourself) this thread. Going to your point, you may want to try Firemin (which despite what the page says, seems to work in XP -but I have not yet found any need for it, so I don't know if it really does) https://www.rizonesoft.com/downloads/firemin/. Cheers

Edited May 20, 2021 by dmiranda

[dmiranda]

On 5/6/2021 at 6:32 PM, NoNameNeeded said:

I found a version old enough, I don't see how I could setup rules to block the outbound ip addresses.

Besides, is there maybe a free firewall less crappy and cluttered than comodo firewall?

 

Kerio and Privatefirewall are good alternatives, but I am not sure if they can handle the kind of (ahem) stuff that you may unleash installing software like the ones (but not necessarily so) discussed here. Those installers may bypass your firewall (and other security) settings altogether, "for the convenience of users." 

Edited May 20, 2021 by dmiranda

[Humming Owl]

I tested the HxD and modified the chrome.dll (Only that file) by searching ".cn", ".360" (among others) and some IP adresses in it (few ones that start with "101.", "106." "123." "210.") and then replacing them with dots (2E = dot = .). Then I tested the browser for an hour (opening google, duckduckgo, gmail and youtube) with TcpLogView (to see which connections the browser made) and to my surprise none of the chinesse ip addresses appeared!

[NotHereToPlayGames]

5 hours ago, Humming Owl said:

. . . and to my surprise none of the chinesse ip addresses appeared!

Yes!  It is actually quite EASY to inoculate the telemetry in 360Chrome!

It is a huge SHAME that so many people would rather just sit on the sidelines and compain about the telemetry as opposed to taking TINY steps to get rid of it.

[Humming Owl]

Hello! I wanted to share all the steps that let me get rid of the 360 Extreme Explorer telemetry (Only tested in Version 9.5.0.138 of the Russian Repack). Hope this can help someone!

360 EE 9.5.0.138 (Russian Repack)

- Downloads from: 
https://lrepacks.net/repaki-programm-dlya-interneta/182-360-extreme-explorer-amp-portable.html

Steps to unpack the browser: 

-  I ran the .cmd file that says something in russian and "portable".
-  When the process ended I opened the "360Chrome" folder and from there I did the following: 

A) Removed files (in /Chrome/Application/9.5.0.138)

- newtab.zip 
- errorpage.zip

(the first file connects to chinese stuff when it is opened and the second one is displayed in chinese and I do not like it).

B) Changes to file "appstore.js" inside "options.zip" (in /Chrome/Application/9.5.0.138) 

I used 7zip (https://www.7-zip.org/) to open the .zip file, right clicked in the "appstore.js" file and selected "Edit".

I removed the entries: "https://ext.chrome.360.cn/webstore/detail/", "https://ext.chrome.360.cn/tabextension/get_json" and "#appstorePage .network-error".

The first two entries unable the browser from connecting to the chinese appstore everytime you enter the browser settings. The third one involves the removal of the "error page" in the "Adfilter" option (in browser settings) when the browser can not connect to the chinese appstore while entering the "Adfilter" option. The third entry is optional, I removed it because it displays stuff in chinese.

C) Changes made to the file "Preferences" (in Chrome/User Data/Default)

- I searched for the "accept_languages" entry and then modified the line "accept_languages": "ru-RU,ru,en-US,en" and replaced by "accept_languages": "en-US,en".

This action allows to display websites in English and not in Russian.

D) Changes made to the file "chrome.dll" (in /Chrome/Application/9.5.0.138)

I used the "HxD Hex Editor" program (https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/).

This section is only to replace stuff so the code for the execution of telemetry fails. All the removed stuff was replaced by dots (dot = 2E).

- I Replaced all ".cn" entries with 3 dots and each one of the entries "360.", ".360", "101.", "106.", "123." and "210." with 4 dots.

E) Changes made to inside browser preferences:

1) In "Basics":

- I unchecked "Show recommend words".

2) In "UI style":

I unchecked the following: 
- "Show copy paste helper" (This was displayed in chinese) .
- "Always show search-box" (Optional).
- "Always show status bar" (Optional).
- "Enable intelligent URL (Recommended)" (chinese IP adresses appear when it is enabled).
- "Enable url autocomplete" (chinese IP adresses appear when it is enabled).

3) In "Download":

I unchecked the following: 
- "Use thunder p2sp download" (I don't know what it is).
- "SaveImagesQuickly" (you can have it if you want).

4) In "Personal stuff":

I unchecked the following:
- "Prompt the user while saving password."
- "Enable Autofill to fill out web forms in a single click."

5) In "Advanced":

I unchecked the following:
- "Enable speed optimizations" (I do not want it and do not know what kind of "optimization" will execute).
- "Enable smooth scrolling" (I think it consumes a little more resources, you can leave it if you want).
- "Use a prediction service to load pages more quickly".
- "Join user experience plan to help us improve our products".

6) In "Lab":

I unchecked the following:
- "Use Hardware acceleration when available".
- "Enable The tab's audio muting function".
- "IE kernal popup opens in a new tab".
- "IE kernal enable data execution prevention(DEP)".

I disabled them because I do not want them, you can have them if you want, but I do not know what the 3 last options do.

F) Extensions added to the browser:

- Ublock Origin.
- I don't care about cookies.

 

Finally I executed "360Loader.exe" and everything went fine!

PD: In the steps there are things that others have already mentioned. I use the older version of this browser because it consumes less resources than the newer ones. Also, I don't know if with the further versions of this browser the telemetry becomes harder to remove.

[Humming Owl]

On 5/19/2021 at 7:14 PM, ArcticFoxie said:

Looks like I may be forever stuck at build 2206 when the Dev Tools was last released in English.

I have found this.

tell me if it works.

Source: https://lrepacks.net/repaki-programm-dlya-interneta/182-360-extreme-explorer-amp-portable.html

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Awesome!  Thanks.

Will try later this week as I would opt to rebuild my profile at the same time.

[Humming Owl]

Hello! here is an update for the removal of the telemetry of the next version of the browser. It worked very well!

360 EE 11.0.2251.0 (Russian Repack)

All steps A), B), C), D) and F) from before are the same for on this version.

The E) step for this version is the following:

1) In "Basics":

I unchecked the following:
-  "Show recommend words".
-  "Show addressbar suggest".

2) In "UI style": 

I unchecked the following:
- "Always show search-box".
- "Always show status bar".
- "Enable intelligent URL (Recommended)".
- "Enable url autocomplete".
- "Show copy paste helper".

3) In "Download":

I unchecked the following:
- "Use thunder p2sp download.".
- "Enable saving images quickly.".

4) In "Personal stuff":

I unchecked the following:
- "Prompt the user while saving password.".
- "Enable Autofill to fill out web forms in a single click.".

5) In "Advanced":

I unchecked the following:
- "Enable speed optimizations".
- "Enable smooth scrolling".
- "Use a prediction service to load pages more quickly".
- "join user experience plan to help us improve our products".

6) In "Lab":

I unchecked the following:
- "Use hardware acceleration when available".
- "IE kernal popup opens in a new tab".
- "IE kernal enable data execution prevention(DEP)".
- "support native accessbility".
- "Power Save".

I checked the following:
- "Disable And Hide Snap Plugin In Toolbar".

PD: There are few updates but I wanted to write E) all again so that no confusion is possible. I will test the version 12.0.1592.0 later. In addition, some of the unchecked options are for perfomance concerns only (I wanted to disable them).

Cheers.

Edited May 25, 2021 by Humming Owl

[Humming Owl]

I tested the Original Browser vs the Russian Repack and they are the same in performance and in the connections with chinese IP addresses. I am a little confused by the claims that in the russian repack was removed telemetry stuff. Also an update of the codes that I replaced in chrome.dll is that the hexadecimal code "33 00 36 00 30" has to be replaced by something like this "2e 00 2e 00 2e" (original browser v12 so far). You can use the symbols you prefer but keep the "00".

Edited May 29, 2021 by Humming Owl

[NotHereToPlayGames]

I wouldn't confuse "fetching an image" with "telemetry".

And nor should people (you don't, btw) that "volunteer" to use such things as "prediction services" and the like consider that as "telemetry".

I use v13 build 2206 of the Russian Repack with several of the changes you have cited above.

 

Could you detail this one more?

--> hexadecimal code "33 00 36 00 30" has to be replaced by something like this "2e 00 2e 00 2e"

 

And do you plan on doing your analysis with v13?

[Humming Owl]

16 hours ago, ArcticFoxie said:

I wouldn't confuse "fetching an image" with "telemetry".

And nor should people (you don't, btw) that "volunteer" to use such things as "prediction services" and the like consider that as "telemetry".

Oh, ok I get it. Thanks.

16 hours ago, ArcticFoxie said:

Could you detail this one more?

--> hexadecimal code "33 00 36 00 30" has to be replaced by something like this "2e 00 2e 00 2e"

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Y4hmGLxD_Mi9D8ptqCd8hiEqsTU_R6fz/view?usp=sharing (screenshot).

In HxD Hex Editor you can search with CTRL+F for "Hexadecimal Values". I could not insert the screenshot directly in the answer.

16 hours ago, ArcticFoxie said:

And do you plan on doing your analysis with v13?

I will when the last v13 come out, but maybe I will do it before. Either way I will post here the test with that version. I would like to attach screenshots directly in the messages, do not know if there is a way.

If you want you only need to use TcpLogView program (https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/tcp_log_view.html) and test the browser opening some tabs (while you have that program opened) and searching the locations of the "Remote Addresses" you will get on https://ip-info.org/.

In general if you open Google, Duckduckgo, Gmail and Youtube you will only get US IP addresses. It might open others but not from China. If you get one from China something in the chrome.dll file or in another file is the problem.

And I want to ask something, is there any way the browser can send data to china other than establishing connections with ip addresses that can be seen in a program like TCPview, like some sort of hidden connection? I think it can't be done but since it was relatively easy to prevent it from connecting to chinese servers I'm kind of paranoid. 

[NotHereToPlayGames]

4 minutes ago, Humming Owl said:

In HxD Hex Editor you can search with CTRL+F for "Hexadecimal Values".

I'm aware of that part.

I was curious as to WHY you did that replacement  -->  hexadecimal code "33 00 36 00 30" has to be replaced by something like this "2e 00 2e 00 2e"

What was occuring BEFORE this replacement that is no longer occuring AFTER this replacement?