Just changed

[Doc Spock]

to firefox from windows explorer 7.

Was having problems with adverts, sites closing for no reason. Is firefox better as it does seem to be.

Also downloaded freebies from google and their free spyware doctor found all sorts of crap.

Any similar experiences out there ?

[SKA]

is firefox the one with tabs?

[daffy654]

I use IE7 as I tried firefox and didn't like it.
For detecting and removing spyware I use AVG antispyware,Spybot Search And Destroy and AdAware...I also have SuperAntiSpyware free edition and Spyware Blaster. For anti virus I use AVG free edition.The crap found when you scanned would have mostly been tracking cookies,most of them are harmless but the odd few are classed as malware and could be dodgy.

[Ethel]

I much prefer firefox and cannot abide IE7 or IE6.

Don't forget to look at the add-ons for firefox - I particularly like adblock plus (no adverts on this site for me!); undo last closed tab; fasterfox; Quicknote; Scrapbook.

[Doc Spock]

Not sure SKA.

Thanks for info daffy 654.

[Doc Spock]

Thanks Ethel, that is good enough for me.

[Doc Spock]

Sorry to be pedantic Ethel but do not understand your last part.

Call me lazy but where are the add ons ?

[Doc Spock]

Silly question, is there a re-fresh button anywhere on firefox.

[Ethel]

Add ons are extensions to enhance firefox - so you can customise your browser to suit yourself.

If you install an add on and don't like it , it is very easy to uninstall.

I have also installed extra search engines - so the little search box can be directly within Wiki, Amazon, ebay uk and so on as well as Google, just be clicking a little arrow.

Have a look - take your time and experiment.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/

You can also download themes, to change the look of your browser. Some are nice, some are just plain daft.

[Ethel]

Refresh - F5.

[Doc Spock]

Thank you Ethel, I shall experiment this pm. Thanks again.

[ryepie]

If you use Firefox, I would recommend using another piece of software to deal with your anti-phishing protection. Firefox simply refers to a list of known dodgy websites, and this is simply not good enough to prevent more advanced attacks. You can use Google's anti-phishing product in Firefox (which is more like IE's auto-detect capabilities), but it logs every website you visit and they can get sent to Google, hmmmmmmm.

I love Firefox, but anti-phising is one area where it is outdone by IE. Hopefully this will change in the next major release.

Having said that, the best protection is commen sense as well!

[Ethel]

I can't agree about the anti-phishing, although I do agree common sense is the best defence of all.

I find Firefox's in-built anti-phishing more than adequate:

http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/11/15/HNmo zillaphishing_1.html

[fo3nix]

Firefox is light years ahead of IE7.

If you click tools->add ons, and then click the little link in the corner saying 'get more extension' (or something to that effect), then you'll be taken to a site where you can add extra add ons, as Ethel says.

Ones to search for and install:

Adblock Plus
Fasterfox
No Squint

Plenty others that I use too, but those 3 are almost essential.

Adblock blocks adverts in web pages, stopping that flashy annoyance. Fasterfox speeds up downloads and general web browsing (optimising for your connection basically), and No Squint is great if you ever visit websites where the text is a bit too small to comfortably read. You can increase the text size with ctrl+[plus key], but this is for all sites you visit. No Squint makes a per site setting, so the one site that you always visit and always increase the font size will automatically be set to the nicer size when you visit it.

[Doc Spock]

Thank you one and all.