Do you recommend installing the XP (SP2) on a computer with AVG antivirus and ZoneAlarm firewall? Thanks, Shark
Do you recommend installing the XP (SP2) on a computer with AVG antivirus and ZoneAlarm firewall? Thanks, Shark
Forget about it. Uninstall XP altogether and put back W2K SP4; or a Linux OS. You'll be happier in the long run. Happiness = reliability, stability, and simplicity. You have better things to spend your time on.
Furthermore, in the software game, newer is not necessarily better; newer often just means more complicated. For the end user this means headaches.
(Side note: At the moment, with SP2 of XP installed, you now have to take special steps just to make downloads from most sites, including Web sites like PC World and Intel.com)
----------------->
> Do you recommend installing the XP (SP2) on
> a computer with AVG antivirus and ZoneAlarm
> firewall? Thanks, Shark
> Do you recommend installing the XP (SP2) on
> a computer with AVG antivirus and ZoneAlarm
> firewall? Thanks, Shark
I'm recommending to all my clients running XP that they hold off on SP2. There are numerous issues with it, and there will undoubtedly be a "Service Pack 2, second edition" or something similar.
Until that happens, it becomes doubly important to keep anti-virus software updated and use a browser other than Internet Explorer.
Speaking of which, Microsoft released more patches for security holes in IE last Friday.
Firefox is a terrific alternative to IE 6 (GetFoxfire.com)
Incidentally, I've now been running travelaxe.com on Firefox; it runs speedily, comes up with better picks and wider choices than sidestep.com, and further I needn't worry as much as with a browser like IE allowing malware/spyware to mix in.
that's the exact setup I have with SP-2 and it works great. Linux Schminux
I installed SP-2 and it is a pain in the butt. The biggest pain was getting it to stop telling me I have no firewall when I tell it to ignore that since I have a Linksys firewall. I had to look on MS newsgroups and found the answer. Also, since installing it, IE has frozen up quite often. Today I installed Firefox. I had tried Firefox a few months back but it wasn't 100% compatible with some sites. It became an issue when I booked a Jetblue flight. I'll give it a try again, but if the compatability issue comes up again I'll use IE for banking, etc. and Firefox for surfing.
> that's the exact setup I have with SP-2 and
> it works great. Linux Schminux
You are one of the lucky ones. It is true that many people have installed SP2 without experiencing any problems. However, others have experienced a variety of problems, ranging from minor glitches in certain programs to being unable to boot their system after the upgrade. There are documented compatibility issues between Zone Alarm and the firewall included with SP2.
At the very least, anyone debating installing SP2 should read the release notes:
Release notes for Windows XP Service Pack 2
They should also read:
Programs that are known to experience a loss of functionality when they run on a Windows XP Service Pack 2-based computer
It would also be worthwhile to take a look at the "Windows Update" section of the Microsoft Community Forums.
> I installed SP-2 and it is a pain in the
> butt. The biggest pain was getting it to
> stop telling me I have no firewall when I
> tell it to ignore that since I have a
> Linksys firewall. I had to look on MS
> newsgroups and found the answer. Also, since
> installing it, IE has frozen up quite often.
> Today I installed Firefox. I had tried
> Firefox a few months back but it wasn't 100%
> compatible with some sites. It became an
> issue when I booked a Jetblue flight. I'll
> give it a try again, but if the
> compatability issue comes up again I'll use
> IE for banking, etc. and Firefox for
> surfing.
When installing Firefox (or other alternative browser), it is important to install the Flash, Shockwave, and Java plug-ins to insure full functionality on all websites. There are links and instructions for doing this on the Firefox website.
Unfortunately, even with all the plug-ins installed, there are still a handful of websites out there that will only work properly with Internet Explorer. The good news is that with the exploding popularity of Firefox, these sites are becoming fewer and fewer.
When you encounter one of these websites, you would be doing the entire online community a huge favor if you would take a few moments to fire off a quick, polite e-mail informing the site webmaster of the difficulties you have experienced, and requesting that the site be updated to be non browser-specific.
With its ongoing security issues, "banks, etc." are exactly the sort of websites at which you should not be using Internet Explorer.
> Unfortunately, even with all the plug-ins
> installed, there are still a handful of
> websites out there that will only work
> properly with Internet Explorer.
qfit.com is one of those sites where some features only work in IE. I simply do not have the time to get around all the bugs in the various boutique browsers and their various releases. Since IE is now over 90% in my stats and has grown steadily, that's the browser I fully support.
> qfit.com is one of those sites where some
> features only work in IE. I simply do not
> have the time to get around all the bugs in
> the various boutique browsers and their
> various releases. Since IE is now over 90%
> in my stats and has grown steadily, that's
> the browser I fully support.
Have you looked at your site with the latest version of Firefox or Opera? I just did a quick head-to-head comparison, and found very little loss in functionality with Firefox, and none at all with Opera. While I didn't look at every page (that would take a while!), I looked at most of the main pages as well as the secure ordering area.
The only thing I noticed is that the blue index bar on the left side of the page did not move down the page to stay in view as you scrolled down the page with Firefox. I consider this relatively insignificant. I did not notice any differences at all with Opera.
Rather than designing pages for any particular browser, why not simply make them W3 compliant?
A few months back you may have been using Firefox ver 0.8. The one you recently downloaded was likely ver. 1.00. Probably the little glitches you may have encountered with Firefox back then have been corrected.
Another, not little, reason to use Firefox over IE is that you're less likely to get malware or virus intrusion (despite all the firewall and other resident anti-virus programs one has on board anyway).
Technically, ver 1.00 Firefox is still a Beta version; but over 1 million users have switched to it.
Personally I keep both on my machines, but I favor Firefox.
And the Phantom, who was born in Crete, is nevertheless no liar.
I've been testing Firefox over the last few days (Had to switch from Mozilla back to IE because either Dollar or Thrift rent-a-car's website didn't load properly). Firefox seems to be a good bit faster than IE in side by side comparisons using my ADSL line from earthlink.
bp
> I've been testing Firefox over the last few
> days (Had to switch from Mozilla back to IE
> because either Dollar or Thrift rent-a-car's
> website didn't load properly). Firefox seems
> to be a good bit faster than IE in side by
> side comparisons using my ADSL line from
> earthlink.
IE is really starting to show its age. After all, it hasn't had a major update in about 3 years.
Note that the final release of Firefox was just released Nov 9. You can find out which version you have by clicking the Help menu, and then "About Mozilla Firefox." If it says "version 1.0 Preview," you do not have the latest version and might want to update.
While you're at the Firefox website, check out Firefox extensions. These are little helper programs that add additional functionality to Firefox. The "killer ap" is Adblock, which does just what it sounds like: It blocks the ads from appearing on the websites you visit. Not just pop-ups, but all advertising. Way cool.
Another one that my aging eyes find helpful is called Image Zoom. This allows you to right-click on any image in a website and make it bigger.
Also check out themes, which allow you to completely change the look of Firefox. My personal favorite is Pinball.
Posting Permissions
-*-
Bookmarks