Are you tired of seeing all those advertisements? Plus you may not be aware you are being tracked by a lot of sites to get your browsing habits especially when buying something online from Amazon, eBay and others. Google tracks you as well. Some of you may know about Extensions also called Add-ons which are installed to work with the browser. Below I have provided install instructions for the 3 popular browsers. Be mindful browsers are constantly changing, and extensions might be there today and gone tomorrow.
If you are using Internet Explorer:
Click the gear symbol in the right corner under the X in the red box
The select Manage add-ons
Click Find more toolbars and extensions
Click Add-ons and then click All
In the search box enter Adblock and click the magnifying glass
Click Add to Internet Explorer button for Adblock Plus
In the search box enter Track and click the magnifying glass
Click Add to Internet Explorer button for Stop Google Tracking
There was a Do Not Track Me there at one time but it was removed
Chrome:
Click the 3 Bars symbol in right corner then click on Settings
Click Extensions then click Get more extensions at the bottom
Type Ad Block in the box under Chrome Web store then click the Extensions button
Click Free button for Ad Block, Ad Block Plus, Ad Block Pro and Ad Block Super
There is also one for YouTube and Facebook if are interested
Type trackmenot in the search box
Click Free button to get Track Me Not, Blur and Do Not Track
Firefox:
Click the 3 Bars symbol in right corner then click Add-ons
In the search box enter Ad Block and click the magnifying glass
Go to the bottom of the page and click on See all 283 items
Click Install button on all the items you desire like Ads no more, ad killer and Adblocks
In the search box enter do not track and click the magnifying glass
Click Install button on all the tracking items you desire
I am sure you have clicked on a link and gone to site that has news, and it blurs out the text and pops up a screen wanting 99 cents to continue viewing their site. This is how you can get around it, but it does not work for all sites.
Cookies are not like a virus or malware, and are used by the webpage owner to store information when you view its site. Use the same directions for Firefox above only this time search for ‘Remove cookies from site’.
Firefox:
After install all you need to do when you encounter a site that wants money is right click on the page, and click on Remove Cookies for Site in the menu. This deletes the cookie data from your hard drive, but does not take it out of memory. You will have to close your browser and come back to the page to delete the cookie data in memory.
You can also get a spell checker and JavaScript Popup Blocker.
I did not find an equivalent extension for Internet Explorer or Chrome. For Internet Explorer there is CT Cookie Spy and Decookie, but neither got good ratings. For Chrome there is Cookies, but you must pick the cookies for the site and picking them for a site can be a challenge. I am going to look some more, and if anyone knows of another please reply.
In the meantime you can do this:
Chrome:
Click the 3 Bars symbol in right corner then click on Settings
Click Show advanced settings…at the bottom
Click the Clear browsing data button under Privacy
Click the Clear browsing data button
Internet Explorer
Click the gear symbol in the right corner
Click Internet Options
Click the Delete… button
Click the Delete button
I have seen 3 instances of this Microsoft thing including myself. You will get a pop up message stating it is from Microsoft, and you are subject to attack and they will help you avoid it. First of all Microsoft does not send out messages of this nature, or any messages as far as I know. The message states for you call a toll free number, and they will fix the issue. Do not call because it is a scam to get personal information from you. I had one client call it, and the person started asking all sorts of personal questions. Luckily the man did not give it to them. He told me the person had a foreign accent. This particular message had an area code of 855 is not in the US.
It appears this malware and other similar malware is attaching to your browser or user account. A guy who got this, and called me because he suspected it was bogus and had 300 instances of malware. Another lady had 1,300 instances of malware. I have discovered Virus protection such as AVG, McAfee and others catch very little if any malware. The trend now is moving more to malware and spyware than viruses because the perpetrators are getting paid. They did the viruses on their own dime just to see if they can pull it off, and upset people to have their stupid fun.
I suggest you get a separate malware application such as Malwarebytes or Hitman Pro. It has real time protection, and will catch most malware before it can attach to your browser or your user account. But I have found instances that it did not catch. So I recommend that you do a scan every month to find what it did not catch real time.
You could get an email to call a 855 or 844 number about federal income tax. The email will have icons for IRS, FBI CIA or the like. If you call the number they will ask you for $300 for unpaid taxes, and if you refuse they will call the sheriff’s office and have you arrested. Please never call these numbers because if they sent you an email this is bogus. The IRS has always sent letters to people giving them a date, time and the location where you should go for audit. And if you don’t show up they may send someone to remind you.
I heard from another person that never responded to an email of this sort who got a phone call on their land line the same story about unpaid taxes.
My cut on these scams is there must be some folks who are fooled and or scared and have given them money. If these crooks were not getting any results they would stop the foolishness.
Hi PM,
Informative computer tips and will be of great info and help for those who are new in computer world. Using Chrome and like to ask any tip to avoid “KILL PAGES” error.
For more click here.
Right click on the Google Chrome shortcut on the desktop and select “Properties”
In the “Google Chrome Properties” dialog box that opens, At the end of the text box for “Target” field, put a space after chrome.exe" and enter –no-sandbox
Click Apply then OK. This is what the text box for “Target” field should look like:
“C:\Documents and Settings\your name\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” –no-sandbox
A sandbox is an area used by programmers to debug hence the error is displayed. The Chrome browser should have a default of no sandbox, and the developer would turn it on when testing. I will send a message to the Chrome developers.
Good tips, i for one don’t mind the tracking cookies, as i would rather see ads that are relveant to me, rather than years ago, when it was a whole manger of strange ads that we got on each website.
I don’t care to see ads at all. If I want to shop online I do that, and do not want ads suggesting what I should buy. The things that bugs me the most is if I buy a laptop today I will be inundated with ads the next day for laptops. I am not in the market to buy another laptop so they should be hawking accessories. As for the tracking they are keeping up with what sites you visit, what you buy and your interests. You will get emails from the trackers. To me it is a nuisance, and I prefer not to have it.
For all of you who have Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 Microsoft has announced it will upgrade your system to Windows 10 for the cheap price of free. This is to happen on or about July 29, 2015. The reasoning from them is to get most all users on the same system so third party developers need only be concerned with developing for one operating system. I do not dispute this claim, but I have a suspicion it is also to placate users for the crappy Windows 8. The Internet Explorer has been bashed deservedly because of security holes, and as a result many of us went to Chrome or Firefox. The good news is Microsoft has fixed most if not all of the issues in Internet Explorer 11, and it will be named Edge in Windows 10.
Ah, nice to hear, i might upgrade then as i’m running windows 7, whats your opinion, do you think it will be safe, and will it run all my windows 7 programs still?
Yes you should upgrade because they have stated there is new functionality. I am sure all the applications you have on 7 or 8 will execute without any issues. If were not the case Microsoft would not be attempting to get everyone on 10.
Keyboard shortcuts also called hotkeys are combinations of two or more keys that you can use to perform a task that would typically require a mouse or other pointing device. Keyboard shortcuts can make it easier to work with your PC, saving you time and effort as you work with Windows and other apps. Anytime you can skip mouse clicks you become more productive.
Good example:
Copy and Paste
You must highlight the text to copy with the mouse, then right click the mouse then left click on Copy. Then you must point the mouse to set the focus then right click and left click Paste.
Using both mouse and the keyboard you can do it faster.
You highlight the text to copy with the mouse, then hold down the Ctrl key and press the C. Then you must point the mouse to set the focus then hold down the Ctrl key and press the V. You have omitted 4 mouse clicks becoming more efficient by using your right hand to use the mouse, and your left hand on the keyboard.
The following are the most used:
Ctrl+C (or Ctrl+Insert) Copy the selected item
Ctrl+X Cut the selected item
Ctrl+V (or Shift+Insert) Paste the selected item
Ctrl+Z Undo an action
Ctrl+A Select all items in a document or window
Ctrl+D (or Delete) Move the selected item to the Recycle Bin
Shift+Delete Delete the selected item permanently
Ctrl+R (or F5) Refresh the active window
Ctrl+Y Redo an action
Esc Stop or leave the current task
F1 Display Help
F3 Search for a file or folder
F5 Refresh the active window
Windows logo key Windows logo key +F1 Open Windows Help and Support
Windows logo key Windows logo key +E Open File Explorer
Windows logo key Windows logo key +M Minimize all windows
Windows logo key Windows logo key +R Open the Run dialog box
Windows logo key Windows logo key +S Open Search to search Windows and web
Alt+Enter Display properties for the selected item
Ctrl+Shift+Esc Open Task Manager
Alt+Left arrow Back
Alt+Right arrow Forward
Alt+Page Up Move up one screen
Alt+Page Down Move down one screen
Ctrl+Esc Open the Start screen