Do not make the mistake of installing it or upgrading it now.

Firefox’s “Find Updates” in Tools –> Add-ons could not find the latest version 2.9 just like the Mozilla Add-ons website couldn’t recommend it because Site Advisor is not your normal .XPI add-on. One has to download and install a .EXE through the Site Advisor download page.

The latest version is about 3.0MB large, takes a lot of time to install, asks for a reboot, and even then creates annoying problems post-installation until you disable it. The problem is that every time you open Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, a popup asking you about post-installation settings appears again, asking you to Accept or Decline their EULA. The annoyance stops only after declining.

I tried this (by mistake) on a friend’s and my laptop and the problem was persistent. On one of the two, the pop-ups stopped but McAfee Site Advisor no longer had its search bar and it wasn’t showing whether a site is safe or not. That is because one has to “Decline” to get there in the first place.

I couldn’t find any fixes online yet. Let me know if you have any.

Image Source: McAfee Site Advisor Screenshots taken on my laptop.

Post from: EveryJoe

Do Not Install or Upgrade McAfee Site Advisor

I had been opinionated about using push buttons and organizing program files, worried about the rising types of blog fraud and spam mail, conscious about the precautions to be taken in a cyber cafe and disposing e-waste responsibly, sad about the layoffs and the Mumbai attacks, and excited about the Ancient Rome 3D and the LIFE photo archive projects. I also began an ongoing series on Cygwin: pre-introduction, introduction, installation. For all the things in between, refer the November archives.

I thank the readers for stopping by here, the fellow bloggers for link love, the spammers for spam that couldn’t be caught by Akismet, and the fraud bloggers for blog clones. Or not.

Looking forward to a better blogging experience this December.

Post from: EveryJoe

November Month in Retrospect

Everybody, even those owning a PC may have to visit a cyber café some time or the other. Unlike a place like Starbucks with free wifi where you can plug in your PC into the network, a large number of cyber cafés require you to use their own systems. If you find yourself in such a place, keep the precautions suggested here in your mind. Most consumers overestimate PC safety. If you’re one of these most consumers, pay more attention.

Unplug any media devices like floppies, CDs, DVDs, and pen drives if they are not yours or if you are not going to use them. Floppies and pen drives are especially prone for communicating infections.

Clear all private data from the web browser before and after using the Internet. This itself could save you a lot of embarrassment and security with the usage of Internet, remove any weak malicious scripts originally running in the background, and delete any passwords it may have saved without notifying you. For Internet Explorer, Tools -> Internet Options -> Browsing History -> Delete, checking everything (except the option of preserving favorite website data). For Mozilla Firefox, Tools -> Clear Private Data, checking everything.

Use a proxy site for whichever site it may be possible for greater anonymity, especially from the future visitors of the cyber café.

Don’t be surprised if the system is infested with viruses, adwares and spywares. Viruses usually harm the computer, not you, so ignore them. Adwares annoy you, but usually nothing more, so again ignore them. Spywares can track your usage patterns, even collect sensitive data from you (including passwords), so be extra careful about signing into any of your accounts and think four times before opening your online bank accounts. Most online banking websites these days offer a virtual keyboard, so make use of them for extra security.

Before leaving, double-check everything and make sure to permanently delete any files you may have saved on the computer. All said and done, it is always a better idea to trust thy neighbour than that cyber café. At least you can nail down the usual suspects.

Post from: EveryJoe

Take These Precautions in a Cyber Café