How do I run IE in safe mode?

[davyboy 19]

Don't you need IE to download windows updates?

[Kingmaker2 10]

Don't you need IE to download windows updates?

 

Yes, but that doesn't mean you have to use it as your main browser.

[davyboy 19]

Don't you need IE to download windows updates?

 

oops, replied to the wrong thread.

Should have been this one.

 

How do I completly get rid of IE off my pc?

[Minimo 59]

The trouble is it isn't just games sites that make IE vunerable.

 

This latest game sites vunerability has made the newspapers but, it isn't the first IE vunerabilty, nor will it be the last.

The latest vunerability isn't just an isolated case, IE has a long history of vunerabilities that rarely make the news media, although they are well known amongst PC community.

 

Minimo this article was written back in 2004, but seems as relevant today as regards to IE's security flaws.

 

http://reviews.cnet.com/1990-3513_7-5142616-1.html

 

Thanks, I`ll have a look at that.

[dosxuk 10]

That's the problem though, Internet Explorer is without any shadow of a doubt the most vunerable browser in use.

Microsoft has to constantly give it's users updates to combat these new theats, and Microsoft is usually slow to respond to new threats.

Even if Microsoft have managed to find a "fix" for this latest vuneability, it won't be too long before another Internet Explorer vunerability is discovered.

 

The best solution is not to keep Internet Explorer up to date, but to switch browsers altogether.

 

The problem is that bad people want to get into other peoples computers. By far and away the most successful method is social engineering - and getting people to install stuff they don't understand what it's going to do.

 

Every browser is insecure. End of story. As the take up rate of FF / Opera has risen, so has the number of threats to those that have been discovered. IE is no worse these days than FF. Everyone tells you that IE is bad because MS won't update it even if a flaw is found, but just over 24 hours after this flaw was found, they've pushed a supported fix out to everyone (and tested it on the myriad of configurations that IE can be installed in).

 

I'm not going to defend MS any further, but this scaremongering is getting rediculous. People on this site are more likely to pick up malware from their emails and facebook / myspace accounts than they are being hacked via their browser. At the end of the day, it's currently impossible to write secure software, and until that becomes possible, incidents like this will happen again. Even once it is possible, the bad people aren't going to go away, spam won't stop and people will still get hacked - there's too much money and not enough knowledge to stop it.

 

As an aside, if you do intend to remove IE from your computer, please bare in mind that it is classed as an operating system component from Windows 98 onwards, and various other features of Windows and other applications you may have installed may stop working or become very unreliable. I would not recommend removing IE from your system unless you understand the consequences. Using another browser for normal surfing is fine, just don't expect that it means your computer is 100% safe (it's never going to be).

[Kingmaker2 10]

People on this site are more likely to pick up malware from their emails and facebook / myspace accounts than they are being hacked via their browser.

 

I watched last weeks BBC News technology program "Click", they were interviewing Mr.Kaspersky, the Russian founder who set up the IT security company Kaspersky.

He was asked, what was the greatest threat toady, to the average internet user, Mr.Kasperky replied that it wasn't any longer the e-mail attachments, or even fraudulent links or buttons you click on (A la Facebook), but simply visiting a dodgy website, which will automatically download malicious script without the user needing to do anything, except land on the page.

 

Opera has 2 inbuilt features that as far I am aware Internet Explorer doesn't, to protect the user with regards to these threats.

 

1)In built Haute security,which prevents the user from landing on any webpage or site that has known security issues.

2) It can block both Java and Java Script on all websites, but gives you control to allow Java or Java Script to run on only those specific sites that the user trusts.

 

Every browser is insecure. End of story.

 

I would rephrase that by saying no browser is 100% safe, just like no house or home is 100% secure from burglars....

 

But some are more secure than others.

 

There is very little doubt according to Secunia, the company that is renowned for tracking vunerabilities and patches in the major browsers, that Internet Explorer has the worst security track record and Opera has the best.

[Nazo 10]

I think something a lot of people don't appreciate also is that often malware is pushed via adverts which sites don't have full control over. So staying away from 'dodgy' sites doesn't necessarily protect you from threats.

[Kingmaker2 10]

I think something a lot of people don't appreciate also is that often malware is pushed via adverts which sites don't have full control over. So staying away from 'dodgy' sites doesn't necessarily protect you from threats.

 

That's true but by definition once the said site has allowed these types of adverts on their site then that site can be called "dodgy".

[Nazo 10]

That's true but by definition once the said site has allowed these types pf adverts on their site then that site can be called "dodgy".

It's not necessarily a question of allowing though is it? If Google ads or whatever serves them with an infected ad then there's not a lot they can do about it.

[Kingmaker2 10]

It's not necessarily a question of allowing though is it? If Google ads or whatever serves them with an infected ad then there's not a lot they can do about it.

 

Hmm, we seem to be caught up in terminology here, when I used the term "dodgy sites" I used the term to refer to all sites that contain malware,including ones with those adverts.

[dosxuk 10]

So virtually every website then, as most are capable of hosting malware, even if it's only until someone notices and removes the offending ad.

[Kingmaker2 10]

So virtually every website then, as most are capable of hosting malware, even if it's only until someone notices and removes the offending ad.

 

Hmm I thought I answered that question.

 

The term "dodgy site" I used in post 18 was used to describe a site that was found to contain malware, whether whether that be from adverts or otherwise.

 

I used it as a descriptive term, rather than say :

 

"When you land on a site that could infect your machine through malicious code, used on the webpage, or whether you landed on a site known to have spyware inducing advertising."

 

The term "dodgy" was just quicker to use.