Security prompts are making me NUTS!!!!!

Hi Everyone!

As you can see by the number of posts I've made, I'm pretty new at this stuff, so please pardon me if I'm asking novice questions that have been asked a milliion times before, BUT;

I have a question about the "Internet Options "> "Security" settings in IE6-SP-1

I have been told not to allow ANY scripting, so I have the "unsigned" scripts blocked, and all the other script settings set at "prompt ". I'm going absolutely CRAZY having to keep clicking away those little pormpt windows everytime I go to another page, but I DO want to be protected from all the bad stuff that's out there.

I have my AV program up-to-date; I have a software firewall; and when I got broadband 2 months ago, I added a Netgear Router that has "NAT and SPI protection ", (whatever the heck THAT means.....it sure was important to my PC-expert friends, though !!). With software AND hardware protection, do I still have to be so strict with my "Security" settings, or can I allow the "safe scripts "??

Any and all replies are greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Spookie

 

To Arie.....won't "disabling" ALL scripting prevent me from properly viewing most web sites?

What exactly IS a script, and why even have them if some are safe and some are not???

I'm very much of a novice, (only 2 years of "self-taught" PC info), so please don't laugh....I really DON'T know what scripts, Active-X, (what's the deal with THEM, and should they be allowed?), java, and all those other things are.

May I ask what your settings are, or is that too personal?

Thanks for answering!

Spookie

 

Spookie - think of all the items you mentioned as programs that can do things. Things on a web page OR things on your PC.

If I were an evil person and clever enough, I could write a script that when you connected to my web site would copy itself to your PC and then instruct the PC to delete all it's files.

It's always a trade off between safety and function. Too high safety and you might as well turn the PC off. Too low safety and someone will turn it off for you. The link Arie gave to safer surfing is well worth the time to read it.

I run moderate safety myself. I use word viewer and excel viewer as the default for opening documents and spread sheets because they cannot run any scripts they find. If I need to edit either one, I do switch to the regular program that can run scripts and hope my AV will notice anything bad.

On the other hand, I run a program known as GoBack that keeps a series of current images of my PC which are immune to attack as far as I can tell. So if I goof and my PC is harmed, I can reboot, select an older image from before the bad stuff, and restore to that point. Otherwise I'd set security higher.

 

Hi Newt!

I have a couple questions......you mentioned that you use "word viewer" and "excel viewer ".....what are they, and do they come with Windows XP-Home, SP-1, or are they programs that I have to download or purchase?

I'm especially curious about "excel ", because I've had friends send me things that require me to do something with an excel spreadsheet.......how do I do that? I'm not afraid to ask questions, (as you've probably noticed!!!), but these friends send me stuff from where they work.....I'm at home all the time because I'm disabled, and I don't want to waste their time while they're at work by having to have them teach me how to do something on my PC that they figure I should know how to do already.......did that make sense to you?

I'm DEFINITELY going to read the article that Arie provided because I want to learn how to do things right AND safe, but I have my security level at "medium" because I was told that if I set it at "high ", I'd never be able to go anywhere!

If I block all scripts, (the ones at the beginning of the list; not the java script ones----I have those set at "high safety ", (I think it's called); the scripts at the beginning I have the unsigned ones blocked.....the rest I have set to "prompt "....I figured that, that way, if I trusted the site that I was on, I could allow it....if it was a new site I could deny it. Is that poor reasoning?

I also learned that if I have all scripts blocked, I can't go to certain sites, (e.g. Windows Update to get patches, updates, etc.) Has that been your experience, too?

If you don't mind, will you please explain those 2 viewers you mentioned, as well as the "GoBack" program....is that freeware, shareware or do I have to purchase it? Is it different than setting "system restore points "?

Sorry to sound dumb, but this is the only way I'm EVER gonna learn this stuff!

Thanks!

Spookie

 

Spookie - Dumb would be if you didn't ask.

Word & Excel Viewers are free downloads from Microsoft. Both can be set as the default to open .doc & .xls files and that's what I recommend. They will display fine but not do any evil things to you. Both give you the option (under file~whatever) to convert over to a word/excel version that can do edits so you can work on documents you open if you want. Here and get the ones you want. The viewers say they are a '97 version but thats the ones you want. They will open documents done with any version.

GoBack is not free. It comes as part of a Norton Suite but if you don't need the other parts, you can order it as a stand-alone. Click Here for information and to buy if you want it.

You can certainly get so tight on script blocking that you can't have fun using the internet.

 

Word and Excel viewers are fine if you just want read what is sent to you, but if you want to open, create, edit etc documents with a free program, go to www.openoffice.org I use it as my default viewer, even though I have the whole MS Office and Works on here, too.

My safety settings are probably less than medium- enable or prompt, but I have Norton set to prompt for everything. Many times I deny the script, and I don't miss much- maybe a moving graphic or some other flashy banner. If I think I'm missing something that I want to see, I can allow it, based on the credibility of the site I'm on.

When you read Arie's piece, you'll understand the terminology and theory a little better. Please don't call yourself dumb. Dumb is not taking the initiative to learn.

Johanna