web pages not fully loading - Moz/FF

Hi Dennis L,

I your specific above startup scenario:
Yes, you definitely have the vulnerability for Outbound traffic (many trojans even if on your PC have no affect if they can't communicate say your data from your PC to the villian). A Router only offers inbound protection (if properly configured) & there are many other ways to become infected even if your have a Router (with firewall protection in it). Only some SW firewalls like ZA offer Outbound protection (if properly used & believe me that's a big IF for the average user who doesn't configure correctly & doesn't properly research Alerts). The widely used XP firewall does not protect Outbound.

As to Inbound, I'm not 100% certain as I'm not expert on the innards of Routers & the many different ones. I assume you are not protected during those 10 seconds because there's probably a required driver or something not yet loaded. Notice my highly untechnical term 'something'? Yes, I'm not an expert or a techie per say, but I have learned alot. You're saying the Router is "enabled ". My point is whether it is truly yet "enabled" at that point in startup? My guess is it's not.

If anyone knows better (re the Inbound part with a Router), feel free to disagree. However readers here should note that there are people in other Forums who disagree with the Outbound vulnerability (with a ZA firewall) & they are absolutely wrong. The Outbound vulnerability is widely tested & documented.

 

Thank you Ramona. I've been busy learning & already found ways how to change the throbber & statusbar text color & many other things in userChrome.css; I also figured out how to take a copy of any Theme, move it to another directory, rename the .jar to .zip, unzip, extract things I like, & put them into userChrome.css

I read your link & it points out 1 new piece of data. If you want the change to affect all Profiles you can do it in the default chrome as a userchrome.css (or you can do as I did in a specific Profile's chrome).

Now, silly me I didn't think of the most basic thing that doing this now affects all Netscape Themes in the Profile. I really feel stupid! So now I've been trying to hack the theme itself (so far no success but it's a puzzle I'm trying to figure out). I can for instance change an element inside a Theme like the throbber & get it to display my choice but then the rest of the theme doesn't display).

I've tried many methods including:
Unpacking Skypilot, pasting other throbber images (from a different theme) into communicator/brand, renaming the skypilot throbbers to .old & renaming my images to the skypilot file names, & repacking it. My chosen throbber displayed but everything else didn't. Same result with just pasting in the throbber image there & changing the refs in Skypilot's brand.css to point to them. Same result when trying to replace Skypilot's entire communicator/brand & brand.css with the ones from other themes. In each of these attempts, I tried by both reinserting the repack in the user profile's chrome (which used it in NS but didn't work beyond changing the Throbber) & by trying to rename the .jar (NS installed the latter through Themer as successful, but it didn't show up) in menu View or NS Preferences/Themes.

I'm still experimenting. I thought the slightly different image size might be the problem, but that's not it. I thought the image frame, but removing the frame around the image doesn't help. It's really confusing that I can do it in userchrome but not within the theme. There must be some little 'thing' I'm just missing.

Eventually, I'd like to reach the ability not to write a theme from scratch but to combine elements I like from different themes without using userChrome

Thanks for your Help.

 

For trojans to communicate out & for hackers to get in & put a trojan inside (including a kernel rootkit). Of course they would have to be scanning during those 10 seconds to get in.

 

Well, its back! The 98/99% page loading that is.

As soon as i turn off ZA (and turn on windows firewall) all pages load just
fine.

There must be some setting in ZA getting turned on, or an app running that
makes it turn on, that is causing the incomplete loading..

I will check the settings (as much as possible) in ZA and post them here.
Maybe someone can spot the offending culprit......

savagcl

 

Sent you a PM

 

Got it, replied back, and will comply with you suggestions.

savagcl

 

Marklet,

Tsk,tsk, not fair to help via PM. Personal Messages is not intended for technical help, and I would appreciate very much your posting your suggestions to clif on the Forum as well. Quite a few users are watching this thread, and it would be helpful to them, as well as clif.

Thanks!

Ramona

 

Hi & Sorry Ramona,

You know I thought it would be more helpful to post rather than PM, but actually what I did was reply to a PM & sometimes people don't want to post all details of what software they use or feel embarassed in open Forum by their questions (though they shouldn't). Did I break any actual Forum rule? If yes, I won't do it again. I recall receiving PMs with unsolicited help the first time I ever visited these Forums.

I'd be glad to post the technical advice given to him by me without posting his personal data sent to me.
--------------------------------------------------
To distinguish, I'll add in below IN CAPS (NOT SHOUTING)

NOTE: a "+" = checked, "X" = blocked, and a '?" = ask.
ZA Settings:
Firewall:
Main:
Internet Zone Security: Medium SHOULD BE HIGH.
Trusted Zone Security: Medium

Zones (just 1):
New Network - Trusted SHOULD BE INTERNET. PLACING YOUR ISP NETWORK HERE IS LIKE HAVING NO FIREWALL

Expert: None
---------------------------------------------
Program Control:
Main:
Program Control: Medium SHOULD BE HIGH. FIRST USE ALL COMMON PROGS QUICKLY SO COMPONENTS GET LEARNED.
Alert Advisor: OFF
Automatic Lock: OFF

Programs:
(EDIT: here he listed all his programs & I'll delete non standards while still sharing my overall advice).

(Miscel. Program): ????? IF YOU TRUST IT, FIRST + AND IF IT NEEDS NET ACCESS + OTHERWISE X, BOTH SERVER COLUMNS X, MAIL X
Ad-Aware SE Core App: ????? SHOULD BE ++XXX
AVG Alert Mngr: ????? SHOULD BE ++XXX
AVG Update downloader: ++??? SHOULD BE ++XXX
DrWatson Debugger: ????? SHOULD BE XXXXX
Generic Host Process Win32 Svcs: ++?X? SHOULD BE +++XX & MAY BE PART OF YOUR PROBLEM
ISafe Service: ????? WHICH ZA ARE YOU USING??? IF ZASS, UNINSTALL AVG & GIVE THIS ++XXX; IF NOT ZASS/ZAAV THEN XXXXX & DISABLE THIS IN WIN SERVICES & TURN OFF MAILSAFE
Mozilla: +++++ SHOULD BE ++XX?; WAY YOU HAVE IT IS LIKE NO FIREWALL.
Netscape Nav: ++??? SHOULD BE ++XX?
Run a DLL as App: ????? SHOULD BE ++XXX; CAN BE PART OF YOUR PROBLEM.
Services and Controller app: ????? SHOULD BE ++XXX
Spam Filter: XXXX? WHICH SPECIFIC PROGRAM & FILE IS THIS ONE & WHY IS IT TOTALLY BLOCKED?
Spooler SubSystem App: ++??? SHOULD BE ++XXX
Win32 Cabinet Self-Extractor: ????? SHOULD BE ??XXX & I'D RUN A DEEP/BYTE AV SCAN & TROJAN HUNTER
Windows Command Extractor: ????? SHOULD BE +?XXX
Windows Explorer: ????? SHOULD BE ??XXX
Windows NT Logon App: ????? SHOULD BE +?XXX

NOTE: OTHER THAN GHP GETTING SERVER TRUSTED +, NOTHING ELSE SHOULD EVER GET ANY SERVER COLUMN ACCESS EXCEPT IF YOU DECIDE TO RISK SECURITY ON P2P APPS THAT NEED IT OR SOME GAME HOSTING THAT NEEDS IT.

Components: Too many to list.
DO ANY HAVE THE X? DO ANY HAVE THE ? SOME SHOULD, OTHERS COULD CAUSE PROBLEMS.
------------------------------------------------
Anti-virus: OFF
ARE YOU REFERRING TO THE ZA AV OR THE AV MONITOR? AV MONITOR IS BEST OFF. ZA AV IS BEST ON IN ZASS FOR REALTIME & LIKE ANY AV BEST OFF FOR EMAIL AS YOU'RE PROTECTED ON EXECUTION & USE OF EMAIL AV SLOWS YOUR CLIENT & MAY CAUSE CONFLICTS. ZA AV (CA VET) IS FAR SUPERIOR TO AVG & THE 2 INSTALLED (EVEN ONLY 1 ON) WILL CAUSE CONFLICTS
------------------------------------------------
IM Security:
Main: None
Settings:
AOL: XoffXXXXXYes
ICQ: XoffXXXXXYes
MSN: XoffXXXXXYes
Yahoo: +on++++XYes
CAN'T ADVISE. DON'T USE/KNOW. COULD CAUSE BROWSER CONFLICTS IN SOME CASES WHEN USED.
---------------------------------------------
Web Filtering:
Main:
Parental Control: Off
Smart Filtering DRTR Tech: Off

Catagories: to many to list.

I ADVISE NOT USING THIS. YOUR FIRST 2 MAINS ARE CORRECT. YOUR CATEGORIES NEED TO BE ALL UNCHECKED OR SETTINGS CONFLICT.
---------------------------------------------
Alerts/Logs:
Main: Alert Events Shown: Medium
Event Logging: Off
Program Logging: Off[/QUOTE]

LOGGING SHOULD BE ON SO YOU CAN REVIEW PROBLEMS.

USE ADVANCED BUTTON. IN ALERT COLUMN UNCHECK ALL EXCEPT BLOCKED APPLICATIONS.

OVERALL: SORRY BUT YOUR CURRENT SETTINGS ARE LESS SECURE THAN EVEN USING WIN XP FIREWALL DEFAULT! YOU REALLY REALLY NEED TO READ HELP FILES IN ZA & NOT GIVE SERVER RIGHTS SO FREELY.

ALSO:
PLACE YOUR DNS SERVERS & YOUR DHCP SERVER IN ZA FIREWALL TRUSTED ZONE. UNLIKE HAVING YOUR ISP PRIMARY NETWORK THERE, DOING THIS IS SAFE & WILL AVOID MANY PROBLEMS. IF YOU HAVE ANY MAIL PROBLEMS, ALSO PLACE ALL MAILSERVERS THERE (THE SMTPS FOR ALL MAILSERVERS YOU PULL INTO YOUR EMAIL CLIENT).

 

Marklet,

I do understand your motive, and it is not a "Rule" but something that all Moderators, and our Administrator are adamant about. You will even see the reminder not to post technical questions in PM, in some of the Moderator's signatures.

Yes, I did send you a PM on your first thread here, as I saw you were offended by something I said. I immediately sent you a PM to let you know that I was not being condescending, but then I also posted more or less the same information on the Forum:

So please, let's don't get off on the wrong foot again. Your first instincts were correct, and I understand there was personal information, which you were correct in not disclosing. Your knowledge of ZoneAlarm is certaining commendable, and I am delighted to have someone with your expertise helping clif.

Ramona

 

Ramona,

Sorry if we stepped out of bounds, subject was going astray, kinda.
Communication is a hard topic unto its self. From a movie i remember " I know
you heard me, but did you understand what i said ". I forget the name of the
movie.

We'll keep it here from now on.

Still checking and unchecking options in ZA to try and hit the right combo.
Marklet has been a big help, I was so far off base i was opening myself to all
kinds of possible troubles with ZA. We'll skin this critter yet (with help from
here, that is).

savagcl

 

Hi Ramona,

"Yes, I did send you a PM on your first thread here,... ". I wasn't referring to your PM. Others back then sent me 'technical' PMs.

"So please, let's don't get off on the wrong foot again ". Not at all. My last post on this said sorry to you. Whether not helping technically in PMs is a rule or merely a convention in this Forum, - I'll observe it in the future.

This online format of communication can often yield 'misunderstandings' through both its brevity & lack of vocal & facial emphasis. I always try to assume the best in people.

Please know I think very very highly of you & appreciate help you've offered me & others.

 

Thanks clif,

I appreciate it very much, if you do keep the rest of the results on the Forum.

You're lucky to have Marklet helping, as she was once a Moderator on the ZA Forums, and is indeed an expert!

Ramona

 

Oppppssssss, now i done it.
Thought Marklet was male.......

Think i'll take a short break, go outside and watch for incomming nukes...

My bad, apologies, Marklet!

savagcl

 

Hi Ramona,

Not important in this context, but FYI, I'm a HE.

Also, I was never the ZA Moderator. That Moderator is a ZA Employee & doesn't participate much. Mostly does censoring. ZA claims the Forums are not officially supported, but they are the best ZA support people can find (& much better than the $3 per minute phone support joke). The help comes from volunteers. The best volunteers in the past received GURU labels on their posting by ZA. Then a group of events occurred: ZA problems increased, too many unqualified GURUS were added in an attempt to address volume, & too much truth about ZA and vulnerabilities and solutions was censored. I then left my GURU status & left their Forums for quite a while. I now post under a different name there & only a few friends privately know 'who I am'.

I don't attempt to build an internet identity (ego). So I intentionally also don't use the same name/id in different Forums that I frequent. I also strongly prefer Privacy.

Let me demonstrate objectivity on Zone Alarm:
+: by far the strongest firewall security (sygate second; trend & mcafee distant third; no others are worth considering).
-: many bugs; terrible official support; not User easy; poor security for average User who doesn't read Help files & learn.
I'd switch in an instant if something better came along. There is nothing better today.

The future: Nvidia has just begun releasing new motherboards with firewalls built in that are excellent security (Inbound & Outbound), low resource, & don't create conflicts. As they are new & incorporate other advances, they are not cheap. They're especially geared to gamers who don't want the resource lag & other problems from software firewalls. As time marches forward, inevitably this type of technology will become more widespread, & copied, & much cheaper. I think it's around $400 now for the motherboard. Anyone wanting more data should visit the Nvidia site.

 

Marklet,

Profuse apologies, on the gender confusion!

Ramona

 

Just got back from sygate site. I ran the test scans there except for the time
consuming ones (hold for tonight). Apparently some things are right, all my
ports are blocked (stealthed) and no trojans were found so far, so good.

Questions on these 3 program control>components:

InterneLocal Spooler DLL - was there but disappeared.

Component Name: Standard TCP/IP Port Monitor DLL = ? -----is "?" correct?
File Name: C:\Windows\system32\tcpmon.dll

Component name: 32-bit Spooler API DLL
File name: C:\WINDOWS\system32\win32spl.dll = ? ------is "?" correct?


savagcl

 

HeeHee, no problem at all. Accepted. Thank you. (I think your post bothered Clif, not me, because he correctly thought I was/AM male & he then felt bad).

 

Hi Clif,

"InterneLocal Spooler DLL - was there but disappeared ". Entries on ZA Component list don't remove themselves even if you uninstall the program or remove the corresponding entry from the ZA Program list. Old entries require manual housecleaning from time to time or the growth of the ZA Components list will noticeably slow system startup.

"Component Name: Standard TCP/IP Port Monitor DLL = ? -----is "?" correct?
File Name: C:\Windows\system32\tcpmon.dll "
Change to a check mark.

"Component name: 32-bit Spooler API DLL
File name: C:\WINDOWS\system32\win32spl.dll = ? ------is "?" correct? "
Change entries located in system 32 to a checkmark, but only if you regularly scan for viruses with your AV and for trojans with Trojan Hunter (or TDS).

 

Thanks Marklet, I'll make those changes, forthwith.

I scan/clean daily with:
CClean
AdAware
Spybot
ClearMRU, if needed.
dclean
MRUBlaster
RegClean (from MS)
RegSupreme
Spider
Plus i de-frag twice weekly (Perfect Disk) and
do a full system backup weekly using Acronis TrueImage.

savagcl

 

Hi Cliff,

I'll share my views with you. There are many ineffective or less effective or evil (yes evil) anti malware tools. I say evil because some are actually spyware themselves. Some are terrible in giving newbs who delete too easily too many false positives.

"CClean ": not effective
"AdAware ": once the best tool; I still use it but it adds a tiny if any increment of protection; it's free, so it just takes scanning time.
"Spybot ": essential; don't use Advanced Tools sections till you learn & understand the Help files; do learn & understand the Advanced Tools; do lock your Hosts file & scroll it to be sure there are no redirects other than to localhost & any you recognize & want like some email tools).
"ClearMRU ": don't know it / don't want to; you already have MRY Blaster
"dclean ": don't know it / don't want to
"MRUBlaster ": excellent
"RegClean (from MS) ": use with caution
"RegSupreme ": don't know it / don't want to
"Spider ": don't know it / don't want to
"de-frag twice weekly (Perfect Disk) ": not necessary under XP (oh well, maybe once a year @ most); XP is necessary for security

I'd say your security is not very good.

Everyone needs:
Firewall: ZA (free or paid edition; paid really needed for networking or special port expert rules) if you can learn it properly; otherwise Trend or McAfee.
AV: CA VET or EZAV or Trend or McAfee or ZASS or ZAAV (free AVG only for those with limited funds).
Trojans: Trojan Hunter or TDS. Also, free Rootkitreveal (install, scan, act with great caution only). Please note all AVs have extremely limited anti trojan ability (they talk about "added protection" & that just means a few common signatures.
General Malware: free Spybot S&D AND free MS Antispyware BETA. The MS product doesn't work with old OS (for them substitute Counterspy). McAfee Antispyware adds nothing more except against keyloggers where it happens to be the best. Also, Free HiJackThis should be used for scan only & any suspicious item then the log should be posted to their Forums; if you know all entries are ok, then add them to the ignore list & you'll only see new items on future scans. Also, Free CWShredder.
Preventive (all free): Script Defender AND Spyware Guard. Also, Spyware Blaster and Startup Control Panel.
Email (often folks weakest link): Avoid OE/Outlook like the plague (if you must use them, add free NoSpyMail; the best protection against web bugs & html based infections is Benign & it works with all PC email clients, or Mail Washer Pro has Benign built in (but leaves a small vulnerable window for any email you download from the mailserver that arrived between the time you used MWP & then downloaded to your client).

You also mentioned Registry tools. Regshot gives you a clear look at all changes made after any software install. You can save the data so you know what needs to be deleted and changed if you decide to uninstall something. Also good for seeing suspicious add-ins.

Hope this helps many people. A final thought: use the latest OS, XP. Normally $100 with many $80 sales but recently $40 after rebate (you need W98 or higher for the upgrade).