Preserved Topic: Stupid Flash 6 and stupid IE

I use IE 6. Everytime I enter some stupid site that uses some stupid banner with the stupid new Flash 6, my stupid IE asks me, using a Security Warning dialog, if I want to install the stupid new program.
I DON'T WANT TO INSTALL THAT STUPID F**CKING FLASH PROGRAM JUST BECAUSE THEY WANT ME TO INSTALL IT.
It was not very straight forward to find out how to configure the stupid IE so it stops showing me that stupid dialog but in the Internet Options dialog, Security tab, Custom Level button, I disabled the "Download signed ActiveX controls" and now, instead of the stupid Secutity Warning, I always get another dialog saying that "Your current security settings prohibit running ActiveX controls on this page and as a result the page may not display correctly".
WTF !!
I'm getting really pissed with this stupid IE.
Is there a way to avoid these stupid dialogs in IE or should I consider using another browser?

I'm no expert but I think you aren't going to get around that ActiveX any way unless you switch browsers. I don't suggest you switch, but do what you want, I can't stop you.

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Cell 650 | | MetalHead | | AIM: Joe Cracker 420

viol: I suspect you will struggle to find too many ways to stop you being harrassed, however, there are ways - started a FAQ on it here:
http://faq.ozoneasylum.com/446/

You should grab Proxomitron while you can as DoS attacks have all but forced it off the Net.

The other solution is to just download the latest plugin (but, of course, that is just what they want you to do). I always enjoy Macromedia's claim that their plugin is on 98% of browsers - only by harrassing people until they just give in and download the plugin for an easy life

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Emps

FAQs: Emperor

Thanks Emperor.
Utility already downloaded!

viol: Let us know how it works as it is a powerful piece of software (it can rewrite just about anything on the page before you even have to view it) but I'm curious about how easy it is to use and that kind of thing so some feedback would be interesting (I know plenty of other people who would love to get rid of the harrassments to upgrade).

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Emps

FAQs: Emperor

*raises hand* Here's one...I hate those things...esp. when I already have the plug-in...and sometimes I still get the harrassment...GRRRR!

So yeah, let us know how it goes...I may download it, as well...

First, I gave up on fighting stupid Flash.
But, now, my wife's just got a new notebook, with a fresh and pure Win2k installation, with no Flash, and I faced the same problem. Whichever stupid Flash page I visited, an alert message asked me if I wanted to install Flash.
I thought to myself: enough of this BS. So, I downloaded Proxomitron, installed it, configured it and, guess what? It's great and it works. No more stupid dialogs and no Flash installed. The pages are lighter without Flash and I never liked Flash anyway.
To configure Proxomitron, you just have to follow the simple instructions: configure a proxy server for the HTTP protocol. Very easy and straight forward. But, the default configuration of the program does not kill the Flash stuff so you just have to click Web Page and tick the Flash animation killer option.
When I came to ozones, the Lost animation was not working also, so I had to disable the Kill javascript banners option of Proxomitron. No problem, I like javascript :-)
And, you can always set any web address you like to not pass through Proxomitron. Just configure it to avoid the proxy server, via Internet Options.
So far, I'm in love with this smart little program. If I find any downside, I'll let you know.

Added: I'm very new to this Proxomitron and I don't know why the bottom bar of ozoneasylum doesn't show when using Proxomitron (this bar at the bottom of this page, with four buttons) - so, I have added ozones and ozoneasylum addresses to avoid the proxy server. Also, since I'm using a LAN to connect to the Internet, I have configured the proxy for LAN and not for a dial-up connection. It's the same thing but configured in different dialogs, when using IE.

[This message has been edited by viol (edited 09-07-2002).]

viol: Thanks for the feedback - I'm glad to see its working. Its our second most popular FAQ (after sig hosting) so you aren't alone there :
http://faq.ozoneasylum.com/FaqWiki/mostvisited.php

Its also nice to see that things are looking up for Proxomitron and it is back from the brink. I have updated the FAQ with other solutions if anyone is interested:
http://faq.ozoneasylum.com/446/

I have been using the Outpost firewall:
http://faq.ozoneasylum.com/674/

as I thought ZA may have been slowing things down and that has a number of ad filters which blanked out the buttons across the bottom based on their size and I wonder if that is your problem too. Ad filters tend to attack them from different directions - by source and by size and the 88x31 button is one of the sizes commonly blocked. If you can take that size out of the filter you won't suffer too badly from ads.

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Emps

FAQs: Emperor

quote:

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You should grab Proxomitron while you can as DoS attacks have all but forced it off the Net.

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WOW, what a great program. I only just installed it about 5 minutes ago so i haven't had time to dig deep into it yet but from what i've seen, this program will revolutionise my web browsing. You might think that i'm going a bit over the top with this, but let me tell you, i'm using a 56k >_< so web browsing is not good at the best of times. I never dreamt there would be this many options to configure. I can tell i'm gonna have fun with this nifty piece of software...

Thanks for this great recomendation Doc

You should thank Emperor, he's the guy behind the tip. Doc provides Ozones though.

Thank the Doc - he made it all possible. I picked up that tip from a magazine or newspaper and was just passing it on I'm glad it has proved useful.

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Emps

FAQs: Emperor

Ooops, i meant to put Emp, sorry.

I guess i should thank the Doc for this place though.

Thanks again Emp for that link. Its proved very useful


[Edit] My grammar is awful [/Edit]

[This message has been edited by Nolp (edited 09-07-2002).]

You know, the simplest solution would be to umm.. Install flash.

By not supporting flash your just forcing the banner adds back to the age old gif format which is oh so not very bandwidth friendly. Not to mention all of the other interesting stuff flash can do. Give it a chance, it's better than you might think. You just have to know where the interesting flash stuff is, like Tim Burton's Stainboy movies and the xiou xiou (sp?) series!...

Although I can understand why so many people don't like flash but 99% of the time it's due to it's huge missuse. There's a lot of crap flash out there but there's some good stuff too. Besides, flash is one of the most supported plug-ins now and not having it is like forcing yourself to wear blinkers or browsing with NN4.x

Still, it's your choice.

Dracusis: In the end its all about choice and nagware like Flash is designed to take away your choice. I wouldn't completely disable Flash persoanly but that FAQ gives a range of choices and if I was being hit by such a huge amount of Flash abuse (and as you say there is an awful lot of it out there) I'd probably go for one of the other solutions like jTFlashManager which allows you to toggle Flash on and off.

I'm interested by what you say here:

quote:

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By not supporting flash your just forcing the banner adds back to the age old gif format which is oh so not very bandwidth friendly.

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I would have thought some of the Flash ads suck up more bandwidth and are much more annoying - also people blocking Flash ads are probably also blocking animated gif banners too and the problem with Flash ads is that until recently it wasn't possible to block them and keep the plugin.

Its the abuse of Flash (in ads and in pointless splash screens or bloated sites) and the fact that it is nagware which will force people to use techniques like this (it is our second most popular FAQ so there is a call for this out there) and perhaps people should address the abuse that forces people to completely disable a potential very useful technology before the usage figures start falling?

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Emps

FAQs: Emperor

Yeah, I can see your points.

Trying to fix the "too much crap flash" problem is rather impossible though. Although I'm pointing my finger at Macromedia for making it sooo easy for people hack their programs. If people had to fork out the cash to develope with flash they'd spend the time to make it worthwile to the visiter, rather than just slapping it in for the 'gee wizz' value that they think it is. Oh and swish for their evil flash text effects app thingy. Yeah, Swish needs to die a horrible nasty death.

The crap flash sites stuff is annoying but I just apply the same logic I do to every other website I visit. If it annoys me I'll just leave.

Still, I've never really found the "Do you want to install this plug-in" alert annoying. I do a backup and format / re-install of my OS about every 5 to 6 months so I get them a lot. If it's something like Flash, Shockwave, Real Player or Quicktime I'm more than happy to install them because I feel their usefull extensions of the web. Even if I have to wait several munites for it to download on my dialup connection. Personally, I'd hate to think how boring the web would be without any plug-ins.

If waiting 3 minuites so I can install a plug-in and view x model car from every wihch angle, open and close the doors, look under the hood etc ect... all in real-time 3D then I will. It sure beats viewing single photos of the car at around 100k a pop.

My main reason for voicing my opinions here is just because I've noticed a trend developing lately where everyone seems to have a rather dismal view of all plug-ins without even giving them a chance... eh, I don't know... Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I just need some sleep.

Brazilian PC World online magazine has recently posted an article entitled "Ad hell at the Web". They tested four apps that promise to block ads: AdSubtract, Guidescope, Norton Internet Security and WebWasher (for the addresses just add .com, except for the obviously Symantec product). They also tested Junkbuster and Proxomitron but they didn't score them since, according to the article, Junkbuster is extremely difficult to configure and Proxomitron wasn't able to ban simple ads. The Best Buy was granted to AdSubtract Pro because, always according to the article, it is easy to configure and it blocks the ads better than all the others. But, the downside is that AdSubtract demands that you keep updating filters to maintain efficiency.
Here's the link: http://pcworld.terra.com.br/pcw/testes/internet/0099.html
I'm not going to translate the article but I guess that by having the names of the apps, you all can give them a shot and test them by yourselves. I'll stick with Proxomitron since it does just what I want: to stop Flash ads.