Making Windows 98
Better
In spite of the fact that many people still use and like
Windows 98, Microsoft had decided to discontinue its support for
this operating system, a decision which they just reversed. When used
with some of the quality
freeware, shareware and Open Source software that's available, Windows
98 can be a stable and reliable operating system for most
purposes. For those who would like to continue using 98, I have put together
this list of software and suggestions that not
only works
well with
Windows 98, but can make it more reliable and capable than it was when
released. When possible, I will also supply links to sources for
these programs.
Windows ME
Much of what applies to windows 98 also applies to ME. The basic
operating system is still DOS based, and except for some features, and
flaws, most of this will apply. What was originally intended to be a
web page of suggested software and sources for them has become a much
larger project that will not fit decently on a single page. I
have separated the programs into different categories on their own
pages. These are as follows: Securing Windows 98 More
Security Tips and Tools Using DOS to
Protect the Registry and System Files System Safety
Monitor Privacy,
Encryption, and Access Control Maintenance
and Configuration Audio,
Video,
Image Office,
Text, TTS. Utilities Internet
Tools
The browser and download manager are covered below. A BETTER BROWSER
Many of the problems associated
with Windows 98 are the result of inefficient usage of the limited
resources that the units came with. While adding more RAM can help some
problems, making more efficient use of the system resources is a good
way to address this problem. One of the worst programs for
wasting resources is Internet Explorer. The longer it runs, the
less resources you have left for the rest of your system. After a
time, web pages start to open improperly. Other applications slow down.
You begin to get error messages. If they get low enough, and you
try to start another task, you can end up with the "Blue Screen of
Death" (BSOD). The problem here is that Internet Explorer doesn't
release resources it has used, even when it no longer needs them. Since
Internet Explorer is actually part of the windows operating system,
shutting it off does not usually release these used up resources. The
only way to get them back was to reboot your system, assuming you
thought to do this before you actually ran out.
Mozilla is a much better browser for Windows
98. It makes much more efficient use of system resources than
Internet Explorer does. It does not continue to tie up resources
that it is no longer using. It is also quite a bit faster at loading
web pages. Mozilla is also immune to many of the exploits that
Microsoft is still patching in Internet Explorer. The Mozilla
suite is a complete package, containing a web page composer, a mail and
Newsgroup component similar in function to Outlook Express, and an
address book, in addition to the browser, which they named
"Navigator". The Mozilla Navigator has several more features that MS
could take a
lesson from:
A built in popup stopper that can be set on a "per
site" basis for sites that need them to function.
Encryption of all stored passwords.
A very well designed Cookie Manager which can be set
based on a sites privacy policy.
A download manager with a "pause" button.
An image manager that can limit what images
allowed to load and how animations are allowed to run.
User selectable search engine, including Google,
with right click options.
Ability to clear the cache, history, cookies, forms,
and passwords, with a single click for each.
Does not create or use index.dat files. No hidden
usage tracks like Internet Explorer makes.
Switchable Java permissions. Can be completely
disabled if desired.
No activeX vulnerabilities.
Tabbed Browsing. The ability to have several pages
open and active in a single window.
More information on the features of Mozilla is available at the Mozilla
website.
Follow the download link and select your operating system. You can also
use this download
link to get your copy. Mozilla is an open source program, freely
available to all, and able to be improved by anyone with the skills to
do so. It comes as a standard installer, which will handle the
installation nicely. You will probably want to keep internet explorer
as your default browser until you get used to the appearance and "feel"
of Mozilla.
Firefox, also by
Mozilla, is a browser option for those who don't want or need the
entire Mozilla package. Unlike the Mozilla suite, Firefox is a
browser only, with most of the excellent features found in the
Mozilla Navigator. More details about Firefox can be found at
the Firefox
Homepage.
DOWNLOAD MANAGER.
Although Mozilla and Firefox both come with a download manager that is
superior to the one in Internet Explorer, these can still have problems
if you have a slow or unreliable connection, or if your internet
service has a time limit on your connection. One of the best
download managers I have seen is Star Downloader. This download
manager integrates with most browsers, supports integrated
antivirus scanning, and the
pausing and scheduling of downloads. It can automatically re-connect if
your connection is broken, making the
downloading of large MP3s and programs on a dialup connection easy. You
can make different categories of downloads, each with their own
destination folders. Also comes with a "download basket" which you can
drop links into and automatically download. Very reliable, and faster
than the download manager in most browsers. More information at the Star Downloader
Website.
They now offer 2 versions. The freeware version is excellent, and works
very well. You can also download it from this
link. The ability to be set to automatically scan downloads
with an anti-virus program makes it worthwhile alone. I integrated F-Prot
for DOS,
one of the best manually run virus scanners, into mine.
Tips For Securing Mozilla.
Although Mozilla is more secure by design than Internet Explorer, there
are things you can do to make it more so. Some malicious sites attempt
to install software on your computer by overwhelming you with popup
pages, counting on you to just click to close them, and in the process
granting permission to do so. Mozilla blocks this behavior by default.
This should be left on and sites that you use that need popup windows
to function properly can be listed in the allowed sites list.
This is the Mozilla preferences menu, popup windows tab.
This setting will stop most popup windows and will alert you if the
site wishes to open such a window. Below is a copy of the lower
right portion of the status bar where the alerts are displayed, larger
than actual.
The orange Exclamation point is displayed when a site tries to open a
popup window. Clicking on this will enable you to put the site in
a list that you want to be able to display popup windows/pages. These
can be log-in windows, personal message notifications, etc. With most
websites, they're ads.
The next icon to the right, which looks a little like a cord with a
plug connector in it, shows whether your browser is connected to the
internet. Clicking on it will immediately disconnect Mozilla from the
internet. Although much harder to attack than Internet Explorer,
it can happen. This can be used as an emergency disconnect.
The 3rd icon to the right is displayed when a website is either
prevented from setting a cookie or sets one that is "flagged" by your
privacy settings. This will be covered shortly.
The last icon, looking like a padlock, displays if the site is secured
or not. This is usually done by encryption. Do not enter personal
information at any unsecured site. It can be accessed by others.
This is the cookie tab of the preference menu.
From here, you can set your privacy policy by clicking on the "View"
button. If desired, you can also set a limit to the lifespan of stored
cookies, either in days or as short as the current browser session.
It's actually more functional to limit cookies lifespan on a "privacy
policy basis" than to do so overall. Cookies can be quite useful as
some sites store your viewing preferences as a cookie, enabling them to
basically remember how you want the page to be set up. Many online
databases do this. Your search preferences for Google are also stored
this way. This is the privacy settings screen.
These settings are higher than the standard high settings. Some
exceptions may need to be made on a per site basis. Clicking
on it will open a menu that allows you to modify your privacy policy or
turn it off. If needed, you can add the site to a list of sites allowed
to set cookies from the tools menu, cookie manager.
JAVA.
Whether to install or enable the Java language is a decision that is
basically a choice between security and functionality. Maximum
security is achieved by not installing Java, but many websites require
it. Mozilla does use the Sun
Microsystems version, which is better written than the Microsoft
"Virtual Machine" version. It's available at their
installation site. If you do decide to use it, I would suggest the
following minimum security settings as shown below in the preferences
menu.
Above the "scripts & Plugins" menu, which is shown, on the
"advanced" tab a check box labelled "enable Java" can be found.
Unchecking this will disable Java. If you prefer, you can leave it
unchecked and only enable it for sites you trust. On the tab displayed
above, note the 2 unchecked boxes. You want to have the status bar
available, where the disconnect is at if needed. You also want it to
display where links you hover over or are directed to actually are.
This is a minimum for basic security with Java. Passwords.
Many sites require passwords to log into them or use these services.
These can include anything from e-mail sites to online banking and
financial institutions. While most of these sites are relatively
secure, the same cannot be said for Internet Explorer. Several password
revealing tools are freely available from the internet that allow the
user to "see past the stars" on Internet Explorer and read your
password. This is especially true when Internet Explorer is set to
automatically enter the passwords. Mozilla doesn't surrender your
web passwords to any of the password revealing tools I've tried. In
addition, it can also be set to encrypt all stored passwords and form
data, making it much more difficult for unauthorized users to get
them.
When Mozilla is set to store website passwords, you will be shown this
prompt after entering a login name and password. Note the "never for
this site" option. This is covered farther down.
In addition, Mozilla can be set to require the user to enter a master
password, before it will use or give a user access to any stored
passwords or fom data. This prevents other users from logging on as
you, even when windows is open to your profile. If you select the "Use
Encryption when storing sensitive data" option on the "passwords"
preferences menu, this sets Mozilla to require a master password, which
you will be asked to set the first time you store a website password or
form data. See image below.
This same screen is displayed when first assigning and when changing a
master password. Note the "pasword quality meter" towards the bottom of
the image. This gives a general idea of how resistant a password is to
random guessing or dictionary attacks. I've copied the following from
the help files of PGP, an encryption program, regarding the choosing of
passwords:
Whatever you choose for a master password, DO NOT use words like
password, default, or administrator, or any variations on these words.
People who specialize in attacking and cracking encrypted files go
right to these words. The name of an obscure song with a long
title makes a fair choice that's easily remembered and can be fairly
secure if the punctuation and upper case letters are included. Do not
use combinations of personal info, such as your street name and drivers
license number combined as a password.
Unlike Internet Explorer, passwords can be individually deleted with
the password manager. Below is a screenshot of the password manager
when a master password is being used. Note the tab for "Passwords Never
Saved" where you can list sites whose passwords will not be stored. The
password manager will not prompt you about storing passwords for sites
listed here. Although the encryption used by Mozilla is comparatively
secure for storing personal info and passwords, especially when
compared to Internet Explorer, the safest way to make sure a password
can't be extracted from a computer is not to store it there. Use this
option for sites that are security critical, and don't write such
passwords down either. Sites in the "Passwords Never Stored" list
can be removed from there, making them able to be stored if you change
your mind.
When set up to require a master password, Mozilla will not let you open
this screen without entering it or having entered it earlier. You will
get this first:
You will also get this prompt every time that you click on "Show
Passwords" in the password manager.
You have several choices regarding how often this master password is
required. The environment the computer is used in should dictate your
choice. If you are the only user, the first option under "Master
Password Timeout", shown above is probably sufficient. If you have
multiple users and especially young users who run to the computer every
time the chair is empty, the second or third option with a short time
period enterd may be necessary. System
Lock, described on More
Security Tips and Tools, can help here, enabling the user to
quickly lock down their system whenever they need to walk away from it.
A
Particular Category
of worms are designed to exploit your browser as a means of connecting
to the internet. These can escape detection by utilities that watch
what is started up at system bootup as they wait until you start your
browser to become active. Internet Explorer is targeted far more than
Mozilla, but as Mozilla becomes more popular, it will also be targeted.
These pests actually use your browsers internet access permission to
bypass your firewall. Most operate on the assumption that when your
browser is started, it will be automatically connecting to the
internet. Most people use a particular favorite site as a home
page. A way to defeat some of these is to use a blank page as
your homepage, which allows your browser to start up without actually
establishing an internet connection. Most internet users have a
group of regular sites they visit when they go online. Instead of using
a blank page, you can use the "Composer" that comes with Mozilla to
make a page of links that you regularly use, and store it in your
documents folder. This can be set up like a mini "favorites
menu", similar to my homepage.
In
addition to actually being convenient, it's another little thing you
can do that helps to make you more secure against certain pests. Feel
free to copy the page and edit the links to match your needs.
Since Mozilla stores your bookmarks in webpage format, you can add a
link to the bookmarks file to a hompage file. Mozilla also responds to the key
combination ALT+HOME by returning to the homepage. If you get into the
habit of using this key combination, you can eliminate the personal
toolbar and increase your usable screen size a little.
Eliminating Stored Data.
Mozilla made it much easier to clear records of websites visited and
other stored info. Internet Explorer, in addition to the cache
and history files, also makes index.dat files which remain even when
the others are cleared. These files are often hidden and can't be
accessed when windows is running. Mozilla does not make or use such
files. The history can be cleared by selecting Navigator, then history
on the preferences menu. From here, you can clear the history and
location bar entries. You can clear the cache from the preference menu
by clicking "advanced" , then "cache", then clicking on the "clear
cache" button. You can also move the location of this folder from here.
If you really want to monitor this closely, just put the folder on your
desktop and delete items in it as you go. The subject of deleting
stored data and secure file deletion will be addressed in more detail
in the Privacy,
Encryption, and Access Control
section. Securing
Windows 98 Updated
8/6/2004 with Mozilla Composer.
