@vasa1 they might've added a new preference for hello under about:config. but i've yet to switch to 45 so i can't confirm that.
@imdb, here's what I see in v45 for "hello": Code: loop.feedback.formURL;https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/hello/npssurvey/ loop.feedback.manualFormURL;https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/hello/feedbacksurvey/ loop.gettingStarted.url;https://www.mozilla.org/%LOCALE%/firefox/%VERSION%/hello/start/ loop.learnMoreUrl;https://www.firefox.com/hello/ loop.legal.ToS_url;https://www.mozilla.org/about/legal/terms/firefox-hello/ loop.legal.privacy_url;https://www.mozilla.org/privacy/firefox-hello/ loop.linkClicker.url;https://hello.firefox.com/
https://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-rel...ions/loop/chrome/content/preferences/prefs.js https://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-release/source/browser/extensions/loop/bootstrap.js#814
Hi quatbox. Running Firefox sandboxed with NoScript works great. Never an issue and you are as safe as you can be. Works great for everyday browsing. The only time I run Firefox unsandboxed is to update the browser or the addons. No reason to do it for anything else. For changing settings or for things like adding domains to my NoScript black list, I have a sandbox were I allow those changes to be saved out of the sandbox. Huffington post and NioScript. Most sites are not as hard to figure out as Huffington post. Like I said earlier, I helped a friend with that site before. But actually its two persons whom I helped trying to make sense on how to clean that site with NoScript. One was here via PM and another guy in another forum. If you are willing to try the real thing/NoScript again, and you are a Huffington post user, check this post, and thread from another forum. http://www.techsupportalert.com/fre...-getting-fed-up-with-internet.html#post108792 quatbox, when I say NoScript is easy, I really mean it. When I first installed it, I didn't try to make any sense of it. I just installed it and went along. And then one day all of the sudden, things started making sense. It just went Click. After you get used to NoScript, figuring a site like huffington is as easy as drinking water. It took me maybe 5 minutes to figure the site out. Bo
You're welcome, Ahh I see you're on Linux now. Thanks for letting me know about that, I won't delete any files manually, but I can stretch as far as disabling it via CCleaner which seems "OK" at least, and no ill effect that I have noticed yet, but if it is enough or if there is more that needs to be done in about:config I am not sure.
Hi Swex, personally, I think its best to leave Hello as is. According to Classic theme restorer, Hello has been removed. For me, thats enough. I think whats left of it is sort of like the human appendix. Obsolete, it doesn't hurt nothing still being around and no one knows what it does or what its function was in the past. Bo
I find it interesting as it is bizarre that we speak of hello as if it were an extension of some form.This and other things came pre-installed with firefox with no end user choice being given. These firefox "extras" should of been offered as add-ons and not forced into the browser.Has everyone forgotten what the function of a browser actually is......? Well it isnt a real-time chat service or skype client and whatever other funky stuff they come up with next. Sometimes going back to the original drawing board can actually be a huge leap forward.
Yeah sure, but this "Firefox Hello Beta 0.1" extension was implemented by the 45.0 release, I mean, I was done and over with Hello in the latest 44 build, as we could & did take care of that via about:config or CTR. But the latest addition of the Hello Beta in 45.0 may be different. To be honest, I don't even understand what the difference (if any) is between the old Hello and the new Beta, and why they needed to add it all over again. I don't (and never will) use Hello and have no interest in being a beta tester for it either. Wish they could just stop adding crap
@SweX hi there swex could you let us know what preferences seem to be altered under about:config after hello's disabled via ccleaner?
Yes darling no problem. Nice talking to you again, hope all is well. @vasa1 ...searched for "hello" in Firefox on a Linux system and found these (should be no difference in about:config between Win and Linux afaik): https://www.wilderssecurity.com/thr...you-use-which-ones.376389/page-6#post-2571682 This is what I find when I search for "hello" (after I disabled in CC) and I found.....nothing... I also searched for "loop" just to see what would show up.... It seems like this one that Vasa1 mention is gone too:https://www.wilderssecurity.com/thr...you-use-which-ones.376389/page-5#post-2571650 Note: "loop.enabled" has been set to false since the first build of Firefox that included Hello, so it was already set to false. P.S I did not search for "hello" BEFORE I disabled it via CCleaner, so I have no idea how it looked right after I updated Firefox to 45.0. But perhaps our friend @bo elam (or someone else) can make a search for "hello" in about:config and see what he may find since he have not disabled hello via CCleaner (yet) from what I understand, but only via CTR, right Bo ? (I don't want to re-enabled "hello" in CCleaner again and make a new search in about:config to see if anything changes - incase it screws things up, I keep it disabled for now.) @imdb But if it was any particular pref (except the above two) you wanted me to check, then let me know
@SweX Thank you, SweX. All's cool. Hope the same goes for you. It seems they've done major changes regarding "hello" and related preferences. I've tried to find a way to disable it via various about:config changes to no avail so far.
Great to hear. You mean you've tried to disable Hello in various ways in about:config in hope that it would switch to "false" under about:support (?) but it stays on "true" no matter what ?
That is an excellent summary I had posted a link to a bug a few posts earlier and I got the feeling that "Hello" isn't a typical extension. The Moz man referred to it as a system extension which seems to have special privileges (including not being easily removed): see comment #3 here: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1251846#c3
Yes, only CTR, according to Classic theme restorer, Hello has been removed. The icon is nowhere to be found and if I click on Start a conversation, nothing happens. For me, removing Hello with CTR is enough doing about it. I don't like it as most of us and would rather this things don't get installed as they do but it doesn't really bother me seeing Hello listed in the Trubleshooting information page. Bo
Yes, thankfully it's beginning to make more sense. It's still time consuming but I'm sure it's worth it. I just need to do some research on scipts themselves because they're a totally new concept to me. I never realized that when you visit a site, you not only visit it, but possibly many others as well. Some good, and some bad. Luckily I have google to help me with that. Who or what is the threat when it comes to bad scripts though? I know you said malware is a potential but who would be administering it, the site you're visiting, the bad url script, or an individual not associated with either? I ask because I've heard of cross site scripting attacks and assume that that's something that occurs with bad scripts.
Brosephine, I am just a user who feels lucky for discovering programs like NoScript, Adblock plus and Sandboxie, and smart for adopting and learning how to use them together. This combo have helped me prevent getting infected. And as important, NoScript and Adblock to clean the internet. But I am no expert on none of this things. Who administers this malicious scripts? I think it can be anybody. It can be a hacker or the owner of the site you are visiting or can come from the server the site uses. You probably have read of webpages getting hacked, people who visit this sites before the site owner cleans the site, can be infected, in some cases visiting the site is all thats required to get infected. In cases like this, is where programs like NoScript and Adblock plus can really help. And even better if you do it running Firefox under the supervision of Sandboxie. If the hacked site is something like the New York times, perhaps the hack would only last for an hour or so but if the site is one that's not under constant surveillance by the owner, the hack can last days or weeks. People that go there can get infected. If you are using NoScript, the potential malicious script gets blocked silently. You wont even know about it. This malicious scripts can also be served by the site owners or the server. I think a good example of that are sites that stream sports live. I see the same bad sites getting blocked by NoScript whenever I go there. I black list most of the ones that constantly appear in my NoScript menu. Thats the usual scenario in sites like this. But sometimes when I try to watch a game, the game dont play even though I white listed the regular domains that the site requires for the game, and what they do is they keep rotating one extra domain for the game to be displayed. Is like a game, the site wants you to lose patience and allow all scripts temporarily, I just smile when I see that. Read this links from NoScript about Cross site scripting. https://noscript.net/features#xss https://noscript.net/faq#qa4_1 Bo
Yes. But I couldn't just forget about that it stays on "true" under about:support, I felt I had to do something about that too...
I see. Well, if both of you have tried to get it disabled via about:config and had no luck at all, then I guess we can say that it is indeed not easy to disabled it the "old" about:config-way that we are used to. I am not a man for the job, but maybe someone with knowledge can check where and how CCleaner is able to disable the Hello Beta and possibly post manual instructions online - if it turns out to be doable manually - for those that either don't want or can't (Linux) install CCleaner to get the job done. And since they have added one of these so called "system extensions", there may come more in the future. But let's hope not.
Neither am I, but I was intrigued by the discrepancy between about:config and about:support which is why I asked you guys about it. Here are a few links with more on "system extensions": https://mike.kaply.com/2012/02/09/integrating-add-ons-into-firefox/ https://mike.kaply.com/2012/02/21/understanding-add-on-scopes/ http://www.ghacks.net/2013/02/20/how-to-block-new-add-on-or-plugin-installations-in-firefox/ From a little reading here and there, I get the feeling we may see more rather than less of system extensions. One imminent use case seems to be the splitting Firefox 46 beta users into two groups for the purpose of testing electrolysis.
@bo elam I realize I was seeking a very cut and dry answer to a problem that is anything but cut and dry! Thanks for attempting to answer though, your examples helped. I'd love to use Sandboxie by default, but on my computer it is simply too slow and crashes easily. I'm guessing that's not the norm, but unfortunately for me has been the case every time I've installed it. I now use it solely for suspicious links or files on an individual basis. It really astonishes me that there are seemingly normal websites that offer a totally legitimate service, but still attempt to inject their own users with malicious scripts?! What happened to don't bite the hand that feeds you?
You shouldn't use Sandboxie only for suspicious links and files. I know some people use SBIE that way but in my opinion, that's the wrong way of using it. Some malware can detect when its running sandboxed, and if it does, it wont run in the sandbox to fool you into thinking that its clean. And then when you run the file out of the sandbox, it infects the PC. And suspicious links. Malware can be found anywhere in the internet. My approach is not to trust any site, I don't care what kind of site it is. In other words, I trust every site the same. The programs I use (NoScript, Adblock plus and Sandboxie) makes it appear like malware dont exist for me but I know that's really not how it is. If you are having issues running Firefox under Sandboxie, post about it at the Sandboxie thread that's getting large and I ll see if I can help you. But quickly, I can tell you, my Firefox and rest of programs that I run sandboxed, feels pretty much exactly the same as when they run out of the sandbox. And I use them the same way, sandboxed or unsandboxed. If your sandboxed Firefox crashes, it could be due to Protected mode in Flash for Firefox conflicting with SBIE. Bo
