There's a great article on limiting Internet Explorer to Windows Update over at The Tlog. Check it out.
Posted by asa on August 29, 2005 6:55 PM
reactions, thoughts, comments, etc.
Don't you think this is a bit complex for the vast majority of all computer users? I consider myself a power user, and I don't think I want to set up a whole OpenBSD box at home to just to prevent IE from accessing websites. (If I already had one set up, I'd give it a try.) I thought from your description that this would give some Windows hacks to help protect our PCs, but instead I get a bunch of router/firewall jargon. If I want a safe personal computer at home and know how to deal with a BSD router, why not use a BSD desktop? :-)
Whoa! More than 500 hits from here, and my blog isn't 24 hours old yet! :) Thanks, Asa.
Anyway, as I replied to some comments there, my solution isn't perfect for all cases, but I think it's great when you have several clients you don't control, but you *do* control the proxy/gateway. If you only have a single Windows PC, this is probably overkill. But even at home, sometimes friends bring their PCs there, and this is a way to start educating them. :)
On computers under my "management" (my own PC´s and some of family and friends´) (that are operating under Windows) i have set Mozilla as default browser.
Internet Explorer is "hidden" (not on the desktop and not in the "Quick Launch" toolbar. Remaining shortcuts for I.E. are renamed to "klik niet op de blauwe e" (Do Not Click the Blue e).
When i feel the need to browse with IE, i open a shortcut for "Windows Update" and copy or type the URL into the address bar.
In fact i only use I.E. for Windows Update and when i am curious about a web-site that doesnot work under Mozilla and Opera. (Mostly i then have allready lost interest in the contents of the webpage, but occasionally i want to check whether it does work under IE).
How sad is that...even in his own home he can't control who uses what. Plus why would you block using IE anyways? Beside using Firefox on linux anyways there's not much difference between the two browsers anyways...or maybe I'm just smarter than the average bear.
Not much different between the 2 browsers anyway? Aherm, did you mean Firefox and IE. I think we all know there are huge differences.
To Paul Be, search for a site called Windiz Update - enables you do to Windows Update in other browsers, and even keep track of whats installed, drivers etc!!
reactions, thoughts, comments, etc.
Don't you think this is a bit complex for the vast majority of all computer users? I consider myself a power user, and I don't think I want to set up a whole OpenBSD box at home to just to prevent IE from accessing websites. (If I already had one set up, I'd give it a try.) I thought from your description that this would give some Windows hacks to help protect our PCs, but instead I get a bunch of router/firewall jargon. If I want a safe personal computer at home and know how to deal with a BSD router, why not use a BSD desktop? :-)
Posted by: MarbleheadMan | August 29, 2005 7:51 PM
Instead of using it for windows update, people should use firefox and windiz update.
Posted by: jon | August 29, 2005 8:39 PM
You can use IE's "Content Advisor" to achieve roughly the same effect. I wrote a little how-to page a while back: http://members.shaw.ca/Limulus/ie2wu_drone.htm
Posted by: Limulus | August 29, 2005 11:28 PM
You can use Windiz Update for Firefox to run Windows Update :D
Posted by: Joe Anderson | August 30, 2005 12:25 AM
Whoa! More than 500 hits from here, and my blog isn't 24 hours old yet! :) Thanks, Asa.
Anyway, as I replied to some comments there, my solution isn't perfect for all cases, but I think it's great when you have several clients you don't control, but you *do* control the proxy/gateway. If you only have a single Windows PC, this is probably overkill. But even at home, sometimes friends bring their PCs there, and this is a way to start educating them. :)
Posted by: Dehumanizer | August 30, 2005 2:11 AM
On computers under my "management" (my own PC´s and some of family and friends´) (that are operating under Windows) i have set Mozilla as default browser.
Internet Explorer is "hidden" (not on the desktop and not in the "Quick Launch" toolbar. Remaining shortcuts for I.E. are renamed to "klik niet op de blauwe e" (Do Not Click the Blue e).
When i feel the need to browse with IE, i open a shortcut for "Windows Update" and copy or type the URL into the address bar.
In fact i only use I.E. for Windows Update and when i am curious about a web-site that doesnot work under Mozilla and Opera. (Mostly i then have allready lost interest in the contents of the webpage, but occasionally i want to check whether it does work under IE).
Posted by: Paul Be. | August 30, 2005 5:28 AM
How sad is that...even in his own home he can't control who uses what. Plus why would you block using IE anyways? Beside using Firefox on linux anyways there's not much difference between the two browsers anyways...or maybe I'm just smarter than the average bear.
Posted by: Cybermagellan | August 30, 2005 12:30 PM
Not much different between the 2 browsers anyway? Aherm, did you mean Firefox and IE. I think we all know there are huge differences.
To Paul Be, search for a site called Windiz Update - enables you do to Windows Update in other browsers, and even keep track of whats installed, drivers etc!!
Posted by: Kris Silver | August 30, 2005 2:50 PM
Cybermagellan swiped my pic-a-nic basket! ;)
Posted by: Limulus | August 30, 2005 7:53 PM