Google Chrome after-virus effect

Before the chrome problem:

Ok, I got a virus. I was sadly using Windows (I needed IE), and I went to a website which somehow got onto my system. It installed XP antimalware 2010 and basicly wrecked my machine.

So, I reinstalled. Which was surprisingly simple. Only a case of a booting CTRL > F10 and reinstalling. So, I then restored all my programs and files(which I had obvously backed up earlier). Then, I went into Google Chrome and went to one of my client's websites.

Then, the virus returned. Somehow, when it had primarily got onto my PC, it had found the registry file(lying around in my folder) with the username and password, and then redistributed itself. So, I changed all my passwords and blanked the contents of the website(I had a backup which I later restored to it, luckily!).

So, I removed the virus for a second time. I did not reinstall this time, because I didn't deem it necessary. But, that had concequences:

Opening Chrome:


So, I opened chrome after a victorious complete removal of the virus(so it seemed), and a popup came up saying I had a virus. At the same time Windows Defender(My favourite anti-virus) said there was a virus. But, when I killed the pop-up, defender was fine. I even did a full scan and it said it was fine. Ok, then ran msconfig and I found an odd startup application. Sadly I forgot the name. But I looked it up on the internet and it said it was a virus!

So, I found the file, removed it and rebooted. The problem persisted and the file was back!

I removed the file again, and it still persited, so I booted of a puppy linux cd, reached into the hard drive and deleted the file. Hey Presto! It worked.

The real problem:


Now, I opened chrome and it said loading. I was impatient so I opened another tab and hit the 'Home' button. Still, it did not work. It only did an odd thing to the bookmark toolbar. So, I tried firefox, and I accessed the internet.

Now everywhere I looked, the solution was to and --disable-sandbox, which worked. But not very well. For it also set loose bookmark sync which meant that you may randomly be brought to one of your bookmarks when you clicked on a links.

So I read further into 'sandbox' and it looked as if it disabled chrome's own little security 'firewall', which was the last thing I wanted. So, I removed chrome.

Don't worry! That wasn't my solution. In the end I found this forum post, which linked to this executable which removes the problem, and lets you browse with chrome in peace and with the sandbox on!

I hope this helps anyone out there!

Firefox and Chrome

I don't know about you, but I always get people saying 'Chrome is better because it' faster'. Now, here are my 'analisations', so to say:

Firefox is not going to die out, it is not a bad browser and, quite frankly, I would prefer Chrome to die out first! X-pud, or another Firefox OS is going to jump up and Mozilla will still sit head to head with Google. Google is not the only one to work on loads of projects. Seamonkey, prism, bespin are all Mozilla's work. Anyway, bottom line, Firefox won't Die because it is not a bad browser.

Here's a little review 'battle' I made. Please tell me what you think of it in the comments:

Firefo Pros:

• It has much more sophisticated add-ons than Google Chrome.
• Bookmark and history management is better.
• Better Web App Support.
• Installation of flash is easier(although flash is going out soonish!).
• It's is actually smaller than Chrome at 9.2 mb.

Chrome Pros:

• It only includes two tool-bars which means more screen space for the web.
• Chrome has the equivalent of Mozilla Prism, Firebug and Personas built in.
• Chrome is fast!!!

Firefox Cons:

• It has a default of 5 toolbars.
• It is slower than ChrWhy I don't prefer Chromeome.

Chrome Cons:

• Every so often, I open a web page in Chrome and it's all loaded but it's white. To fix this I have to 'pretend' to select all the stuff on the page, go to another tab, go back and hey presto, a pain!
• It is 12mb.

Well, that just about sums it up. All though Chrome is my default browser, Firefox is still a brilliant browser.

I know, I am not a very good writer. But, I'm trying to Improve!

Chrome OS working!

I'm using Chrome OS Everbody! Well, technically Chromium OS Zero, and I've got it up and running on my eeepc 900. ***! It just broke when I tried to install flash. oops!

I'm back on karmic now but chromium os zero is brilliant! It's not as good as chrome os is going to be later this year(I'm estimating from Google's info), but it works! I had to tweak it a bit(and will have to again), but when I had it was brilliant. It's got the Ubuntu  terminal so I am familiar with it.

If you like experimenting with operating systems, then try this out now! It's really fun to tweak and use!

Here is my chromium zero adventure(I haven't finished yet though!).

Web Apps and Security

When I first heard of Web Apps, online storage and web integration, I thought "WOW! Cool! No Installs, downloads or carrying CDs around!".

But what about security? What does Google do with my account? Does it encrypt it with my password so that nobody apart from me can use it? Does it scan through it and fill in Adsense forms? Unless I know for sure that my personal details are going to be kept private, I don't put them on the internet. So the difference is, you have control over your information when it's on your computer, which means that you have to be more weary when storing data online.

I love web apps. The idea of being able to access my files whether I'm at home or on the other side of the world is a nice idea. But, you can't fully trust something which has stored your data for free and has full access to it.

Ok, maybe I'm being a bit pessimistic here, but security does matter and unless we can have some kind of grantee that our data isn't going to be seen by the wrong people, our data is not secure and online storage may not be so good.

Chrome OS conclusion

Ok, all the disputes have died down now about Chrome OS and I wanted to send out a last reminder of what it was all about before we all close the tab and read something else while we wait for 010. When... it will appear drasticly different and well approved, in position and ready to become the sole or secondary OS of all the users worldwide!

Ok, so far, to be blunt(atleast with the version I was running!), Chrome OS is a slow locked down operating system that will not work for my net-book unless I have a network cable!

Obviously I think that! Google released the source code, they asked for help. They did not release a beta and they did not want to send it into war against windows(that's all ther gonna be fighting by te way, Mac will hopefully still sit up there as the high quality OS and the other linux distros will just improve their allready brilliant desktop quality), they were just asking for help.

How can I help? Was actually the first thing I thought. Well, I can't edit the source code or do anything flashy like that, so you can just learn to use JavaScript, Java or flash and develop web-apps.

Well, to set all the lines straight, lets all just wait, develop and change to the next tab in our tab bar!

My Googly Theme

I've been reading up on gnome themes and I have put together a really nice one. This is on a small screen so it may look different on a desktop.

Here is a step by step tutorial of how to get exactly what you see in the picture(even chromium!)

First, you need the window theme which you can download here.

Then, you'll need to install it by going System > Preferences > Appearance. Then click Install an browse to the tar.gz theme file you downloaded earlier. Apply It. Then, before you exit, click customise and make the:

• Contols: glossy
• Icons: Mist
• Pointer: Whiteglass

Then, close that and go to background and get this background and set to zoom. Then, go into fonts and make it look like this:

Interface: 

Show Icons in Menu: Ticked

Editable Menu Shortcut keys: Unticked

Ok, from now on is for perfect twitching and chrome with the theme:

Download Ubuntu-Tweak (2 posts ago)

Install it and then open it up, tweak to your hearts content, add chromium to third party sources, install it and get this theme for chrome. And if flash does not work yet in chromium, do this.

The Simplicity of Google (and the chrome OS)

Have you ever realised that everything that google makes: Google Search (the obvius one), google chrome, google sketchup(I love it!), Mail, imag... is so simple.

The Search with classic home is just a white page with links above the top and the logo with search in the middle. Easy to understand and easy to use!

And that is why I can't wait for the new chrome OS coming out in january(if I remember correctly!). The first version may not be so good but after a bit, google will jump off and its new product will start competing with Microsoft and Apple.

The nice thing I like about what I hear about the new Chrome OS is that it is going to be based on Unix(Linux is based on Unix) and it will become open source. Which may give Microsoft the ability to copy it but, one there will always be copying, two It will shine it up anyway and three, people will probably stick to Google at that stage anyway!

Google has a lot of things on the go, chrome, wave, etc. and it's working in a very clever way becoming a big company. It will be interesting to see what kind of choises it will make in the future!

Chromium or Google Chrome

Today I was surfing around looking at all the 'best browsers'(which is my latest curiosity) and I found chrome. I had seen it before and had liked the look but I had never actually used it. So, I looked around for a bit more and found Chromium (Chrome for Linux) and I installed it and loved it!

It wasn't good on flash and miniclip but it was extremly fast and simple with a very slick appearance. I compared it to Safari and saw no diffirence but for the chrome tab effect and the navigation toolbar boxes both as one in chrome.

This post is only short because unlike any other browser, I had no problems!