a question of browser/computer vulnerabilities

[scorpionldr]

So I know it seems like every other week lately I'm having a computer issue, but here goes:

I've been using firefox for (perhaps) the last 8 years of web-surfing I've done. But frankly, I got PO'd with the fact that every time something flash related, every time something load-intensive came on, my system would delay in reaction all over the program, not only slowing down my browser, but my computer as well.

So I started using SRware's IRON. It's amazing just how little I actually have to wait now, when with firefox the loading time is easily 3 times slower than IRON takes.

The only thing that really comes to mind as "bothersome" is 1. I'm concerned this whole speed deal the browser has got to open up the wells for viruses (I'll explain) and 2. I'm not familiar with the plugins (such as flashblock, is that essentially a copycat of noscript?).

I think the first bother is a lot more important, especially as I've read this is a mod of Chromium (which paved the way for Google Chrome), and I really don't know a ton about the program. Will my anti-spyware/anti-virus comb through the data regardless of what browser I picked it up from (in other words, is it "supported")? These are the questions I'm finding Iron's FAQ does not pick up on.

[MJ5150]

Yes.

-Mike

[jp58]

Your firewall/antivirus programs usually work on all programs hat use the internet in some form or another. Some of them even comb through Java apps that use the net in some way.

[Strat-Mangler]

FF is not as much of a resource hog as people make it seem. It installs by default a ton of plugins that can (and most likely will) slow down performance to some extent, but frankly, they can almost all be disabled. FTR, the default Mozilla plugin as well as Flash are the only 2 I have enabled.

FlashBlock is an extension that will block all Flash content. You can bypass & play this by clicking on the play symbol that automatically appears where Flash content would be. This speeds up browsing since it won't even bother loading the content. It's not an extension that lets the content be downloaded and then masks it with the symbol. Rather, it prevents it from loading entirely. You can whitelist some content like YouTube for instance so that videos will still automatically load & start, but I personally enjoy browsing to YT pages without having videos automatically begin.

[scorpionldr]

Ok, I'm starting to see.....Its just usually the scanners take so long going through more of my mozilla stuff than anything else. As far as I'm concerned, I'm taking a break from firefox. Maybe I'll disable plugins in it later. its nice to be able to run a web program tho and not have to worry about what page is going to be load intensive.