Housekeeping tips for common Web browsers
Browser developers might squabble over whose product is the most popular or most secure, but these days any browser we use is our most-used application.
Staying secure on the Net requires not only keeping browsers up to date but also regular housecleaning of caches, plugins, and some troublesome apps.
Our online presence demands ever-increasing vigilance against intruders on our systems. No doubt you’ve had the experience of installing a desired program but then failing to see the prechecked box that installs an additional program. Before you know it, you’ve got more crapware taking up system resources — or worse.
Those tag-along apps, commonly referred to as potentially unwanted programs (PUPs), are nearly ubiquitous with free software downloads. And they come not just from small software companies trying to generate revenue with PUP offers, they’re included as well with major products such as Adobe Flash Player and Oracle’s Java.
In many cases, PUP offers are small, easily overlooked checkboxes. Worse, some PUP downloads are revealed only when you select a custom installation option. And though these tag-along apps might not be malware, they can be difficult to remove.
The PUPs of concern for this discussion are those that make changes to our browsers. They might change your homepage setting, add unwanted toolbars, change your default search engine, or worse. For example, McAfee Security Scan Plus, typically bundled with Flash Player (see Figure 1), does no real harm but does take up some system resources. On the other hand, Oracle’s Java installer could include the more intrusive Ask Toolbar (Figure 2).
Figure 1. The Flash Player installer includes the often unwanted McAfee Security app.
Figure 2. When updating Java, you have to watch for the pre-checked box for the Ask Toolbar, which will also change your default search engine.
Given the amount of time most of us spend on the Internet, keeping our browsers clean should be a regular part of our system maintenance. Most of that task requires only a fairly simple, three-step process. Here’s how to do it in the big three browsers running on Windows 7 and 8.x.
Depending on the browser you’re using, add-ons come with various names such as plugins, extensions, add-ins, and (of course) add-ons. According to Mozilla, Firefox plugins help the browser display content, such as playing media. Extensions add new functionality to the browser.
Whatever they’re called, all good add-ons are designed to be easily added and removed (though in most cases, completely removing an add-on requires restarting the browser). You might be surprised by the number and variety of add-ons you’ve accumulated over time.
Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu (three-bar icon, upper-right corner of the browser window) and select Tools/Extensions. On the Extensions page, you’ll see all installed add-ons, with checkboxes indicating whether they’re enabled (Figure 3). There is also a trash can to the right of each add-on: when clicked, it will delete that extension.
Figure 3. Chrome's extensions manager has a simple interface for enabling, disabling, and deleting installed add-ons.
If you want to get more add-ons, click the Get more extensions link at the bottom of the Extensions page. The link takes you to the Chrome webstore.
Mozilla Firefox: As previously mentioned, Firefox divvies its add-ons into extensions and plugins. So if you’re looking for a particular add-on and don’t find it in the Extensions list, look in Plugins. To manage Firefox add-ons, click the three-bar icon and select Add-ons.
Extensions can be enabled, disabled, or removed. Some extensions are also customizable; you might see an Options button along with the standard buttons (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. Firefox's extensions manager is easy to use and includes options for how extensions are updated.
Items in the plugin list are managed a bit differently. Options include Ask to Activate, Always Activate, or Never Activate. For the most part, these add-ons are installed by third-party applications — such as Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office — on your system.
Internet Explorer 9 and later (Win7 and 8.x): Click the Gear icon (upper-right corner of IE) and select Manage add-ons. In the popup window, click Toolbars and Extensions in the left column (Figure 5). Click the add-on you wish to manage and then press the Enable/Disable button on the lower-right corner of the window. You can also simply right-click the add-on and make your change. Click Close when you’re done. You’ll find more IE add-ons at Internet Explorer Gallery (site). Note: To remove some third-party add-ons, you must use Windows’ software-uninstall tool; removing other add-ons requires resetting IE — but you can do so without losing your stored passwords and related data.
Figure 5. IE's add-ons manager lets you enable or disable browser extensions, but not delete them.
The most annoying PUPs are those that so insinuate themselves into your system that they seem impossible to remove. One of the more notorious, for example, is the Ask.com toolbar that often rides along with Java installs.
Yes, we know now that Java has a history of malware vulnerabilities, and it’s best not to have it on our systems. But there are still too many useful third-party Web apps that require Java to run properly. So we must be vigilant about keeping Java updated. Unfortunately, that small checkbox that also offers to install the Ask.com toolbar is easy to miss.
Removing a PUP-like Ask.com from your default browser (and possibly any other browsers on your system) is a multistep process. Start by closing all browsers. Then open Windows’ application uninstaller — Control Panel/Programs and Features.
In the Uninstall or change a program list, find and remove all references to Ask.com; right-click each one, and then select Uninstall. When that’s complete, reboot your system and open your default browser. Using the step for managing your add-ons noted above, remove all instances of Ask.com from the Extensions tab. Repeat this process with all other installed browsers.
When removing PUPs such as Ask.com from Chrome, it’s especially important to start with Windows’ uninstaller. If you don’t, you’ll not be able to fully remove the extension in Chrome.
Making everything old new again: Even after completing this deep cleaning, PUPs such as Ask.com might remain tenaciously set as the default search engine. Restore your preferred search engine using the following steps.
Chrome: Select Settings from the three-bar icon and then scroll down to the Search section. Use the drop-down button to quickly set the default search engine (see Figure 6). Or use the Manage search engines button to add, remove, or change settings for search engines (Figure 7).
Figure 6. Setting Google as default search engine in Chrome
Figure 7. The Search engines page lets you manage search sites used by Chrome.
Firefox: Select the small down arrow in the search box at the top of the browser window. Click the Manage Search Engines option and make any needed changes. If an unwanted search engine is proving particularly troublesome, you might try the SearchReset (site) add-on. It returns Firefox to its default search engine and homepage — and then uninstalls itself.
Internet Explorer: Select the gear icon and then Manage add-ons. Click the Search Providers section and remove or disable unwanted search engines (see Figure 8). Then set the default search engine in the Listing order column. While you’re there, click the box near the bottom of the windows to enable “Prevent programs from suggesting changes to my default search provider.”
Figure 8. IE's comprehensive search-engine manager
If all else fails, you might have to completely reset your browser. Check out your browser’s documentation for instructions.
By default, all major browsers keep snapshots of webpages you’ve visited on your hard drive. When you revisit a site, loading cached pages into the browser is always faster than downloading them. Each browser sets aside a certain amount of cache storage space and works on a first-in/first-out basis — as the cache becomes full, older pages make room for the newer ones.
Occasionally, the cache prevents new or updated content from loading properly — or causes other problems with live content. For that reason, it’s good to clean out the cache from time to time. You might also want to adjust the cache size, depending on how much free hard-drive space you have. Here’s how to clear and/or resize the cache in Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Firefox.
Chrome: Click Chrome’s three-bar options icon and select Tools/Clear browsing data (or use the address-bar shortcut: chrome://settings/clearBrowserData). See that the box next to “Cached images and files” is checked. Finally, click the Clear browsing data button.
You can, of course, delete other categories of browsing data at the same time. If you want to be even more selective about what browsing data gets deleted, use the Obliterate the following items from: button (see Figure 9).
Figure 9. Chrome makes it easy to selectively clear browser data — but difficult to change cache size.
Unlike most other browsers, changing the cache size in Chrome requires some minor hacking. You open its properties in Windows and, in the Shortcut/Target field, add {space}–disk-cache-size={size in bytes} after …\chrome.exe. If you think changing Chrome’s cache is worth the effort, a Google search will give you more on how to do so.
Firefox: Firefox offers two ways to clear its cache. Method one: Select History/Clear Recent History from the title-bar menu (or click Ctrl + Shift + Delete). Click the Details drop-down menu caret. Again, make sure that only the Cache box is checked. In the Time range to clear box, select Everything (Figure 10). Click the Clear Now button to finish.
Figure 10. Like Chrome, Firefox makes it easy to selectively delete collected browser information.
Method two: Click Tools/Options (or click Options from Firefox’s three-bar menu icon). Select the Advanced section and click the Network tab. In the Cached Web Content section, click the Clear Now button. You’ll also find the setting for cache size in this section. By default, Firefox set the cache to 350MB on most systems.
Firefox also has an application cache: “Offline Web Content and User Data.” This is information that websites store on your PC and that you might want to access when offline. You’ll want to check and clear this setting, too.
Internet Explorer 9 or later: Click the gear icon, select Safety (or use shortcut, Ctrl + Shift + Delete), and then clickDelete browsing History. If you want to clear just the cache, check only the box next to Temporary Internet files and website files (see Figure 11). Uncheck all other boxes, especially the top one — Preserve Favorites website data.Click the Delete button at the bottom of the Delete Browsing History window.
Figure 11. IE's tool for removing Web-browsing information is comparatively basic.
IE’s cache size defaults to 250MB. To adjust the allotted space, click the gear icon, select Internet options, and, under the General tab, click the Setting button in the Browsing History section. Look for the Disk space to use setting under the Temporary Internet Files tab (Figure 12).
Figure 12. IE's tool for setting cache size
When to do your housecleaning: As stated above, cleaning up your browsers should be a regular part of your Windows maintenance routine. Run through them every month or so. But check your browsers carefully whenever you install free software that might contain PUPs.
WS contributing editor Michael Lasky is a freelance writer based in Oakland, California, who has 20 years of computer-magazine experience, most recently as senior editor at PC World.
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