Browser for Windows 7?

[Josh]

Win. 7 contains multiple local privilege escalation CVEs so logging out of admin isn’t enough.

There is some European company that makes security patches for obsolete versions of Windows and Office. You may want to look into that.

[Neto]

Win. 7 contains multiple local privilege escalation CVEs so logging out of admin isn’t enough.
....

If that is true, then I've "flown under the radar" for somewhere around 15 years or more. (I asked a WBT programmer once how long you could be on-line w/o any virus protection before your computer became infected, and he jokingly said "about 15 seconds".) I also have done this with the Microsoft update process disabled, so I don't have any security updates that weren't built into Windows 7 Service Pack 1. I looked up my build info, and it's version 6.1, build 7601. I opened the Control Panel (view only mode) to verify that I do not have any MS Security Updates, and there actually are 6 KB### updates, but no Security Updates. It could also be, that IF hackers actually CAN access this computer, they pass it up because it is so old, and may not have the computing power & capacity that they look for, to accomplish the nasty work they are known for.

Anyway, I heard about this approach - staying out of the Admin - at a Microsoft workshop in 2008, and adopted that practice soon after. Before that, I always had active anti-virus software running. I did find out that it doesn't work to have two running at the same time. I thought "Double Protection!" Instead, the system was EXTREMELY slow, as they fought it out, each attempting to remove or isolate the other (I was later told).

Oh, I should also say that I have Group Policy modifications in place, as well as Registry changes implemented. Locking down these systems is my business, and I readily admit that I had help from a long time Microsoft employee. (I have met him, but this was all done through his Dad, who was our computer tech in Brazil. He secured a $50K Microsoft grant to install fiber optics around our entire mission base. We laid nearly a mile of cable.)

[Josh]

Windows 7 has been out of support for over 4 years, which means new security updates aren’t being published. I would not leave such an installation in the field.

It would be okay if it didn’t have a web browser or otherwise connect to the open Internet.

[cooper]

Apparently my chickens are coming home to roost. Started this morning, that if I tried to open certain pages on threads here, I get kicked out of the browser (not just MennoNet). This evening it started to happen on other sites as well.

I have been using Brave for personal stuff, but after it started widening the mess (from the chickens, I guess) I did a search on the system requirements for Brave. Windows 7 is no longer supported.

Anyone ever use Thorium or Supermium? Other suggestions? (Or has everyone else already drank the OS 10 - OS 11 cool aide?)

Perhaps you could use Netscape

[Neto]

Windows 7 has been out of support for over 4 years, which means new security updates aren’t being published. I would not leave such an installation in the field.

It would be okay if it didn’t have a web browser or otherwise connect to the open Internet.

I appreciate that you are trying to help me. So thank you for taking the time and effort to do that.

However, as I said above, I never allowed ANY of the Microsoft Security Updates to be installed on this system, so it doesn't really matter in the least whether any new ones are being issued or not. I turn this computer off nearly every night, and start it up nearly every morning, leaving it on all day long, connected to the internet, usually with the browser open to the History tab. Are there especially assigned angels watching over it?

I just needed pointers to find a good browser for Windows 7.

There are other precautions I take as well, just in case someone else wants to take this approach. (The advantages are that it frees up system memory and CPU power to do the things you want it to do, avoiding lots of unnecessary security processes running in the background any time the system is running, just sapping the system's power.)

Don't open emails from people you do not recognize. If the sender claims to be someone or an agency you did not expect to hear from, then look at it in print preview first. Don't open any suspicious attachments in emails you are viewing. Don't install programs you just want to test out on your main system. Either set up a test HDD that you can wipe regularly, or take the download to a system that has no internet service, and install it there.

(I use all Seagate drives, and use the Seagate DiscWizard to create and redeploy full system images. That way everything is configured exactly as I want it immediately. Nothing to register or reinstall. When I use SSDs, I use Western Digital. I can use the Seagate Acronis DiscWiz as long as there is a Seagate drive in the system. WD also puts out a free version of Acronis TI, but I prefer the Seagate one. Most drive manufacturers provide some free imaging software. I image Win 7 disks on a Win 7 system, and OS 10 & OS 11 images on an OS 10 system.)

[cooper]

Firefox ESR says it supports Windows 7
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/1 ... uirements/

Also based on a little bit of Internet research, Waterfox Classic still works with Windows 7.

[Neto]

Firefox ESR says it supports Windows 7
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/1 ... uirements/

Also based on a little bit of Internet research, Waterfox Classic still works with Windows 7.

Re: FireFox: At the top of that window it lists Win 7, but at the bottom it says

Firefox is no longer supported on Windows 8.1 and below.

I clicked the button for FireFox System requirements, and it says the following:

Firefox System Requirements
Firefox 124.0.2
Windows
Operating Systems (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows 10 or later

I will check out WaterFox (which I've not heard of before). Or would an older version of fireFox work? The version of Google Chrome I have installed has an alert that appears every time I open it, saying that

To get future Google Chrome updates, you'll need Windows 10 or later.

Brave was also displaying a similar message, but on that one I was able to tell it to not show it again. (I have been using both Brave & Chrome for a long time. Brave for personal use, and Chrome for business and for searching most things.)

EDIT: Attempt to install WaterFox failed, possibly due to my way of doing installations, by use of the "Run As Admin" in the right click menu. It probably wants to do a secondary installation process, and requires an additional consent from the Windows Admin. But w/o knowing what it is, I won't chance it. That is the "cost" of running security the way I do.

[Josh]

With respect, the way you run security won’t actually prevent security problems. For example, opening something in “Print Preview” has been a source of security holes in the past relating to image rendering.

Browsers that can function on the modern Internet won’t be supported or tested on Windows 7 because there isn’t really any reason to do so and because doing so is difficult. Your only option will be to run an out of date browser.

I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just move to Windows 10 or 11
for Internet usage.

[Neto]

With respect, the way you run security won’t actually prevent security problems. For example, opening something in “Print Preview” has been a source of security holes in the past relating to image rendering.

Browsers that can function on the modern Internet won’t be supported or tested on Windows 7 because there isn’t really any reason to do so and because doing so is difficult. Your only option will be to run an out of date browser.

I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just move to Windows 10 or 11
for Internet usage.

Thank you for your advice, and I readily admit that a move to OS 10 (or probably 11, since the end of support date for 10 is only about a year away as well) will be necessary in the future. However, I still respectfully maintain that taken together with other configurations I have in place here, my experience of the past 15 years indicates that my approach is secure.

[ken_sylvania]

With respect, the way you run security won’t actually prevent security problems. For example, opening something in “Print Preview” has been a source of security holes in the past relating to image rendering.

Browsers that can function on the modern Internet won’t be supported or tested on Windows 7 because there isn’t really any reason to do so and because doing so is difficult. Your only option will be to run an out of date browser.

I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just move to Windows 10 or 11
for Internet usage.

Thank you for your advice, and I readily admit that a move to OS 10 (or probably 11, since the end of support date for 10 is only about a year away as well) will be necessary in the future. However, I still respectfully maintain that taken together with other configurations I have in place here, my experience of the past 15 years indicates that my approach is secure.

I hope it's not disrespectful for me to point out that a sample size of 1, or even 10, doesn't prove anything about whether your approach is secure.