Guide to Tweaking Firefox 3.5 Beta 4
With Firefox 3 already at version 3.0.7, and version 3. 1 (or 3.5 if the rename rumors are true) just around the corner, I think it’s time to take a short break from all the netbook news and focus on a tweak guide for our favorite browser.
This compilation is not, in any way complete, but I will try to keep it regularly updated. If you have a guide or blog post that you think is useful and should be added to the list, feel free to contact me with the details and l’ll add your post to the this list.
If you still don’t have it installed, Get Firefox 3 now.
Starer Guide for Firefox 3
If you need an in depth starter’s guide to Firefox 3, read up DRIA’s Field Guide for Firefox 3 for a detailed view of features Firefox 3 brings with it. Not feeling up to reading up all that? Read up Lifehacker’s highlight of the top 10 Firefox 3 features to get you started.
If you don’t feel that the starter’s guide is for you, why not start out with Lifehacker’s Firefox 3 power user guide. Note that if you’re a beginner with Firefox, or computing mainly, this will be a source of headaches.
Read all that? Now that you’re up-to-date with the features that Firefox 3 carries, let’s start tweaking.
Tweaking the Smart Location Bar
Admit it, not everyone LIKES the Smart Location Bar AKA Awesome Bar. Sure it’s intuitive but most folks would want the old Location Bar over the confusing jumble of suggestions given by the Awesome Bar. Most of folkswould be satisfied with just filtering the results to ignore some sources (like history, bookmarks, etc)
Here are 7 easy tweaks you can try to tame it. Edit these entries in about:config as follows:
- Make the autocomplete menu show only typed addresses and not visited or bookmarked
browser.urlbar.matchOnlyTyped = TRUE
- Set the autocomplete menu to single line suggestions by installing the oldbar extension.
- Change the number of suggestions displayed in the autocomplete menu
browser.urlbar.maxRichResults
- Hide the star button if you prefer to use the Bookmarks menu or a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + D)
- Open your userChrome.css file located in your profile folder.
- Add this line to the end of the file: #star-button {display: none !important;}
- Restart Firefox for the change to take effect.
- Always show the Go button. By default it is only displayed when you are editing the current web address.
- Open your userChrome.css file located in your profile folder.
- Add this line to the end of the file: #go-button { visibility: visible !important; }
- Restart Firefox for the change to take effect.
- If you enter firfox in the location bar and you try to correct it, the autocomplete menu won’t suggest anything because it only keeps working as you edit the last characters. Install the Edit Middle extension, developed by harikaried, to make it work with edits anywhere.
- To hide the web feed icon from the location bar, add this line to your userChrome.css file: #feed-button[feeds] { display: none !important; }
Pinoy Tech Guy’s recommended Addons
Addons extend the functionality for Firefox 3 to do almost anything we do online. Sure, having too much of them will bloat your browser to the point of no return but having a reasonable number of usefuk addons really help enhance the experience. Here’s Pinoy Tech Guy’s top picks:
- Adblock Plus - Don’t go online without an adblocker. Yes. Ads are the bread and butter of most bloggers (like me) and you can disable Adblock for us but 99.9% of the time, you need an adblocker to keepthe popups and all sorts of attention grabbing nonsense like screaming ads or push the button ads. Be sure to put Pinoy Tech Guy on the white list when you install this :).
- No Script - Secure’s your browser by removing scripts from any site that is not in the white list. No more malware for you. Again, be sure to put Pinoy Tech Guy on the white list when you install this :).
- DownThemAll - want to save all the pictures but they’re thumbnailed and you have to click them one by one to save the original? Not anymore. DownThemAll or DTA for short saves you from trying to painstakingly download all files from a page of links or images. It will download all links or images in a single click. How’s that for convinience?
- Tab Mix Plus - Tab Mix Plus gives you full control of Tabs on Firefox. From how they open and close, the order of tabs, auto reloading tabs etc.
- Foxmarks Bookmarks Synchronizer - Got multiple installation of Firefox on several computers and you need to sync them all? Or do you frequenly loose your bookmarks when ever Firefox crashes? Formark’s Addon is of excellent help against these two problems. It even allows you to backup your bookmarks manually to a file if you ever need to import it to another browser.
- All-In-One-Sidebar - contains all relavant menus and contexts onto an easy access sidebar. It contains Bookmarks, History, Add-ons, Downloads, a multipanel window and even menus from other Addons like FireFTP.
Performance tweaks
Firefox 3 is swift and snappy but since we performance junkies want more from it, here’s a few tweaks to improve page loading time.
- Enter about:config in the location bar:
- Alter the entries as follows:
- To enable/disable Single Click Select URL of address bar
browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll = True
browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll = False - To auto Complete URL while typing in the address Bar
browser.urlbar.autoFill=True
- strong> To set the number of auto complete URL in the address bar
browser.urlbar.maxRichResults = #
- To disabler Browser Toolbar Tip
browser.chrome.toolbar_tips = False
- To paste copied content by clicking the center button on the mouse
middlemouse.paste = True
- To disable blinking text
browser.blink_allowed = False
- To create a single close button to for all Firefox Opened Tabs.
browser.tabs.closeButtons = 3
- To increase number of recently closed tabs.
browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo=15
- Right click view source in your editor
(# indicates the number of auto complete URLs shown. The default is 12)
view_source.editor.external=True
view_source.editor.path= Path of Editor - To enable/disable Single Click Select URL of address bar
- To enable fast scrolling across tabs
toolkit.scrollbox.scrollIncrement =75
- To stop displaying website icon in address bar and on the tabs
browser.chrome.site_icons = False
- To enable spell check in text fields
layout.spellcheckDefault = 2
- To speed up the browser
network.http.max-connections 30 to 96
network.http.max-connections-per-server 15 to 32
network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server 6 to 8
network.http.pipelining false to true
network.http.proxy.pipelining false to true
network.http.pipelining.maxrequests 30 to 8
network.http.pipelining.ssl false to true
network.http.proxy.pipelining false to true - To disable annoying browser behavior
Change the followowing values to ‘false’dom.disable_window_open_feature.titlebar
dom.disable_window_open_feature.menubar
dom.disable_window_move_resize
dom.disable_window_open_feature.toolbar - To show more tabs on single window
browser.tabs.tabMinWidth = 75
- To display search results in new tab
browser.search.openintab=True.
- Right-click anywhere and create a new Integer named nglayout.initialpaint.delay and set its value to 0. This value is the amount of time the browser waits before it acts on information it recieves.
Session Restore Saving Frequency
Whenever Firefox crashes it will try to restore all of your open tabs to the way they were. This has come in handy several times for me before, but sometimes I notice that it isn’t able to restore all of my tabs for me.
That’s because Firefox, by default, only saves the session restore data every 10 seconds, but you can configure that time interval to whatever you would like.
- Enter about:config in the location bar.
- Look for browser.sessionstore.interval
- The default value is 10000 which is 10000 milliseconds. Change this to any value you want. For example, entering in 1000 would cause the session restore data to be saved every 1 second, whereas a value of 20000 would make it happen every 20 seconds.
Tweaking the Full page Zoom
Firefox 3 introduces full page zoom, that is, instead of just making text bigger or smaller, it resizes the full page including images and layout.
- If you just want to zoom text, in the View menu, select Zoom and mark Zoom Text Only.
- Firefox 3 remembers what zoom level you used for viewing pages in a domain and will automatically zoom them the next time you visit any page in the same domain. If you prefer Firefox not to remember it:
- In the location bar, enter about:config to access the advanced preferences
- Look for browser.zoom.siteSpecific and double click it to set it to false.
- Another change you may quickly notice is that in Firefox 3 pressing Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) and scrolling up and down, zooms the page in and out, unlike Firefox 2 and previous versions which used to work the opposite way.
- By default when you press Ctrl + = and Ctrl + - to zoom in or out a page (Cmd + = on Mac), Firefox magnifies to 30%, 50%, 67%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 110%, 120%, 133%, 150%, 170%, 200%, 240% and 300%. If you want to define more or less fine steps or need to zoom to larger levels you can customize Firefox full page zoom:
- Enter about:config in the location bar to access the advanced preferences.
- Look for toolkit.zoomManager.zoomValues and replace the default values with your preferences. For example to set quicker values like 10%, 50%, 100%, 200%, 300% and 500% you will need to enter .1,.5,1,2,3,5.
- You will also need to increase the default 300% zoom in level. Look for zoom.maxPercent and set it to 500 to match the highest step set above.
- You may need to to do the same with the lower limit. Look for zoom.minPercent and set it to 10 to match the lowest step set above.
Note that the zoom steps only affect zooming in and out with the keyboard or via View>Zoom>Zoom In/Zoom Out. Mouse scroll zooming uses its own steps but respects the maximum and minum zoom levels.
As stated above, the list is in now way exhaustive or complete. If you want to contribute or want to share something that’s already posted and would like it to be included here contact me or leave a comment.
P.S: This is just a compilation of information for Firefox 3 users, if you feel that your post not should be here send me a holler and I will remove it.
Uninstalling normally the uninstallable programs
To normally remove XP utilities and components, you would normally go to control panel>add or remove programs>add/remove windows components. But wait windows messenger is not there! Neither is WordPad, like omg!
This is what you do. Find your sysoc.inf file. It is usually located in the C:\WINDOWS\INF folder. (The C:\WINDOWS\INF might be hidden, so go to tools>folder options>view and choose show hidden files and folders to unhide it). Open sysoc.inf in notepad. When you open the file you’ll see something like this:
program=program.dll,Ocentry,program.inf,,numeral
Programs that are not uninstallable have the word ‘hide’ or ‘HIDE’ somewhere in there. All you have to do is get rid of the word ‘hide’ and it becomes uninstallable.
Ex. Pinball=ocgen.dll,Ocentry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7 should be changed to Pinball=ocgen.dll,Ocentry,pinball.inf,,7
Ta da!!! Now you can delete all of those unnecessary utilities/programs/components or whatever you call ‘em, that come with windows XP.
And because I’m such a nice guy I’ll even include this so that you know what those crazy names are referring to
AccessOpt-Accessability Wizard
MultiM-Multimedia components, including Media Player, Volume Control, and Sound Recorder
CommApps-Communications components, including Chat, Hyperterminal, and Phone Dialer
AutoUpdate-Windows Automatic Update
TerminalServer-Terminal Server
Dtc-Distributed Transaction Coordinator
Dom-COM+
WBEM-Windows Management Instrumentation
Pinball-Pinball game
MSWordPad-WordPad
Msmsgs-Windows Messenger
Speed Up File Browsing
1.Double-click on My Computer
2.Click the Tools menu
3.Select Folder Options
4.Click on the View tab
5.Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers
6.Click OK
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Uncheck the "Automatically search for network folders and printers" in Folder Options
Task Manager Disabled
That's a very common problem for Windows users. Many times when you try to open Task Manager, you find that "Task Manager" option has been grayed out:
Also when you try to run it by typing "taskmgr" in RUN dialog box, Windows shows following error message:
Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator.
There might be 2 possible reasons behind this problem:
* Your system administrator applied the restriction using Registry Editor or Group Policy Editor.
* Your system has been infected with virus and it has disabled the Task Manager.
If you are already the Administrator of the system, then your system is most probably infected. You should follow the instructions given in following topic first:
Is Your System Infected with a Virus / Spyware / Adware / Trojan?
Now if your system in not infected or you have successfully removed the virus, then you can follow these simple steps to enable Task Manager again:
1. Type regedit in RUN dialog box or Startmenu Search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor. If Registry editor is also disabled, then follow instructions given in following tutorial:
How to Enable Tools -> Folder Options and Registry Editor in Windows
2. Now go to following keys one by one:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies \System
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
HKEY_USERS\.default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
and look for a DWORD value "DisableTaskMgr" in right-side pane. If you find it, delete it.
3. That's it. Now Task Manager will be enabled.
PS: If you are not familiar with editing the registry, then you can use ready-made registry script to do the task automatically. Download following ZIP file, extract it and then run the extracted .REG file. It'll ask for confirmation, accept it:
Enable Folder Options and Registry Editor
Many times Windows users face a common problem. The "Folder Options" in "Tools" menu is not visible. Even It can't be accessed from Control Panel. Also "Registry Editor" is disabled.
If you are also facing this problem, then you have come to right place. Follow the simple steps mentioned in this tutorial and your problem will be solved:
1. If Folder Options is disabled but Registry Editor is still working in your system, then you can enable Folder Options by editing Windows Registry. Type regedit in RUN dialog box and press Enter. it'll open Registry Editor, now go to following keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer
2. In right-side pane, check whether a DWORD value named NoFolderOptions exists or not? If it exists, delete it.
3. But sometimes Registry Editor is also disabled. Whenever you try to open regedit, Windows will show following error message:
Registry Editor has been disabled by administrator.
Its a symptom of “RONTOKBRO” Trojan. To remove this trojan, follow the instructions given in following topic:
Is Your System Infected with a Virus / Spyware / Adware / Trojan?
4. If its not a trojan problem and someone intentionally has disabled it in your system, then you can enable it again by following any of these methods:
a. Type gpedit.msc in RUN dialog box and goto:
User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System
in right-side pane, set "Prevent access to Registry editing tools" to either Not Configured or Disabled.
b. Just type following in RUN dialog box and press :
REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableRegistryTools /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
Now after enabling Registry Editor, you can re-enable Folder Options by following methods mentioned in 1st or 2nd steps.
Securing your Personal Computer
NOTE: If you re connected to the internet then you must read this.
Hackers finds a new way everyday to break into computers and virus making. Many binded viruses are uploaded in the net as if it is a original file from a trusted source.
So how to protect yourself from these. Below are some basic tips to protect your computer.
1. Firewall
Firewall is a program that filters the network data and decides whether to allow it in or not. A good firewall filters any outsider attack or will ask you to take a decision. Black ice defender is good. Many are available in the net. You can use anyone of your choice. If you re more concerned about your network or computer install 2 firewalls. Just an additional protection.
2. Antivirus + anti-spyware
The second thing to protect your system is to install a good antivirus and anti spyware.
Whenever you start your browser if you re directed to any other page, or if any dialog box appears and gives an alert "Your system is affected by virus, Please download a copy of our powerful antivirus program from the site below". Then you re affected with spyware/adware.
Nowadays the probability of your system being affected by spyware is more than affected by a virus. Cos many sites automatically releases a trojan/spyware when you just visit that site. You dont need to download anything. Mostly the trojans are prelevant in porn sites and crack sites. So be careful when you re visiting those sites.
Most of the keygenz and cracks are packed with trojans. The best way to get rid of those is,
For keygen
Step 1: download the keygen
Step 2: open notepad or any text editor
Step 3: using the keygen generate 4 or 5 keys and copy it to the notepad file & save it.
Step 4: If you think u'll need that keygen in future, archive it and protect it with a password. if you don't need the keygen jus delete it.
For cracks
Step 1: patch the program
Step 2: Archive it and protect it with a password
If you do so, it can't open and execute itself.
Regarding anti virus, you can't definitely say that this is the best antivirus program. Cos every one lacks some features.
In avast the scan time is based on file size. If you scan a video file of size 1 GB the damn program scans it for an hour and says that "no virus found"
Kaspersky is better among all. But in some systems it makes the OS unstable. But it monitors the network traffic and intrusion prevention.
I recommend kaspersky or Avira Anti vir.
Mostly antivirus programs are inbuilt with anti spyware.
But its recommended to install an Anti spyware software.
Ad-aware, spybot search and destroy, spyware terminator are good programs.
Scan your system regualarly or schedule automatic scan.
NOTE: Every antivirus software will have a loop hole. So its better to update them regularly, so that it can give best protection.
3. Update security patches for the OS
If you own a genuine OS you can enable the Automatic updates. That will give you the latest security updates to your system.
4. Bandwidth monitor
If you re in a limited usage plan you should be concerned about your usage. If your system is affected with trojans, it'll send data to some remote computer. So you should monitor the bandwidth.
Band width meter is a good program that monitors the traffic of upload and download.
When you don't use the net always disconnect the modem.
NoTE: With these tools you can make your system 99% secured.
Even if you re protected with anti virus and firewall there is 1% probability of intrusion.
Its better to keep your valuable data such as credit card and bank accounts in an encrypted drive/folder. There are many tools for achieving this.
Securing Wifi Networks
Wi-Fi is the name given to man’s quest for wireless networking. Eventhough wireless communications were possible in the past also, thanksto GSM, CDMA, Infrared, Bluetooth etc, the paltry data rates providedby these standards were hardly enough to sustain networks.
Wi-Fi stands for Wireless Fidelity. It ensures mobility and yet retainsthe data rate which is comparable to wired networks. It is the namegiven to the set of standards belonging to the 802.11 categoryinstituted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers(IEEE). It basically comprises of the following standards:
Standard Frequency Speed
1. 802.11a 5 GHz 54 Mbps
2. 802.11b 2.4 GHz 11 Mbps
3. 802.11g 2.4 GHz 11 Mbps
THE NEEDs FOR WI-FI SECURITY:
In a wired network the system can be hacked into only through a systemattached to a network. Data interception, data alteration and intrusionare possible only when the hacker can access a node attached to thenetwork in some manner.
But Wi-Fi works on wireless technology. This means that any machinewith a wireless network adapter can gain entry into a wireless network.Devices that allow scanning of wireless access points are availablecheap (compared to the amount of data they can possibly allow accessto) in the market. This further simplifies the job of a potentialhacker who can use it to track users. All a hacker needs to do is to bein the range of a wireless network. Then he can simply intercept thesignal (sniffing), manipulate it and get access into the network(spoofing). For example a business man transferring his money to anaccount while sitting in a Wi-Fi enabled Mc Donald’s can easily becyber looted by a hacker sitting in the opposite end of the restaurantif he has a wireless adapter and the tools needed to intercept andmodify the signals. The recently occurred Lowe’s case in North Carolinais proof enough that Wi-Fi is certainly not so safe for transferringsensitive data like credit card numbers, company plans or the personalhealth records of a company’s employees. This is reason enough forusers to secure their networks in all possible ways.
THE METHODS FOR SECURING WI-FI:
SSID: Service Set Identifier is a 32 character unique identifierattached to the header of the packet transferred over the wirelessconnection. It distinguishes one network from another. All AccessPoints belonging to the same network have a common SSID. It is like aschool scenario where the students of a particular class are identifiedby their class name.
The SSID is also called the Network Name.
When a new Access Point is installed the default SSID value should bechanged and should be assigned a network key. This serves as a basicmeans of security and privacy.
WEP: Wired Equivalent Protocol was proposed by the IEEE to bringthe level of security enjoyed by wired networks to wireless networks.WEP uses secret encrypted keys to alter the data bits passing in awireless network. This ensures (or at least used to) that even if thedata is sniffed, without the key, it will be rendered useless. This keyis made available only to the source and destination parties. It ismore like a symmetric cryptography scheme.
The encryption can be 64 bit, 128 bit or 256 bit. Till recently 64 bitwas safe enough but with rumours that a crack for this key has beenfound, it is advisable to use 128 bit or 256 bit encryption. Anotherway to keep data secure while using WEP is to frequently change thekey. A downfall to this is that it is susceptible to man in the middleattacks (the key can be stolen while it is being exchanged).
ACL: Access Control List is a table of the MAC addresses of allaccess points in the network. The MAC (Media Access Control) address isa unique address assigned to each wireless device. The ACL ensures thatonly those MAC addresses which are present in the list are allowed toenter the network. The downfall to this is that the MAC addresses canbe stolen and spoofed.
IEEE 802.1x: This is basically a method of security based on the principle of network restriction through user restriction.
This standard recommends the use of a Remote Authentication Dial InUser Service (RADIUS) server. This is used along with two datacommunication protocols viz. Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)and Transport Layer Security (TLS).
The RADIUS server requires the user to login with a user name andpassword and also answer an encryption key question. The request isthen constructed and wrapped in a specific manner based on the EAP/TLSstandards. TLS prevents sniffing and tampering of the communicationchannel and also prevents message forgery. This is brought about by theuse of a trust relationship between the source and destination by meansof a certificate of validity. This is provided by a trusted third partycertifying authority. An extension to this is called the TunneledTransport Layer Security (TTLS)
FIPS 140: Federal Information Protection Standard 1.40 is a higherlevel security. It provides data encryption of different types likeAdvanced Encryption Standard (AES) or Triple Data Encryption Standard(3DES). Since the level of encryption provided by these standards isalmost impossible to crack, as of now this is the best method ofsecurity available.
SUMMARY:
Securing wireless networks can seem to be a complicated process. Manytimes users are just too ignorant about the aspect of security. Theythink “Why would anyone hack me? That is really a silly questionbecause a hacker doesn’t need motivation to hack; all he needs is achance. Some users even if concerned about security find implementingit confusing. At such times it is advised to take the help of manualson the same or better yet get professional help. It is a small price topay for keeping your data and privacy safe.
And last but not the least; ensure to follow the three tier step of networking:
1. Plan 2. Implement 3. Test
This basically means that plan before setting up your network. Be clearwith your network. Understand why you want to network. Then get atailored security package according to your network. Use differentmethods together to attain the desired level of security. Plan asecurity policy and make sure to enforce it.
Implement your network along with the security package and security policy. Make sure all users adhere to the policy.
Test your network. Once you finish setting up your network check forunknown access points. Try to sniff your own signals. See if yournetwork can be compromised in any way. Watch out for suspiciousactivity in the range of your network. If you feel that your network isstill weak in some manner then plan again, improve the measures,implement the new packages and again test it. This should be acontinued cycle.
credits to x
Making XP Better 2
Refer to Making XP better (Part 1) as well.
1. Annoying scroll in Start menu
If u install so many programs in ur computer, It'll be updated to ur start menu. If there are more number of programs it'll show in scroll mode(sometimes).
It'll make the user annoyed, cos of scrolling to the top and bottom to search programs. It can be disabled easily
1. right click on the taskbar -> properties
2. Taskbar and start menu properties dialog will appear. In that click startmenu tab
3. Click customize. Click the one which is active.
4. Customize Start menu dialog will appear. In that click advanced tab.
5. In the startmenu items, look for "Scroll programs". Uncheck that.
Thats it. Ur start menu will no more appear in scroll type and annoy u. If u need to get back to the scroll type check the box "Scrollprograms"
2. changing the power options
U may want ur PC to do a different thing rather than shutting down when Power button is pressed in the cabinet.
To do that
1. Right click on the Desktop -> properties
2. In the dialog box appearing select screensaver tab
3. Click Power..
4. Select advanced tab in the dialog box appearing.
5. U'll see an option named "Power buttons". It'll have a drop down box with the text "When I press the power button on my computer:"
6. select the option of ur own choice.
thats about it...^^
Making XP Better 1
1. You may be interested to know wat ur system does while booting windows(behind that boot screen). (only in Xp and above)
Code:
Step 1: start->run and type "msconfig"
Step 2: go to boot.ini tab
Step 3: Check the /SOS option
Step 4: Reboot
Now u can see wat the operating system is doing in the background. If u can't understand here is a brief explanation.
First it will load all the drivers necessary to make the OS work.
Then it will check all the volumes,whether a checkdisk is needed or not. If the volume is not clean, then it executes checkdisk.
2. To display a custom message at logon
Code:
Step 1: start->run and type gpedit.msc
Step 2: In that navigate to Computer Configuration->Windows Settings->Security Settings->Local Policies->Security Options
Step 3: Look for a value "Interactive logon: Message text for users attempting to log on"
Step 4: Double click that and type wat ever message u wish to display.
Step 5: If u want to give a title for tat message,Look for a value "Interactive logon: Message title for users attempting to log on". Doblue click that and enter the title for that window.
Step 6: either log off or reboot.
3. Sometimes, due to viruses U can't find the Help option in the start menu.
There are many ways to make it work, But the easiest way is go to run and type
Code:
hcp://
help window will appear, then u can search the thing u need. If run option is also disabled go to any browser and type the same in the URL.