| B. Refer to this section only if (i) you are online right now and (ii)
you can see a red "NOSCRIPT" message at the top of this page. If you are online
and cannot see a red message, skip B and go to section C |
|
| How to enable JavaScript in Internet Explorer |
Incredibly, there is no reference to JavaScript anywhere in Microsoft's Internet Explorer
browser, only to Java. IE's default type of JavaScript is, in fact, a Windows' ActiveX
control and, accordingly, is called Active Scripting, not JavaScript. Since that name
sounds more like ActiveX than JavaScript, it is all too easy for an IE user to accidentally
disabled JavaScript when thinking they were disabling something dodgier. Conversely, it
is all too easy for a user to enable a neighbouring option, Java, thinking they were enabling
JavaScript, because the two names are so similar - never realising, in Java, they have
enabled something even riskier than JavaScript.
To enable/disable IE's variety of JavaScript, open IE > click Tools > Internet Options
> Security tab > Custom Level button > scroll down the long list of options until you
see Scripting > under Active Scripting, if there is already a bullet against Enable, click
OK, if there isn't, click Enable, then OK. Reverse the final action if you are wanting
to disable JavaScript. |
| |
| How to enable JavaScript in Netscape or Firefox |
In Netscape, and Firefox, JavaScript is actually called JavaScript. By being clearly
labelled, and easy to access, unlike in IE, there is no risk of confusion as to what you are
enabling or disabling. In Netscape 6.2+, click Edit > Preferences > Advanced >
tick the box next to 'Enable JavaScript'. In Netscape 4.x, ensure adjacent option 'Enable
style sheets' is also ticked. Note that, in NS 4, disabling JavaScript had the unfortunate
effect of disabling cascading style sheets (CSS) as well - even if the 'Enable style sheets'
option was ticked. NS 4's rendering of CSS was also limited, even with both JavaScript
and Style Sheets enabled. So, in the very unlikely event that NS 4 is still your
default browser, make sure it is nothing lower than version 4.76 and, as quickly as you can,
move up to Netscape 6.2 or 7.1 (last-ever version of NS was 9) or, better still, to the faster-loading
offshoot, Mozilla Firefox. Different versions of Netscape could live quite happily on
the same PC, at the same time, alongside Internet Explorer and Firefox - there was/is no need
to uninstall or overwrite previous versions of Netscape - simply install them to separate folders.
This is important to know for webmasters, who have to ensure cross-browser compatibility for
their web pages.
From Jan 06, users of Firefox can obtain a free plug-in from www.noscript.net that will allow
them to let JavaScript scripts, Java applets and Flash objects to run and be managed via a whitelist
of trusted sites.
The JavaScript option in Firefox can be found under Tools > Options > Content tab >
tick Enable JavaScript > OK. |
| |
| How to ascertain your browser's version number |
| To check your browser's version, on its toolbar, click Help > About..., and you will
see a message like "Netscape Communicator 4.76", or "Microsoft Internet Explorer
5". In the now-unlikely event that yours is NS 4.x or IE 4.x, or lower, you
are needlessly depriving yourself of the superior surfing experience you would enjoy with a
higher version. Upgrades of all browser types are free and that now also includes Opera. |
| |
| Testing if JavaScript is enabled in your browser |
Assuming you have carried out the appropriate steps in this section to enable JavaScript,
you will need to test if they have worked. You can do this by refreshing this page to
see if the red message at the top disappears - however, before reloading the page, clear the
browser's cache first, check you are online, and hold down Alt when reloading the page.
This is to ensure you are fetching a fresh copy of the page and not simply seeing this same
page again out of the browser's cache.
Assuming the test succeeds in confirming JavaScript is enabled in the browser i.e. the red message
at the top of this page disappears, but you then find you still cannot access a site like Hotmail
properly, continue to the next section below. |
| |
| C. Refer to this section if JavaScript is enabled in your browser, and you are
online right now, but pages relying on JavaScript are still being blocked |
|
| Unblocking JavaScript in a Firewall, Popup-Stopper or Anti-Virus |
If you are satisfied that JavaScript is correctly enabled within your browser, but you still
find that web pages relying on JavaScript, like Hotmail, are still not working properly, it
is likely that some other application on your computer is blocking the JavaScript. That
could possibly be a firewall, popup-stopper, anti-virus program or an internet security suite.
You will have to trawl through the Options' section in each such application to find where the
problem lies - there is no alternative. If your firewall is of a manually configurable
type, like Outpost Firewall, start with that as it would be the most likely place.
As an example of how to proceed, using Outpost as a specimen, you would double-click Outpost's
icon in the System Tray to open its console window > in the left-hand pane, click the + sign
next to Plug-Ins (to expand the navigation tree) > right-click on Active Content > at
'Java, Visual Basic Script', click Enable to put a tick against it. Then right-click on
Active Content > if there is a tick against Enable Web Blocking, click the item > Close
(which will remove that particular tick). As you can see, hunting down the necessary settings
is a rigmarole but, if, after dealing with your firewall, you find JavaScript is still being
blocked, you will have no option but to check through the Options of the other possible culprits,
i.e. popup-stopper, anti-virus program, or internet security suite until you find the one responsible. |
| |
| D. JavaScript Miscellany |
|
| JavaScript and E-mail |
| Viruses, worms, trojans etc. are most commonly spread (i) via links in emails and email
attachments and (ii) by following links in search-engines or popups which unknowingly lead
to booby-trapped or infected web pages. If you think about that for a moment, you will
realise it is almost impossible for the unwary to do anything on the internet without getting
infected - which is why it keeps happening to so many people. Malicious code can be hidden
in a distressingly wide range of different downloaded file formats, especially those with the
extensions bat, cmd, com, exe, js, pif, reg, scr or vbs. And also in doc, jpg, pdf, xls,
in files with double extensions (e.g. .doc.exe, .jpg.scr), in files with false icons (e.g. .exe.pdf,
or the .exe changed to .pdf, to give the file a harmless looking PDF icon in Windows), obfuscated
files (e.g. a .exe file cloaked in a .zip or .rar file to try to put the recipient off their
guard). From that long list, it can be seen that JavaScript files (.js) are a possible
vehicle, though they are no more dangerous than any of the other, more common file-types mentioned.
It is worth noting, incidentally, that there is NO valid reason why anybody would genuinely
send anybody else an e-mail attachment with any of those first nine extensions,
including .js. So the safe rule, as always, is simply to never open or unzip any e-mail
attachment unless it is something you were definitely expecting from the actual person it 'appears'
to have come from. Even then, scan it first with an up-to-date virus checker with the
'check all file types' and 'use heuristics' options definitely enabled. |
| |
| JavaScript and Search Engines |
Most surfers are aware they should never click on links in emails sent to them by spammers
or by trojan-mailers, for fear that the link could lead to a phishing site or a booby-trapped website which will
then try to infect their computer with a virus, trojan, worm, spyware, adware, keylogger, screenlogger
or some other malicious software. However, nobody seems to realise that a similar danger
exists whenever a link in a search engine is clicked. The number of booby-trapped websites
which have managed to penetrate the indexes of search engines, especially the best known and
most used search engine, is truly alarming. It has reached a stage whereby searching on the
web is the major source of infection risk. We added this warning here on 26.6.05 but,
over four years later, at 12.9.09, few people have any notion still that they are risking
or suffering from spyware, adware, fraud or identity theft mostly as a result of having followed
bad links in a search engine.
For anybody interested in minimising the search engine risk, we have two solutions to offer.
We use both of them ourselves at times, depending on what we are up to. We have been seriously
attacked many times but have never been infected except a couple of times when we accidentally
dropped our guard. Even then, we have never had to deploy spyware or adware removers to
try to recover the situation. Our two proposals assume that Internet Explorer is your
primary browser.
1. The first suggestion is to employ a highly-configurable firewall, such as Outpost Pro (as opposed
to a mainly unconfigurable one like Outpost Free, ZoneAlarm or Comodo). With Outpost Pro, you
can set up any number of different-strength web-blocking configurations, say a strong one for use
when using Google or Yahoo, and a weak one when surfing direct to safer sites like Hotmail, eBay,
Amazon et al. All it then takes is a double-click on the Outpost Pro icon in the system tray to
change to your pre-defined security configuration appropriate to what you intend to do. Setting up
configs is a bit nerdy so you would need to be web-savvy to take advantage of this suggestion.
2. The second suggestion is to install a second browser (such as Firefox), open its Preferences
section and block everything you possibly can. Then use only that second browser when
you intend to use any search engine or to visit any dubious websites. The secondary browser,
in its blocking state, won't be any use for more important surfing, like banking, shopping,
Hotmail etc., so you will still need to switch back to IE for just those things. However,
it should mean you will be able to use search engines again, via Firefox, without fearing all
the time if the next link you are about to click is going to secretly try to infect or hijack
your machine.
3. This third suggestion was added 18.5.08. It is to ringfence, or shoebox your browser
so any harmful downloads cannot run riot on your hard disk. You can think of shoeboxing
as being like a cut-down variation of the security program Deep Freeze. Deep Freeze is
a wonderful background application which is used in colleges, universities and most internet
cafés to allow their computers to appear to be running like normal, unrestricted machines
but with no risk of the system being damaged by any amount of dabbling or downloading done by
the students or other users. Deep Freeze ringfences a computer's entire operating system
and applications. But ringfencing just a browser's downloading activities is probably
more appropriate for a home user. The best-known such tool is Sandboxie and it might be
worth checking out. We have no personal experience of its effectiveness, however, (unlike
Deep Freeze which we adore), so we would welcome any feedback. Internet Explorer on Vista appears to
have applied a type of sandboxing which would mean no third-party tool is needed. |
| |
| Right-click mouse-button disabled |
| Occasionally, you will come across a web page which has temporarily disabled the right-click
button on your mouse. They do this using a JavaScript in the page. This can be annoying
if you were trying to save an image to look at later, or if you wanted to view the source code
of the page. You can get around this particular nuisance by temporarily disabling JavaScript
in your browser - though a quicker way is by simply saving the page. Click File > Save
as... and choose to save it to your Desktop as a 'web page complete'. You will find the
downloaded images in a sub-folder on your Desktop. If the page uses frames, you may find
the part you are interested in will not have been saved to the Desktop. In that case,
you can open your Temporary Internet Files folder, search for the indicator for the relevant
image or html sub-page, drag it to your Desktop, then double-click on the file to open it from
there. Another neat way around this problem, if you only want an image off the page, is
to take a screenshot (Alt+PrintScreen), paste it into MS Paint, crop and edit as necessary,
and save it as a bitmap or JPEG file. Having said that, do not infringe other people's
copyright by using their content or images for your own gain. |
| |
| More Browser Adjustments |
| While you are doing any of the adjustments to your browser that were detailed earlier, you
should take the opportunity to check the following further items, which are aimed at improving
the viewing experience:- |
| |
| a) Fonts (Netscape only) |
| On Netscape's toolbar, click Edit > Preferences > click the + sign next to Appearance
> Fonts > select 'Use document-specified fonts including Dynamic Fonts'. |
| |
| b) Colors (Netscape) |
| On Netscape's toolbar, click Edit > Preferences > click the + sign next to Appearance
> Colors > tick 'Windows colors' > tick 'Underline links' > untick 'Always use my
colors' > OK. |
| |
| c) Colors (Internet Explorer) |
| On IE's toolbar, click Tools > Internet Options > General tab > Colors button >
tick 'Use Windows colors' > untick 'Use hover color' > OK > OK. |
| |
| d) Status Bar |
| Leave the Status Bar enabled (done under the View menu) so you can see where unsolicited
links will take you before you click on them. If you don't see a URL in the Status Bar
when you mouse-over a link, that means the page designer has put a JavaScript in the page to
cloak the address. That is usually done for tidiness rather than anything suspicious.
If you use Netscape 7.x, you also need to go to Preferences > Advanced > Scripts &
Plugins > tick the box by 'Hide The Status Bar'. This box is unticked by default which
is the complete opposite of what is required. Tick the box, otherwise status bars will
appear in NS 7.x popup windows even if the page designer has rightly specified they should not
show. |
| |
| AOL |
| Users of AOL, whenever wanting to surf the full World Wide Web, beyond the limitations of
AOL's doctored version of Internet Explorer, should minimise AOL to the Windows' Taskbar after
using it to connect to the web. Then click Start > Programs > Internet Explorer
(or Netscape etc.) to launch your PC's principle or alternative browser (the same trick that
kids use to get round their parents' infernal parental controls!). Set up this browser
to handle JavaScript, and anything else, the way you want it to, and off you go! However,
if you find that Internet Explorer proper is being prevented from appearing or working properly
or, for that matter, other Windows' features like the Desktop wallpaper, Taskbar or the Quick
Launch Toolbar, you should check first if there are any invasive settings anywhere within AOL's
options that need to be disabled first - before trying to correct the situation within Windows. |
| |
| Popup-Stoppers |
| Some popup stoppers are overzealous. They don't just stop popup adverts but, because
of poor programming, they also block friendly popups or cause them to appear in full size windows
or tabbed windows instead of in the intended small floating windows. If you are using
a popup-stopper and are experiencing those kinds of problems, you should disable your popup-stopper
temporarily. If that allows wanted popups to get through, in their intended small windows,
that will confirm the problem lies solely with your particular popup-stopper. Sometimes
popup-stoppers allow that bad feature to be overridden by holding down the Ctrl key when clicking
on a link. But the best solution is to change to a better stopper that can discriminate
more accurately instead of completely blocking or spoiling all JavaScript. There are,
of course, many popup-stoppers to choose from. You can find them everywhere. Ready-built
into browsers like Netscape 7+, AOL 8+, Firefox 2+ and IE7+, in some firewalls,
in some anti-virus or internet security suites, plus endless others freely available to download
off the internet (but watch out for bogus ones), or on computer magazine cover disks.
With such a wide variety to choose from, it is inevitable that some will perform poorly compared
with others. In fact, some, notably those included on lesser-known third-party browser
toolbars, are just luring people into installing spyware programs masquerading as a useful tool
- so be very careful. A good popup-stopper is one that will block all third-party popup
and popunder ads while allowing any in-site information popups to appear properly in their small
popup windows. |
| |
| Spyware |
| If you are using a popup-stopper merely because you would otherwise suffer excessively from
popup and popunder ads it is almost certain that your PC is already infected with spyware.
Contrary to popular belief, excessive popups are rarely generated by the sites people visit
(sleazy sites excepted). It is much more likely that the ads are being propagated by one
or more popup-launcher programs that have surreptitiously installed themselves on the user's
machine. Removing spyware has become as important as protecting against viruses. Fortunately, however, neither of these particular menaces (spyware and viruses), nor any of
the other items in this Miscellany section, are directly relevant to the main objective of this
page which is how to enable JavaScript. |
| |
| E. Conclusion |
|
| After complying with the JavaScript configuration items in sections B and/or C on this page,
you should find all will now be well. To move on from this page, see the green message
below. |
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|
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| To escape this standalone info page, use your browser's Back button if not greyed out, failing that, the Exit link below. |
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| Back to top Exit |
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| First posted 9.4.03 [dmy] Last amended 12.9.09 Copyright (C) 2003-2009 PM Designs |
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