Links and Tools
Revised 2025-08-06 0139

OCS Partial Knowledgebase (KB)

This page (as follows below) is, and has been, under revision with some parts migrating into the KB pages (linked immediately above), which is hoped to be a more extensive library on various IT topics, procedures, et cetera.

Tools (links):

• General Tools:

  • Advanced IP Scanner
  • NirSoft, home to a HUUUGE slew of great tools. Note: Some browsers and anti-malware started blocking downloads from this site during 2021-03.

• Common for Client Stations (Windows OS centric):
  Revised 2025-08-06 0139

  • Open Shell, replaces Win8/10/11 Desktop menu with Win7 style menu (more visually stable).
    Recommend "Final" version.
    "Classic style Start menu for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and 11."

    Note: With Windows 11, the OS native menu is centered and Open Shell does NOT replace the Win11 menu "button" properly. Recommend following procedure:

    1. Install current Open Shell
    2. Click the Open Shell menu button and make changes per preference/norm.
    3. ONLY for Windows 11:
       
       1. Right-click the Open Shell menu button and select "Settings".
       2. Check "Show all settings"
       3. Click the "Start Button" tab.
       4. Navigate the options tree to "Button look" / "Slassic button" / Icon size.
       5. As of this writing, the latter defaults to 0. Change the setting to 1.
       6. Click "OK" and check if appearance is as desired.

  • Browsers:

    • Recommended Browsers:

      • Chrome.
      • Firefox
        Firefox is currently the OCS recommended browser. The recommendation is based on privacy, security and feature set. First run/load after a computer restart or login may be slower than some browsers but performance seems about equal or better thereafter. Some comparisons are listed in the "Brave" browser section under "Optional Browsers:" below.

    • Optional Browsers:

      • Opera.
      • Brave.
        OCS is currently testing Brave. It is promoted as being faster, more battery conserving and more private than Firefox. Ongoing OCS comparison notes below in this "browsers" section.

    • Browsers NOT currently recommended by OCS:

      • IE or Edge:

        Both have historically been slower and more impacted by Microsoft desires vs.user preferences. However, Some financial institutions and insurance company web sites are unstable or unusable if not used with one of these browsers.

      • Safari

        On anything other than possibly iOS or MacOS, as of this writing, at least the Windows version has not been updated for years, presenting a security vector.

    • Comparrison notes:

      • Brave: Page speeds seem similar to Chrome and Firefox.
      • Brave: "New private windows" do NOT seem to load UNLESS a regular Brave window has been opened.
      • Brave/Chrome: When refreshing a frames based page, browser reloads the page "from scratch", reverting any frames whose content has changed during the current browser session.
      • IE: "Deprecated" / not supported by almost anybody. Thus, no security patches may be expected. Therefore, a considerable security vector.
      • IE/Edge: May be only platform supported by the odd financial institution or insurance company.
      • Edge: Microsoft seems to push out content resetting user settings specificially set to suppress unwanted content.
      • Firefox: When refreshing a page which uses frames, it doesn't just reload the original frames page reverting any/all sub frames contents but refreshes each frame's current content as well.
      • Firefox: Initial load is sometimes slower than Chrome and Brave.
      • Firefox: Click on address field drops down frequent sites. Not so for Chrome or Brave.
      • Firefox: When refreshing a page which uses frames, it doesn't just reload the original frames page reverting any/all sub frames contents but refreshes all the frame contents as well.
  • Adblock Plus.

    Recommended installation per browser/per profile, excepting for the Brave browser (redundant),for better privacy and stability of browsers.

  • Adobe Acrobat Reader.
    After installation, run and follow link or otherwise take staps to make the default reader.
    When selecting the download options uncheck all checkboxes.

  • Old IP Diagnostic Tools:

    • NetLab: Loaded GUI Internet test suite for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2K/XP. NetLab.zip
    • Sam Spade: GUI Internet test suite for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2K. Spade114.exe

  .

  ---

  
  2024-03-26 1730