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2 dumb questions...?


smallhagrid

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smallhagrid

Hi Folks.

Seeing somebody else's sig reminded me I wanted to play with this, so I did:

smallhagrid38929.jpg

And it also reminded me of a couple of questions relating with it...

1.

Is there another (better ?) way, site, etc. to get such a little sign like that other than http://www.danasoft.com/ ??

2.

How can the most or all of info shown there be prevented aside of MANUALLY changing the browser's User Agent string, DNS server(s) and using a VPN ??

Thanks.

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1. Curious about that myself. xD

2. An IP masker or VPN server, good proxy or Tor will hide your real address, provider and location, while for the rest there are tools (Ad-muncher comes to mind. It serves to block ads, but can be set-up to also block the referrer and browser fields by placing its own name.)

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smallhagrid

Thanks Alanon.

I have the User Agent Switcher add-on which covers the OS & browser info (when I activate it...) and I also have the NewIPNow add-on that can change the proxy quickly & easily - but again is a manual change.

The key in my query is the MANUAL changing; I want to spoof this stuff pretty much always & automatically.

(Neither of the above add-ons is able to mask the ISP info at all...)

It'd be really neat if there could be something really easy & simple that spoofed all that stuff all in one shot, and could stay active by default all the time !!!

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I think most of these apps read the DNS servers, since every ISP has their own. A good VPN will mask your IP adress by routing everything through a different DNS. That way, your ISP will read as Google, OpenDNS, or whichever the DNS servers are used by the given VPN server. You can also manually use Google or OpenDNS server settings on your network set-up (they are free), though I'm not sure if that will keep these little detectors from finding stuff out, and I don't think that will protect you from any serious investigation, while it may hamper your page loading speeds.

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smallhagrid

Thank you.

And indeed:

I think most of these apps read the DNS servers, since every ISP has their own. A good VPN will mask your IP adress by routing everything through a different DNS. That way, your ISP will read as Google, OpenDNS, or whichever the DNS servers are used by the given VPN server. You can also manually use Google or OpenDNS server settings on your network set-up (they are free), though I'm not sure if that will keep these little detectors from finding stuff out, and I don't think that will protect you from any serious investigation, while it may hamper your page loading speeds.

I am aware of the DNS being an obvious thing - but recently used Gibson's DNS utility (as recommended here ?) and found that my ISP's DNS servers were the fastest of all the thousands it checked when making the custom list...go figure.

Also I am aware of being able to use VPNBook and have considered it - but do not really wish for the hit on page loading speeds so it is, as yet, unused.

My main thrust in asking what I did regards automation in changing the UA setting and some hopefulness in being able to spoof all this stuff at least as regards casual observation...easily and automatically.

As an example, if one searches on:

"change default user agent" firefox

One finds an amazing amount of useless info - and going through it for some time yields nothing useful actually.

And as Firefox is my preferred browser by far, it is the one I wish to solve this for, if possible.

Thanks.

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There's an add-on called User Agent Switcher, that actually simulates the behaviour of certain bots like Google, which can in turn browse certain private forums without registration.

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smallhagrid

Precisely so:

There's an add-on called User Agent Switcher, that actually simulates the behaviour of certain bots like Google, which can in turn browse certain private forums without registration.

I've used this for some time (and am using it this right this very moment, in fact).

The lingering question is how to successfully make the UA string change permanent in Firefox.

Three methods have surfaced from my searching:

- An add-on like this one, which does it well - but requires the user to remember to change it for each browser start.

- Editing prefs.js - for which the destructions vary and which may not work.

- Editing the settings found at about:config, which sadly must also be done manually at each browser start.

The key word in all I've asked is automation; all the settings I know about can be spoofed as long as the dumb, old user (me) remembers to do them EVERY time the browser is opened and/or re-started, which is usually quite a few times daily.

(Getting old ain't for sissies !!!)

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and I also have the NewIPNow add-on that can change the proxy quickly & easily - but again is a manual change.

sorry, kinda off topic but Ive tried NewIPNow addon for Firefox. My experiance was that most (90%) of the sites I visit are "broken" when using this addon. For that matter I find that most sites are "broken" using any proxy server via any program.
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smallhagrid

I agree - NewIPNow ain't great.

Looking at what add-ons as there are for Firefox I found none better.

Maybe there's a better one, but for now, this one with it's self-updating list of freebie proxies is good enough for my meager needs.

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- Editing the settings found at about:config, which sadly must also be done manually at each browser start.

I haven't looked into it yet, but are you sure about it? Cause about:config entries, in no way, should change on browser restart, as far as I know.

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smallhagrid

Using the search:

"change default user agent" firefox

I got alot of results, none very definite or useful...the only one from Mozilla:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/904638

A quote from one write-up that is pretty typical of what I found:

How to change your Firefox UserAgent String using about:config
The steps detailed here will allow you to change the UserAgent string of your Firefox web browser to masquerade as any other browser or bot on the net. The changes made using the following steps will be reset to default upon shutting down of your firefox browser.

(http://www.dotdoh.com/?p=182)

Automating this sort of stuff and/or making it stick seems like it has been deliberately made almost impossible ?!?

Thanks.

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