was it Yahoo's fault?

Frank Fusco

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Mountain Home, Arkansas
I have been using Yahoo as my browser homepage for years. But, for about the past six months, all Internet usage has been giving me fits. Slow to open pages, things freezing. Frustrating. I have been rebooting half a dozen times a day. But, this morning, on a reboot, I noticed that Yahoo, and a news item I wanted to read, was opening really slowly and it dawned on me that Yahoo might be the real problem. I switched my internet options to make Google my homepage. Now, browser opens instantly, as does FW and others. Methinks, mebbe Yahoo has gotten too big and complex for it's server britches. And to think, I almost had downloaded Firefox as an alternative. :eek: Whew! Close call. ;)
 
I have been using Yahoo as my browser homepage for years. But, for about the past six months, all Internet usage has been giving me fits. Slow to open pages, things freezing. Frustrating. I have been rebooting half a dozen times a day. But, this morning, on a reboot, I noticed that Yahoo, and a news item I wanted to read, was opening really slowly and it dawned on me that Yahoo might be the real problem. I switched my internet options to make Google my homepage. Now, browser opens instantly, as does FW and others. Methinks, mebbe Yahoo has gotten too big and complex for it's server britches. And to think, I almost had downloaded Firefox as an alternative. :eek: Whew! Close call. ;)

Frank,

Makes sense that it would be your problem. Google's is just search, but yahoo's a full blown portal. There is a ton of things to load... images, etc. If the server where the images are cached is slow, or if your ISP is doing the akamai thing, the whole thing could be slower than a razorback in a cypress swamp... ;)

BTW, you *should* switch to firefox. It's what all the cool kids are smoking these days... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
I have been using Yahoo as my browser homepage for years. ...... I switched my internet options to make Google my homepage. Now, browser opens instantly ...... And to think, I almost had downloaded Firefox as an alternative. :eek: Whew! Close call. ;)

Frank,

I use Firefox and have for years. I used it initially because it had tabbed browsing and IE did not. Now that IE has tabbed browsing and easier control (for a computer ijit like me) of the security features, I'm not sure there's any real advantage to FF.

Also, have you tried using a blank page for your home page rather than loading a website? That has to be the fasted startup going ... no waiting at all.

cheers eh?
 
If I switched to Fire Fox and liked it, I would have to put up with my son saying, "I told you so...". :eek: Not gonna happen.

See you have to make him think it was your idea. My wifes cousin does it all the time. I'll suggest something, he disagrees then 3 or 4 weeks later does it that way.

Don't let your son hold you back, this time he is right
 
Actually, without Yahoo open all runs well.
But, I found Yahoo is very tenacious. This morning Yahoo was back as my homepage even though I had changed to Google. I now have set to blank. Later, I'll delete all cookies, history and other assorted invaders and see if Yahoo will stay gone.
 
Frank I would say off hand that you have a problem with adware or viruses. Yahoo will not slow your web page loading like that. It is also possible that it is network congestion in your provider's network. Network providers play the bandwidth game all the time knowing that end users are 90% of the time not downloading (software, files and web browsing). That is the end users are intermittent users giving ISPs the opportunity to over-exploit their bandwidth resources. When the customer base grows to large then they scale their resources accordingly. On the other hand I would also check your own PC for adware and viruses. If you don't have a paid for updated virus protection software (read extortion software) then download a freeware program like Avast and do a scan. Avast is what I use and find it works great.
 
I concur with Alex...if your homepage is getting reset, I'd strongly suspect adware or a virus. I'm pretty certain Yahoo would not do that. No legitimate business would.
 
Frank I would say off hand that you have a problem with adware or viruses. Yahoo will not slow your web page loading like that. It is also possible that it is network congestion in your provider's network. Network providers play the bandwidth game all the time knowing that end users are 90% of the time not downloading (software, files and web browsing). That is the end users are intermittent users giving ISPs the opportunity to over-exploit their bandwidth resources. When the customer base grows to large then they scale their resources accordingly. On the other hand I would also check your own PC for adware and viruses. If you don't have a paid for updated virus protection software (read extortion software) then download a freeware program like Avast and do a scan. Avast is what I use and find it works great.

Alex, I understand all that and had considered it. Bottom line, though, since I went to 'blank' as homepage and deleted cookies, history, unwanted buggies, etc., I'm surfing along at 100 yard dash pace compared to previous geriatriac marathon speed, complete with the occasional cardiac arrest. I do have a problem with Spyware Doctor. I'm sure it is gumming up other activities in my computer. It will not uninstall. Whatever I do to try to remove it freezes my computer. SD tech support is useless. If more problems come up, I fear a format is inevitable.
 
Alex, I understand all that and had considered it. Bottom line, though, since I went to 'blank' as homepage and deleted cookies, history, unwanted buggies, etc., I'm surfing along at 100 yard dash pace compared to previous geriatriac marathon speed, complete with the occasional cardiac arrest. I do have a problem with Spyware Doctor. I'm sure it is gumming up other activities in my computer. It will not uninstall. Whatever I do to try to remove it freezes my computer. SD tech support is useless. If more problems come up, I fear a format is inevitable.
I suspect your home page hijacking problem is more viral that spyware-related. Are you running an up-to-date anti-virus product?
 
Frank,

Most likely the slow page loading is a result of a virus or some sort of spyware.

However, something else to consider if you are experiencing slow speeds... asuming that you are using a broadband connection of some sort... If you are using a wireless router you should follow the manufacturer's instructions to setup MAC filtering. Basically what this does is that it will only let PCs that you specify to connect to your wireless router. This will block out your neighbor's kid (or who ever) from swiping a hunk of the bandwidth on your connection.

I apologize if you already know about this stuff, but incase someone else out there might benefit from it too, I'm going to give a little more detail.

Each network device (The wireless card in your PC/the ethernet card in your PC, your wireless router, your cable or DSL modem) all have a unique address. This address is called a MAC address. It might look something like this 00:01:A2:B1:0C:14 .

Each wireless router has a setup page that you can access through a web browser. This is where you set up the security for the connection. One of the options in there will be MAC Filtering. After finding the MAC addresses of the wireless cards in the PCs you want to connect with, you enter them here. Then only these PCs can get online through this wireless connection.

If MAC filtering is not set up on a wireless router, anyone with a wireless card in their PC can hop on your connection. If they are doing something like downloading files, this can slow your connection down significantly. They can do this esentially with out you knowing that they are doing it. Also it is extremely easy to do.

In addition to slowing down your connection, if they are doing something that is illegal like sharing copyrighted material, you could potentially be liable for it, because it is your connection. In some instances if your ISP gets a complaint from the copyright holder, they can shut down your connection, when you personally have done nothing illegal.

Right now there is such a marketing push by the companies that make wireless routers & cards, having a wireless connection in your home is becoming more and more common place. Unfortunatly there isn't enough emphasis placed on how to secure that connection.

I hope this helps some.



As this is probably just a one time topic post for me & not woodworking related, I'm not going to add this to my signature.....but for the sake of disclosure I work for an ISP in their tech support department(2+ yrs). Previously I worked for a company that did tech support for a major PC manufacturer for 4 years.
 
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Without Yahoo or Spyware Doctor, I'm clicking along just fine. I do have a wireless router. As things go with computing, it is an ancient device by Microsoft but it works fine. For now, I'm happy. :)
 
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