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Why Are FF and IE Now Merged (sort of)?

  • 14 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by AKA3Toes

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---I despise IE as well as refuse to allow MS to control my PC. I use to use FF only, but at times I have to use IE for Windoze Updates and such. To me it is just another MS invasion so, I will use my wife's browsing as an example because otherwise it would be rantings.

---My wife plays Farmville. She uses FF to log into her account. When she opens FarmVille in IE, her account information is already provided. Besides her not saving her account information at the login page, how do we go about sparating IE and FF again... or do I have to use another browser and give up FF now?

---I do not trust IE and will not allow IE to merge with my browser. Period.

---I despise IE as well as refuse to allow MS to control my PC. I use to use FF only, but at times I have to use IE for Windoze Updates and such. To me it is just another MS invasion so, I will use my wife's browsing as an example because otherwise it would be rantings. ---My wife plays Farmville. She uses FF to log into her account. When she opens FarmVille in IE, her account information is already provided. Besides her not saving her account information at the login page, how do we go about sparating IE and FF again... or do I have to use another browser and give up FF now? ---I do not trust IE and will not allow IE to merge with my browser. Period.

Modified by AKA3Toes

All Replies (14)

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See:

  • Websites remembering you and automatically log you in is stored in a cookie.
  • You need an allow cookie exception (Tools > Options > Privacy > Cookies: Exceptions) to keep that cookie, especially for secure websites and if you let cookies expire when Firefox closes
  • Make sure that you do not use Delete browsing, search and download history on Firefox to clear the "Cookies" and the "Site Preferences"

Modified by cor-el

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(Statements in bold are highlights, not yelling, not emphasizing [yelling is all upper case and emphasized words are followed by an asterisk]. Please feel free to use them as cliff-notes [dishonest students would know what those are], if what I am typing is too much to read. I suffer from writer's run-on, for which I know of no counseling that is offered)

---You've completely missed the point. Maybe if you're using or working with FF for a reason other than not trusting MS, that's the reason why you didn't understand. The problem is not that I'm computing-challenged and that I do not understand, if my password is saved in FF, and I open FF, why my password is saved.

---Let me try this again, in case you've had your cup of coffee now and rubbed your eyes a bit (I offer coffee in my avatar), and in hopes that the interest of another reader is peaked and ultimately to make sure it is not thought that the problem is resolved or the question was answered. I do thank you for your help!

---I do not want my browsers connected in any way. I do not want IE to have any access to my FF. Nor does my wife. We do not like, nor trust IE, nor do we like or trust MS. How about this. Try it just for kicks and you'll see what I mean.

---Open FF, go to your eMail (hotmail maybe, your choice) & sign in. Read your eMail & log out. Open IE to the same site. Go to sign in... why does IE have information stored from FF? I want my FF secure. If it won't be secure in the, there's issues. Some people left IE for a reason and IE sneaking around behind their backs is not acceptible, as well as FF allowing IE to gather information without user consent.

---If you truly think that the above answer was dead-on, then allow me to state that my passwords are stored in FF and I have a master password, but that shouldn't have anything to do with how IE is snooping on FF's browser information/history. Reason I say this (Proven):

  1. I open FF
  2. I open a site in which password is stored in Password Manager
  3. Password Manager asks for Master Password
  4. I input Master Password
  5. Password is auto-filled
  6. I hit enter
  7. I log off
  8. I clear chache
  9. I close FF
  10. I type in run, "ipconfig /flushdns"
  11. I open IE

---Viola, my recent information from FF is there. How'd it get there and most importantly why? So I ask again, How do I prevent IE from merging with my FF or vice-versa.

Modified by AKA3Toes

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---Please do not say it is an IE issue. If IE is allowed to take information from FF, then it is a FF security issue.

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---Okay, here is a recap, where I cleared all history, cache, etc., from FF, unchecked "remember x" on EVONY and close FF. Did the deletion of above for IE through Internet Options" in my Control Panel and FWIW ipconfig /flushdns (which I know has no relation... but JIC someone throws the suggestion out here).

---So, even though I can't even stand initiating IE, I have done so and signed in with bogus account credentials for E.G. purposes (save credentials checked/selected). https://support.mozilla.com/media/uploads/images/evony1.JPG

---After doing so, I opened FF and as soon as the page loaded, viola https://support.mozilla.com/media/uploads/images/evony2.JPG

---My question again is, why are the two connected in any way, shape or form(at) when so many of us use FF to get away from IE?(???!!!) and what needs to be done to sever the nerve that is connecting the two?

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Firefox and IE store saved username / passwords in completely different sets of files & storage locations in the file system, and the two should never get intermixed with each other or be used by the other program. The only way I could see that happening is if you had a 3rd party password manager installed, maybe the type that is part of a security suite which stores passwords outside either browser in its' own filing system, and auto-fills whichever browser is being used at the time from its' own data set.

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---Thanks, but that could possibly be the case with mine and "Password Exporter" extension (that was disabled after initial use did what it was needed for) but there is nothing installed on my wife's laptop, which is where the problem brought interest to me.

---As said in the first post, she plays FarmVille. She had the issue & brought it to my attention. I saw that it occured on my PC as well. Not being new to data processing let alone programming, I understand that the directories are different, so that brought a red flag to my curiosity and led me to the forums to bring it to the attention of others.

---Again, I don't use IE. It started on her laptop and was recreated on my server/workstation. Recreated again...

... and thanks for your comment earlier (name & link withheld to prevent "promoting threads"), but I don't intentionally "BUMP". If feel I have something relative (like new info) to add, I will add it... especially in my own thread, even if it is two years later...

... and posted here with links to images,` cause I have not yet found how to post simple linked, thumbnails to the forum.

Modified by AKA3Toes

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That is a 3.7 MB Flash object on the http://ss47.evony.com/ site and in that case the login data is most likely stored in a Flash cookie that the Flash player can access in IE and Firefox.

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---Now that makes sense! Thanks. Didn't even think about it.

---So, to work around it until Mozilla/FF developers figure out how to prevent it, I will just have to corrupt my IE executable file... cause IE can't be uninstalled. Don't know what to do on here laptop, but since she refuses to not* use IE, she's not allowed on the network anyway so it doesn't concern the security of my workstation beyond stopping IE.

---Will direct the issue to Adobe now and if decided that is where the problem resides, suggest cookie handling be separated.

---Thanks again cor-el. :-)

Modified by AKA3Toes

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It's not possible for Mozilla developers to prevent it. It's a flash problem (I wouldn't even consider it a problem), and that's the way Adobe wants it.

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For Firefox you can look at BetterPrivacy: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/6623

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"... Will direct the issue to Adobe now and if decided that is where the problem resides, suggest cookie handling be separated... "

---In regards to the first moot post, I said I would take it up with Adobe developers. Don't care if you see it as a problem, I don't expect everyone to understand security issues.

---I have added that Add-on to my FF and am about to restart to see if it works. If you're still stuck on regular "cookie handling" then that is not the issue. I am not new to security, so cookies are never an issue. As I said, I will suggest to Adobe that they consider cookies be handled according to browsers, not just as a cookie.

---If it's still hard to understand,;If* one were to do banking online, chose not to use IE because of security flaws, and they considered FF more trustworthy, they should be allowed to decide not to use IE... at all.

---Capice?

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---Nevermind. I will just continue with what I am doing. Corrupted IE executable file so that it is inactive & calling Adobe after the holiday.

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To anyone else reading this post, do not deliberately damage IE. It is the most foolish "solution" to this problem. Whether you like it or not, IE is part of the Windows operating system.

You can set Firefox as your default browser in Tools > Options > Advanced > System Defaults (in Vista onwards you can do this in Default Programs too). If IE ever again asks to be your default browser, you simply tick the box that says don't ask me this again and then choose No.

As for flash privacy, you can manage that separately. IE would never have even accessed that flash data had AKA3Toes not opened that page in IE. You can always tell if you're entering data into a Flash object by right clicking - you won't get the normal Firefox context menu.

If IE ever asks to import data from other browsers, just say no.

If you use a separate login management program, e.g. roboform, be aware that it will insert usernames and passwords into either browser, but only at the point when you visit a site for which you have a saved login. These programs don't magically merge browsers.

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---Please read the entire thread before you assume Walf is correct.

---He's obviously ignorant to the windows operating system and it is evident due to his saying that IE is part of the Operating System. While both are written in the HTML format, "Explorer" and Internet Explorer are their own separate programs. Windows can even have HTML stripped from it (you lose the taskbar and all) and then rewritten/reprogrammed to have firefox as a "desktop". It's been done. Period. You can even uninstall IE from add-remove programs, but any shared files would need to be left in tact.

---More evidence is that everything he mentions about "login management programs", is exactly what the problem I was referring to was about. His post is non-productive and uneducated.

---Furthermore, my IE has been "broken" because there is no avoiding the privacy handling that "merges" the two programs... and I am on the net typing now, so... guess IE is not as vital as he thinks.

---I don't care how you look at it, if I were to repair and open IE, it should NOT* be able to access Firefox data. Period. End of story, now please move on Walf. Some of us use FF because we dislike M$ but are too set in our ways to learn Linux.

---In closing, if they have "shared data" that they can access, they are "merged" and its not acceptable by some. So, whether you think it is acceptable or not is not the topic here, nor will it be.

Modified by AKA3Toes