What Are Add Ons, And Should I Turn Them Off?

woodbine · 31 May 2017

Soon after I had unistalled Avira A/V and installed free Avira a/v (poss a coincidence), I got a standard Windows pop-up across the bottom of the screen on my desktop pc. It said something like (can't remember exactly) " to improve performance of your computer, turn off/disable add ons". I had the choice of either turning them off then, or being reminded to do it later. I chose to be reminded, as I'm not sure what to do.

What are add ons? Should I be turning them off/disabling them? What are the likely consequences?

Thanks for any advice, and apologies for being a bit vague.

ThrashZone · 31 May 2017

Hi,
Security browser add-ons usually slow the browser down to a crawl.
If you're getting a popup in ie11 which it sounds like you're using you can click on the popup message and it will take you straight to the settings to alter or see which ones are slowing down your browser
Here's the long way to get to the settings

What Are Add Ons, And Should I Turn Them Off?-disable-addons.jpg

What Are Add Ons, And Should I Turn Them Off?-disable-addons-2.jpg

What are browser add-ons well that one; well first let me say you can right click ie11 and most all browsers that are pinned to your taskbar and select open In-Private browsing and get around most browser add-ond from being used.

Most are not necessary if you post a screen shot of what you have installed possibly it would be easier for us to say if you need them or not :)

What Are Add Ons, And Should I Turn Them Off?-manage-add-ons-gear-symbol-all.jpg

woodbine · 02 Jun 2017

Hi Thrash and thanks for your reply. Below are the lists of browser add ons. The Nitro PDF one is an active-x, and since I changed to Avast a/virus, it has flagged this one up twice. Once in a smart scan. Can't remember exactly what it said about it, poss insecure, out of date, unstable, or similar.

My IE11 regularly stops working briefly, and I get the standard warning saying it has stopped working and asking if I want Windows to look for a solution. It has never been able to, so I usually just restart IE and carry on. Seems to happen more in the early part of a browsing session. However, today is the first time it has closed accompanied by an IE warning that it has closed to protect my PC.

Also, in one of your attachments, are you saying that I should change the delay caused by add ons/alert time setting to 1 second?

A Google tool bar also appears in the list. I'm not aware that I have/use one. Is this part of IE?

ThrashZone · 02 Jun 2017

Hi,
No google toolbar is not built into ie11 but is installed with other downloads like adobe shockwave flash element plus a few other add-ons will add it on to with other downloads
Go to Uninstall a program and uninstall it if you want too.

No I wouldn't increase the alter timing that much anymore that is an old screen shot 0.50 might be a little better if the popups get too annoying :)

Personally with all of the add-ons you show I'd reset ie11 and when prompted if you want to enable add-ons just click on No
Be sure on the link to delete personal settings
Internet Explorer - Reset - Windows 7 Help Forums

But be sure to export your favorites first although I have never lost any it has happen to others so if it does happen all you'd have to do is import the html file you exported.
Internet Explorer - Import and Export Favorites - Windows 7 Help Forums

What Are Add Ons, And Should I Turn Them Off?-reset-recommended-settings-small.jpg

woodbine · 02 Jun 2017

OK, I may have to reset IE, as it stops working more and more - or seems to. Has done it for quite a while.

One odd thing - I went to the list of programs on the control panel to uninstall the Google toolbar. When I selected 'uninstall', it said that it was unable to do this, as it may already have been uninstalled. It then asked if I wanted to remove Google t/b from the list of programs, and I clicked 'yes'. Why would a program appear that has already been uninstalled? Is this significant.

Next I went to the add ons and disabled Google toolbar which was still appearing, even though it is allegedly somehow already uninstalled. Whilst there, I also disabled the Nitro PDF (Axtive-X) add on, which Avast a/v Smart Scan doesn't seem to like. Doing this doesn't seem to have affected the running of my Nitro PDF reader.

Is it wise to try and see how it goes with both Google toolbar and Nitro PDF add ons disabled, then resort to resetting IE if no improvement? Or am I wasting my time?

Thanks again for your ongoing help.

ThrashZone · 02 Jun 2017

Hi,
Yes you can from what I've seen disable all of them and see how it goes which I would indeed do,
In-Private browsing does that too.

Yeah never good to have stuff listing that windows says has already been uninstalled pretty much why reset might be best too :)

woodbine · 03 Jun 2017

As I suspected, just disabling the Nitro PDF and Google toolbar add ons did not help my problem. I have taken your advice and disabled all ad ons, and will see how it goes. If it fixes the problem, it is ok to leave all of these add ons permanently disabled, or would I be looking to re-introduce them one at a time? Not really sure how vital any of them are.

Either way, I will keep you informed of progress. Many thanks.

ThrashZone · 03 Jun 2017

Hi,
The only one you might need if you use skype is shockwave flash element
All the others are bloat.

cosmicanddavid · 03 Jun 2017

to me firefox with sandboxie with the settings

under resource access file access blockaccess

%Local AppData%\Mozilla\
%AppData%\Mozilla\
\Device\Mup\
C:

turn off the two 2 plugins
i got webrtc
ublockorigin
adguard
disconnect
popupultimate
https everywhere
blocked all the updates
then you be safe to me the backdoor you should sandboxie is the appdata folder thats where the worms are getting in through your pc

woodbine · 08 Jun 2017

ThrashZone said:

Hi,
The only one you might need if you use skype is shockwave flash element
All the others are bloat.

Well, it's been about 5 days since disabling my add ons, and IE has only closed once in that time. As I use IE quite a lot, I reckon my problem is solved.

Only one small thing that occurred was when I wanted to watch catch-up TV on the website of a UK TV station. Nothing would play, and there was a message on the screen saying 'make sure that you have Adobe Flash Player installed'. So, I went back to the list of add ons and re-enabled Adobe Flash Object (top of list). When I tried to watch the programme again, it worked. So it seems like the Flash add on is an essential one.

Thanks again ThrashZone for your time and help. May be back again to you if I get any more problems that I can't solve myself. Next project is to sort out the long standing problem with my Windows Live Mail.

Ian