WARNING ABOUT "FLASH AND CRASH"

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The default menu is NO FLASH - USE TOR.

When TOR is working (see help on Vidalia Proxy Servers and TOR), this protects your internet privacy, encrypts your internet data, but does not work with Flash.

You can change these settings in the PRLPREFS.JS file. Or to keep a FAST BOOT and INTERNET PROTECTION, you can load FLASH AND AUDIO DRIVERS using the button after the menu appears.

ABOUT WINDOWS AND FIREWALLS:

Most people have no idea how much of their data is being tapped and sent out onto the net. If you use Windows, the least you should do is get a good Firewall; JETICO is well rated and although it is a pain because it asks you a lot of questions - what it is really doing is STOPPING HACKERS FROM READING DATA ON YOUR HARD DRIVE.

Use a Firewall - or use tools like TOR - or you are a wide-open virus and spyware target - plain and simple.

ABOUT FLASH:

Flash is great. Movies are great. Its fun stuff.

However, in addition to being an easy target for viruses that can attack your system, Flash is unstable, unsafe and often crashes in Firefox, Opera, IE and other browsers. The problems are well documented and your browser may crash when visiting web pages with Flash SWF or FLV content. You can change the delay before the Flash test runs by setting the value to 30, 60, 90 seconds or more, which is the delay before the Flash Test runs after the desktop starts.

Some browsers (like Firefox) may crash the first time they encounter an online FLASH VIDEO (like Youtube and any web site with FLV or SWF files). This is a problem with Adobe Flash (not always the browser).

The FIX or PATCH that seems to work is to PRELOAD a Flash Video early - as soon as the browser or Pocket Rocket Linux Desktop opens - and test the flash capability right away. Otherwise, when you visit many web pages that have Flash swf or flv files, your Browser and PRL Desktop may crash. The problem is frequent and regular and is documented at the Firefox web site.

To resolve this problem, the Pocket Rocket Desktop will play a LOCAL Flash Video (which does not cause a crash) and you will hear the light music in the background. This means your Flash Player and Audio work locally on your PC. Then the HELP page will automatically attempt to load an ONLINE Flash Video to preload Flash drivers in Firefox. If you hear the message "I WANT PEOPLE TO SEE ME AS AN ENTERTAINER: SOMEONE WHO CAN DO IT ALL" (by Aaliyah), then the online Flash has loaded and it ran ok.

If your browser and desktop crash, then the PRL Desktop will restart and attempt to rerun the flash video a second time, which usually works fine.

If Firefox and your desktop continue to crash because your PC cannot run Flash, you can disable this "Testing" feature by setting TESTFLASH="0" in the file prlprefs.js or by running Setup: set to 0 (off) and the PRL desktop will not attempt to preload or test Flash. The number 0 - 999 determined how many seconds the desktop will wait before testing Flash.

However, if set to 0 (will not test), it means visiting some web pages may cause your desktop (Firefox) to crash.

To get around the problem, you can also try using the Opera browser, which seems to work better with Flash videos, but will not autostart. Opera cannot run play lists (i.e. a Youtube Playlist).

In summary, every browser has its strong points and weaknesses. Hopefully, Adobe Flash, Firefox and Opera will all eventually learn to get along.

OTHER USERS WITH SIMILAR PROBLEMS
Note: the help button below only works if you are connected to the internet