Posts made by blackbird71

@domie-cat said in [Windows 7]Opera slower and slower:

... It is possible that my problems are due to the fact my computer is very old with many unecessary files that slow it

How much RAM does the computer have installed? If it's low (eg: 4 gB), the system may be running out of RAM and be forced to swap in-use files in and out of Windows' allocated virtual RAM on the hard drive - which can definitely slow down everything, especially for a browser dealing with modern websites.

Also, if you are running other applications and their processes while Opera is running, that can also eat up RAM and slow down a marginal system... make sure you don't have much else running while browsing.

Finally, check the free space on your hard drive... if the drive's nearly full, it can slow down the hard drive significantly as it has to jump all over the place to try to chain together enough unused space to access or write files while browsing. In that case, clear out un-needed files, etc from the drive to significantly increase free space.

@neoprana "Continue" in what way? That error message can occur for multiple reasons, all having to do with the security certificate associated with the website using https protocols. The "best" path forward depends on what is the actual reason behind the error, and those reasons can include anything from an improperly-constructed (or forged) cert, a bad browser extension, a problematic antivirus, a corrupted OS cert store, all the way to a genuine browser hiccup.

Since the stored certificate specifies the encryption mechanisms/keys needed to establish secure https communications with a given site, a valid and functioning cert will be needed by the system to visit the website in https - and the error message indicates there's a major problem with that cert. Otherwise, you need to use the unsecured http protocol to visit the site, assuming that connection exists.

@OperaUser42 said in My Opera VPN pro is not working:

@blackbird71 Another good reason why I won't use Win10/11 I don't want Microsoft involved in apps and extensions.

??? My comment (made several YEARS ago) and this entire thread have nothing to do with Windows10/11 per se... they involve Opera VPN Pro.

@toohoo It hasn't had development work or updates done on it for years. However, it can still be downloaded from here: https://get.opera.com/ftp/pub/opera/mail/1.0/ , depending on your OS.

@rmarinrojas If Opera is not set to autostart on your system whenever you power the system up, and if you've set the default browser to another non-Opera browser, and if a system restart immediately brings up Opera at the gambling website, you probably have adware present on the system which is triggering from one of the Windows startup folders - either at the system level or at the user account level.

As a simple first try at a fix, after restarting your computer, press Windows' Start button, and go to Settings. Then in the "Find a setting" box in the middle of the page that appears,, type: Startup. From the popup menu that then appears, click on Startup Apps. You should see a listing of apps or programs that the system and the user account activate at system startup. Scan the list for anything that you don't recognize as belonging there - especially something that may refer to Opera or the gambling website. If there is something alien there, use Windows' "Add or Remove Programs" function, locate the alien name again on that list, and uninstall it.

Then use Explorer to go to the folder at C:\users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\StartMenu\Programs\Startup and look at the filenames listed there... again, look for something that you don't recognize as belonging there. If there's something alien there, delete it.

Otherwise, you may want to want to download and try some reputable adware removal tools like AdwCleaner. For persistent adware problems, you may need to download and employ multiple cleanup programs as discussed at the Bleeping Computer website: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/how-to-remove-adware-on-a-pc

@rmarinrojas To be crystal clear, when you say you "changed" the browser to Chrome and Edge, do you mean you changed the system's default browser setting to each of those, not merely opened each after a restart? If so, do you also mean that after changing the default browser setting to one of those two and restarting the system, it nevertheless still auto-opened Opera to the gambling site?

Finally, do you have Opera intentionally installed or set to turn on and appear automatically when your system is powered up, regardless of the system's default browser setting?

@rmarinrojas It sounds as if you've got something that has inserted itself to activate when you start your system, but that needs verification. As @leiocg suggests, try temporarily setting another browser as default and restart the system. If the gambling site still pops up right away in that browser, it verifies that you've got malware/adware that's installed itself at a system level so that it activates upon startup. If the problem disappears with an alternative default browser, then it implies something has gotten into just your Opera installation. The solution path forward depends on which situation has been verified to occur.

@jack4568 Have you looked at your hosts file (in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc ) in the problem system(s) to see if there are rerouting/blocking entries there that involve Opera?

@emilyywemily Is it a bluetooth-connected keyboard? If so, try disconnecting it and then reconnecting it.

@pkpetr said in Can't use Opera on Windows 7?:

How long ago? But obviously when Opera could still be used in Windows7.

Two different kinds of Opera were used with Windows7: the original Opera based on the old Presto engine (up through version 12.18) and the later Opera which succeeded it, based on the chromium engine. However, due to Windows7 becoming obsolete some years ago, the last chromium Opera version that can still be used with Windows7 was frozen at version 95... any later versions will refuse to install on Windows7 due to incompatibilities.

The reason this matters is that where various types of data is stored depends on the kind of Opera engine being used by the Opera versions. Hence, where one needs to look for saved information requires them to know which Opera style/version is involved. Because two types of Opera could be installed in Windows 7, it's necessary to know which one was involved in your original saving of the document or the website URL linked to the document in order to know where to look for it now.

@pkpetr There seems to be some language confusion occurring. When you earlier said "Chrome Opera", what exactly did you mean? Is that an Opera version installed on a Chromebook device? Or is it some chromium-based version of Opera you installed on the Windows 7 device? Several years ago, Opera switched over to a chromium-based design. Before that (during the main Windows 7 era), Opera was a Presto-based design. The design differences are important regarding where different things are saved in each version.

Also, when you said you want to get a "document from my previous Opera in Windows" and later said "it is a web site", do you mean a website that hosts the document or are you talking about a document you earlier downloaded in Opera from a website? Approximately how long ago did you last successfully access the 'document' you mention?

@hdhondt It's possible that disabling the anti-keylogger in Zone Alarm may not completely reverse the hooks and interactions inserted into keyboard processing by Zone Alarm. It all depends on just how ZA implements their anti-keylogging feature in the operating system and how (or to what extent) "disabling" it reverts those implementations back to a pre-ZA, pristine, keystroking state... and, lacking any published insight into the details of Zone Alarm's actual anti-keylogging techniques, it's impossible to know whether disabling the anti-keylogging feature completely removes any perturbations to keystroking flow introduced by ZA's installed code (disabled or not).

If the problem keeps recurring for you, you may be faced with either restarting Opera periodically whenever it recurs or else consider removing Zone Alarm entirely. The problem you describe is not normally found with Opera (or other browsers), and the only times I've seen it arise with user systems is when an anti-keylogger is present on the system or when a keyboard is malfunctioning (in which case, the problem also recurs with other software on the system).

@hdhondt Zone Alarm's anti-keylogger has been known in the past to create typing issues with other browsers as well as Opera (eg: Firefox). While it's unclear just what techniques are involved with Zone Alarm's specific anti-keylogging approach (they haven't stated them), if these include industry-typical sandboxing and/or keystroke encryption or randomizing, then all kinds of potential problem areas for mis-timing and process interference can arise when keystroking into a browser.

Arguably, the best approach to avoid unwanted keylogging is to robustly prevent the malware installation in the first place, rather than attempting to combat keylogging after malware arrival.

@toreog said in ERR_QUIC_PROTOCOL_ERROR:

ERR_QUIC_PROTOCOL_ERROR

Are you using a VPN or a proxy? What website(s) were you trying to access? The error comes from your browser attempting to make use of of the Quick UDP Internet Connection protocol of certain web apps, mostly employed by Google and YouTube sites. Possible causes are typically the particular website and how it implements the protocol, Internet connection issues, or certain browser extensions.

@tivian You could have a rogue extension that either you or some software installed - if so, remove it. Also, you stated you "cleared your history and everything"... did that also include clearing your cache, tabs, and sessions? Finally, is this a browser or a Windows popup?

@sugreev2001 When exactly did this problem first occur? ("seems like forever" is rather inexact terminology). Also, what OS and Opera version are you running?

@burnied said in Just downloaded no install:

Windows versions tend to be more secure after years of use. ... Also if you steer away from dodgy sites and use a decent virus checker it is plenty secure enough.
Also MS do release emergency updates for serious problems. ...

Unless you received updates via a paid Extended Service agreement with Microsoft, your very last Win7 update (emergency or otherwise) would most likely have been around 31 Jan 2020, KB4539601. I find it difficult to believe that in the ensuing four and a third years, there have been no "serious" security flaws discovered that apply directly to Windows 7.

@sgunhouse Unfortunately, I'm not "Michael" nor am I conversant with functions to rewrite settings items. Sorry to say, I think you've mis-remembered the name.

@sfooter There are several ways websites can detect that a VPN is in use. When you visit any website, your computer sends header data with your IP address attached to each of multiple transmitted data packets so that the site can respond with its own data back to your correct address on the Internet. A VPN inserts itself into that data path so that a website is led to believe your data is coming from their IP address instead of yours; returning data packets from the website are routed by the VPN back to you at your IP address.

One common method a website can use for blocking VPNs is to simply identify the IP addresses employed by various commonly-used VPNs and block them. Other methods involve coding their websites in ways that the VPN can't directly (or correctly) respond to, and block them as a result.

While some VPNs may be better able to bypass a given website's "VPN sniffing" techniques, it's hard to predict specific results without knowing details of exactly how a particular VPN operates or a target website does its sniffing. The tendency seems to be that the simplest VPNs are more susceptible to being rejected by a website, but in any case, a website (or even a national censorship "firewall") that is sufficiently determined will always find ways to block a VPN. All you can really do is try some other VPNs and see what happens... or else find another website that offers similar content without blocking.