If you visit a trailer like this one in Google Chrome you get a notification at the top of the browser. It reads: The QuickTime plug-in needs your permission to run. Options are to always run the plugin on the site, run the plugin this time, load a learn more page or close the notification.

A similar alert is shown when you open a website that requires Java to be installed on the system (The Java plug-in needs your permission to run).

The Silverlight plugin is on the other hand not affected by that change. The selection of Always run on this site enables the plugin for that site, so that the notification is not shown anymore if you open other pages or the very same page on that domain. Run this time on the other hand runs enables the plugin for this moment, but will display the very same notification if you reload the page or switch to another page of the domain that requires Java.

The concept is basically similar to that of the NoScript extension for Firefox, with the difference that NoScript does not allow or disallow plugins, but only scripts that utilize plugins.

The core reason for the change according to Google is to protect Chrome users from vulnerabilities discovered in plugins that the majority may not use at all. And since that majority seems to be indifferent or unaware of the risks, it was necessary to implement a safety mechanism to protect them.

Chrome users who are visiting websites regularly that require one of the plug-ins on the other hand need to enable the plugin for every website that they visit regularly. Depending on how many websites they visit that make use of those plugins, it may take quite some time to get everything up and running again.

There is no option or setting available to enable the plugin for all websites, which is a slap in the face of users who make sure their plugins are up to date.

The missing option to always enable the plugin is a serious issue for users who make use of those limited plugins.

What’s your take on the issue?

We leave it at that for the moment. Now, Firefox users end up with plugins installed that they have not added to the browser. On our test system those were for instance: (name, description)

• Google Update: Google Update
• Microsoft Office 2010: Office Authorization plug-in for NPAPI browsers
• Microsoft Office 2010: The plug-in allows you to open and edit files using Microsoft Office applications
• Quicktime Plug-In: The Quicktime Plugin allows you to view a wide variety of multimedia content in Web pages. For more information, visit the QuickTime Web site.
• Silverlight Plug-In
• Windows Live Photo Gallery: NPWLPG

Other Firefox users will probably find other plugins there that have been installed automatically.

Plugins can be disabled in the Plugins manager, but not uninstalled or removed completely from the web browser. Entering about:plugins in the Firefox address bar will display additional information about each installed plugin. Users who visit the screen for the first time may want to type in about:config first, to change the preference plugin.expose_full_path to true. This displays the path to the plugin in the about:plugins dialog.

Displaying the path to the plugin does one thing: It enables the user to locate the plugin source on the hard drive. Just open the folder on the hard drive afterwards, backup the plugin file and delete it afterwards to remove it completely from Firefox. Here is how it is done for the two Microsoft Office 2010 plugins.

Locate the plugin paths in about:plugins and open the folders on the hard drive. In the case of Microsoft Office 2010, both plugins are located in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\ folder on the hard drive (Please note, that the location on 32-bit systems is C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\ instead).

The name of the first plugin is NPAUTHZ.DLL, the one of the second NPSPWRAP.DLL. We highly suggest to backup plugins before deleting them from the system, just in case they need to be restored at a later time. Plugins can be deleted while the browser is running, and doing so will immediately remove most of them from the about:plugins information window and the plugins manager in Tools > Add-ons. Some plugins may require a browser restart before they are completely removed from the browser.

To remove all plugins that are not used or needed simply go through the listing of plugins in about:plugins, locate the paths of those plugins on the hard drive, and backup and delete the plugin files.

There is also the possibility that some plugins have added themselves in the Windows Registry, Google Update comes to mind for instance. You can take a look at this guide How To Stop Automatic Plugin Installations In Firefox for an in depth walkthrough, or locate HKLM\Software\MozillaPlugins or HKLU\Software\MozillaPlugins in the Windows Registry to see if plugins have been added there as well. Again, export the Registry key first before deleting it, for the ability to restore the setting at a later time.

Ajua has updated the iTunes switchless installer which will install iTunes without this unnecessary software. The user needs to install Quicktime Alternative (or Apple Quicktime) separately before this modified version of iTunes can be installed. The functionality remains the same for most users. Only those that require the Bonjour service (is there any Windows user who does?) or MobileMe support obviously need to install the official version provided by Apple.

The latest iTunes switchless installer can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It is available in English and a multi-language version. The switchless installer was tested with Apple Quicktime installed. Some users reported that Quicktime Alternative 2.9.2. caused problems during installation which might mean that the software needs to be updated to be compatible with iTunes 9.

There is however a way to install iTunes without Apple Quicktime, Bonjour, MobileMe support and iTuneshelper process running at startup. This can be achieved with a custom installer that can be downloaded from the Custom Installers page which contains installers for the English and multi-language versions of iTunes 8.0.2.20 and 8.1.0.52. The only requirement other than running the installer to install iTunes is an installation of Quicktime Alternative and the Quicktime Alternative iTunes add-on which makes the program compatible with iTunes 8.

The correct sequence for installing iTunes without Quicktime and Bonjour would be therefore to install Quicktime Alternative, then the Quicktime Alternative plugin and finally iTunes using the custom installer. The custom installer will skip the installation of aforementioned programs and services. This is great news for users who do not want to have those programs running in the background or those who prefer to run the Quicktime Alternative program instead of the original.

The iTunes customer installer is only available for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It comes as a msi file that allows a silent installation with the switches /qb /norestart.

SMPlayer is available for Windows and Linux in various languages including English and Spanish for instance. The download has a size of about 11 Megabytes which is not that much if you consider that you do not have to install additional codecs. All the usual features are supported as well including subtitle support, DVD / SVCD / VCD playback, audio track switching, video equalizers, fast forward, slow motion and lots of preferences.

It is for instance possible to use video playback without hardware acceleration to capture screenshots from the movie.

Read More:

SMPlayer Homepage

I’m going to explain the method using an example. I’m really looking forward to seeing the movie 300 which will come out in march. A new trailer for that movie was released a few days ago and I want to download it to my computer to be able to watch it again without re-downloading it. The first step would be to visit the apple movie trailers website.

Click on the link to the movie 300. The main page of the movie shows up where you can select the resolution of the trailer that you want to view. Right-click and select view page source. Find either 480, 720 or 1080. Skip the first and copy the second url that you find.

480 – http://images.apple.com/movies/wb/300/300-tlr1_480p.mov
720 – http://images.apple.com/movies/wb/300/300-tlr1_720p.mov
1080 – http://images.apple.com/movies/wb/300/300-tlr1_1080p.mov

Add the letter h before the resolution, it would like this

480 – http://images.apple.com/movies/wb/300/300-tlr1_h480p.mov
720 – http://images.apple.com/movies/wb/300/300-tlr1_h720p.mov
1080 – http://images.apple.com/movies/wb/300/300-tlr1_h1080p.mov

This is the direct link to the movie. You could use a download manager to download it or save the page once the movie has been completely loaded.

Real Alternative is able to play all media files that the Real Player is able to play including streaming content and content on websites. Quicktime Alternative has the same functionality as Apples Quicktime software as well. What makes both alternatives great is that they do not have background processes running and that there is no advertisement, no registration or other annonying things going on.

Both players tend to use lower ressources than the original players which is great if you are using a computer that is not running on the latest hardware. I suggest to uninstall the original players and install the alternative versions because of those reasons. Quicktime Alternative is also working with iTunes if you install those tools in a certain order. First Quicktime Alternative, then iTunes + Quicktime, uninstall Quicktime, install Quicktime Alternative.