Secret options in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera

Today I m going to tell you Secret options in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera Browsers.
All these 3 browsers come with a secret page which allows you to enable or disable many advanced settings which are not generally available to configure from browser Options window.

1) Google Chrome :-
If you are a Google Chrome user, you can access a secret configuration page using following steps:

1. Type about:flags or chrome://flags in Chrome's addressbar and press Enter. It'll open the advanced configuration page.
2. This page contains many experimental features and other advanced tweaks which can be enabled or disabled by clicking on Enable or Disable link given below the option description.
3. As soon as you enable or disable an option, a new "Relaunch Now" button automatically appears at bottom which can be used to restart Google Chrome to take effect.

If you want the complete list of pages available on Chrome,
Use about:about or chrome://about
It gives ALL settings pages available for Chrome.

2) Mozilla Firefox :-
If you are a Mozilla Firefox user, you can access a similar secret configuration page using following steps:

1. To access this page simply type about:config in Firefox's addressbar and press Enter. It'll ask for confirmation, click on I'll be careful, I promise! button.
2. The page contains 3 types of preferences:
*  String
*  Boolean
*  Integer
3. You can double-click on the desired preference and change its value.

"About:config" page allows you to tweak lots of hidden settings of Mozilla Firefox. You can enable or disable many features and options on the fly.

3) Opera :-
If you are a Opera user, you can access a similar secret configuration page using following steps:

1. Type opera:config in Opera's addressbar and press Enter. It'll open Opera Preferences Editor page.
2. Here you can tweak various settings and features in Opera.

Note:- There are many more similar secret pages in Opera. Just type opera: in Opera's addressbar and a drop-down list will automatically appear showing all secret pages such as opera:cache, opera:debug, etc

So now you can Configure your browser using these built-in hidden configuration settings.

Tips to make your browser secure

Web browsers are the key to the internet. Without them the internet is an impenetrable black box.

Browsers may be among the most commonly used applications, but they also offer the greatest number of attack options for dangerous content on the net. To keep viruses, worms and other malware away from your computer when surfing, it's crucial to configure your browser  for security.

The firewall on a DSL router is a good first step for protecting the computer during surfing, says Marco Rinne from the computer portal chip.de. But that doesn't hold true if your browser is out of date: “Internet Explorer 6 and 7 or Firefox 2 no longer satisfy current security standards,” he says. For optimal protection, he therefore urges users to keep their browsers updated.

There are numerous security tools already present in Firefox and Internet Explorer. The pop-up blocker, for example, prevents more than just annoying ads. It also throttles other windows that can be used to sneak malicious software onto PCs. Phishing filters protect personal data against theft.

Firefox offers additional configuration options under the Settings item in the Security tab of the Options dialog box: this includes the ability to block risky or forged websites. It's also a good idea to prohibit websites from installing add-ons on their own. Similar settings are possible under Internet Explorer in the Security tab of the Internet Options dialog box, accessible from the Tools menu.

Computer owners should also activate all options for warning against attacks, advises Markus Linnemann, managing director of the Institute for Internet Security (ifis) at the Polytechnic University of Gelsenkirchen in Germany. This applies in particular to warnings about suspicious content to be displayed using ActiveX, Flash, or JavaScript.

Yet the warning mechanism on most browsers alone isn't usually enough, Linnemann says. Those who wish to be especially careful can, for example, use the Firefox add-on 'No Script,' which blocks all active content of a website by default and allows the user to decide which should be permitted. The problem is that most users are unable to determine  which content represents a threat to their computer, Rinne msays.