Iron Portable - chromium browser [spyware / adware]

[freakazoid]

Category: Internet - Web Browsers

Synopsis: Iron is an open-source browser based upon the codebase of Google Chrome. Its primary difference between Chrome is it removes all tracking and privacy issues that Chrome is said to have. Read about the major differences here: http://www.srware.net/en/software_srwar ... s_iron.php

Writes settings to: Application folder

How to extract: Download "IronPortable.zip". Extract to a folder of your choosing. Launch "IronPortable.exe".

Stealth: Yes

License: Freeware

System Requirements: Win95 / Win98 / WinME / WinNT / Win2K / WinXP / Vista

Website: http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron.php

Download: 14.7 MB (33.1 MB uncompressed) http://www.srware.net/en/software_srwar ... wnload.php

---------

If you remove all dictionaries and languages except English, you can drop the file size down to 26.3 MB.

[-.-]

dont see how this is different than portable chromium... :S you can turn off the "security risks" that it mentions :S

[Onesimus Prime]

You can go "incognito" in Portable Chromium - I'm not sure if that addresses all of the security concerns they mention at the Iron site, though. (There may well be other options/settings too that I'm not aware of.) Check out Iron's FAQ and the "major differences" link that freakazoid posted.

Besides, it's kind of nice to not have to worry about remembering to turn something off.
Not that it matters much to me - I'll try Iron, but FF2/3 will probably still be my main browser... (yes, the portable one)

[freakazoid]

Update - Nov 1: Now includes a basic version of AdBlock... also Chromium codebase is updated to 0.3.155.0

http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron_news.php

[SA]

dont see how this is different than portable chromium... :S you can turn off the "security risks" that it mentions :S

Google chome reports a lot to google, your browsing behavior and so on, in Iron al that things are riped off, only google search stayed. So it's clean and fast.

[freakazoid]

Update - Nov 30: Chromium codebase updated to 0.4.155.

Includes new feature - bookmark manager.

[portackager]

14.12.2008: New Iron-Release: 1.0.155.0

After Chrome 1.0 is released, you can surely download a new Iron, too. We have also updated the adbock.ini is,which you can get here. Further we have improved the Portable Version, it now accepts parameters such as -- incognito, to start Iron immediately to the "anonymous mode".

Nice to know they keep it updated

[freakazoid]

sweet
incognito mode to start up!

[Yucca]

14.12.2008: New Iron-Release: 1.0.155.0
Further we have improved the Portable Version, it now accepts parameters such as -- incognito, to start Iron immediately to the "anonymous mode".

I have not been able to get the --incognito parameter to work with IronPortable.

My USB drive is U: and I have been trying the following code:

Code: Select all

U:\IronPortable\ironportable.exe --incognito

but it is not working for me. It just opens IronPortable but not in incognito mode.

If I use the following code

Code: Select all

U:\IronPortable\Iron\iron --incognito

it works and opens in the incognito mode -- but that code bypasses the portable launcher, which is not good.

Any ideas about what I'm doing wrong?

Has anyone gotten this to work with IronPortable?

Thanks for any help.

--Yucca

[GeddichNixan]

I wrote a simple batch with the following content:

IronPortable.exe -incognito

I put this into the folder where IronPortable.exe is and start Iron with this batch instead of the portable launcher.

I started the incognito mode this way within a sanbox. The only thing it wrote outside the app folder was in:

\user\current\Local Settings\Temp\chrome_shutdown_ms.txt

The txt-file only contained the number 133. (Maybe this is the answer to the universe and all the rest and not 42.)

BTW, for those who are interested in such thing. The publisher of the IronBrowser also offers an adblocker ini. You need to put it into the same dir where iron.exe is. The download link is here:

http://www.srware.net/downloads/adblock.ini

[bewc]

Here is step by step what I did with IronPortable incognito and it worked:

http://www.srware.net/en/software_srwar ... wnload.php

Download Portable-Version for USB-Sticks (no Installation; no Admin-rights needed; Profils in the same folder)

Extract the contents of the zip to a folder (.\IronPortable)

In the folder, you can create a batch file or a Shortcut, but in general they are doing the same thing. I prefer the batch file because the shortcut needs paths.

Place the following line into a text file and save it as ironstart.bat:

@cmd /c IronPortable.exe --incognito

I am behind a corporate firewall/proxy, so my line is actually:
@cmd /c IronPortable.exe --incognito --no-sandbox

The --no-sandbox is necessary for me for some reason. Noone seems to know why - but that's off topic.

Note that I use two dashes in front of the word incognito. I read it somewhere when I needed the no-sandbox option to make it work. So I use two dashes. I don't know if it matters, I've read about people using one dash and it works, but I'm not changing a thing if it's working.

I hope that helps!

[Yucca]

bewc,

Thanks for the follow up.

I am an experienced batch file programmer, so I understand the code in your batch file, but it is still not opening IronPortable in incognito mode. It opens the browser, but it does not appear to be in incognito mode (because there is no incognito icon).

Are you sure your code is opening IronPortable in incognito mode and not just opening the browser?

When I use your code to open IronPortable, I do not see the incognito icon (shadowy guy in a trenchcoat and hat) in the upper left corner of the browser. Do you see that icon when you use your code?

(If you open IronPortable normally and then press Ctrl-Shift-N, you'll see what I'm expecting to see if the browser is really opening in incognito mode.)

I would really like to get this working and appreciate any advice you can offer.

Thanks.

--Yucca

[joby_toss]

bewc's bat file works.
Here is a small video demonstration:

Code: Select all

http://rapidshare.com/files/177292571/Iron_start_incognito.avi.html
http://www.mediafire.com/?xg5l2wjyz0l

[Yucca]

joby_toss,

OK, I wouldn't have believed it if you hadn't shown it to me with my own eyes! Thanks for taking the time to create a screen capture.

After seeing your visual proof, I realized that something must be going wrong on my side.

Although I had checked the version of IronPortable before, I checked it again and realized I had the correct version but an older build.

I updated IronPortable to the current build (which I thought I already had) and now the command line startup of IronPortable in incognito mode is working fine.

Thanks to you and all who helped me with this.

-- Yucca

[crownixx]

Most everyone use PStart right?Probably..
Then another simple way to run into incognito mode is after you drag & drop IronPortable into PStart menu, right click and edit. Add following command as shown in picture