Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with disable

Antivirus with on/off switches

DerekTheGeek — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:48:07 -0800

I am looking for some recommendations on antivirus/antimalware software for Windows. Specifically I am looking for an antivirus program that will allow me to selectively turn on/off components as needed. Some examples ...

I may want to play a game where I need as much performance as possible and would like the ability to easily disable the antivirus software.

My email service provider already scans incoming email so I don’t need scanning done on my PC.

I already have a hardware firewall so I don’t need a software firewall.

That being said I would welcome a product that contained the above features as long as it gave you the ability to disable features as needed. For example, if I took my laptop to a public library it might be very useful to have the software firewall enabled. The key for me is having the ability to disable/enable features as needed so I can save resources when needed. Also of importance is the ability to scan files on demand.

Thank you for any suggestions.

Too many beeps

xo — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:49:10 -0800

How might I disable or muffle the beeps that my appliances make (when buttons are pressed, when cooking cycle is finished) without risking my life or that of the unit? The toaster-oven is the most egregious offender, but the microwave is problematic too.

Disable "Inline Search" in Safari 4 Beta for Mac

Leech — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:19:19 -0800

Is possible to disable "find in page" on Safari 4 Beta? Hi,

I hate that the "find in page" is activated by just typing anything in the page instead of Cmd+F and then search.

On some pages that requires some keystrokes to do some actions it's annoying.

Do you know if it can be disabled to use only the Cmd+F and search box instead?

(Also I'm worried if it's a plugin I've installed functionality, so please confirm me if you're experiencing the same thing or it's only me)

Suppress right-click menu on a web site

maxwelton — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:50:40 -0800

Is there a way to disable the right-click menu on a particular web page I visit that isn't managed by me? I play a solitaire game on a particular web site fairly often. It's not a Flash game, nor is it a Java applet, I suspect it's simply JavaScript.

The game allows you to use both left and right clicks, each performing different actions, but every time you right-click the normal browser right-click menu appears...very annoying in this context.

Is there a way for me to tell my browser I don't want the right-click menu to appear on this one particular page (or its domain, if that's easier)? I have greasemonkey installed, so a GM script would be ideal, but I haven't been able to locate one.

I'm on Windows, using FF. Thanks mucho for any ideas. (I could possibly write my own script if pointed in the right direction.)

Turn off style for a specific element?

doomtop — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 06:51:01 -0800

Turn off style for a specific element? I have a website that uses stylesheets that affect my input submit button. For one specific button on the site I want to show an input submit button that is completely default, meaning no style affecting it. Is there a style tag I can use to disable stylesheets for a specific element on the page?

How do I disable Mail on my mac?

bluefly — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:24:01 -0800

Is there a way to disable Mail.app on my mac (OS 10.4.11)? It pops up whenever I mistakenly click on a mailto link. I don't use it for my email, so it's really annoying. Googling suggests that you can go to the Preferences menu in Mail, but that's greyed out for me, as I've never ever used the program before. I use my departmental webmail. I'd like to eventually figure out how to redirect the mailto links to some other email software/account, but for now, just disabling it will be fine.

Saving my PC's Optical Drive

brandman — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:50:52 -0800

Is there a way to selectively disable the CD/DVD drive in my computer? We let the kids play the computer occasionally, and from time to time, my (pre-school aged) son will press the button, open the drive and start playing with it. What I'd like to do is find a way to 'turn off' the drive, or at least disable the eject button, while the kids are playing the computer. Is there a way to do that? On Windows XP, Dell Inspiron 1505.

Disable/Change other users google talk Avatars

Izzmeister — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:17:14 -0800

How do I keep peoples avatars from coming up in Google Talk window when i highlight their name? When I use Google, some people i chat with use avatars that I'd rather not see. (like... a vampire blood dripping monster!!!! aaagh my kid can't sleep!!!) :)

So, I'm looking for a workaround.

either: a setting somewhere I can't find; or

the location on the hard disk where the avatars are stored that perhaps i could put a different image there instead of the one that they select. (or none at all)

(I can't believe I'm asking a AskMeFi on this, but can't find any good answers on Google...)

another possibility is using another client, perhaps? but then in gmail chat the old image would still come up?

Disable favicon animation?

equalpants — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 04:04:32 -0800

How can I disable favicon animation in Firefox 3? In Firefox 3 Beta 3, Windows version, is there a way to disable favicon animation on the bookmarks toolbar without turning off favicons entirely? (Or, is there a way to permanently delete or replace a favicon?)

Things I've tried already:
1. Setting image.animation_mode to "none". This stops images in websites from animating, but doesn't affect the bookmarks toolbar.
2. This extension for replacing bookmark icons. It doesn't seem to work on Firefox 3 (nothing gets added to the bookmark manager, and its Options dialog doesn't work).
3. Removing the offending icon data from bookmarks.html (while Firefox is not running). The icon doesn't go away. (I guess there must be another cache somewhere?)

I like having BugMeNot readily available, but that goddamn "no" sign better stop spinning around, or he's out the door...

P.S. Possible substitute question: is there an alternative to BugMeNot that doesn't have a dancing icon?

How can I temporarily disable the alt+tab shortcut when I'm playing games in Windows XP?

good in a vacuum — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:35:01 -0800

How can I temporarily disable the alt+tab shortcut when I'm playing games in Windows XP? I've done a lot of Googling and I can't seem to find an easy answer to a problem that I can't imagine is all that uncommon. Ideally, I'd like a lightweight, freeware utility that would live in the system tray and either allow me to manually enable and disable the alt+tab shortcut (and maybe the other Windows keyboard shortcuts), and/or have it disable keyboard shortcuts automatically when certain games are running. When not gaming, I use alt+tab all the time, so permanently disabling it (using the registry or what have you) is not the best option.

The only software I've found is WinLock, but it costs $20 and seems a little bloated for the simple task I'm looking for. Surely someone out there has found a solution to this issue, with all the millions of Windows gamers out there?

Delete/disable a User account but still forward their email?

bartleby — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:59:34 -0800

Server2003/Exchange - can I disable an account but still have its mail delivered/forwarded? In the past, when an employee left, they left and all the lights were turned out for their network/domain access.

Employees are given Terminal Server & Outlook access from home, so it's important that we turn off their remote access. It seemed best to cover all the bases by disabling/deleting the user account ASAP.

Now there's a request to have their email forwarded to a manager for 90 days, "just in case".

In my limited knowledge, that means that the account has to stay active - all I can really do is change the password.

What I'm looking for is a way to remove a user's ability to acess anything on the domain, but to still have any mail sent to "firedguy@company.com" to get automatically forwarded to "firedguysboss@company.com".

Server 2003, Exchange. My Active Directory kung-fu is weak, but I can follow directions. Help?

Turn off the internet!

barnone — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:24:58 -0800

We need to turn off the internet! What is the best program for temporarily disabling our access? We need one solution for a Mac and one for Windows. Ideally we'd like something with a timer (where the internet is turned off for x number of hours) or something that requires a difficult process to unlock it. We can't simply remove all internet functionality from our computers, but we would like to make it more difficult to "check this one thing" while writing or check our inboxes to "send this one quick email." Just turning off the WiFi detectors helps for a while, but we need something more drastic.

Sure, the best thing would be to reform practices. But right now we need a bit more of a taskmaster. Extra bonus for free programs, but I'd consider paying for extra functionality. This is mostly about WiFi because we're often out in public or at school, so hiding the plug isn't the way to go here.

Any ideas?

Poking my iMac in the eye, AKA disabling the internal monitor.

clango — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 13:54:27 -0800

I thought I was a Mac geek, but I'm beginning to think I'm not. Can one take an Intel iMac, plug in an external monitor and TOTALLY DISABLE the internal screen? I'm beginning to think it's not possible.

How to thwart mischievous son by disabling disc tray opening on Mac OS X

planetkyoto — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 00:43:05 -0800

I came home today and woke my Mac (OS X 10.3.9) from sleep, triggering a horrible cocophony from the disc tray, which I opened to find that my darling son had stacked a DVD and a Delta blues CD on top of each other in there. Luckily, the drive wasn't damaged, but I want to disable the top right disc eject button to prevent him from doing this again. How? An Apple tech note on setting up kiosks says:

7) How do I disable the Eject Key?

There is currently no supported way to disable the Eject Key. You can however, prevent any new inserted media from being mounted.

Unsupported is OK.

Keep my kids off the internet!

patrickje — Tue, 27 Jul 2004 07:53:52 -0800

Ok, I have a Dell box with Windows XP. I also have two very smart children (ages 11 and 13). I want to figure out a way to disable the internet connection from time to time. For example, child A doesn't clean their room, so I want to disable internet while at work, from (8a-4p). Is there a way I can do this, some software? The connection is DSL.

Disabling MS Word task bars & menus

muckster — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 14:20:16 -0800

MS Word 2003 task panes: when I start Word, I get a "getting started" side bar and an Adobe Acrobat tool menu that I can't seem to permanently disable. This is driving me bonkers. I found Tools>Options>View>Startup Task Pane, and I have disabled it. I have found Right Click > Customize >Toolbars>Delete, but neither solve my problem. I suspect those .dot templates might have something to do with it, but I never figured those out. Please, AskMe, won't you help?

Keyboard problems

troutfishing — Sat, 07 Feb 2004 10:21:12 -0800

Demons of the keyboard - I use both an iMac and an Apple laptop, and they both have certain keys which fill me with dread. The "Esc" and "Clear" keys erase the text in my browser's (IE 5.0,5.1) text input box. How can I turn off these key functions or resurrect the deleted text ? (more inside) The Satanic "Esc" and "Clear" keys. I am a spastic, sloppy typist and - when I am typing text into my browser's text field (IE 5.0, 5.1), if I hit either of those keys, my typed text all vanishes. After this happened to me a few times, initially, I took up the habit of just grabbing text out of the browser text input field and dropping it on my desktop for periodic spot backups. But sometimes I forget to do this and still lose chunks of text. With my habit of writing epic Metafilter comments now metasticizing into short stories, you can see the problem. Maybe I just need to truncate the comments and lose the habit, but the forum helps to get my creative juices flowing.

Is there any way I can turn off that evil, sadistic function of those keys ? Or does anyone know how to restore the deleted text ? I assumed that it was just dumped from the RAM memory, forever gone.

How can I stop animated gifs from animating in Firebird?

Slithy_Tove — Sat, 13 Dec 2003 01:50:50 -0800

Is there any way to stop animated gifs from animating in Firebird? I'm just starting to use 0.7 (the last stable release), and I really like it, except that you apparently can't turn off the damn gifs. This is a deal-killer for me, I'm afraid. A gif (or several gifs, and I'm looking at you, Guardian) flashing at me is really distracting when I'm trying to read a page. (Bouncing java applets ditto, but they're another kind of problem.)

I've looked on the Mozilla boards and the answer seems to be, 'no, there's no way to stop the animation', but I thought I'd ask around just to sure. I don't want to go back to IE... Never mind, I suck. Found it on Usenet.

Administrator! Please hope me!

I'd still like more options than all/never/once, though. For once, IE has done it right: animate until user hits ESC.