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Lets say you are running Windows and there is only one browser installed. What if one day this browser dies, would it be still possible to connect to the Internet somehow (to search for the solution or at least download some file or patch)?
In other words, can you work with Internet without a browser in Windows? At least some basic operations - view page in text format or even html sources, download file through http.
serg
Posted 2009-10-03T16:32:31.647
Reputation: 1 160
15
Well, there is always the ftp program that comes by default - you could probably download an alternative browser that way.
If you can install additional utilities, there is Telnet through the Windows installer, so you can browse sites through port 80. (Telnet is no longer installed by default in Vista and 7)
There are many other nice tools such as wfetch, however, I think Telnet and ftp are the only programs that are built into Windows for internet that are not tied into Internet Explorer.
William Hilsum
Posted 2009-10-03T16:32:31.647
Reputation: 111 572
8The only limitation is that Telnet doesn't support http file downloads. So I guess you will have to search for alternate browser ftp site using telnet, then download it using ftp, install alternate browser and then go from there. – serg – 2009-10-03T16:45:27.910
6Now there's a superuser -- browsing the web with MS telnet!! – quack quixote – 2009-10-03T20:14:13.587
19
Type the things in bold...
telnet www.google.com 80
Trying 74.125.45.100...
Connected to google.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
GET /search?q=ftp+download+browser HTTP/1.1
Host: www.google.com
[press Return for one blank line]
(And to stop, hold down Ctrl and press ], if the connection is not closed automatically, and type quit or bye.)
Arjan
Posted 2009-10-03T16:32:31.647
Reputation: 29 084
2Two downvotes no less. Care to explain why? – Arjan – 2009-10-03T19:42:19.860
2I cannot explain why, but I will upvote you :) – Dan Rosenstark – 2009-10-03T20:27:02.597
(It's not like I need the reputation or anything, it just made me wonder why.) – Arjan – 2009-10-03T20:48:25.500
6Some people will down vote other people's answers, even if they are correct, to try to move their answer up in the ranks. It's a douchebag move, but what are you gonna do? – raven – 2009-10-03T21:23:49.953
4
You could use an FTP client to download a browser. Of course, you would have to know the address of an FTP site that had a browser available for download.
raven
Posted 2009-10-03T16:32:31.647
Reputation: 5 135
Hola, someone downvoted. Why? – Arjan – 2009-10-03T17:24:57.877
3Think someones going through pushing the others down. – Rich Bradshaw – 2009-10-05T19:29:26.947
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Actually, the internet is not equal to the world wide web. I assume, you mean the WWW in your question.
But as it just fits in fine here I wanted to mention that the WWW is just a little part of the internet. Say, together with e-mail it is the tip of the iceberg that "normal" PC users only see and know (and need to know, I think).
Martin
Posted 2009-10-03T16:32:31.647
Reputation: 3 619
That's the solution: I guess somewhere still a Web-to-Email gateway is active! Send the URL you want, and get the response through email. (Too bad http://emailweb.us/ is not free, though they don't really mention that on their homepage.) Or just ask a friend to mail you a browser. No need to keep Internet Explorer in Windows then! ;-)
– Arjan – 2009-10-03T17:37:39.3971
I just have another idea that could be helpful. Although there are steps necessary before the browser dies ...
I have once more come across portable apps to be installed on a USB memory stick, for example Lupo PenSuite or PortableApps Suite
Well, it does not have to be the whole suite, but you never know if the browser is the only application that "dies".
Martin
Posted 2009-10-03T16:32:31.647
Reputation: 3 619
0
This issue came up when EU ruled that bundling of IE on Windows is a violation of antitrust laws, and consequently, Microsoft was told to remove IE from future Windows versions sold in EU.
So, without a browser, how are users expected to download another browser? Thus the answer to your above question of "In other words, can you work with Internet without a browser in Windows? At least some basic operations - view page in text format or even html sources, download file through http.", is no, you can't.
FTP might get you somewhere, but you are probably limited to that, and only that.
caliban
Posted 2009-10-03T16:32:31.647
Reputation: 18 979
0
Windows has built-in WebDAV support (which is apparently usable even for loading runtime libraries). This could be used to download a web browser. Of course, there's SMB (samba) too.
user1686
Posted 2009-10-03T16:32:31.647
Reputation: 283 655
-1
may be you should download a new browser from your friend's computer...Then use a flash disk to install it to your own computer to fix the error.That's it...
NT.
Posted 2009-10-03T16:32:31.647
Reputation: 1 677
1Although I too don't know why your answer was downvoted, I think you should mind your words and stop insulting others here. – Martin – 2009-10-04T11:32:52.733
1It doesn't really answer the question, which was: "What if one day this browser dies, would it be still possible to connect to the Internet somehow (to search for the solution or at least download some file or patch)?" – Nathaniel – 2009-10-05T19:45:30.737
Maybe this is a stupid idea, but couldn't you just use a portable version of Lynx? :/ – SarahofGaia – 2015-07-30T16:35:06.283
20[Joke] If the only browser in Windows is dead, how to ask a question on SuperUser? – Hemant – 2009-10-03T17:19:02.210
By default, not so easy. But if you are a Windows Developer, you will have Visual Studio or MSDN Help. Then you can browse internet via them or Winamp, or download accelerator Plus etc. – Ganesh R. – 2009-10-03T19:15:55.843
I'm still scratching my head as to what exactly "browser is dead" means. – quack quixote – 2009-10-03T20:17:05.377
1Browser is dead means it throws an error during launch and won't start (or freezes, or goes into BSOD). It could happen after a system update or for any other reasons. Just like any other software. – serg – 2009-10-04T04:17:16.230
I think Winamp uses the IE engine. Maybe Songbird, though, since it uses some Mozilla guts and has a web browser. – Nathaniel – 2009-10-05T19:43:47.370
You can download/view HTML files from the internet using Microsoft Word, or Adobe CSS. – Samy Bencherif – 2013-09-20T20:32:32.970