For a detailed explanation on WHY you should be using No-script with Firefox, click here to read my November, 2010 article on how to avoid viruses and malware.

If you don’t have the latest version of Firefox, go to Mozilla.com and download it from there.  If you haven’t used Firefox before, during installation it will let you import your Favorites (called Bookmarks) and give you the option of keeping your same home page or using Firefox’s Google home page.

Once Firefox is installed, click on “Tools” in the top menu and select “Add-ons”

Next click on “Get Add-ons”, type “noscript” into the box and hit enter.  You’ll see NoScript with the scary looking graphic, now click on “Add to Firefox” in the lower right corner of the box.

Next you’ll see a box with “Install” counting down.  Click on it when it says “Install Now”

After a few seconds it will finish and you’ll be prompted to restart Firefox.  Click on “Restart Firefox”

After Firefox restarts, you’ll probably notice at the bottom of your browser window the “S” in the red circle with the line through it in the lower right corner and the yellow bar with the “Options” button.

To finish your setup, click on “Option” and select the “Appearance” tab.  UNCHECK the box next to “Allow Scripts Globally (dangerous)”

Next click on the “Notifications” tab and UNCHECK the box next to “Display the release notes on updates”.  Click on OK.

Your setup is done!  Now, it’s not uncommon for a site to run several scripts, or even have a script call another script into play.  If you’re at a page you trust, then click on “Options” in the yellow bar at the bottom.  Start by just approving the sites main page.  If everything works fine on the page, don’t worry about the rest.  If buttons or features aren’t working on the page, go ahead and approve the other scripts until the page is working fully (remember – once you’ve done this, you won’t have to do it again for this site so it’s gets less obtrusive over time.)

There you go – you’ve just put a HUGE roadblock between you and the bad guys.