Is Basilisk Serpent what I need ?

I rarely had any problems with XP Pro SP3 so haven't done anything too exciting for a long while. However, lately some of us are having issues with Adobe Flash ending (as BBC main site has announced that the videos would stop working on my XP in 2020; also some HTML5 videos on YouTube do not work on our Firefox 52.9.0esr nor Opera. I therefore need to start planning for the change for myself and the friends I'm helping..

I'm new here so excuse me if I ask the wrong questions. It seems to me people on here are very happy with Basilisk Serpent, so I downloaded and would love to try
https://o.rths.ml/basilisk/basilisk52-g4.4.win32-git-20191026-565ae72f5-xpmod.7z
but have not done anything with it yet. I went to a site which looked like the official site, a system requirement specifies that Basilisk would not work on XP, so I'm a little confused.

My questions are:

1. Is this version of Basilisk I should use ?

2. Will Basilisk solve our HTML5 video play problem ?​

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

Earlier I installed it anyway (much smoother than I expected) ... and what a delightful surprise I must add
Basilisk looks just like the Firefox I normally used ... except that

1. It's a lot faster, no delay at all ... wow !

2. When I went to the https://tekeye.uk/html/html5-video-test-page ALL the videos played fine !

As for that annoying BBC warning message is still there, though I think it might be just a blanket announcement for XP from BBC saying their videos won't work on any XP. I should find out in 2 months' time whether it's true or not.

Thank you to whoever recommended/ provided it.

PS I couldn't find the normal Adblockplus but Adblocklatitude seems to be working fine too.

 

Hi xphelper. Here are some useful threads here to help you with Serpent etc.:

https://www.xpforums.com/threads/serpent-web-browser.933889/
https://www.xpforums.com/threads/regarding-serpent-browser.933970/
https://www.xpforums.com/threads/best-web-browser-for-xp.933780/

 

Thank you for the links Janice.

This browser version has worked so well for me even without me doing anything else. What a delightful surprise. However, I will check out those links when needs be.

 

I couldn't download the browser. I'd go to install it and a pop up would tell me it's for Windows 7 or later. I must have terrible luck.

 

Which one did you download ? Please confirm.

The one I installed was
basilisk52-g4.4.win32-git-20191026-565ae72f5-xpmod.7z
released on 26 Oct 2019. I think you meant you couldn't launch the executable. The version I use is for XP. Unless you had gone to the other site for the latest version (I did see one that says for Windows7+). Don't try the Windows7 one, use the XP one.

After download, you need to uncompress it first. BTW, I think the version I use is portable, I didn't even have to install it. I just create a shortcut to the executable.

 

The steps I took:

1. Download https://o.rths.ml/basilisk/basilisk52-g4.4.win32-git-20191026-565ae72f5-xpmod.7z
2. Uncompress the downloaded .7z file

3. Log on as an admin, place the folder in C:\Program Files\basilisk

4. As any user, create a shortcut on desktop for that executable called basilisk.exe

5. Rename the shortcut to basilisk [ optional ]

6. Right-click to pin to Start Menu. [ optional ]

7. Install addon ABL Adblock Latitude [ optional ]

8. Launch basilisk ... et voilà !


This version is so good, love the cute icon too. It's perfect BUT I have just found out that I can't get rid of Firefox yet because I encountered a site that only allows log in on IE and Firefox. They probably have never heard of Basilisk. No big deal, I'll just open Firefox for that.

The blog post of the author is at:
http://rtfreesoft.blogspot.com/

Scroll down to see the XP version I use. Please note that I have not tested other versions.

 

I just tried downloading the link you just posted. It's not a zip file so I couldn't uncompress/open it.

I went to the Basilisk browser site and tried downloading the latest for 32-bit, and I got the message about Win 7 or later.

So I scrolled down and clicked on the archive server and tried DLing everyone for 32-bit, and got the same message everytime. (Win 7 or later).

 

Don't give up. It's just a small hurdle that can easily be overcome.

.7z is not a zip file you are used to, nonetheless it's a compressed file. I had WinRAR to right click to extract it. You can use WinZip I think. You can go straight to the 7z site to download the tool then install it (useful to have anyway). Once uncompressed, it's about 100MB.

https://www.7-zip.org/download.html <------ install this to uncompress

Alternatively, you can get a friend to uncompress the .7z file for you.

PS You must use the XP version I use, at least I know this version is good. It's worth it.

FAQ page if you have any compression questions:
https://www.7-zip.org/faq.html

 

@ SmilinDoug

Why don't you go here: https://www.xpforums.com/threads/serpent-web-browser.933889/

It's so much easier than floundering around all over the place. Someone else has done all the work. You need only to make a few clicks

After that, go here for more support for Serpent: https://www.xpforums.com/threads/regarding-serpent-browser.933970/

 

Hi Janice, I would normally agree, but the other posts have more info than Doug needs. He is very close to getting it, just need to uncompress the .7z file. Just follow my instructions above, much quicker. If he needs to tweak it in a future date then your links would be useful.

 

Sorry it took so long to get back in here. It seems like everything went to hell here at my house.

Here's what I did. I downloaded 7zip and installed it. That helped a lot. Then I downloaded the Basilisk file and opened it with 7zip. Then I placed that folder in C:\Program Files\basilisk and created a shortcut to my desktop. Then I renamed that shortcut to Basilisk, then I doubled clicked on the shortcut.

Instead of starting the program it opened to about 6 folders and a whole bunch of files. I did see one file that looks like a dragon though. Should I create a shortcut to my desktop with that file instead?

And it should be okay if I delete the shortcut of the folder I made earlier right?

Also, how do I install Adblock Latitude? Do I need to launch the program first?

 

Hey Doug, well done ... you are nearly there !!!

You have answered your own question correctly !!! You should have created the dragon (it's actually a Basilisk Serpent) as shortcut not the folder (that was why it was opened as a folder).

Do that first.

 

After creating a user shortcut of Basilisk, right click to pin to Start menu etc. Set up Basilisk like how you had set up for Firefox. To install AdBlock Lattitude [ optional ]:

1. Launch Basilisk

2. Click on 3Bar hamburger (top right)

3. Select "Get Add-ons" on left menu

4. Click on "Basilisk Add-ons Site" on main panel

5. Search/ find "Adblock Latitude"

6. Select ABL "Adblock Latitude" (should be the second item)

7. Click on Install Now> Install

8. Click on Install Now> Add-on Releases (Version History) *****
Version 5.0.1 Released: April 10, 2018

9. Now test to see if YouTube displays ads [ optional ] If successful, the red ABL icons would be there on the top right

 

I got it!
Later on I'll do some tweaking from Janice's links.

Thank you very much