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Divinorumus
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Post by Divinorumus » 03-04-2007 11:51 PM

Windows, what a headache! Being very computer literate, and having been a programmer and systems analyst and network communications consultant for most of my life, I am constantly called upon here to come and fix peoples 'puters. And so, I think I've seen it ALL. And, the three most troublesome issues I've seen so far is: 1) Outlook (and Express version), and 2) Icky second party software written by dopes that couldn't write a crash-free program if their lives depended upon it, and 3) virus software (any and all of it).

For those that aren't computer savvy and don't know how to fix anything that might possibly go wrong, I would first recommend never to use Outlook (or that Express version) - that is a sure fire way to get a virus into your computer. Use a web based email service to send/receive your email (and NEVER open an executable attachment).

The second biggest issue is second party software, and what it does to your computer after installed. Nothing ticks me off more than to install some simple program only to later find that it also installed a bucket load of stuff into my system startup procedures. Seems EVERYONE wants to install some insane piece of REGISTRATION REMINDER software, or some CONSTANTLY MONITORING FOR UPDATES software. The first thing I do after loading an application is to make sure it didn't put anything into the STARTUP directory. I startup REGEDIT and search for "RUNONCE" (search for all of them, each user profile will have one) and then look for that "RUN" entry just above where OTHER startup thangs are placed, and I REMOVE ANYTHING it put in there (in fact, remove it all unless there is some driver that is needed to run some hardware or whatever).

I don't use virus software myself, never have, never will, and it is the first thing I REMOVE when I get a new computer, and do you want to know why? VIRUS SOFTWARE is WORSE than any VIRUS I've ever seen. My sister got a new notebook computer a few months ago and one day she mentioned she hasn't been able to use it because it takes SO LONG to do anything with it (even trying to load web pages takes FOREVER). Once I totally REMOVED that macayucky virus software her notebook just ZOOMED! You don't need virus software if you aren't using POP type email software, and you don't download mystery software, and you don't allow any website to LOAD anything onto your computer. In fact, I set my browser settings ACTIVEX parameter to PROMPT, meaning "I" must decide if I trust that site or not.

Just doing those few things above have kept my computers and others virus free. If you need some help and have some time we could hook up on the phone and I might be able to talk/walk you through trying to figure out what is wrong. Most things are easily fixed, but sometimes trying to kill a live virus can be tricky (if you find that once you removed the startup entry from your registry and then it is back in there again, and you can't delete the program because it is running, and when you kill the running copy so you can delete it, it starts up too quickly, you'll have to boot up into DOS and then delete it).

Dump the virus software - it in itself is the cause of most slow computers these days.
Last edited by Divinorumus on 03-05-2007 12:03 AM, edited 1 time in total.

Shirleypal
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Post by Shirleypal » 03-05-2007 12:16 AM

Div what about Firewalls? I do have an anti-virus program and have never had a virus and don't even run the scans anymore.

Divinorumus
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Post by Divinorumus » 03-05-2007 12:32 AM

I use an external firewall/proxy server, and it's not so much to keep the hacks out (my ISP prevents most of that from coming through anyhow, and in any case since I'm on my internal home network, using non-routable IP addresses, they wouldn't get far anyhow). The advantage of the firewall is that if you do get a virus in your computer, it might be able to keep if from transmitting data from your computer out into the world and into the hands of the hacks.

The biggest gain in using a proxy server is that I BLOCK all access to any URL that has in it, for example, has "ads." or ".ads" or "microsoft.com" or .. well, the list is very long now. What that does is keeps those ADS from loading which usually account for 90% of what is on each page (I usually only want to read the TEXT on a web page anyhow, I don't need an 80K picture file telling me I should refinance my life - ha).

And, the proxy server keeps 'certain' software from squealing on me too if I block certain vendor sites (if you know what I mean ... not that I'm a cheap ass, but really, why should I pay $1500 for a second copy of, for example, Autocad, if I only need it once in a blue moon on my notebook computer instead of my desktop where it IS legally installed? Why not come out with a free version that would cost me a few bucks to use it each time I do need it instead?).

A firewall doesn't really use much system resources, so I would leave the Windows version turned on unless you have a need or desire to leave it off.

added:
oh, another reason why I like an external proxy server is that it keeps a log of EVERY URL accessed, and so I can tell which programs are sneaky and send stuff out to the internet behind your back (Adobe for example is good at that one! although I own my own legal copy of Photoshop anyhow .. but still, THAT is instrusive and I don't like it).
Last edited by Divinorumus on 03-05-2007 12:36 AM, edited 1 time in total.

Shirleypal
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Post by Shirleypal » 03-05-2007 12:38 AM

My Firewall does a great job, that is why I never get viruses, worms, trojens etc. I have disabled my Anti-Virus, maybe I will uninstall it, I went into msconfig and startup and unchecked everything pertainting to it. I am careful what I do on the net also.

Divinorumus
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Post by Divinorumus » 03-05-2007 12:47 AM

Don't forget to check your system registry too.

RUN: REGEDIT and search for ALL occurances of "RUNONCE" (some entries found won't be the ones you are looking for - or check KEYS only in the FIND dialog box) and look for the "RUN" entry right above it - click on it and if there are any additional startup things in there, it will be in the window to the right ... Be careful though, if you mess up the registry you could prevent your computer from even booting up so you can even try to fix it. And yeah, I'm careful on the net too (i.e. I would never load any of those funny games some sites offer for free - yeah, free - ha ... while you play they load your computer up with JUNK!)

added:
oh, when you run REDEDIT, make sure you start each search from the top - in the left window, make sure you click once on the top entry which is "My Computer" by default (unless you've renamed it).

added more:
oh, if what you remove from RUN in your registry appears again, it's likely due to the existing copy running which sometimes checks to make sure its entry remains in there, so you might have to KILL the running copy to make sure it doesn't put itself back into your startup procedures before you remove it.
Last edited by Divinorumus on 03-05-2007 12:58 AM, edited 1 time in total.

palosheights
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Post by palosheights » 03-05-2007 03:23 AM

this past week on my two older laptops and i just formatted my hd on each and reloaded windows. so much easier than trying to delete items.

andy

Divinorumus
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Post by Divinorumus » 03-05-2007 03:58 AM

i just formatted my hd on each and reloaded windows. so much easier
Yeah, ha, that'll work too ... unless you have about 20 applications you'll be spending the next 2 days reloading too. I wish that WINDOWS wouldn't have to depend upon apps having to be INSTALLED into it before they work. Would be nice just to install them all on an external drive which you could take with you and use on ANY computer you plug it into. Actually, I wish Windows had never come about and we were all running that long dead now Amiga OS (that system and it's OS COULD chew bubble gum AND walk AND talk at the same time). Funny how you can bring Windows to a grinding halt, ignoring ALL mouse clicks and such, while it formats something as simple as a floppy disk - ha. I think Windows was written by all the programmers that couldn't find REAL programming jobs. It's probably entirely written in VISUAL BASIC rather than ASM as it should have been, thus why you need a 4GHz cpu just to type a freak'n letter - ha. Oh I miss the days of Amiga OS when all you needed was a 4MHz cpu and you could type a letter and format a disk and play a song and download something all at the same time WITHOUT a hiccup!

palosheights
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Post by palosheights » 03-05-2007 09:24 AM

yeah div, realized that but we mostly used the computers for the internet and a little wordprocessing.

isn't there a way of burning everything onto a dvd so that you can everything at hand i.e., norton ghost?

also div, that should be next mission in life is to resurrect the amiga os with today's hardware. also, it should be in a mod case of the star trek voyager.

andy

Divinorumus
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Post by Divinorumus » 03-06-2007 10:48 PM

that should be next mission in life is to resurrect the amiga os with today's hardware.
Done, and DONE!

Can you believe this: (if Windows worked as fast as the wishing well - ha ha ha)

'Commodore' to return to the high street
Tuesday, March 6 2007, 14:31 GMT

By David Gibbon, Gaming Reporter

Once the darling of the home computer industry, the Commodore brand name is to return to the high street via a new range of gaming PCs.

Commodore Gaming will launch a new breed of PCs aimed at gamers and will incorporate high-specification allowing them to play the latest state-of-the-art titles.

Bala Keilman, CEO for Commodore Gaming, said, "25 years ago, Commodore launched the best selling personal computer of the late 20th Century, the C64, and defined the early computer games experience for millions of people worldwide. We are privileged and excited to bring the Commodore brand back to the gaming community and mark a new chapter in its history with this exceptional machine. We're sure that it will deliver what gamers need and want."

The new range of optimised Gaming PCs will be launched at the CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany, on March 15, offering visitors the chance to play the high performance purpose-built machines with the latest PC games.

Commodore Gaming will be making further announcements at the launch, and the company promises there are some 'very exciting' aspects of the product still to be revealed.


:D

Shirleypal
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Post by Shirleypal » 03-10-2007 06:15 PM

"oh, when you run REDEDIT, make sure you start each search from the top - in the left window, make sure you click once on the top entry which is "My Computer" by default (unless you've renamed it).

added more:
oh, if what you remove from RUN in your registry appears again, it's likely due to the existing copy running which sometimes checks to make sure its entry remains in there, so you might have to KILL the running copy to make sure it doesn't put itself back into your startup procedures before you remove it."

Div I was able to find "run" in a number of area's in my registry but can't tell for sure which files they pertain to so not sure if I want to delete them.

Divinorumus
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Post by Divinorumus » 03-10-2007 07:51 PM

Div I was able to find "run" in a number of area's in my registry but can't tell for sure which files they pertain to so not sure if I want to delete them.
Yeah, that can be a little tricky to deside. It is possible that by removing something you could potentially break something .. break it even so you couldn't boot up to fix it either too. It's a judgement call .. mostly you have to determine what that program or driver or whatever does. You can search on the program name and find it and then look at it and decide what its purpose is and decide to leave it in there or not. Most all of those viruses people pick up from email attachments are started from those RUN entries and will be hiding in there. You could list them here and if I recognize them I'll identify them .. usually it are the virtuses which can't be identified and the things I remove. We can chat on the phone too if ya want, sometimes it is easier talking someone through this. Another thing you could do is rename that RUN entry so that when your computer boots up it won't find the original program in order to start it but the entry is still in the registry but just renamed so it won't work.

Shirleypal
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Post by Shirleypal » 03-10-2007 08:23 PM

Divinorumus wrote: Yeah, that can be a little tricky to deside. It is possible that by removing something you could potentially break something .. break it even so you couldn't boot up to fix it either too. It's a judgement call .. mostly you have to determine what that program or driver or whatever does. You can search on the program name and find it and then look at it and decide what its purpose is and decide to leave it in there or not. Most all of those viruses people pick up from email attachments are started from those RUN entries and will be hiding in there. You could list them here and if I recognize them I'll identify them .. usually it are the virtuses which can't be identified and the things I remove. We can chat on the phone too if ya want, sometimes it is easier talking someone through this. Another thing you could do is rename that RUN entry so that when your computer boots up it won't find the original program in order to start it but the entry is still in the registry but just renamed so it won't work.

email me at [email protected] Div

Aikanto
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Post by Aikanto » 03-11-2007 09:24 PM

I cant



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Waverider
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Post by Waverider » 03-11-2007 10:28 PM

I would get that message at times... because I was hitting the wrong, ...wrong something or another...

Oh' trying to edit someone else's post... by mistake, it's my posts that always need editing...

"I cant

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Sorry I can't help you Aikanto' but someone will come along shortly, hopefully' and explain...

Divinorumus
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Post by Divinorumus » 03-11-2007 10:44 PM

It seems there's a limited amount of time allowed for you to take back your words, but after that they are committed forever and ever ... .. and ever and ever ... to be held against you, or in support of you, forever and ever, so long as you live ... That's why one should be careful about what they say today because tomorrow might make what you said sound like something else instead. Time has that effect on words, ideas too.

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