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Your computer, you should have total control over it.

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bucksn'boobs said:
I don't want to start a war here
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What part of this don't you understand?
I thought this was a thread for adults seeking computer advise. Please keep your rants to a minimum so that people can actually get something out of this if they want to. I understand you have a different opinion, and I am cool with that. If you want to be helpful, you can tell me what I can do with my Dell.
 
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What part of this don't you understand?
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Did I start a war? Course not. Twas a Joke. I say it to all Mac people, because they are very angered by it, cause the truth hurts, and I enjoy that. Not flaming you by any means, so dont take it that way. Am only human :)

Dells arent very far above Macs in my opinion honestly. However, from the problem you described, it sounds more like the ol' XP problem. I love windows XP to death, but my god could Microsoft have done a worse job at securing it? If you do a full format, install XP, then IMMEDIATELY put SP2 on before you put the machine on the internet at all, you'll be fine. If you install XP, and put it on any type of Internet Connection before installing SP2, you're gonna get nailed with all kinds of spyware and trojans because of the exploits in it.
 
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If you run Windows XP you need to:

1) Patch with SP2 and install everything in the Windows Update list
2) Install a Windows XP compatible virus scanner
3) Install Microsoft Anti-Spyware Beta

Otherwise, you get what you deserve.

The MS Anti-Spyware Beta, IMO, is the best product Microsoft has released since Windows 98 Second Edition.

Otherwise, I won't rail on MS or Apple. I own countless Win-tel PCs, a PowerBook and an iPod, and like specific things about each of them and use all of them about equally (though the poor old Wallstreet G3 is on life support at this point).

Sorry ... nevermind that ... why the hell can't Apple figure out how to make a laptop display panel hinge? Jesus ... it's not rocket science.
 
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osugrad21 said:
A poster named "Bucks n Boobs" telling someone to get serious...ironic.

:biggrin:
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Very good point indeed, although the name is tongue and cheek (in a goofy mood/rush the day I picked it). Seriously though, thanks for the help. I will try to get this thing going with the tips. As a pedestrian computer user I prefer my mac because I love the way OS 10 works. When I am multitasking with lots of windows open at the same time, I use the "hot corner" and all of the windows instantly miniaturize. I also am learning more of the "quick keys" to further speed things up. The other reason I am hooked is that everything just makes sense, and is were I think it should be. Like I said, I am a casual user, and some of the Windows XP stuff freaked me out. In XP lots of folders contained files that I had no idea what they were, good or bad. On my mac I can easily find were everything is, and there are none of those weird mystery files. I have aslo had no spyware or virus problems at all. The one thing that I definitely don't like is the price as macs are very expensive compared to PCs.

How do I get a Microsoft office product key if I lost mine during a move?
 
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You can actually get the office key if you still have it installed on the computer. I cant tell you exactly where to find it, but do a search on google for something like "ms office key finder". There are small apps that will show it to you. As far as the Mac making more sense, and having less problems with virii and spyware, I will definitely agree with you there. But I will also come back to the point that, if Macs were more used (or useable), then they would be targeted by alot of virus and spyware coders. Macs are especially difficult to have around this area I live in, because you cant find dick available as far as software goes. But yeah just try the steps I mentioned, see what you can come up with.
 
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Just happened to see this thread sitting there, looking all lonely. Figured I'd toss sometihng in. Many of you probably have been getting a shitload of European (mostly german) spam as of late. Just FYI, this is caused by the Sober.worm virus. It's a major spam spewing virus, infecting an assload of computers. Was a report yesterday that 25% of email traffic was being caused by this virus. It's a nice mess.
 
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There are a lot of pages out there with links to great free software, dealing with security, general tools, and a host of other things. One example with some good recommendations.

A couple of comments on some of Clarity's original points:

Clarity said:
<o =""></o>

Firewalls:
I'm behind a hardware firewall built in to my router/switch. If you're not behind a hardware firewall, you should probably be behind a software firewall. There's even one built right into Windows XP. As this isn't an area of need for me, I can't speak intelligently about the software end of things. I do know that ZoneAlarm comes highly recommended. I also know most of the antiviral firms also offer firewalls. Norton Internet Security for example includes both a solid software firewall and Norton Antivirus 2004. If you have a need in this area, I recommend hitting the web and doing some reading, and/or perhaps someone on this site with a clue can talk about firewalls a bit and educate us all.
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ZoneAlarm is a great firewall, despite the fact that it’s free. There is a Pro version, which you can pay for, but the free version is minimally different. Personally, I think ZoneAlarm free is better than the paying alternatives that I’ve seen (for example, Norton, Mcafee). I run ZoneAlarm and AVGfree anti-virus, didn’t pay a cent for either one, and they’re both outstanding. I highly recommend disabling XP firewall and replacing it with ZoneAlarm, and it requires only a very modest degree of Windows savvy to do this. As a side note, your firewall should be able to do, by itself, many of the things that are quite correctly recommended in Clarity’s post – things such as AD blocking, blocking all internet traffic from unwanted IP’s, disabling web bugs and personal headers, etc.

You can try some firewall tests as well, if you're interested. One example, among many.

Clarity said:
Mozilla Firefox Browser
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

I have this on all my computers, despite using Microsoft's Internet Explorer (MSIE) as my primary browser. Firefox is an outstanding browser, and has pop-up blocking built right in. MSIE has features I can't live without, but in many ways Firefox is a cleaner, faster, and better browser. I recommend having it, and using it as either a primary or a secondary vehicle.
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I don’t understand how anyone can use Firefox and then ever consider going back to IE. There is only one “capability” that IE has which Firefox doesn’t, the ability to run DirectX. This wasn’t an oversight, it was a security enhancement since DirectX is probably the biggest security exploit for a browser. There are only a couple of websites that require DirectX, all sites created by Microsoft (unsurprisingly) and for sites like this you can simply right-click in Firefox and select the “open page in IE” option. The things that Firefox does better than IE, or that Firefox does and IE doesn’t, are too numerous to list. For those of you who have used Firefox but haven’t installed any extensions, go look at the extensions now, without delay. This is a grab bag of great enhancements to the browser, they’re easy as hell to install, and they include features that Microsoft hasn’t even thought about adding to IE. These include some really cool entertainment stuff, but also some huge security/web annoyance controlling features, like selective and controllable blocking of ads, javascripts, and macromedia flashvideos. For those of you who are used to IE and find it a hassle to get used to something new, my recommendation is that you take the trouble to do it in this case – it will make your web browsing more secure and more fun.

<o =""></o>

Clarity said:
Password Generation & Management:
KeePass Password Safe
http://keepass.sourceforge.net/

In terms of need, this is sort of the software equivalent of Tivo. You don't know you need it until you have it, and then once you have it, you can't live without it. DON'T use the same password on every site you visit. This is more important if you bank or shop online. Critically important. DO use as complicated a password as you're allowed on each site. The old complaint was "I visit 100 sites, I can't remember 100 passwords." This solves the issue. Think of it as a wallet for your passwords. Instead of passwords, you have access cards. Nothing to remember, just swipe the card through. KeePass will generate your passwords, and store them for you in an organized database. It is free, open source, and richly developed. It's easy to use, and entirely convenient. It will not only make you more secure, but it will actually speed up your login times at any and all sites.
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<o =""></o>
This is sort of a continuation of my Firefox rant, but one of the extensions for Firefox does this very thing. You remember one password, it generates random passwords for every password-requiring site you visit, no third-party software required.
 
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That post is pretty old.

I use Firefox exclusively now. I couldn't live without some of the features now.

I also have replaced MS Office with OpenOffice.

All my instant messenging is done with GAIM.

7-Zip, Azureus, Eraser, KeePass...

Sourceforge.net is a terrific resource.
 
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BrutusMaximus said:
Or at least Engrish :)

I use trillian for IM now.......

Still wont quit using IE until it fails me in someway. I use Firefox a bit as well, but have run into a couple things that it doesnt handle as well as IE (yet).
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For instant messenging, I highly recommend you at least check out GAIM via their website.

http://gaim.sourceforge.net/

As far as the rest of the programs I mentioned, they can all be found at sourceforge.net. A site even the relatively inept (me) can navigate and find really outstanding bits of software.

7-zip is an compression/archival program that bridges the gap (for me) between windows and unix common formats. And does it cleanly and efficiently.

KeePass I've discussed before.

Azureus is a Bitorrent client, although due to some recent difficulties, I had to temporarily switch to BitComet.
 
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BrutusMaximus said:
Still wont quit using IE until it fails me in someway. I use Firefox a bit as well, but have run into a couple things that it doesnt handle as well as IE (yet).
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Brutus, what do you mean by "fails you"? Certainly, IE will not fail to open any website and to allow all of the site's functionality to load and run. But that's a pretty low bar. Minus Windows Update, which requires ActiveX, it seems to me that Firefox can do everything IE can, plus provide you with a lot more options, control, and security. It's also significantly faster, especially when you install the "Tweak Network Settings" extension. Things like tabbed-browsing I just take for granted now, and marvel at the fact that IE still has a dominant market-share despite not having them (although there are non-MS-created IE clones that do have tabbed browsing).

Interestingly, since I switched to near-exclusive use of Firefox (over a year ago), the small amount of spyware that shows up on my system comes, without exception, through my IE cache.

On the firewall front (going back to Clarity's original, year-old post), it's probably a good idea to install a software firewall even if you have a hardware firewall. There's some redundancy, but also some complementarity.
 
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Spyware is nothing if you do your windows updates.

Honestly I dont do alot of browsing. My daily web browsing consists of coming to this site, and going to a couple that I use at work. That's about it. I think if I was a hardcore web browser, I would probably use firefox. As far as it being faster, I disagree. When I did use it, seemed much slower than IE.

By fail me, I meant until it physically falls short of a specific task that I attempt to use it for, I guess.
 
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