It's been a while since I went through the rules and doing so this time I'm needing to comment on the mention of Norton & McAfee. Both of these disasters come bundled with the crapware that comes on all new computers and if anyone has tried to get rid of them, you didn't . . . not unless you reformatted your new disk - something that is a very good idea to do in any case. There actually is a free program on the net called "Decrapifyer" designed to get rid of this stuff but even it may leave traces that will come back to haunt you. Norton & McAfee are downright insidious.
I tried Decrapifyer with my latest Dell . . . and it's useful . . . but it's really easier and much safer just to wipe the disk clean and reinstall your OS and the applications you want. Of course, you have to have the OS to reinstall the OS. "Restore disks" will just re-install the crap that came with the computer to begin with. You are paying for an OS when you buy a new computer so demand they give you one. Dell charged me an extra $10 for the XP CD's - well worth it. My point is these abortions (Norton & McAfee) insinuite themselves into every nook and cranny of whatever system they're installed on, slow it down, seldom if ever snag anything, and will eventually conflict with other programs in such a way that you end up blaming your applications or otherwise misdiagnosing whatever problem you're having. These products make me think of nothing so much as the TSA - intrusive, ineffective and corrosive. Peter Norton wrote the book on the PC many years ago, but those days are long gone. He no longer has anything to do with the products that carry his name. I don't know who McAfee is, but he needs to be deported. There may be other effective anti-virus/spyware programs, but the only two reliable and non-invasive anti-malware programs I know of that really stay on top of the fast-moving world of malware are Nod 32 http://www.eset.com/products/nod32.php and Spyware Doctor. http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor-antivirus/ The one that comes with Windows . . . Defender . . . doesn't do any harm that I've seen. AVG, a free one that makes a big show but like Defender never catches anything, also doesn't do any harm. Defender updates its virus definitions infrequently and although AVG makes a display of updating its definitions, neither of these cut the mustard when it comes to keeping a system clean. Personally, of the two I mentioned above, I use Spyware Doctor which automatically updates sometimes twice a day. It's never gotten in the way, does a quick scan whenever I turn on the computer and always catches and eliminates the minor infections we get just in normal browsing. Along with Casper for back-ups, I give it an A+. I've been using both these products for several years, so this is my experience. Good tools. Mike KSEE ____________________________________________________________ Diet Help Cheap Diet Help Tips. Click here. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/c?cp=yoiBIAvUBnzz-BPcf7rxJgAAJ1A9mk8a0luj1TJO2sh3zRLgAAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYQAAAAAA=
