Prayer for John Weatherly's computer problems

[Bible John]

Please join me in daily prayer for JW's computer problems.

JW as a computer person with a college degree, and also many years of
experience in the computer consulting and tech business (I had my own
company back in the Silicon Valley), and much experience in sales
(before got called me into the full time ministry in 2001) I would be
able to assist you.

I would suggest you purchase Norton System Works and McAfee anti
spyware. I've had great luck with both products for both virus and
spyware removal. I've used them on my folks PC and mine from Windows 95
to XP. I skipped Windows ME and 2000 however. So hope your not running
one of those oses.

As with Go back I would not recommend. I would recommend Norton Ghost.
Several times at my old job our computer crashed, and I was instructed
to use Ghost, and I did and everything was back to normal 100%. However
a floppy disk was required, and I understand that some PC companies are
foolishly choosing not to ship their PC's with floppies. This is a
mistake mark my words. A floppy is required to use Norton Ghost.

If you cant afford Ghost, then go with Retrospect express (used to own
it on my old Mac and used it for 5 years). Since I bought a OSX mac I
dont think I need it (OSX is very stable with Unix at its core).

You can buy a backup drive at officeMax. Bought a 40GB USB 2.x drive
for $49 the other week ago.

<
I'm also finagling getting an IBM/Intel Inside computer with a Celeron
processor (what my son wants, too).>

I would highly encourage a Mac if you can afford one. They run off Unix
which is far more stable than Windows. Do your research on Unix before
you jump down the Mac lane.

If you cannot then go Windows. Windows XP is stable and has many
advantages over the Mac. However for my use I prefer a Mac. But I will
say that if and when Apple removes the ability to use Classic and run
all my old apps I might jump to Windows.


I also pray for your financial issues.


God bless your situation John!


John


<I'm gonna ask for my Christian friends to pray for me about something.

A couple of months ago, my main computer, an AMD 1.8 Ghz system caught
a virus.

I thoght, no big. I rebooted into Go Back, which 99 % of the time
does the job.

Not this time. I tried to format, but when I went to reboot, I had NO
SIGNAL whatever.

As I've had the $$$, I've swapped out the warrantied mobo, then got a
mobo off ebay, then purchased two brand new power supplies.

Nada.

I just sent it out, something I RARELY do, but it went to a friend who
I have mentioned previously, a guy I've know over 20 years. He built
my computer some 4 computers ago, and he's an engineer who is the best
with computers who I have ever met.

He is an EINSTEIN with PCs.

My reason for prayer is that I've worked out a way to pay him, but I
need to keep the cost down as I'm also trying to finance a computer
for my son to take off to engineer university. And what my son wants
is a computer that's gonna cost like $5,000 or $6,000.

I mean, just the video card he wants is going to be about $1,000 with
taxes.

I thought my son was bsing me about the $1,000 video card, til I
looked on PriceWatch, and saw one for something like $895. With taxes
and shipping, that's going to run right around $1 K.

He'll need 2 Gb RAM, 2 200 Gb HDDs, etc.

So I need to be tight with the money.

Will you folks kindly pray that this problem will be CHEAP to fix?

I'm also finagling getting an IBM/Intel Inside computer with a Celeron
processor (what my son wants, too).

Please pray that I can keep the costs down for both.

At LEAST if I can finagle the parts cheap, I can build both systems.

Thanks!

--
CERM- Church Education Resource Ministries
http://johnw.freeshell.org/bible/
http://johnw.freeshell.org/bible/unbeliever_list.htm

2 Tim 4:2
AIM: Crucifyself03
Spelling and grammar errors left
in for those that
need their life fulfilled by correcting me

 

[Bible John]

Please join me in daily prayer for JW's computer problems.

JW as a computer person with a college degree, and also many years of
experience in the computer consulting and tech business (I had my own
company back in the Silicon Valley), and much experience in sales
(before got called me into the full time ministry in 2001) I would be
able to assist you.

Oops a error. Should read before God called me into the full time
ministry in 2001. I often treat usenet like I treat all online
communication and do not proofread.

I would suggest you purchase Norton System Works and McAfee anti
spyware. I've had great luck with both products for both virus and
spyware removal. I've used them on my folks PC and mine from Windows 95
to XP. I skipped Windows ME and 2000 however. So hope your not running
one of those oses.

As with Go back I would not recommend. I would recommend Norton Ghost.
Several times at my old job our computer crashed, and I was instructed
to use Ghost, and I did and everything was back to normal 100%. However
a floppy disk was required, and I understand that some PC companies are
foolishly choosing not to ship their PC's with floppies. This is a
mistake mark my words. A floppy is required to use Norton Ghost.

If you cant afford Ghost, then go with Retrospect express (used to own
it on my old Mac and used it for 5 years). Since I bought a OSX mac I
dont think I need it (OSX is very stable with Unix at its core).

You can buy a backup drive at officeMax. Bought a 40GB USB 2.x drive
for $49 the other week ago.

<
I'm also finagling getting an IBM/Intel Inside computer with a Celeron
processor (what my son wants, too).>

I would highly encourage a Mac if you can afford one. They run off Unix
which is far more stable than Windows. Do your research on Unix before
you jump down the Mac lane.

If you cannot then go Windows. Windows XP is stable and has many
advantages over the Mac. However for my use I prefer a Mac. But I will
say that if and when Apple removes the ability to use Classic and run
all my old apps I might jump to Windows.


I also pray for your financial issues.


God bless your situation John!


John


<I'm gonna ask for my Christian friends to pray for me about something.

A couple of months ago, my main computer, an AMD 1.8 Ghz system caught
a virus.

I thoght, no big. I rebooted into Go Back, which 99 % of the time
does the job.

Not this time. I tried to format, but when I went to reboot, I had NO
SIGNAL whatever.

As I've had the $$$, I've swapped out the warrantied mobo, then got a
mobo off ebay, then purchased two brand new power supplies.

Nada.

I just sent it out, something I RARELY do, but it went to a friend who
I have mentioned previously, a guy I've know over 20 years. He built
my computer some 4 computers ago, and he's an engineer who is the best
with computers who I have ever met.

He is an EINSTEIN with PCs.

My reason for prayer is that I've worked out a way to pay him, but I
need to keep the cost down as I'm also trying to finance a computer
for my son to take off to engineer university. And what my son wants
is a computer that's gonna cost like $5,000 or $6,000.

I mean, just the video card he wants is going to be about $1,000 with
taxes.

I thought my son was bsing me about the $1,000 video card, til I
looked on PriceWatch, and saw one for something like $895. With taxes
and shipping, that's going to run right around $1 K.

He'll need 2 Gb RAM, 2 200 Gb HDDs, etc.

So I need to be tight with the money.

Will you folks kindly pray that this problem will be CHEAP to fix?

I'm also finagling getting an IBM/Intel Inside computer with a Celeron
processor (what my son wants, too).

Please pray that I can keep the costs down for both.

At LEAST if I can finagle the parts cheap, I can build both systems.

Thanks!

--
CERM- Church Education Resource Ministries
http://johnw.freeshell.org/bible/
http://johnw.freeshell.org/bible/unbeliever_list.htm

2 Tim 4:2
AIM: Crucifyself03
Spelling and grammar errors left
in for those that
need their life fulfilled by correcting me

 

[jw]

x-no-archive: yes
On Thu, 04 Aug 2005 10:31:12 -0700, Bible John
copyright 2005 John Weatherly all rights reserved. NO portion of this
article can be reproduced in any form anywhere else without express
written consent of the author

Please join me in daily prayer for JW's computer problems.

JW as a computer person with a college degree, and also many years of
experience in the computer consulting and tech business (I had my own
company back in the Silicon Valley), and much experience in sales
(before got called me into the full time ministry in 2001) I would be
able to assist you.

I would suggest you purchase Norton System Works and McAfee anti
spyware.

I may have to consider buying Norton. I use Spybot and Ad Aware at
the recommendation of my computer tech, who is the guy who has my
computer at the moment.

I've had great luck with both products for both virus and

spyware removal. I've used them on my folks PC and mine from Windows 95
to XP. I skipped Windows ME and 2000 however. So hope your not running
one of those oses.

I'm running XP Pro and like it very much.

As with Go back I would not recommend. I would recommend Norton Ghost.

I'll look into it. Anything I have to buy is something I have to give
SERIUOS consideration to, as my funds are VERY tight.

But I DO like the idea of booting from a floppy. If something happens
to the OS onboard, it likely has infected the GoBack routines as well,
which is what happened this time GoBack got corrupted. It works
beautifully 99 % of the time, but the one time it doesn't, you're
screwed.

Several times at my old job our computer crashed, and I was instructed
to use Ghost, and I did and everything was back to normal 100%.

That's how GoBack USUALLY works.

However

a floppy disk was required, and I understand that some PC companies are
foolishly choosing not to ship their PC's with floppies. This is a
mistake mark my words. A floppy is required to use Norton Ghost.

Yeah, I'll look into that. I'd heard of Ghost, but GoBack USUALLY runs
just fine. And I don't have Norton 2005. I have been using Norton
2003, because I was given a copy.

If you cant afford Ghost, then go with Retrospect express (used to own
it on my old Mac and used it for 5 years). Since I bought a OSX mac I
dont think I need it (OSX is very stable with Unix at its core).

You can buy a backup drive at officeMax. Bought a 40GB USB 2.x drive
for $49 the other week ago.

A backup drive could be an EXCELLENT investment. I'll look into that
next month.

<
I'm also finagling getting an IBM/Intel Inside computer with a Celeron
processor (what my son wants, too).>

I would highly encourage a Mac if you can afford one.

Sorry, but two reasons I wouldn't go with a Mac. When I DO work (I do
consulting when I can get it), everyone I've worked with the past 25
years in on the IBM. I find VERY little / NO professionals in the
computer field using Macs. It's strictly a "game/graphics/music"
machine, and even my brother who is in professional music production
uses a PC.

They run off Unix

which is far more stable than Windows. Do your research on Unix before
you jump down the Mac lane.

I've used Unix in the days before there even WERE IBM PCs. So I can do
a teensy bit of programming in Unix, and Xenix. But I'm WELL past my
"learning curve" on the computer, and now I simply want something I
don't have to "think about" when I'm using it. I guess I'd have to say
I'm a "hard-core" PC person.

If you cannot then go Windows. Windows XP is stable and has many
advantages over the Mac.

Yes, as I said, I have Windows XP Pro. I've been using it for several
years now, and even my son, the engineer, says that XP Pro is "the way
to go." Of course, now he's looking at "Longhorn", the NEW Windows OS
that's supposed to be "coming."

I asked my son if he wanted me to buy him a copy of XP Pro for
college, and he said, "No, he'd use mine until he gets a look at
Longhorn." He wants me to buy him a copy of Longhorn.


However for my use I prefer a Mac. But I will

say that if and when Apple removes the ability to use Classic and run
all my old apps I might jump to Windows.

In my 25 + years experience, I would have to pick the PC with XP Pro
as the superior system in MOST instances.

I also pray for your financial issues.

Thanks.

I had thought I had come close to resolving my situation. A friend in
the government (consultant) had written me that the government is
EAGER to hire people with my background.

I jumped on the web and did some research, the dozen or so jobs I
found require MORE experience, they're out of state (I won't
relocate), and they require a MINIMUM commitment of 40 hours a week. I
am not prepared at this stage of life to commit to a 40 hour week.

Too old, too tired, too sick.

jw

 

[rogue]

Please join me in daily prayer for JW's computer problems.

JW as a computer person with a college degree, and also many years of
experience in the computer consulting and tech business (I had my own
company back in the Silicon Valley), and much experience in sales
(before got called me into the full time ministry in 2001) I would be
able to assist you.

I would suggest you purchase Norton System Works and McAfee anti
spyware. I've had great luck with both products for both virus and
spyware removal. I've used them on my folks PC and mine from Windows 95
to XP. I skipped Windows ME and 2000 however. So hope your not running
one of those oses.

JERRY
Or he can go to http://www.download.com and download both Ad-Aware and
Spybot Search and Destroy for free and try those first, as well as
http://www.microsoft.com and click on Downloads on the left sidebar.
Once there, download their free beta version of Microsoft Antispyware,
which also works pretty well. All of those are free options to attempt
before spending any money, and if the problem isn't spyware, no cost
out of pocket to find out.

As with Go back I would not recommend. I would recommend Norton Ghost.

JERRY
Ghost is a good program if what you want to do is to create an image of
your hard drive before something bad happens or you do something
drastic to the configuration. You can then boot to the CD and reload
the image of your computer. Trying to do an image after the computer
is already in trouble will just put the problem back on the computer
and accomplish nothing.

BJ
I would highly encourage a Mac if you can afford one. They run off Unix
which is far more stable than Windows. Do your research on Unix before
you jump down the Mac lane.

JERRY
while you do your research you will find that Macs are tres expensive,
and you can download and burn an image of a distro of Linux for free or
just the cost of the CD, or you can go to your local Barnes and Nobles
or Borders booksellers and find a magazine called Linux format from the
UK or Linux magazine. Both come with CD and DVD versions of the
magazine that often has a free distro. The great thing about linux if
you don't mind learning a new OS is that you are virtually virus free,
you have everything you need already available in free downloads on the
web to replace your Microsoft applications and Linux works very well on
older hardware, so you don't have to buy a new computer in order to get
the benefits.

If you cannot then go Windows. Windows XP is stable and has many
advantages over the Mac. However for my use I prefer a Mac. But I will
say that if and when Apple removes the ability to use Classic and run
all my old apps I might jump to Windows.

JERRY
Here we are in agreement as Windows XP is the most stable operating
system that Microsoft has done for home computers yet. It combines the
stability and memory management of Windows NT and Windows 2000 with the
plug and play versatility of Windows 95 and 98. Be sure to get a
firewall set up and good antivirus protection to help protect your
computer. Consider going to http://www.mozilla.org and downloading and
using Firefox as your browser instead of Internet Explorer, since it
will be more resistant to spyware and it's faster and it's free. Many
of us think it's a far superior browser than the Microsoft internet
Explorer that comes with your Operating system.

<I'm gonna ask for my Christian friends to pray for me about something.

A couple of months ago, my main computer, an AMD 1.8 Ghz system caught
a virus.

I thoght, no big. I rebooted into Go Back, which 99 % of the time
does the job.

Not this time. I tried to format, but when I went to reboot, I had NO
SIGNAL whatever.

As I've had the $$$, I've swapped out the warrantied mobo, then got a
mobo off ebay, then purchased two brand new power supplies.

JERRY
I thought you said you were a techie. Any techie worth his salt
doesn't start with the motherboard when they get a virus. They clean
it off the hard drive and if necessary, fdisk, reformat the hard drive
and reload their OS to get rid of the virus.

 

[Terrell D Lewis]

x-no-archive: yes
On Thu, 04 Aug 2005 10:31:12 -0700, Bible John
copyright 2005 John Weatherly all rights reserved. NO portion of this
article can be reproduced in any form anywhere else without express
written consent of the author

I may have to consider buying Norton. I use Spybot and Ad Aware at
the recommendation of my computer tech, who is the guy who has my
computer at the moment.

I've had great luck with both products for both virus and

I'm running XP Pro and like it very much.

<snip a lot of stuff>

One problem with XP, and you'll have to search and figure out how to deal
with it yourself, is that XP has a builtin "System Restore" similar to
GoBack and, if you get a virus, and your Antivirus removes it, they don't
always remove it permanently from the Restore FIles, so the next time, you
computer burps, the system restores the virus.

If money is an issue (isn't it always), you might look into AVG antivirus,
they have a "free for personal use" version and Yahoo has a free antivirus
(It may be only for its ISP customers, but worth looking into, they have a
suite of products, antivirus, spyware detector, etc. I have SBC dsl and
have been using Yahoo's Antivirus since my last reformat, seems OK. Before
I got my router, I used Kerio's firewall too, don't use as many resources as
others and they have a free-for-personal-use version too (or did, I've had
the router for awhile).

 

[G.O.D.]

JERRY
Or he can go to http://www.download.com and download both Ad-Aware and
Spybot Search and Destroy for free and try those first, as well as
http://www.microsoft.com and click on Downloads on the left sidebar.
Once there, download their free beta version of Microsoft Antispyware,
which also works pretty well. All of those are free options to attempt
before spending any money, and if the problem isn't spyware, no cost
out of pocket to find out.

JERRY
Ghost is a good program if what you want to do is to create an image of
your hard drive before something bad happens or you do something
drastic to the configuration. You can then boot to the CD and reload
the image of your computer. Trying to do an image after the computer
is already in trouble will just put the problem back on the computer
and accomplish nothing.



JERRY
while you do your research you will find that Macs are tres expensive,
and you can download and burn an image of a distro of Linux for free or
just the cost of the CD, or you can go to your local Barnes and Nobles
or Borders booksellers and find a magazine called Linux format from the
UK or Linux magazine. Both come with CD and DVD versions of the
magazine that often has a free distro. The great thing about linux if
you don't mind learning a new OS is that you are virtually virus free,
you have everything you need already available in free downloads on the
web to replace your Microsoft applications and Linux works very well on
older hardware, so you don't have to buy a new computer in order to get
the benefits.


JERRY
Here we are in agreement as Windows XP is the most stable operating
system that Microsoft has done for home computers yet. It combines the
stability and memory management of Windows NT and Windows 2000 with the
plug and play versatility of Windows 95 and 98. Be sure to get a
firewall set up and good antivirus protection to help protect your
computer. Consider going to http://www.mozilla.org and downloading and
using Firefox as your browser instead of Internet Explorer, since it
will be more resistant to spyware and it's faster and it's free. Many
of us think it's a far superior browser than the Microsoft internet
Explorer that comes with your Operating system.


JERRY
I thought you said you were a techie. Any techie worth his salt
doesn't start with the motherboard when they get a virus. They clean
it off the hard drive and if necessary, fdisk, reformat the hard drive
and reload their OS to get rid of the virus.

 

[G.O.D.]

<snip a lot of stuff>

One problem with XP, and you'll have to search and figure out how to deal
with it yourself, is that XP has a builtin "System Restore" similar to
GoBack and, if you get a virus, and your Antivirus removes it, they don't
always remove it permanently from the Restore FIles, so the next time, you
computer burps, the system restores the virus.

If money is an issue (isn't it always), you might look into AVG antivirus,
they have a "free for personal use" version and Yahoo has a free antivirus
(It may be only for its ISP customers, but worth looking into, they have a
suite of products, antivirus, spyware detector, etc. I have SBC dsl and
have been using Yahoo's Antivirus since my last reformat, seems OK. Before
I got my router, I used Kerio's firewall too, don't use as many resources as
others and they have a free-for-personal-use version too (or did, I've had
the router for awhile).

eh

 

[Terrell D Lewis]

eh

Whatever floats your boat.

 

[Bible John]

I may have to consider buying Norton. I use Spybot and Ad Aware at
the recommendation of my computer tech, who is the guy who has my
computer at the moment.

Whatever. But he's just cheap. I once had to fix a computer that no
freeware spyware garbage could repair. Only a commercial product could
fix it. Yes the tech who put my folks PC together did not recommend
commercial spyware. He said that because he was an remains ignorant in
some areas. He may have experience, but he lacked a degree in computer
technology. I had to argue with my folks a number of times, but took
matters into my own hands and installed a commercial spyware app
(McAfee) and within 10-15 minutes the spyware was gone and their
computer could once again access the Internet. The spyware prevented
Internet access and none of the freeware spyware garbage that he
installed or that I installed could fix the problem. After that
incident I installed McAfee Anti-Spyware on my PC laptop and dumped all
that freeware garbage. Never had a problem with spyware since and
this was back in December.

I've had great luck with both products for both virus and

I'm running XP Pro and like it very much.


I'll look into it. Anything I have to buy is something I have to give
SERIUOS consideration to, as my funds are VERY tight.
Yes



But I DO like the idea of booting from a floppy. If something happens
to the OS onboard, it likely has infected the GoBack routines as well,
which is what happened this time GoBack got corrupted. It works
beautifully 99 % of the time, but the one time it doesn't, you're
screwed.


That's how GoBack USUALLY works.
Yes


Yeah, I'll look into that. I'd heard of Ghost, but GoBack USUALLY runs
just fine. And I don't have Norton 2005. I have been using Norton
2003, because I was given a copy.

Its good software. Some techs hate it, but its really just an opinion
based on experience.

A backup drive could be an EXCELLENT investment. I'll look into that
next month.

I had to when I got my new mac. My old backup drive would not work on my
new Mac.

Sorry, but two reasons I wouldn't go with a Mac. When I DO work (I do
consulting when I can get it), everyone I've worked with the past 25
years in on the IBM. I find VERY little / NO professionals in the
computer field using Macs. It's strictly a "game/graphics/music"
machine, and even my brother who is in professional music production
uses a PC.

Yes you are right. Most dont bother with the Mac sadly. In that event
I would encourage a PC. I would have one if it were not for all my 12
years of mac sofware and documents. But I hear that Apple will soon
pull the plug on classic support, and after that it will be the end of
the mac for me.

They run off Unix

I've used Unix in the days before there even WERE IBM PCs. So I can do
a teensy bit of programming in Unix, and Xenix. But I'm WELL past my
"learning curve" on the computer, and now I simply want something I
don't have to "think about" when I'm using it. I guess I'd have to say
I'm a "hard-core" PC person.

I dont think when I use my Mac I work. No IRQ's, viruses, spyware,
extension conflicts,etc.. OSX just works and it boots up less than a
minute.

Yes, as I said, I have Windows XP Pro. I've been using it for several
years now, and even my son, the engineer, says that XP Pro is "the way
to go." Of course, now he's looking at "Longhorn", the NEW Windows OS
that's supposed to be "coming."

I hear. Wonder how it will compete with mac OSX. Will it be based off
Unix?

I asked my son if he wanted me to buy him a copy of XP Pro for
college, and he said, "No, he'd use mine until he gets a look at
Longhorn." He wants me to buy him a copy of Longhorn.


However for my use I prefer a Mac. But I will

In my 25 + years experience, I would have to pick the PC with XP Pro
as the superior system in MOST instances.

For backward compatibility no doubt. Apple hates backward compatibility
in some ways. PC users can still use old oses if they want to. Try
running a pre OSX os on a Mac.

Imagine if MS said that they were going to kill support for all your pre
Windows XP apps? This is pricesly what Apple is doing next year.

Thanks.

I had thought I had come close to resolving my situation. A friend in
the government (consultant) had written me that the government is
EAGER to hire people with my background.

I jumped on the web and did some research, the dozen or so jobs I
found require MORE experience, they're out of state (I won't
relocate), and they require a MINIMUM commitment of 40 hours a week. I
am not prepared at this stage of life to commit to a 40 hour week.

You dont need to meet all qualifications to apply. I have gotten jobs
before that I ddid not meet all the qualifications.

Too old, too tired, too sick.

jw

--
CERM- Church Education Resource Ministries
http://johnw.freeshell.org/bible/
http://johnw.freeshell.org/bible/unbeliever_list.htm

2 Tim 4:2
AIM: Crucifyself03
Spelling and grammar errors left
in for those that
need their life fulfilled by correcting me

 

[jw]

x-no-archive: yes
copyright 2005 John Weatherly all rights reserved. NO portion of this
article can be reproduced in any form anywhere else without express
written consent of the author
Thanks for the suggestion. I just downloaded Opera, which requires
Netware be installed. I liked Opera, but to get multiple windows, you
just buy it. The same Media reporter who mentioned Opera mentioned
another browser he said was the best he knew about, that it only cost
about $40, and he gave the name. "Paradise?" Something with a "P" I
think. I can't remember, and I can't find it in the searches I've
done.

I'd happily switch to another browser. But I don't have the cash to
buy 3 or 4 just to decide on one.


Many
I'll check it out.

I don't believe I ever claimed to be a technician. I am a writer who
has been around computers enough to "know a few things."

And I tried everything BUT the mobo, so I thought I'd swap it out.

They clean
Did that. Once. The next time a virus brought me down, I had no power
with which to format, boot, or do anything else.

It's now in the shop; I'll let my engineer/tech friend figure it out.

jw

 

[Falcon]

Whatever. But he's just cheap. I once had to fix a computer that no
freeware spyware garbage could repair. Only a commercial product could
fix it. Yes the tech who put my folks PC together did not recommend
commercial spyware. He said that because he was an remains ignorant in
some areas. He may have experience, but he lacked a degree in computer
technology. I had to argue with my folks a number of times, but took
matters into my own hands and installed a commercial spyware app
(McAfee) and within 10-15 minutes the spyware was gone and their
computer could once again access the Internet. The spyware prevented
Internet access and none of the freeware spyware garbage that he
installed or that I installed could fix the problem. After that
incident I installed McAfee Anti-Spyware on my PC laptop and dumped all
that freeware garbage. Never had a problem with spyware since and
this was back in December.

I am glad that McAfee works for you but just as an FYI - This page rates McAfee
among the lowest.

http://anti-spyware-review.toptenreviews.com/

Ciao,
Falcon

 

[rogue]

Whatever. But he's just cheap. I once had to fix a computer that no
freeware spyware garbage could repair.

JERRY
Sigh. You are the guy who changed his motherboard because he got a
VIRUS. Somehow, I don't take your word too seriously. But if you want
to use a commercial spyware remover, you can also download the
evaluation version of SpySweeper for free, run it for 30 days. If you
like it, it's available for $29.95. Spy Sweeper is the one winning
nearly all the competitions in spyware removal right now in
side-by-side comparisons of anti-spyware programs.



Only a commercial product could

fix it. Yes the tech who put my folks PC together did not recommend
commercial spyware. He said that because he was an remains ignorant in
some areas. He may have experience, but he lacked a degree in computer
technology.

JERRY
I have a Masters in Comp Sci, but you know what? We didn't talk at all
in any classes about using free spyware removal programs versus
commercial spyware removal programs. Take it for what it's worth. I
also hold the Microsoft certs as well as a CISSP. I think I'm
qualified to know what I'm talking about.

BJ

I had to argue with my folks a number of times, but took

matters into my own hands and installed a commercial spyware app
(McAfee) and within 10-15 minutes the spyware was gone and their
computer could once again access the Internet.

JERRY
And you know what? As much as I love McAfee and use their antivirus
product, their spyware removal stuff ranks below not only the Spy
Sweeper product in removal of spyware, but also below the freeware
spyware programs like Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy, and
doesn't work as well as either of those or the Microsoft free
AntiSpyware program or Pest Patrol or the free eval version of Spy
Sweeper. They may get better, but right now they lag behind in that
field.

BJ
The spyware prevented
Internet access and none of the freeware spyware garbage that he
installed or that I installed could fix the problem. After that
incident I installed McAfee Anti-Spyware on my PC laptop and dumped all
that freeware garbage. Never had a problem with spyware since and
this was back in December.

JERRY
Yet, antispyware programs are like antivirus programs. They only find
and remove what is in their definition files so you are better off to
run more than one to catch everything, or most of everything. On top
of that, some of the top antispyware programs are now starting to
"de-list" or remove some spyware programs from their definitions files
because of the potential for lawsuits from the corporations. One
example is Claria (what used to be called "Gator" which has threatened
legal action and caused at least one well known commercial spyware
removal program to de-list it.

I hear. Wonder how it will compete with mac OSX. Will it be based off
Unix?

JERRY
Nope, it's a continuation of Microsoft code with some new features and
supposedly a new dedication to more secure code. One of the reasons
it's been pushed back to next year is that they keep finding more
security holes to plug. As for competition, Microsoft has pretty much
kicked Apple and Mac's ass all over the playing field for years now.
The additional high cost of a Mac compared to a PC, plus the Mac
software you want to purchase makes it more for the artsy set. I know
a marketing person who prefers a Mac, but most of the people I know
doing number crunching use PC's and most of the Hackers I know use
Linux.

Imagine if MS said that they were going to kill support for all your pre
Windows XP apps? This is pricesly what Apple is doing next year.

JERRY
Not the first time that Apple shot itself in the foot. And
doubtlessly, it won't be the last. For a corporation with some great
ideas, they do some of the dumbest marketing things I have ever seen in
the industry.

 

[rogue]

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copyright 2005 John Weatherly all rights reserved. NO portion of this
article can be reproduced in any form anywhere else without express
written consent of the author

Thanks for the suggestion. I just downloaded Opera, which requires
Netware be installed. I liked Opera, but to get multiple windows, you
just buy it. The same Media reporter who mentioned Opera mentioned
another browser he said was the best he knew about, that it only cost
about $40, and he gave the name. "Paradise?" Something with a "P" I
think. I can't remember, and I can't find it in the searches I've
done.

I'd happily switch to another browser. But I don't have the cash to
buy 3 or 4 just to decide on one.

JERRY
that's what makes Firefox so nice, but I just read a news bit today
that Mozilla is about to go for-profit and may start charging for
Firefox. If nothing else, you can still download it free at
http://www.mozilla.org. I recommend it.

jw
I don't believe I ever claimed to be a technician. I am a writer who
has been around computers enough to "know a few things."

And I tried everything BUT the mobo, so I thought I'd swap it out.

JERRY
Then I mistakenly thought the lines above were attributed to Bible John
who had claimed to be a techie from Silicon Valley. My mistake.

 

[Mike Andrade]

After that
incident I installed McAfee Anti-Spyware on my PC laptop and
dumped all that freeware garbage. Never had a problem with
spyware since and this was back in December.

LOL. Give it a while. You'll be cursing the day you installed
/anything/ from McAfee.

 

[Bible John]

JERRY
Sigh. You are the guy who changed his motherboard because he got a
VIRUS. Somehow, I don't take your word too seriously. But if you want
to use a commercial spyware remover, you can also download the
evaluation version of SpySweeper for free, run it for 30 days. If you
like it, it's available for $29.95. Spy Sweeper is the one winning
nearly all the competitions in spyware removal right now in
side-by-side comparisons of anti-spyware programs.

That was Weatherly. I dont change motherboards on Macs. Who does?


Whatever about the spyware business. I know plenty that had good use of
it. Go on amazon.com and read the reviews. Sure it may not work for
everyone, but so far it does work for me and no freeware would.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent Spyware Product!, August 16, 2004

Reviewer: G. Aguilar (Burbank, Ca. United States) - See all my
reviews

I recently picked up McAfee AntiSpyware after I had an ugly bout with
some nasty spyware. I've been using the free utilities, Ad-Aware and
Spybot: Search and Destroy, for little over a year now and they've
worked well. But as Spyware evolves into more uglier and sneakier forms,
I've noticed that many of the free utilities I use have had problems
permanently erasing spyware. I would get rid of registry keys, then the
next time I scan, it would reappear in the scan. Prior to, I've been a
real big McAfee fan, being a current proud owner of Viruscan and
Firewall. When I heard they had a Spyware program, with a year of free
spyware signature updates, i decided to give it a try. Boy was I
pleased! Within a couple minutes after the install and auto-updates, I
was able to gut out the spyware that Ad-Aware and Spybot weren't able to
do sucessfully on their own. I also found stuff that Ad-Aware and Spybot
totally missed! Includer a browser hijacking program that was muddling
around on my system for who knows how long?! I'm so pleased, I can
already predict that with McAfee's solid background in AntiVirus
protection, this will be a must have product. Another gold notch in the
McCafee series of products!

Was this review helpful to you?

JERRY
Not the first time that Apple shot itself in the foot. And
doubtlessly, it won't be the last. For a corporation with some great
ideas, they do some of the dumbest marketing things I have ever seen in
the industry.

Apple shoots themselves in the foot often. Next year they will be
cutting support for all pre OSX apps, which will not run on their new
Intelmacs. This is very stupid as I have many pre OSX apps, and there
are many cd's and software that has and never ever will be upgraded for
OSX.

I remember when Apple *brilliantly* decided to cut the clones, drop the
newton, remove serial and SCSI ports from their new macs and such.


John

--
CERM- Church Education Resource Ministries
http://johnw.freeshell.org/bible/
http://johnw.freeshell.org/bible/unbeliever_list.htm

2 Tim 4:2
AIM: Crucifyself03
Spelling and grammar errors left
in for those that
need their life fulfilled by correcting me

 

[jw]

x-no-archive: yes
copyright 2005 John Weatherly all rights reserved. NO portion of this
article can be reproduced in any form anywhere else without express
written consent of the author

JERRY
Sigh. You are the guy who changed his motherboard because he got a
VIRUS.

Not exactly. I changed my mobo because I am ADMITTEDLY NOT a
technician. I have never claimed to be anything but a writer with some
25 years in the computer field.

I changed my mobo because my computer went DEAD. I am a "swapper". If
my computer stops working, I start swapping parts. I FIRST swapped
power supplies. When THAT didn't work, I swapped boards; when that
didn't work, I got a 2nd board; when that didn't work, I got a 2nd
power supply.

Somehow, I don't take your word too seriously.

That's fine. I think I have done pretty well over 25 years, and not
only have I successfully built and rebuilt and upgraded and repaired
my share of computers over 25 years, I have successfully built and
upgraded and repaired and programmed (system) computers for lots of
others.

But if you want

to use a commercial spyware remover, you can also download the
evaluation version of SpySweeper for free, run it for 30 days.

I tried it. I used it for the 30 days. I have to be VERY conservative
as my only income is Social Security. I am fully disabled on Social
Security. When the 30 days were up, I went back to Spybot and Ad
Aware, both of which are free and seem to do the job.

But thanks for the advice. And the critique.

If you

like it, it's available for $29.95. Spy Sweeper is the one winning
nearly all the competitions in spyware removal right now in
side-by-side comparisons of anti-spyware programs.

Thanks for the tip. Now that I have discovered how to get a few
additional bucks per month, I will be looking for new hardware AND new
s/w.

Only a commercial product could

JERRY
I have a Masters in Comp Sci, but you know what? We didn't talk at all
in any classes about using free spyware removal programs versus
commercial spyware removal programs. Take it for what it's worth. I
also hold the Microsoft certs as well as a CISSP. I think I'm
qualified to know what I'm talking about.

I am impressed. And my son is right behind you. He's studying to be a
computer engineer, systems tech, and programmer, and he's not even out
of high school yet.

I had to argue with my folks a number of times, but took

JERRY
And you know what? As much as I love McAfee and use their antivirus
product, their spyware removal stuff ranks below not only the Spy
Sweeper product in removal of spyware, but also below the freeware
spyware programs like Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy, and
doesn't work as well as either of those or the Microsoft free
AntiSpyware program or Pest Patrol or the free eval version of Spy
Sweeper. They may get better, but right now they lag behind in that
field.

I'm quite happy with my Spybot and AdAware. When things slow down, I
run my RegCleaner, my Norton System Works for hard drive management,
and then Spybot and AdAware, and then I back up and defrag.

I defragged just the other day, after doing all the above.

JERRY
Yet, antispyware programs are like antivirus programs. They only find
and remove what is in their definition files so you are better off to
run more than one to catch everything, or most of everything. On top
of that, some of the top antispyware programs are now starting to
"de-list" or remove some spyware programs from their definitions files
because of the potential for lawsuits from the corporations. One
example is Claria (what used to be called "Gator" which has threatened
legal action and caused at least one well known commercial spyware
removal program to de-list it.

Now, with AdAware, you can "unlist" Gator, which I do, since I use
Gator a lot. As many sites as I access, I don't like keeping lists and
having to type in a couple dozen IDs and passwords an hour. Likely the
next s/w I'll by is Gator, so I can get rid of the spyware in it.

JERRY
Nope, it's a continuation of Microsoft code with some new features and
supposedly a new dedication to more secure code. One of the reasons
it's been pushed back to next year is that they keep finding more
security holes to plug.

Yep. How many YEARS was "Millennium" delayed? How many years was XP
delayed?

And when I worked for Microsoft, the several times I worked for
Microsoft, they have a LOT of software under their roof that employees
get to use that we DON'T see because they're not secure, or for
whatever reasons. ???

As for competition, Microsoft has pretty much

kicked Apple and Mac's ass all over the playing field for years now.

Yep. Bill Gates continues to be America's richest and dirtiest
un-prosecuted white collar criminal (monopolist). I said 10 years ago,
he was too rich, and Microsoft too BIG for him to be prosecuted. I was
right.

When he finally got prosecuted for STRANGLING Netscape and Sun Systems
to death, he got a slap on the wrist, and last I heard he's spent
several BILLION to AVOID a $500 Million fine!

As I said 10 years ago, Bill Gates has changed the culture, and not in
a good way necessarily.

We used to say, "Crime doesn't pay". Now we have to say, "Crime
doesn't pay... unless you're Bill Gates."

The additional high cost of a Mac compared to a PC, plus the Mac
software you want to purchase makes it more for the artsy set.

My own son was raised by a Mac - dedicated family. He's been using
Macs since Kindergarten. He recently was FORCED to switch his
attention to IBM to "keep up" with his classes, which are ALL PC
based.

I know

a marketing person who prefers a Mac, but most of the people I know
doing number crunching use PC's and most of the Hackers I know use
Linux.

I seem to recall ONE bank that went Mac. Last I checked, Bank of
America uses networked Macs. But that's an old contract issue.
They did! As of the release of .... 98 ? they no longer support
DOS.

Since I'm a DOS guy from the 8088 days, I miss my DOS. Tough! Now I
finally acquired another copy of DOS 6 at a rummage sale, but I have
no machine to load it onto.

I really enjoyed playing with bat files. That old black screen with
amber type brings back SUCH fond memories.

(I'm lying through my teeth)


Oh, well!

This is pricesly what Apple is doing next year.

JERRY
Not the first time that Apple shot itself in the foot. And
doubtlessly, it won't be the last. For a corporation with some great
ideas, they do some of the dumbest marketing things I have ever seen in
the industry.

Like I saw my first "Next" computer. The shop I was working in had a
Next in the back office / lab testing it. The tech liked me, so he
snuck out and dragged me to the back to show it to me. (it was
SUPPOSED to be a secret project for Next/Steve Jobs).

My FIRST question was, "Um..... where's the floppy drive?" (before CD
ROM drives)

the tech said, "Don't need one. It comes with all the Software
installed.."

I asked, "But how do you load your 10 Mb (this was some 15 years ago ?
or so) of data?"

He looked at me with a totally blank expression. Then the light
dawned.

'Good point," he frowned.

"Next generation," I suppose he finally said.


Can you IMAGINE the HUNDREDS of MILLIONS Steve BORROWED to invest in
developing the Next, and he didn't have any mechanism to load s/w or
data?

Good grief!


jw

 

[JohnH]

LOL. Give it a while. You'll be cursing the day you installed
/anything/ from McAfee.

How long a period of time would be fair, Mike?

JohnH

 

[jw]

x-no-archive: yes
copyright 2005 John Weatherly all rights reserved. NO portion of this
article can be reproduced in any form anywhere else without express
written consent of the author

JERRY
that's what makes Firefox so nice, but I just read a news bit today
that Mozilla is about to go for-profit and may start charging for
Firefox. If nothing else, you can still download it free at
http://www.mozilla.org. I recommend it.



JERRY
Then I mistakenly thought the lines above were attributed to Bible John
who had claimed to be a techie from Silicon Valley. My mistake.

Yes, Bible John (BJ) is the minister/seminary student/"techie" from
Silicon Valley.

I am "jw" or John Weatherly, the former tech writer, now disabled
(bi-polar) who spent some 25 years documenting and working in the
computer industry, working on such projects as the Boeing 777, the
Space Station, DOD apps, etc. But JUST a writer who has learned a LOT
about the "mechanics" of computers over 25 years.

So if you had meant to address this to Bible John (John Wolf), you
aimed it at jw (John Weatherly) instead.

Sorry for the confusion. It's happening a lot. Then there are the
mental dwarfs who are imitating both of us and making all kinds of
fuss.

Another tip that it's me, jw, is that I x-no archive everything, and I
also copyright everything.

BTW, I just d/l d FireFox, so I must now sign off to install it.

I'll get back to you when I've "test flown it."

jw

 

[jw]

x-no-archive: yes
copyright 2005 John Weatherly all rights reserved. NO portion of this
article can be reproduced in any form anywhere else without express
written consent of the author

JERRY
that's what makes Firefox so nice, but I just read a news bit today
that Mozilla is about to go for-profit and may start charging for
Firefox. If nothing else, you can still download it free at
http://www.mozilla.org. I recommend it.

Thanks for the tip on FireFox. I'm running it now. I like that it
looks just like MS IE thus far. I HATE having to learn new s/w.

jw

 

[Mike Andrade]

How long a period of time would be fair, Mike?

Depends on how one uses one's computer.