Prayer for John Weatherly's computer problems

[Bible Bob]

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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,

I have Firefox installed, but use Explorer because Firefox doesn't
load everything. I do use Firefox Thunderbird for email and it is
fantastic. It screens all my emails (couple hundred a day) and leaves
me only the stuff I want.



Non-commercial website where everything is free.
http://www.biblebob.net


BB

 

[rogue]

I have Firefox installed, but use Explorer because Firefox doesn't
load everything. I do use Firefox Thunderbird for email and it is
fantastic. It screens all my emails (couple hundred a day) and leaves
me only the stuff I want.

JERRY
I've noticed that in some cases web pages are written in such a way
that they exclusively only will work with IE. One example of this is
Microsoft's Windows Update page. When you try to run it from Firefox,
it gives you an error. Also, if I click on some links, they will
specifically call up IE to load the page instead of Firefox, which I
have set as default.

You won't be able to get away from IE 100% but you can use Firefox to
stop a lot of your spyware problem.

I've downloaded Thunderbird but haven't installed it yet. I may do
that with the laptop this weekend just to play with the software a bit
and see if I like it.

 

[jw]

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written consent of the author

JERRY
I've noticed that in some cases web pages are written in such a way
that they exclusively only will work with IE. One example of this is
Microsoft's Windows Update page. When you try to run it from Firefox,
it gives you an error. Also, if I click on some links, they will
specifically call up IE to load the page instead of Firefox, which I
have set as default.

You won't be able to get away from IE 100% but you can use Firefox to
stop a lot of your spyware problem.

I've downloaded Thunderbird but haven't installed it yet. I may do
that with the laptop this weekend just to play with the software a bit
and see if I like it.

I'm running FireFox now, and it seems to be working fine. I am
philosophically opposed to running any Microsoft software I don't
absolutely have to have. I LOVE Windows XP Pro, and I love the Office
Suite, but I'd just as soon not use Outlook or IE.

What is Thunderbird? I saw it when I downloaded FireFox.

And, by the way, I got my computer back this evening-- only 24 hrs
after I sent it out. It turned out to be a minor problem. I had
shorted out the mobo w/o realizing it. My attempt to "insulate it" had
done the exact opposite. When my buddy removed my "rubber tape",
everything booted up just fine.

So it was a VERY inexpensive fix, though the numerous crashes and
playing with the CPU have damaged my CPU, so I am bidding on another
on ebay at this very moment. I didn't like the CPU ANYWAY.

Thanks to all for your prayers!

I'm presently downloading the HDD, and then I'll format and reinstall
it for the new system; to "fix" the system, I had r n r'd the mobo
with a brand new one, I upped the RAM, and put in a new Video card.
The system that's on the HDD right now won't drive all the new stuff
without a full reload.

Good grief!

Sometimes computers are like spouses! Can't live WITH 'em, can't live
without 'em.


jw

 

[Bible Bob]

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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


I'm running FireFox now, and it seems to be working fine. I am
philosophically opposed to running any Microsoft software I don't
absolutely have to have. I LOVE Windows XP Pro, and I love the Office
Suite, but I'd just as soon not use Outlook or IE.

What is Thunderbird? I saw it when I downloaded FireFox.

And, by the way, I got my computer back this evening-- only 24 hrs
after I sent it out. It turned out to be a minor problem. I had
shorted out the mobo w/o realizing it. My attempt to "insulate it" had
done the exact opposite. When my buddy removed my "rubber tape",
everything booted up just fine.

So it was a VERY inexpensive fix, though the numerous crashes and
playing with the CPU have damaged my CPU, so I am bidding on another
on ebay at this very moment. I didn't like the CPU ANYWAY.

Thanks to all for your prayers!

I'm presently downloading the HDD, and then I'll format and reinstall
it for the new system; to "fix" the system, I had r n r'd the mobo
with a brand new one, I upped the RAM, and put in a new Video card.
The system that's on the HDD right now won't drive all the new stuff
without a full reload.

Good grief!

Sometimes computers are like spouses! Can't live WITH 'em, can't live
without 'em.


jw

jw,

Thunderbird is a replacement for Outlook Express that does what OE
does and more. It has excellent junk filtering which is better that
OE's filters. Thunderbird learns what is spam as it receives email.

Live without a wife? That can be done. Live wiithout a computer?
Never.



Non-commercial website where everything is free.
http://www.biblebob.net


BB

 

[JohnH]

Depends on how one uses one's computer.

It's just that I've been using the McAfee Security Center (with
VirusScan, Personal Firewall Plus, Privacy Service, and SpamKiller)
since January, and I haven't had any problems with it. So, I'm curious
now, what should I be looking out for?

 

[jw]

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It's just that I've been using the McAfee Security Center (with
VirusScan, Personal Firewall Plus, Privacy Service, and SpamKiller)
since January, and I haven't had any problems with it. So, I'm curious
now, what should I be looking out for?

If you're going to have problems, be looking for viruses that "get
through". You should get a flash or popup that you are infected.

If you don't, and you don't get messages that "an intruder has been
blocked", you are fine.

Of course, there's always "tomorrow."


jw

 

[Mike Andrade]

It's just that I've been using the McAfee Security Center (with
VirusScan, Personal Firewall Plus, Privacy Service, and
SpamKiller) since January, and I haven't had any problems with it.
So, I'm curious now, what should I be looking out for?

As I said, it depends on how you use your computer. Generally,
however, McAfee will use enormous amounts of ram. If you
infrequently do multi-tasking that will probably not be much of a
problem for you. In general, most people will never know what a
lousy program McAfee is because of their computing habits. If you do
very little downloading of files, for example, you may never notice
it.

 

[JohnH]

As I said, it depends on how you use your computer. Generally,
however, McAfee will use enormous amounts of ram. If you
infrequently do multi-tasking that will probably not be much of a
problem for you. In general, most people will never know what a
lousy program McAfee is because of their computing habits. If you do
very little downloading of files, for example, you may never notice
it.

Well, so far, so good, anyway. Thanks.

 

[JohnH]

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If you're going to have problems, be looking for viruses that "get
through". You should get a flash or popup that you are infected.

If you don't, and you don't get messages that "an intruder has been
blocked", you are fine.

Of course, there's always "tomorrow."

Well, I've been quite pleased with the McAfee Security Center so far.
I used to rely on Norton in the past, but over the years, I began to
see that it was no longer "all that."

JohnH

jw

<snipped>

 

[jw]

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Well, I've been quite pleased with the McAfee Security Center so far.
I used to rely on Norton in the past, but over the years, I began to
see that it was no longer "all that."

I used McAfee BRIEFLY until I had too many problems with other
software that wouldn't run, like MANY of my games.

As I've often said, I'm a gamer. And when I can't run 2 of 3 of my
games, I look for the problem. It was McAffee.

"bye bye Mcaffee!"

jw

 

[jw]

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As I said, it depends on how you use your computer. Generally,
however, McAfee will use enormous amounts of ram. If you
infrequently do multi-tasking that will probably not be much of a
problem for you. In general, most people will never know what a
lousy program McAfee is because of their computing habits. If you do
very little downloading of files, for example, you may never notice
it.

I ran a computer lab in my building for 10 months. I was selected as
the system maintenance person because I knew how, and I was the guy
who volunteered.

I was also loading a dozen games on the machines to run while I did
the maintenance.

I found that with McAffee, I couldn't run it and my games.

It couldn't even be ON my computer(s) if I had RAM intensive, CPU
intensive games on as well.

If you are heavy-duty down loader (some games run almost a gig in
size), or if you are a heavy-duty gamer (I can play for HOURS and
HOURs and HOURS), Mcaffee isn't a compatible program.


jw

 

[Falcon]

It's just that I've been using the McAfee Security Center (with
VirusScan, Personal Firewall Plus, Privacy Service, and SpamKiller)
since January, and I haven't had any problems with it.

That is how the passengers on the Titanic felt as they steamed out of port.

So, I'm curious now, what should I be looking out for?

Actually, McAfee is not quite as bad as Nortons so that is the good news. You
should be looking for all sorts of problems - Strange re-boots,
blue-screen-of-death, locking up, applications not starting, huge amounts of
memory hogging, and ... oh wait, sorry, that would be Microsoft. Actually,
McAfee is better than it used to be. During the days of Win3.1/Win95/Win98 I
used to do side work for a local ISP, writing software and such. As part of
that I would make house calls to subscribers who could not connect and so forth.
Naturally I would usually find all sorts of things haywire and work on those as
well. One common thing I found was that if I disabled McAfee anti-virus it
would help in about 5% of the problems. However, that was then and as I said,
they are improved now as far as I know. However, I still consider McAfee an
abomination (I think I read that in Leviticus or someplace) second only to
Nortons.

Ciao,
Falcon

 

[Mike Andrade]

Well, I've been quite pleased with the McAfee Security Center so
far. I used to rely on Norton in the past, but over the years, I
began to see that it was no longer "all that."

Norton is only slightly worse than McAfee. You'll see.

 

[rogue]

I'm running FireFox now, and it seems to be working fine. I am
philosophically opposed to running any Microsoft software I don't
absolutely have to have. I LOVE Windows XP Pro, and I love the Office
Suite, but I'd just as soon not use Outlook or IE.

JERRY
Sometime if you get daring and decide to change OS's to something like
Linux, you can replace the Office Suite with OpenOffice. Firefox is
also compiled for Linux, as is Thunderbird.

jw
What is Thunderbird? I saw it when I downloaded FireFox.

JERRY
It's an email client as BB says, like Outlook Express, but much better.
And, because the Mozilla apps don't use macro code like the Microsoft
stuff, you aren't in danger from any of the macro viruses running
around. Also, 99.7% of virus writers are targeting Microsoft systems
(the remainder are targeting Macs) so if you move to something like
Linux, you don't have to worry about viruses, at least in the near
term. And as long as Linux isn't drawing the kind of market that MS
does, that should continue for a long time.

The downside is that Linux is not yet nearly as intuitive for the
average user as MS. It's still in some ways a "techie" OS. That's
changing slowly. Mandriva (combination of Mandrake and Connectiva
distros, which have merged) has a very simple install and a very easy
to use desktop. The difference lies in learning to download, unzip and
install new apps, but once you learn that, it's not bad at all. The
aforementioned Linux Format magazine from the UK has a format that is
intended for all users from the newbies to the experts. I can honestly
say that I can recommend their magazine if you are curious about Linux
at all.

jw
And, by the way, I got my computer back this evening-- only 24 hrs
after I sent it out. It turned out to be a minor problem. I had
shorted out the mobo w/o realizing it. My attempt to "insulate it" had
done the exact opposite. When my buddy removed my "rubber tape",
everything booted up just fine.

JERRY
LOL. Glad that it wasn't anything serious.

 

[Grinder]

JERRY
Sometime if you get daring and decide to change OS's
to something like Linux, you can replace the Office
Suite with OpenOffice. Firefox is also compiled for
Linux, as is Thunderbird.

[snip]

OpenOffice is also available for Windows.

 

[Muffin]

I found that with McAffee, I couldn't run it and my games.

So you ask for charitable help and prayers to buy a computer and spend
time and money on computer games

Seems that your son has at least learnt something from his dad!

 

[jw]

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So you ask for charitable help and prayers to buy a computer and spend
time and money on computer games

I notice that AGAIN you haven't bothered to ASK me what I am doing;
you merely STATE what you have deduced (incorrectly) that I am doing.

And the games I BUY are usually off ebay or Amazon and cost $5 or
less. I have contented myself the last 10 years or more with the
demos.

And in the last month, one of my building "neighbors" has GIVEN me
probably 50 WONDERFUL games he "had grown tired of."

His charity was my bonanza!

Little stuff like Ghost Recon (2003 Game of the Year), Comanche Gold,
etc.

Seems that your son has at least learnt something from his dad!

Oh, if you'd only get beyond your ASSUMPTIONS.

In the past 2 years, I have not spent $100 on games.

jw

 

[JohnH]

Norton is only slightly worse than McAfee. You'll see.

I don't doubt what you're saying, Mike. When my subscription runs out,
I guess it would be wise for me to scour the Internet to find the
better alternative, or alternatives. Ironically or even strangely
enough, this conversation reminds me no little bit about which Bible
version is the best one. There's never a clear consensus, the result
of which is that I have a bookshelf filled with different Bibles, as is
my laptop. This is not a bad thing, but every Sunday morning, I always
have to decide: "Well, which Bible do I take, this time?" I even
purchased a parallel version with four versions within one. The
problem with that one volume is that, even though the type-set is
smaller, the blasted thing is still heavier and bulkier than all the
rest. Well, there's always Laskik surgery and weight-lifting, I guess.

Oh, and if you're thinking that I've digressed here, Mike, then let me
just add one more thing: "Good thinking, but it's by pure design."

JohnH

 

[::: vera :::]

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

Amen.


Peace,

::::::: vera :::::::
========================================
::::::: http://www.acc-growing-deeper.de :::::::
::::::: http://www.acc-growing-deeper.de/Israel.htm :::::::
::::::: http://www.e-sword.net :::::::

 

[Rob Perkins]

"Well, which Bible do I take, this time?" I even
purchased a parallel version with four versions within one.

Take an original KJV, of course, and impress all your friends with the
ability to correctly pronounce "shew".

:-D

Rob, who brings his laptop to church with the Bibles on it