- Daniel's Tweets for 2009-09-16 ~ http://ping.fm/AuNRB #
- How to remove junkware ~ http://ping.fm/Hq5lr #
- Wednesday? #
- A nice article from National Geographic regarding 'The Lost Symbol'. http://tinyurl.com/rdullv #danbrown #
- Stop H1N1 fear mongering by mainstream media: http://bit.ly/C70Vf #
- Man, I'm hungry. #
- Hokay, enough time to make a quick sammich and finalize the press release. #
- 3 hours until our Jaycees meeting. woo hoo #
- My weekly drivel at the Register-News. RT: @MVRN: Ask a Geek: Why are you still carrying house keys? http://bit.ly/YL8St #
- RT: @BigKevsView: Just did another show and it was actually somewhat organized! Come listen to the Crew at http://www.bigkev.us. #
Archive: September, 2009
I was having a case of writer’s block, and Mr. Hall suggested that I write about this subject.
When you buy a new PC, there is often a large amount of software trials included for you to sample and use. This is not such a bad thing if done properly. We consumers get a price break (you don’t think Dell loads that junk for free, do you?) and we can try out software that we might not know about or use on our own.
Remember, I said if it is done properly this is not a bad thing. Unfortunately most PC manufacturers load this junk software (junkware) on the operating system without providing any way to dump it. That problem is not the proper way to conduct this type of advertising.
In my opinion, when you buy a PC, it is yours. You should have the right to use it as you see fit with whatever software and customizations you choose. Not whatever junk the PC manufacturers are paid to put on the PC. Microsoft, Dell, and others do not seem to feel this way however. So, now on to how to remove the garbage.
The most simple way to remove this junk is to use Windows’ Add/Remove Software ability within your Control Panel. You should be able to use this functionality to see a list of all programs installed on your computer. Using this window, simply select the offending program and choose ‘remove’.
In a perfect world, that would handle everything and the junk would now be gone. We do not live in a perfect world, and that is not the end of some software. AOL is particularly bad about hiding in a folder and then re-installing itself or popping-up on your screen. Some other software is as bad or getting to the point of AOL, however.
To help you through making your PC truly yours, I recommend a program with a name which I hope does not offend you: PC Decrapifier (http://tinyurl.com/3yywu7). It is a great tool to remove junk from your PC. I have used this software many times with great results, however you use at your own risk as always. PC D* is free for personal use, but please consider a donation if it works for you. People make software and give it out freely to help everyone, but they need to eat too.
- Daniel's Tweets for 2009-09-15 ~ http://ping.fm/nWHA0 #
- Can/should I run more than one antivirus program? ~ http://ping.fm/96aBU #
- Long breaks from school and work do not seem worth it for a virus that now seems to cause mostly mild illness – CDC's flu chief, Nancy Cox. #
- Long breaks from school and work do not seem worth it for a virus that now seems to cause mostly mild illness, – CDC's flu chief, Nancy Cox #
- Off to see the wizard. #
- Watching 'How It's Made'. I'm a wild man, somebody call the cops. #
- RT: @mtvjaycees: Selling pizzas as a fundraiser. They are delicious and tasty. Contact any member to get yours! #
- WOLVERINES!!! About 9:45 or so. #
Baseball Mom has a situation where her children ‘accidentally’ installed a second software on her home PC. This happens more and more every day as our kids grow up around technology and often know how to use computers and the Internet better than we do.
Can you do it? Probably. Some antivirus programs contain a check to see if there is other protection software present, and others do not. In this case, Norton did not check to see if there was protection present and installed itself.
Now, should you do it? In my opinion, nope. My reasoning is that the software will possibly ‘fight’ about which is actually supposed to be protecting the system. This can make for system resources being hogged by both programs that are attempting to do the same job. This amounts to your system performing double-duty on a task that should only require one or the other program to be active.
The second reason to not double-up on antivirus software is that you will have false positives and run the risk of one program destroying the other. Antivirus programs use definitions of viruses to check your PC and remove any bugs that might sneak in past your firewall (you are running one, aren’t you?).
If you have two antivirus programs keeping you protected, when one scans files it should find the definitions from the other software. This may result in a scary moment where you are advised you have a virus. You don’t, but the definition matches, and the program is not smart enough to know the definition is not a real virus. The false-virus is then deleted, making your first program less effective.
Later, your first program scans and finds the definitions from the second program. Again, you are told you have a virus, and delete the bad file. The end result is that neither works as it should, possibly leaving you even less protected since you think you are safe and may be a little more careless with your activity.
So, the short version is that you should not be running two antivirus programs. They will bog down valuable resources and work against each other, hurting you. What you should be doing, is using Windows’ Automatic Update, install a firewall, use an antivirus program (ONE), and not go to questionable sites.
- Daniel's Tweets for 2009-09-14 ~ http://ping.fm/GhXLW #
- Your browser, or How I learned to love the Internet ~ http://ping.fm/Tsyn3 #
- Welcome to Monday – there is no escape. #
- There is definitely something to be said for having the house to yourself. #
- House of Horror may actually come together. Still could use some scary people though. #
- Why does Decoding the Past have to pick on Freemasons? #
