Chas, I started a thread here called "Tips and Tricks" or something like that a good while back. It has some gems. You can search for it and find it. I and others shared several things about PC's (not sure about Macs, though).
Anyway, as you may be seeing, Google has revolutioned the world in some ways IMHO. These days, if one is determined, you can find out just about anything about anything. Truly information is now at our fingertips. It is a more level palying field I think as it should be. "Tech Support" has never been easier. Forget the dreaded calls to Dell or Microsoft. The world community usually has the answers.
For example, you can find out all you would ever need to know about Spyware by research on Google. You might discover that Ad Aware is no longer the leader in the Spyware fighting battle. There are many now. I prefer using several but I do not prefer to have any of them running as a "security guard" in the background. (I want to free every bit of resource I can get.)
Another example, recently our little daughter ruined a monitor by running a magnet over the screen. I actually found a technique on Google that fixes the problem. It was written by a guy who, by trial and error, discovered it. He is not even sure why it works. It involved 2 magnets duct taped to drill. It worked like a charm!
And if a person wants to find out about a religious group and their history, for example The Way International, they might do a Google search. They will find volumes of information. Not much of it appears to be good.
John R.
Oh, and I love that Fonts site you mentioned. Thanks for sharing it!
Yes, I remember the thread you started about tips and tricks, which was excellent, but I was thinking about something that consisted more of resources, etc. I guess I was inspired by the most recent edition of PC World, and by the new iMac I have, which I don't have to w-o-r-k as hard for to update update update, fix fix fix, tinker, tinker, tinker with....
Of course Google is now the leader of search engines, but have you ever tried Dogpile? Sometimes I've found that I need different results than what Google would bring up, especially if I'm looking for a really hard-to-find item. For example, I recently bought a vintage bass guitar that has no case. It's huge - the headstock could double as a dinnertable - but finding a case for it has been a booger. Nothing on eBay - I've looked daily. A search with Google gave results, but not what I was looking for exactly. Dogpile worked when nothing else did.
Moral of the story: Don't limit yourself to Google. There's still other meta search engines out that that work great.
igotout - thanks for sharing your stuff... Yes, this stuff is on the 'net, but there's also a lot of crapola that you wouldn't want to touch with a 10 foot pole - WinFixer 2000, anyone? -- So I defer to guys like you who know your schtuff but don't talk down to wanna-be techies like me who love learning about this sort of thing - which brings me full circle to why I like this forum!
By the way, I just got a new position at the hospital where I work as a computer operator - backing up the servers, logging down time, doing help desk calls, etc. - it's per diem, third shift (for 10 frekkin' hours, but it pays the bills). (I had my hours cut badly in December - had to do something - at least this is better than scrubbin' toilets or scooping Jell-o - imo.) Anyhow, on my want to techy-dom!
===========
If anyone's in the market for a refirb iPod, Apple Store has them at up to 42% off MSRP on some models - If you're in the doghouse from Valentine's Day, this could redeem you!
Winfixer 2000 is malicious spyware and is extremely difficult to remove in my experience. If you have that infection you need more than the usual Spyware fighting programs to get rid of it.
Never click on pop ups that come on your screen.
And try to block spyware before it can even get to you. Use a prevention approach rather than a scanning approach. (Or both) One I like that does this is the free Spywareblaster. With all these programs you have to keep them updated.
My sister downloaded and installed WinFixer 2000 thinking she'd done a good thing...
She was about to bring her PC to the Best Buy techs for fixin', but called me to see if I could help... She had pop-up springing up so fast-n-furious that we couldn't have Explorer open to download McAfee and/or Mozilla's FireFox. She wasn't using a pop-up blocker, and was using an old version of PCillian.
I ended up having to put FireFox and McAfee on a flash drive, install them, run the scans - several times - and ta-da! (Kid sister was finally good for something!) It took a while, but we got there. McAfee found over 400 spyware files the first time - and several more with other scans. It seems her teenagers (she's got 3 of 'em - gawd help her!) were using LimeWire - they had downloaded tons of crap. (Aunt Chas has a little chat with them after that!) She was also running Windows ME - we upgraded that to XP Home (really need Professional, but we is po' right now!)
So, that's my WinFixer story...
And, you may wonder how I knew to use McAfee...
It was HOURS of reading and research on how to get rid of it without spending a ton of money, after hubby had downloaded it, thinking he'd done a good thing! GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRR!
In case anyone wants a timer program I found one I love. It's called NeverForget.
You can post appointments for any month in the year, and set a reminder so you don't forget somebody' birthday. Or you can use it daily....when you're engrossed in something and forget to watch the clock it will remind you. It also will keep track of time you work on something too.
There is no fee for trial, but a small one if you purchace the program.
Another example, recently our little daughter ruined a monitor by running a magnet over the screen. I actually found a technique on Google that fixes the problem. It was written by a guy who, by trial and error, discovered it. He is not even sure why it works. It involved 2 magnets duct taped to drill. It worked like a charm!
That's so COOL!
What that guy did was essentially the same thing that audio technicians do when they demagnetize a tape head. The same thing could have been done with one electromagnet running on AC power. Either technique works best if the demagnifier is gradually removed while it is still on.
Instead of searching regular web pages, it searches forums and other groups like these. Has answered most any question I have had so far.
As for spyware.. I prefer the deny by default method of security, rather than allow by default and "hope" the spyware/antivirus software picks it up. Most spyware is installed as a BHO (Browser Helper Object), thus disabling Active-X downloads and installs (under Tools -> Internet Options -> Security tab -> Custom Level in IE) usually will block 99% of any real spyware trying to install. That leaves only unpatched exploits which is a rare thing as long as you keep your computer pacthed and updated (Including Macs!).
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igotout
Chas, I started a thread here called "Tips and Tricks" or something like that a good while back. It has some gems. You can search for it and find it. I and others shared several things about PC's (not sure about Macs, though).
Anyway, as you may be seeing, Google has revolutioned the world in some ways IMHO. These days, if one is determined, you can find out just about anything about anything. Truly information is now at our fingertips. It is a more level palying field I think as it should be. "Tech Support" has never been easier. Forget the dreaded calls to Dell or Microsoft. The world community usually has the answers.
For example, you can find out all you would ever need to know about Spyware by research on Google. You might discover that Ad Aware is no longer the leader in the Spyware fighting battle. There are many now. I prefer using several but I do not prefer to have any of them running as a "security guard" in the background. (I want to free every bit of resource I can get.)
Another example, recently our little daughter ruined a monitor by running a magnet over the screen. I actually found a technique on Google that fixes the problem. It was written by a guy who, by trial and error, discovered it. He is not even sure why it works. It involved 2 magnets duct taped to drill. It worked like a charm!
And if a person wants to find out about a religious group and their history, for example The Way International, they might do a Google search. They will find volumes of information. Not much of it appears to be good.
John R.
Oh, and I love that Fonts site you mentioned. Thanks for sharing it!
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ChasUFarley
Thanks for the post -
Yes, I remember the thread you started about tips and tricks, which was excellent, but I was thinking about something that consisted more of resources, etc. I guess I was inspired by the most recent edition of PC World, and by the new iMac I have, which I don't have to w-o-r-k as hard for to update update update, fix fix fix, tinker, tinker, tinker with....
Of course Google is now the leader of search engines, but have you ever tried Dogpile? Sometimes I've found that I need different results than what Google would bring up, especially if I'm looking for a really hard-to-find item. For example, I recently bought a vintage bass guitar that has no case. It's huge - the headstock could double as a dinnertable - but finding a case for it has been a booger. Nothing on eBay - I've looked daily. A search with Google gave results, but not what I was looking for exactly. Dogpile worked when nothing else did.
Moral of the story: Don't limit yourself to Google. There's still other meta search engines out that that work great.
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CM
a few
http://www.annoyances.org/
http://www.dougknox.com/index.html
http://www.geekstogo.com/
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/default.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsg...us/default.aspx
http://www.anetforums.com/forums.aspx
some forums are not what they appear when you find them
some require registration, i don't do those usually
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markomalley
http://www.spybot.info/ -- spybot search and destroy. IMHO, better product than Adaware. But, that's just IMHO.
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm -- block unwanted parasites, banner ads, popups, popunders, etc., through a modified HOSTS file. Works amazingly well!
http://www.samspade.org -- classic site for doing some high-order forensics.
http://www.geobutton.com/IpLocator.htm?GetLocation -- find the location of a host by examining its IP address. (Warning: not 100% correct, but useful as long as you keep that in mind)
http://www.sarangworld.com/TRACEROUTE/ -- same concept as above -- similar accuracy as above
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igotout
Awesome sites. See what I mean? All on the Internet. There are hundreds more. Easy to find. If a person REALLY wants to.
But to some this stuff is as interesting to them as Knitting would be to me.
They get very glassy eyed over it.
I can't blame them. They are probably normal.
So they can ask their friends like some of us who love this stuff to help them.
We might even do so for free for a nice cup of coffee.
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igotout
Oh, and I'll contribute a few as well:
Shields Up - test how secure your computer is
Go to Start / Run and type in MSCONFIG hit enter. Now go to the tab called Startup.
Surprise!!! All those things are starting up every time you start your computer.
No wonder you have problems!!! Maybe you should uncheck some of thos suckers. Maybe NOT.
Wanna know what they are? Where they came from? Go here and in the search window type the name of the file in question:
Startup Explanations & descriptions.
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topoftheworld
Pretty cool, Igotout! That might have helped with some problems I've experienced lately. I did checked out "Stealthy", though-good to veify.
BTW-I love GoogleMap! Thanks!
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moony3424
I started using dogpile.com for research for some of my classes.
As far as spyware, I've used Spybot Search & Distroy for a few years now. I first heard about it on Tech TV.
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dmiller
Dogpile is a GREAT site!! Thanks! :)
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ChasUFarley
igotout - thanks for sharing your stuff... Yes, this stuff is on the 'net, but there's also a lot of crapola that you wouldn't want to touch with a 10 foot pole - WinFixer 2000, anyone? -- So I defer to guys like you who know your schtuff but don't talk down to wanna-be techies like me who love learning about this sort of thing - which brings me full circle to why I like this forum!
By the way, I just got a new position at the hospital where I work as a computer operator - backing up the servers, logging down time, doing help desk calls, etc. - it's per diem, third shift (for 10 frekkin' hours, but it pays the bills). (I had my hours cut badly in December - had to do something - at least this is better than scrubbin' toilets or scooping Jell-o - imo.) Anyhow, on my want to techy-dom!
===========
If anyone's in the market for a refirb iPod, Apple Store has them at up to 42% off MSRP on some models - If you're in the doghouse from Valentine's Day, this could redeem you!
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igotout
Winfixer 2000 is malicious spyware and is extremely difficult to remove in my experience. If you have that infection you need more than the usual Spyware fighting programs to get rid of it.
Never click on pop ups that come on your screen.
And try to block spyware before it can even get to you. Use a prevention approach rather than a scanning approach. (Or both) One I like that does this is the free Spywareblaster. With all these programs you have to keep them updated.
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ChasUFarley
My sister downloaded and installed WinFixer 2000 thinking she'd done a good thing...
She was about to bring her PC to the Best Buy techs for fixin', but called me to see if I could help... She had pop-up springing up so fast-n-furious that we couldn't have Explorer open to download McAfee and/or Mozilla's FireFox. She wasn't using a pop-up blocker, and was using an old version of PCillian.
I ended up having to put FireFox and McAfee on a flash drive, install them, run the scans - several times - and ta-da! (Kid sister was finally good for something!) It took a while, but we got there. McAfee found over 400 spyware files the first time - and several more with other scans. It seems her teenagers (she's got 3 of 'em - gawd help her!) were using LimeWire - they had downloaded tons of crap. (Aunt Chas has a little chat with them after that!) She was also running Windows ME - we upgraded that to XP Home (really need Professional, but we is po' right now!)
So, that's my WinFixer story...
And, you may wonder how I knew to use McAfee...
It was HOURS of reading and research on how to get rid of it without spending a ton of money, after hubby had downloaded it, thinking he'd done a good thing! GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRR!
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WordWolf
Ok, let's see.
Free security stuff.
AdAware.
Run this to find dataminers and stuff.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Spybot:Search and Destroy.
Run a scan, plus block sites and prevent malware installation.
http://www.safer-networking.org/
SpywareBlaster.
Immunize your PC against malware.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Regscrub XP
Clean your registry of invalid entries.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2048
Firewall.
ZoneAlarm.
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/comp...reeDownload.jsp
Antivirus.
AVG, the most user-friendly antivirus.
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus...e/lng/us/tpl/v5
Avira Antivirus.
Better than AVG and a smaller, leaner program.
http://www.free-av.com/
Avast!
Better than Avira, but bigger.
http://www.avast.com/
============
Office suites.
OpenOffice.
http://www.openoffice.org/
Abiword Word Processor.
http://www.abisource.com/
CutePDF.
Turns text files into PDFs.
http://www.cutepdf.com/
GIMP.
Free image-editing software. Windows Version here.
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html
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krys
In case anyone wants a timer program I found one I love. It's called NeverForget.
You can post appointments for any month in the year, and set a reminder so you don't forget somebody' birthday. Or you can use it daily....when you're engrossed in something and forget to watch the clock it will remind you. It also will keep track of time you work on something too.
There is no fee for trial, but a small one if you purchace the program.
NeverForget
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Mike
That's so COOL!
What that guy did was essentially the same thing that audio technicians do when they demagnetize a tape head. The same thing could have been done with one electromagnet running on AC power. Either technique works best if the demagnifier is gradually removed while it is still on.
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TrustAndObey
Sounds like some good sites.
My favorite is always Google groups. (http://groups.google.com/)
Instead of searching regular web pages, it searches forums and other groups like these. Has answered most any question I have had so far.
As for spyware.. I prefer the deny by default method of security, rather than allow by default and "hope" the spyware/antivirus software picks it up. Most spyware is installed as a BHO (Browser Helper Object), thus disabling Active-X downloads and installs (under Tools -> Internet Options -> Security tab -> Custom Level in IE) usually will block 99% of any real spyware trying to install. That leaves only unpatched exploits which is a rare thing as long as you keep your computer pacthed and updated (Including Macs!).
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