software to avoid

[accordztech]

actually its an ok program, but id rather get norton personal fire wall versus norton internet security...

at first these things are a pain in the butt..but once its configured its good to go...

right now i run norton personal firewall...i like it...

[cp[mike]]

norton system works is the biggest pile of shit ive ever used. NEVER install it, EVER. stick w/ norton antivirus, and thats it...

[ACCLUDE91]

DON'T USE MICROSOFT WINDOWS UNLESS
1. YOU HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE
2. YOU ARE COMPUTER ILLITERATE
In the words of RedHat "would you buy a car with the hood welded shut?" Windows is an operating system that has all it's hardcore key components hidden and inaccessable by most users. So the most important shit is not accessable. I suggest using an OS that's under the GNU license (world-wide freeware) like Linux. It will do everything Windows will do but it will do it quicker, more acurately, with more options, and there's no hidden files. It's all accessable and all fully customizable. There's virtually no viruses that affect it. It doesn't crash "for no reason" like Windows does. It offers much more compatibility and support for devices. It INCLUDES, for free, programs that do just about everything you could imagine. It's open source which means anyone can use it, write code for it, change it, whatever and noone owns it so it will always be free. That means that you have a world full of Linux programmers easily accessable. Anyways, enough ranting about how bad Microsoft sux....but if you got a spare 4-5GB partition, I suggest at least trying Linux. It's not for the average retarded computer user.

Don't use most of the newest Adobe products. They may work great and do good things, but they're crammed with spyware. There are lots of alternatives out there and some are even freeware or just stick to the older versions.

Don't use AOL 9.0 Optimized. I think they did a good job of optimizing it to run like ass! Use 7.0, 8.0 or a different version that actually works like it's supposed to.

Norton Systemworks 2003 is good if it's one of the first things you install on the computer and allow it to configure correctly before loading the PC up with programs. I've noticed if you install it on a PC that's crammed with programs and files already, it doesn't configure right and you'll have nothing but problems with it and then when you go to uninstall it, it will leave files behind and dead registry entries which can make your computer hang. You need to go one step further upon uninstallation and search for invalid registry entries and delete them. Also under the Processes menu in MSCONFIG, make sure you disable all the Norton stuff from reserving resources cause they still seem to stick around even after uninstalling and make your computer slow for no reason at all.

I know I'll think of a few more...

[Maple50175]

Norton Rules

[Dutchaccord]

Get AVG it's free and came out best in sevral tests......

Search google fo the site (girsoft + AVG)


(dont mind the attachement \/ )

[deevergote]

Norton System Works saved my computer a number of times... I've had to start in safe mode and run the program from the CD to fix stuff. I mess with too much on my computer!

Also, if any of you download certain "free" programs, like filesharing programs, auto-fill programs (like Gator), or special toolbars, you're probably getting tons of spyware installed. A great program to run for that is Spybot Search and Destroy... do a Google search for it. The program is simple to use, and will eliminate any memory hogging spyware programs.

[xplode]

another good program is Ad-Aware i use both that and spybot.

[pillypimpinit]

yes.. definitely a good idea to run both ad-aware and spybot... works wonders..

ppi

[Sho Nuff]

I tried Linux after installing every windows platform since 3.1 (except NT) and it was much better. The only problem was that the amount of games was minimal, and i couldnt use 3ds max. I tried all the emulators but realised they only slowed things down. Although Linux was so clean, i eventualy went back to xp . I just reinstalled xp again today and had problems in 5 minutes .

[deevergote]

Yeah, windows sucks, but it's the best there is as far as the number of availible applications goes. I'm semi computer literate, but I'm not skilled or intereted enough to write my own applications (or modify them) for Linux. A few of my friends run Linux, and they swear by it, but I like my easy dumbass windows.

Windows=automatic
Linux=manual



Of course, I prefer a manual transmission...

[phonts69]

Spyware huh? I've probably almost seen them all, its what i do at work anyways, fixing spyware problems. ad-aware is good for non-computer savvy people, spybot is better but you have to look at everything it's going to remove, or it might jack up your OS.

[deevergote]

I've never had a problem with Spybot myself... though I do run Win2k... the best of the worst (if you could polish a turd, Windows 2000 would be the result!)

[ACCLUDE91]

Ha! Honestly, out of all the Windows releases, 2000 Pro is one of the best ever released. I still use Windows on occasion, but I usually run Linux (RedHat 9.0). If I'm on a computer that doesn't have Linux, I use Virtual PC and have Linux installed and running that way. It's pretty wild having an operating system running within an operating system (especially when the host OS is crappy Windows).

I'm curious to see the new Windows platfrom that's coming out. The file system structure is supposed to resemble a mix of Linux and SQL more than it does current Windows releases. There will be no file type hierarchy. There will be no more special Windows folders or system folders. All files will basically just be one big database and the way you name your files and arrange them will determine how the databse of files is read and searched. They're no longer using the registry. It should be totally different so who knows, maybe I'll like the new version.