Life before 2008 28 Jan 2007 04:49 pm
How Ironic….
In the same week that my computer (a Dell; see category in the side bar for what I think about that) starts having the first really persisitent, unexplained problems like weirdo pop ups, getting stuck and frozen, and slowing down is THE SAME WEEK I get an email reminding me me warranty is about to expire……..
Two things:
- I smell a rat.
- I should’ve bought a Mac.
on 28 Jan 2007 at 5:03 pm 1.Joel said …
Your rats have names that probably start with A, C and W. It sounds like one of these things
They’ve installed a lot of crap on your machine
They’ve installed spyware on your machine
The email from Dell was probably a coincidence. It is one year after all.
on 28 Jan 2007 at 5:07 pm 2.Laura said …
I second the Mac idea. But at least your Dell didn’t erupt spontaneously into flames, which took place in a dorm across the way from me last Friday night. Dells, I have concluded, are very spiteful creatures.
on 28 Jan 2007 at 6:55 pm 3.Cathy said …
Joel’s response was ROTFLOL. hee hee!
on 28 Jan 2007 at 8:31 pm 4.Julie said …
Never too late to buy a Mac!
on 28 Jan 2007 at 11:04 pm 5.Kyra said …
Go to http://www.trendmicro.com and run a program called “Housecall” It is free and will detect spyware and malware on your computer. It might not be able to remove all of it but it can tell you were to go to find out how to remove it. It might take 2-3 passes before it is clear, but it is a great program for free. Consumer Reports rates their PCillin as one of the best anti-virus software programs on the market. Personally, I stick with Housecall and limited access to certain sites.
If you have Norton or McAfee turn them off before running Housecall as they will detect Housecall as an intrusion alert and prevent it from doing its job.
If you are still having problems after that you might want to run another free program from that site called CWShredder which is there to detect malicious trojans and hijackers.
I do not run any firewalls, antivirus or other protection other than running Housecall about twice a week. It will take about 10-15 minutes.
And if you have any other problems feel free to call or write.
Gotta make good on that college degree somehow, ya know.
Kyra
on 29 Jan 2007 at 11:00 am 6.Ryan Platte said …
Sure is nice to use a Mac, where software doesn’t get installed without permission, and is possible to *uninstall* without a research project.
on 29 Jan 2007 at 12:51 pm 7.dalimama said …
I love my Macs, don’t get me wrong, but… on my newest one the latch won’t latch anymore. On dh’s Mac laptop which gets heavy use, his screen has started to go black or fade out. My old Mac laptop was an admitted lemon from Apple. It has a motherboard that tends to burn out every six months. Mac admitted the problem and has fixed it for free 2 or 3 times in the past 3 years but their coverage for that repair ended after the 3 year mark (and no I didn’t have Applecare so that was a 3 year mark they initiated) So, the next time that laptop goes, it will do to the Mac graveyard that exists in our attic.
With that said, though, I will always choose a Mac over a PC for the main reasons that are mentioned above… software being installed without permission, freezing screens, difficulty installing or uninstalling software. We made the mistake of gettings the kids a cheap PC for Christmas one year thinking it’d be good enough for their stuff and it was the worst mistake of our lives. Half the kids games would freeze midway and since we were Mac people, we had no idea of how to fix the problems.
I am so sorry you are having computer issues!
on 29 Jan 2007 at 6:21 pm 8.Dr. Hibiscus said …
well, you already know what I think, so I won’t belabor the point, but yeah, you should have gotten a mac.
on 29 Jan 2007 at 11:02 pm 9.Don Bradley said …
Sounds like Kyra might know what she’s talking about. She better for all of the money it’s costing me to put her through computer Geek school:-p