YEAH!!!!! Glad you made it back...Kylie

Glad to see you back!

So glad you are back,Hugs,Bonnie

Marian, you asked for advice on how to clean up your computer. I'm not real good at that sort of thing, but my wife has some success with the following method. First, get a washcloth (I've tried various colors, but color seems not to be important), and second use a medium size spray bottle to spray a little warm and soapy water on the top of the computer (sometime I have used a small spray bottle, but they seem not to work as well), then wipe slowly and deliberately with the washcloth, leaning over occasionally to gently (and I would really suggest only gently, at least at first, particularly if the computer is "cold") and gently kiss the sides of the computer to warm it up.

Then repeat this step for the remainder of the computer except the keyboard where instead of a washcloth, sometime cotton swabs work better.

For better results, after the computer has warmed itself, kisses czn be more straight forward until finally, the computer itself will stand straight up and throw off all the remaining dust.

I wish you success with this method. I have no idea why, this method works better for women cleaning up their computers. It's a real puzzler.

Jim

Glad you are back too. Email me what system you have and I'll tell you how. On mine its under tools, then internet options and you will see a place to delete temporary internet files, cookies, etc. I lose all my saved passwords every time I do it though so make sure you remember them all before you do it.

try going in to your control panel on the start menu..click on performance and maintenance..
clean the hard disk, sometimes it says "Free up space on your hard disk" just click on that and follow instructions.

Then go to defrag in the same area, usually the disk cleanup and defrag are right next to each other on the menu. Defrag both drives. Warning: If you haven't done this before, defrag will take quite awhile to complete. My suggestion is to do it tonight before you go to bed. Once you see it's started just leave it and go to bed.

You should do this once a week. It will keep your comp running faster, and the whole process will be alot faster if you keep doing it once a week.

Also you may want to go into your "Tools" menu, should be somewhere on the toolbar at the top of your normal internet page. Click on "Internet Options". Clear your history, & temporary files.
Good Luck! And Glad your back! Were the withdrawals really bad? lol.
Daniella

Welcome back!! I'll email you the distruction on clean up and care! If you haven't cleaned the inside of the tower that too can be tricky!

Well here you are. Got the e-mail you sent this morning and glad to see you're working ok now.

Jim, are you saying we should be dusting our computers every so often? Interesting. Maybe I should do that once in a while.

Glad to hear everythings back to normal Edna ...well here anyway. How's your ankle? - Sandy

Glad you are back on. Jim you're too funny. When I run a defrag and clean up the only thing I lose is temporary files and I clean out all the cookies. I don't lose any of my passwords though. I'm not really the one who does it, DH is. I'd probably crash the computer if I tried to do anything. lol
Karyn

I just LUV workin' on systems people have had on their floors.

I give them the "hairy eyball" look and they say "well, it's soooooooooooOOOOOoooooooooooo convenient to have it on the floor" and then I say "yea, and yer not the one you call when you have a problem, right? Then CLEAN it before I GET HERE THEN!"

Disgusting - some of the most filthy systems I've ever worked on have been machines people put on the floor. And these are just the friends that I offer to help!

"But I don't WANT this sitting on myyyyyy deeEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeesk. . it's LOOKS baaaaaaad."

Well then "don't call MeeeEEeeeeeeeeee when your power supply can't beeeeeeeeEEEeeeeeeeathe and needs to be cleeeeeEEEeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaned. . .and your machine is over heatinnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggguh and the power supply is failing."

Speaking of. . .forogt. A friend viriied herself - needs help. Ya know, I'd love to just hand people a plunger. . .

For EVERYONE - take down Spybot Search & Destroy, AVG's Free addition of Anti-Virus, Ad-aware from Lavasoft and Microsoft's Windows Defender.

They're all FREE - and will give you prophylactic protection and will give you diagnostics for what is currently wrong with your machines. Virus, Spyware, Adware and malicious stuff. They all work in tandem.

CCleaner (aka crap cleaner) but only if you know what you're doing. Nice application and can help you with registry stuff.

If you think you've been severely infected - http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5554.html - Hijack This.

Follow the instructions - and post on their boards - the experts there will help you through anything in depth you may have wrong.

So many machines - so many problems - so little time. . . .

Some of my favorite SA (System admin) stories:

Thank you for calling Technical Support. Before talking to the technician about your problem and risking the possibility that you may be wasting his valuable time, please ask yourself the following questions:

* If my monitor screen is dark, is it possible I have forgotten to plug in my computer or, alternately, that I have been suddenly struck blind?

* Have I exhausted every possible means of help before utilizing the sacred, last-resort-only telephone option?

* Have I sent a fax to Fast Fax Technical Support?

* Have I consulted my manual?

* Have I read the Read-Me notice on the floppy disk?

* Have I called up my know-it-all geek cousin who I can't stand but who can probably fix this thing for me in under five minutes?

* Have I given the central processing unit of my computer a good, solid whack?

If you can not honestly answer 'yes' to all these questions, please get off the line immediately so that our overworked technicians can help those truly desperate customers whose suffering is so much greater than yours.

__________________________________________

Another true story from the support forums:

Actual dialog of a former Customer Support employee:

Support: "Ridge Hall computer assistant; may I help you?"

Customer: "Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."

Support: "What sort of trouble?"

Customer: "Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away.",

Support: "Went away?"

Customer:"They disappeared."

Support: "Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"

Customer: "Nothing."

Support: "Nothing?"

Customer: "It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type."

Support: "Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?"

Customer: "How do I tell?"

Support: "Can you see the C:\ prompt on the screen?"

Customer: "What's a sea-prompt?"

Support: "Never mind. Can you move the cursor around on the screen?"

Customer: "There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept anything I type."

Support: "Does your monitor have a power indicator?"

Customer: "What's a monitor?"

Support: "It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?"

Customer: "I don't know."

Support: "Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that?"

Customer: ......"Yes, I think so."

Support: "Great! Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall."

Customer: ......"Yes, it is."

Support: "When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one?"

Customer: "No."

Support: "Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable."

Customer: ......"Okay, here it is."

Support: "Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer."

Customer: "I can't reach."

Support: "Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is?"

Customer: "No."

Support: "Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?"

Customer:"Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle-it's because it's dark."

Support: "Dark?

Customer: "Yes-the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window."

Support: "Well, turn on the office light then."

Customer:"I can't."

Support: "No? Why not?"

Customer: "Because there's a power outage."

Support: "A power... A power outage? Aha! Okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in?"

Customer: "Well, yes, I keep them in the closet."

Support: "Good! Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from."

Customer: "Really? Is it that bad?"

Support: "Yes, I'm afraid it is."

Customer: "Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?"

Support: "Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer."

------------------------------------------

AND believe it or not - I've actually encountered TONS of these:

1. When you call us to have your computer moved, be sure to leave it buried under half a ton of postcards, baby pictures, stuffed animals, dried flowers, bowling trophies and children's art. We don't have a life, and we find it deeply moving to catch a fleeting glimpse of yours.

2. Don't write anything down. Ever. We can play back the error messages from here.

3. When an I.T. person says he's coming right over, go for coffee. That way you won't be there when we need your password. It's nothing for us to remember 700 screen saver passwords.

4. When you call the help desk, state what you want, not what's keeping you from getting it. We don't need to know that you can't get into your mail because your computer won't power on at all.

5. When I.T. support sends you an E-Mail with high importance, delete it at once. We're just testing.

6. When an I.T. person is eating lunch at his desk, walk right in and spill your guts right out. We exist only to serve.

7. Send urgent email all in uppercase. The mail server picks it up and flags it as a rush delivery.

8. When the photocopier doesn't work, call computer support. There's electronics in it.

9. When something's wrong with your home PC, dump it on an I.T. person's chair with no name, no phone number and no description of the problem. We love a puzzle.

10. When an I.T. person tells you that computer screens don't have cartridges in them, argue. We love a good argument.

11. When an I.T. person tells you that he'll be there shortly, reply in a scathing tone of voice: "And just how many weeks do you mean by shortly?" That motivates us.

12. When the printer won't print, re-send the job at least 20 times. Print jobs frequently get sucked into black holes.

13. When the printer still won't print after 20 tries, send the job to all 68 printers in the company. One of them is bound to work.

14. Don't learn the proper term for anything technical. We know exactly what you mean by "My thingy blew up".

15. Don't use on-line help. On-line help is for wimps.

--------------------------------------

Think I'm kidding? I do this for a living. . . .I'm completely serious. . . . .

Sorry for the rant. . .it's that time of year.

Dweeb, I am laughing so hard I'm crying....

Lots of info there.

Try download.com They have these items there.

2 items will clean it up pretty good.

Lavasoft- adaware -- free very good

Avg- anti virus - free very good

anything else is best handled by a professional. You will be surprised at the amount of spyware on your computer. Garden web dumps tons of it. So does yahoo and well I guess everyone. I clean mine ofter and have a few hundred probably since I was Christmas shopping online.

Here is a link that might be useful: adaware the 1st item

Jim - Just do a search.

Spybot Search & Destroy is on safer-networking.org - it's fantastic.

Please, neither of the items that you mentioned as did I will be complete coverage. You have to have Spybot Search & Destroy also. Please dont' tell people that these two are fine. . .ok?

You'll need the trio. There are gaps in all products - and you need that overlap for the entire coverage to kill everything. And it's all out there, free of charge.

Don't get me wrong, I would NEVER tell anyone to dump their antivirus, etc. NOTE - I'M NOT TELLING ANYONE TO DUMP THEIR PAID ANTIVIRUS (ok, I'm covered now!)

But, I got burned by something in 05 from something that came out in 03 - and I was fully up to date with my payment and subscription. I was angry - ok, I was p*ssed - might even say LIVID.

Sooooooooo. . as any good Systems admin - I went hunting myself, and found it all - and kept it all up to date. And trust me - when you're seeing someone with a teenage son who downloads every gawdawful piece of porn and everthing else out there, you tighten down security hard! (grin) And you NEVER let that teen near YOUR machines. (grin)

But those 3 should be a good 99% protection for people. You've GOT to keep them up to date. ALL of them. Daily. Set them up to run at nite. Start them at midnite and 2am. You'll be protected.

'nuff said. I'm off my soapbox now.

WF - No LAFFING!

Ok - I'm grinning too, but NO LAFFING. It's really NOT FUNNY. I'm trying to be serious here. . . .STOP IT. ..(grin)

I get these STUPID calls this time of year - from friends that went shopping - and didn't have ANY form of protection. . . .I just want to hand them my credit card and tell them to throw the machine out the window.

I'm serious. . .tis the season. That and the "what should I buy" stuff with those ads - every freakin' ad that comes out in some da*mn newspaper. . .trying to explain to someone NOT to purchase anything with a celeron - an athalon is fine - watch out for this, that and 15 other things.

I go into a complete psychosis at this time of year! No laughing! Comonnnnnnnnnn. . . .(grin)

I just wanna play in the dirt! Leave me alone! Buy a set of crayons and write your order! (very sarcastic grin)

Speaking of . . .I have to go in tomorrow and fix a corrupted profile from someone who can't stop surfin' . .jeez I'd like to slap some people. . . .and then re-write an app that is misbehaving. . .the users won't use the command buttons right so I have to "disable" some of those in the application. Ya know, how many times do you have to tell people not to "crash" out of a shared database? Want me to draw PICTURES FOR YOU?!?!?! I'm gonna disable the red X. Stopped the corruption in the other ones when I disabled it.

No laughing - this time of year stinks for some of us.

LOL. . .(sigh!)

Dweeb is not kidding. I do this for a living too and have encountered all this and much, much more.

And to add a few:

And when you go right on and buy what we told you not to buy, we look forward to speaking with you constantly about everything that is wrong with your PC. And since the vendor doesn't have an 800 number - please set aside at least $800 for tech support calls because your phone bill is going to be astronomical until you finally junk it. There was a reason they gave you that larger monitor to seal the deal - and it wasn't out of the goodness of their heart.

And don't forget to call us at home on Thanksgiving, Easter, or Christmas morning with your computer problems. We don't like to cook, eat, spent time with our family, hide eggs or open presents. We exist for your needs.

In addition to the recommendations above - google housecall antivirus, go there, and run it at least monthly. It rocks. And when your machine is good and clean and running well - Set a restore point. Check the help database if you don't know how and if you don't have XP - time to move on up. Good luck!

Sorry Techno, Spybot I used to have but left it off cause of problems with it. So I tried the download now it will not allow adaware to function. So I will restore and remove it. If you run it then you will need registry mechanic or the knowledge to edit your own.Its recovery console will not open the previous changes. Grrrrrrrrrrrr Maybe it is a Vista thing. The are not compatible.

Jim - VISTA - eeeeeeek!

Ok - Vista might be a big problem. LOL. . .I run them both together. Actually, both programs give warnings about each other. I've found they mesh quite nicely together.

We're not allowing anyone to step up to Vista yet. Not yet.

AVG has a free spyware application also if you absolutely can't get Vista to play nice with S&D.

Neonposey - ROTFLMAO So correct. New computers - no virus protection - hubbies get on them and go to some online gaming - same story, over and over.

Or they load some FREE game for their kids - and don't read the fine print about the adware it's gonna install, etc. Just because it's free doesn't mean you have to take it.

It isn't people's fault - but when you're told not to do something, buy something, or told to install those applications and you don't - it just takes more time away from everything else.

These hackers have no life. If those losers spent even half the time on their jobs that they spend trying to "stick it to microsoft" or regular people - they'd be very successful.

I know we run some antivirus program, spybot and some adware thingy (yes I am completely technologically ignorant and I call everything a thingy!)but what is the Google housecall anti-virus?
Karyn

Karyn:

Don't have to be saavy - as long as you run your applications - and you keep them up to date - you're making an effort - and you're already 3x ahead of the game as most at staying protected against those nasties.

Re: Housecall Anti-Virus from Trend Micro - an online scanner.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

There's also an online one from Pandasoft called nanoscan:

http://www.nanoscan.com/

Just some additional items to help protect systems.

Thanks for the links.
Karyn

DWEB: Brugs or Computers ... You're a caution!! Funny, Funny, Funny! But intelligence behind all the kidding. Luv ya. Go easy on the New Year Resolutions ... don't want you to change!!! Gloria

Techno- I know Vista..... but I have to be way ahead of the curve. We only run XP at work. My Dell Q4 for the house is the Vista machine. Adaware terminates 3/4 way through at the same file. Oprah roaming profile, did a restore still broke. I have admin my graphic/CAD labs for the last 15 years. My son is the Brain. He started web pages at 6 and is a Sophomore in college now. He knows Vista and XP so well he can manually edit on the fly. I will let him make it work. I would rather be planting.

I had the same problem with trend micro that came with the machine. I had to delete it.LOL He made it work. We run multiple firewalls and anti-viruses on our personal machines. Every time I was ever hit by a virus which was about 7 years ago it was at Christmas time. I do believe they are released at that time to sell new machines. I am serious about that observation. Just look at new threats found in December.

I see no point for Vista yet. It is now stable and a piece of spyware itself. XP rocks..... I guess I will do a dual boot and load XP on an new drive. I like the non bloat. Another good piece of free software is Zonealarm by Zonelabs.