Bringing Sensibility To Web Searches

The reason we purchased our computer was to have an entrance to the Internet and World Wide Web, to open the universe for us right here on our desktop.
We can even take it with us and hold it in our hands. By using Google, or another search engine, the knowledge of all ages unfolds right before our eyes. With a few keystrokes we can be in China, England, the North Pole or outer space. We can keep in touch with friends and relatives like never before. We can seek and find answers to anything that tweaks our imagination. We are transported to another country or planet in our solar system. We view pictures of stellar events millions of light years away. We can share our knowledge and know-how with others, as is done in this column. Unfortunately, greed raises its ugly head and challenges our safety and security. It is through this column that I hope to solve a lot of these problems and bring your computing experience to an area of sensibility.
Any time you are surfing online you run into, or are diverted to, many and various advertisements for software that will "revolutionize" the way your computer operates and responds. The come on is a FREE download and/or FREE scan. "Make your computer act the way it did right out of the box! Why put up with a slow computer?" "In just five minutes, your computer will act like new!"
If you believe these statements, you are only two steps from being brain dead. When is the last time you had to pay for a download or scan? "If you buy this, you will receive this absolutely FREE." Sound familiar? If they said, "included in the price," there would be no appeal to our greed.
Here is the scenario that is supposed to lure you to part with your money under the guise of cleaning up and speeding up your computer. "Click here for a FREE scan - make your computer run like new!" You know there is no single program that can keep your machine running safely. There is no program that can stop all of the ITDs (Internet transmitted diseases) that are taking a shot at your equipment. "Our software is different! This is the 'magic bullet' that can solve any and all of your problems." "Hey it's FREE! Download the program and run it!" As it runs you can see a counter adding up the errors that are being found. Up and up the counter goes until it is finally finished and you have over x errors in your software. Click the "fix now" button and you get this message: "This will only fix x number of your errors! To avoid a crash, register now" to clear all of the errors in your machine. If that were true, it would be well worth the price, but all you will see are the number of errors, not the categories of major errors that must be fixed. But these are not your errors; this program has brought them along to further lure you to buy their software. I have never found any more than a few of the errors they claim are there. Some of the top-rated security programs are using this tactic.
This in answer to a couple of readers: "Do you make house calls?" Yes and no. If I can be of assistance to someone not too far away, I will. At 83 my life is like a song title, "Don't Get Around Much Any More." If you ever get really bogged down, e-mail your phone number and I will call you on Saturday or Sunday (days of free cell calls). With God as my witness, I will never disclose your e-mail address, phone number or name to anyone for any reason.
I went computer shopping to determine which versions of Vista were being included with a new computer purchase. At my favorite electronics outlet I found many different brands all with the "Vista ready" sticker attached. The lowest priced machines, with only one CD/DVD drive and necessary Vista system requirements, included Home Basic software, the middle-priced units Home Premium Vista version and the top of the line Vista Ultimate. They do not carry the Vista Business Software - fascinating, with all of the businesses in the area - but no reason was offered, nor was there any mention made regarding updates to a better version.
Another reader asks, "I know it has been covered before but I am still a little confused about the registry." The registry (or "no man's land," as I refer to it) is a huge database that holds the complete inventory and location of every file, folder, program and process that your computer needs to operate. This information is used to tell programs how to run and locate the files needed to perform a certain task when files are added or removed. When these tasks are performed they modify the registry to make note of the changes. Over time, this normal use can make the registry become bloated, disorganized and cluttered with useless junk. This can slow down and lead to poor PC performance.
Like any well-running machine, your registry needs a tune up. This is accomplished by programs designed for that purpose. Ccleaner (Crap Cleaner - actual name) and Eusing Free Registry cleaner are two very good programs and they are both free and have safeguards just in case. Like anti-spyware, it takes at least two or three programs to get all of the nasty stuff out. WinAso is another reliable quasi-free program. It will repair 10 items at a time; with 50 errors you run it five times. I suggest you use this program but not until you have run the others, lest you view results that boggle your mind. A program that has not been given to much positive notice is one I use constantly: Advanced Windows Care V2 Personal. It is freeware. To round out a quintet of registry maintaining programs here is one you should have: REG CURE. It is not free but moderately priced, and it does an excellent job.
This is a treatise I wrote some time ago that bodes well in today's scheme of things:
Hoaxes, Chain Letters, Urban Myths And Other Bogus Information
Never a day goes by that my spam folder does not contain one, or more, of the above. That is where it belongs, but you will also get them in your regular e-mail.
Bill Gates is not giving away money to people for forwarding e-mails. ("I am an attorney and you can believe me I received $4,325.00 due to Bill Gates' offer.") Applebee's is not paying to have e-mails sent to spread their name. Pepsi is not putting out a new can with the words "In God We Trust." "This chain has been going for a number of years. If you break this chain terrible events will happen to you."
The foregoing hoaxes do have an ulterior motive: They are the bait for a full-fledged "phishing" expedition. These are just a few of the thousands of bait e-mails that are being sent out daily along with the thousands of viruses and spyware probes. Go to http://Hoaxbusters.ciac.org site but not unless you have a spare hour or two. You will be either shocked or amazed.
We are still spending time in the exploration of Vista Ultimate and have found a few areas that we feel must be corrected. One is the system of Automatic Downloads, which has the habit of jumping right in, no matter what you are doing, to organize the downloads and restart the computer. This makes the loss of data an unwanted possibility. We are now doing manual downloads until this oversight is corrected.
Those of you who would be rid of the splash screen and the welcome screen in Vista, do not use guiboot in the boot section of Msconfig. It stopped my Welcome screen, but Vista went into a loop; it needs the Welcome screen to start. Vista has a system of security that displays a pop-up asking if you want to do what you are doing (or words of that sort). This is one feature of the increased security that is a part of this new system. Our attitude toward this new system is very positive. We do know, that in time, it will mature into a worthwhile venture.
Until next week, with answers to your questions. Stay well! If you have missed any of the recent columns go to www.thebulletin.us and in the left pane click on "technology." By the way, if you are in dire need of help, go to "Geeks-A-Minute." It's only $1.99 per minute (plus tax). I understand they are very long-winded. Hmmm?
Mr. Helpful was raised in Upper Darby and has lived in Hershey's Mill, Chester?County for the past 14 years. ?He has over 45 years experience in computing and he has been testing virus and Spyware programs for the last three years. His "The Helpful Neighbor" column will appear once a week in The Bulletin. He can be reached at mrhelpful4u@aol.com.