Community Newsletter: Q&A forum: Advice for a clean start on a brand-new computer

Copies floating on Ebay are cheaper, but they're not always legal either. Some are selling licenses that are currently in use while others are not valid a all. Thus, you have to be extremely careful who you buy from, how they worded their description, and what their return policies are. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

As to Microsoft Office, you must purchase a license for it separately. Owning Windows is not the same as owning Office or any other Microsoft product, for they're each sold separately. As Bob said, though, there's always a Linux distro, such as Ubuntu, to replace Windows, and Open Office to replace Microsoft Office.

Hope this helps,
John

I think its a big mistake to switch to Vista at this time. I believe Autocadd will not work on Vista yet. I do not believe it is ready for prime time yet.

Here are the selected submissions grouped in one post. Read through them and place your votes in the newsletter poll.

Answer:

Just a Little Loving Care

Congratulations for being able to last this long with Windows ME. Most users gave up long ago trying to keep it running. I obviously dont know the exact type of problems you have had in the past, but I am willing to bet that most of the responsibility lies with the operating system rather than something you were or were not doing.

I am often accused of giving out way too much information filled with over complicated instructions so I have decided to offer both the short and long version. I have always felt that if someone takes the time to ask a question of this forum and is willing to wait a week or two to get all the answers, then they deserve as much information as possible.

THE SHORT STORY
You should be able to enjoy your computer and keep it in good working order for many years by following these 5 simple steps:
1. PROTECTION - Install a good full featured Internet Security Software Package that includes a minimum of Antivirus, Antispyware and Firewall. Always keep an eye on it to make sure it is still working, up-to-date and NEVER let it expire.
2. MAINTENANCE - Once every few months run Disk Clean to clear your computer of unwanted temporary files, install Windows Updates and vacuum or blow out all the dust from the back of your computer once a year.
3. CAUTION - Be very cautious about where you surf, what you download and opening email attachments.
4. SHARING - Do not let anyone else use your computer. This includes family members and especially children and teenagers. Just kidding Ah, Not really.
5. BACKUP - Come up with some kind of backup strategy that meets your specific needs for preserving your data in case something goes wrong.

THE LONG NOVEL
For those of you who dont mind getting your hands a little dirty and want to go that extra mile to improve your odds of achieving years of trouble free computing at the maximum performance level.

1. INITIAL CLEANING Depending on the exact make and model, your new computer probably came with tons of pre-installed trial, free and junk software. All of this stuff can slow down even the fastest computer as well as take up room on your hard drive . Take your time and go through every program that is listed in ALL PROGRAMS and determine what you want and dont want. Uninstall everything that you do not need. Leave anything that you are not absolutely sure about. Better still, next time consider purchasing a business class computer from someone like Dell Small Business, Fujutsu, Lenovo (IBM) or some other dealer that specializes in selling to the business user. True Business computers do not come with all of the extra junk pre-installed.

2. INITIAL SETUP The next thing you need to do is decide how and who will be using your new computer. You may want to setup User accounts and passwords, if needed, for everyone that will be using your computer. It is best to setup all children with their own accounts with NON-administrative rights. This way they will be less likely to make changes or install things that might affect the operation of your computer. I you are a forward thinker and like to plan ahead for potential disasters, I might even recommend repartitioning your hard drive to keep data and operating system separated from each other (details for another time). This is also a good time to decide how and who may need to share files and folders as well as make any internet security or privacy settings changes to each account. For example you may want to restrict internet access or filter internet content for childrens accounts. I also normally recommend setting Windows Updates so that I have a choice as to when updates get installed instead of automatically.

3. PROTECTION You absolutely need some form of security software installed on your computer to protect you from viruses, spyware and other nasties that linger out in cyberspace or come attached to your emails. At the very least you will need a good Antivirus program, however I highly recommend having 1 antivirus, 1 firewall and 3 antispyware programs installed. If you like you can purchase an all-in-one package that includes many levels of protection in one package such as McAfee Total Protection, Norton 360 or even Microsoft Windows Live OneCare. Keep in mind that installing any of these all-in-one packages can really slow down your computer, especially on a slightly older or entry level computers. Chances are that your computer came packaged with some trial version of Norton or McAfee Internet Security. These will normally expire in about 30 days or so and must be renewed to continue protecting your computer. Before you actually fork out any money, check out all the possibilities that may be available to you. Many internet service providers will offer free security software to you just for the asking. Comcast, for example, offers free McAfee to its users. AOL has a free offering as well. Many colleges offer free protection software to their students and many companies offer security software to their employees. Be careful some providers like Verizon may make it sound like they are offering it for free but will charge you a monthly fee tacked on to your bill. If you dont mind digging in and working a little there are many ways to get free security software as well. You can put together a great security net with Free Programs like Avast, AVG, SpyBot, Microsoft Defender, ZoneAlarm and AdAware. No matter which way you decide to go, the most important thing is to always check to make sure your security software is working, updated and has not expired. Beware of security contracts that will automatically charge your credit card every year for renewal even if you are no longer using their software.

4. MAINTENANCE You do not need to get totally carried away but a little maintenance can go a long way toward keeping your computer in good working order.

a. Running Disk Cleanup once a month or so.
b. Check Disk with Error Checking every few months.
c. Run Disk Defragmenter about every 6 months.
d. Update and Run any manual spyware scanners each month.
e. Run Windows Update if it is not set to Automatic.
f. Check for other updates for your computer every few months.
g. Clean the dust out of all cooling vents at least once per year.
h. If you plan to keep your computer, I will often recommend replacing the hard drive every 3 or 4 years whether it needs it or not. A new hard drive costs about $100 (that comes out to less than $30 per year). Being one of the few moving parts in a modern computer, it WILL fail at some point. Replacing it while it is still in working condition is much easier than waiting for it to fail. You can Recycle the old drive if you really want by purchasing a USB enclosure for about $29 and using it as a spare backup drive.

5. CAUTION Always exercise extreme caution when surfing the internet, clicking on links or opening email. All of these have the potential of not only infecting your computer with viruses and spyware but could also result in handing over your personal information to less than desirable people. Take note of any changes to your computer and dont just automatically click on allow, ok or continue when Windows or your security software is warning you about a system change.

6. SHARING I know we were all taught to share while growing up, but if you want your computer to stay in tip top shape, DO NOT SHARE YOUR COMPUTER with anyone.

7. BACKUP I know everyone is sick of hearing about the importance of backing up your data. I you have information on your computer that you dont want to lose, then back it up. There are so many ways available now to backup, there is simply no excuse anymore for getting caught when a hard drive decides to quit. Enough said!

In briefing through some of the other threads, I notice that I totally forgot to mention the importance of the Surge protector. I guess since you were upgrading from a previous computer, I assumed you already had one. Surge Protectors can go bad over time from repeated surges and should be tested or replaced. But better still is the UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). A UPS is probably one of the best investments you can make for a computer. It contains a surge protector and a battery backup that will take over in the event of a power failure or brownout and continue to power your computer for several minutes or even hours if you purchase a really large one. If your power does not return within a predetermined period of time you can program it to shut down your computer in an orderly fashion thus preventing a possible major disaster. A single event such as loss of power or a lightning strike can cause irreparable damage and data loss if it occurs at just the right time or I should say at just the wrong time. Power surges can have the potential to not only cause immediate damage but can become accumulative and cause what is know as latent failures. This is where each surge stresses some of the components within the computer, weakening them and eventually causing them to fail at a later date. The price of UPS units has fallen over the years and you can get a small one for about $50 that will power your computer and LCD monitor for 10-15 minutes. If you live in an area where power outages are more common, you might want to go for one of the higher end models.
Enjoy your new computer!

Dana
Wayland Computer


http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10149_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=263281&messageID=2580684#2580684


Submitted by: waytron

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Answer:

Welcome to the OS jump club, Maria.

Im doing a similar transition myself but for me its from Win98 to Vista. Its a big jump and I havent worked it all out yet but I will try and relay to you some of what I have run into. By the way I bought ME but never got around to installing it.

Vista needs the hard drive to function smoothly just as in previous version of Windows. So in many ways not much has changed. You still need to run Defrag, ScanDisk (CHKDSK for Vista), and Disk Cleanup. So when do you do these tasks? Disk cleanup should be done daily if you use IE7, but maybe only twice a week if you use a more secure browser such as FireFox. I defrag every 6 months minium but on my gamer PC I defrag about once a week or once a game crash. Vista calls for a weekly defrag as its default setting. Basically, if you cut and paste large files and delete large files a lot when using your computer defrag more often. CHKDSK is more of an event call for function. Here is what I mean. If the computer is shut down abnormally run the CHKDSK. If a program closes incorrectly run the CHKDSK. To do a quick check on your hard drive health run the CHKDSK. This covers the very basic maintenance that helps keep software and hardware running. To get to the menu were you can do these tasks, =>Start button=>Computer then right click on the hard drive icon, select properties, looking at the top you will see menu tabs,=>Tools tab. This gets you Defrag and ScanDisk function, General tab gets you cleanup function. Watch out, the terms for defrag and ScanDisk are deferent. User Account Control will be popping up asking are sure you want to do this as you make your way through the steps to perform these tasks. UAC is annoying but its part of the Vista experience and so I feel one should work with it but it can be turned off. Save turning off the UAC for when you feel you dont need it anymore.

Under the Tools tab, the run defrag now button will open a window which lets you pick run now or run on a schedule time automatically. If you hit run now you will see a spinning ring(it was an hour glass in Win98) and that is about it. If you look at your Hard drives activity light it will be flashing quickly. It could take minutes or hours to complete the defrag process. Vista does not provide the screen of defrag dots like in Win98, so now there is little to watch.

In Vista ScanDisk is now replaced by check disk (CHKDSK) which can be run by clicking its scan now button in the error-checking menu (also found on the Tools tab). You will then be asked if you want automatically fix file system errors and or scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, by default the automatically fix file system errors is checked. That is because this is the most common way to run the scan. Its used to fix minor problems an example would be after improper shut down. Checking the other box will scan the hard drives surface and recover data from bad sectors by moving them to undamaged sectors. You would run the scan with this option if a previous scan reported bad sectors. If you need this function your hard drive is most likely on its way out. Once you have the correct boxes checked for the type of scan you want click the run button where upon you will then be told to schedule the scan to happen at the next restart. Agree to the schedule and hit restart in the usual way. The computer will shut down and then start the scan (you get a few seconds to cancel the scan) before Vista boots up. Read the report. Look for bad sectors and if it fixed errors. Read fast because Vista will boot shortly after the scan is complete. If you see bad sectors you will want to make a backup (more about this later) and have the hard drive replaced by a pro or replace it yourself.

Disk cleanup is available on the General tab, the tab just before the Tools tab. Its very straight forward. Check the boxes beside what you want cleaned out, deleted. This is where you can remove cookies, Internet temporary files, clear history, clear out the temporary folder, and clear out the recycle bin all at once. This frees up disk space and also removes some problematic files (cookies).

What follows gets deeper into defense ware, hardware longevity, ease of use, organization techniques, ways to stay informed, and disaster preparedness.

The computer area is often and after thought. Vista requires more computer power to do its job which means, your new computer needs its air vents clear. Heat can slow performance and age your computer prematurely. Air flow keeps the heat moving out of the computer, block the vents and the heat stays inside cooking the hardware. Find the computers air vents, look on the sides, front and back. Once you locate the vents never block them. Locate the computer in a cool dry clean quite area. Avoid direct sun light on the computer case and also avoid direct air flow from heating and air conditioning vents.

Sometimes a change in the way a computer sounds maybe the first clue to a failing part. Unlike your old ME computer which most likely made a constant steady noise from its fans, your newer Vista computers motherboard and power supply may have fan speed control to help regulate temperature. Under heavy usage, the fans may roar at you. Under light use it will sound like your old ME computer with its fans at a steady speed. When I made my first full system backup the computers fans were very loud due to the heat build up caused by the DVD burner and hard drive working hard at the same time. Because I was not familiar with the fan speed change, noise level change, it scared me until I realized what was happening was correct and a good thing.

Having space enough in you computer area for expansion and servicing are good things too. As you add devices more space is needed just to locate them in a safe usable manner. Here is an example, your new printer only has a 2 foot USB cable. That does not mean its a okay to set the printer on the same surface as your new computer. The printer head movements will cause vibrations that can increase ware on delicate devices in your new computer. In this case it would be wise to locate the printer else where by getting a longer USB cable and perhaps mounting an adjustable shelf system to a near by wall and placing the printer there (if you already use a wireless LAN, then look into a wireless printer). Just as you need enough room around the printer for installing new ink cartridges, you will also need enough room around the computer case to be able to open it. To do this you need to know how your new computers case opens. Check the manual for this info. If you cant find it in the manual, try looking for instructions on the case. While you are at it, look for warranty tamper stickers a long the case removal points. If you find one of these stickers then you should not open the case without first checking your warranty rights. For now, you just want to have enough space a service person or yourself can open the case without much trouble.

The last time I tried to find my warranty and service numbers I spent more time looking for the paperwork than making the service call. I strongly recommend that you file the computers paperwork using a filing cabinet or at least one of those big accordion folders that has compartments that are alphabetized. This will organize the paperwork and as long as you dont loose the folder or file cabinet you have everything in one place. One note you should write and put in this filing system is a list of the numbers found on the computer case. The list should have the serail number, Vista program key, exact model number, and the date code if there is one. I write this info inside the cover of the user manual and also on what I refer to as a Call Sheet. The Call Sheet comes in handy when calling tech support. Tech support will almost always ask for some of this info. I usually write the tech support number on the call sheet as well. File the Call Sheet under C, the manual under M and the warranty under W. Well you get the idea. With the filing system in place you can store notes on your software installations. For example when you installed your anti-virus, did you use custom install or typical, did you need an update or patch, did it take more then one re-boot before the software was fully functional, was there a licence key number and were there any error codes. Organize the note taking even further by giving your notes dates and time stamps and get your terminology as correct as possible and then be consistent with it through out your notes. This will really help when things go wrong. Tip, I also store the software CDs in the folder with my install notes for that software.

Another thing that helps when things go wrong, the boxes that the computer came in. These boxes are designed to protect the computer while in shipment and can come in handy on moving day or if you have to ship it back to the manufacturer. If you are like me and find it hard to re-pack things in their shipping boxes try taking pictures when you first un-box a new piece of equipment. Well you get the idea.
One piece of hardware that helps with computer longevity is the UPS. That is an un-interruptible power supply, also known as a battery backup. This device plugs into the wall outlet and your new computer plugs into it. The device cleans up the noise in the power lines so your new computer is not damaged by power surges and brown outs. I use a device from APC for protection from power surges and brown outs and it also shields my Internet connection.

Vista ships with some software protection programs such as a firewall and malware remover (Windows Defender). I still feel safer with a more complete main stream anti-virus package and have used Symantec but now am using McAfee. When I made the change from Symantec to McAfee, Windows Defender stepped in during the swap out but did not cause a crash. The install went well and so far I have had no problems.

You may need to re-schedule some of these defense programs. As an example, Windows Defender by default scans your computer at 2 AM every 24 hours. If your computer is not turned on at that time you need to re-schedule Defender to run when the computer is on. For now, I run these programs while Im present because I want to see them in action. I will continue to look for tools to block bad sites and read reviews for leads to better protection products and methods for working security in Vista. I have already installed FireFox as my second browser because I felt so uncomfortable with IE7. I have used IE7 but have found the Add-ons (plug-ins) strange because Im use to IE6 having things already there. To stay with the Vista experience, I forced myself to hang with IE7. Under the Tools menu in IE7 there is a button Manage Add-ons, go there to deal with Add-ons so things like Flash animation will work.

Disaster, damage control, and repair or replace are topics of interest In Vista. Only some versions of Vista support full system backup unfortunately the version you and I have isnt one of them, Home Premium. Understanding what tools Vista provides for recovery will help you plan for recovery before things go wrong with your Vista computer. Home Premium dose support backup of YOUR files but not system files. This means you can copy YOUR files and save those copies to another medium such as an external hard drive, DVD, or even another internal drive. Sometimes your files become corrupted or lost or if a component in your computer fails such as the hard drive, motherboard, or power supply, you could use these backup copies of your files by putting them on a replacement computer or your repaired computer and get back to it. Although a lot of details are missing from this process its still a disaster recovery plan (a whole post subject all by itself http://reviews.cnet.com/4002-7600_7-6651881.html ).

System file repairs are covered by restore points. In Vista the restore point system goes under the title System Protection. System Protection is a way to return your computers system files back to a point in time where they were not damaged/corrupted/changed by the installation of a software program or driver installation. Vistas System Protection uses restore points which use shadow copies and stored registry settings to put the system back the way it was. If the computer wont boot, I mean it so corrupted it wont start, the System Protection cant be used. Both the backup and System Protection in Vista are limited which means you may have to fall back to the manufacturer supplied restore system. Sometimes this is an OEM OS disk and driver disk or they can be combined into a recovery disk set, and sometimes its just a few CDs or DVDs you burned yourself using software supplied by the computer manufacturer. That covers the minimum for a recovery plan but I recommend that you take additional steps and supply your own restore system. This entails buying your own backup device/system that is Vista compatible (a whole post subject all by itself http://reviews.cnet.com/4002-7600_7-6766742.html ).

Try test driving the warranty by reading it with the intent of doing it. See what it will cost to ship your new computer to the repair center. It may cost more to ship it than to have it fixed locally. You may find that some components have a longer warranty than the computer. To find out you will need to call tech support so think of this call as a test drive of tech support. Many of the warranties I have read also indicate that only the software the computer came with is warrantied. So if it turns out it was software you put in that caused the problem its not a warranty repair. Any part you have added by opening the case may void the entire warranty. This is the main reason I recommend living with the out of the box computer till the warranty period is over. Try leaving Vista in its default state as long as you can stand it. If you feel too lost Vista does have a classic mode. I also recommend that you hang on to your old ME computer till you feel comfortable with Vista.

Staying informed is one way to keep finding better ways to get around in Vista. You will need to understand some of the terminology and get a feel for the lingo. Here is an example, Microsoft lingo restore point, for me it would be go back after repair point and if I Geeked it that would become GBARP. IMHO these lingoes can be hard to work around, but most of the time you can plug them into a search and come up with the meaning. Use search to find clues to work-arounds and problem fixes. Reading forum posts that are working on the same or similar problem can clue you in on lingo and terminology. Dont forget about the Dummies Books and the PC magazines that are good sources of info and terminology definitions.

My approach is to plan for problems. This may seem to be a negative approach but its more like being prepared by reducing the surprises and knowing what to. I call it damage control. As more comfort is gained with the new computer and operating system, the tendency will be to scale back the approach. That is okay. If problems seem to be coming out of the wood work, then just scale the approach back up. Just do what fits. View yourself as your own client. Is it time well spent? What is it going to cost? Can I go on without this software or device? Is repair or replace the issue? Its your call. I leave you with some of the links I have found helpful.

Links for General Info and Cnet online Vista Courses.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx?wt_svl=10033WPHa1&mg_id=10033WPHb1

http://windows-vista-basics.classes.cnet.com/

http://speed-up-vista.classes.cnet.com/

Links for Disabling Unnecessary Programs in Vista.
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-12546_102-0.html?forumID=133&threadID=238817&messageID=2465401#2465401

http://www.speedyvista.com/services.html

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10149_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=263281&messageID=2584221#2584221

Submitted by bus

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Answer:

Maintaining a healthy system

Congratulations on finally getting rid of the headache that was Windows ME. Vista is a big improvement for you. Let me preface my message by saying that I am fresh out of college, so my advice caters best to the frugal-minded.

The most important thing hardware-wise is a surge protector. A lightning storm could fry most of the hardware inside your computer, and often you have to buy a whole new one. How much you spend on this depends on how paranoid you are about losing your brand new computer. I'd say you'll be perfectly fine taking $10 into Radio Shack and getting the best one you can for that amount of money. My computer has lasted through many a power surge with one of these simple power strips. The only other item I can think to recommend is a can of compressed air so you can keep your air circulation at a maximum and components as free of dust as possible. You'll want to move the computer outside for that, of course.

Now, there is plenty to say about software. First of all, did your Dell come with all the pre-installed software that usually comes with new computers? Dell has given its customers the option to not have all that trial software installed, but if you don't specifically select that option, your computer is probably far more bloated and slow than it needs to be. When I bought my laptop, the first thing I did was just completely reinstall Vista. It may be a bit extreme to some, but it was the quickest way for me to get rid of all the free trial software computer manufacturers so graciously infest new systems with (and to create extra partitions for Linux). If it's also too extreme for you, go to "Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features" and start ridding yourself of every piece of trial software you have, because you don't need it.

Now lets go over specific software:

Internet browsers:
There is one thing for which Internet Explorer should be used. Just one, single thing. And that is going to http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/. In the latest PC Mag, there was an interview with some infamous hacker who hacked into the Pentagon when he was 15. Near the end of the article, he was asked what the most common security hole he's seen. His last sentence? "Oh - and don't use Internet Explorer." Aside from just being safer, there are tons of add-ons that make Firefox a better browser. Some people swear by Opera as well, so it is also worth mentioning.


Email:
On a related note, if you are using Outlook Express...stop! Using it is even worse than using Internet Explorer. Mozilla Thunderbird is a good free email client, which I use to fetch my email from my ancient AOL email account. The only reason I use it is because AOL has a horribly slow and annoying webmail interface. There are plenty of choices for webmail that are better in that regard and have ample online storage. Google's Gmail is, in my opinion, the best webmail around. It is really good at identifying spam and notifying you exactly why they think it is spam. I also have a Yahoo webmail account and a Windows Live Hotmail account which are both pretty good.


Security software:
In this very newsletter a few months back there was a Q&A about free security software, where it was shown that the old saying, "you get what you pay for," doesn't always apply. There is little need to spend any money, but people still do simply because it makes them feel more comfortable. Anyway, the point is, I'm going to focus on free software, and you can find everything I mention at www.filehippo.com or here at CNET.

Anti-virus - You mentioned that you've already got anti-virus, which is a great first step. But for completeness, I'll still go through the options. In the paid subscription world, I can only recommend NOD32. If you are going to spend any money at all, then go for the best, and this is repeatedly proven to have among the highest detection and cleansing performance around. On the free side, the choices with real-time protection (always running, making sure you don't download any viruses) are AVG Free Edition (my personal choice), Avast! Home Edition, and AntiVir Personal. Avast requires (free) registration and AntiVir shows you an ad for its paid edition each time you use it, so I mainly use AVG, but I've used all three before and they work well. You may even want an additional on-demand only (NOT real-time) virus scanner, like BitDefender Free Edition, but I found that I hardly used it, and when I did, it found nothing.

Anti-Spyware - Windows Defender is a surprisingly good piece of software (Microsoft bought a company that made the software and renamed it), So that should be your first line of defense. Combine it with an on-demand scanner like Ad-aware for best results. Ad-aware often flags things that aren't really all that harmful, so don't be too alarmed if it finds a ton of "infections." It catches the ones that count, so that's all that matters.

Firewall - The default Windows Firewall in Vista is supposedly better than the one in XP, which was pretty much entirely useless. Unfortunately, my preferred third-party firewall, Comodo, has not yet made a Vista-compatible version. ZoneAlarm doesn't give you as much control, but they have a version for Windows Vista. You have to go to their site to get it though. As is typical for these security software providers, they like to hide the fact that they have a free version. Here is a link, but if you go to it, make sure you click on "I only want basic ZoneAlarm protection" at the bottom. Personally I don't use my Vista install all too much, so I'm still using Windows Firewall while I wait for Comodo's Vista version. Note that I also have a router, which if you have broadband internet, you should too. It can act as a hardware firewall if you take the time to set it up right. Using both a hardware and software firewall is the best combination here.


Maintenance Utilities:
One of my favorite pieces of software to recommend to Windows users is CCleaner. It removes unused and "temporary" files that just eat up your hard drive space. Make sure you pay attention if you install though, because by default it includes Yahoo Toolbar and several unnecessary options, like adding it to context menus (the right-click menus) and running on start-up. As long as it's got a start-up menu folder, that's all you need. But aside from just cleaning your file system, you can use it to uninstall programs and clean up your registry as well.

Another program I usually recommend keeping handy is HijackThis. It logs all the changes to particularly vulnerable locations on your computer. Run it whenever you think something is wrong, and then post the log on any computer support forum so an expert can take a look and recommend a course of action.


Office software:
I'm only going over this because it relates to the pre-installed software I mentioned before. Did you get Microsoft Works 8 with your computer? Get rid of it, because it's slow and featureless, and you can get much better software for the same amount of money. OpenOffice.org is free, open source, and very good if you need an entire suite - including word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software. Abiword is an excellent Microsoft Word replacement as well. They can both save documents in Microsoft's proprietary formats if needed. Microsoft Office should only be purchased as a last resort.


That's about all I've got software-wise. Other than that, just some general advice - only download stuff from sources you trust, whether it be software I mentioned or a picture in an email. FileHippo is a great site to keep up with the latest free software; you may want to browse it a bit and look for software you might like. The selection is much sparser than it is here, but it's all safe; I've seen my share of problems with some of the more obscure choices available here. And I'm sure you know, but I'll reiterate that you should be careful with email. Aside from viruses taking over your friend's computers and sending you emails and instant messages with disguised copies of itself, the spammers and scammers are getting ever more clever in their schemes. Keep a "junk" webmail account, where, whenever you sign up for or buy anything online, use that email address. That way, unless you're waiting for a receipt or confirmation number from an online order, you can delete everything in there without worrying you are missing something.

And lastly, once you've got a setup that you like, be sure to use the backup utilities occasionally, or whenever you about to make a major change in either hardware or software. Especially with your personal data. While re-installing everything from scratch can be a daunting task, it is possible. Losing your only copy of personal data like pictures from your digital camera, however, can be irreversible and heart-breaking.

Worrying about security and maintenance can be a major headache, but do it right the first time and you should be okay for a long time. I hope I helped somewhat, and I hope you enjoy your new purchase.

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10149_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=263281&messageID=2580895#2580895


Submitted by ucphenom82

"usphenom82 answer was worthless. His anti-microsoft bias was so obvious it made him look like a goon."

Well, I wouldn't say so much anti-Microsoft as pro-open source. If I was anti-Microsoft, I wouldn't have even tried to help Maria, would I? Let's go through my references to Microsoft products:

It's well known that:
1. ME was not a good version of the OS, and
2. Internet Explorer and Outlook Express are THE most popular targets for malware writers. Even taking nothing else into consideration, this makes their alternatives safer by default.

I said Hotmail was pretty good, didn't I? I noted that it was just my opinion that Gmail is better.

I admit I took a shot saying that Windows Defender is a "surprisingly" good piece of software and including the non-essential information that it was somebody else's originally. In my defense it IS the truth, and I DID still recommend it.

Windows Firewall in XP did NOT include outbound protection, which absolutely makes it useless, specifically if you are already infected with and spreading a virus or enslaved in a botnet. A keylogger can send all your info to identity thieves anytime it wants if you're only using XP's default firewall. I had heard that Vista's firewall does include outbound protection, but I wasn't sure, so I said it is "supposedly" better. Obviously I was not just being cynical, because I use it myself at the moment. Comodo's firewall is excellent. It keeps track of every program that even tries to access the internet, and won't allow them unless you say so. Zone Alarm was the same, but doesn't offer the level of configuration that I prefer.

Microsoft Works is a stripped-down, inferior version of Office. Why else would they sell it for a tenth of the price? There are free alternatives with Office-level features, and I said my advice caters to the frugal-minded. As for Microsoft Office versus OpenOffice.org, it is my opinion that OpenOffice.org's Writer and Impress are better than Word 2003 and PowerPoint 2003, respectively, partly because the menus are just more intuitive. My favorite example is the page margins. Writer puts them in Format > Page, while Word puts it in File > Page Setup. How about headers and footers? In Writer, Insert > Header (or Footer); in Word, View > Headers and Footers. OpenOffice Calc has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to match Excel though.

Again, this is all my opinion. If you're okay with spending a couple hundred extra dollars for the most popular Office suite, then I'm certainly not going to stop you...I'll only make sure you know there are alternatives. As a student I was able to purchase Office 2003 for less than $10 thanks to the university's license agreement, but I personally will never spend more than that on it. Some people just don't need it, and if they think it's the only option, they may waste their money on it.

Thank you for reading.

I noticed in the reply threads, which are exhaustive to the point I have nothing to add, that someone mentions you should give the kids separate accounts, with non-admin rights.

This, you should never do. First of al, kids install games and other frivolities on a PC, and they can't do that if they don't have admin rights - gaming software doesn't work like other software does. They also download stuff they shouldn't, and that needs admin rights as well.

But basically, you should NEVER allow the kids to use your PC. You will have correspondence, finances, pictures of Grandma, stuff you don't want to lose on your computer. The things kids do with computers (and that is their way of learning) put any computer they use at severe risk, from viruses, which they collect by the dozen, to gaming software that writes directly to the BIOS and the graphics memory and does all sorts of other stuff Windows was not designed for.

So: give the kids their own system, for which they have responsibility, and let them do as they will. NEVER let them anywhere near your PC, not even for two minutes to read their Messenger mail. Trust me. For the $300 it costs, spare yourself the agony.

I could not agree more! I have just returned the second Gateway Vista PC to TigerDirect.
Fortunately, TigerDirect has an excellent, no-questions asked policy for defective products.
Vista is absolutely inferior to Windows XP. I could find no feature on Vista that was an improvement on XP and many that are worse - starting with its vaunted filing system which is horrible. Furthermore, it is much less stable than XP and crashed routinely. It even brought back the dreaded "Blue screen of death which I have never seen using XP. I only hope that XP remains on the market until Microsoft comes to its senses and withdraws Vista.

Why anything when OS X is much more stable and reliable which has every software that you need available. It comes with tons of software install anyways (not trials)

OS X comes installed in all Apple computers and if even you have to purchase it, it worth every penny of the price. BTW Apple comes install with OS X and several other award winning complete very useful applications (iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iCal, Mail, iWeb, Garageband, iChat etc.) so buying apple is a wise thing to do. In a long run it pays you back and its cheaper then a PC. Be smart

http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-02-06.htm

Switch to Mac and get out of all this window BS agony

The best way for your "new pc " from Dell is to join Dell support,
the cleaning,defragging and all those other things we all tend to miss now and agaig will be done atoumaticly for you...

Hey Maria! I'm sure you're excited about your new pc. As a computer technician for over a decade now, I have just one small bit of advice which will save you alot of trouble. Do NOT use internet explorer as your web browser. I personally recommend Mozilla Firefox to all my customers (but there are a few other options I won't list here for the sake of time). To get it, go to www.getfirefox.com
It will cut down your viruses by about 98%. It also has an interface similar to IE so it's not difficult to use.

I had the same problem backing up my Vista system. Can you tell me what type of disk you had to use and briefly what MS techician told you to do?

the best i`ve used to keep unwanted trash out is the new AD-AWARE PLUS LAVASOFT AND SPYWARE DOCTOR REGISTRY MECHANIC ,have not had a problem yet ,,
keith

Keeping it simple, may I suggest the following:
1. download free AVG and set up for updates and scheduled scans,
2. download free Sygate firewall, check for updates every couple of weeks,
2. download free CCleaner, use a couple of times a week and attempt updates once a week
3. Download free Advanced WindowsCare V2 Personal use and attempt update once a week
Also, set Block Popups when using IE. All this seems like a lot at first but it becomes a routine. I haven't had a problem in 5 years since I got rid of ME. Happy computing.