Archive for July, 2006
Symantec strikes again
Symantec continues its propensity for writing bad code. The latest episode is another faulty update for Norton anti-virus. This once-premier product is on its way to becoming a pariah of the software world. Peter Norton, what have they done to you?
I’ll say it again, I used to admire and use Norton products but no longer [...]
Time to buy a new computer?
PCs have reached the stage when we often buy a new one because we want one rather than because we need one. Many people’s computing needs can be perfectly well satisfied with a computer that is five years old (or older). Computer components have become quite reliable and I know of many five-year old computers [...]
Tips for avoiding Internet scams
Walter Mossberg writes on consumer electronics for the Wall Street Journal. He is one of my favorite technology journalists and can be relied upon for good reporting. His latest column has good advice for avoiding security problems. He starts his article by summarizing the situation this way
If you’re running a Windows computer, you must install [...]
Firefox profile folder
One of the best things about the Firefox browser is all the various ways that you can configure and extend it. Extensive tinkering with the settings and configuration will not appeal to everybody but for those who like to see what’s going on inside a program, the Firefox profile page provides a lot of information [...]
An essential piece of hardware that you may not have
The thunderstorm season is in full swing where I live and I am very glad that I have an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for my computer. The power has been flickering quite a bit but my PC has never noticed. Although many home PC users have surge protectors for their computers, far fewer have a [...]
Deleting stubborn files and folders
Sometimes when you try to delete a file or folder, Windows won’t let you. You may get a message like
This situation can arise for a variety of reasons. The worst case is when a virus infection is causing the problem. Here is a page that deals with that situation. Other causes are programs running [...]
Google Launches Accessible Web Search
Search Engine Watch has a story about a new Google facility for the visually impaired
Google has launched Google Accessible Search, a stripped down version of the Google search results page. The design was created to make it easier and more effective for the blind and visually impaired. The results are a bit different, tailored to [...]
Easy way to make “hidden” files visible in Windows XP
Certain files in Windows are given an attribute or property called “hidden”. These are files that Microsoft deems to be too delicate for most people’s eyes and they do not normally appear in folder or Windows Explorer views. If you are a casual PC user, this will make no difference to you. However, there are [...]
A really easy way to show your file extensions in Windows XP
Microsoft also has a thing about hiding file extensions. Ever since the beginning of Windows, the default setting for file extensions has been to hide them. Over the years many computer experts have pointed out over and over that this is not the best choice. Microsoft has never budged and it looks like Vista continues [...]
Turn off the Desktop Wizard
Microsoft has a thing about keeping the Desktop in Windows XP clean. If you don’t use an icon that’s on the Desktop for a while, you’ll get nagged to clean up. You can tell the wizard to go away but it’ll be back in 60 days unless you turn the thing off. Personally, I feel [...]
Free tool checks links for threats
Desktop Pipeline has a piece about one way to guard against links that might be phishing sites or Trojan downloads. A tool called “LinkScanner” will check out an URL for you. It’s free (so far) and can be accessed here. It’s one way to check out links in emails that you receive. You copy and [...]
