stay away from Dell Computers

John R · #1 05-12-2003, 06:36 PM

Get the Adaware! Great product!

Stay away from Norton Utilities, Clean Sweep, and all of those "fixers". They WILL solve numerous problems but they also create problems, often fatal

JohnS · #2 05-13-2003, 12:49 PM

Eric,
Sorry for not responding back quickly but I don't check all the posts every day.

Symantec, maker of Norton products, though they make wondeful stuff, it can cause problems at times as JohnR stated, though, I do use it at work on some things and it does do it's job. Personally, if you are good with Microsoft products and know your way around them, you can go in and wipe out most of your problems manually, keeping in mind that Microsoft hides stuff in as many as three places at times. They are good at that! So, depending on which operating system you are running, it can be in different places. I like the Adaware stuff that JohnR mentioned too, works pretty good and stops most of the BS on the garbage that the internet seems to send our way. Cleaning out the temp file is nothing compared to what could really be in your machine. If you are not really comfortable doing that stuff on the machine, well, you can purchase the Symantec product and more than likely it will function just fine for you though, it will not delete the garbage that the internet has instiled into your machine and you will need to stop those from starting up, which is why your machine is taking forever and a day to start up. I suggest you also get some firewall software, again, Symantec makes some decent stuff for that too, called "Internet Security". They offer it in a combo with their anti-virus software as well. You can customize exactly what you will receive and what you do not want to receive, such as cookies etc. It will eliminate all those nasty pop-ups if you choose as well. Let me know..

John S

Bigshrimpin · #3 05-17-2003, 01:36 AM

Joe,
What type of port are you missing? Are you saying that your laptop didn't come with a serial port? firewire port? parellel port? built in ethernet port (network card)? built in modem? Tell us what you are missing. I'll bet we can set you straight for a lot less than $210.00.

Eric McNiff · #4 05-20-2003, 12:51 PM

Thanks John's and Bri - I will definitely check out the Adaware software first. I also already bought the Symantec stuff....I will try that as well....

I'm not sure if this is true...but I heard that McCafee and Symantec might actually be contributing to the "spam" on the net so they can increase anti-spam software sales...so I was a little wary of that stuff. Not sure if it is true or not - but hey, I am getting off the subject....going for a ride in my boat, it was put in yesterday and it is finally starting to warm up.

John R · #5 05-20-2003, 07:15 PM

Eric - which Norton did you get. I am hesitant about installing Norton Utilities/System Works. It creates almost as many problems as it fixes...

Eric McNiff · #6 05-29-2003, 02:13 PM

John - i got the latest Symantec Antivirus for Small Business. I haven't even opened the box, but I have had it for 6 months now - not sure which version, does not say on the outside of the box. One of these days i will install it - I will let you know if I notice any problems.

I did download the Adaware software and it has solved my "pop up" add problem when I boot up the computer...

JohnS · #7 05-29-2003, 03:24 PM

Eric,
It really doesn't matter which version it is. Just go get the live update after you install it and it will bring it up to the latest virus definitions anyway. It will also update anything else that they have made changes to.

I was thinking of your problem a bit more the other day and I thoought about this one thing. If you have EVER installed some stuff off of the internet, it could be that some of that software had some "snoop" stuff in it. There is some "anti snoop" software available on the market now that works wonderful and I strongly suggest it. Basically, if you install some garbage off of the internet, at the very bottom of that "license agreement", you know, the one that everyone just clicks on "accept" and never really reads. Well, anyway, at times, they include a little clause at the very bottom that says something like, "We will from time to time check, for marketing purposes, your computer. Not exactly like that but, you get the drift. So, what your machine will do is, when it gets an internet connection, it will connect and send data. It is not a virus and therefore the anti-virus software will not see it. Just another one of the many ways they get ya. That is one of the reasons I suggested the "Internet Security". It has a built in firewall to help stop stuff like that. The anit-snoop software is a great way to scan your machine and keep it clean from garbage like that. Again, I strongly suggest that as well. Not expensive stuff at all, should be less than $20 and you can get it at most computer stores. I know Comp USA sells the stuff.

Just another suggestion....

John