* My column on "Reinstalling Windows" of a few weeks ago was truncated when printed - to read the full column, please refer to my webpage at www.bobseidel.com. Click on "Newspaper Columns and Publications" in the menu on the left. For those not aware, all of my columns from my five years here are archived, even back to the original "Internet Rebates - Good Deal?" on 4/6/2000. Which, of course, brings up the point that this is the fifth anniversary of my PC column here in the State Port Pilot. Wow! I never envisioned that it would go this long!
* A client fried his router recently. He had rearranged his furniture and when re-plugging the router he used the power supply from a different device. Pffft. Please be aware that there is absolutely no standardization in those small round power connectors (called barrel plugs) - period. Unlike other connectors in the PC world, these are not marked or interchangeable - not even within the same manufacturer or even within the same product model! To save yourself from falling into the same trap, always label your power adapters clearly - you can use a permanent magic marker or a stick-on label. Since these transformers often generate some heat, it would be better to put the label on the cord itself, rather than on the transformer.
* On the spyware front, things seem to be fairly stable right now. Stable means that there haven't been any serious, horrible, new threats recently. Other columnists are predicting that the Spyware problem will fade, now that Microsoft has entered the arena. Not only is the Microsoft anti-spyware product well received, but also it is putting pressure on the other anti-spyware and anti-virus software manufacturers to improve their products to be competitive with MS.
One of the issues in spyware detection is that it is somewhat difficult to actually define what software is spyware. There are many purveyors of that junk that are in a gray area - semi-legitimate businesses. They monitor the anti-spyware programs, and start legal proceedings when they are listed in them. This has put pressure on the anti-spyware companies and also caused the collapse of efforts to form an anti-spyware consortium. Stay tuned on this…
Although I do not install beta-level software on my client's PCs, I have been using the Microsoft product myself; and it looks to be very effective and has received a lot of good press. If you want to try it out, go to www.microsoft.com and look in the "Popular Downloads" section. It is unclear yet whether Microsoft will charge a fee for this product when it becomes formally available, but it they do it will probably be very reasonable. Check it out.
* I have also begun to recommend the Firefox web browser. Firefox is an alternative to the web browser built into Windows - Internet Explorer. Firefox appears to be much better written code (i.e. has less bugs or holes to allow malicious software to crawl into) and it limits the potentially bad things that a webpage can do to you. It is because of this limitation that I cannot recommend Firefox fully - some of the webpages you visit are not going to work correctly, or at all. My strategy: use Firefox unless there is a webpage problem, and then go back to Internet Explorer if you must (both can co-exist on your PC). But if you do have to revert to IE, be aware that you may in fact be exposing yourself to something you don't want. Tread carefully.
You can get Firefox at www.mozilla.com/firefox. Firefox allows you to transfer your Favorites (now called Bookmarks) if you wish.
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport - Oak Island area. You can visit his Website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail questions or column ideas to him at bsc@bobseidel.com. For specific inquiries, please call Bob Seidel Consulting, LLC at 278-1007.)