photo credit: jennconspiracy
I’ve written about this before, but it bares repeating on occasion for new visitors to the site and long time visitors who haven’t learned yet. The advice is simple:
Do not download free screensavers, wallpaper, email programs (Incredimail, etc), or games from the Internet.
Unless you are WELL versed in the origin of these items, they can easily destroy your computer’s ability to compute.
“Slow computer” is the most common computer ailment Windows users search for on the web. Sadly, slow computer disease (SCD*), does not have to be the pandemic it is because it is 100% preventable.
Here are my 5 simple rules to prevent SCD for Windows users:
1. Install and keep Internet security software current. Current Recommendations: AVG, Avast or Microsoft Security Essentials , a software and/or hardware firewall and a good anti-spwyare program or two.
Check out the Links section for recommendations.
2. DO NOT DOWNLOAD FREE CRAP FROM THE INTERNET UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY KNOW ITS ORIGIN AND SAFETY. This includes games of any type, screensavers, ring tones, wallpaper, computer utilities, music and movies.
3. Use Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome as your primary Internet browser instead of Internet Explorer, MSN, or AOL. This tip alone can save your computer.
4. If you have teenagers or young adults who use your computer, forbid the downloading of free music through services like Limewire or any other shady site (refer to #2)
5. If you do suspect SCD, get it looked at immediately. Waiting for it to cure itself will only make SCD worse.
BONUS TIP: If your computer suffers from SCD, Defrag will not help it. No matter how many times you Defrag your computer, it will NOT help SCD.
© *SCD is a copyrighted term of Castellini on Computers, HelpMeRick.com and Rick Castellini. Use of the term SCD is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of Rick Castellini or administrators of HelpMeRick.com. First used on September 28, 2007
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Very good advise!
I have a freind who just LOVES to download wallpaper and use vacation photos on her desktop. She sees those photos for a few seconds and then off to do other things online.
I’ve said why bother, she says they make her happy, and then complaines about a slow computer. DUH!
Oh, and running XP with the max of RAM of 512 with out being able to add more memory.
RE: the poll. I only use my cell phone and have no land line. Does that fall under the category of cable/internet?
I messed up on last week’s poll by forgetting to include the cell phone option…my whole purpose for doing the poll! Darn it.
Thats what happens to my computer; I refresh the OS and after a month of installing the sh*t softwares its crawling. Mayb i don’t recognize between genuine or spyware apps.
I guess the SCD is related to the time since u’ve had the OS installed. Because my computer is OK when I install fresh OS but after few months it’s speed deteriorates.
Yes, partially…but so many other things contribute to SCD. And don’t you think an OS shouldn’t slow down just by simply using it?
I never install security software and I’ve no problem with IE. If you only keep away from sh*t websites I think you will be fine. Even if u do visit such websites just make sure u click carefully, if u get a dialog box make sure you try avoiding it at all. And especially ignore popup messages like ‘Im in your city, wanna hang out’
Ahh, great comment, but you also stated the big pitfall most computer users make…not being careful, and not being aware of what link they might be clicking on…thus the need for security software and more education.
Thanks. Very good information in this article. Pay close attention to Number 2 on the list. And of course, watch out for those email attachments!
I’ve been using incredimail now, for over 5 years now, and I haven’t had any problems with it. However, I don’t leave it on all the time, I only access it to check my email, and then I exit it.
There are many malicious rumors being spread all over the internet about IncrediMail, these rumors are untrue. IncrediMail is not spyware and it does not put viruses on your computer. We have been using IncrediMail for over 7 years and have never had a single problem. Sometimes these rumors get started & take on a life of their own on the internet.
IncrediMail has a wonderful article on their website addressing this subject and pledging to it’s users that these rumors are untrue. To find out the real truth about IncrediMail please read this article: http://www.incredimail.com/english/privacy.html.
True, Incredimail is not full of viruses or spyware, but it is one of the most obnoxious programs you can install on your computer.
One type of obnoxious-ware is called Adware – this is software that pretends to be practical but instead is used to force you and others to see advertising. This is exactly what Incredimail does. At the bottom of every email is an ad for Incredimail.
Even that isn’t that bad though. What is really irritating about Incredimail is how your messages come across to people who can’t read HTML email. The message is full of garbage and often the happy faces and other symbols come through as attachments that can’t be opened.
These recipients then call Rick and I and spend good money trying to figure out why they can’t open .eml files that are sent by Incredimail.
Now, decide that you don’t want to use Incredimail and try to switch to something else. You will quickly find that your messages and address book are held captive by the Incredimail software.
It is a high price to pay for cute happy faces in your messages.
My husband & I came home last night, turned on our computer & I heard him say ‘this’ (Incredimail) keeps coming up as our home page. It took me a half hour or so to figure it out, but it was very annoying. I’d purchased Memokit the day before, after purchasing an updated verson of McAfee. I don’t know if this is the reason Incredimail showed up, but it’s certainly nothing we downloaded ourselves…I don’t like things suddenly showing up on our computer. I do my utmost NOT to dabble with free stuff out there unless verified by somebody who is credible & recommends it. I finally had to go in and clean out our registry to get Incredimail to cease coming up as our homepage. Because of this hassle, it wouldn’t matter what I’m told is great about Incredimail…the mere fact it refused to go away after uninstalling it in add/remove programs (the first attempt I made to rid our computer of it)…is reason enough for us to never see it again. Again, unless my husband isn’t telling me something, WE did NOT install Incredimail…it simply showed up. That’s invasive in my opinion. Sorry…I’ll never give it a chance.
Adam,
Is the above two different programs? Or a typo?
I ask, since I have the latter.
Thank you,
Anne
AdAware is the legitimate anti-spyware program from Lavasoft and can be safely downloaded from http://www.download.com or the Links and Resources section right here at HelpMeRick.com Adware is a maliciously made play on the popularity of AdAware and will slow down your computer and attempt to extort money for the problems IT causes.
Thank you Rick for your ever sound advice!
Anne
Funny, I’m about to reformat/reinstall windows on a friends computer because of incredimail and the havoc it has wreaked. This computer is so slow it takes 10 minutes to get a page up. I stopped incredimail from running on startup and it helped a little. I find it odd that you cannot fully uninstall a program or import the address book back to outlook if the program is legit!!!!!! Incredimail is bad news in my opinion and it’s not the first experience I’ve had with it.