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Updated gimmick feature list 2007

My list of gimmick features continues to grow. Gimmick features are features that companies add to technology to sell a product but don’t do what they claim to do in the way you expect them to do it.

One of of the first gimmick features I began discussing years ago were gimmick buttons on a scanner. These are buttons that say “email” or “scan and save”, etc. All these buttons do is activate the software the same as if you clicked on the icon. It is usually more work to reach over and hit the buttons than it is to double-click on the appropriate scanner icon.

New virus – what took them so long?

There is a new virus going around that pretends to be a postcard from a friend, family member, schoolmate, etc. Within the email are links to where you can download the "postcard."

In reality you will not be getting a postcard, you will be getting a virus. How sneaky.

While this method of spreading viruses usually doesn’t work well because the host site is taken down quickly, I thought this one was worth commenting on not because of the nastiness of the virus or the way it spreads.

I’m sure it’s something simple…

Several times each week I will receive messages with the phrase, "I'm sure it's something simple…" What is ironic is that these are usually the calls with problems that are the farthest from simple.

I was thinking about this last week as someone left a message that said something like, "Hi I was given your name by a friend who said you might be able to help me. I have a computer that is shutting itself off every time I drag a heart over a club in solitaire and my antivirus software keeps telling me that it can't find my sound card. I am sure it's something simple that you can walk me though over the phone. Oh, ya! It also keeps giving me errors that say something about catastrophic failure and immanent death. Of course I exaggerated the details, but only slightly.

STOP BUYING NORTON PRODUCTS!!

We write a lot about this subject because we continue to see friends and family members trying to help their parents, neighbors, siblings, etc with their computer security by buying Norton security products. We have proved over and over that Norton products don't protect as well as our current recommendations of AVG or Avast Antivirus, plus they slow down computer systems tremendously and in some cases lock them up so they aren't usable.

So, PLEASE do not buy Norton products for yourself and help your tech buddies and families by recommending that they not pollute their systems with these inferior products either. 

Properly Uninstall Norton Products

How to get rid of Norton Antivirus:

1. Go to Start – Control Panel (Start – Settings – Control Panel)
2. Open Add/Remove Programs
3. Now you will want to remove the following items:

  • Anything that says "Norton" or "Symantec" in the title.

  • LiveUpdate

  • LiveReg

4. Restart your computer when prompte

512mb is not enough

512mb of RAM is not enough for Windows Vista…any flavor. Vista has been out almost three months now, and I have setup almost a dozen Vista machines. Thankfully, they are rolling out slowly. All the machines I setup, until today, came with 1 GB (1024mb) or 2GB of RAM. And although not blazing, the computer's ran at an acceptable speed.

I just finished spending nearly 2.5 hours setting up a laptop with Vista Basic and only 512mb of RAM. It was painful. Normally, I can clean all unwanted and trial software (crapware) from a new computer, install and update AVG Antivirus, optimize the startup and Internet settings, shut off unnecessary special effects, setup email and test both email and the Internet all in under 1.5 hours. This little laptop required extraordinary wait times to get anything installed or uninstalled. Very frustrating.

Is this a test?

Today I had an appointment that spanned almost every area of what I do on a daily basis. The appointment lasted roughly three hours.

In that time I…

Helped setup a new iMac. She is making the switch from Windows and wanted some of the features that she was used to in her PC. I set her computer to ask for her password whenever it was turned on or came out of sleep mode so her kids couldn't get online without her permission. I also setup a gmail account and a POP3 email program that worked like Outlook Express.

  • Consulted her on ways of getting better range from her wireless network.
  • Tuned up her kids' computer and removed lots of

Stick with HelpMeRick’s trusted security software

Some days I seem to face recurring themes. Today's was extortionware. Extortion is when someone forces you into paying money to solve a problem that the person or institution requiring payment caused. If that doesn't make a lot of sense, ask Rick to explain how his "If you want to keep your kneecaps – go get nachos for us," program works during the show on Saturday.

We have spelled out our proven method of home computer security countless times here on HelpMeRick, but just as a reminder here it is again in brief:

1. Don't use Internet Explorer to surf the web unless you have to

Bad tech support: When in doubt, blame a virus

We talk a lot about viruses on the show and here on the site, but in reality, viruses make up a very small portion of day-to-day computer problems. In fact, many (if not most) problems that people blame on viruses are not actually viruses at all.

Many of today's computers contain at least 100,000 smaller files. These thousands of little files work together by linking and sharing jobs with each other. Viruses work by getting into that mix and confusing the files.

However, even without viruses at play, these files can get confused all on their own. In many ways a computer is like a living organism. Just as DNA, cells, the processes of life can get mixed up an mutated, the files and programs that make a computer work can also get corrupted.

Norton 360 verdict not in yet – don’t be a guinea pig

Norton has recently released a new version called Norton 360. Symantec claims that they have scrapped 80+ percent of their old code and the 360 version is a totally new program.

I have only seen it installed on one computer so far and I couldn't really see if it was any faster or slower than previous versions. Since the system I saw it on was also running Windows Vista, I couldn't tell if the sluggishness of the computer was caused by Norton or Vista.

I can say that I have Vista running on a very similar machine as the one I saw running 360 and it didn't seem any slower.