beware of the updates you install

[Trevor]

"Scott Dorsey" <kludge@panix.com> wrote in message
news:l5tc79$sgl$1@panix2.panix.com...

In article <l5sidu$dan$1@speranza.aioe.org>, Trevor <trevor@home.net
wrote:
And use all your Windows software no more :-(
Linux is great if you are happy with the available software, or all you
want
to do is surf the net. However I'm amazed that people who can successfully
install and run Linux can't keep a Windows box running.

They are philosophically very different to run and debug problems on.
With
Linux, you can readily look inside and see what is going on, and so step
by
step diagnosis is possible (and in fact is essential). On the other hand,
with Windows systems you can't really see what is going on inside the box
at all

Sure you can, just open the box. Windows or Linux makes no difference

and if you attempt conventional step by step diagnosis you will only
get frustrated and angry. Windows diagnosis is basically done with a
matrix
of problems and solutions

Which are readily found in many instances by checking the logs.

... and the good news is that there are enough
Windows systems that a google search on a given problem will usually find
you
a solution.

Exactly.

That doesn't mean the person with the solution has any more idea
what is going on inside the box than you do, though.

Nor that they really care as long as a solution is available.

Trevor.

 

[dave]

On 11/12/2013 10:34 PM, Trevor wrote:

"dave" <ricketzz@earthlink.net> wrote in message

If your IOS device detects you trying to read the files with a 3rd party
app it will brick your device. You have to refill it. Major Pain!

Why I'd never buy an Apple device when there are lots to choose from that
work with any system.

Trevor.

I specifically bought mine to use with a 3G wireless router in my car,
to use the iPod Touch as a stream tuner. This was in 2009 and more
elegant solutions were not yet available. I was astonished that you
cannot drag and drop files and then offended by the idea I could never
be superuser on my own bought and paid for ipod. I do know how to root
it via USB or wifi, but why?

Fanbois love this kind of walled garden. Probably a juvenile complex or
something.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

sctvguy1 wrote:

On Fri, 08 Nov 2013 09:12:09 +1300, geoff wrote:

sctvguy1 wrote:

I dropped Windows years ago. Run Linux. No problems.

I'm sure if OP had let things do themselves without interference he
wouldn't had had the slight 15 minute inconvenience that he he. Hardly
a reason to ditch an OS and all the applications he knows and loves ....

geoff

The only people who seem to love Windows, are techs who make money
"fixing" problems and re-installing everything when it gets infected.

The only time I've 'reinstalled' windows was on replacement hard
drives. I've worked on hundreds of windows based computers and never
needed a reinstall, unless the hard drive had died.


--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

 

[S. King]

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 23:36:30 -0500, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

sctvguy1 wrote:

On Fri, 08 Nov 2013 09:12:09 +1300, geoff wrote:

sctvguy1 wrote:

I dropped Windows years ago. Run Linux. No problems.

I'm sure if OP had let things do themselves without interference he
wouldn't had had the slight 15 minute inconvenience that he he.
Hardly a reason to ditch an OS and all the applications he knows and
loves ....

geoff

The only people who seem to love Windows, are techs who make money
"fixing" problems and re-installing everything when it gets infected.


The only time I've 'reinstalled' windows was on replacement hard
drives. I've worked on hundreds of windows based computers and never
needed a reinstall, unless the hard drive had died.

Ditto! First there was CPM, then DOS, then Windows. Never had to re-
install Windows in any iteration, although I did avoid a couple of
versions that people complained about. Currently at Win 7/64. All good.

Steve King

 

[Les Cargill]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

sctvguy1 wrote:

On Fri, 08 Nov 2013 09:12:09 +1300, geoff wrote:

sctvguy1 wrote:

I dropped Windows years ago. Run Linux. No problems.

I'm sure if OP had let things do themselves without interference he
wouldn't had had the slight 15 minute inconvenience that he he. Hardly
a reason to ditch an OS and all the applications he knows and loves ....

geoff

The only people who seem to love Windows, are techs who make money
"fixing" problems and re-installing everything when it gets infected.


The only time I've 'reinstalled' windows was on replacement hard
drives. I've worked on hundreds of windows based computers and never
needed a reinstall, unless the hard drive had died.

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.

--
Les Cargill

 

[Trevor]

"Les Cargill" <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in message
news:l6o6u0$eos$1@dont-email.me...

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
sctvguy1 wrote:
The only people who seem to love Windows, are techs who make money
"fixing" problems and re-installing everything when it gets infected.

The only time I've 'reinstalled' windows was on replacement hard
drives. I've worked on hundreds of windows based computers and never
needed a reinstall, unless the hard drive had died.

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.

There are far easier ways to clean the registry.

Trevor.

 

[Trevor]

"Nil" <rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> wrote in message
news:XnsA280F0B5F4D07nilch1@wheedledeedle.moc...

On 22 Nov 2013, "Trevor" <trevor@home.net> wrote in rec.audio.pro:
"Les Cargill" <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in message
news:l6o6u0$eos$1@dont-email.me...

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.

There are far easier ways to clean the registry.

Windows registry rarely if ever needs "cleaning". Unless you have some
specific problem, trying to do so is at best a waste of time and at
worst catastrophically destructive. There is a shady industry that
sells so-called "registry cleaning" software but what they're really
selling is snake oil.

Not strictly true. Perhaps what you mean is cleaning the registry is often
pointless even though it can and usually does fill up with lots of
unnecessary crap over time.
For those who know what they are doing, no need to pay any money at all to
clean the registry. For those who don't, probably best to leave it alone.
In any case reinstalling Windows just to clean the registry is even more
pointless IMO.

Trevor.

 

[Nil]

On 22 Nov 2013, "Trevor" <trevor@home.net> wrote in rec.audio.pro:

"Les Cargill" <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in message
news:l6o6u0$eos$1@dont-email.me...

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.

There are far easier ways to clean the registry.

Windows registry rarely if ever needs "cleaning". Unless you have some
specific problem, trying to do so is at best a waste of time and at
worst catastrophically destructive. There is a shady industry that
sells so-called "registry cleaning" software but what they're really
selling is snake oil.

 

[Trevor]

"S. King" <steveSPAMBLOCK@steveNOSPAMking.net> wrote in message
news:l6o5p1$77c$1@dont-email.me...

On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 23:36:30 -0500, Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The only time I've 'reinstalled' windows was on replacement hard
drives. I've worked on hundreds of windows based computers and never
needed a reinstall, unless the hard drive had died.


Ditto! First there was CPM, then DOS, then Windows. Never had to re-
install Windows in any iteration, although I did avoid a couple of
versions that people complained about.

Yep, I never had any problems with the ones they did complain about either,
like ME.
Wish I could say the same about all the faulty motherboards and power
supplies I've had to replace in my own and other computers over the years
:-(

Trevor.

 

[Nil]

On 22 Nov 2013, "Trevor" <trevor@home.net> wrote in rec.audio.pro:

"Nil" <rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> wrote in message
news:XnsA280F0B5F4D07nilch1@wheedledeedle.moc...

Windows registry rarely if ever needs "cleaning". Unless you have
some specific problem, trying to do so is at best a waste of time
and at worst catastrophically destructive. There is a shady
industry that sells so-called "registry cleaning" software but
what they're really selling is snake oil.

Not strictly true. Perhaps what you mean is cleaning the registry
is often pointless even though it can and usually does fill up
with lots of unnecessary crap over time.

That's almost what I mean, but not quite. Windows registry is an
optimized database, and the unnecessary crap that accumulates there
impacts performance so little as to be irrelevant. "Cleaning" it out
doesn't improve anything except one's urge to be neat. At the same
time, you can easily screw the registry up royally. There's great risk
and little or no benefit.

For those who know what they are doing, no need to pay any money
at all to clean the registry. For those who don't, probably best
to leave it alone. In any case reinstalling Windows just to clean
the registry is even more pointless IMO.

Agreed.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Les Cargill wrote:

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.

If you use the right tools to uninstall crap programs, you don't have
problems with the registry. Revo Uninstaller lets you use the program's
built in uninstaller, then will clean the remainder of the registry
entries and leftover folders. Prior to this, I edited the registry by
hand. The pro version is supposed to clean ot trash left from sloppy
uninstalls.

<http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html>


--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
news:KrCdnXhYy-hc5Q3PnZ2dnUVZ_gydnZ2d@earthlink.com...

If you use the right tools to uninstall crap programs, you don't
have problems with the registry. Revo Uninstaller lets you use
the program's built in uninstaller, then will clean the remainder
of the registry entries and leftover folders. Prior to this, I edited
the registry by hand. The pro version is supposed to clean out
trash left from sloppy uninstalls.

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

Thanks for the recommendation.

I've edited the Registry many times by hand, once to remove all references to
a piece of software I didn't want hanging around. "It's perfectly safe" if you
pay attention to what you're doing. I've never damaged anything.

I've never used a Registry cleaner. If I were going to use one, it would be
the one in Piriform's CCleaner (nee, Crap Cleaner). Piriforms makes good free
software (which is underwritten by the fancier versions other people pay for).

 

[Neil Gould]

Nil wrote:

On 22 Nov 2013, "Trevor" <trevor@home.net> wrote in rec.audio.pro:

"Les Cargill" <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in message
news:l6o6u0$eos$1@dont-email.me...

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.

There are far easier ways to clean the registry.

Windows registry rarely if ever needs "cleaning". Unless you have some
specific problem, trying to do so is at best a waste of time and at
worst catastrophically destructive. There is a shady industry that
sells so-called "registry cleaning" software but what they're really
selling is snake oil.

Not necessarily so. However, I have yet to see a truly "hands-off" registry
cleaner that can address all of the potential quirks without screwing
something up. IMO, the better ones generate a list of anomalies and allow
the user to review and override those that should be left alone. Time
consuming, but quicker than a reinstall of the OS.
--
best regards,

Neil

 

[dave]

On 11/23/2013 05:54 AM, Neil Gould wrote:

Nil wrote:
On 22 Nov 2013, "Trevor" <trevor@home.net> wrote in rec.audio.pro:

"Les Cargill" <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in message
news:l6o6u0$eos$1@dont-email.me...

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.

There are far easier ways to clean the registry.

Windows registry rarely if ever needs "cleaning". Unless you have some
specific problem, trying to do so is at best a waste of time and at
worst catastrophically destructive. There is a shady industry that
sells so-called "registry cleaning" software but what they're really
selling is snake oil.

Not necessarily so. However, I have yet to see a truly "hands-off" registry
cleaner that can address all of the potential quirks without screwing
something up. IMO, the better ones generate a list of anomalies and allow
the user to review and override those that should be left alone. Time
consuming, but quicker than a reinstall of the OS.

I'm convinced. You guys have talked me out of ever using Windows again.

 

To some extent I agree. I see things from a slightly skewed angle I guess. Having manually gotten rid of the $$%*%$ Webshots I know it can be a pain in the ass. I have cured problems using regedit though. Recently I got "zarumba.exe" or whatever. I fixed that with a system restore and probably would never have caught it if my Java was up to date. It nagged me every minute, something it never used to do. My Java is still not updated and I cannot find one single thong that won't work because of it. That supports my claim as well as all those who agree.

It ain't broke. What do you do ?

The registry is a tricky place, it saves on the fly. That's right, delete the wrong key and IF you can weven get into safemode MAYBE a system restore will get it running again. It's like the service menu in some TVs. Damn, think of the RCAs in the satores you could just walk in a fuck up. Lower the H freq until it shuts down and see what happens. Good old Mut-1-8-2 and tell the thing something like it is in Malasia or something or disable things. ROFF or something. It is just like that, you CAN fuck it up royal.

And there is no "Save" button. It is done immediately but if you fucked it up you won't know until your next reboot. That's why everyone says to stay out of it. Well, that and the fact that most of it is gibberish. When you go in there you do a search for the right string, usually a program name or something. When it hits, it should also give you the full path to it. Half the time a virus exe will be in your "App Data" under your username, but they sometimes hide in other places. Unless you have fucked with explorer settings, the directory might not show up for you.

the way I put it to people who want to edit their registry manually is this - I can do this. I know how to do this. there are tools to do this, like control panel for one. Every setting almost, is in that registry and programs do it cleanly and nicely without error most of the time. I do not WANT to use regedit.exe, it is a last resort.

But then again, at one time I got almost DSL speed on wire. I used the wrong modem drivers, told it I was in Brazil, changed the MTU in the registry. OK it wasn't as fast as DSL but it was faster than all the other people with the 56K back in the day.

So I am not afraid of it, but I know to stay away from it unless there is good reason. Think of it as exploratory surgery.

That's about right.

 

[Les Cargill]

Nil wrote:

On 22 Nov 2013, "Trevor" <trevor@home.net> wrote in rec.audio.pro:

"Nil" <rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> wrote in message
news:XnsA280F0B5F4D07nilch1@wheedledeedle.moc...

Windows registry rarely if ever needs "cleaning". Unless you have
some specific problem, trying to do so is at best a waste of time
and at worst catastrophically destructive. There is a shady
industry that sells so-called "registry cleaning" software but
what they're really selling is snake oil.

Not strictly true. Perhaps what you mean is cleaning the registry
is often pointless even though it can and usually does fill up
with lots of unnecessary crap over time.

That's almost what I mean, but not quite. Windows registry is an
optimized database, and the unnecessary crap that accumulates there
impacts performance so little as to be irrelevant. "Cleaning" it out
doesn't improve anything except one's urge to be neat. At the same
time, you can easily screw the registry up royally. There's great risk
and little or no benefit.

For those who know what they are doing, no need to pay any money
at all to clean the registry. For those who don't, probably best
to leave it alone. In any case reinstalling Windows just to clean
the registry is even more pointless IMO.

Agreed.

Then it was done to clean up whatever. All I know is that unless I
rebuilt the machine once a year, it would degrade slowly in performance.
I also know that this wasn't due to malware.

I also know that once I started using a registry cleaner, that was no
longer necessary.

Make all the statements you want; I know what I saw.

--
Les Cargill

 

[Les Cargill]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Les Cargill wrote:

I used to have to do the annual reinstall to clean up
the registry.


If you use the right tools to uninstall crap programs, you don't have
problems with the registry. Revo Uninstaller lets you use the program's
built in uninstaller, then will clean the remainder of the registry
entries and leftover folders.

That's the main thing I use; yes.

Prior to this, I edited the registry by
hand. The pro version is supposed to clean ot trash left from sloppy
uninstalls.

So does the free version.

http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

--
Les Cargill

 

[Les Cargill]

Nil wrote:

On 22 Nov 2013, "Trevor" <trevor@home.net> wrote in rec.audio.pro:

"Nil" <rednoise@REMOVETHIScomcast.net> wrote in message
news:XnsA280F0B5F4D07nilch1@wheedledeedle.moc...

Windows registry rarely if ever needs "cleaning". Unless you have
some specific problem, trying to do so is at best a waste of time
and at worst catastrophically destructive. There is a shady
industry that sells so-called "registry cleaning" software but
what they're really selling is snake oil.

Not strictly true. Perhaps what you mean is cleaning the registry
is often pointless even though it can and usually does fill up
with lots of unnecessary crap over time.

That's almost what I mean, but not quite. Windows registry is an
optimized database, and the unnecessary crap that accumulates there
impacts performance so little as to be irrelevant. "Cleaning" it out
doesn't improve anything except one's urge to be neat. At the same
time, you can easily screw the registry up royally. There's great risk
and little or no benefit.

The Registry is a fairly hateful thing. It's a poor design choice.
Having used a cleaner for some time now, I've had *zero* problems with it.

For those who know what they are doing, no need to pay any money
at all to clean the registry. For those who don't, probably best
to leave it alone. In any case reinstalling Windows just to clean
the registry is even more pointless IMO.

Agreed.

I use both Eusing Registry Cleaner and Revo Uninstaller. I started using
both at the same time, so either or both could be what it is that worked.


--
Les Cargill

 

[Scott Dorsey]

Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote:

Then it was done to clean up whatever. All I know is that unless I
rebuilt the machine once a year, it would degrade slowly in performance.

I don't really know very much about Windows systems. Part of the problem
with Windows systems is that you can't see inside the box, so conventional
diagnostics become impossible. This means most diagnosis is performed by
having a matrix of individual symptoms and solutions in your head, or on
google. People who work on Windows systems day in and day out develop
that.

So, when I have Windows issues, I go to someone whom I know is an expert
and who has a large matrix like that in his head. And when I mentioned
trying to help someone with a problem, he said the following:

"If you don't know what is going on, tell them that they have registry
corruption. Because they always do, and it sounds good, and for all you
know it might actually have some bearing on the problem."
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

 

[Nil]

On 23 Nov 2013, Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote in
rec.audio.pro:

Then it was done to clean up whatever. All I know is that unless I
rebuilt the machine once a year, it would degrade slowly in
performance.

I've owned and taken care of hundreds of Windows systems. That used to
sometimes happen in the bad old days of Windows 95 and earlier. Not
since Windows XP in my experience. If the system slows down, it's due
to some specific problems. Not from general "dirty registry" problems.
Leftover registry entries and disk files don't impact performance to
any significant degree unless there are other issues.