My New Computer

1) That's kinda what I thought, but, I still plan to finish the rest of instructions, & get the things you said to disable done, because I do want to optimize my pc for best performance and security. That's for sure! I've still got some more questions related to this process also.

2) I've still got to create a screen shot of Prog/Features(I like calling it Add/Remove better) and screen shot of my desk top so you can tell what else I would have better performance if removed.?? The desktop has Icons of stuff that came packed on this computer & parked on desktop.

3) And, there's also the matter of some Window Updates that I told you they had "Failed" & need you to let me know how to make them "Successful".?? I remember that one of them was for Windows Defender.

4) I don't remember what we were talking about, could've been about the computer sleeping, maybe, but, you said I should check my "Computer Settings". I assume click Computer to find them somewhere maybe????

5) And, what about Java? Do I need to get it installed on this new computer, or what?

6) I think I remember you mentioning "WebRap" recently. Can you tell me where it is, & how it's used?

7) I was wondering if you ever got Ad-Aware, after we had the problems with it a good while ago, or if you ever found a replacement for it?

Edit: #8-- Repa Said: When I stopped and disabled the SBSD Security Center Service, my system performance increased noticeably wrt applications opening. In my Services SBSD Security Center Service was not on the list.????? So could not disable.??

I am learning things also. I was not aware of WebRep. Just checked and it was not enabled so I enabled it.

So much to learn.
Thanks for all you information Repa.

Fay

You're welcome Fay!

Repa,
1) I'll post the screen shot of Prog/Features & my desktop soon. I've got a couple things to catch up first.

2) I enabled Webrap. The only thing in there now that's disabled is Spybot-SD IE Protection. Should that stay disabled?

3) Edit: FYI, my computer froze up again today while checking Yahoo email. It seems to freeze most everytime in Yahoo email for some reason, I don't know if that means anything or not.? But, here's the interesting thing, & I've not heard you mention this before. What happens now when it freezes is I open Task Mgr., and hi- lite email that's running to kill it. It doesn't work, but I keep trying it. Finally the message opens about program not responding, & it says "click to end now" or go back to Windows, or something like that, you might remember the exact wording. Anyway, I keep clicking End Now, then a message pops up & says IE Is Searching For A Solution. Then all of a sudden it will say IE is Restarting. Then it will unfreeze & resume as normal. Did you know about this?

4) I'll tell you, I'm feeling a lot better now about this new computer, & Win. 7, & all, especially since I'm about finished with the Set Up, & Security, etc., thanks to you of course. But, there's a lot more help on this new machine, than any of my previous computers, such as what I just described about the freezing, or maybe I should say "The Thawing". Then there's the HP Support Assistant, which I've got shut off, while I've been going thru the Set Up Instructions.

5) What do you think of the HP Support Assistant?

6) All the time I used my old computer I never once updated any "Drivers" or anything like that during the 10-12 years I used it. I recently signed up to receive update information from HP one day, it might have been when I was setting up the HP printer the other day. I was wondering if I should install any drivers, or whatever else HP might say needs updating from time to time, of course I'll run it past you first though??

Sorry to get ahead of you but, if I don't post when I think of it, I'll forget. And, I do, so very much want to finish your instructions this week if possible.

1) IE froze again today, while I was in my Yahoo email. What do you make of that, if anything? Is it just me always having problems with IE, and I shouldn't be having thse happen with a brand new machine, should I?

2) I got 12 more Win Updates installed today. When I click Windows Update on this new Win 7 machine you are not taken to the Updates site like Windows XP did. And, I could not see where to re-run the 3 failed Updates. How do I rerun them?

3A) Please let me be sure I understand #14 of your instructions. I see by doing a Defrag & setting a Restore point that problems could be a possibility.?Right? And, at the BlackViper website, any items on my "Services" list that match any on BV's list, I am supposed to change mine to match the setting in the "Safe" column, of BViper's list? (eg)If my list had "Start Up" for ActiveX Installer was set at Automatic, and BViper's was set for "Manual" in "Start Up" in the "Safe" column, then I would change mine to Manual? Start Up? Does that sound correct?

3B) Let me ask you this. Considering my superior talent for things always going wrong, (AKA Murphy's Law), would the benefits for trying #14, outweigh possible problems that doing #14 might create???

4) Please don't forget to check my post above if you don't mind.....

1) Repa Said: It's supposed to prevent BHOs from being downloaded, but I'm not sure it even works. What's BHO's?

Browser Helper Objects. Google it.

2) Are all other updates installing ok all at once except these 3? Yes. I tried your instructions, but, since no updates are available, except 5 Optional ones, there's no way I saw to complete your directions. Here's a screen shot of what I see:



I probably need those 3 failed updates because 1 is Windows Defender related, and the other 2 is Service Pack 2 related.?

From your screen shot, I can see that all of your updates have been installed. There are no more important updates to be installed. The optional ones can be installed by selecting that link and follow the same directions I gave you for installing the important ones.


3) Can you tell me where the "magnifier" is located, & how to bring it up when needed? When I first started using this new machine, it was located in the Start menu, but, now that I want to use it, it's not on that list anymore, & I can't find it?

Click Start > Type Magnifier in the text box and it will appear at the top of the Start Menu. To increase the size of your browser text, from the menu bar select View > Zoom or View > Text size.

Again I learn something new. I did not know there was a magnifier.



Fay

1A) From your screen shot, I can see that all of your updates have been installed. I can't see that, where do you see it???

1B) I don't know where you see that info, but, by that, are you saying that "all of my updates have been installed", including the 3 that I told you had failed?
Because I just looked again at "View Update History", & that's where I've been seeing the 3 failed updates, & they are still showing as "Failed". So, I assume I can't make those 3 "Successful"?
2) What does the little blue arrow mean/or do, that appears below it, when you hi-lite a word or phrase when you want to copy it??

1) This will speed me up a little if I post this screen shot now, & kill 2 birds with one stone. Along with the IE has stopped working scr. shot, if you wil go ahead & look at my desktop at the junk/games, or whatever that came already on the desktop. The 2 columns on the far left is what I'm referring to. I've got 2 items standing alone there, Windows Defender, & a wordpad document that I keep on the desktop. So, if you can look at those Icons & tell me what I can get rid of that would be great? The first screen picture is about the problems I'v had with IE, & I'm just postin it now. I hope you are not lost?

2) I would like to be able to get a Windows Defender Icon pinned to my Start Menu like I had it on my old XP machine. I don't know how I lost the icon in the first place, but, if you know a way for me to get it on my Start Menu I'd appreciate it??

3) Question about the Wordpad document named "New Church Stuff" , resting above the Windows Defender brick icon, that has the page with the corner turned down, & with what looks like 6 red & blue buttons on it. When I first placed that Wordpad there it looked a regular icon for Wordpad with a big yellow "A" on the front. If you remember, I said that I had tried the Office 2010 App just to see what it was, & didn't really think I had a need for it. After installing it, & the nextime I wanted to open my Wordpad "New Church Stuff", the Office 2010 thing opened up on the screen & it was called Office 2010 Word or something like that. And, it took a long time to open/start, probably 30-45 secs to a minute, but waiting on a computer it seems like a lot longer than that. So, I decided to Un-install it, & after I did, instead of the normal Wordpad look, it had the funny looking buttons, folded page corner, that you see now. And, when I click to open it now, I have to click a second window to open. Do you know how to get it back the way it was?
I guess I could try to make it over again like I did the first time. And, after writing all this, I stopped & created a screen shot, instead of thinking of it in the 1st place. So, it will be 2 screen shots, you might be lost by now. A screen shot for # 1 above, & a screen shot for this question, #3.

This is in reply to your post at 0.25 Time. What is that red cirlce thing on the quick launch bar? That is HP SetUp Manager, I planned to ask you about what to do with it/ or do I use it? I just finished posting the screenshots about the time you finished your post.


1) Repa please forgive me for getting ahead again, but if I can post the Add/Remove(still easier for me to call it that you know what I mean)screenshots now, maybe I can finish this weekend.

2) Please remember to look back on page#4 for my last post on there, & the one above, & these screenshots will make 3 posts ahead. EDIT: I forgot I got some OverLap on #2 & #3 screenshots. You can probably tell, but, the third pic should begin with the Microsoft Visual that was installed on 11/10/2012 & the Size is 11.0 MB. Probably don't matter anyway.

3) Three Screenshots coming to see what else we can remove?
One:



Two:



Three:

wcturner wrote:

1A) From your screen shot, I can see that all of your updates have been installed. I can't see that, where do you see it???

1B) I don't know where you see that info, but, by that, are you saying that "all of my updates have been installed", including the 3 that I told you had failed?
Because I just looked again at "View Update History", & that's where I've been seeing the 3 failed updates, & they are still showing as "Failed". So, I assume I can't make those 3 "Successful"?
2) What does the little blue arrow mean/or do, that appears below it, when you hi-lite a word or phrase when you want to copy it??

Updates that fail to install and show in the history will still remain in the important updates list until they are installed or you remove them. As far as I can tell, they were installed at some point in time, or they would still be in the important updates list. If you look through your update history list for those 3 KBs you will probably find them installed at a later time.

For the blue arrow thingy - from the menu bar select Tools > Manage Addons > Accelerators. At the bottom left of this page, select the link "Learn more about accelerators". I have accelerators disabled, but you might like it - it's a personal preference thing.

Regarding your last post above:

Candidates for removal below:

Blio – check this to decide whether to delete: http://blio.en.softonic.com/
Bubble Wrap - Delete
Coupon Printer for Windows – If you want to print coupons from the internet, read this first: http://forums.techarena.in/windows-software/1185282.htm Pay attention to the first response to the question asked as it conflicts with the last response.
Facebook - Delete
HP Application Assistant - Delete
HP Calendar – Google to see if you want this
HP Clock – Google to see if you want this; gives time for different locations
HP Linkup - - Delete
HP Movie Store - Delete
HP Notes – for note taking. Delete if you don’t intend to use it. You have notpad and wordpad
HP Odometer - Delete
HP RSS - Delete
HP Weather - Delete
Kobo - Delete
Label Print – Delete unless you intend to print labels
PlayReady PC Runtime amd64 – review here: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Programming/Other-Programming-Files/PlayReady-Runtime.shtml and decide for yourself
PlayReady PC runtime x86 – same as previous
PressReader – google first to see if you might want this
Skype* 5.10 – Google first and decide from what you read
Tap Tap Bear - Delete
Zinio Reader 4 - Delete

The above are my recommendations. You should google each one yourself and see if you want any of this bloatware or not that I recommend for deletion because that is just my opinion - something I wouldn't want on my computer. As you remove these, remove also any corresponding shortcut on your desktop if the uninstaller doesn't remove it.

Whenever you want to know about something on your computer, you can google it and usually find enough information to decide whether you want to keep it or delete it. I am always suspicious about games as you never know what will be downloaded with a game from any of the game sites, even the better known ones, and therefore will not have any of them on my computers. You will have to decide whether the risk is worth it to you or not, knowing that your wife likes games. If you use the computer for online banking, ebay purchases, etc, then I would definitely not download games from anywhere, nor keep any games that came with your computer except the basic package that comes with every Windows install. Same goes for coupons, reader applications except Adobe Reader, etc. Others may not agree with me, but I am super cautious about my computer - it is not a toy, and you don't want to do something that could expose you to identity fraud or for someone to access to your bank and credit card accounts. If you ever have to deal with identity theft, you will have a new hobby for months to come unless you have identity theft insurance. In fact, if you don't have identity theft protection, I suggest you get it - it costs less than $150 per year and is worth every penny. Check out Zander Insurance:

http://www.zanderins.com/idtheft/idtheft.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Repa,

Do you have the zanderins thing?.

I just took a brief glance. Lookes like it might be a good thing to have. I may check it out more later, when I get thru with some of the other things I am dealing with right not.

Since you recommend it, just wondering if that means you have it.

I have hear advertisems on TV for soemthing called LIFELOCK ( or soemthing like that) but have never checkd it out.

Fay

fay47 wrote:

Repa,

Do you have the zanderins thing?.

I just took a brief glance. Lookes like it might be a good thing to have. I may check it out more later, when I get thru with some of the other things I am dealing with right not.

Since you recommend it, just wondering if that means you have it.

I have hear advertisems on TV for soemthing called LIFELOCK ( or soemthing like that) but have never checkd it out.

Fay

I do have it and highly recommend it. Thought I mentioned it in the Financial Foundations class materials in the section on Insurance.

Repa,

You probably did. I did not go thru the class as thoroughly as some, some parts I spent more time on than others. Also, it may have been one of those things I planned to look into later and the forgot - my memory is getting really bad.
I will check into it laer.

Thanks,

Fay

Repa, Thanks for the replies! I hope I can finish most of this during the wekend!

I'll get back to you.

Repa,
I only deleted Tap Tap Bear, & Zinio Reader 4 thus far. More later. I wanted to post this now so I don't gorget.

1) I noticed that at least 1 of the Failed Win. Updates Windows Defender was showing on the same date where it had failed & I guess it ran again later & was a success on the 2nd. pass. I'll look again later & let you know.

2) I'm pretty much done with the instructions, but need to go back to the # 14 & check that more. When doing only 2-3 at a time at black viper, I need to set a restore point each time, correct?

3) And, #21: Run Backup to create an image of your hard drive ( Start > Control Panel > Create a system image). Does that just create the image of your hard drive, & then stores it on the computer or what? Or, could that be put on one of my home made CD's? These may be dumb questions as I've never heard you mention this before.

4) I also have to go back thru these last 2-3 posts then I consider myself finished
Thanks

Repa you beat me to it, I was gonna slip this into an edit. The following is one you asked about in a previous post & I replied at Yesterday at 12:28 am, if you want to look back. You saw this in the screen shots about stuff to Remove.

1) This is in reply to your post at 0.25 Time. What is that red cirlce thing on the quick launch bar?
That is HP SetUp Manager, I had planned to ask you about what to do with it/ or how do I use it? I just finished posting the screenshots about the time you finished your post.


2A) Increase my knowledge. Why create an image of your hard drive, if you have the Recovery Discs?

2B) And, what's wrong with create an image of system using that feature mentioned in SpywareBlaster, but that's probably 2 different things?

Repa and respond as to whether or not I am correct in these answers - this is just what I think.

2a. Prtty sure on this one. If you restore you computer using the disks you have now - it will put the computer back the way it was when you first got it. That means you will have to go threw all the setup steps agisn. If you create the disk image like Repa is talking about and restore with it, it will put your computer back the way it was when you created the iamge. So, if you create the image after you are threw with all the setup steps, and then later have to restore using it, you will not have to go threw all the setup again.

2b. Not sure sure on this - but this is what I think. I think the image created by Spyware Blaster is somewhat similiar to the restore points you set in windows. The restore points you create ony save certain things - the disk image referred to in 2a is a copy on everything on the disk. I don't think the image creatd by Spyware Blaster is a copy of the whole disk - I think it just saves certain things.

Fay

What Fay said. Keep your HP Setup Manager icon. If you want to know what it does, click on it and find out or google it.

I kinda thought that might be the case on those questions.

But, I really don't want to buy a external hard drive, and even if I did, I'm pretty sure it would cost a lot more than $60, since we don't have a Staples, or anything like that here, like you do. But, the main reason is, I simply don't want something else to have to deal with. And, we really don't need it. There's really nothing on our computer that we would stroke out over if we lost it. Just like the old computer we just retired, I copied everything we would need to those CD's I burned, & all it was, was certain websites, bookmarks, Avast, & the other Apps, etc. Just stuff such as that in order to try to make the move over to this new computer easier, & less stressful. As you know, I literally hate the maintenance, & set up of new computers. Therefore, comes the stress for me, & stress for a diabetic is a killer. You wouldn't believe all the high blood glucose readings(tests) I've experienced during this current computer set up.

If you come up with an alternative to the external hard drive, please let me know? As would like an other option. I'm like my neighbor is about yard work, simple & low maintence.
Thanks

WC,

If you ever do have to completly restore your hard drive, having the system image that Repa suggested would be a stress reducer since you would not have to go thru all those steps you have just done.

I went out on my computer - win-7 amd looked at create a system image - It has 3 options
hard disk
one or more DVDs
network location

Network location would not work for you.
If you do not want to buy an external hard drive, and if you have a DVD burner, you might could do the DVDs
Not sure how many it would take, Repa can probably tell you more about that.


I looked on WalMarts site - and they have some hard drives for about the price Repa said. Of course I am not sure what they have at your local store. I sometimes order things and select to have them shipped to my local store, but I am not sure if you can do that with out giving billing informtion - like a credit card number. If you do change you mind and decide to get one, you might could check with them them at customer service and see how you can do it. But before you choose one you might want to tell Repa what you are looking at and make sure it will work for you.

Fay