Windows 8 Red Alerta - Warning!

[Drew]

Please Be Advised:

There are ads on TV for things to diagnose & fix computer woes. They spew a plethora of rubbish, say they will cure everything under the sun, all the many problems & infections everyone must, already, have (whether they know it or not), that they will speed up your slow, freezing machine, make it run perfectly (again) clean it 100% and even, make your internet connection faster.

There are, @ least, 3 of them... things such as "Finallyfast.com"... wish I could remember the others... FixMyPC or something. Anyway...

DO NOT GET SUCKED IN BY THESE THINGS!!

Do not buy into their rhetoric.
It is crap, misleading, in many ways, falsehoods & plays on naïve, innocent Folks w/ scare tactics & intimidation & a promise of a silver bullet.

Stay the hell away from them, like the plague!!

Do not try them, touch them, contact them or buy anything from them!!

Take this from an IT Pro; these ads should not be allowed on air... they should not be able to pass ethics under the FCC or CRTC.

Regards,
Drew

 

[Mike]

Thanks for throwing it out there, Drew. If anyone had seen those "video professor" commercials up here in New York and New England, you should also check this out: Video Professor Tries To Bully Washington Post, Fails | TechCrunch

Much worse than robo calls, a lot of these infomercials about computers prey on people suffering from insomnia. Stay away, for the most part.

 

[Der Stich]

Sounds like the next step in the cold call 'We've detected you have a virus, but follow these steps and we'll help you' scam.

 

[Drew]

The effort to find those culprits is intense & struggling. As scams go, it's vicious.

Drew

 

[Adamsappleone]

I believe the 3rd one you're talking about is "MyCleanPC", which has been airing here in Tucson quite a bit lately.

 

[whs]

Any time you see a 'wonder drug', be it for computers or other, you must be careful. There are no such shortcuts in life. People who fall for such rubbish do it to themselves.

 

[Drew]

Yes, Adam, that's it... MyCleanPC.BS

Envy you living in Tucson... I used to & wish I still was... love the desert & would be able to ride all year round & be warm.

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Just trying to (help) save ppl from "themselves", lol

Drew

 

[Tanzanos Mzungu]

SNAKEOIL salesmen! Stay clear away from such applications!

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

The truth is that there is software that you can get for free that will keep your computer running fine.

CCleaner

Malware bytes

Defraggler

MSE

Revo Uninstaller

That's about all you need.

I use all of these and almost never have problems other then the ones I cause myself!

I do get quite a few of those.

Mike

 

[Tanzanos Mzungu]

I have been using ccleaner for many years but not its registry cleaner. Also ccleaner has caused some problems with win7 on my pc. Malwarebytes is helpfull only if you do a FULL SCAN. I agree that there are many freebies that are very good but stay clear away from the ones that mess with your registry.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I did use the registry cleaner in CCleaner after uninstalling software for a long time. it never caused any problems but now that I use Revo Uninstaller I don't do that anymore. I'm running Windows 8 now and I still use CCleaner but wouldn't touch the registry cleaner with it. There are differences in the way the registry works in Windows 8.

I totally blew my install trying to change the start up sound the way I do in Windows 7.
My links to things all change and when I'd click on MS Word some other program would open.

I run the cleaner function every day, just to get rid of all the temp files.

I also run Defraggler every day, the great thing about Defraggler is that you can select the defrag files option, and it will do it in just a few minutes. It really does make a difference, in my case processing video with multi gigabyte files, it can be the difference between the operation completing or not.

I almost always found that Malwarebytes will find and remove malware.
On a few occasions I've found that SuperAntiSpyware would find something that Malwarebytes would not but very rarely.

When one of my friends calls and says "I've got this virus thing!" I go over with Malwarebytes on a memory stick run it in safe mode and so far I've never had it fail to remove the problem.

I run MSE and Malwarebytes for my security and I really can't remember the last time I had any malware, it's been years.

Mike

 

[Tanzanos Mzungu]

You could also try ESET online scan and DRWEB cureit. Both are excellent! On many occasions Malwarebytes failed to find anything and the two progs I mentioned were successful. I use AVAST as my main AV! Also don't use Highjackthis as it can easily be bypassed. I use OTS. If you have AVAST then you will find the AVAST community forum to be extremely helpful.

I do not envy you for having WIN8. Personally I shall avoid it like the plague!

 

[Drew]

Please, stop projecting your negative attitude towards Windows8 onto others. Aside from the fact that many ppl like Win8, let ppl make their own judgements w/out influencing, swaying or creating negative prejudice beforehand. Let ppl check out Windows8 unbiased & open-mindedly. In your opinion, you think it is to be avoided... maybe keep that to yourself & leave others alone to form their own opinions w/out them immediately thrown off by wondering why on earth someone is talking the way you are. (Especially non computer savvy) Ppl who have not even looked @ something get blindly freaked out by unsupported hearsay of this sort & that is not fair or right. Thanks.

We are in a Windows8 forum to support the OS & help people. Such carte blanche, 100%, negative editorials do not serve the intent or purpose of the Forum.

Cheers,
Drew

 

[nmsuk]

Drew you're in the minority as most people really can't stand 8 and it's metro ui. As a discussion forum we allow both positive and negative feedback. I for one think the Metro UI is an abomination and would prefer if they'd have left in the start menu.

Most people dislike windows 8 so not sure where you're getting the many people like it as no one I know can stand it.

NmsUK

 

[Trouble]

Agreed, if you have been paying attention to the historical posts here you will find much time and energy as well as pages consumed by means, methods and devices for working around Windows 8, and making it, at least to some degree useable.

 

[Drew]

I have been paying close attention to several forums for quite a while. Actually, in forums we see more praise than bashing. OR pl doing neither, just taking it on its own merits. The silliest part is the overblown noise & time spent over the Start screen. There is a hell of a lot more to Windows8 than that. Plus, it's not even worth making a big fuss about it & certainly not grounds for condemning the entire OS. Keep in mind, many people don't even use it, let alone try to label it as a big problem. It's very simple, if, because you don't like OR because you realise it's not necessary one can use Windows8 very nicely w/out visiting Start or ranting against it or being frustrated by it. Win8 works just fine w/out adding anything to try and make it 'retro'.

The point is, let ppl feel how they chose, by themselves w/out making them think (ahead of time) they should (probably) hate it, just cus you do. Ppl tend to think ppl in forums know more than they & will blindly buy into things. Same as if you told people bananas are horrid before they've tried tasting them for themselves w/out hearing any such comment prior.

And, finally, we have been personalising & customising OS desktops & more for years; nor is it a terrible thing to do that, again, w/ this OS. It, actually, takes very little time or effort to tune things to one's own liking in Windows8.

Cheers,
Drew

 

[Trouble]

The whole point of this forum and especially this particular sub-forum is for people to express their views and opinions regarding the Operating System, hence the name "Discussion".
It is not your job or responsibility to insist that someone

Please, stop projecting your negative attitude towards Windows8 onto others.

and

maybe keep that to yourself & leave others alone

even prefacing that with a please doesn't make it right.
Very similar to seeking out a movie review prior to spending money to go see it, just to get a sense of what others might think about it, or a restaurant review before spending serious bucks only to be disappointed. I am not going to let one or two opinions decide what movie I see or where (or what) I eat. But if enough people seem to agree on the good or bad of a particular product it might give me pause enough to wait till ticket prices come down (matinee) for the movie or specials or coupons are advertised for a restaurant. Those are resources; and everyone's opinion here is a resource and all of equal value.
Continuing to rant about how bad Windows 8 sucks, doesn't make it so. Likewise continuing to sing its' praises when there are mountains of anecdotal evidence to the contrary and not just here but practically everywhere, will not make it the new shining jewel in Microsoft's crown.
Opinions are fine, but they are just that, opinions, nothing more nothing less and not dangerous or detrimental in most cases, unless they become tiresome rants one way or the other.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi guys.

I'm in between on this one.

First I really like Windows 8, but I hate Metro!

So, I now have my computer looking just like Windows 7.

On the other hand, as the new owner of an iPad 3 I see the need for a Metro style interface on a Windows OS.
I'm writing this on my pad.

As I said elsewhere I would have preferred buying a Windows based pad.

But at least for me Windows 8 seems a lot faster then Windows 7 on my computer!

Mike

 

[Drew]

Of course, ppl have a right to opinions. However, in all fairness, if, one is going to state categorically the something is entirely horrid, then, couple that, for the naïve, w/ why, YOU, think it's so horrid... not, just a blanket statement w/out supporting it so ppl know WHY it is being said.

Mike, I certainly, empathise w/ your point. Hand on & see what changes there are to Apps in Beta2... there will be some.

Cheers,
Drew

 

[Tanzanos Mzungu]

I keep hearing how Win8 is faster than win7. OK so everyone let us throw away our cars and all go buy a Ferrari! This reminds me of the days when hifi equipment had all sorts of buttons that in essence made no difference to the end user. You needed an oscilloscope to see the difference because most people could not hear any difference and did not care either.

I tried Win8 and since I have been using computers for 30 years now; I believe that some things should not have been removed eg: Start Menu, Classic Start Menu, Classic drop down menus, XP style search, etc.

Leaving the option there for the ones who wish to use it/them not only makes transition easier but makes the OS into truly a user friendly and universally acceptable since it caters to all the needs.

HOW ON EARTH DO YOU TURN OFF WIN8???????????????????????????????????????? Until someone showed me I was totally lost! I could not find anything and my friend's PC reminded me of a giant smart phone. My friend has uninstalled win8 since then and has gone back to win7. He did however say that he will consider whether to switch to win8 after SP1 is released so that he can see the truly final version of win8.

I dont care if Win8 is slightly faster than win7. I don't care if it is preetier or whatever other claim the developer makes in favour of Win8. I care that I will have to spend money on a product that will need serious customisation in order for me to even be able to use it. Win8 may be fine for facebook users but it certainly lacks the intuition and user friendliness of past OSs.