Does anyone know of an "ombudsman" type of person or site where I could upload my problems with Avast.

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer". Not only do their techs not know their *** from their elbow, but their hours and hours of unsuccessful efforts have ****ed up my computer so badly I have lost valuable programs and documents.

They do not answer Certified Mail and emails, so it looks like they are blowing me off. Maybe if some entity more powerful than Consumer Sucker leans on them?

I understand such "ombudsman" or whatever you call them, do exist, so maybe you resourceful people can direct me.

TIA

HB

Higgs Boson wrote:
Does anyone know of an "ombudsman" type of person or site where I could upload my problems with Avast.

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer". Not only do their techs not know their *** from their elbow, but their hours and hours of unsuccessful efforts have ****ed up my computer so badly I have lost valuable programs and documents.

They do not answer Certified Mail and emails, so it looks like they are blowing me off. Maybe if some entity more powerful than Consumer Sucker leans on them?

I understand such "ombudsman" or whatever you call them, do exist, so maybe you resourceful people can direct me.

TIA

HB

Hi,
I wonder what kinda issues you have with your computer?

On 08/19/2014 11:40 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
Does anyone know of an "ombudsman" type of person or site where I could upload my problems with Avast.

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer". Not only do their techs not know their *** from their elbow, but their hours and hours of unsuccessful efforts have ****ed up my computer so badly I have lost valuable programs and documents.

They do not answer Certified Mail and emails, so it looks like they are blowing me off. Maybe if some entity more powerful than Consumer Sucker leans on them?

I understand such "ombudsman" or whatever you call them, do exist, so maybe you resourceful people can direct me.

TIA

HB


Do you have a link to this amazing product?

On 8/19/2014 10:40 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
Does anyone know of an "ombudsman" type of person or site where I
could upload my problems with Avast.

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer".

Not a policy, a package or a program. How did this initial contact
with Avast take place? Ordinarily, you just download their free
product. If you want to upgrade to the paid version, you just go to
their website and make the purchase online. I ask because I'm
wondering if you dealt with the third party company that does Avast's
phone support for them, and not Avast itself.

Not only
do their techs not know their *** from their elbow, but their hours
and hours of unsuccessful efforts

Efforts at what? Your lacks enough detail to make sense.

have ****ed up my computer so
badly I have lost valuable programs and documents.

Avast's own user support forums strongly discourage people from
contacting Avast's third-party phone support, because their quality of
service is so very poor. Instead, users are encouraged to seek
assistance directly from Avast and from other users via Avast's online
support forums.
https://forum.avast.com

Any time you decide to install a piece of software, first look for and
bookmark the company's website, and also the support forums for the
product. Then, if you have questions or issues, you'll be able to
easily find where to get help.


They do not answer Certified Mail and emails, so it looks like they
are blowing me off. Maybe if some entity more powerful than
Consumer Sucker leans on them?
I understand such "ombudsman" or whatever you call them, do exist,
so maybe you resourceful people can direct me.

See the Avast forum link. There are many threads where people post
issues and have Avast support directly address them.

On Wednesday, August 20, 2014 7:38:33 AM UTC-4, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
On 8/19/2014 10:40 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:

Does anyone know of an "ombudsman" type of person or site where I

could upload my problems with Avast.



They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer".



Not a policy, a package or a program. How did this initial contact

with Avast take place? Ordinarily, you just download their free

product. If you want to upgrade to the paid version, you just go to

their website and make the purchase online. I ask because I'm

wondering if you dealt with the third party company that does Avast's

phone support for them, and not Avast itself.



Not only

do their techs not know their *** from their elbow, but their hours

and hours of unsuccessful efforts



Efforts at what? Your lacks enough detail to make sense.



have ****ed up my computer so

badly I have lost valuable programs and documents.



Avast's own user support forums strongly discourage people from

contacting Avast's third-party phone support, because their quality of

service is so very poor. Instead, users are encouraged to seek

assistance directly from Avast and from other users via Avast's online

support forums.

https://forum.avast.com



Any time you decide to install a piece of software, first look for and

bookmark the company's website, and also the support forums for the

product. Then, if you have questions or issues, you'll be able to

easily find where to get help.





They do not answer Certified Mail and emails, so it looks like they

are blowing me off. Maybe if some entity more powerful than

Consumer Sucker leans on them?

I understand such "ombudsman" or whatever you call them, do exist,

so maybe you resourceful people can direct me.



See the Avast forum link. There are many threads where people post

issues and have Avast support directly address them.

I don't know anything about Avast specifically or what this "policy"
is supposed to cover. But I would bet that if it's really a phone
support contract, that somewhere in there they say that they can't
guarantee to be able to fix everything and anything. There are some
problems that can't be figured out, identified, fixed, without
essentially starting over by re-installing the OS or "as shipped"
image. For example, a friend of mine has an issue right now where
about every 5 or 10 mins, his PC momentarily stops accepting input
from the keyboard and just sits there for 20 or 30 secs.

There is only so much anyone can do to try to resolve something like
that. You can try to go back to previous restore points, remove any
recently installed programs, etc. But that may not resolve it. Over
years, more and more software gets added, updated, removed, etc and
eventually it's not unusual for there to be some kind of issue that's
impossible to identify. To expect them to be able to fix anything is
like expecting a doctor to be able to cure any illness. On top of that,
the tech support may not be that good anyway. They may be more suited
to helping grandma find control panel.

The solution is to make sure you know where all your user files, photos,
etc are. They should be regularly backed up somewhere other than the
system hard drive. Make sure you have them backed up, make note of the
apps you have installed, then restore the PC to it's "as shipped" image.
I think the vast majority of PCs shipped today have the image right on
the hard drive, in a separate partition. They also bug you for a long time
when the PC is new to make a set of DVDs from that image so that the PC
can be restored from those, if the HD fails. Doing it from the image is
faster and easier, if the drive is still working. The help files on the PC
or googling a bit should reveal the procedure. Essentially it's pushing a
key on bootup to bring up the restore menu. Having done that, then the PC
will need to install all the updates that have come out over the years.
The whole process can take a couple of hours, but when it's done, you have
a clean PC. And people are usually shocked at how fast the PC runs,
because a lot of crap is gone. Then you have to copy back your saved user
files.

As others have said, you don't provide any information
about exactly what you signed up for, nor about what
was wrong with your computer in the first place. Many
things are not fixable by reomte tech support. The only
links I see online are for a free "PC repair" tool. Those kinds
of tools are generally unnecessary at best. There are
hundreds available. Some people swear by many of
them, like the popular CCleaner, but if you occasionally
clear your Recycle Bin and delete TEMP files, there's
nothing else of value that those programs do. So-called
Registry cleaners are risky programs that also do nothing
worthwhile. Again, some people swear by them but the
facts just don't support that view. A Registry cleaner
removes maybe 100 or 200 outdated Registry settings
that are doing no harm. When Internet Explorer starts
up it typically makes about 5,000 calls to the Registry
in about 1 second. (You can confirm that with tools
from sysinternals.com.) The Registry is a database.
Removing perhaps .1% of the values in a database that
can handle thousands of accesses per second is clearly
not going to have any affect on performance.

But that kind of software ia appealing because
it makes people feel like they're treating their PC well --
like the satisfaction of waxing one's car.

If you really need tech support I'd suggest that you
ask around to friends and find someone local. Big
companies that do tech support (Staples, for instance)
generally just have unskilled workers who are trained
to run scripts and software, like anit-virus. Most
of what they do you can do yourself.


"Higgs Boson" wrote in message
...
| Does anyone know of an "ombudsman" type of person or site where I could
upload my problems with Avast.
|
| They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer". Not only do
their techs not know their *** from their elbow, but their hours and hours
of unsuccessful efforts have ****ed up my computer so badly I have lost
valuable programs and documents.
|
| They do not answer Certified Mail and emails, so it looks like they are
blowing me off. Maybe if some entity more powerful than Consumer Sucker
leans on them?
|
| I understand such "ombudsman" or whatever you call them, do exist, so
maybe you resourceful people can direct me.
|
| TIA
|
| HB

On 8/20/2014 7:54 AM, trader_4 wrote:

I don't know anything about Avast specifically or what this "policy"
is supposed to cover. But I would bet that if it's really a phone
support contract, that somewhere in there they say that they can't
guarantee to be able to fix everything and anything. There are some
problems that can't be figured out, identified, fixed, without
essentially starting over by re-installing the OS or "as shipped"
image. For example, a friend of mine has an issue right now where
about every 5 or 10 mins, his PC momentarily stops accepting input
from the keyboard and just sits there for 20 or 30 secs.

That's a good point, and ties in with the fact that Avast is an
antivirus/antimalware package. It is not a product designed to address
other issues with one's pc. If Higgs believed that it was an inclusive
pc repair product, then either the person who sold it to Higgs lied,
or Higgs misunderstood what the product is used for.


There is only so much anyone can do to try to resolve something like
that. You can try to go back to previous restore points, remove any
recently installed programs, etc. But that may not resolve it. Over
years, more and more software gets added, updated, removed, etc and
eventually it's not unusual for there to be some kind of issue that's
impossible to identify. To expect them to be able to fix anything is
like expecting a doctor to be able to cure any illness. On top of that,
the tech support may not be that good anyway. They may be more suited
to helping grandma find control panel.

Both true, and again, the best one can expect from the support for an
antimalware product is help getting the product to perform its
intended purpose. If there are other issues with the pc unrelated to
detecting and removing malware, Avast can't address them, and neither
will the support tech, since it is out of the product/support
contract's scope.

Since Higgs' account is so short on details, we don't know if the
problems she was having were connected with malware/its removal, or if
they were unrelated to it. We don't know if the problems arose as a
result of an attempt by the phone support tech to do something with
her pc. We don't know if a backup was performed prior to the phone
support tech's efforts. Thus, we have no idea what was wrong, when it
went wrong, whether it was anything Avast was designed to deal with,
and if there is any backup that Higgs could restore her pc back to.

Higgs: a number of us on this forum do computer support/service work
either as a living or as a sideline. First point that is constantly
made to pc users is that data protection is primarily the user's
responsibility. It is your data. If you value it, back it up
regularly. At a minimum, set up Windows backup to create regular
backups. I'd also use external storage - a flash drive or an external
hard drive - as a secondary backup. If you find all of this too
confusing, there are subscription-based data backup and recovery
services such as Crashplan that will, once it is installed,
automatically back up your data and store it on the service company's
servers, where it is available for you not only in the event of a
computer crash/data loss, but also if you are away from your pc and
need to access anything stored on it.

Second point: don't buy or install anything on your pc - even if
somebody recommends it - until you've read up on it and understand
what it is used for and how *you* will use it. That includes reading
up on competing products that perform the same function. You will then
be armed with the knowledge you need to determine if the product will
be useful for you, and know what to expect from it.

Higgs Boson wrote:

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer".

That should be a red flag right there. I've had several boxes that went
flaky when the video adapter started to fail. The symptoms don't necessarily
point to the card, and replacing it, while easy, isn't something they can do
over the phone.

We've had clients, supposed 'IT professionals', that have managed to fubar
systems. The last part of that acronym is 'Beyond All Repair'.

On Tue, 19 Aug 2014 22:10:59 -0600, Tony Hwang
wrote:

I wonder what kinda issues you have with your computer?

Me too. We know absolutely nothing about it. Nothing about hardware,
operating system version, symptoms, behavior, nada...

Saying Avast is a "fraud" is a stretch of the imagination.

If I had to guess, I would say there is a malfunction between the
chair and the keyboard or an ID 10 T error.
--
Somtimes you just have a bad day at the dungeon

On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 05:54:48 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

For example, a friend of mine has an issue right now where
about every 5 or 10 mins, his PC momentarily stops accepting input
from the keyboard and just sits there for 20 or 30 secs.

I've seen erratic behavior in keyboards due to the driver. Another
place to look / try is Keyboard Properties in the Control Panel.

- Character Repeat
- Repeat Delay
- Repeat Speed
--
Somtimes you just have a bad day at the dungeon

On Wednesday, August 20, 2014 11:35:33 AM UTC-4, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 05:54:48 -0700 (PDT), trader_4

wrote:



For example, a friend of mine has an issue right now where

about every 5 or 10 mins, his PC momentarily stops accepting input

from the keyboard and just sits there for 20 or 30 secs.



I've seen erratic behavior in keyboards due to the driver. Another

place to look / try is Keyboard Properties in the Control Panel.



- Character Repeat

- Repeat Delay

- Repeat Speed



I didn't quite describe it right. It's not just the keyboard, the whole
PC appears to just suddenly stop for 20 or 30 secs. For example, if a
video is playing, it too stops. I think it's just that it's most noticeable when typing something, because the typing suddenly stops appearing. It
happened after having some issue where Java kept wanting to update. Even
though we tried to let it update, it would still keep popping up, wanting
to update, so intrusively that I wondered if it was really Sun Java or
some malware. We removed Java, re-installed, that didn't fix it. Finally
went back and did a restore point from a month ago, and that fixed the
Java thing. But now it's doing the pause stuff. There are no older restore
points to try. So, I think the only solution is to do an OS restore. The
PC is about 3 years old, so that may not be a bad idea anyway.

On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 09:16:46 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, August 20, 2014 11:35:33 AM UTC-4, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 05:54:48 -0700 (PDT), trader_4

wrote:



For example, a friend of mine has an issue right now where

about every 5 or 10 mins, his PC momentarily stops accepting input

from the keyboard and just sits there for 20 or 30 secs.



I've seen erratic behavior in keyboards due to the driver. Another

place to look / try is Keyboard Properties in the Control Panel.



- Character Repeat

- Repeat Delay

- Repeat Speed



I didn't quite describe it right. It's not just the keyboard, the whole
PC appears to just suddenly stop for 20 or 30 secs. For example, if a
video is playing, it too stops. I think it's just that it's most noticeable when typing something, because the typing suddenly stops appearing. It
happened after having some issue where Java kept wanting to update. Even
though we tried to let it update, it would still keep popping up, wanting
to update, so intrusively that I wondered if it was really Sun Java or
some malware. We removed Java, re-installed, that didn't fix it. Finally
went back and did a restore point from a month ago, and that fixed the
Java thing. But now it's doing the pause stuff. There are no older restore
points to try. So, I think the only solution is to do an OS restore. The
PC is about 3 years old, so that may not be a bad idea anyway.

Personally, I'd try a couple things first.

- Disk Clean up
- Def rag the drive
- Increase the size of the Page File

(As a best practice, you need to set page file "1.5 times" the RAM or
memory available...)

I made my Page File bigger than that "best practice". Windows 7 does a
good job of adjusting the size, but I changed the minimum - maximum
and you'll see the recommended size. I saw a big increase in speed.
Just a thought to consider.

***
Change the size of virtual memory

If you receive warnings that your virtual memory is low, you'll need
to increase the minimum size of your paging file. Windows sets the
initial minimum size of the paging file equal to the amount of random
access memory (RAM) installed on your computer, and the maximum size
equal to three times the amount of RAM installed on your computer. If
you see warnings at these recommended levels, then increase the
minimum and maximum sizes.

Click Control Panel System and Security System

In the left pane, click Advanced system settings. Administrator
permission required If you're prompted for an administrator password
or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

On the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings.

Click the Advanced tab, and then, under Virtual memory, click Change.

Clear the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives check
box.

Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging
file you want to change.

Click Custom size, type a new size in megabytes in the Initial size
(MB) or Maximum size (MB) box, click Set, and then click OK.

Note: Increases in size usually don't require a restart for the
changes to take effect, but if you decrease the size, you'll need to
restart your computer. We recommend that you don't disable or delete
the paging file.

"Higgs Boson" wrote in message

Does anyone know of an "ombudsman" type of person or site where I could
upload my problems with Avast.

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer".

Have you a link to whatever it is you bought? I've used avast! for many
years...AFAIK, they have no such product. They deal in software, not
"policies".


--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

"Higgs Boson" wrote in message

Does anyone know of an "ombudsman" type of person or site where I could
upload my problems with Avast.

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer".

Have you a link to whatever it is you bought? I've used avast! for many
years...AFAIK, they have no such product. They deal in software, not
"policies".


--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

Oren wrote:
On Tue, 19 Aug 2014 22:10:59 -0600, Tony Hwang

wrote:

I wonder what kinda issues you have with your computer?

Me too. We know absolutely nothing about it. Nothing about
hardware,
operating system version, symptoms, behavior, nada...

Saying Avast is a "fraud" is a stretch of the imagination.

If I had to guess, I would say there is a malfunction
between the
chair and the keyboard or an ID 10 T error.

+1

On 19 Aug 2014, Higgs Boson wrote in
alt.home.repair:

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer".

I don't believe that they sell any such product. Please cite a specific
reference to it.

There are many things that can go wrong with a computer that they
couldn't, shouldn't and wouldn't fix. It would be idiotic for a company
to make that claim.

On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 12:27:08 -0500, "ChairMan"
wrote:

Oren wrote:
On Tue, 19 Aug 2014 22:10:59 -0600, Tony Hwang

wrote:

I wonder what kinda issues you have with your computer?

Me too. We know absolutely nothing about it. Nothing about
hardware,
operating system version, symptoms, behavior, nada...

Saying Avast is a "fraud" is a stretch of the imagination.

If I had to guess, I would say there is a malfunction
between the
chair and the keyboard or an ID 10 T error.

+1

That isn't a virus, it's a bugger on the screen

trader_4 wrote:
On Wednesday, August 20, 2014 11:35:33 AM UTC-4, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 05:54:48 -0700 (PDT), trader_4

wrote:



For example, a friend of mine has an issue right now where

about every 5 or 10 mins, his PC momentarily stops accepting input

from the keyboard and just sits there for 20 or 30 secs.



I've seen erratic behavior in keyboards due to the driver. Another

place to look / try is Keyboard Properties in the Control Panel.



- Character Repeat

- Repeat Delay

- Repeat Speed



I didn't quite describe it right. It's not just the keyboard, the whole
PC appears to just suddenly stop for 20 or 30 secs. For example, if a
video is playing, it too stops. I think it's just that it's most noticeable when typing something, because the typing suddenly stops appearing. It
happened after having some issue where Java kept wanting to update. Even
though we tried to let it update, it would still keep popping up, wanting
to update, so intrusively that I wondered if it was really Sun Java or
some malware. We removed Java, re-installed, that didn't fix it. Finally
went back and did a restore point from a month ago, and that fixed the
Java thing. But now it's doing the pause stuff. There are no older restore
points to try. So, I think the only solution is to do an OS restore. The
PC is about 3 years old, so that may not be a bad idea anyway.

Hi,
In that case, first thing I'd do is open the PC up and clean it right
out. Many times over heating is an issue producing many different
symptoms. Or run quick diagnostics(like Dell has it available for Dell
users) Also make sure the drivers and updates are up-to-date. Logic is
the keyword in trouble-shooting.

On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 15:07:53 -0600, Tony Hwang
wrote:

In that case, first thing I'd do is open the PC up and clean it right
out. Many times over heating is an issue producing many different
symptoms. Or run quick diagnostics(like Dell has it available for Dell
users) Also make sure the drivers and updates are up-to-date. Logic is
the keyword in trouble-shooting.

Heat from the CPU can certainly be a problem. Remove the mounted
processor fan and add "thermal compound". between the two. The
compound displaces the heat evenly. Some folks may not know that in
the day Win98 issued a thermal meltdown (red alert) and shut the
computer off so the processor was not melted - trashed.

A single module on the RAM can be bad, too. That could cause corrupted
data on the drive swapping out.

If software won't fix it, surely look at hardware.

Or call it Avast fraud

On 08/19/2014 08:40 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
Does anyone know of an "ombudsman" type of person or site where I could upload my problems with Avast.

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer". Not only do their techs not know their *** from their elbow, but their hours and hours of unsuccessful efforts have ****ed up my computer so badly I have lost valuable programs and documents.

They do not answer Certified Mail and emails, so it looks like they are blowing me off. Maybe if some entity more powerful than Consumer Sucker leans on them?

I understand such "ombudsman" or whatever you call them, do exist, so maybe you resourceful people can direct me.

TIA

HB


Dear Sir/Madam/Unknown Higgs,

It is time for you to bite the bullet and call in
a professional. Ask around your neighborhood for
referrals. Geek Squad are not professionals. They
are High Skol students with two weeks training.

-T

On 08/20/2014 11:44 AM, Nil wrote:
On 19 Aug 2014, Higgs Boson wrote in
alt.home.repair:

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer".

I don't believe that they sell any such product. Please cite a specific
reference to it.

There are many things that can go wrong with a computer that they
couldn't, shouldn't and wouldn't fix. It would be idiotic for a company
to make that claim.


Ya, no fooling.

I had a customer buy a custom computer from me and expected me
to warrant every screw up she did on it. I was very clear
that I only covered the hardware, not the usage. She
got pretty ****ed when I insisted. Oh did she screw things up!

Some people shouldn't own computers.

Higgs! Look at an iPad. They are pretty easy to use and
pretty hard to screw up. They are great for receiving
information, but horrible for creating things. You can
get a keypad for them if you do a lot of typing.

On 08/20/2014 07:10 AM, rbowman wrote:
Higgs Boson wrote:

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer".

That should be a red flag right there. I've had several boxes that went
flaky when the video adapter started to fail. The symptoms don't necessarily
point to the card, and replacing it, while easy, isn't something they can do
over the phone.

We've had clients, supposed 'IT professionals', that have managed to fubar
systems. The last part of that acronym is 'Beyond All Repair'.


I wonder if Higgs didn't get a hold of one of those fraud
criminals that clam to be from this of that company and
charge you to fix what isn't wrong. They like camp
on type'ed phone numbers similar to legitimate companies.

The rule is that only 10% of professionals actually know what
they are doing. A good way to tell computer professionals apart
is if they are arrogant or they refuse to share information.

On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 16:50:46 -0700, Todd wrote:


Dear Sir/Madam/Unknown Higgs,

We are addressing a she.

It is time for you to bite the bullet and call in
a professional. Ask around your neighborhood for
referrals. Geek Squad are not professionals. They
are High Skol students with two weeks training.

She can buy a used typewriter? A used memory typewriter?

On 20 Aug 2014, Oren wrote in alt.home.repair:

She can buy a used typewriter? A used memory typewriter?

I've got a vintage rusty IBM Selectric in the garage. A little WD-40
and she'll be good as new! That would be about the right for this
person, I think.

You will be interested in my rare type balls.

Todd wrote:
On 08/20/2014 07:10 AM, rbowman wrote:
Higgs Boson wrote:

They sold me a policy to "fix anything wrong on computer".

That should be a red flag right there. I've had several boxes that went
flaky when the video adapter started to fail. The symptoms don't
necessarily
point to the card, and replacing it, while easy, isn't something they
can do
over the phone.

We've had clients, supposed 'IT professionals', that have managed to
fubar
systems. The last part of that acronym is 'Beyond All Repair'.


I wonder if Higgs didn't get a hold of one of those fraud
criminals that clam to be from this of that company and
charge you to fix what isn't wrong. They like camp
on type'ed phone numbers similar to legitimate companies.

The rule is that only 10% of professionals actually know what
they are doing. A good way to tell computer professionals apart
is if they are arrogant or they refuse to share information.
Hi,
I tried Avast anti-virus program. It is memory hog, finding that out I
dumped it. Did not cost any $$. Worst is they try to come into your
computer with your permission of course saying they need to get in there
to fix the problem. Then god only knows what they are upto. Any thing is
fixable but it is a matter of economics. I help all my friends,
neighbors, family with their questions and issues when it comes to with
their computer of any sort. After all that was my career for ~40
years.....(in super large scale systems)

On 20 Aug 2014, Todd wrote in
alt.home.repair:

I had a customer buy a custom computer from me and expected me
to warrant every screw up she did on it. I was very clear
that I only covered the hardware, not the usage. She
got pretty ****ed when I insisted. Oh did she screw things up!

I used to fix screwed up computers in a corporate environment. I got to
know who seemed to go out of their way to **** things up time and time
again. Since they got them fixed for "free", they just didn't care...
and yet they were the most demanding and impatient of any. I guess it's
a combination of attitude and work flow. Some people seem to
instinctively know how to avoid some computer problems. Some people
rush right into them.

Nowadays I do it just for friends and family. My sister's kids
regularly invite viruses and other malware into the family computer.
They don't care, maybe because I swoop in to fix things when they get
so bad that, say, my sister can't do her online banking because of all
the popup ads. I'm happy to bail her out as often as need be, but the
kids need a good spanking. Too bad they're 18 years old and 3000 miles
away.

On 20 Aug 2014, Tony Hwang wrote in
alt.home.repair:

I tried Avast anti-virus program. It is memory hog, finding that
out I dumped it. Did not cost any $$. Worst is they try to come
into your computer with your permission of course saying they need
to get in there to fix the problem.

I've been using Avast Free for years and nobody had ever tried to do
any such thing.

Memory use is on par with or better than most other anti-virus
solutions I've used. Right now, Task Manager reports that it's using
about 35 MB or RAM.

I don't think you know what you're talking about.

Nil wrote:
On 20 Aug 2014, Oren wrote in alt.home.repair:

She can buy a used typewriter? A used memory typewriter?

I've got a vintage rusty IBM Selectric in the garage. A little WD-40
and she'll be good as new! That would be about the right for this
person, I think.

You will be interested in my rare type balls.

Hi,
Years ago at the infancy of PC when 4 Mb hard drive cost couple grands,
I was an EIC a at local university looking after their main system
involved in software development. One day one of the faculty secretary
called me in panic saying she can't use word processor any more, it is
stuck. When I took a look at the problem she never deleted or stored
backed up files externally on floppies. literally hundreds of saved
letter files were plugging up the machine. She thought almighty computer
had endless file saving capacity. When I explained things she seemed
quite surprised.....

Nil wrote:
On 20 Aug 2014, Tony Hwang wrote in
alt.home.repair:

I tried Avast anti-virus program. It is memory hog, finding that
out I dumped it. Did not cost any $$. Worst is they try to come
into your computer with your permission of course saying they need
to get in there to fix the problem.

I've been using Avast Free for years and nobody had ever tried to do
any such thing.

Memory use is on par with or better than most other anti-virus
solutions I've used. Right now, Task Manager reports that it's using
about 35 MB or RAM.

I don't think you know what you're talking about.

Hi,
Speak for yourself. Ido myself.

Nil wrote:
On 20 Aug 2014, Tony Hwang wrote in
alt.home.repair:

I tried Avast anti-virus program. It is memory hog, finding that
out I dumped it. Did not cost any $$. Worst is they try to come
into your computer with your permission of course saying they need
to get in there to fix the problem.

I've been using Avast Free for years and nobody had ever tried to do
any such thing.

Memory use is on par with or better than most other anti-virus
solutions I've used. Right now, Task Manager reports that it's using
about 35 MB or RAM.

I don't think you know what you're talking about.

Hi,
That is for you, not me.Most of real important work is done using Linux
here. I have at least half dozen boxes in the house, monster desk top,
lap tops, even old DOS box, etc.All doing it's dedicated tasks.

On 08/20/2014 06:03 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:
.Most of real important work is done using Linux here

Me too. Welcome to the dark side.

On 08/20/2014 05:52 PM, Nil wrote:
On 20 Aug 2014, Tony Hwang wrote in
alt.home.repair:

I tried Avast anti-virus program. It is memory hog, finding that
out I dumped it. Did not cost any $$. Worst is they try to come
into your computer with your permission of course saying they need
to get in there to fix the problem.

I've been using Avast Free for years and nobody had ever tried to do
any such thing.

Memory use is on par with or better than most other anti-virus
solutions I've used. Right now, Task Manager reports that it's using
about 35 MB or RAM.

I don't think you know what you're talking about.


Hi Nil,

I do not agree. I think Tony is on to something.

Avast and AVG are not the sharpest tacks in the box. Check
out page 8 of

http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-co...t_2014a_en.pdf

Boy, Ahnlabs really sucks!

When I hits places with AVG and Avast, I cringe a little
because I know I am going to be in for a ride. System
with Avast just run a little funny -- can't put my finger
on why, though.

Most of the time when I hit business with free AVG, I
remind them the free version is only for personal
use. They get a bit ****ed at me. And, it explains
why they are in trouble. They have CABs (Cheap Assed
******* disease).

-T

On 08/20/2014 05:47 PM, Nil wrote:
On 20 Aug 2014, Todd wrote in
alt.home.repair:

I had a customer buy a custom computer from me and expected me
to warrant every screw up she did on it. I was very clear
that I only covered the hardware, not the usage. She
got pretty ****ed when I insisted. Oh did she screw things up!

I used to fix screwed up computers in a corporate environment. I got to
know who seemed to go out of their way to **** things up time and time
again. Since they got them fixed for "free", they just didn't care...
and yet they were the most demanding and impatient of any. I guess it's
a combination of attitude and work flow. Some people seem to
instinctively know how to avoid some computer problems. Some people
rush right into them.

Nowadays I do it just for friends and family. My sister's kids
regularly invite viruses and other malware into the family computer.
They don't care, maybe because I swoop in to fix things when they get
so bad that, say, my sister can't do her online banking because of all
the popup ads. I'm happy to bail her out as often as need be, but the
kids need a good spanking. Too bad they're 18 years old and 3000 miles
away.


Had one customer with a secretary that would yell broken
computer to get to go home early. One time she claimed it
shocked her. Make me run over in a mad dash. She didn't
realize I have a degree in Electrical Engineering. Biggest
shock she ever got was scraping her shoes over the carpet.
She was a total pain in the neck.

On 08/20/2014 04:59 PM, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 16:50:46 -0700, Todd wrote:


Dear Sir/Madam/Unknown Higgs,

We are addressing a she.

Hi Oren,

I was wondering as she laments not having her son's
22 to shoot critters.

I noticed she won't answer you when you ask a simple,
innocuous question. And never says thank you or acknowledges
your help either. Quite anti-social at times.

Of course, I did bust her chops on the global warming
fraud and on not being a good Jew (thou shalt not murder).
I think her religion is Liberalism not Judaism anyway.


It is time for you to bite the bullet and call in
a professional. Ask around your neighborhood for
referrals. Geek Squad are not professionals. They
are High Skol students with two weeks training.

She can buy a used typewriter? A used memory typewriter?

iPad (toy computer) would be wonderful for her.

-T

You will love this from the gardening group:

On 08/18/2014 08:48 AM, Higgs Boson wrote:
I AM NOT OREN!!! IN FACT, YOU MIGHT CALL ME THE 'ANTI-OREN" !!!!!

Made me chuckle.

On 08/20/2014 05:52 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:
Nil wrote:
On 20 Aug 2014, Oren wrote in alt.home.repair:

She can buy a used typewriter? A used memory typewriter?

I've got a vintage rusty IBM Selectric in the garage. A little WD-40
and she'll be good as new! That would be about the right for this
person, I think.

You will be interested in my rare type balls.

Hi,
Years ago at the infancy of PC when 4 Mb hard drive cost couple grands,
I was an EIC a at local university looking after their main system
involved in software development. One day one of the faculty secretary
called me in panic saying she can't use word processor any more, it is
stuck. When I took a look at the problem she never deleted or stored
backed up files externally on floppies. literally hundreds of saved
letter files were plugging up the machine. She thought almighty computer
had endless file saving capacity. When I explained things she seemed
quite surprised.....

Hi Tony,

I have customer, fortunately not all, who are hermetically
irresponsible about backing up. I put them on Carbonite, even
though I find cloud backup creepy.

-T

Oren wrote:

Heat from the CPU can certainly be a problem. Remove the mounted
processor fan and add "thermal compound". between the two. The
compound displaces the heat evenly.

Depending on the vintage there may also be an active cooler (fan) on the
north bridge. Even if it's a passive (heat sink) make sure it isn't packed
with crap.


Some folks may not know that in
the day Win98 issued a thermal meltdown (red alert) and shut the
computer off so the processor was not melted - trashed.

There was one gneration, 2000 maybe, that played "Für Elise" on the speaker
just before it succumbed to heat stroke.

On 20 Aug 2014, Todd wrote in
alt.home.repair:

I do not agree. I think Tony is on to something.

Avast and AVG are not the sharpest tacks in the box. Check
out page 8 of

http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-co...t_2014a_en.pdf

I see nothing on page 8 that addresses Avast's memory usage or the
claim that "they try to come into your computer."

I find Avast to be the most problem-free and reliable of any of the
anti-virus products I've tried.

On 08/20/2014 08:16 PM, rbowman wrote:
Oren wrote:

Heat from the CPU can certainly be a problem. Remove the mounted
processor fan and add "thermal compound". between the two. The
compound displaces the heat evenly.

Depending on the vintage there may also be an active cooler (fan) on the
north bridge. Even if it's a passive (heat sink) make sure it isn't packed
with crap.


Some folks may not know that in
the day Win98 issued a thermal meltdown (red alert) and shut the
computer off so the processor was not melted - trashed.

There was one gneration, 2000 maybe, that played "Für Elise" on the speaker
just before it succumbed to heat stroke.



On my custom designs, I put a 120 mm PWM fan in the
rear and a 92 mm PWM fan on the front where it can
blow over the hard drive. Gives great long life.

Oh, and I use ball bearing fans. None of this cheap-assed
sleeve bearing fan nonsense. Sleeve bearing fans die
in about two years.

On 08/20/2014 09:58 PM, Nil wrote:
On 20 Aug 2014, Todd wrote in
alt.home.repair:

I do not agree. I think Tony is on to something.

Avast and AVG are not the sharpest tacks in the box. Check
out page 8 of

http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-co...t_2014a_en.pdf

I see nothing on page 8 that addresses Avast's memory usage or the
claim that "they try to come into your computer."

I find Avast to be the most problem-free and reliable of any of the
anti-virus products I've tried.


Hi Nil,

On no. You are correct. My bad.

I meant that Avast didn't work very well. It is as effective as
M$ Security Essentials, which should be the worst you'd expect.

I googled memory footprint on anti viruses, but did not
find anything useful.

When I find a customer using Avast, something is off
that I just can't put my finger on.

-T

On 08/20/2014 04:34 PM, Oren wrote:


That isn't a virus, it's a bugger on the screen


Did you gradate hi skol?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bugger

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/booger