[Ham-Computers] Re Free Software

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

Aaron is right on the mark, no surprise there! 	
	
When you download 'free' software, remember that nothing is free. Think about it
before you do it. Do you really need it? Once you install it, are you computer
savvy enough to remove it, completely? Most of the time the uninstall option, or
the 'add/remove software' control panel operation, and so forth, do NOT truly
totally remove the entire program. Bits and pieces lurk. When something lurks it
is apt to come back to torment you. So before you download that 'free' program,
investigate and consider the possible consequences of your pending actions.  	
	
I have worked with computers from the software side of the fence for nearly a
quarter of a century. I am not a repair person, I am a programmer and software
developer. The most common problem people come to me with is due to something
they got a message on the CRT that they either needed to update/upgrade and
without thinking, clicked and downloaded. Most of the time they got more than
they bargained for and way too often it caused massive problems on their system.
Nowadays 'technicians' are not really what the name implies. Remember when a TV
repairman came to your parent's home, or yours if you are old enough, and
actually checked the tubes with a tube tester? Then the repair guy started to
just substitute tubes until the problem went away. Thenn when it was solid state
a guy showed up and plugged in modules until the set worked. Repair people went
from understanding how a TV set works and actually repairing it to trial and
error substitutions with minimal knowledge of electronics and now to being told
by a computer screen what is wrong and how to fix it. 	
	
It is up to each of us as computer owners to educate ourselves as best we can in
order to protect our computers from disasters waiting for us to unwittingly
download and get a free gift we did not expect! Now realistically, the vast
majority of users are either not able to learn the technical material, simply do
not want to be bothered doing so or just love to take chances. Hence the single
best and easiest thing to do is to not download anything that you do not
understand, have not asked for or seems suspicious or too good to be true. Just
say 'NO', back out of there and go do some research. Find out what it is you are
getting 'before' you say 'yes'! A little time on the phone, posting an inquiry
here or reading the manual can often save you a lot of frustration, expensive
repair bills and down time.    	
	
Because so many programs are not compatible with others, it is all too easy to
accidentally create memory conflict issues that lock up the system or cause one
program or another to suddenly start showing you error messages you never got
before. When you upgrade one program, many times, others no longer work because
they are not compatible with the upgrade. It is a domino effect many times and
the more you try to fix what you did, the more problems you cause. Then comes
the standard cure, reformat the HD and reinstall everything. Which you can
avoid, "IF" you think before you click. When in doubt, just say 'no'. You can
always go back later and download it once you know it is safe to do so.      		
	
Just my two cents worth of free advice, we all know what free advice is worth! 	
	
Duane W8DBF