[Ham-Computers] AT&T-Yahoo Trashing Firefox

[Paul Ahkolik]

A curiosity. What does this have to do with the browser problem I'm experiencing?
   
  I don't recall installing anything on a trial basis.
   
  Paul W5PDA
  

"Duane Fischer, W8DBF" <dfischer at usol.com> wrote:
  Gentlemen,

Have none of you yet learned the secret to a happy computer? Leave it alone! 
Do NOT install programs on a "trial basis", as they almost never completely 
remove themselves when asked to do so.

Did you see the remake of the ancient TV series gone movie, "Bewitched"? 
Remember Uncle Arthur saying to Lug Nuts, (AKA Darron or Darren or?), "When 
you are with a Witch, wierd stuff happens!" This is also true for messing 
with software installations -

No offense to anyone here, please!

One must understand how a computer operates, as well as how the software OS 
works, and how the present software works and how it interacts with other 
software on the computer. How the TSR loads, as well as where, in the 
config.sys file can be very important.

Then one needs to comprehend how the new piece of software is going to 
react, or interact, with the computer, proper, the OS, the software running 
in the background and so forth.

When one does not understand any, all, or even most, of this, wierd stuff 
happens!

When I learned to program, errors were not tolerated. Error traps, (a detour 
around the problem, no fix, just avoidance), were sometimes used. A problem 
initself though, as the more errors trapped = the greater the number of 
potential issues = factorial multiplaction of problems. Simply said, the 
more you have, the worse the issues become and the more of them that show 
up.

The sloppy construct of today's software, both commercial and third party 
developers, some more so than others, lends itself to constant software 
conflicts. You can rarely fix them, just patch them. Imagine a dam with 
patches. Sooner or later the dam blows a patch and all heck breaks loose! A 
computer suffers the same fate, but instead of dead fish and battered 
Beavers, you get fractured bits of bytes gone bad!

Get yourself an inexpensive second, or third, computer. Maybe one running 
under Windows 95B or 98A. They are readily available and for very little 
cost. Keep one clean of all non OS software. Like a butt naked newborn human 
child. Try the new piece of software and observe what happens. If it goes 
amuck, very easy to remove it, repair the autoexec.bat and config.sys files, 
plus clean up the system.ini, win.ini and progman.ini files.

Since every program sends out roots and attaches itself to various areas of 
the computer hardware, and/or OS, and almost none of them ever totally 
remove said roots upon uninstallation, getting rid of them is simple when a 
computer is loaded to the max with software!

If the program works, do some system checks using basic, and simple to use 
and understand, programs to test the system. If you find nothing adverse, 
then go ahead and try it on your primary machine.

Remember this! Many free programs are not written by knowable programmers. 
However, some of them are fabulous pieces of work and make the Pro's look 
like a bunch of bit bags! Just remember that not all software can get along 
with others, regardless of what the venders claim! Do you really need it? Or 
is it just something that pricks your curiosity? Can you get by without it? 
The less you install, the fewer problems and less hours of "tech support" 
you will have to endure! As I said earlier, get that inexpensive second or 
third computer and use it to conduct experiments on and with. It can, and 
WILL, save you from countless hours of grieft, wasted repair time and 
frustration you really do not need.

Brandi Summers, niece

DBF/BKS

(Duane will soon be back to usual self and I won't have to type for him!)

Duane Fischer, W8DBF/WPE8CXO
dfischer at usol.com
HHI: Halligan's Hallicrafters International
http://www.w9wze.net
HHRP: Historic Halligan Radio Project
hhrp.w9wze.net