Remember...
Accept that some days you're the pigeon....
And some days you're the statue...
...and smile.
For the last two evenings I've been trying to get the sound working on a client's computer. Installed the drivers: no problems. Windows sounds were working but when I went to the sound settings, everything was greyed out and there was no way to associate the drivers with the devices. Sooo frustrating.
My initial task was to get the sound working, and to give a lesson on how to burn to CDs and DVDs. That was the easy part. The computer was sluggish, and when I tried uninstalling a couple of suspect looking programs, the computer kept freezing and I couldn't do anything without restarting. Any attempt to connect, either via email or the internet, caused error messages: a problem with the svchost.exe, meaning that it was an internet connection that wasn't working properly. This made me think there was probably spyware associated with the programs I'd uninstalled.
After two hours of getting nowhere I called it a night, and returned tonight with a spyware cleaner. After installing, and registering, the computer was cleaned of over 100 instances of spyware and everything worked properly after a reboot. We had sound; no more annoying svchost failures; and my clients were able to view the movie (with sound) of their first grandchild in the bath. Their joy was worth the two days of frustration!
I can't stress enough the importance of anti-spyware as well as anti-virus! And possibly a software firewall other than the inbuilt Windows Firewall. I use Zone Alarm, along with Spyware Doctor and the free version of AVG. I think it's a perfect combination, though it doesn't guarantee that I don't get problems. Spyware Doctor is running in the background as I speak, scanning my computer, and has found 1 instance of spyware, which it will clean up without any intervention from me. It's saved me from so many problems, that the $50 a year they charge is worth every cent. That's less than $1 a week to ensure a hassle-free Internet experience. I'm not associated with Spyware Doctor in any way, and don't reap any rewards (sigh) from giving them the thumbs up, but I must say, it's a great program, and a must-have to stay trouble-free. There's plenty of other spyware protection programs, as there are anti-virus programs. The big name brands like Symantec and McAfee try to do it all, and end up taking over your system resources to the extent that you can do little else while they're doing their thing, and in my case, I uninstalled at the first opportunity. The programs are bulky and expensive, and free version like Zone Alarm and AVG do a fantastic job of protecting your computer.
Perhaps PCTools should start giving me a commission, this is the 2nd client in 2 weeks that I've talked into buying Spyware Doctor. I can't recommend it enough!
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