Fading Whispers: The Chronicles

I will start this post by saying I know next to nothing about the innards of internet security clients or antivirus software. However, when a problem consistently pops up in your internet security software and there is no useful information to help you solve the problem, you are justifiably mad. In my case, here are the following reasons I have given F-Secure Client Security the boot from my 64-bit Windows Ultimate computer. I will do this in form of a “Dear John” letter.

Dear F-Secure Client Security,
I loved you from the first time I installed you on my home desktop PC that ran Windows XP Home Edition. You were flawless in your merciless execution of those bits & bytes that dared to infiltrate my computer neverminding the fact that you left me hog-tied during a simple update, not to talk of a full-blow computer scan. The best part about you was that you came to me free of charge. I recently adopted another computer kid whom I have not named yet. Despite my kid’s no-name status, I decided to equip her with the accoutrements that her big sister (Windows XP Home Edition) already had i.e. your gracious self. F Secure, that was the single biggest mistake I made.

Now, I know that I am just a transplant who can hardly string sentences together without introducing typos and hideous grammatical errors. However, I know two things: the blue screen of death is NOT cool and not being able to, you know, scan my computer? That’s really evil. I mean, how painful or painless is it to just allow me to, oh, open up a Word document or chat while you are updating your definitions or simply scanning my computer for hoodlums? Because of your inability to share time, I regret to say that I have not given my computer kid half the attention her big Windows XP sister received.

It is with a tired sigh of relief that I am hitting the uninstall button and telling you that I can’t deal with you anymore. I am free of your shackles and today, I say “no more!” In fact, you thought you were irreplaceable, didn’t you? Like my girl, Beyonce, said, “… You must not know about me, you must not know about me. I can have another you in a minute …”
My former lover, F-Secure, you have been replaced. Effective immediately, you are hereby given your marching orders and this not only means removing your files from my C:\Program Files (x86) directory, this means removing your tracks from my Windows registry, thank you very much! Oh and don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

Love,

Your former BFF,
Jane

lol. I had too much fun writing this letter. “Irreplaceable” by Beyonce is definitely the song to go with this letter. I could go on and on, but I didn’t want to kill the joke. Seriously, I am sick of all the error messages F Secure has thrown up since realizing that it was no longer on Windows XP. Here is a quick screenshot of the error messages thrown up thus far. It’s unreal and a bit shocking considering that Vista is the operating system du jour and they are clearly not reading their e-mails!

Anyway, who have I jumped ship to, you ask? Enter BitDefender Internet Security 2009. The Jane of the fables and lore a.k.a. Bootleg Jane would have had her fill of freebies to essentially roll her own internet suite. Well, there comes a time when you just get tired of playin Russian roulette. lol. Much love to the free stuff, but you WILL eventually have to pony up some cash to get better protected. Anyway, I’m running an evaluation version on my computer. In the past, I’ve typically made the mistake of paying for the software before using it and finding out that I’m not too excited about it. Well, I’m testing BitDefender Internet Security 2009 for 30 days on my laptop and if I like how it plays with the other items on my computer, I’ll pony up the cash for a license.

With that mini-rant out of the way, it’s on to more important things like my weekend. I skipped church for the chance to hang with J & J at their friend’s place (K & P). It was really great and I did not mind being around babies! K & P have a 13-month old daughter who has got the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen! And Little B, Sadie and Tyler came along for the trip. As J put it, the circus came to town! LOL. Alrighty, good night, y’all.

Tags: bitdefender internet security 2009, f secure, f-secure client security, free antivirus, internet security suites, russian roulette

Okay, that’s not exactly something to be proud of because after bragging about the awesomeness of my laptop to myself, it’s a bit embarrassing to have the same old Windows issues pop up again. I will say that Windows Vista is doing a fabulous job of self-diagnosing what the problem is. In this case, the Nvidia Graphics Drivers are apparently acting up. The first blue screen of death (BSOD) happened while I was on battery power and showing someone the DreamScene addition to Vista Ultimate. The next bluescreen happened while I was trying something out that involved moderate-to-heavy usage of the graphics card. Interestingly, the additional factor that I failed to ‘factor’ in was that I had installed Nero 7 Ultra Edition on my laptop the day before I started being plagued by the BSODs. So, I went a little nuts and uninstalled any programs that weren’t actively being used. Something I have been unable to do to my desktop computer. Sue me. Anyway, time will tell if I’ve ’solved’ the problem by installing the Nvidia driver (which oddly is the same version number as the problematic one, but which I installed anyway) from HP’s support site. *sigh*

The best features of Windows Vista (for me) are the self-diagnostic utilities included. I mean, I haven’t had to install any of the usual suspects (PC Wizard, etc) because Windows does all that for me. I don’t have to purchase a dedicated software solution to back up my laptop because Vista Ultimate comes with an in-built PC backup utility. The most consistent question I find myself being asked about the laptop is “what is the difference between Vista Ultimate and Business/Premium?” Well, depending on the state of my mind, I answer some or all of the following:

1. Vista Ultimate is a combination of all Vista’s features, missing features in Vista Premium and missing features in Vista Business in addition to little extras like Windows DreamScene which gives you a  ‘live’ vs static background. Think an animated gif only that it looks much better.
2. Vista Ultimate has Bitlocker Drive Encryption which appeals to the paranoid side of me.
3. And many more that others far smarter than I am have teased out and beaten to death.

My point: it is well worth the extra $160 I was hit with for upgrading to Vista Ultimate. The other thing that was worth the extra $125 I paid for this laptop was the Intel T8100 processor which is part of the newer line of Intel’s 45nm Penryn processors. This laptop purrs and I’ve amazed at the difference between the desktop and my laptop in terms of noise. The noisiest thing about me on the laptop is me clacking away at the keyboard which feels a little cramped. I guess it was a blessing in disguise that I purchased a 17.2″ laptop because I would not be a happy camper with a tiny screen.

Now, I want to talk about peripherals or accessories for your laptop. When I configured my laptop, I wanted a TV tuner which would enable me to watch TV on the computer. Well, I didn’t and I called HP in a panick and got them to lock in the promotional rate which took 40% off the sticker price. That item arrived yesterday and I got to test it out with Matt who also returned from his trip. I was finally able to retrieve my Logitech V470 bluetooth mouse and ethernet cable from our mailbox because he forgot to leave our mailbox key behind. lol. In a not-so-shocking twist of fate, HP & I have ceased being BFFs (best friends forever). Why? Well, they went back on their word to refund me a certain amount and I have since returned their product to them (i.e. the TV tuner). After giving it one test run, I think I am better off not having a TV tuner. In any case, by the time September rolls around, I will be expecting over $200 in refunds from HP and 3 other online retailers. Crazy and I’m still wondering how the heck I screwed up so badly in getting items that were either incompatible or just didn’t do enough research on. I’m returning the Belkin N1 router which I purchased from Walmart, but then I changed my mind and went with the D-Link Gigabit N Router (DIR-655). By the way, that router, despite the birthing pains, runs awesomely. I feel just as fast as I was when connected via ethernet. That’s pretty darn impressive. I am also returning the Logitech bluetooth mouse because the blasted thing quit working. I was really disappointed because I trusted Logitech and for the amount I paid for a mouse, I expected nothing less than 90% “uptime”. The worst isssue I’ve had was with my IOGear 2.5″ 80GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive which is the crappiest investment I’ve ever made (I got it in 2006). I also received a sweet deal on a JanSport Lap Station laptop backpack from eBags which is really stylish. It fits my 17.2″ laptop perfectly and I am definitely getting more than my money’s worth. I got it for less than $65. On that note, HP’s currently running a $400-off special on certain notebooks. Of course, my mouth fell open and I instantly ran to their website to customize the exact specs of my PC there to see if I really got a deal or not. Aaaand the verdict is pretty much that I didn’t get any “special” deal except that I didn’t pay taxes which have admittedly saved me over $100. Anyway, I’m pretty satisfied with my purchase and in particular, the accidental damage policy I have on it. All told, I think this laptop will easily be worth over $2,000 after all I’ve purchased as accessories or add-ons.

Also, my Windows Mobile Device Center finally works and it’s a thing of beauty!! I was never able to get it to work via the USB cable provided with my Palm Treo 750 and I can’t tell you the precise series of steps I was able to take to get Windows Mobile Device Center to work. However, here are some tricks I’d tried:

1. Repairing WMDC by going to the “Programs and Features” section of the Control Panel and opting to reinstall or repair.
2. Making sure I had all updates for WMDC
3. Syncing via Bluetooth.

It works perfectly with Outlook 2007 and I am really pleased with Microsoft’s offerings (regarding their Office Suite) thus far. Heck, I never thought I’d abandon Mozilla Thunderbird in favor of Microsoft Outlook. As far as browsers go, I’m still lovingly stuck on Mozilla Firefox. There’s nothing Internet Explorer could do to take me away from Firefox. lol. Here’s a shoutout to my big brother, Nick, who just graduated with his postgraduate degree and landed a sweet gig on his birthday nonetheless!! I felt so bad not being able to call you because Friday was absolutely N.U.T.S. That was the first day of labs for the students and all of us (me, boss et al) were running out for specimens and trying to make the lab nice for the students. I survived and I do wish you all the best! I can’t wait to talk with you.

With that, I bid you “Sayonara.”

Tags: belkin N1 router, blue screen of death, D-link gigabit N router, jansport lap station, logitech bluetooth mouse, microsoft office suite, microsoft outlook, mozilla firefox, mozilla thunderbird, ms office, outlook 2007, palm treo 750, repair windows mobile, vista blue screen, vista bsod, windows mobile device center, wmdc

That it’s been crazier than a bee’s nest over here? Well, I just feel like there aren’t enough hours to get what I need to get done! Today is the first day of labs for the students. I’ve been sitting in on their anatomy classes although I haven’t been doing much else besides just listening. I’m bad, I know, but I’m clearly in the “not-a-vet-student-so-I-don’t-need-to-study” frame of mind. lol. Still, it’ll do me some good to be able to converse intelligently with my bosses and the students. My laptop has been invaluable to me thus far. Even though my backpack now weighs at least 15lbs, I’m still doggedly carrying everything but the kitchen sink with me to work. M’s been hating on me, but I forgive him. I would hate on me too. lol.

I’m slowly getting back into riding. I haven’t ridden hard in over a month and that was due to certain circumstances, but things are getting better. I went for a soft ride with M just to spin my legs. I think my aim should be just 4 miles daily without bringing my heart rate too high up. The weather’s getting cooler and according to M, it’s perfect riding weather. Yesterday was a little depressing for various reasons. One of them being getting royally screwed by Hewlett-Packard regarding the TV tuner issue. However, I should be returning that blasted TV tuner to them and getting my money back. It really helps that after using it once, I never used it again because it was more troublesome than simply turning on the TV. I’ve got a crapload of items to be returned to retail outlets and I will go into some detail about those things. I will say that if you can help it, avoid buying things you aren’t sure that you will need because the return process is a pain in the patootie. I’m returning my bluetooth mouse because that freaking mouse quit working on me. My tolerance level for appliances that don’t work as advertised is zero these days and I wasted no time in obtaining an RMA number. I’ll stick to my little USB mini-mouse for now. I’m returning an item I purchased from an online retailer I’ve done business with in the past. They were a bit craftier in their returns process, but after sending them an email that threatened a charge-back, they responded with an RMA number and the information I needed. I wanted an auto/truck adapter for my laptop so I can use it in the car and I thought I found a good deal on a site. I broke one of the cardinal rules of online shopping i.e. reading the fine print and not taking Google results as the Gospel truth. About 5 minutes after I hit “Submit Order”, I realized that their auto/truck adapter would not be compatible with my laptop. I inwardly groaned and set about emailing their customer service representatives. Even though I sent my frantic email to them saying that they should cancel my order, they didn’t get back to me till the next day (how convenient) and it was only to tell me that they couldn’t cancel the order because it had been shipped! Well, after I received the item, I had to send at least 3 emails (each progressively nastier than the preceding one) in order to get my RMA number. Now, I just have to convince M to take them to the various drop-off points: USPS, Fedex, UPS, et cetera. lol.

Well, I’ve got to run. I’ll post something a little bit more coherent later on.

Tags: fedex, hewlett-packard sucks, hp sucks, return authorizations, rma, ups

So, today was the first day of classes for the students. I got to speak to them very briefly and I also have the opportunity of sitting in on their classes. I think I will take advantage of it and see how interested or uninterested I am. Their first laboratory session is coming up pretty soon and I’m nervous and excited all together. That, however, is not the real reason for my post. I recently purchased a D-Link Wireless N Gigabit Router because M & I have begun to butt heads over who gets to use the internet. lol. This way, we both get to eat our cake and have it too! I did run into a bit of trouble with my installation. You see, I’d read on the internet that D-Link had a rather troublesome support (compared to Belkin’s awesome technical support). However, D-Link, according to reviews, provided a more solid product. Being slightly more tech-savvy than say a certain second-half (love ya, babe. :D), I decided to go with the more solid product (D-Link) over Belkin’s Wireless N1 router.

So, I received the item and I popped it into my old desktop PC running Windows XP Home Edition. The computer did nothing and locked up. A very bad sign. After a couple more tries with the same outcome (a frozen PC), I decided to do the installation on my laptop. Well, as soon as I popped the disc into my laptop, it began spinning so fast in there that I thought something was going to explode in my laptop. That was the first time I’d ever had that happen with all the discs I’ve placed into my disk drive, from movies to CDs. At least, it didn’t lock up my laptop which, presumably, had enough juice to handle all the crap it was spitting out. I installed the D-link software per instructions and to make a long story short, I had to call technical support which appeared to be out-sourced (bad sign) and I’m finally online. It was a long road to simply install a wireless router, but it was finally done. I’ve also got Network Magic to help manage the network. Expectedly, I’ve password-protected the network and encrypted it also (these are standard procedures). For good measure, I’ve turned on MAC address filtering and prevented broadcast of my SSID. A little bit of overkill, but good for my peace of mine. I’m excited to have my little network to play with and I’ll try to set up remote desktop on both PCs so I can pull up documents from one or the other without have to leave my chair. LOL. Technology will not make me lazy in Jesus’ name.

I’m kinda low on words so these wannabe-technical posts will have to do. Have a great week!

Tags: belkin routers, d-link routers, n1 router, network magic, newegg, personal network, ssid, walmart, wireless encryption, wireless n protocol, wireless routers, wpa2