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Hmmm. Does anyone really believe that disabling Google Web History tracking actually stops them from recording what you’ve been doing? And as for creating a Google Account in order to do that … well, words fail me! Far better to use a program that anonymises your searches, as other posters have suggested.

My tuppence-worth:

I’m still using XP SP3, and will continue to do so until the hardware irretrievably dies on me. When it does, I’ll install on the new system the Win7 retail that I’ve bought as an “insurance policy”. I did consider migrating to a Linux distro, but I use many third-party programs, some of which do not have a Linux equivalent.

I am self-employed and work from home. What OS I use is irrelevant, provided that my output can be rendered in a form that the customer can use (which explains some of those third-party programs). Furthermore, given the regular swapping of files, I am ultra vigilant about my own computer security.

Out of the box, no incarnation of the Windows OS has ever given me the degree of system control that I wish for, hence the reason for other third-party programs. But I accept that that’s just me. However, I recently had to tinker with a friend’s Win8 to make it more user-friendly. And my first thought was that the OS is nothing more than the underlying nuts and bolts. So, for an averagely competent Windows user, why should Win8 impose such a learning curve? Given time, of course one can get used to it. But that’s not the point. He replaced his failing desktop with a new system that had Win8 pre-installed, thinking that it would be familiar.

Why did Microsoft make Win8 so different? For anyone who’s already used to Win7 or WinXP, and doesn’t have need of Windows-specific third-party programs, they might as well migrate to a Mac, or even a Linux.

GIMP is an amazing piece of free software. However, learning how to exploit its full potential takes time. PhotoFiltre is easier to get the hang of and is an excellent product.

“I loath FB – the only reason I have an account, is because my daughter insisted I get an account so I can view photos of her and my grandson…”

FB’s utility has been vastly oversold! And I can’t help thinking that there’s something vaguely offensive about obliging a parent to go to a quasi-public site to view photos of his/her daughter and grandson. (Who the hell else is actually interested? Maybe her siblings, if she has any, and her in-laws, but that’s about all.) Both the parent and daughter obviously have email; that would be a far more thoughtful, sensitive, way to communicate and share personal family photos.

Before you buy a new drive unit, do try the Microsoft “fixit” mentioned above. Last weekend, I was helping a friend to set up her new Win7 system. Initially, the DVD drive worked (we made the back-up discs). Later, after installing 77 Windows Update files, the DVD drive had disappeared. Panic! Finally, I came across the Microsoft “fixit” — which did what it claimed.

I do realise that my problem may be related to faulty hardware and/or file corruption. But where/how to check for the culprit? Are there software programs (preferably freeware, in the first instance) which can do that for me? I doubt that the interior of the CPU is dirty: it was thoroughly cleaned 8 months ago when extra memory was installed. And, as a matter of routine, I make daily external backups of all data files.

As I said before, incipient faults are a cause for concern. I would like to know how to pinpoint the possible cause(s).

A question about program conflicts.

My boss has used Eudora for many years; he likes it and refuses to migrate. It is registered as the preferred email client in the Windows settings. Recently, he changed his security suite to the paid-for Kaspersky program. In the Kaspersky settings, the option to send messages about faults is NOT ticked. However, when Kaspersky does its scheduled scan, he gets an error message to the effect that his email client is not recognised. To date, Kaspersky has registered a clean bill of health after each scan. So, whether the option to send messages was ticked or not, there would have been no reason to send an email?

However, I’ve now been tasked with fixing this “error message” problem. Has anyone got any suggestions?