Replies

Thanks for your efforts, anyway, John. I’ve realized that the reason the final step is only putting me back where I started is that when I use the corner arrow to adjust the window to full-size from maximized the toggle button changes to one box (I don’t know what that’s called) so full-size simply replaces the half-size window as the “one-box” size, and maximize remains the size represented by the “two-box” icon of the toggle button. Somehow that is what I need to change. I’ll keep looking. Thanks again.

Maud

Thanks, John, this is progress! It all works through double-click, maximize, resize with arrow, click maximize button. At that point the window is maximized (and if I click the toggle again at this point, it returns to half-size.) However, if I follow the instructions as written through the final step, something is lost. I have a full-size window, but if I toggle the maximize/restore button again, I no longer get the half-size window – I get maximized again. I tried it a couple of times, and also tried closing the browser before the last step, while the window would still toggle betwee half-size and maximize, then re-opening and completing the final step, but I still don’t get that button to toggle between half-size and full-size.

Maud

Skitterbug,

My modem doesn’t have a standby button. But I’m starting to get the idea that any of the obvious (er – fairly obvious) ways of accomplishing the thing are harmless, and it’s just a matter of personal preference. So I will boldly disconnect with full confidence that I’ll be able to reconnect at will. No need to be scared of the internet; as one of our American senators has informed us, it’s only a series of tubes.

Maud

Ian,

Oh.

Sometimes I think I’m a little overawed by this stuff. I’m afraid to do the wrong thing, lest I anger the vengeful spirit within the machine, and flames shoot out, or something equally dire. (Actually, I know somebody that happened to – flames shooting out, I mean; I can’t say what sort of spirits might have been involved. And he knows a lot more about computers than I do. But I’m going to pretend I didn’t remember that, now that you’ve restored my common sense somewhat.) I appreciate the lack of sarcasm.

Maud

Thanks for the input, Stuart. Disconnecting the Ethernet cable would be a quick and easy way to do this, if accessing the back of my PC were not fraught with peril. I won’t say I fear for my life when I try to move this computer cart, but I do rather fear for the lives of my PC and monitor!

Maud

Thanks for reminding me, Hans! I had already managed to forget about the LAN icon, which I had set not to display, thinking it would be just one more thing taking up space in the tray. I, too, keep my cable modem on 24/7, though I turn my PC off at the end of the day, and I can easily see the modem lights for the status of the connection. I now need to uninstall NAV 2005 and Zone Alarm (free), preparatory to installing PC-cillin Internet Security, so will need to go offline for the first time. Since you indicate temporarily disabling the LAN connection is not a problem, I think I will do that. Thank you.

Maud

I use AdAware, Spybot, and Windows Defender in combination, and have had no problems. However, in the 09/14 issue of Windows Secrets newsletter, Brian Livingston describes recently-published results of tests done on antispyware apps by PC World – Spyware Fighters and Computer Shopper: Product Reviews: Labs: Anti-Spyware Software PC World didn’t test it, but Computer Shopper ranked Windows Defender dead last, and a review from early in the year at Windows Defender (beta 2) review by PC Magazine is unenthusiastic. Windows Defender has been updated since that review, which was done in February, but the Computer Shopper reviewer doesn’t seem to feel it’s been improved. I’m starting to think I should abandon my allegiance to freeware in this area and move up to Spysweeper, based on the things I’ve read, but then, as I said at the beginning, I haven’t been troubled by spyware with my current combo, so I have no criticism of any of them.

Maud

Alan,

Thanks for that cheat sheet; it will come in very handy. Thanks to the clever ones among us, (I assume you know who you are; the rest of us know who WE are) I always find good stuff when I start wandering around the Lounge. Naturally, in the course of doing that, I completely forget what it was I was orignally looking for, and eventually wander away again without il, but nevertheless – not without something useful! Beats the heck out of all those sites I wander away from empty-handed, having totally despaired of ever finding whatever it was I’ve forgotten I was looking for!
Uh, actually, I guess you can’t really wander away from a . Like I said, we know who we are .

Maud

Alan,

This isn’t exactly the same message, and I don’t know if it’s relevant to your set-up, but the following is listed under “Known issues” in the Sophos Anti-Rootkit Read Me:

* Sophos Anti-Rootkit will work on a Terminal Services or Remote Desktop environment but may produce this warning which can be ignored: ‘Unable to flush drive C: (already open by another process)’.

and

* If the scan is performed while the computer is in use, false positives may appear in the scan results. This is caused by files or registry entries being deleted, including temporary files being deleted automatically.

Perhaps some registry activity while the scan was running generated the message you got?

I can’t report any results. I haven’t run it yet, having just downloaded it, as advised at Woody

Argus,
Thanks for the links. I made a note of the thorough uninstall/clean install instructions. I probably won’t go to those lengths this time, since Loungers’ experiences make clear that the sky is not falling, but it’s always good to have a checklist of everything you need to root out on those occasions when it does.
Mary

You give me courage, Big Al (or did I mean to say you encourage my laziness? ) I think I’ll just upgrade as usual. Maybe some of my apps have just been a little cranky lately. The inside of this box seems like any other household to me – sometimes everybody cooperates and plays nice, and sometimes they bash each other’s toys. Not the most precise explanation of technology, but it works for me!

Thanks, Maud

Big Al,
I assume your install was trouble-free? I got the same prompt, but hesitated because I’ve had various problems since installing the last update, which may or may not be related: Acrobat Reader hangs, followed by hanging of the dumprep.exe (I’ve never had that happen before) after I used Task Manager to end Reader; an install problem w/ some printer software, and slowdowns in page loading and some app loadings. My PC use has been pretty trouble-free for a while, so maybe it’s just my turn, but I wondered if this flurry of updates from Zone Alarm meant there were problems. I googled the latest update, and found some grumbling about the 6.5 versions here but nothing definitive. I’ve been installing the new versions over the old to maintain my settings, and never had a problem, but I’m thinking this time I better uninstall and do a clean install of the new, although one person on the Wilder forum mentioned a bad uninstaller, so I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just reinstall the v6.1.744.01 I still have sitting in my Downloads folder! Ah, decisions . . . .

Thanks, Joe.

Boy, I skip visiting the Lounge for a few days to catch up on lesser matters, and I can’t believe how much stuff I miss!

Maud

Thanks, Tony! Gosh, those folks at CCleaner have been busy lately.

Maud

Thank you, sir, that sounds much nicer than saying I’m wolfish! (But only because wolves have been unfairly maligned.) Actually, my first thought was to use a picture of a dog. Guess that wouldn’t have done much for my reputation!

Maud