Replies

Al, I found that Comodo has asked me once a week for each of the past 2 weeks to update my Comodo firewall, but the update has already been installed. I checked the numbers. I suspect that they screwed something up with the updater.

The problem may be that version 2009 was not completely uninstalled. BitDefender has a special uninstall tool that needs to be used (just like most of the security programs). I ran into this problem myself when upgrading from BitDefender 2008 to BitDefender 2009.

Unlike Sinjin, I’ve been using BitDefender Antivirus for several years now and am quite pleased with it. I have been thinking of going to the suite that includes the firewall (which would mean removing my Comodo firewall software), but haven’t done so yet.

Interesting. I got the e-mail and so did my wife (I’m getting Vista and she’s getting Office) telling us we had complied so far etc. but neither of us has received a survey — not one — since we started this. I guess we give enough data to qualify without being tormented by surveys

It is a good deal, Al, but it also shows how much of a hard time MS has had getting consumers to drop XP for Vista.

How does Defraggler compare to other defraggers? I use Diskeeper 2008 and have been pleased with the perceived improvement in my computer’s performance. Was there real improvement? I don’t know and have/had no way to test. Accessing files, particularly large files, seems to be that split-second quicker but who knows. I like that Diskeeper keeps my system constantly defragged without my intervention, but then I am of the school that defragging should be done at least once daily on a machine that is in constant use. I used to do it manually with the Norton utility (whose name escapes me) as long ago as Norton 1.0, so it has become habit.

Thanks, Stuart. I took the jump (after first making a System Restore point and backing up everything) and you are correct — all it did was install PowerPoint and touched nothing else. I don’t understand why MS has to make it so nerve wracking — changing a couple of words would resolve the fear factor. But at least it is done.

The link to Smart Computing deals with a fresh install.My problem is that I am uncertain what the effect will be on already installed components. Customization doesn’t avoid the checklist.

Thanks, Rudi. I guess I wasn’t clear enough.

When you install from the Office CD, there is no way to say just install PowerPoint. The installation routine asks you to check those items you want installed/updated. Word, Excel, and Outlook are prechecked because they are already installed, but I don’t want any changes made to them (unless as part of PowerPoint’s installation routine). However, if you decheck them, you are told that they will be uninstalled — which I don’t want either. So I’m not sure what to do. This is one of those things that Microsoft has always made unclear, at least to me.

Joe, thanks for the tips. I was already aware of the third-party solution to showing classic menus but I see no reason why I should spend a small fortune for Office 2007 to outfit my 4 computers and then pay more to get them to work as they should. My point was that Microsoft didn’t listen to me or care to listen to me when it came to designing the Office 2007 UI.

Like you, Al, I don’t distrust Microsoft. I think they overcharge, but hey — isn’t that the American way if you can get away with it. My biggest complaints with Microsoft — although they have never cared to consider my opinion in these regards — are (1) that they are unwilling to bite the bullet and come up with a wholly new OS that doesn’t have backward compatibility but that is not bloated and is secure from the get go and (2) when they design/redesign MS Word they only think of the 2 extremes — those whose hands must be held beginning with how to turn a computer on and those who only use Word to write a letter or a relatively simple memo that incorporates an Excel spreadsheet graph. Word 2007 is a perfect example for me. There are (according to the Census Bureau) 100,000 people in the U.S. who do what I do to earn a living. I’m guessing here, but at least 90% are reliant on Word. Of that 90%, probably 60%, maybe more, cannot upgrade to Word 2007 because of the Ribbons, the saving as .docx rather than .doc, and MS guessing at what we need. Yes, we can solve that problem to a large part by buying the add-on that reverts back to the Word 2003-style but why bother when it is just as easy to use Word 2003.

Aside from those things, I don’t think MS is deliberately trying to gather personal information from me and I take them at their word on most things, but not on (a) what will be in the next OS when released nor ( on how secure the new OS is/will be — those statements I consider puffery. Consequently, I had no second thoughts about signing up for this program.

Al, I, too, signed up on the 11th and saw just what you did and received the same e-mail.

Like Big Al. I signed up both myself and my wife as I could use a copy of both Windows Vista Ultimate and Office 2007. When I signed up, I was not told by Microsoft that they had run out of software. Consequently, at the end of the 3 months I expect to receive the software or I will be filing a complaint with the New York State Attorney General. If there were no software available, MS had an obligation to tell me so I could choose not to participate.

The Office Ultimate for $59.95 offer is just for students and MS reserves the right to verify that you are a student. If you are not, they tell you that you will have to pay $695. The download has to go to a .edu address.

I use SnagIt 8 and Camtasia Studio 4 and 5 (5 was just released a few weeks ago) from TechSmith. SnagIt 8 and Studio 4 (purchased in October before 5 was released) were/are my first experience with TechSmith products. Last week I had a problem with SnagIt and contacted TechSmith tech support. They are the best I’ve come across in a long time. They tackled the problem immediately and responses were within minutes rather than hours — I was almost afraid to leave my computer . Turns out the registration keys were causing the problem on my 3 computers. I had bought the licenses from a third-party thinking I was buying regular licenses. Instead, they sold me 3 academic licenses, which I didn’t realize; however, except for price there is no difference in the program, so I didn’t bother trying to get the correct licenses. But I’ll never deal with them again . Anyway, TechSmith support came through and replaced my defective licenses with a good license (and for a nonacademic version), even though I had told them I hadn’t bought the original licenses directly from TechSmith. Here’s a and a to the best tech support I’ve had in at least several years.

Jeremy, I figured out how to capture the dropdown menu. Here is an image of the choices Handy Folder gives me if I choose the Work category.