Stupid Computer

Last night, I decided to search for some files. Now every time I try to search, I get this:

*OR*

Yes, I edited part of that second picture.

And then explorer crashes. The error logs "Faulting application explorer.exe, version 6.0.2900. 5512, faulting module kernel32.dll, version 5.1.2600.6293, fault address 0x00012fd3." I wish computers would just put in plain damn English what is wrong. Like specifically hey [insert program name] is preventing me from functioning properly.

I want to blame a program I just installed, but I have not used the search function in so long that it may have done it before I installed the program. I don't know. I guess I will have to try uninstalling it and see if that works. I have ran all of my viral and antimalware programs, and just finally reinstalled A-2 to my computer,  and all have come up clean. Not that I ever use search much, but I would like to fix this before I say fuck it and just reinstall Windows again. I get a jolly from reinstalling Windows. A new install of Windows is always nice. It runs so much faster. I regularly run a junk file cleaner (CCleaner and ATF Cleaner), but nothing holds a candle to a newly installed Windows. And installing new programs is fun. Man, I really need to get a life.

Quote Of The Day

From Futurama episode "Where The Buggalo Roam":

Bender: And even though the computer was off and unplugged, an image stayed on the screen. It was...the Windows logo!
Fry: That's not scary.
Bender: It is if you're a laser printer.

I'm A PC....And I Have A Problem Part II

The family and I went out earlier to a few stores and while we were in BJs, I saw they had some laptops out that actually worked. I played around with a few after noticing they all had Vista on them and I have been curious to see how Vista works. Frankly, I didn't see much difference in it than XP. I thought the interface was pretty nice, although I do not care for the 3D flip thing. I also like that the new Windows Firewall is 2 way now- inward and outward (XP is only inward).

So, why do I want to run screaming into the night at the thought of switching to Vista? Because I do not want to deal with the compatibility issues I keep hearing about. I already know my current copy of Pod+Rescue is not going to work in Vista and heaven knows what else is going to malfunction when I am forced against my will to switch to Vista. I just pray that I end up buying a computer with a printer already included in the bundle because my instincts are high that my current printer will not work with Vista. I think I used my current printer with my last computer, which has Windows ME on it. My last computer also has the flying Windows screensaver. Whatever happened to that? Why did Windows get rid of it? And did you know it actually has it's own Wikipedia entry?

I'm A PC....And I Have A Problem

Windows....what are we going to do with you?

I have been using Windows for a long time. Sure, the first time I ever used a computer was back in elementary school, which were those big huge Macs that were the size of a full grown toddler and had screens the size of my hand palm. We used to play Number Maze, or whatever the name of the game was where you went through a maze as a horse to get to the carrot. But the first computer we ever owned in my house was a Compaq. It had Tabworks and it came with AOL 1.0. Or that was on our second one. I can't remember. Boy, it's funny to think of computers back in the day. You see ads and they're like "OMG ITS AMAZING Get 6 bytes of memory for only $25,000!"

I do like Windows. I like it's ease, it's desktop, and it's flying Windows screen saver. However, Windows needs to stop releasing so many goddamn versions and work on it's security problem (and bring back the flying Windows screensaver). I am going to post my latest virus scan and highlight the number of viruses/unwanted programs it was scanning for:

Avira AntiVir Personal
Report file date: Saturday, November 08, 2008 22:08

Scanning for 1019829 virus strains and unwanted programs.

Licensed to: Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic
Platform: Windows XP
Windows version: (Service Pack 3)
Boot mode: Normally booted
Username: SYSTEM

Is that not ridiculous? Do you know how many programs I have on my computer to keep it as clean as possible? Here is what I have: Avira Antivirus, Spybot Search & Destroy, Superantispyware Free, Blacklight Rootkit Eliminator, Spywareblaster, Spyware Guard, Hijackthis, A Square, Spyware Terminator, Malwarebytes, and Winpatrol. Online scans I use: Ewido/AVG Spyware, Kaspersky, Windows Live One Care, and occasionally F-Secure, Panda, McAfee, and Trend Micro. I switched to Firefox with Noscript, McAfee Site Advisor, and Ad-Block Plus. I also have Opera, but I barely use it because it's a system hog since I upgraded to 9.5. Every time I open it, the little message comes up on the taskbar that says "Windows - Virtual Memory Minimum Too Low : Your system is low on virtual memory". But what can you expect from a computer that is still in the Stone Age with 256MB of RAM?

The whole reason I have become so obsessive over computer security is due to back in the fall of 2006. I received an email from Monster.com and it told me I needed to download something and I stupidly went ahead and did so. Crashed my entire computer. I had to reformat the entire thing. What amazes me is no matter how careful you are, you can still end up with a virus.

My sister's computer has recently fallen victim to the Facebook trojan so now I have to get a hold of her laptop and try to clean it up. This should be fun.