lotse

Can we have a third party opinion please I can't say anything more, except I have used IE about 5 times in the last 5 years...

Have a look at the screenshot. In IE the address bar its "about blank" in the tab bar its "blank page" In Firefox it simply says nothing at all or "untitled" in the tab bar - see second picture. I'm downloading a film, so ignore the download manager "square" at the centre top of the page and firefox: I am sure my homepage is not hijacked.

Yup, your right. A few years ago when Firefox was at version 0.97, I came accross a site which gave you advice/tutorials on the best way to install and set the options on a range of software with relation to privacy and security. Firefox was one. Setting the homepage to about:blank, and having the cache settings at 0mb, were just two of the options. Setting the config file to "no referer" and turning off Java were amongst the rest. Most of these options I still implement today - just force of habit. (Spyware guard protects me from any change in my homepage or host files) Despite my best efforts I can no longer find the website. I am sure the word "blacksmiths" was in the address though...

Its something to do with the hoster. It doesn't affect me, but a lot of folk have to go via a proxy to see the image. Here they are:

Nothing interesting about mine. I like to start with a blank screen everyday, and then choose where to go. My home page address is: about:blank

Hi Its doesn't happen with windows Vista. I rely on the windows vista firewall and the Vista firewall control. If your worried you can reset your security setting, by doing the following. 1. At the command line of windows XP "Start" ->"Run" enter the command "CMD.EXE" and press Enter. 2. At the new window (Command Prompt window), type "NET STOP WINMGMT /Y" and press Enter. Then type "exit" and press Enter again. 3. Then go at the folder C:\windows\system32\wbem and delete the folder "Repository". 4. Reboot windows. The folder will be recreated by the Security Center. The security system will be back to its default state. It works on vista and XP.

I use two. Imagevenue for thumbnails: http://users.imagevenue.com/host.php and to link a full sized image, I use freeshare: http://freeshare.us/

In my experience of forums, odd cookies are usually because an avatar has been hotlinked to an external site. In this case its TwistedMetals emoticon. The "spam" one. Right click -> properties brings up this

Yes, it fairly worrying, but I have yet to hear of anyone who has become ill or died as a result. Also bear in mind amalgam filllings have been used for over 100 years... My dentist and is a great supporter of composite fillings ("white" fillings), but more for the fact they are better for your teeth, or in my more cynical moments, because it gives him a chance to charge me to replace my old amagams with "white" fillings that are double the price.

I wouldn't trust anything Dell says. I'm sure all the complaints they recieve about thier PC's are more down to there under-powered, penny-pinching, cheap as s**t hardware, more than the operating system itself. A bit like Acer. As for up grading Vista to a company level - I have no idea. On a home level, it works very well for me. Xp cannot be the be-all and end-all, something has to take its place.

From a search of the web, booting into safe mode then doing the restore seems to work: Try this: 1. Start in safe mode (press F8 on boot-up) 2. Once logged on, use command prompt to run restore - as the option isnt available in safe mode - type rstrui.exe - this will then run system restore and you can choose your restore point. Hope this helps

That looks good Anthony I create a number of folders on my desktop for the various shortcuts. For instance I have all my "security" related shortcuts in one folder, all my "video/multimedia" related shortcuts in another. I find it makes everything easier to find, rather than having to scan 30+ shortcuts to find the appropriate program. You still have a very striking desktop. Well done.

Not for me either. The good thing about the books is that it has got kids (and adults) reading more. More time reading and using your own imagination and less time watching TV and playing computer games can only be a good thing. I'm a great fan of Issac Asimov.

Yup, it makes a very strong point. I'm just not sure whether the FBI is doing the right thing, assuming they have the ability in the first place. Thats life,

I think a little patience is required... No one has to do anything here. If your lucky someone might be able to help - otherwise your out of luck. Sorry.

George Orwell had a thing or two to say about "watching". However the link you provided is not "concrete evidence" I don't know what to believe these days, so much is Bulls**t, especially when it comes to the web.

I remember hearing this on the news a year or so back. The program in question compared files names on "your" PC to those already known about in pedophile busts. I would imagine the selection of PC's that were bugged were very selectively targeted - you would have to be a prime suspect for this to happen, mainly because of time and resources. However those caught by the system more than likely deserve all they got.

Or maybe another program for someone else to look at. I really don't trust my skills at scripting. If anyone does have the time I would love to be able to add this program into the CCleaner list: http://www.orbitdownloader.com/ It works with the flashget extention, and in many ways its a good as flashgot itself.

I always have Java disabled anyway. Am I right in thinking windows does not come with Java pre-installed, you have to download it and install it yourself? If so I don't think I even have it on my PC. Can't say I miss it.

Isn't there a formula you can use to work out the best size for your swap file? I remember back when I had windows 98 with 128mb RAM and a 8gb HD the optimum swap size was "150"...,or at least thats what I was told to enter in the box! Never really understood the relationships involved, or for that matter the figures..

If you have system restore turned on, that can gooble up space....just a thought

I don't recall windows XP being any easier to update. I had no end of problems with XP. This is the first time in 6 months I have ever had trouble with Vista. Why is it those who still use XP seem to put down Vista the most? I vote for Vista - it seems a more stable, more reliable system then XP ever was. Ok its not perfect, but what is in this world is? - and what makes anyone think Microsoft should be able to obtain perfection when everyone else fails? Sorry guys, making XP out to be the holy grail of computing is simply ridiculous - and, no Vista isn't either, but in my eyes it is a definate improvement. Ad the old saying goes.... Don't knock it till you've tried it. That my rant over

Oh, as a side issue, run cleanmgr if your updates repeatedly fail. I think the system error memory dump came to 1.4GB !!!

Hi I had similar problems. As I mentioned on another thread, when you get the option to view the updates, make sure only one box is ticked, so your installing one update at a time. Once that is done, go back and do another. One of the updates I downloaded and had to install manually. Have a read of my posts here. http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=10951

When all else fails with Microsoft - and it usually does - I go here: http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/ I used to use this site alot with no problems. You have to use any browser except IE, and download a small plugin. It works and is perfectly safe.