Ever had no clue what programs are which in Windows Task Manager?

[iskim86]

check this site out!!

Answer That Work.com

 

[KF]

I just solved a couple of mysteries.

"A staggering 65% of problems which a PC encounters,... are not caused by hardware problems, they are not caused by viruses, ...; they are caused by background tasks."

Only 65% ?

The way MS did XP, no one knows what is running or knows for sure what should be running. IDing these tasks is at least a first step.

It is considered normal operation for a browser to run programs. What an invitation to disaster!

 

[spyordie007]

"A staggering 65% of problems which a PC encounters,... are not caused by hardware problems, they are not caused by viruses, ...; they are caused by background tasks."

Only 65% ?

Depends entirely on the user, probably less than 10% of the "PC Problems" I encounter are caused by a background task. But that's because I have a good idea what is running and what is not because I know more about what I'm doing than most users. On the other hand I've seen plenty of users with less than appliance level troubleshooting skills who probably have 95+% of their "PC Problems" caused by background tasks.

The way MS did XP, no one knows what is running or knows for sure what should be running. IDing these tasks is at least a first step.

It is considered normal operation for a browser to run programs. What an invitation to disaster!

So you are suggesting that every little extra browser plug-in there is be part of the browser? Sounds like an even bigger invitation to disaster! If you have a better suggestion for how it could be done please let us know...

...No really go right ahead I would like to hear how you know best.

 

[KF]

>So you are suggesting that every little extra browser plug-in there is be part of
> the browser? Sounds like an even bigger invitation to disaster! If you have a better
> suggestion for how it could be done please let us know...

>...No really go right ahead I would like to hear how you know best.

You are amazingly ticked off, and I wonder why. Maybe you write plugins for a living? Pardon me if I've incidently caused some slight.

Browsers got along OK before plugins. You don't remember that? Explain to me how it's impossible.

You didn't explain how not having plugins is "an even bigger invitation to disaster." Please explain.

But I'm not talking about plugins such as as one of the known-safe music players that you download and install separately. The browser loads and runs programs from any site as you browse. People go to some site and a slew of windows suddenly open up. Somehow a program is being run, and the next thing they know they have junk they can't get rid of.

Having the computer run programs of unknown safety is an invitation to disaster. Now, if the browser just did not have that capability, that would eliminate one security problem.

Now that you mention it, though, I'd be pleased to get rid of the music and video players, if only the web pages that had this worthless garbage on them didn't lock up on me when I didn't have them. I have the sound turned off normally anyway, because the usual noises coming from the computer are pointless and irritating. And I have yet to see an animation or video as part of a web page that was worth laying my eyeballs on. I don't need to have things blinking, moving, and updating constantly. In general, if IE didn't have plugins, and people didn't make this annoying trash part of their web pages, I would be pleased.

IAC, identifying what is on your computer is a step toward getting rid of mal-ware. Unfortunately just identfying it doesn't necessarily mean you can get rid of it, as I've seen many times on this forum. A couple of minutes on the Internet, and you've got your Windows installation trashed.

 

[Smilin]

You don't appear to know how to configure or operate your computer very well.

 

[spyordie007]

You are amazingly ticked off, and I wonder why. Maybe you write plugins for a living? Pardon me if I've incidently caused some slight.

No sorry if I came across as "ticked off"but that's not the case; perhaps a little cynical but not ticked off. And no I dont write plugins for a living (thank god).

Browsers got along OK before plugins. You don't remember that? Explain to me how it's impossible.

You're right, Lynx worked well for pulling down static text from the Internet; I'm not questioning that one bit. Unfortunetly there are a very large number of websites that require not only the ability to view images but also a number of plugins to work at all (Flash, Java, Acrobat, etc.). Simple browsers like that just arent enough any more.

Having the computer run programs of unknown safety is an invitation to disaster. Now, if the browser just did not have that capability, that would eliminate one security problem.

*Most* web browsers will not install or make use of a plugin unless you allow it to happen. BTW - AFIK you will have a lot less pop-up winodws and dialer installs if you stick to more "legitimate" content.

A couple of minutes on the Internet, and you've got your Windows installation trashed.

I've got hundreds of machines made available to thousands of users and thus-far none of them have managed to "trash" their windows installation by browsing the internet for a couple of minutes.

 

[KF]

>You don't appear to know how to configure or operate your computer very well.
Do you have something in particular in mind? Or do you just hit and run with personal insults?

IAC, if I don't know to operate my computer, then 99% of the people in America are doing worse.

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: KF
>You don't appear to know how to configure or operate your computer very well.
Do you have something in particular in mind? Or do you just hit and run with personal insults?

IAC, if I don't know to operate my computer, then 99% of the people in America are doing worse.

If your computer is becoming as infected as you make it sound, then it is a fact (rather than a personal insult) that you don't know how to operate it well. Even if 99% of America is stupid, you might be better than they are, yet still wrong.

Having the computer run programs of unknown safety is an invitation to disaster. Now, if the browser just did not have that capability, that would eliminate one security problem.

Browsers only do that if they have lots of known security holes (i.e. IE) or are configured to allow it.

You do know that you don't HAVE to install flash if you find it annoying, right?

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: KF
>You don't appear to know how to configure or operate your computer very well.
Do you have something in particular in mind? Or do you just hit and run with personal insults?

IAC, if I don't know to operate my computer, then 99% of the people in America are doing worse.

Quotes from you:

"'A staggering 65% of problems which a PC encounters,... are not caused by hardware problems, they are not caused by viruses, ...; they are caused by background tasks.'
Only 65% ?"

"People go to some site and a slew of windows suddenly open up. Somehow a program is being run, and the next thing they know they have junk they can't get rid of"

" if only the web pages that had this worthless garbage on them didn't lock up on me when I didn't have them"

"A couple of minutes on the Internet, and you've got your Windows installation trashed."




I'm not hitting and running with a personal insult. It just appears from the trouble you experience that you don't know how to configure or operate your computer properly. I would say *nearly* 100% of the problems I have are very infrequent (Once every few years) and due to hardware failure. I don't have any trouble with my Windows installation getting trashed. Why do you suppose my experience is different from yours?

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: iskim86
check this site out!!

Answer That Work.com

That's a pretty cool site btw iskim.