[BC] Comparing computers & parts

[WFIFeng at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/28/2007 10:20:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time, sid at wrko.com 
writes:

> Nor will I. [buy WD] For being the company which invented most of the 
standards
>  for hard-drive construction, firmware and interfaces, they've gotten
>  awfully lax lately.

Interesting! I thought it was Seagate? I remember they were *the* HD 
manufaturer back in the day when 20 megs was "The Cat's Meow". ;) I remember 
reformatting from MFM to RLL and getting 50% more space, and thinking "Wow!" ;) Now, of 
course, a 30 meg drive is nothing more than a doorstop!

>  We've had no trouble buying recent vintage HP boxes from CDW that come
>  with nothing on them but an OS...although I have noted that the last
>  batch we got came with Google Toolbar pre-installed, and as someone who
>  is trying to teach people to avoid toolbars (nearly all of them are
>  actually spyware), it bugs me that I have to make an effort to remove
>  it.

I am totally, 100% with you, there! I try to tell everyone the same thing... 
that they contribute to instability issues, *and* post a Security Risk. 
Despite never having installed *any* running antivirus software on *any* of the 
machines in my influence, not a single one has ever been infected with a virus! 

Reason One: Warnings to all about not downloading *anything at all* unless it 
is *expected*. (Also setting Winders to show ALL extensions.)
Reson Two: Using AOL for e-mail for years, now. (Recently started using 
Thunderbird.)
Reason Three: *Only* use *known and trusted* WEBsites. 
Reason Four: FireFox.

We used to get lots of spyware before FireFox- I'd purge the machines every 
two months or so, getting *dozens* of "hits" every time. As soon as we dumped 
IE and went to Firefox, those scans turned up empty. Every time. Now, I only do 
them once a year. I may occasionally find a *cookie* or three. Nothing more! 
That's a pretty good track record!

Home-built machines are still the way to go, IMHO, but it sounds like you 
managed to find a responsible manufacturer who's giving you what you want. Just 
tell them *No more "toolbars" of ANY kind!*

Despite AOL's problems, they *do* have *very* effective Spam & virus 
filtering. If I get *one* Spam mail a week, it's unusual. Two is VERY unusual!

Willie...


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