Current mood:

exhausted

Computer horrors--don't do what I did!
I've been reading up on browser/email viruses, trojans and worms...and being the paranoid person that I am (or at least try to be), I decided to make the switch from Internet Exploder and  Outlook Not-So-Good to Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird. Why? Because they're a bit more immune to security probs, bugs, and most all other nasties out there. Plus, they have extras you can option...like the one I'm using now: Deepest Sender. (I logged into LJ from my new Firefox sidebar--and am typing this here, not from the Update Journal page.)  Of course, I won't know how well it works until after I post it, so this is an experiment.

I like Mozilla so far, but I spent all last night until 4:30 a.m. cursing Mr. Gates' evil ingenious--and myself as well for being SO stupid as to uninstall Internet Explorer from my computer after installing Mozilla. (Not that Moze needs IE in order to operate--but rather Windows needs IE--and dummy here didn't know that.)

I found, at least on my computrid, that without IE, I was basically locked out of making any changes whatsoever to how my computer runs. Forget using the Control Panel--it vanished, along with all its folders. Couldn't right-click on the desktop either. Well, I could but all I kept getting was a message (I think it must have been from some prison warden type program dwelling inside the computer) telling me I did not have the authorization to do that. Huh? What the hell do you mean I'm not authorized to right-click my own desktop? I don't need a system administrator--I AM the system administrator, well, at least of this system.

Or I thought I was. Now I'm quite convinced that Gates is the devil incarnate and he infected Windows with the demonized bastard IE. No exorcism can be performed. You are not authorized.

Fortunately, I've got System Restore, and I learned enough from the last time I had to use it to put anything I didn't want to lose (mainly my writing stuff) in the My Documents folder. (System Restore won't touch anything in that file.) Because I'm lazy and didn't want to have to download Mozilla again, I put those progs into My Docs, too. Then I took the red pill just like a good girl.

At 4:30 this morning, my computrid is back to its normal self, Windows is working fine, and my Control Panel is back where it should be. Oh, and I can right-click again, too.

Word to the wise: if you're running Windows and change browsers/email programs don't uninstall/delete/otherwise maim or distress Internet Explorer. You don't need to use it; your computer does. It's like feeding and watering the damned gremlins after midnight. Don't do it. It'll be messy.

I do, however, recommend Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird. There's a small learning curve to using them, but not bad. Moze's Firefox is a tabbed browser like the new Netscape (but has LOTS more features to chose from). Thunderbird keeps the addresses of your email contacts in a separate file (making it very hard for viruses to write themselves off to your pals), so that's a nice touch, too.

Well, it's 11 a.m. and I'm going back to take an early siesta. I've got a major case of red-eye, and I'm wiped....