Beware of the Extras

Have you ever downloaded some program you wanted for your computer, but it seemed like it took forever to go through all those screens to click "NEXT" and "AGREE" and "CONTINUE"?  Well here's another fact for you:  Most people when installing new software just want to install it and don't actually look at the screens during installation.  What you miss is the opportunity to save yourself disk space as well as problems and spy-ware.  Most often, these free programs also come with other programs that don't seem too intrusive at the time.  As an example, maybe a "deal-finder" or a search bar or a "free membership", but they all come back to bite you.  So the advice for the day is "Always read each screen when installing new programs and unless you are certain that the extraneous software does not add junk to your computer, make sure you deselect it for install".

Smiley Emoticons, Cool Screensavers, etc - NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a topic that I hope readers of this blog will take to heart.  This is what is known as "unpaid consulting" (from my old world) and in fact actually may prevent us from getting more business to fix messed up computers, but heck, I need to give some good advice if I want this blog to work, right?  I also recognize that this topic will probably not be applicable in the business environment, but in homes all across these United States, people are downloading and installing "Smiley Emoticons", "Cool Screensavers", "Cute Page Colors", "Online Coupon printers". "Incredimail", "Search bars with cute cartoons on them", and the list goes on and on.

Do these fun faces look familiar?
STAY AWAY!  They are hazardous!

As an expert in this field, and believe me when I say this, the damage being done to your computer every time you install one of these silly things far outweighs the "cuteness" or "coolness".  It will guarantee that in the near future, your computer will be slowing down and getting loaded with junk that you didn't want on your computer.  Future posts will go into spyware and malware issues, but suffice it to say, most things that are free (especially if you aren't a computer whiz) have hidden things attached to it in order to grab information from you and in order to have companies market and spam you to death in addition to installing other programs that you didn't even know were installed in the meantime.  Take it to the bank, the more you install those things on your computer, the more I will be going to the bank with your money that you could have saved by taking this warning to heart.