Viewer mail
Letters from the front fill my box this week. Let’s get right to the business at hand.
Q. I downloaded the Abe Vigoda Firefox extension and now it does not work. It used to work. What happened to it?
A. The whimsical extension, which shows the status of Abe Vigoda in a small box in the lower right corner of the browser, has been overwhelmed by popularity. The site that feeds the extension has been powdered by the demand. The developer of the extension says he is working on a fix.
Q. I heard Microsoft’s Anti-Spyware tool now is letting some adware and spyware through. I have been using the tool for a couple of months and have not noticed many problems. Should I quit using it?
A. No. But keep in mind that Microsoft has changed how it has classified some adware programs, most notably Claria, the former Gator.
When you run the Microsoft product, it decides the best course of action in how to deal with what it finds. Spyware and adware are either to be “removed”, “quarantined” or “ignored.” The Claria products were changed from “quarantine” (basically removing them) to “ignore” (leaving them alone) a few weeks ago. Cynics claimed it was because Microsoft was rumored to be in talks to buy Claria, the former Gator.
Why Microsoft would be interested in buying a company whose claim to fame is annoying pop-up ads is well beyond me. But anyway, when you run the spyware tool, just change everything it finds to “remove” and ignore its recommendations. It still finds Claria products.
Q. Is the Firefox browser compatible with every Web site? Is it much better than Internet Explorer?
A. No and yes. It is compatible with most sites I use daily but even so it does not have to replace IE. Just install it, use it and when a site won’t work with Firefox, fire up Internet Explorer when you have to. You can get Firefox free at www.mozilla.org
Q. You mentioned the removal tool for Aurora popups. I have them and can’t get rid of them for anything. I do not have a “nail.exe” file on my PC but I am getting the popups. Should I run the tool?
A. You don’t have much to lose and there are other executable file names. I would go to www.mypctuneup.com and download the removal tool. Keep in mind you need to be online when you run the tool.
Q. You said you were downloading your television programs from your Tivo to your PC. How are you doing that?
A. The latest software download to your Tivo gave you the software upgrade that lets you move files from your Tivo to your PC via your network. From there you can burn them to DVD, move them to a laptop or whatever. You need to download some software from the Tivo Web site (www.tivo.com) for the PC that is receiving the programming and you need the code from your Tivo unit.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: If you’re a real IT nerd, you may want to keep an eye on the Slashdot site (www.slashdot.org). It often breaks news before anyone else does.
James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His email address is jim@cyberdads.com
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