David Geer Talks Tech
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Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Computer running slow? Programs notorious for slowing your system Courtesy of http://www.GeerCom.com.
Geer Communications - your on time technology writer!
Welcome!
Certain freeware programs that seem at first to be desirable are actually the culprits slowing down your system to barely a crawl.
Some include programs like Kazaa, Grokster and Imesh, which are point-to-point (P2P) programs for downloading media. These systems can use up more than 90-percent of your computer chips' availability, which could go to other tasks.
Other types of computer hogs include programs for working with image media. Image media are often large and the renaming of multiple images, one ability of some such programs, uses up most if not all compute cycles (CPU power) to the point of freezing up or crashing your computer.
Some tools like Kazaa that are free and look like a lot of fun constitute or contain Spyware – software that can do as little damage as spying on all your computer and Internet activity to as much as controlling your computer completely in order to steal your money or identity or that of others through your Internet connection.
Examples of these include the notorious CoolWebSearch. If you look through the hosts file we discussed in a previous article by using a text program like notepad, you will see CoolWebSearch and perhaps many other programs that you thought were perfectly safe to use.
Before you try a freeware program, ask numerous sources, like security forums, user forums and knowledgeable friends about it; do a Web search in Google for the program and look for articles and postings of problems people have had. Or, come back and post a question at this blog; I'll be happy to help with a future blog on the topic.
Best,
David Geer - your on time technology writer!
Geer Communications
Geer Communications - your on time technology writer!
Welcome!
Certain freeware programs that seem at first to be desirable are actually the culprits slowing down your system to barely a crawl.
Some include programs like Kazaa, Grokster and Imesh, which are point-to-point (P2P) programs for downloading media. These systems can use up more than 90-percent of your computer chips' availability, which could go to other tasks.
Other types of computer hogs include programs for working with image media. Image media are often large and the renaming of multiple images, one ability of some such programs, uses up most if not all compute cycles (CPU power) to the point of freezing up or crashing your computer.
Some tools like Kazaa that are free and look like a lot of fun constitute or contain Spyware – software that can do as little damage as spying on all your computer and Internet activity to as much as controlling your computer completely in order to steal your money or identity or that of others through your Internet connection.
Examples of these include the notorious CoolWebSearch. If you look through the hosts file we discussed in a previous article by using a text program like notepad, you will see CoolWebSearch and perhaps many other programs that you thought were perfectly safe to use.
Before you try a freeware program, ask numerous sources, like security forums, user forums and knowledgeable friends about it; do a Web search in Google for the program and look for articles and postings of problems people have had. Or, come back and post a question at this blog; I'll be happy to help with a future blog on the topic.
Best,
David Geer - your on time technology writer!
Geer Communications
