Sabrina Kilian wrote:
> stbenge wrote:
>> Do any of you out there know people who always seem to have infested 
>> computers? Can you spot a pattern of (mis)use which may be valuable to 
>> help these people keep their computers healthy?
>>
>> Sam
> 
> I help one cousin keep a computer. The pattern was her kids and husband. 
> She used it for ebay and banking, nothing else. They had to play every 
> game they saw an advertisement for. "Free Demo" meant the game had to be 
> downloaded, the EULA ignored, and everything clicked through.

Some EULAs I ignore. I'm pretty confident with most well-known and 
trusted programs (eg. POV-Ray).

> deleting script that would run on startup. Didn't work, but they are in 
> college now, so someone else's computer problem.

Good news for your cousin!

> Another one was the 'must click' syndrome. You know the type, who use 
> MySpace or Facebook and have to install every application or icon pack 
> they see. "New emoticons, I have to have those" or "It's free, why 
> shouldn't I install it?" The basic economic speech of "Free just means 
> you are paying for it in ways you aren't looking for." is sometimes 
> enough, other times it's not.

Yes, I think I'm starting to see how this happens. Now to convince my 
little brother not to do these things...

> Last one I can think of was running the computer without a firewall.

My little bro's firewall was off as well. He didn't even realize that he 
had one, let alone that he should always keep the thing on! Oh well, if 
his dad wants to buy him a new computer every two years, it's not my 
problem :/

At least I can prevent people like my dad misusing his computer when he 
finally gets online :)

Sam

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