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Subject: Software Horror Stories
Posted by: ¤ Mario LeMoose ¤
- [49491614] Sun, May 16, 2004, 15:09
I've used a variety Symantec's products (Norton Utilities, SystemWorks, AntiVirus, Personal Firewall, and Internet Security) since I bought my first computer and have encountered very few problems with their software. Any glitches I did incur were usually minor and were resolved easily by searching the Symantec knowledge base or by sending an e-mail to technical support that was answered clearly and promptly. In fact, were it not for Dick the Road Runner installer's messing with my computer's "protected" recycle bin and rendering the File menu useless (unwanted files now have to be deleted individually rather than by simply choosing Empty), all of my Norton software is operating flawlessly and efficiently.
For the past couple of years, the weeks immediately following the April 15 IRS deadline have been the best time to purchase Symantec products ... I suspect that many of you have also taken advantage of retailers' "free after rebate" specials. The eventual out-of-pocket expense—sales tax and postage—has made these deals a bargain when compared with the cost of renewing a subscription for antivirus and security updates. (Renewal rates were increased $5 on each product this year.)
Just as I was all set to install the 2004 versions of SystemWorks and Internet Security, I decided to scan a few web sites, including CNET and epinions.com, for product reviews and was stunned by the overwhelmingly negative remarks left by dissatisfied customers. Some of the problems cited were installation nightmares, resource hogging, corruption of other programs, browser slowdown, unresponsive technical support, and the new product activation process intended to thwart piracy. In essence, unless the software is being freshly installed (i.e., not upgrading a previous version) on a Windows XP system with a very fast processor and loads of memory, you'll probably regret it. A couple of the features introduced in the 2004 Symantec products are available through free sources such as Ad-Aware and SpyBot and hardly make the investment in the new suites worthwhile for current users.
Needless to say, I'm glad that I read those reviews before opening the boxes and have returned the software for a full refund. Symantec will instead get my $29.95, plus tax, for a year's worth of virus definitions and security updates.
Are there any programs, free or otherwise, that you would recommend only to your worst enemy?
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| 1 | KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Tue, May 18, 2004, 13:44
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Wish a software upon my enemies? Real Player. Real Player is pretty much the bane of the internet. Nasty stuff. I refuse to install it on any machine I own and/or use and am perfectly okay with not seeing an Real movies or hearing Real audio.
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| 2 | Twarpy
Leader
ID: 386242821
Tue, May 18, 2004, 15:31
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I have to fullheartidly agree with KKB, I actually have a program called "Real Player Alternative" that plays Real Player stuff, without the spy and bloatware.
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| 3 | Taxman
SuperDude
ID: 29463114
Tue, May 18, 2004, 22:45
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Huh, tell dummy here the inside scoop on Real Player...does it come with a spyware feature??
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| 4 | MadDOG
ID: 46453197
Wed, May 19, 2004, 08:55
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Yea, what is so bad about RealPlayer? I don't think I have had much trouble with it?
Or maybe I'm just unaware of what it is doing. Can somebody clue me in?
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| 5 | KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Wed, May 19, 2004, 22:00
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First off, when you install a media player, it should only install the media player. Not a jukebox, and not 5 million other programs. If I wanted that, I would download it. Second, Real Player is a hog when it comes to resources when it's in use. I seriously don't know of any other plugin that is as resource intensive as Real Player. When I view a Flash movie, it doesn't take forever for the plugin to load up and get going. Even Quicktime and Windows Media load up and get going faster than Real. Third, why can't they just make it a plugin? Do I REALLY need 5 million ads bugging me? No, I don't. I get enough of that crap already. I just want to view a movie. Lastly, I'll never know if they improve because I'll never download it again. Ever. Over and over again I sucked it up and downloaded the plugin to see some movie I REALLY wanted to see and over and over again I found the plugin to be horrible. Remember, this is supposed to be a plugin, not software that is the equivalent of Photoshop. From now on, if I REALLY want to see something, I'll wait until somebody ports it over to QT or WM. And don't just take my word for it, our sys admin's refuse to allow Real Media videos or audio and our help desk refuses to deal with any requests regarding Real Media player. And neither group is the typical Nazi's that you'll find at other jobs.
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| 6 | Twarpy
Leader
ID: 386242821
Thu, May 20, 2004, 02:51
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Also pres control alt delete, I bet almost everyone has "realsched" running in the background and not even know it.
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| 7 | KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Thu, May 20, 2004, 17:42
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I don't. ;)
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| 8 | MadDOG
ID: 14422021
Thu, May 20, 2004, 22:47
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If you go in the RealPlayer options sections you can shut off anything you don't want including that message thing that they have.
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| 9 | KrazyKoalaBears
Leader
ID: 517553018
Fri, May 21, 2004, 14:55
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Maybe they changed it, but the last version I had, I turned everything off and still got annoying messages both when I was using the player and when I wasn't. Besides, why not default it to off and allow people to turn it on? Or ask them when they install it?
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| 10 | Challenger
Donor
ID: 481126818
Fri, May 21, 2004, 17:33
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I don't
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| 11 | lurk
ID: 244332717
Thu, May 27, 2004, 18:33
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use
winamp 2.91
http://www.oldversion.com/
http://www.winampheaven.net/
Input plugins
RealAudio MP3 WMA OggVorbis AAC FLAC APE VQF MP3Pro AC3
Output plugins
MP3 OggVorbis AAC FLAC WAV RAW PCM
Tara or innover ( I use Tara )
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=35627
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=58884
RealPlayer 8 (for dll libraries)
http://forms.real.com/real/player/blackjack.html
Lame (or other mp3 codec)
Google Search:
"MP3 Codec" inurl:riphelp OR inurl:digital-digest
http://www.google.com/search?num=100&q=%22MP3+Codec%22+inurl%3Ariphelp+OR+inurl%3Adigital-digest
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