Introduction.

The facts and suggestions which follow were learned from an effort to correct a chronic problem with Windows XP which became acute --- an emergency. It was NOT helpful that such came at a particularly critical period of computer use and productivity nor when my health was not optimal. It won't likely for you either.

It WAS a huge benefit that I had, with the mentoring of Spiritual Guidance, acquired an inexpensive, used, desktop, Windows 98 auxiliary system only several days previously. Perhaps you can avoid the loss of time and effort involved here with the awareness you gain here. Perhaps you can lessen the frustration, conflicts, and confusion experienced by being aware of a range of relevant options.

THE PROBLEM:
I had bought a Compaq Presario laptop with Windows XP and other programs installed in the spring of 2002. It would be my only computer for almost the next 2 years. Mobility would be a major requirement. During the first 3 months, there were numerous problems encountered. Some were resolved by becoming intimately aware of the engineering design of the touchpad.

Other failures were resolved by some of the dozens of revisions and patches released by Microsoft. A few were acute and only resolved when major hardware fixes were ferreted out and demanded. After 5 months of recurring frustration, totally reloading all the software 3 or 4 times, and, two major servicing events at a depot in Australia, most difficulties were resolved and operation thereafter was reasonably dependable.

Early in 2003, intermittent problems arose.
At erratic times, the computer would freeze in operation and have to be forced to shut down and reboot with work lost. Under warranty, the computer was sent off to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada --- the only service depot in Canada, and returned within a week with most of the insides replaced and Windows XP reloaded. One of the original problems, of XP freezing with no functions available, at completely erratic times, persisted in an infrequent once a month or more pattern.

In early February, 2004, operations took a turn for the worse.
Windows 95 and Windows 98 addressed instability problems and errors by the display of the infamous "Blue Screen" notices suggesting that the errors were totally the responsibility of the operator. Frustratingly, this was rarely the reality. Such was an excellent strategy for getting users to hate Microsoft.

Windows XP fails by simply locking up the cursor and keyboard and becoming catatonic or comatose -- freezing. After the earlier major repairs, the symptom appeared to be absent for several weeks and then returned every week or two. Now, over a period of hours this error symptom increased in frequency from weekly or monthly to hourly to within minutes.

It took almost 2 weeks for these major technical difficulties to be resolved which need never have happened. Before any steps were taken, the service department and website of the manufacturer-distributor of the equipment already in hand, Compaq Computer, (which was a few years earlier known by the public as one of the largest and better computer manufacturers, along with Hewlett-Packard, which it acquired, since 2000) were contacted/reviewed.

Background information was sought from the Internet, in general, and the Microsoft.com site, in particular --- for the problem definition and solution.

Definitive information was non-existent.
Nothing could be specifically tied to the hardware of the Compaq Presario 725CA notebook involved, or its interaction with XP. The possibility of any of hundreds of XP freeze errors arising from conflicts with other programs, hardware devices, internal design weaknesses, battery failures and power irregularities, update patch errors (!), and virus and trojan interference --- loomed large through thousands of user group entries and Microsoft knowledge documents.

Just how SAFE is hooking up to the Internet in early 2004?

A brief history helps put reality into perspective.
During World War II, in the early to mid-1940's, computers were used in a major way by scientists in support of the military to produce bigger and bigger weapons. Computers were massive mainframe giants. Their powerful supporters used them to rationalize the largest government expense to date and mythically credited them with winning the war. Cooperative scientific effort became organized and manipulated for political gain. Fear generated unity. Unity gathered power together. Power created magic. Nationalism ruled.

Throughout the 1950's and increasingly through the 1960's and 70's, computers were introduced to big business to increase the market for their use beyond the military. Massive clerical and bookkeeping functions were automated. Computers were now available in mainframe and mini-computer sizes. Computer errors originated mainly from operator error and hardware failure. Software had to be dependable and near perfect or the work was better done by clerks and technicians. Electronic dependability continued to improve markedly faster than mechanical reliability. Businesses became more competitive and market goods became more plentiful and less costly. Consumerism grew. Dreams of material splendor became real.

During the 1980's, microcomputers began to be experimented with. The increasing growth in miniaturization of electronics and the introduction of a teenage suburban class of sons of professionals, with time and money resources to play at experimenting --- led to the rapid development of viable mini-systems. Many involved in the development were focused on fun and discovery, not business nor war. No promises. Just possibilities.

The original Internet technology was developed to enable university researchers working on military projects to exchange ideas and details over great distances. The power of corroboration nearly instantaneously over great distances potentially reduced development times for new products from months to days and reduced duplication through sharing. Idealistic fantasy concealed the reality of the distant wars and foreign economic enslavement forming the economic base. Prosperity was ever possible at the expense of other's lives and freedoms.

Dichotomy and hypocrisy were well in place by the mid-1990's. Idealistic academics wanted the Internet to remain free of advertising and commerce, yet it was grants from the military and industry and commerce which kept it alive. Enterprising innovators saw the Internet as a broad, cheap, communication medium by which they could easily, quickly, and economically advertise products and deliver information services. Participants wanted to share yet retain ownership. Others sought to sell ownership. Some sought to multiply ownership. Software was licensed and mass produced with the promise more promoted than real. Academic youngsters wanting to surpass the achievements of their materialistic parents united greed with technology. The result: pornography, spam, flawed software. Academic rebels produced viruses, worms, and trojans to terrorize the materialists.

2004 finds the Internet with these purported statistics:

• 1 billion users with access globally (10 million in 1997);
• 250,000 pornographic websites ( 2,000 in 1997);
• spam dominates 55% of all e-mails ( 1% in 1997);
• 6,000 Internet viruses ( 60 in 1997);
• 1,200 worms and trojans ( 10 in 1997);
• 1 GHz processor speed (166 MHz in 1997);
• unstable electrical supply (stable in 1997);
• 26% occupational dependency ( 2% in 1997);
• 2-yr computer longevity ( 4-yr in 1997).

The above are conservative estimated numbers.
The University of Houston-Downtown, Texas, USA (http://www.uhd.edu) warned their staff in 2000 that there were 10,000 computer viruses in worldwide circulation. MessageLabs, UK, reported in 2002 that 1 in every 212 e-mails carried a virus, an increase from their 2001 finding of 1 virus per 380 e-mails. CIAC (Computer Incident Advisory Corp., USA) ceased updating their virus database in December, 2001, after finding they could not keep up with the growth. An entrepreneur in the USA has sold a CD since 2001 with thousands of computer viruses on it and instructions and lessons on how to design and create new ones.

Computer WORMS complicate the security situation.
Unlike viruses they may enter your computer while you are hooked up to the Internet without any connection to e-mail messages or e-mail use. Residing on your computer, if not detected by an excellent and up-to-date antivirus program, they will then become activated by any of a great number of triggers. Perhaps when you next turn on your machine or reboot it. Perhaps according to a particular date. Perhaps when you start MSIE (Microsoft Internet Explorer), or some other program. They may then make your machine make noises, attach themselves to files on your computer already, attach to and assume the name of attachments you are receiving by e-mail, or occupy your computer resources and slow your machine while filling your memory or storage.

AFTER this current problem was resolved the following occurred.
I was contacted by a friend living in California to whom I sent an E-mail with a text file attached. She reported emphatically that the McAfee antivirus software she used had detected a Netsky worm attached to the text attachment. She deleted it yet it took some time for her to remove the worm from her computer.

I maintain my antivirus signature files up-to-date and I use the latest version. Both hours before and in the hours after her alert, I ran complete scans on the main XP system I use and on the now networked backup Windows 98, Second Edition system. ALWAYS they return a summary of no viruses or worms found.

In addition, I regularly use the Windows XP Disk Cleanup utility which clears the Temporary files, Recycle bin and other files. I remove the same files from the 98 system. Also, I sent the same file to 4 other people working in huge corporations. They replied with no mention of any problem. Other e-mails went to other people, again with no report of a problem from them.

I enquired of the customer service department of Computer Associates and received the following reply:

What you are encountering is called e-mail spoofing.

"E-mail spoofing is the forgery of an e-mail header so that the message appears to have originated from someone or somewhere other than the actual source.

This will usually occur if someone you know has been infected with a virus and they have your address in their address book.

This type of spam is often used in an attempt to get recipients to open, and possibly infect their system.

The best course of action would be to delete these e-mails and never open any e-mails that you are unsure about.

To ensure that your computer is virus free you should make sure that you have the latest signature files available for EZ Antivirus and then run a full virus scan, if the results show zero infections then there is nothing to worry about."

My reply to my friend included:
There are MANY ways that computer worms work and they are also VERY different from viruses which also work in many different ways. What you described to me IS a way in which SEVERAL common viruses work of the thousands out there.

"What seems to have happened here is that the Netsky worm, engineered to activate on your or anyone elses computer on March 02, could have come in anytime earlier. My email happened to arrive at the time and with an attachment with a .txt ending to which the worm promptly attached. This made it look as if it had come from me. It likely replaced my attachment with its own payload and then renamed it the same as my file. Had you opened the file, it would NOT be the content I sent, but a copy of the payload already on your computer.

... I still believe that using a router, in addition to a number of other preventive measures, is the only safe way to go. Anti-virus programs can tell you if you have an antivirus coming in, or, if a worm has attached itself to a file on your computer or coming in to your computer, BUT, they cannot tell you WHERE a worm comes from UNLESS they catch it on the way in BEFORE it is activated."

Technicalis Magnum Advancis Ignoramus !

I have worked with computers since 1967, including installing and repairing them. For much of the past 12 years, I have had occasions during which my work benefits from the use of computers. This time period may last for a few months or for more than a year and be separated from subsequent periods by just as long. The focus has always been on using the computer, and later the Internet, as tools and never as entertainment.

With ALL forms of technology, I had learned over the decades to NEVER adopt new technology UNLESS there were significant advantages offered. With the business, career, and personal Mission elements present in early 2002, it became an advantage to acquire a portable Windows XP system. Sometimes great risk must be coped with in order to make great gains.

It is the eternal hope of engineers, salespersons, and the consumer that introductions of new technology will address the problems and errors encountered with older technology and provide for greater efficiency and effectiveness of operation and productivity. It is often difficult to determine in the immediate term how much of this hope is illusion, myth, fantasy, or reality. The outcome may rest on how each of the participants involved carries out their responsibility. Ignorance enables incompetence which produces waste, conflict, and confusion.

Contacting representatives of a major company in 2004 is almost impossible. Microsoft has not had personal customer service for years, except on their latest products, usually less than several years old. User groups with hundreds of thousands of complaints are available for every version of Windows and every model of Compaq computer, as well as for many other hardware and software companies. HELP files often do NOT address operational problems. When I tried to find service info on the Compaq 725 on the Internet, there was none.

When I tried to find part details and availability for the Lithium-Ion battery and the memory cards for the computer, these also were NOT available without industry help. A major battery supplier in British Columbia found a replacement available from Ontario, Canada, with a several day delivery, or, from California on a 2-3 week delivery basis.

A battery that suddenly fails or a power supply that is suddenly interrupted is one known cause of Windows XP freeze and die symptoms (not the same as a lockup-freeze). The battery on my unit had lasted a year and had not held a charge since. I had originally found that the battery had to be resident in the computer for the line voltage to be accessible to the electronics. This seemed unnecessary yet unavoidable. Now, I happened to try the line only option again --- and it worked. The problem persisted whether I used the battery or not, so that ruled out the battery as a possible cause or contributor. The rest of my search was made without the battery in the computer.

A new battery was obtained AFTER the problems were resolved. Unlike the instructions which came with the laptop when it was new, or lack of instructions, brief yet important instructions were included. The critical piece of information was this:

"New batteries need to be fully charged and discharged up to five (5) times before performing at full capacity."

Likely, BEFORE the first 5 charge/discharge cycles were completed, the now known caution had been compromised. It is quite likely that such full cycles were interrupted often enough to reduce the longevity of the battery to one year from a possible two years or longer duration. The only constructive options would have been the use of two batteries, or, a less demanding schedule. The requirement for an additional Can$ 300.00 expense in order to effectively use the computer could have resulted in the choice of another system. The original status of not being able to use the computer on line voltage only, without the presence of a battery, for whatever the reasons, highly jeopardized adherence to the cautions, even IF they had been known.

One determination arising out of this acute problem and earlier ones with this computer is that computers are often sold with component devices which are highly specialized and CAN have definitive settings, drivers, and cautions which impact largely on the efficient use of the system as a whole. Manufacturers and sales outlets, as well as the mass media, provide little, if any, attention to these specifics. Often, and true of other service industries also, there are so many details that COULD be shared that the customer does not wish to take the time to be made aware of them.

The sincere salesperson or manufacturer may be penalized for their intent of preparing an ignorant customer for optimal operation of a powerful tool by the impatience and lack of self-awareness of the customer. The preponderance of this kind of customer encourages a drop in the quality of customer service provided and offered. The manufacturer and salesperson who provides the least also provides the lowest cost for the technical specifications. Fewer cautions suggest greater quality and fewer problems. Initial confidence and contentment is likely to lead to longer-term frustration, uncertainty, and anxiety. Everyone loses in the longer-term.

Houston has a problem!

The computer began freezing within seconds after restarting, or, after minutes. I had ruled out the battery as a major factor. The district line voltage was known to be unstable and I had not yet got an UPS unit for the newly acquired used desktop computer. That would come later and be shared with the laptop. For now, the failures were so frequent, erratic, and at all hours of the day that no line voltage could be THAT unstable.

I wanted to make a CD backup of a number of files not saved for a week before risking their loss. On the first attempt the program stopped recording the backup 2/3rds of the way through, yielding a coaster CD. On the second attempt, XP locked up again, at the 3/4 mark. On the third attempt, I was Spiritually Guided to keep moving the touchpad cursor a little bit about every second. Perhaps it was only a spurious relationship but the CD recorded. Afterward, there developed a direct parallel between XP locking down and whether the cursor was moving. Most failures happened when the machine was sitting idle for a moment, or, for a longer period. Maybe significant. Maybe nothing.

My CAI eTrust Anti-virus software trustfully warned me about a package of virus files received as attachments to a group of e-mails. It designated a location where I should find them and a stipulation NOT to open them. The latter was an obvious action. Do as I could, there was no way I could find the files by using the Windows Explorer file manager SEARCH tool, nor simply trying to follow through the designated address. The antivirus program had defined the virus package as the MyDoom virus. I acquired instructions from the Internet on how to remove it and laboriously followed them through without benefit. Of course, I found no viral remnants to remove because I had NOT opened and activated it.

Windows XP recovery tool is called RESTORE.
Once you get past the initial warning statement that suggests that you are going to format your hard drive by selecting the option, and find that it takes you to a choice of SETTING a NEW restore point or regressing the setup to before a particular program or update installation --- you can take some steps to undo potentially harmful changes. In my operation, there had been few changes or additions of late to synchronize with the sudden increase in failures. I did elect to regress the system to an available earlier restore point and activated this. No improvement.

CAI's eTrust kept warning me to remove the virus files.
This was a bit frustrating when I could not find them and I did not know WHY the antivirus program was not removing them. I sent off an urgent e-mail to CAI. Shortly, I received word back that the difficulty had arisen because the RESTORE tool of Windows XP had secreted the virus files away in the Restore recovery files. For ANY antivirus program to access them now, the Restore tool had to be turned OFF. This would eliminate all restore points and any further attempt to "undo" previous changes would be relegated to a total Restore to the state the machine was purchased in. This is what can happen when a failsafe program fails to fail safely: disaster.

Defining the Problem.

RESTORING Windows XP completely had been a lengthy process in my previous experiences. The 3 full restores in the first 5 months of ownership had each required more than 20 hours of effort. The 3-disk RESTORE was not that lengthy. Downloading 30 updates by dial-up (high-speed access was not available) had taken more than half that time with several downloads having to be restarted. Re-installing 20 programs and setting preferences up for each also consumed hours. Then there was copying 18,000 archived files back onto the hard drive and recreating lost files when possible. All of this had to be done while in poor health and providing assistance to other people, at that time.

A NO-WIN Dynamic developed.
AFTER I had fully restored Windows XP, I could NOT install either my antivirus program or the Tiny Personal Firewall. Nor could I seem to shut down Windows Messenger. The indications were that I would have to download some or all of the XP Updates from the Windows Update Internet download site BEFORE I could protect against viruses and worms. In early February, 2004, there were 45 "Critical" Updates, a HUGE Service Pack 1, 6 driver files, and 18 other Windows updates to download. I could Exit from the Messenger program, yet the indicators that followed revealed that it continued to receive anything sent unrequested from the Internet.

Worms and trojan programs came with the XP Updates.
This was infuriating. While downloading updates to allow the use of protection software I had to watch and observe robots being activated on my newly cleaned system! Through TWO successive total Restore attempts, the same several trojans appeared. One was Agobot.Y which held a reputation for "causing XP to freeze." Although never activated, the MyDoom virus also was known to produce the same symptom. Popup notices appeared from the trojans masquerading as "Microsoft Security Bulletin" and "Hacker Protector" programs. The first time I made the mistake of opening the "Bulletin" which reformed into a crude text graphic ad for a pornography website. This interference had never happened during the Restores in mid-2002, nor in early 2003.

Ruling out Possibilities.

I contacted a local computer store which had provided me earlier with excellent customer service when I had added more RAM memory to the laptop. Trying to describe the nefarious problem, I was reminded that unless I had the hard drive "WIPED" clean, reformatting, as the RESTORE program does, would NOT remove the original data. It would just make it unreadable unless recovered by an undelete program and able to be written over. IF I had any viruses on the drive, or worms, the only certain way of eliminating them would be to use a WIPE program BEFORE the Restore. I delivered the laptop to them the next morning and they Wiped it. I hastily Restored XP before leaving the store later. It seemed to work OK.

Hooking up to the Internet for the Update downloads led to a repeat of the first experience with worms. What seemed odd was that repeatedly during the download of several or a group of Updates, the downloading or installing action supposedly underway stopped. It would begin quickly (I was using cable access Lite), then slow to a perceptual halt. What should have completed in minutes ended up taking 90 minutes! Others never completed. Eventually, I learned by trial and error to terminate anything not moving, against the dire warnings of Windows Update. Often, I found that one or more updates HAD downloaded completely yet the last one could NOT complete its installation until the computer was rebooted. There were invariably NO indication of this necessity from Microsoft. Stopping and rebooting one's computer after each of 70 updates seems a bit daunting and archaic.

Adding a ROUTER.
Contacting the computer store again, another employee suggested that by adding a ROUTER to my system, the computer might be better protected from incursion by worms and trojans. They would then NOT detect the personal computer address of the laptop, or the desktop ... only the address of the ISP. Without a unit address, hackers would not bother. Sounded plausible in this desperate circumstance. Next day I obtained an excellent unit from their store and installed it with no difficulty. I connected the two computers and gave it a try. Downloading to the laptop now appeared to progress 5 or 10 times faster than previously, even WITH the Windows 98 system additionally connected. No viruses or worms appeared or were found.

Making the Updates available as downloadable files always seemed like a good idea to me from the first total RESTORE I had done almost 2 years before. I had tried to convey this to Microsoft which obviously had little interest in customer suggestions. The Windows Update process does NOT allow any choice in downloading files for later installation, or, to save for later reuse. I searched the Microsoft site to try and find such a file a number of times without success. After doing a full RESTORE 3 times in this experience (losing much of a week's effort to get work done), I did find a 150 megabyte "Network" SP1a (Service Pack) file in self-extracting zipped format at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/servicepacks/sp1/network.asp More on this later.

I only downloaded half the XP Revisions after the third Restore. I decided to try that far and see if the problem was gone before spending more time downloading and installing. It should be noted that the recently purchased older desktop Windows 98 computer had been connected equally in time to the Internet throughout this complete experience. It originally had the CAI antivirus on it but no firewall. It NEVER acquired or was exposed to a virus or a worm although XP with MSIE 6.0 seemed to attract them. It did not take long for the freeze/lockups to begin again. I decided to remove some of my elective programs and some XP updates by using the Restore tool.

In the middle of the Restore, the system froze!
On Restart, Windows XP demonstrated that it had lost its instruction order in the midst of removing and adding back files: an XP startup logo with no functions or activity. Another complete Restore was now mandatory. The Windows 98 system was working fine so I used it to find the network file noted above. I then downloaded SP1a onto the desktop system. When I went to save it to CD, I found the old CD hardware was unusable. It failed with each of two versions of CD-burning software and two blank media.

Networking the computers now proved beneficial.
It seemed pointless to RESTORE XP yet again only to lose it in the midst of downloading XP Updates, or, lose a 135 megabyte zipped file in the middle of a several hour download. IF the freeze-ups/lockdowns continued in their recent frequency, one could happen in the first 15 minutes after the Restore, or, anytime up to an hour later --- definitely BEFORE the megasize SP1a was downloaded completely. Working from the laptop XP end, getting everything working in a network through the router hub was relatively straightforward and was working in about 15 minutes. Transferring the SP1a file from the W98 system to the WinXP system through the network took not more than another 10 minutes.

Networking Windows computers with different versions or types of operating systems can be troublesome. I knew from year 2000 that if you wanted to run a dual boot computer system with "equal" access to Linux and a Microsoft Windows version, it was necessary to install and partition the Windows version first. Microsoft does not like to share. It must be the manager, leader or dominant participant. I was now using a home network with a Windows 98, Second Edition version on one machine and Windows XP on a second. I would consistently find that if the Windows 98 system was turned on first, the XP system would not recognize or communicate with it. As long as the Windows XP system was turned on first, the network was viable.

Managing the Minimums.

Possible alternatives to dumping the laptop were diminishing.
The recurrent failures had been selectively excluded from the influence of battery, line power, viruses, worms and trojans. I had preserved a small group of driver updates that had been loaded on the XP system during one of the major servicings in 2002. I loaded these on the Wiped again drive and Restored system and nothing else. The laptop ran for more than 24 hours with no problem. One last option would be tried to segregate the problem and have a fully up-to-date working system.

Activating the SP1a file produced an automatic no choice procedure. The included program scanned the Restored XP system to determine which updates should be applied from the library it carried. It then removed the older files no longer required and installed the applicable updates. That is how it was SUPPOSED to work. It worked along feverishly for about 15 minutes and then reached completion. Within 10 minutes Windows XP locked up without ANY program being activated, on a UPS, without Internet connection. The computer was successfully Restored back to before the SP1a was introduced. 48 hours later, it had not yet hung up/frozen/locked-up.

Here are a few of the many examples of update particularities:
These require a Restart before their installation is complete and any other downloads will be continued with: DirectX 90b End-User Runtime, KB822603 SP1 Update, 817778 SP1 Update, KB810243 SP1 Update. Downloading some of the Updates indicated for XP corrupted the SoundMax and Toshiba DVD-ROM player drivers.

Fortunately, I had made notes following extreme difficulties that I encountered in 2001 with the Synaptics touchpad on the Compaq 725. AFTER installation of the October 23, 2001 driver, I received messages that it was NOT compatible with the Control Panel. My folder views changed almost as often as the machine was rebooted. I Could NOT SAFELY remove the October 2001 Synaptics driver.

The defunct Synaptics driver would alter the keyboard (EAKDLL.dll) driver and make it unusable leaving no keyboard function and a machine lockup when I tried to use the keyboard!! I then had to reload the touchpad driver, and, uninstall the fouled keyboard driver, and, re-install the EAK SP20927 driver. It required the computer to restart to complete the installation yet the computer would neither restart nor shutdown until forced to. The October, 2001 driver was more recent and does exist; however, it is not compatible with Compaq 700s so do NOT use it.

Singular update file download page:
Much later, I did find this page from which some Microsoft updates and other files could be downloaded for offline installation:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.aspx?displaylang=en

What is clear from this needlessly long, wasteful, and complex experience is that we cannot trust and should not trust the viability of ANY operating system updates from Microsoft for they have been poorly tested. There is no established system of reporting that indicates WHICH patches and updates have proven to ADD problems and should be avoided. There is NO way to selectively download updates for future reuse when your system fails, as all systems do. An Internet connection MUST be used to re-install an XP system fully and special precautions are best taken if one is to avoid the above. Computer systems continue to become more powerful, more reliable in the short-term, and more complex in failure and service in the longer-term.

IF you need your computer for business purposes, it may be a good strategy to always have an older, cheaper, backup for emergencies.

A suggested list of hardware basics.

• Pentium 1 GHz or higher,
• Uninterruptable power backup & surge protection,
• Hard disk storage of 10 gigabyte minimum,
• 256 megabytes of RAM,
• External 56600 baud, or a cable modem,
• CD-ROM player/drive, 50-speed or higher,
• Diskette drive, 3-1/2" high density,
• Trackball pointer, or touchpad mouse pointer,
• Color display, 15" minimum, 16-bit color minimum,
• Video display driver board of 16 megs minimum,
• Internet Service Provider (ISP): must provide good service,
• Backup storage medium that is fast & dependable,
• 600-DPI inkjet printer or better,
• xxxxx* ALL of the above must be OS Operating System-compatible
  (i.e. Windows XP, 32-bit device drivers).

PROACTIVITY:

If you choose to use microcomputers and the Internet, consider the following as wise precautions to have and take:

1. DO NOT buy the newest models;
2. Major brands are no indicator of permanence;
3. An UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) is mandatory;
4. A Router can increase protection from Worms/Trojans;
5. Anti-virus software, updated DAILY, is basic;
6. A well respected Firewall signal verifier;
7. A WIPE utility for hard disk cleaning;
8. A bootable copy of your Operating System;
9. RESTORE or INSTALL disks or media;
10. Software serial numbers and license keys;
11. Driver software for all devices at hand;
12. Instructions for Network Connections;
13. Activation and Registration codes;
14. A record of your Personal Preference settings;
15. Internet and telephone access and cabling;
16. An e-mail address and how to use it;
17. Backups (3) of all your files;
18. Backups of all your programs;
19. PERSISTENCE;
20. PATIENCE;
21. TIME.

LINUX based operating system computers are exposed to extremely few viruses or worms. The majority are directed at Microsoft Windows systems, and, less so, at Macintosh systems. Moving to a Linux system as soon as the type of software you use for business can run on same might be the safest decision. Excellent office suites including word processing and Internet browsers have been available for several years. I almost made this change in 2000. I am now expecting to do so by mid-2004.

XP Reloaded, Steps:

If you choose to reload Windows XP to resolve your chronic freeze-up/lock-down errors, this sequence MAY help:

1. Get out your RESTORE disks that came with your system;
2. Retrieve your backup disc of device drivers & updates;
3. Use a WIPE program to clear your hard drive of garbage;
4. Add a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) if absent;
5. Add a Router if you are not currently using one;
6. Restart your computer and put Disk 1 of RESTORE in it;
7. Follow the onscreen instructions until completed;
8. Follow through with XP Setup and designate your USERS;
9. Elect to register later to Microsoft & computer maker;
10. Install a compatible daily updated anti-virus program;
11. Install a compatible widely used personal Firewall;
12. Install drivers for all devices;
13. Ensure that your Network Connections are correct;
14. Start/Run/ "oobe/msoobe /a" to activate XP;
15. Start/Control Panel/Phone & Modem/Properties;
16. Start/Run/ "regwiz /r" to register XP;
17. Connect to the Internet and test;
18. DO NOT activate Windows Update;
    ----- Use very selectively later. -----
19. Personalize your Desktop display;
20. Install your regular use programs;
21. Personalize your START Menu;
22. Set your System Preferences;
23. Set your Folder Options;
24. Customize your Toolbars;
25. Add back your backup files;
26. NEVER add more than one revision at a time;
27. ALWAYS set RESTORE points between new installs;
28. Check for anti-virus software updates every 18 hours;
29. Maintain an inexpensive emergency backup system.

Many of the Critical Updates for Windows XP are "security fixes" which may be better addressed by using an excellent antivirus program, a strong firewall program, and a router. Some program version updates, like Winamp 9, can be downloaded separately (rather than a self-installing Windows Update file) from the source site if you have registered your copy for notification of updates.