Showing posts with label Mozy Online Backup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mozy Online Backup. Show all posts
Monday, September 20, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
My Review Of Mozy Home Online Computer Backup Program - Archived Blog - 2010-0509
Updated - August 26, 2010
(Update - August 28, 2010 - Coming Soon!!! My Review of the new and improved Mozy Version 2. I'll add a link here once I complete the review page... complete with LOTS of screen shots of every step involved in setting up Mozy and doing your first backup.)
Get Mozy Home for FREE here, with BONUS online backup storage. When you get to the main page, click on Products, then Mozy Home, then click Download button or on the left side, next to the FREE sign, click "Learn More" or the "Try It Free" button. Any of those steps will get you the FREE Mozy Home version with the BONUS 0.25 GB's of online backup storage. While the UNLIMITED online backup storage is only $4.95 a month, the FREE 2.0 GB's of online backup storage becomes 2.25 GB's by clicking this link... enough storage for thousands of pictures, music and other backup of your important files. If you have any trouble signing up for the FREE MozyHome version, just send me an email or IM me at my IM addresses to the left and I'll help walk you through thr process and getting you set up with your first backup. Mozy also has user forums if you'd rather go that route.
Based on an email from a fellow member of the Outlook-Users Yahoo Group, I replied with a rather long reply about Mozy and it ended up being more of a review so here it is...
-----Original Message-----
From: Steven T
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 12:04 PM
To: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Subject: FW: Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager - email issue - OFFLIST
Lenny
I want to ask you about the "Mozy" add you have in your mails. I am not interested in how online backup works, only online restore ;>) What is your experience with restore from them? At what speed etc....
TIA
Steven T
AND MY LONG REPLY/REVIEW:
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 2:01 PM
To: 'Steven Teiger'
Subject: RE: Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager - email issue - OFFLIST
I've only had to use the restore a couple of times over the past several years that I've been using Mozy (I was involved in the initial Beta testing).
Most recently, I had to restore my Favorites folder in IE8 (currently 10.3MB, 2,662 files, 332 folders). I started using XMarks a few weeks ago, to synch my Favorites folder for IE8 and FF on my laptop and desktop so they would all have the same Favorites/Bookmarks and when I first did the XMarks synching, it (or rather I) completely messed them up... and I mean a major SNAFU, mostly due my not setting XMarks properly or rather not understanding the instructions properly.
Fortunately, I had my Mozy online backup of my Favorites folder on my desktop computer, which was done about an hour before I did the XMarks installation and fouled up the sync so bad. I uninstalled XMarks on both computers, emptied my Favorites folder on my desktop and then used Mozy to restore it. Mozy actually keeps several *copies* of backups... kind of like restore points... so you can choose which date/time you want to restore to. It didn't take long... maybe 10 minutes or so... I didn't time it but it wasn't long. I have over 2,500 URL's saved and well organized in my Favorites folder and all of it's sub and sub-sub folders.
As far as the speed, it depends on your own internet speed and what else you are running. If you shut down all other programs that might be using up internet bandwidth, then Mozy will be MUCH faster and I'm pretty sure it will download the restore as fast as your bandwidth and computer can handle. I've NEVER seen any slowdowns related to Mozy servers... only my own bandwidth limitations, especially if I have all three of my computers working on the internet on my DSL line.
Of course, uploading the initial backup and even my twice daily scheduled backups takes much longer than a restore since most internet access has much slower upload speed than download speed. My average online backup on my main computer takes about an hour or two, depending on how many new files I've added. I use the scheduled backup, rather than the constant backup, so I can have each of my computers backing up at different times so I do not see as much slow-down in my internet speed. If all three computers were backing up at the same time, I see a BIG slowdown in my internet service since Mozy would be using so much of my upload bandwidth.
Mozy also uses a moderate amount of system resources during the Backup process on my two oldest computers... one with only 384MB of RAM and the other with 768MB of RAM. I do not notice any slowdown on my newest Vista-HP laptop with 3Gigs of RAM.
Folks get 2Gigs of FREE backup if they sign up at Mozy.com or if someone signs up using my referral link, in my sig, they actually get an added .25Gigs (256MB). I know 2Gigs or 2.25Gigs isn't a lot of storage but it's usually more than enough for most of the people that I've helped install the free version, as long as they pick and choose which files/folders to back up. I actually only use up around 6Gigs of backup on my main computer, just to backup My Documents folder, my active PST file and certain other folders (like Favorites). I use an external HD to do weekly backups and clones of all three of my computers for major issues and just use Mozy for backing up my most active files/folders. Once you are a Mozy user, you can get your own referral code and get extra storage each time one of your friends or referrals sign up for the FREE MozyHome 2.25GB service... or if they decide to sign up for the $4.95/mo. unlimited service.
Sorry.. I didn't mean to write an entire review of the program but I really like it and think everyone should have at least the free version of Mozy to back up their most important files, photos, etc. I've read so many horror stories online and with helping my friends with their own computer problems.
I might have to use this for a blog article about Mozy. LOL
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files...
https://mozy.com/?ref=46UUG1 Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
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You can click on the Comments link below to open the Comments section to leave your comments.
(Update - August 28, 2010 - Coming Soon!!! My Review of the new and improved Mozy Version 2. I'll add a link here once I complete the review page... complete with LOTS of screen shots of every step involved in setting up Mozy and doing your first backup.)
Get Mozy Home for FREE here, with BONUS online backup storage. When you get to the main page, click on Products, then Mozy Home, then click Download button or on the left side, next to the FREE sign, click "Learn More" or the "Try It Free" button. Any of those steps will get you the FREE Mozy Home version with the BONUS 0.25 GB's of online backup storage. While the UNLIMITED online backup storage is only $4.95 a month, the FREE 2.0 GB's of online backup storage becomes 2.25 GB's by clicking this link... enough storage for thousands of pictures, music and other backup of your important files. If you have any trouble signing up for the FREE MozyHome version, just send me an email or IM me at my IM addresses to the left and I'll help walk you through thr process and getting you set up with your first backup. Mozy also has user forums if you'd rather go that route.
Based on an email from a fellow member of the Outlook-Users Yahoo Group, I replied with a rather long reply about Mozy and it ended up being more of a review so here it is...
-----Original Message-----
From: Steven T
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 12:04 PM
To: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Subject: FW: Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager - email issue - OFFLIST
Lenny
I want to ask you about the "Mozy" add you have in your mails. I am not interested in how online backup works, only online restore ;>) What is your experience with restore from them? At what speed etc....
TIA
Steven T
AND MY LONG REPLY/REVIEW:
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 2:01 PM
To: 'Steven Teiger'
Subject: RE: Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager - email issue - OFFLIST
I've only had to use the restore a couple of times over the past several years that I've been using Mozy (I was involved in the initial Beta testing).
Most recently, I had to restore my Favorites folder in IE8 (currently 10.3MB, 2,662 files, 332 folders). I started using XMarks a few weeks ago, to synch my Favorites folder for IE8 and FF on my laptop and desktop so they would all have the same Favorites/Bookmarks and when I first did the XMarks synching, it (or rather I) completely messed them up... and I mean a major SNAFU, mostly due my not setting XMarks properly or rather not understanding the instructions properly.
Fortunately, I had my Mozy online backup of my Favorites folder on my desktop computer, which was done about an hour before I did the XMarks installation and fouled up the sync so bad. I uninstalled XMarks on both computers, emptied my Favorites folder on my desktop and then used Mozy to restore it. Mozy actually keeps several *copies* of backups... kind of like restore points... so you can choose which date/time you want to restore to. It didn't take long... maybe 10 minutes or so... I didn't time it but it wasn't long. I have over 2,500 URL's saved and well organized in my Favorites folder and all of it's sub and sub-sub folders.
As far as the speed, it depends on your own internet speed and what else you are running. If you shut down all other programs that might be using up internet bandwidth, then Mozy will be MUCH faster and I'm pretty sure it will download the restore as fast as your bandwidth and computer can handle. I've NEVER seen any slowdowns related to Mozy servers... only my own bandwidth limitations, especially if I have all three of my computers working on the internet on my DSL line.
Of course, uploading the initial backup and even my twice daily scheduled backups takes much longer than a restore since most internet access has much slower upload speed than download speed. My average online backup on my main computer takes about an hour or two, depending on how many new files I've added. I use the scheduled backup, rather than the constant backup, so I can have each of my computers backing up at different times so I do not see as much slow-down in my internet speed. If all three computers were backing up at the same time, I see a BIG slowdown in my internet service since Mozy would be using so much of my upload bandwidth.
Mozy also uses a moderate amount of system resources during the Backup process on my two oldest computers... one with only 384MB of RAM and the other with 768MB of RAM. I do not notice any slowdown on my newest Vista-HP laptop with 3Gigs of RAM.
Folks get 2Gigs of FREE backup if they sign up at Mozy.com or if someone signs up using my referral link, in my sig, they actually get an added .25Gigs (256MB). I know 2Gigs or 2.25Gigs isn't a lot of storage but it's usually more than enough for most of the people that I've helped install the free version, as long as they pick and choose which files/folders to back up. I actually only use up around 6Gigs of backup on my main computer, just to backup My Documents folder, my active PST file and certain other folders (like Favorites). I use an external HD to do weekly backups and clones of all three of my computers for major issues and just use Mozy for backing up my most active files/folders. Once you are a Mozy user, you can get your own referral code and get extra storage each time one of your friends or referrals sign up for the FREE MozyHome 2.25GB service... or if they decide to sign up for the $4.95/mo. unlimited service.
Sorry.. I didn't mean to write an entire review of the program but I really like it and think everyone should have at least the free version of Mozy to back up their most important files, photos, etc. I've read so many horror stories online and with helping my friends with their own computer problems.
I might have to use this for a blog article about Mozy. LOL
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files...
https://mozy.com/?ref=46UUG1 Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
-----------
You can click on the Comments link below to open the Comments section to leave your comments.
I'm going to upgrade to Yahoo Messenger 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here - Archived Blog - 2010-0508
I meant to do this blog last year but it got put on the back burner. Since this YM 10.0x BETA upgrade, YM 10.0x has been updated several times. Besides the below information, also see my other LONG Yahoo Messenger article http://lennythecomputerguy.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-i-always-do-clean-install-of-yahoo.html for more details. This is a series of emails to the Yahoo_Messenger Yahoo Group with some replies from other members of the group.
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 9:24 AM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
Well, the subject says it all.
On one of my older computers, I'll still have YM 8.1x, my Vista laptop will have 9.0x and my main XP computer will have 10.0x BETA, just to try it out and be able to help more folks who might be having problems with it.
In preparing my main computer, I will be uninstalling YM 8.1x, then rebooting, then I'll run CCleaner Registry Cleaner and WinASO Registry Optimizer to clean out remnants of 8.1x. Then I'll look at the Yahoo Messenger Program file to see what is left and possibly delete some things manually and I'll move a copy of my Archived Chats out of there to my desktop in case something goes wrong with the 10.0 upgrade.
Then I'll install the FULL version of YM 10.0.0.542 BETA that I downloaded from FileHippo.com, http://www.filehippo.com/download_yahoo_messenger/. I'm still not brave enough to use the installer version from Yahoo.com. LOL
I'll post later to let you all know how everything goes.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 10:03 AM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
Well... things aren't going so smoothly so far. NOT with YM 10.0 BETA but rather with trying to uninstall YM 8.1x. The uninstaller has been running for about 15 minutes and seems to be stuck or at least bogged down heavily at around the 90% uninstalled point. Task Manager is showing the UNWISE.exe process (I'm not sure that's a "wise" choice of a name for the uninstaller process...lol), is using up 70% to 95% of my CPU processing ability.
Well... I take things back... partially.
While I was typing this message, whatever was bogging down the uninstaller seems to have been fixed/uninstalled and the uninstaller finished the job although now, GLB1A2B.EXE process is using a large percentage of the CPU processing ability. This type of file name is usually a Temporary file name created when installing certain programs so I'll see how long this process is going to continue to run. It's 9:55AM CDT as I type this. I'll finish and send this email when this TEMP file stops running.
OK. It's 10:00AM CDT and the TEMP file quit running. Time for a reboot and then running the registry cleaners. I'll send another update as events occur.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 12:47 PM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
OK. The registry clean up and install went OK. I didn't see any bundled software like toolbars, etc., attempting to be added with the full version download from FileHippo. I'm not sure if Yahoo gave up on trying to push all that crap on people or what but I was glad to see I didn't have to make sure I unchecked all the junk.
I did have to go through all of my Preferences and fix many of them as the new version DID NOT remember all of my previous settings. This could be due to my cleaning out all the junk from the old version but I did leave the various .ini files and a few .dll files that I thought would save my settings. Maybe I saved the wrong ones. Another thing the new download had as default settings was adding YM to the startup processes of my computer so every time the computer starts up, YM would start up. I HATE programs that try this. I changed that setting in my Preferences and also went into MSCONFIG and made sure YM was unchecked in there also. It was no longer checked once I changed my Preferences and restarted YM.
I'm typing this now as YM 10.0 BETA just froze up on me and I had to close it using Task Manager. It was showing as (not responding) in Task Manager. It froze after I turned on my cam using the main Messenger Menu> My Webcam link... and then when I went to tweak some of the camera settings, as soon as I clicked the Settings button on the Camera window menu, it froze up. It could have been a quirk. I'll know after I try it again.
One MAJOR thing I noticed with YM 10.0 BETA is there is NOT a way to send JUST a cam invite to someone on your friends list who is not using YM 10.0 also. The previous versions had buttons for sending a cam invite or starting a voice call but this new version only has the voice call OR Video Chat which is their new supposedly SUPER video chat mode but only works when both folks have YM 10.0. However, when I signed in on one of my other computers, under a different Yahoo ID and I had my cam turned on in YM 10.0, I could request a cam view from the other computer... but I could NOT send that other ID a cam invite without requesting it from the other computer. A minor annoyance but I guess it's not a major problem. I usually am chatting with someone and mutually agree to turn on video chatting anyhow... they'll just have to ask to view my cam instead of me being able to send them an invite on my own. Although, sometimes when I'm in a chat room, I'll use a cam invite as a way of weeding out a potential bot. LOL Bots can't accept or decline a cam invite so it lets me know if the person is real without them getting my Yahoo ID for future spamming, which is what happens if you send a bot an IM.
OK. I just re-started YM and turned on my cam again.
Then I went to the Preferences for my webcam again and clicked the Camera Settings button again. This time it did NOT freeze up so the last time could have just been a quirk.
I'll report back with any other notable things.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
-----Original Message-----
From: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
On Behalf Of Budmaas
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 2:18 AM
To: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Y!M] Re: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
IT IS THE BEST. Iupgraded to 10.0.542 BETA & it is working fine with win vista.
try it. thanks Yahoo messenger team & whole corporation
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 12:10 PM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Re: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
Well.. I'm not so sure "It is the best". I've been finding some really good things BUT also some really bad things with it. Hopefully, the really bad things will be corrected as Yahoo continues to fix this BETA version.
Since playing with YM 10.0x BETA for the past 24 hours, here's some pros and cons...
CONS -
I am not able to send a cam invite to people as easily as I could with previous versions. There is NO regular Cam Invite button or even a menu option under Actions Menu to "View My Webcam". There is the new Video Chat button but that is grayed out for most people who are still using older versions. After a lot of experimenting, if I have my cam on, the other person can request my cam but I can't just send them an invite. That's a flaw that needs to be fixed. Further, in chat rooms, when right-clicking on a name in the list, there is an option to Invite to View Cam but in the private IM windows, that option does not exist. Obviously, it works since the other person can request a cam invite and I can even send one by right clicking on their name in a room but I can't send a cam invite by right clicking on their name in my friends list or any other way.
YM 10.0x BETA uses a LOT more system resources even when just sitting there signed in and idle. YM 8.1x used around 40,000K of Memory when it was just sitting there whereas YM 10.0x BETA uses over twice that amount... around 88,000K of Memory. This can be seen in Task Manager>Processes Tab>Mem Usage column (click on it to sort highest to lowest). So, folks with older or less powerful computers should be careful about upgrading to this version. When I first opened YM 10.0xBETA, before signing in, it was using only 30,000K, then when I signed in, it jumped up to 65,000K and even without doing anything, that number kept climbing just now and it's up to 94,000K now... even higher than when I shut it down a little while ago when it was showing 88,000K. Well, while typing this, it dropped back down to 89,000K. When I minimized the Friends List window, it did drop down to only 7,000K so that's a good thing if folks need to run other programs and need some system resources freed up... same with IE, if you minimize it, it quits using as many system resources in one of the IE processes.
PROS -
When going to a Chat Room, the CAPTCHA process DOES NOT have to open in a browser window any longer. The CAPTCHA process opens right in the Chat Room window which is a much quicker and easier way to do things and saves some system resources since it doesn't have to open a browser window each time you change rooms. It also makes changing rooms quicker and easier.
NOT SURE ABOUTS -
When I first did the Invite To My Cam to someone in a chat room (by right clicking on their name), a pop up window came up with the option to do the Video Chat, Webcam or Cancel. Stupidly, I put a check mark in the "Do Not Show This Message Again" and chose Webcam and now that message does not show up any longer. I'm not sure if this is going to affect anything or not. I guess, once IM'ing with someone else with YM 10.0x BETA, I can still do the Video Chat thing from the IM window so this shouldn't be a problem but others should be warned to NOT put that check mark in that box. Someone with a MAC and the YM for Mac version could not view my cam no matter what but I'm not sure if that was a one time issue or something that will affect how YM 10.0x BETA and YM for Mac's work for everyone. I do not know a lot of Mac users to check this out. The one person I did try with, we had to go to a Chat Room so I could Invite To View Cam from the Chat Room list since they did not have a menu option to view my cam and I couldn't send them a cam invite as previously described above. Even when I did Invite them to view my cam and they accepted, it would only open the Cam window in a grayed out screen and they could never see me. I'll have to wait to test this with other Mac users to know if this is something permanent or not.
That's it for now... I'll report back later with more info as new things become known to me.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
-----Original Message-----
From: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
On Behalf Of malibu.angel
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 10:46 AM
To: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Y!M] Re: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
Thank you, Lenny. My computer is 6-7 years old and sometimes things really slow it down, did you find that at all with the new beta version?
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 12:45 PM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Re: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
See my previous reply in answer to an earlier reply by another member. You might also have too much junk running on your computer which slows it down. Post your System Resources and look at your Task Manager to see how many processes you have running. I'm sure you could speed things up quite a bit... almost any computer can be speeded up rather easily if folks would get rid of some of the junk running on their puters.
Yes, 10.0x BETA uses a LOT more resources than YM 8.1x but in the interim since that last reply, I opened up 9.0x on my Vista laptop and it's using up 120,000K while just sitting there open and even when I minimized it, it was still using the same 120,000K. This could be as a result of the Vista OS instead of YM. (see below.. it was just a quirk that it was using that much.. maybe because I had a cam invite going on that computer yesterday and it might have never released the memory usage even after the cam was turned off). I'll have to check that again another time.
I'm also looking at my oldest computer.. about 10 years old with only 384MB of RAM and only a 16Gig Hard drive... to give you an idea about how old it is. LOL I have YM 8.1x running on that one and when just sitting there open, it was using around 60,000K and then when I minimized it, it dropped down to only 4,000K.
I'm restarting YM 9.0x on my Vista computer to see if the 120,000K was a quirk or not. When I first started YM on the Vista, before actually signing in, it was using 31,000K. After signing in, it started climbing to 65,000K and then settled back down at 62,000K. When I minimized it, it DID NOT use less resources and stayed at the 62,000K level. Once again, I'm not sure if this is a Vista issue or a YM 9.0x issue but at least with 10.0x BETA, it does use much less resources when minimized, just like 8.1x does. I'm not sure how 10.0x BETA will react on a Vista computer.
There's not that much of a difference between 40,000K (around 40MB of available RAM), 60,000K or 90,000K (around 90MB of available RAM) unless a machine is already running a lot of processes or has very limited system resources like on my old computer with only 384MB of RAM. I run MS-Office Outlook and have at least one IE window open at all times on that old computer and also run other programs from time to time. The only time that old computer really slows down is when one of my security programs is running a scan or when MozyHome is doing it's daily backup. I try to shut down everything else when they are running just so they'll run faster. I do have most of the other non-essential services and JUNK turned off so when I first turn that computer on, it only has 29 processes running, which includes Comodo Internet Security (3 processes), MozyHome backup (2 processes) and LogMeIn (2 processes). When I boot that computer into Safe Mode, there was only 14 processes running. To give you an idea about how my Vista computer works, it starts up with about 70 processes running.. many of them, various HP processes but since it's still under warranty, I don't want to take off all the HP junk that came installed on that computer. As soon as the warranty expires, all that HP crap is coming off. LOL
Until next report...
Lenny Vasbinder
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 10:56 AM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Re: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
Update on the below...
One of the CONS that I listed below was premature. There is a way to send a cam invite to friends or others that one might be chatting with. It's just that the menu option was moved. On previous versions of YM, the "Invite To View My Webcam" was listed under the main Actions Menu or you could right click on someone's name on your friends list and the option would be listed there. NOW... you have to go to the Actions Menu on an individual IM window and then under More Actions, the "Invite To View My Webcam" option is listed. When right-clicking on a friends name, then choosing "More Actions", this option to send a cam invite does not exist.
Further testing of cam invites with other versions are meeting with mixed success but this would also happen with previous versions of YM so I'm not sure that this is a result of incompatibility or just YM server issues. I haven't had any noticeable problems with PhotoShare although occasionally photos will bog down and not come through all the way (staying pixelated on the recipients end) but this also happened with previous versions of YM.
I still haven't tried the Video Chat feature (which is supposed to be like a Super-Duper Hi-Def Webcam and Audio chat session) with someone else that has YM 10.0 BETA so I'm still not sure how that is going to work out yet.
I still haven't found anyone with YM for Mac that I've been able to invite to view cam either so I'm not sure if that was only with that one friend or if it's a conflict with all YM for Mac users.
Also see my two replies to others that included additional information, besides all of the information in this thread of emails.
Lenny Vasbinder
-----Original Message-----
From: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
On Behalf Of kevin a
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 2:13 AM
To: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Y!M] Messenger ver 10
I was having constant trouble signing in to Mess v 9, so upgraded to ver 10. Have lost all the contact information - phone numbers / notes etc .. but all the contacts are there with their screen names only. Anyone explain why or help please ?
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 2:40 AM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Messenger ver 10
I think this will help you.
Go into your Preferences (from the main Messenger menu) and then click on the Appearance section. Then put a bullet in "For each contact, show: Nickname or First and Last name"... if you have the bullet in "Yahoo! ID", I think this affects things.
I remember when I upgraded from YM 9.1x to YM 10.0x, I had the same problem and thought I lost everything as well but when I changed my Preferences, it all came back.
I hope that fixes things for you as well.
All of that Contact Info is saved on Yahoo Servers so you will see it whenever you sign into YM, no matter which computer you're on so there's always a chance that Yahoo Servers are acting up but hopefully the above will fix things.
Let us know if that did the trick.
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
Please click the Comments link below to leave a comment.
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 9:24 AM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
Well, the subject says it all.
On one of my older computers, I'll still have YM 8.1x, my Vista laptop will have 9.0x and my main XP computer will have 10.0x BETA, just to try it out and be able to help more folks who might be having problems with it.
In preparing my main computer, I will be uninstalling YM 8.1x, then rebooting, then I'll run CCleaner Registry Cleaner and WinASO Registry Optimizer to clean out remnants of 8.1x. Then I'll look at the Yahoo Messenger Program file to see what is left and possibly delete some things manually and I'll move a copy of my Archived Chats out of there to my desktop in case something goes wrong with the 10.0 upgrade.
Then I'll install the FULL version of YM 10.0.0.542 BETA that I downloaded from FileHippo.com, http://www.filehippo.com/download_yahoo_messenger/. I'm still not brave enough to use the installer version from Yahoo.com. LOL
I'll post later to let you all know how everything goes.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 10:03 AM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
Well... things aren't going so smoothly so far. NOT with YM 10.0 BETA but rather with trying to uninstall YM 8.1x. The uninstaller has been running for about 15 minutes and seems to be stuck or at least bogged down heavily at around the 90% uninstalled point. Task Manager is showing the UNWISE.exe process (I'm not sure that's a "wise" choice of a name for the uninstaller process...lol), is using up 70% to 95% of my CPU processing ability.
Well... I take things back... partially.
While I was typing this message, whatever was bogging down the uninstaller seems to have been fixed/uninstalled and the uninstaller finished the job although now, GLB1A2B.EXE process is using a large percentage of the CPU processing ability. This type of file name is usually a Temporary file name created when installing certain programs so I'll see how long this process is going to continue to run. It's 9:55AM CDT as I type this. I'll finish and send this email when this TEMP file stops running.
OK. It's 10:00AM CDT and the TEMP file quit running. Time for a reboot and then running the registry cleaners. I'll send another update as events occur.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 12:47 PM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
OK. The registry clean up and install went OK. I didn't see any bundled software like toolbars, etc., attempting to be added with the full version download from FileHippo. I'm not sure if Yahoo gave up on trying to push all that crap on people or what but I was glad to see I didn't have to make sure I unchecked all the junk.
I did have to go through all of my Preferences and fix many of them as the new version DID NOT remember all of my previous settings. This could be due to my cleaning out all the junk from the old version but I did leave the various .ini files and a few .dll files that I thought would save my settings. Maybe I saved the wrong ones. Another thing the new download had as default settings was adding YM to the startup processes of my computer so every time the computer starts up, YM would start up. I HATE programs that try this. I changed that setting in my Preferences and also went into MSCONFIG and made sure YM was unchecked in there also. It was no longer checked once I changed my Preferences and restarted YM.
I'm typing this now as YM 10.0 BETA just froze up on me and I had to close it using Task Manager. It was showing as (not responding) in Task Manager. It froze after I turned on my cam using the main Messenger Menu> My Webcam link... and then when I went to tweak some of the camera settings, as soon as I clicked the Settings button on the Camera window menu, it froze up. It could have been a quirk. I'll know after I try it again.
One MAJOR thing I noticed with YM 10.0 BETA is there is NOT a way to send JUST a cam invite to someone on your friends list who is not using YM 10.0 also. The previous versions had buttons for sending a cam invite or starting a voice call but this new version only has the voice call OR Video Chat which is their new supposedly SUPER video chat mode but only works when both folks have YM 10.0. However, when I signed in on one of my other computers, under a different Yahoo ID and I had my cam turned on in YM 10.0, I could request a cam view from the other computer... but I could NOT send that other ID a cam invite without requesting it from the other computer. A minor annoyance but I guess it's not a major problem. I usually am chatting with someone and mutually agree to turn on video chatting anyhow... they'll just have to ask to view my cam instead of me being able to send them an invite on my own. Although, sometimes when I'm in a chat room, I'll use a cam invite as a way of weeding out a potential bot. LOL Bots can't accept or decline a cam invite so it lets me know if the person is real without them getting my Yahoo ID for future spamming, which is what happens if you send a bot an IM.
OK. I just re-started YM and turned on my cam again.
Then I went to the Preferences for my webcam again and clicked the Camera Settings button again. This time it did NOT freeze up so the last time could have just been a quirk.
I'll report back with any other notable things.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
-----Original Message-----
From: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
On Behalf Of Budmaas
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 2:18 AM
To: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Y!M] Re: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
IT IS THE BEST. Iupgraded to 10.0.542 BETA & it is working fine with win vista.
try it. thanks Yahoo messenger team & whole corporation
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 12:10 PM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Re: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
Well.. I'm not so sure "It is the best". I've been finding some really good things BUT also some really bad things with it. Hopefully, the really bad things will be corrected as Yahoo continues to fix this BETA version.
Since playing with YM 10.0x BETA for the past 24 hours, here's some pros and cons...
CONS -
I am not able to send a cam invite to people as easily as I could with previous versions. There is NO regular Cam Invite button or even a menu option under Actions Menu to "View My Webcam". There is the new Video Chat button but that is grayed out for most people who are still using older versions. After a lot of experimenting, if I have my cam on, the other person can request my cam but I can't just send them an invite. That's a flaw that needs to be fixed. Further, in chat rooms, when right-clicking on a name in the list, there is an option to Invite to View Cam but in the private IM windows, that option does not exist. Obviously, it works since the other person can request a cam invite and I can even send one by right clicking on their name in a room but I can't send a cam invite by right clicking on their name in my friends list or any other way.
YM 10.0x BETA uses a LOT more system resources even when just sitting there signed in and idle. YM 8.1x used around 40,000K of Memory when it was just sitting there whereas YM 10.0x BETA uses over twice that amount... around 88,000K of Memory. This can be seen in Task Manager>Processes Tab>Mem Usage column (click on it to sort highest to lowest). So, folks with older or less powerful computers should be careful about upgrading to this version. When I first opened YM 10.0xBETA, before signing in, it was using only 30,000K, then when I signed in, it jumped up to 65,000K and even without doing anything, that number kept climbing just now and it's up to 94,000K now... even higher than when I shut it down a little while ago when it was showing 88,000K. Well, while typing this, it dropped back down to 89,000K. When I minimized the Friends List window, it did drop down to only 7,000K so that's a good thing if folks need to run other programs and need some system resources freed up... same with IE, if you minimize it, it quits using as many system resources in one of the IE processes.
PROS -
When going to a Chat Room, the CAPTCHA process DOES NOT have to open in a browser window any longer. The CAPTCHA process opens right in the Chat Room window which is a much quicker and easier way to do things and saves some system resources since it doesn't have to open a browser window each time you change rooms. It also makes changing rooms quicker and easier.
NOT SURE ABOUTS -
When I first did the Invite To My Cam to someone in a chat room (by right clicking on their name), a pop up window came up with the option to do the Video Chat, Webcam or Cancel. Stupidly, I put a check mark in the "Do Not Show This Message Again" and chose Webcam and now that message does not show up any longer. I'm not sure if this is going to affect anything or not. I guess, once IM'ing with someone else with YM 10.0x BETA, I can still do the Video Chat thing from the IM window so this shouldn't be a problem but others should be warned to NOT put that check mark in that box. Someone with a MAC and the YM for Mac version could not view my cam no matter what but I'm not sure if that was a one time issue or something that will affect how YM 10.0x BETA and YM for Mac's work for everyone. I do not know a lot of Mac users to check this out. The one person I did try with, we had to go to a Chat Room so I could Invite To View Cam from the Chat Room list since they did not have a menu option to view my cam and I couldn't send them a cam invite as previously described above. Even when I did Invite them to view my cam and they accepted, it would only open the Cam window in a grayed out screen and they could never see me. I'll have to wait to test this with other Mac users to know if this is something permanent or not.
That's it for now... I'll report back later with more info as new things become known to me.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
-----Original Message-----
From: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
On Behalf Of malibu.angel
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 10:46 AM
To: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Y!M] Re: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
Thank you, Lenny. My computer is 6-7 years old and sometimes things really slow it down, did you find that at all with the new beta version?
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 12:45 PM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Re: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
See my previous reply in answer to an earlier reply by another member. You might also have too much junk running on your computer which slows it down. Post your System Resources and look at your Task Manager to see how many processes you have running. I'm sure you could speed things up quite a bit... almost any computer can be speeded up rather easily if folks would get rid of some of the junk running on their puters.
Yes, 10.0x BETA uses a LOT more resources than YM 8.1x but in the interim since that last reply, I opened up 9.0x on my Vista laptop and it's using up 120,000K while just sitting there open and even when I minimized it, it was still using the same 120,000K. This could be as a result of the Vista OS instead of YM. (see below.. it was just a quirk that it was using that much.. maybe because I had a cam invite going on that computer yesterday and it might have never released the memory usage even after the cam was turned off). I'll have to check that again another time.
I'm also looking at my oldest computer.. about 10 years old with only 384MB of RAM and only a 16Gig Hard drive... to give you an idea about how old it is. LOL I have YM 8.1x running on that one and when just sitting there open, it was using around 60,000K and then when I minimized it, it dropped down to only 4,000K.
I'm restarting YM 9.0x on my Vista computer to see if the 120,000K was a quirk or not. When I first started YM on the Vista, before actually signing in, it was using 31,000K. After signing in, it started climbing to 65,000K and then settled back down at 62,000K. When I minimized it, it DID NOT use less resources and stayed at the 62,000K level. Once again, I'm not sure if this is a Vista issue or a YM 9.0x issue but at least with 10.0x BETA, it does use much less resources when minimized, just like 8.1x does. I'm not sure how 10.0x BETA will react on a Vista computer.
There's not that much of a difference between 40,000K (around 40MB of available RAM), 60,000K or 90,000K (around 90MB of available RAM) unless a machine is already running a lot of processes or has very limited system resources like on my old computer with only 384MB of RAM. I run MS-Office Outlook and have at least one IE window open at all times on that old computer and also run other programs from time to time. The only time that old computer really slows down is when one of my security programs is running a scan or when MozyHome is doing it's daily backup. I try to shut down everything else when they are running just so they'll run faster. I do have most of the other non-essential services and JUNK turned off so when I first turn that computer on, it only has 29 processes running, which includes Comodo Internet Security (3 processes), MozyHome backup (2 processes) and LogMeIn (2 processes). When I boot that computer into Safe Mode, there was only 14 processes running. To give you an idea about how my Vista computer works, it starts up with about 70 processes running.. many of them, various HP processes but since it's still under warranty, I don't want to take off all the HP junk that came installed on that computer. As soon as the warranty expires, all that HP crap is coming off. LOL
Until next report...
Lenny Vasbinder
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 10:56 AM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Re: I'm going to upgrade to 10.0.542 BETA and document the success or mess here ;-)
Update on the below...
One of the CONS that I listed below was premature. There is a way to send a cam invite to friends or others that one might be chatting with. It's just that the menu option was moved. On previous versions of YM, the "Invite To View My Webcam" was listed under the main Actions Menu or you could right click on someone's name on your friends list and the option would be listed there. NOW... you have to go to the Actions Menu on an individual IM window and then under More Actions, the "Invite To View My Webcam" option is listed. When right-clicking on a friends name, then choosing "More Actions", this option to send a cam invite does not exist.
Further testing of cam invites with other versions are meeting with mixed success but this would also happen with previous versions of YM so I'm not sure that this is a result of incompatibility or just YM server issues. I haven't had any noticeable problems with PhotoShare although occasionally photos will bog down and not come through all the way (staying pixelated on the recipients end) but this also happened with previous versions of YM.
I still haven't tried the Video Chat feature (which is supposed to be like a Super-Duper Hi-Def Webcam and Audio chat session) with someone else that has YM 10.0 BETA so I'm still not sure how that is going to work out yet.
I still haven't found anyone with YM for Mac that I've been able to invite to view cam either so I'm not sure if that was only with that one friend or if it's a conflict with all YM for Mac users.
Also see my two replies to others that included additional information, besides all of the information in this thread of emails.
Lenny Vasbinder
-----Original Message-----
From: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
On Behalf Of kevin a
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 2:13 AM
To: Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Y!M] Messenger ver 10
I was having constant trouble signing in to Mess v 9, so upgraded to ver 10. Have lost all the contact information - phone numbers / notes etc .. but all the contacts are there with their screen names only. Anyone explain why or help please ?
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 2:40 AM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Y!M] Messenger ver 10
I think this will help you.
Go into your Preferences (from the main Messenger menu) and then click on the Appearance section. Then put a bullet in "For each contact, show: Nickname or First and Last name"... if you have the bullet in "Yahoo! ID", I think this affects things.
I remember when I upgraded from YM 9.1x to YM 10.0x, I had the same problem and thought I lost everything as well but when I changed my Preferences, it all came back.
I hope that fixes things for you as well.
All of that Contact Info is saved on Yahoo Servers so you will see it whenever you sign into YM, no matter which computer you're on so there's always a chance that Yahoo Servers are acting up but hopefully the above will fix things.
Let us know if that did the trick.
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
Please click the Comments link below to leave a comment.
Review of Sunbelt CounterSpy Anti-Spyware Program version 2.5.1040 - Archived 2007-1106
Review of CounterSpy (CS) from http://www.sunbelt-software.com/
Knowing my two year subscription to Spy Sweeper was expiring soon, I started searching to see if there was something better out there and decided to try out CounterSpy since it was getting rave reviews from many in the computer security industry.
I was able to purchase it at a special price of only $13.13 for their Halloween special through WXPNews newsletter. I also opted to purchase the 2nd year of the subscription at a special price of $9.98 so the two year subscription was only $23.11... a small price to pay for two years of spyware protection while surfing the net!!!
Prior to writing this review, I first uninstalled my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from http://www.webroot.com/, then I ran WinASO Registry Optimizer http://www.winaso.com to clean out any registry entries, rebooted the computer and started the installation of CS.
Even the FREE trial version of WinASO, http://www.winaso.com/ will do a full registry repair but you simply have to keep running it over and over since it will only fix 10 registry entries each time in the FREE trial mode. Once you have your computer cleaned the first time, then weekly WinASO scans will usually only result in 1-2 scans needed to fix things unless you are a heavy downloaded and uninstaller since those two things leave scattered registry entries. The first time you run WinASO, you may have to run it dozens of times to clean your registry properly.
Installation was simple enough and the program did not ask to try and install any 3rd party applications like search bars or tool bars which was a pleasant surprise. So many programs try to push other programs on people and if you click yes, you end up with a bunch of bloated non-essential programs hogging up your resources. It did take a little longer than expected to update the definitions from version 617 to version 667, even with a DSL connection. I had to allow three connections from CS.
According to Task Manager (Cntrl-Alt-Del on Win XP), there were two processes running during the initial scan. SBCSSvc.exe and CounterSpy.exe. During initial scan, highest CPU % noted was 47% by SBCSSvc.exe with the average amount being around 15-30% and 15% by CounterSpy.exe. However, while typing this post, I noticed the CPU usage jump to 99% but not the entire time I was typing so it may have been something it was scanning that caused it to jump up to 99%. It went back down to the 15-30% range after a few seconds at 99%. Peak Mem Usage for SBCSSvc.exe was 219,640K and Peak Mem Usage with the Mem Usage in the 16,000K range during most of the scan. For CounterSpy.exe, the Peak Mem Usage was 40,228K with the Mem Usage in the 20,000K range during most of the scan. I also noticed CounterSpy.exe CPU usage jumping up into the 80% range while it was scanning the registry keys while the SBCSSvc.exe stayed in single digits for CPU usage during the registry scan.
Compared to my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from Webroot, CounterSpy (CS) is using much less system resources when running a full system scan. SS would use up into the 80% range during a full system scan and stay at that level or up into the 90% range the entire time so at least with CS, while running a full system scan, you should be able to do other computing without too much hang time occurring.
During scan, CS scanned Memory Processes first and scanned a total of 2,202 with 0 Memory Processes detected with any spyware.
Then it started scanning files. After scanning 117,156 files, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it started scanning registry keys. After scanning 251,553 registry keys, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it scanned Cookies and after scanning 166 cookies, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
A Scan Results window popped up upon completion and it shows total scan time as 59 minutes 20 seconds with a clean bill of health on my computer... which I kind of already knew but I wanted to see what CS might say on it's first scan.
I then started poking around and ran the My PC Checkup which suggested five things that needed to be fixed and it said 77 others were OK. I ran the fix on the five it suggested. It also has a History Eraser and Secure File Eraser. I don't worry about the History Eraser stuff like some folks so I skipped that step but I did try out the Secure File Eraser on a rather persistent file that I've been trying to delete for a week or so but every time I try to delete it, even in safe mode, it shows the file is being used by another program and it won't let me delete the file. I created this video file (.wav) using my webcam with a security program where it would use my webcam to monitor my office to see if anyone came in while I was not around and it created this .wav file that was over 1GB in size and I haven't been able to delete the file because it says the file is being used by another program. I haven't been overly worried about the file but it is something I need to remove so I tried the Secure File Eraser to delete/shred this file but it caused the SFE to hang up and I had to end the SFE task using Task Manager. I'll notify CS tech support about this issue.
I then went through and set up the automatic download of definitions and scan schedules to when I prefer them.
Generally speaking, I like CounterSpy but I'll follow up with further posts as I learn more about it.
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
Knowing my two year subscription to Spy Sweeper was expiring soon, I started searching to see if there was something better out there and decided to try out CounterSpy since it was getting rave reviews from many in the computer security industry.
I was able to purchase it at a special price of only $13.13 for their Halloween special through WXPNews newsletter. I also opted to purchase the 2nd year of the subscription at a special price of $9.98 so the two year subscription was only $23.11... a small price to pay for two years of spyware protection while surfing the net!!!
Prior to writing this review, I first uninstalled my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from http://www.webroot.com/, then I ran WinASO Registry Optimizer http://www.winaso.com to clean out any registry entries, rebooted the computer and started the installation of CS.
Even the FREE trial version of WinASO, http://www.winaso.com/ will do a full registry repair but you simply have to keep running it over and over since it will only fix 10 registry entries each time in the FREE trial mode. Once you have your computer cleaned the first time, then weekly WinASO scans will usually only result in 1-2 scans needed to fix things unless you are a heavy downloaded and uninstaller since those two things leave scattered registry entries. The first time you run WinASO, you may have to run it dozens of times to clean your registry properly.
Installation was simple enough and the program did not ask to try and install any 3rd party applications like search bars or tool bars which was a pleasant surprise. So many programs try to push other programs on people and if you click yes, you end up with a bunch of bloated non-essential programs hogging up your resources. It did take a little longer than expected to update the definitions from version 617 to version 667, even with a DSL connection. I had to allow three connections from CS.
According to Task Manager (Cntrl-Alt-Del on Win XP), there were two processes running during the initial scan. SBCSSvc.exe and CounterSpy.exe. During initial scan, highest CPU % noted was 47% by SBCSSvc.exe with the average amount being around 15-30% and 15% by CounterSpy.exe. However, while typing this post, I noticed the CPU usage jump to 99% but not the entire time I was typing so it may have been something it was scanning that caused it to jump up to 99%. It went back down to the 15-30% range after a few seconds at 99%. Peak Mem Usage for SBCSSvc.exe was 219,640K and Peak Mem Usage with the Mem Usage in the 16,000K range during most of the scan. For CounterSpy.exe, the Peak Mem Usage was 40,228K with the Mem Usage in the 20,000K range during most of the scan. I also noticed CounterSpy.exe CPU usage jumping up into the 80% range while it was scanning the registry keys while the SBCSSvc.exe stayed in single digits for CPU usage during the registry scan.
Compared to my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from Webroot, CounterSpy (CS) is using much less system resources when running a full system scan. SS would use up into the 80% range during a full system scan and stay at that level or up into the 90% range the entire time so at least with CS, while running a full system scan, you should be able to do other computing without too much hang time occurring.
During scan, CS scanned Memory Processes first and scanned a total of 2,202 with 0 Memory Processes detected with any spyware.
Then it started scanning files. After scanning 117,156 files, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it started scanning registry keys. After scanning 251,553 registry keys, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it scanned Cookies and after scanning 166 cookies, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
A Scan Results window popped up upon completion and it shows total scan time as 59 minutes 20 seconds with a clean bill of health on my computer... which I kind of already knew but I wanted to see what CS might say on it's first scan.
I then started poking around and ran the My PC Checkup which suggested five things that needed to be fixed and it said 77 others were OK. I ran the fix on the five it suggested. It also has a History Eraser and Secure File Eraser. I don't worry about the History Eraser stuff like some folks so I skipped that step but I did try out the Secure File Eraser on a rather persistent file that I've been trying to delete for a week or so but every time I try to delete it, even in safe mode, it shows the file is being used by another program and it won't let me delete the file. I created this video file (.wav) using my webcam with a security program where it would use my webcam to monitor my office to see if anyone came in while I was not around and it created this .wav file that was over 1GB in size and I haven't been able to delete the file because it says the file is being used by another program. I haven't been overly worried about the file but it is something I need to remove so I tried the Secure File Eraser to delete/shred this file but it caused the SFE to hang up and I had to end the SFE task using Task Manager. I'll notify CS tech support about this issue.
I then went through and set up the automatic download of definitions and scan schedules to when I prefer them.
Generally speaking, I like CounterSpy but I'll follow up with further posts as I learn more about it.
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
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