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myusername
October 20th, 2008, 11:03 PM
my dad today asked me for a good anti-virus for xp. i suggested AVG or NOD32. he takes one look at the site and then continues to go to the symantec site for norton. now its my moms and little brothers computer and all they do is play online games and check email (and my mom does taxes. is there any linux tax software?) i would suggest linux but anytime i suggest it he quickly gets mad and changes the subject...and its really starting to make me mad seeing as how im the one constantly fixing his laptop.

i could probably get my brother to swith as long as there are little kid games (he is ten) and my mom wouldnt be too hard to switch either if i can get a tax software for her (turbotax in wine?)

smoker
October 20th, 2008, 11:10 PM
offer to set up a dualboot system, and see if he can get used to linux slowly!

avg free is ok for windows, norton is an expensive waste of resources.

eragon100
October 20th, 2008, 11:11 PM
my dad today asked me for a good anti-virus for xp. i suggested AVG or NOD32. he takes one look at the site and then continues to go to the symantec site for norton. now its my moms and little brothers computer and all they do is play online games and check email (and my mom does taxes. is there any linux tax software?) i would suggest linux but anytime i suggest it he quickly gets mad and changes the subject...and its really starting to make me mad seeing as how im the one constantly fixing his laptop.

i could probably get my brother to swith as long as there are little kid games (he is ten) and my mom wouldnt be too hard to switch either if i can get a tax software for her (turbotax in wine?)

Software for your mam: gnucash maybe? It's a free general purpose finances tool, I figure it can do taxes as well :wink:

myusername
October 20th, 2008, 11:13 PM
offer to set up a dualboot system, and see if he can get used to linux slowly!

avg free is ok for windows, norton is an expensive waste of resources.

i suggested avg free but he wont use it cause its free. yeah i think im gonna have to do a dualboot. but i cant tell him...ill just show my mom

snova
October 20th, 2008, 11:15 PM
Linux is the best antivirus I know of. :)

Sorry for not having anything more constructive than this, but Norton hogs memory and runs achingly slow. Look for anything else.

There are a lot of options. If you'd like a FOSS one, there's ClamAV (Windows port), but I don't know how good it is. Haven't needed one in a good long time.

PS. What's his problem with Linux? :confused:

LaRoza
October 20th, 2008, 11:16 PM
Don't try to push your dad around ;)

myusername
October 20th, 2008, 11:18 PM
Don't try to push your dad around ;)

yeah i know..but its for the best right? he doesnt use it. and my mom thinks of me as a technical god. i mean you seriously cannot use the laptop right now. i used to play halo on it with great speed and now it takes 10 min to open solitare

smoker
October 20th, 2008, 11:19 PM
i suggested avg free but he wont use it cause its free. yeah i think im gonna have to do a dualboot. but i cant tell him...ill just show my mom

there is a pay for version, if he feels the need to part with cash :)

myusername
October 20th, 2008, 11:19 PM
PS. What's his problem with Linux? :confused:

the fact that he see me all the time customizing my system makes him think its hard. he is also very hardheaded

kernelhaxor
October 20th, 2008, 11:19 PM
Don't try to push your dad around ;)

+1
My dad uses Windows too .. but I dont push him into Linux .. as long as Windows works for him, let him have it! I don't feel the need to always push/convince others to use Linux too!

I do see ur point .. u say u r the one who fixes his laptop always .. but on the other hand, if u get him to switch, he wud still be asking for ur help to do various tasks on Linux ..
Or u cud explain to him tht u r tired of fixing things and hence u want him to switch

myusername
October 20th, 2008, 11:20 PM
there is a pay for version, if he feels the need to part with cash :)

he said that he doesnt want to pay THAT much for it(hahaha)

Paqman
October 20th, 2008, 11:20 PM
If it's not your machine then you've really got no right to tell them what OS it should use. All you can do is give them the chance to decide one way or the other.

Try showing them Ubuntu running off a LiveCD and make sure you explain it's not made any changes to Windows. If they like the look of it they may decide to give it a go.

If they still say no, then drop it. There's no point pushing too hard.

myusername
October 20th, 2008, 11:22 PM
+1
My dad uses Windows too .. but I dont push him into Linux .. as long as Windows works for him, let him have it! I don't feel the need to always push/convince others to use Linux too!

I do see ur point .. u say u r the one who fixes his laptop always .. but on the other hand, if u get him to switch, he wud still be asking for ur help to do various tasks on Linux ..
Or u cud explain to him tht u r tired of fixing things and hence u want him to switch

i would MUCH rather be helping him on linux than with windows

zmjjmz
October 20th, 2008, 11:23 PM
Why not just take the XP laptop unto thine own hands and fix it up.
Defragment it (I like Ultradefrag), run an AV (ClamWin is pretty good), put Firefox with NoScript on (or K-Meleon if you want, it's much lighter on resources but also is capable of AdBlock+ and NoScript) and then leave everything else the same.
Chances are it will be much faster after that, and no need to switch to Linux unless you want to download stuff from shady sites.

myusername
October 20th, 2008, 11:26 PM
Why not just take the XP laptop unto thine own hands and fix it up.
Defragment it (I like Ultradefrag), run an AV (ClamWin is pretty good), put Firefox with NoScript on (or K-Meleon if you want, it's much lighter on resources but also is capable of AdBlock+ and NoScript) and then leave everything else the same.
Chances are it will be much faster after that, and no need to switch to Linux unless you want to download stuff from shady sites.

i did that for a LOOOOONG time. and stopped cause i was tired of it. my dad got mad when i made firefox look like IE and he forced me to take it off (back when it was my laptop too) i think he got mad cause it tricked him because i couldnt make it do the same things as IE

myusername
October 20th, 2008, 11:30 PM
im gonna use wubi. its very easy to remove

Vince4Amy
October 20th, 2008, 11:34 PM
avg free is ok for windows, norton is an expensive waste of resources.

The new AVG Free is quite bloated and does not contain the same database as the paid version, I would suggest Avast! if you want a complete anti Spyware, Virus, Malware, Rootkit selection. It's free as well.

Although I would never use Norton the new version of is not too bad on system resources as the older versions were. When I tried it just because I was curious of where Norton is now, it installed in 45 seconds, requested no reboot and used only 8Mb of RAM on an XP Virtual Machine.

oldsoundguy
October 20th, 2008, 11:39 PM
I remove Norton or McAfee from every computer I service and I install AVG on them. Why? Because AVG is more on top of the definitions files almost ALL the time and the program is not a huge resources hog and invasive to the point of taking over the computer.

But VIRUS programs are not the biggest problems .. the problems are with spyware type programs such as trojans and keyloggers and browser hijackers. MOST AV programs do not touch those issues. Then there are the Smit Fraud items .. the ones that have the pop up that tells you that you have a bunch of baddies on your computer and you need to run their scan (which will PLACE those baddies on your computer until you pay them 29.95 for THEIR program to remove them .. and even then their program will not remove ALL of the stuff they put on your computer!)

Welcome to the wonderful world of Windows!!

Your dad needs to quit reading the press releases from Redmond and search for OTHER opinions. ESPECIALLY if he is terrified of anything NON Windows.

Riffer
October 20th, 2008, 11:59 PM
So stop helping him keep Windows going. Make up some decent excuse, like "its been so long since you use windows you're not sure how to do things any more". Don't say anything about Linux or Ubuntu. He will either figure out how to do things in Windows (or pay someone to do it) or let you put Ubuntu on it.

Bölvağur
October 20th, 2008, 11:59 PM
While my father lived in belgium I helped him through phone while he was using linux. Even made him recompile audicard drivers because the one he had wasn't perfect. That computer was dual booted, so he just picked the OS he wanted each time. I have not touched the xp partition on that computer because I suddenly decided that I wasnt qualified for fixing windows (well that was what I told people).
I never fix Windows related problems, so the only times any one gets my help is if their computer is running linux or it is hardware related problem... everything else I dont even want to try to figure out.


Im not saying you should do the same, but I see it as an good option for you.

aysiu
October 21st, 2008, 12:01 AM
im the one constantly fixing his laptop.

i suggested avg free but he wont use it cause its free. yeah i think im gonna have to do a dualboot. but i cant tell him...ill just show my mom The solution seems simple enough - start charging him for support. You're the one constantly fixing his laptop when it has problems, and he won't use AVG because it's free. Clearly he wants to pay for stuff. Get him to pay you.

Old_Grey_Wolf
October 21st, 2008, 12:17 AM
Software for your mam: gnucash maybe? It's a free general purpose finances tool, I figure it can do taxes as well :wink:

gnucash doesn't do taxes.

---------------------

The last time I tried, TurboTax doesn't work with Wine.

Try to suggest a dual boot system. Your dad may grow to like Ubuntu. And your mom only needs TurboTax once a year.

In the meantime, you could set them up with limited user accounts, and not give them the admin password. That has saved me a lot of time repairing Windows boxes.

snova
October 21st, 2008, 12:18 AM
The point of "invasive" is an interesting one. Some antivirus programs actually patch the kernel to work. Even Microsoft knows what a bad idea that is, they're trying to put a stop to it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_Patch_Protection).

I would have given up on it a long time ago (unless I depended on it somehow). If a computer is slow, it's the fault of the user. Why should you be constantly cleaning up his messes? <joke>We Linux people have enough of our own! :)</joke>

myusername
October 21st, 2008, 12:23 AM
ah wubi wouldnt work (it was a shipit cd too) it stopped once i got to the part about importing accounts and wouldnt let me click next cause it couldnt find any users :/ . im just gonna give up on it guys

Ligero
October 21st, 2008, 12:30 AM
But VIRUS programs are not the biggest problems .. the problems are with spyware type programs such as trojans and keyloggers and browser hijackers. MOST AV programs do not touch those issues. Then there are the Smit Fraud items .. the ones that have the pop up that tells you that you have a bunch of baddies on your computer and you need to run their scan (which will PLACE those baddies on your computer until you pay them 29.95 for THEIR program to remove them .. and even then their program will not remove ALL of the stuff they put on your computer!)

Welcome to the wonderful world of Windows!!

Not their DOS base OS. I have spent 2 days trying to work out the problems in 8.04 and they never end. I had to Tivo the football game yesterday to spend time on this... dad may be returning to Windows.

K.Mandla
October 21st, 2008, 12:31 AM
the solution seems simple enough - start charging him for support. You're the one constantly fixing his laptop when it has problems, and he won't use avg because it's free. Clearly he wants to pay for stuff. Get him to pay you.
+1.

-grubby
October 21st, 2008, 12:36 AM
The solution seems simple enough - start charging him for support. You're the one constantly fixing his laptop when it has problems, and he won't use AVG because it's free. Clearly he wants to pay for stuff. Get him to pay you.

I was going to suggest not giving him support, but that idea seems better

FranMichaels
October 21st, 2008, 12:38 AM
So stop helping him keep Windows going. Make up some decent excuse, like "its been so long since you use windows you're not sure how to do things any more". Don't say anything about Linux or Ubuntu. He will either figure out how to do things in Windows (or pay someone to do it) or let you put Ubuntu on it.

I would echo this to a degree. You should probably help if the system really breaks. Anyway, why not point out the glaring flaws this install has. Have you scanned for spyware, viruses are only one facet in exploiting windows. If it is indeed zombied, I wouldn't recommend doing your taxes or work on any information of a personal nature.

How about the move to Vista? I would recommend showing this article
http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html
That may be enough to get him to try something else, XP is old, nearly 8!

If he has trouble wrapping his head around a free OS, recipes are a good parallel. As it is, I'd just advise use what you want.

If people want Windows so bad, let them have it. IMHO it's a sloppy OS with a lot of pre-installs and 3rd party support, and Microsoft's ethics leave a lot to be desired. Its best attempt at staying relevant is through patent threats and deals (http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20081018165715723)

cardinals_fan
October 21st, 2008, 12:51 AM
My dad uses Windows. His statistical analysis software only runs on XP. I'm glad to help him with everything except installing antivirus - I refuse to stoop that low. Maybe if he just used NoScript... *shrugs*

jimi_hendrix
October 21st, 2008, 12:52 AM
im all for the charging/denying service idea...if you do it right

remember, he is your dad and you want to be nice about it

Old_Grey_Wolf
October 21st, 2008, 01:25 AM
im all for the charging/denying service idea...if you do it right

remember, he is your dad and you want to be nice about it

I have denied support for my sister-in-laws and brother-in-laws computers when they became troublesome. One brother-in-law would actually restore MS Windows from CD to get around not having admin privileges. Based on the photos I found on the computer, I understand why it was always infected.

However, denying to support my dad's computer would have been another matter altogether. Fortunately, I didn't have to make that decision. He died at the age of 73 in 1993. He never owned a computer nor had a reason to own one.