A Better Uninstaller

Sorry that my art show schedule prevents me from keeping up with my blogging. These days I am home for two nights and on the road for five. Lately, I have been in Leavenworth where there is no Wi-Fi to get on line. But, I managed to find a few minutes to write this one for you.

Some time ago, I wrote about some of my favorite free utilities. One of them was ZSoft Uninstaller. And while it is still a very fine piece of software, I believe I have found a better one.

The uninstalling software that I now consider my favorite is the Revo Uninstaller. It also is a free utility program that you can download from either download.com or the Revo Web site. Why do I now recommend Revo?

First, it is a more thorough uninstaller as it even goes out and looks throughout your computer for any bits and pieces that a program may leave behind when it is removed...including the registration files. It then removes those remnants completely. For instance, when I removed an old version of Adobe Reader, it found many, many instances in the registry where it left remnants behind and gave me the option of removing them.

The second reason I like it so much is that it lists on your screen all the programs that are installed...far more than the Zsoft program does. When I ran it on one of my older computers, it found tons of stuff I had forgotten was even there. This makes it so easy when you finally sit down to clean out your computer.

Third, it has what is called a "Hunter Mode." This is a special, innovative feature that, with a single click of the mouse, give you the flexibility to uninstall, stop or delete a program, prevent it from loading at startup, or get information about it. Very handy.

There are also several other tools that are included with the program that you can find out about on the company's Web Site. I give this program my highest rating and suggest you download it ASAP.

Changing Drive Letters

When you add drives to your computer, including extra hard drives, CD/DVD drives, USB drives, and even memory cards from cameras, Windows automatically assigns the next available drive letter. Many times, Windows will retain these drive letters if you unplug, then re-plug in a drive. Sometimes it doesn't.

If you want some consistency in your drive lettering scheme, OR you use more than one computer and would like the same drive lettering consistency across all your computers (assuming you move portable hard drives or USB drives from one computer to another), Windows offers you a way to manage your drive letters on each computer. Here is how you do it:

1. Click on Start, then Right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.

2. Under Computer Management, click Disk Management. In the right pane, you’ll see your drives listed. CD-ROM drives are listed at the bottom of the pane.

3. Right-click the drive or device you want to change, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.

4. Click Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the drive letter you want to assign, and then click OK.

I have found that once you do this, your lettering scheme will not change as Windows recognizes the name of the drive and consistently assigns the same drive letter that you have chosen. It goes without saying that you should never change the lettering of your main hard drive (C:). And, in fact, Windows will not let you do it.

As I use three computers on a regular basis, I've found that having the same drive letters assigned to my portable devices is a great help in getting my work done.

Two Important Legal Rulings

Just a brief blog today on two very important legal rulings that may affect all of us.

First, the FCC has rules that Internet Service Provider Comcast can no longer prevent users from using BiTorrent for downloading. Until recently when they reversed their policy, Comcast had blocked all access to BiTorrent downloads, which, in some cases, is used for downloading copyrighted materials like music, movies, software and other items. Comcast did not tell its subscribers that it was doing this.

Comcast had said that BitTorrent downloaders were eating up far to much of its bandwidth. The Federal Communications Commission handed Comcast a cease-and-desist order and required the company to disclose to subscribers in the future how it plans to manage traffic. This marks the first time that the Federal government has stepped in to regulate so-called Net Neutrality, which is a nice way of saying that ISP's cannot pick and choose what sites they will let their users see and how much bandwidth certain sites get.

Even though the FCC imposed no penalty on Comcast, they are going to appeal the decision.

The second ruling comes from a California judge who has ruled that Sprint cannot charge a $200 penalty fee for early termination of a cell phone contract. In addition, the judge ruled that the wireless operator should pay back $18.2 million in collected fees to consumers, a decision that could help sway decisions on similar cases throughout the country.

The preliminary decision released earlier this week is a major blow to Sprint and to other phone companies in their battle to defend themselves against angry consumers who say the fees imposed on them when they leave the companies' services are unlawful.

Verizon Wireless, which was also being sued in California, has already settled its case, agreeing to pay $21 million to settle all claims against the company. And after the decision against Sprint, there's a chance that cases against T-Mobile and AT&T could also be settled. Look for the Sprint case to be appealed.

All this comes at a time when the Federal Communications Commission is enduring intense lobbying over how best to handle the fees. Telecommunications companies have asked the FCC to regulate the fees and shield wireless companies from class action lawsuits in state courts, such as the one Sprint just lost.

Huge Yard Sale

This is one of those times I use my blog for personal gain. If you live in the vicinity of Ephrata, you may want to come to our huge yard/moving sale that we are holding today and tomorrow. We are selling a large majority of our belongings including computer equipment, stereo equipment, tons of books, furniture movies, dishes, pictures, frames, and much much more.

We have a lot of stuff to sell, so come early and often.

Our address is 238 D St. SW in Ephrata.

I promise a good high tech blog as soon as I get my computer equipment back up and running. I am selling the desk that it sits on.