emPowering Framework on startup...

Hi ppl...

I have just installed the "ePower management" utility and the "empowering Framework" utility... Only required the "ePower management" but it kept saying that i needed to install the "empowering Framework" first... Now the "empowering Framework" toolbar with widgets pops up on startup... is it safe to go msconfig and disable this from startup? but obviously leaving "ePower management"... i just dont want that annoying "e" thing on my desktop and dont want to have to close it each time i startup...

also, is it okay to not install the other e-utilities... like eData etc...?

 

my epower management doesn't require the eframework...
and even if i install the eframework, it doesn't open everytime at boot..

try to uninstall everything, then reinstall the latest version from acer website...

 

I do recall that epower management does however require .net framework 1.1 and 2.0! this may be what it is asking for

--ssx--

 

Im in Australia so im not sure if acer australia have done their own thing with the software installation process... It does require .NET and i have installed that but when installing the ePower Management it pops up and says that you need to install the eframework first... im assuming that the utitilities from the acer austrlaia website would do the same... everything seems to work fine... i dont really care if the eframework utitlity is installed - it just seems to be a user interface for the different eUtilities... but i dont want it loading up at startup everytime... so would it be okay to just remove it from startup through msconfig?

 

I see no problem with that at all.

--ssx--

 

cool... i just deleted it from common startup under Start>All Programs>Startup.

laptop was booting up real quick... heaps better with installing everything myself instead of using recovery acer cd's....

and then i installed Norton Internet Security 2007... big slow down!!! what can i do to speed things up? can i customize many things in norton? problem is you disable certain things like internet toolbar phishing thing and then you end up with a red cross in your tray...

 

NIS is by far one of, if not THE WORST PERFORMANCE DRAINING APPLICATION you could have installed on your pc. What's worse is that it's near impossible to remove it completely from your registery once it's installed. It's like the early versions of AOL that only "said" they were going to uninstall while still remaining on your hard disk drive.

Personally I would jump your pc back to a previous restore point and remove all of NIS completely. It's a waste of time in my opinion, but that is just me. Trust yourself in your web browsing, and don't let NIS ruin it for yourself..... but thats just me.

--ssx--

 

hmmm... so do you use any security measures? antivirus, firewall?

 

If you are asking for my suggestion let me tell you what I tell all of my customers at the pc repair shop I work for 6 days out of the week.

1. Antivirus tools - I reccomend Kaspersky or F-Secure first and foremost because of their low overhead and because they don't "dig" as deeply into your windows installation. Panda is also a great anti virus app.

Kaspersky - http://www.kaspersky.com/
F-Secure - http://www.f-secure.com/estoreusa/
Panda - http://www.pandasoftware.com/home/particulares/default

AVG which is made by the grisoft foundation has a free version of their anti-virus which is rather popular among home users. Unfournatly if I recall they are stopping their free definitions as of the first of the year (but don't quote me on it).

2. Anti-spyware

The free versions of software which include all work great.

Spybot S&D 1.4 - http://www.download.com/3000-8022-10122137.html
AdAware - http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php
Trend Micro house call - http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

However if you want live active services running (chewing up more cpu cycles) instead of software that is designed to detected in clean instead of prevent first and foremost look into two companies

Spyware Doctor - http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/
Webroot Spyware Sweeper - http://www.download.com/Webroot-Spy-Sweeper/3000-8022_4-10192729.html


3. Windows junk and other bloat

Look into ccleaner - http://www.ccleaner.com/

4. Download windows updates every week

http://update.microsoft.com


5. Alternate web browsers and not using IE6 or IE7 by default

Mozilla Firefox - http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/ (my favorite! Don't forget to look into the addins)
Oprah - http://www.opera.com/download/

6. Firewall

A good basic firewall starts outside of your pc By this I mean if you have high speed Internet (which I hope that you do) go pickup a router if you have not done already so.

There has been much debate in the community over the need of a software firewall as another level of protection if you currently are using a hardware version. The meat of the discussion comes down to how paranoid are you?

Check these links for more info

NAT routers and security info - http://www.dslreports.com/faq/4629
Software firewalls and faqs on how to set the up properly - http://www.dslreports.com/faq/security/2.5.1._Kerio_and_pre-v3.0_Tiny_PFW

I personally don't use a software firewall or antispyware software on my pc's because I know what I install (mainly GPL'ed software or Linux) or the software is a 3rd party version of the origional and does not include the nasty bloat. For example I use Trillain Basic to control AIM / MSN / ICQ. I perfer not to bundle un-needed software on my pc... just seems wasteful overall.

7. Be smart about what you install on your pc and where it comes from. Anything that is "free" is free for a reason, and most likely for the wrong ones! Programs like AIM and other instant messaging programs often are bundled with spyware such as WeatherBug and other malicious or tracking software. Before you go install ANYTHING on your pc that you are not sure about go to www.google.com and type on "Name of the program spware" so say you want to install limewire go google this - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=limewire+spyware&btnG=Google+Search most of the hits suggest a spyware free alternative or mention that it does have spyware in it. So just be cautious for the rest of us

Also if you did infect your pc follow this known working guide to clean it up - http://www.dslreports.com/faq/8428

Again sorry for the cross listings of faq's over on DSLR but their site is great and between NBR and DSLR thes are the 2 forums I frequent to help people.

Also....

To give you an idea about how bad NIS is we don't sell it in our store it's that bad. We sell Norton 2006 and Kaspersky but nothing that we have tried and tested that deep down will cause more problems than its worth.



--ssx--

 

Awesome! cheers for all the info dude!

 

ssx is right,
my suggestion is to use KAV/KIS (Kis is an all-in-one like NIS), another way is to install different apps that cover all, right now i'm using NOD32 as AV, Windows Defender for anti-spyware, comodo for firewall (free), and spambayes for antispam in outlook (free).

 

Okay im going to try out kaspersky as i have heard good things about it in the past... i do have the hardware firewall via router... but i as curious whether it is worth spending the extra $20 and getting the KIS or just go the KAS...

Can you disable things you dont want eg. firewall... and essentially have a working copy of KAV? or does installing KIS dig deeper into your system?

im fine with just getting KAV but figured for an extra $20 i can have the other stuff incase i decide to test it out... only as long as it doesnt slow me down further...

what about NOD32 (Eset)? heard some good stuff about that too..

ps. is there a good guide on completely removing Norton Internet Security 2007? I want to uninstall and then test out the trial version of a few of these AV's... tried google but couldnt find a decent guide on registry edits etc...