atomizer

the 404 is on this page when clicking the "download" link: http://wpiw.net/

404 for download link

good article, but i think the guy is using totally unrealistic hardware for his testing (P3 800???). over 11 seconds to load FF??? i can almost say that i know for a fact that if i fired up my old P3 800 box with FF installed, that it would load in FAR less time. however, how many people are running less than 2 gHz these days anyway? FF, on my box anyway, loads in a couple seconds, cold, and just over a second warm (with 16 extensions and several plug-ins). Opera would probably be even faster i guess. IE, when i used to use it, popped up just about instantly, but that's because it loads itself in memory at logon.

ClamWin - open source, free, updated defs faster than some commercial apps, small, no crap running in background (on-demand only).

when you import filters, choose to overwrite current filters (unless you know what you're doing). also, check out AdBlock Plus, along with the filterG files as mentioned above.

i never used Opera, but from what i've read it seems like a **** fine browser. it's also supposed to load faster than most other browsers, whereas FF is about the slowest. however, i like free, open source stuff and i love FF as for "wand" for opera, i'm not sure what it is, but there are several login/password managers for FF, including the one that's built-in. if you end up going with FF, have a look at AdBlock Plus. it's fairly new and very sweet.

info about pack (assuming it's the same one as above)> http://www.s.p.a.m.net/sp3.html

these codec packs are a pain. i've had trouble with many of them, especially when encoding. i've used the XP Codec Pack, ffDshow, WM10Lite, xVID, etc.. now i'm back to using the K-Lite FULL (not MEGA) pack which has recently been updated. this allowed me to uninstall ALL other codec packs and seems to be working well... so far.

Neural Robotics, INC

I FIGURED IT OUT!!! All you have to do is unplug your network cab..................................

yeah, sometimes i speak before i think. the DOS issue is certinly a valid point. so is the cost.

had a funny thing happen with my HP at work; it had XP home preinstalled, which i got entirely sick of, so i dumped the entire drive, including HP's back-up partition, and installed XP pro. after doing that the on-board sound card didn't work, nor could i ever get it to work. i slapped in another card i had lying around. point is, i can't stand any OEM box. they use the absolute crappiest hardware they possibly can to get the job done and they're nothing but a hindrance for the hard core tweakers. i guess i was lucky to even get another OS installed

hmmm... i'm one of those who has been saying that windows firewall is a joke. and i will argue that outbound protection is absolutely not useless -- it depends on what you're wanting to know. however, i'm starting to reconsider my opinion on the windows firewall after reading some of these posts. what i'd like to know is if anyone has done any research on windows firewall verses other products as far as introduced latency and system resources usage? i've been using Kerio, or a flavor thereof, for a long time and i really like the control and configurability that goes along with it; block all traffic during boot, knowing what's going out, NIPS, HIPS, advanced rules, blocking all traffic with 2 clicks, viewing traffic in real time, decent logging, etc., etc.. the windows firewall, in comparison, seems very sub-par in features and configurability. still, i'd be interested in the opinions of others, especially with respect to my question above.

very cool extension! i just found out about it a few days ago. that and AdBlock Plus are 2 "must have" extensions for FF.

hello!

well sure, it's frustrating for those that want to use old OS's, but look at it from a developers point of view; you want to build the game that blows all others away and takes advantage of the latest technology. do you want to use a "brand new in 1985 OS" as a platform, or the latest and greatest tools available? i used to be one of the "98 rocks for gaming" guys, until i learned enough about XP. now there's no way i'd run anything older. still, if you think that things are moving just too fast in the computer tech world, i'd have to agree. you can build a kick-@$$ box today and 3 months later it's old news. so yeah, it is frustrating in a way -- at least from a hardware standpoint. as far as OS's though, why even bother to hang on to 95/98/ME when the later flavors of NT do everything better IMO? BTW, if you want to check out a TOTALLY fun FPS that can run on just about anything (multiplatform), is free and open source, check out CUBE. i have at least as much fun with that as i do with HL2, Quake and any Unreal game.

good read! thanks for posting that. go FF! oh, and as a side note, i think it's a good idea for NON-IE browser users to allow their user agent to reflect the browser they're using and not set it to IE except when necessary. this will let web devs know that IE is losing ground and it's time to clean up their code and quit catering to IE.

search for "data recovery freeware"

if you don't need a resident scanner, try ClamWin and ClamMail (link in my sig.). i absolutely love it. very light weight and it only runs and uses resources when I want it to! from the little reading up i've done on them, they appear to be very good and updates are dished out faster than some major vendors. i believe both are open source as well (so they are entirely free).

hopefully someone here will know more than i, and i know you said you ran an AV scan on it, but i'm thinking a virus anyway. if you can't get help here and your data is that important, you may want to look in to some data revovery stuff, or even send it out to have it recovered.

oh, man, i'm sorry. i failed to read where you dissabled your AV. re-read my last post for the AV's i like. or research them here.

@ripken204 -- it was suggested MULTIPLE times that you disable norton. better yet, get rid of it! it is crap IMNHO (in my NON humble opinion ) that is, if it actually CAN be uninstalled since it is practically a virus. try it and see if it has any effect on your load time. if it does, i suggest you reconsider your choice in AV. if you absolutely have to have an AV running all the time (resident), then try something along the lines of AVG or AVAST. i've used the latter for a long time, until recently, and it's a pretty spiffy product (free version avail.). if you use some common sense -- watch what you execute, security settings, a good browser (not IE) -- then you may find you don't need a resident scanner. in that case, i'd suggest ClamWin. click the link in my sig.

make sure you check out all the extensions if you haven't already. there's many more if as well if you search. highly recommended: AdBlock Plus All-In-One Sidebar BugMeNot Googlebar Lite

hmmm... you could very well be right, but i doubt it. reason? many payware users seem to think their stuff is the best, period, regardless of its quality. Opera, though i've never used it, does seem to be an outstanding, feature rich and VERY fast browser (fast as in load time - i think they're all about the same in page load times). FF users, once accustomed to configuring their browser the way THEY want, seem to love it and are anxious to promote it. myself, i'd never go back[wards] to IE after having used FF. i have so much more control.

sorry i had to get than in. i like XP, but dang, it takes a LOT of tweaking/maintence to get it where i want it. also have to be very careful what you install.