| Once again when we look at software we are looking at code. The problem with most software is the author. People tend to take shortcuts and when they do this with software it causes problems. The most common problem is a general protection fault. What happens is the program runs renegade and steals memory from the central processing unit. That is the brain or core of the computer. There is not much that can be done for this problem except to close the program and try a reboot. |
| Nowadays most all program settings are stored in the registry. In the old days each program had an INI file for the programs settings. That means the only way to adjust a program setting is to edit the registry or open the program and look for preferences in the menus. I strongly advise against a registry edit at this point. However if you are confident enough then edit away but at a minimum back up the registry. The files are USER.DI0 and SYSTEM.DI0 (the last character is a zero) Restoration can be accomplished with a boot disk and renaming the files to the .DAT extension. Then writing them to the windows directory. |
| Installing software is the easy part. But when you need to remove the software problems can pop up. It's a good idea to get a program that tracks and records system changes. When programs are removed some files that other programs use could be affected. The files are called DLL's. Take care when removing this type of file. It does not hurt to leave them. Also the DLL files could be overwriten bye another installation program. |
| You will find really good freeware and bad shareware on the market today so take care when buying software. Generally speaking if you're going to buy it's a good idea to get brand names that have been around. This is because most all bugs have been worked out and the code has been refined. |