Steve Alexander: PC software trouble? Try fixing it yourself

There are two equally aggravating kinds of PC problems: the ones caused by a software company and the kind you create yourself. This is about both.

By Steve Alexander, Star Tribune

Last update: October 2, 2007 - 5:47 PM

There are two equally aggravating kinds of PC problems: the ones caused by a software company and the kind you create yourself. This is about both.

Earlier this year, antivirus software maker McAfee provided its customers with a flawed downloadable update that caused problems on many PCs. In my brother-in-law's case, the McAfee software had refused to update automatically for five months. Meanwhile, his Windows Vista laptop PC had begun running more slowly, suggesting it had fallen victim to some new Internet threat.

Normally, I'd use System Restore, a Windows feature that would take the PC's settings "back in time" to a point before the problem occurred (see www.startribune.com/a3422). But for some reason his new PC didn't have System Restore turned on, making a rollback impossible.

So I did a good thing: I turned on System Restore and created a save point -- just in case.

McAfee had acknowledged the problem it had created (see www.startribune.com/a3423 and click the last entry, "product update") and had provided a downloadable tool to remove its software (otherwise difficult to eliminate) in preparation for a fresh installation. The downloaded tool worked perfectly, and I then reinstalled McAfee 2007. But I should have read the directions first.

When my brother-in-law bought his PC, store technicians installed the antivirus software for him. Fortunately, he had a disk-based copy of the McAfee 2007 software I could reinstall. Unfortunately, the disk was for his previous Windows XP laptop. Had I read the McAfee software box I could have avoided creating a second problem, because it's well known that XP antivirus software won't work on Vista. But I plunged ahead, and, sure enough, Windows Vista quit working.

Fortunately, there are workarounds for nearly everything. I was able to open Windows Vista in "safe mode," in which only minimal features of the operating system are activated, then use System Restore to roll the PC back in time to the restore point I'd created earlier that morning. In true time-travel fashion, my error of installing the XP software hadn't happened yet, and Vista acted as if nothing had gone amiss.

With Windows Vista working again and the troublesome McAfee software gone, all I had to do was install a new Vista-compatible antivirus program.

So what's the lesson here? That PCs are easy to mess up? Unfortunately, that's true. But it's also true that software-related problems -- even really threatening ones -- usually can be fixed by a determined consumer.

Steve Alexander covers technology for the Star Tribune. E-mail your technology questions to tech@startribune.com or write Tech Q&A, 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488-0002. Please include a full name, city and phone number.

Comment on this story | Be the first to comment | Hide reader comments

Blog: Patent Pending

Wisconsin kicks our butt

Yee gads! We already know that Wisconsin has superior angel tax credits than Minnesota (and by superior, I mean it actually HAS them) but this is getting ridiculous. It would be perfectly understandable if the Badger State wanted to sit on its laurels and count the Minnesota startups fleeing to Madison or Hudson. Instead, as Minnesota [...]