h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've had a few PC problems recently. The *very* expensive HP laptop that I purchased just 4 years ago contracted a virus a few months back and since then I've had constant problems. I thought I'd mostly eradicated it, but no, it decided to come back and wreak havoc.

It was a banker trojan (I'm not swearing - that's what it's called). It's the type that steals your bank passwords and sends them off to Russia. It was quite clever though - thoroughly infecting key system files and replicating itself all over the place. It even had the courtesy to delete all my system restore points, prevent automatic updates, turn of *all* virus scanners and totally remove any hope of an internet connection via Internet Explorer.

To add insult to injury, there was very little known about it on the net, and although I tried as hard as I could, I couldn't get a definitive method for removal. So, I thought I'd have a go myself.

I knew which system files it infected, so I killed them off in safe mode, expecting to reinstall them from the OS repair CD. I knew the system wouldn't reboot - these files were critical you understand, but I'd pre-empted that by setting the BIOS to boot from CD first.

The only problem was that I hadn't banked on the CD drive being US.

When the final realisation of "we're screwed" dawned on me I zipped into town and came back 36 minutes later with a shiny new desktop. Deakie and I just can't operate without a PC - it's sad I know - but I even had to pay for the new box on a credit card (something I never do) because I couldn't get to online banking to transfer some funds to my current account.

As is the way with the computer world, things move forward, or rather backwards as it appears to be in this case. I've now got Vista. I've never had it, never seen it, but I thought I'd give it a rumble. Immediately after the OS install, I checked the event viewer. There were 58 errors and 3,387 notifications! As soon as it connected to the internet it downloaded 45 updates! The downloads continued today...

It also has some annoying habits.

"Vista needs permission to do xyz. Is it OK if vista does this?" It asks this a least 1000 times a day, usually because you've had the audacity to run a program!

"You do not have permission to do this. Would you like permission?" Hang on, I'm a bloody administrator. I should have permission for everything. And what's the point of telling me I don't have permission if you'll then grant me permission as soon as I click the 'I want permission button'?

"Internet Explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. Windows is locating the source of the problem. No problem identified. Internet Explorer will now restart". WTF? Fancied a coffee-break did you?

I've had every Microsoft OS since DOS. XP was by far the best they ever produced, with NT coming a close second. Vista is looking to be fairly low on that list as far as things are shaping up.

But boy, is it pretty!

well, I like it. But i've had it for around 18 months now. And I still have occsional problems with it.

It's cute - I just hope it will be stable enough.

Did you get the problem with your IE resizing sorted?

I've been using it for about six months and I've pretty much gotten used to its, er, tantrums. I had to reinstall a couple of times and it's still not entirely stable, and the frequent User Account Control interruptions can be annoying, but I console myself with the thought that it's keeping my computer very, very safe. Comparatively speaking. Even in admin mode a programme can't do certain things without my say-so - far fewer things than it could with XP. It's a huge waste of time though to create a file on an external hard drive with one PC, then try and work on the same file with the Vista PC and have to go through a lengthy process of giving myself rights to my own damn file. And I make a lot of those files... hundreds

I too get those messages that tell me I need admin privileges when I am an administrator.

I sort of sorted the IE thing - it now opens in a larger window in 4:3 - but I use a wide screen monitor.

It's only when I click a link - when I open IE from the toolbar or wherever, it's fine.

I also haven't had to reinstall it, or anything. but then I think that I'm not like Gosho and a lot of users (and this isn't a criticism, only an observation) that I don't tinker about with my PC. It's there to do a job or two, and that's it.

So I use the internet, particularly for h2g2, banking and email (I use Windows mail and it's fine) and for storing music and photographs. I have also been using it to play music but I think my soundcard is buggered - it gives a sort of scratching effect which is annoying. And I use it for writing. But since I don't do much of that now, I haven't installed any whizzy new versiono of Office yet.

The only thing that annoys me about it has more to do with another company. Our ancient Creative Zen mp3 player isn't compatible so I can't change the music. But since it's full of good stuff, we don't really mind. And with two girls in the house and me we have a vast array of mp3 players which do work with Vista so it's not a problem.