Mercury Retrograde Strikes at Home

In classic Mercury retrograde fashion my computer was mightily felled over the last couple of days. I wrote to Cox customer service and they gave me the standard suggestions which I had done. But my broadband was crawling at 512kbs. All things that I rely on my computer for were screwed up. In that process, I wanted to share a few things with you.

• Norton Utilities: I found and ran Stopzilla--one of those anti-spyware programs. It found Vundo and another virus that Norton was asleep at the wheel with! It has since found some other stuff.
  
• Speedtest.net: Here's a great place to test your internet upload/download speed. My neighbor who has been in computer sales, repair etc recommended this site. This is where I was able to measure my pitiful performance. Check it out.
  
• Online PC Repair: AFter I pulled off a bunch of stuff, these guys did a PC tuneup/repair that found bunches of other crap that both Stopzilla and Norton did not remove. For a flat fee, they fix this stuff. I got the Family Premium Membership which gives unlimited service for 1 year on up to 3 computers. The cost was $380. My daughter has a laptop, and just doing two tuneups/fixes pays for the service--then you can get whatever you need for another year afterwards. Sure beats unhooking and hauling. These guys worked on the computer (I couldn't use it for a good part of the day). Their service was terrific and more than exceeded my expectations. (I don't get any freebies for mentioning them).
  

So, if you've NOT given your pc any tender loving care (meaning removing the leper scabs of adware and other crap that has adhered to your computer), you might want to consider doing so in some fashion particularly if you rely on your computer.