TECH TUESDAYS - EASY STEPS FOR A CLEAN APP INSTALLATION

courtesy of: Sky-roxorz-815

 A true computer geek's dream. Scramble-o-translator, anime and Base 2 inference; it doesn't get any better than this!

No, this isn't a real Microsoft error message, although it makes as much sense as many of them that I've seen. Strings of numbers, cow-faces and fractured computer-jargon spit out by a hard-wired processor trying to make sense of some idiot coding created by the current Mongol-Horde School method, or Tilt-A-Whirl, where everyone code and compiles and uploads to a "cloud". Which used to be a "WAN" and then turned into a bunch of servers tied together. Now, your iPad can write code and upload it to a "Cloud" where other idiots are busily writing code on Atari 64s or in Linux on Quad Cores or in OS/2 on home-built farms and somehow, it sort of works, if you don't mind glitches, Do Loops, getting disconnected and losing your files, or having them turned into Frankendocs. It's a wonder the translators work. Ah, technology! Ain't she grand! And when I get tired of trying to unsnarl some of Google's finer messes, just so I can write a goddamned post, I can step away from the 21st century and back to the 19th century and play Richard Strauss on my viola. That at least, still works!

The reason I have to write this here post and all my other posts in Fire Fox, as opposed to Chrome now, is that I refuse to use the "Chrome Drive" to upload my pictures. It's a fucking hassle and I have a stock base of pictures that I use. I would ditch Chrome altogether, except that there's this whole social media thing going on, called Twitter and Twitter don't do FF, and so on. Nobody plays with FF very well anymore, so I write my posts here, just so I can add my pictures; call me a Luddite, but it's another stupid step I don't need. I did the Picasa thing and I'm tired of jumping through Chrome's and by extension, Google's hoops. I had an issue with my profile for 6 weeks. Their solution? DISABLE AVG!!!!!! GOOGLE, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!?!??!?

I haunted their forums, tried a variety of all of their fixes and finally hit on the correct fix for multiple profiles, and guess what? I AIN'T TELLIN' THE BASTARDS A THING! IT'S MY SECRET!! NYAH, NYAH, NYAH!! It had nothing to do with deleting my users folder or any of the thousand other variations on that tune and DISABLING AVG DIDN'T WORK, EITHER! So, bite me, Google!

But, what I really wanted to talk about today was how to download an application that you would like to use and that you know is safe. There is a correct and simple way to do this, and I'm going to walk you through the process for a nifty little gem called MoffCalc. They have just released v2.0 and we'll use that. I've used their free version for years, and it's far superior to Microsoft's Calculator, because it has a "tape" that displays, and that is the sole reason that it's a better thing than Microsoft's version. It is also scalable, so for people with impaired vision (like moi) can make the thing huge, so that I don't have to guess at the numbers. 

Anyway, to start, make sure you are logged in as ADMINISTRATOR on your Windows account and that you have UAC privileges turned on.

1.  Go to "Start" in the lower left-hand corner, click on "Control Panel" and "All Control Panel Items" then "User Accounts" to make sure you're account has full Administrator privileges.

2. Go to the website, to download the program you want to install, if need be. I went to the MoffCalc website, found here. 

It's gotten popular since I first started using it, and now, with this newest version, you can purchase a license for v2.0 for 19.99! But the free version is wonderful.

You can even download and try both; I selected the second one, as I have the first. 

3. Go ahead and save the file to your download folder or on your desktop.

4. Now, go to our old friend "Task Manager" by right-mouse clicking on your Task Bar, or using <Ctrl> + <Alt> + <Del> and choosing "Task Manager" from the list given. Close any unnecessary programs. While this is not crucial for MoffCalc, it should be done out of habit for any program you install, as it lessens the chance of corrupting any common, or *.dll files.

 

5. Find your selected download, and highlight, do a right-mouse click on it and before opening, or running, SCAN with AVG, or MALWAREBYTES. Again, MoffCalc is a trusted site, but so is JAVA and it has a storied history of Trojan-infested downloads, so always protect yourself and do this. If you're still unsure after the scan, don't run the installation.

Clicking on the Setup icon will launch the Wizard. It will set it up and give you the choice to "register" or pay, or try free for 30 days.

 
That's all there is to it! I love the fact that it has a tape like this:

so that you can go scroll back up the tape and check your work!

March 21st is looming! Come and join us this Thursday night, March 13, at 8 pm, EDT on Twitter, #AZChat! @DamyantiG is hosting for the A-to-Z Challenge Chat and we'll all be there to answer your questions!