I've fixed several infected systems that have been running Symantec AV. I use the free Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to clean up the problem, then install Avast or PCTools free version. AVG is also OK, but I had some issues between it and Windows Vista. For a firewall, I use the free version of ZoneAlarm. As for bloat, that was the first reason I turned away from Symantec products, even though I could pick their products up for less than a third of their price. McAfee wasn't much better with the bloat issue, either, but was a bit faster in my opinion. As for Symantec's recommendation to not trust free products, there's a conflict of interest in them telling me to use their products instead of free ones, isn't there? So why should I trust their statement(s) when they stand to profit from my following their advice?

Some here suggested using Linux, which is a good idea if the college permits it. If they don't permit it, what about installing Wine or Crossover Office and set up a few Windows programs using that, including their snooper tool? Then you could surf from within Linux. I would think that their snooper tool would get caught in the synthetic Windows system created by the Wine installation and never see beyond there. Or, as others have suggested, you can run virtual machine software to run Windows in Linux, or vice-versa. Ubuntu even installs into Windows, but I never tried doing it that way. Or run XP in Vista with a virtual machine. That should allow you to hide at least part of your system from the spy software. Another thought crossed my mind also. Why not use your connected PC as a gateway to the Internet and connect to it from another PC that doesn't permit file sharing? You could use an older Windows system to do the connecting and set up a second Ethernet card in it and connect through the gateway PC to the college network. I don't know if their software would allow for that or not. Perhaps you can use a router as long as one PC has the software on it? You do have options, and you can probably beat the system with some of the suggestions here. If you ask too many questions, though, of the IT people there, you may cause some trouble for yourself.

I agree, but you should send them to both me and him, a 50-50 split. We'll put them to good use on eBay. Er, I mean, we'll give them a good home. :-)

Not only do we not get the local paper, but many here have given up on it. I would not be surprised if it goes belly up soon. I talked with a fellow who was getting it for FREE and he canceled it! I think that publishing thing in the local paper and NOT on the city web site is a way that the city hides what it wants to do. We had a red light camera ordinance that was tabled and everyone thought it was dead brought to life quickly without additional public notice even in the paper. Most of the local officials in the city are about to be voted out this year in elections because of this and a new ordinance is about to be put before voters to make it mandatory that any violations that the red light camera detect be given to the offender by a policeman on the scene. So it makes it necessary for a policeman to be present, making the use of the red light cameras inconvenient and impractical. But not that many residents even knew anything was going on with these cameras in the first place because the first notice was posted in the local paper that few even read. I'd like to see it made mandatory that governments publish news, laws, etc. that affect the average person on official web sites. Maybe also in local papers, but definitely on the web. Maybe even provide it in an optional RSS feed.

That would work for *most* people, but not every one has caller ID. I didn't until last month when I switched to telephone service provided by the cable company. The telephone company charged too much for phone service to begin with, and add a few dollars for touch-tone (yes, I used pulse dial until last month), caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding, and other features. It was not uncommon for people to have a $50 telephone bill. I get all that for $25 per month ($20 for the first year). I also don't have a cell phone, but I would guess that caller ID is standard for them. So those who don't have caller ID would have to pay for that feature if they don't have it already in order for the caller ID screening idea to work. I received a call from some auto warranty place the night before the court injunction on those companies. The caller ID told me that. I waited a couple seconds then picked up the phone and said "hello." When I don't hear a response within about 1.5 seconds, I hang up, since that means that it's usually a telemarketer. I am on the federal DNC list but these people called anyway. I think that's what got them in trouble so quickly.

Maybe contact a nationally famous reporter who likes to cover things like this? Or 60 Minutes, Dateline, or even 20/20?

I liked the idea of Wikileaks the best, though, using an anonymous torrent file transfer to them. Then use a utility to wipe any drive that might have the file(s) on them. You can use one that does a DOD level deletion, or just use a wipe program. Some defragmenters will wipe the free space for you using your choice of wiping of the area for security purposes.

If you keep the files on a USB flash drive, you can either burn it, hide it somewhere safe away from home or work, or mail it to someone far away to hold it for you.

You can delete the torrent program (if you use one) and its folders before you do your file wiping or defragging with a wipe of the free space.

Maybe you can even mail a package with a DVD or CD to wherever it's going to end up, shipping it from another city or state even.

Posting here may flag you as a possible source for any release of information about this news, of course, so you may want to find a new home for your computer equipment so it's not taken and kept as possible evidence to mess with you.

If there is actual illegal activity going on, the feds will get wind of the information from Wikileaks or wherever it's posted or aired and take whatever action they care to do.

Best wishes on this, and I hope the results are posted here.

An MBA might qualify you for management in your field, and it also gives you a parachute to use if you either don't like the field or find yourself out of work. Also, there are 17 month MBA programs available. I got mine at Franklin University, Columbus, OH, in 17 months with one evening class per week and a fair amount of homework, mostly essay writing and group projects. I spent at least a few hours one evening a week for homework, sometimes on two evenings. Most group work was done by email. Most of the time I was the editor of the group papers to pull it all together so that it appeared to be written int he same style by the same person (which helps get a better grade than something that is hastily thrown together and doesn't transition well between the contributed parts).

Be aware that with a master's degree of any sort, you should expect to see more group work, something that I didn't care for since the group can pull you down and some might use the group to try to get a free ride with their work. If that latter thing happens, make sure that the instructor knows about it, make up for that person's lack of contribution to the project, and move on. That way the group is less likely to take a hit on the grade, but someone must make up for the slacker.

Also, don't expect a master's degree to make a big entry level salary. But it should get you more respect from interviewers and probably a somewhat higher salary over what you would get without one. If you get an MBA, you can work into your career interviews that you would like to get into management eventually once you have proven yourself to your superiors.

One other thing I would mention if you have any elective credits to earn yet is to look into experiential learning credits. I earned about a year's worth of college credits in my undergrad work that way and it didn't cost me anything but the effort to document my experiential learning. I got into a routine where I could crank out one documentation "booklet" in a day or two and get 3 credit hours for the work, even a course waiver if it was for one of my required subjects. I got out of a lot of schooling by doing that!!!

Donald

I forgot to add that you could instead ask the original owner to make the call and do the transfer of the account (or add you to the account, whatever it is that they wanted you to do.)

Write the company and explain your situation. Include copies of your eBay and Pay Pal invoices. Explain that this is not a warranty concern, that you just want to buy the part, you do not expect them to supply it for free. Many times writing a letter will get to the right people and you will get action. It's possible that this could be phrased in a way that your state's attorney general would be interested in sending a letter to them. If you get a negative response, I would pursue that next. Include a copy of your complaint, the original letter to AlienWare, and send an update to the company letting them know that you want this to be investigated as an unfair sales practice (or something like that). If you want to go full guns right away, file your complaint and then send a copy of that with your letter telling them that since they refuse to sell parts that are available for the unit to you, you are pursing legal action against them through your state's attorney general. But I think that the gentler approach might be best, then take further action only if necessary. You might find that someone will give you what you want when they see documentation that you paid for the unit and that it hasn't been reported as stolen.

If software developers had to provide a timely fix or your money back (their choice), the free software developers would be free from legal liability. Or just make the law apply to non-free software. I see one issue with the law. Let's say program 1 and program 2 conflict with each other in some way, maybe making the OS freeze, freeze the program, or freeze the other program, or both programs freeze when both are running. Program developer 1 says it's program 2's fault, program developer 2 says it's program 1's fault. An example is that I cannot get my Canon ZoomBrowser EX software for my digital camera to work,a nd to date their support people have not (yet) been able to help me fix the problem. (I can import and view pictures with either Windows Photo Gallery or use Fspot in Linux without any trouble.) Since it worked a while ago (I hadn't used it for a while), it is probably a conflict with another program. I can see each developer saying that it is the other program that is the problem. Even Canon mentioned that I might have to disable any drivers that access a scanner, like my MP210 multifiunction printer, scanner, and copier (I didn't have the driver installed at that time since it wouldn't install-another issue that I fixed myself since then). In this case, if I was not satisfied with the crashing picture browser software, would I be eligible for a complete refund of my camera, or would the software be considered "free" and therefore the company would not be liable for the problem? I can see this would be more a Windows software related problem than in Linux, and probably not common in the Mac OS either. This law could stifle innovation, I think, if some limits are not placed on how liable the developers are, and if the individual coder is to blame, it will possibly cause even more problems. Good coders would require higher salaries, and that might drive software costs up. Then again, maybe this would get rid of the bad coders and solve the problems we're seeing in poorly coded software.

I browse You Tube occasionally (once a month perhaps) and would definitely NOT pay for viewing amateur videos there. How would I know if it's worth whatever small price I would be charged BEFORE I view the video? It wouldn't take long, in my opinion, for people to get tired of paying for so-so videos and just give up and go elsewhere. The attraction is that it's free. Take that away, at any small price, and I think that the business model will fail. All the $$$ Google invested in You Tube will be lost. Well, most of it, maybe. There will be a few people who have lots of money and won't care how much they spend. But many people are suffering right now because of the wrecked economy caused by the greed of the people who once ran (or are still running) the monetary system. I for one am not working every week. But if I was, I still would not pay for you Tube content unless I had some guarantee that I would find it worthwhile. I would either give up what You Tube has to offer or go elsewhere if there are alternatives. And I think that people who put their videos on You Tube would decide to put them elsewhere if they knew that only a few people would be viewing their content instead of becoming "famous" because millions raved over something they put there.