Muscling Out PC Irritants

For many computer users, Windows, the operating system that imposed Microsoft as the leader in this field, is a great tool, that allows them to use their computers in a convenient and efficient way. But you will find the same people complaining about the annoying tricks that Windows does on them, no matter what version they run on their computers. Have you ever had to deal with out of the sky security alerts, USB drives announcing around the clock that they have been disabled or close to stupid instant messages interrupting your regular work? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then read further.

In this article I’ll be discussing some common Windows Irritants and their solutions.

Pluggable Devices Do Not Befriend Windows

Windows really has an issue with your USB drives when you disconnect them. If you did not take care to let Windows know that the USB drive had been disconnected, then you will have to deal with some really annoying errors resulting in the process. What happens is that Windows will still try to write on the USB drive, even after it has been unplugged. Here is the easiest solution to these PC irritant: search your system tray for the “Safely Remove Hardware” utility and use it; this will announce whenever an USB device is disconnected, and it will ensure that Windows will not try anymore to write data on thin air. This is only one tool, but you can always find other free software to master your USB drives, on the Internet.

Irritant: Perpetual Security Alert Messages

Even if your system has the latest virus definitions installed, Windows may still be babbling on about your system being at risk of an exploit or virus. This can sometimes occur when you disable a setting on your antivirus software. To prevent Windows from being so meddling and intrusive, you may opt out of receiving the security alert messages by clicking on the balloon alert message when it pops up, selecting Recommendations in the Virus Protection Panel; from here, select “I have an antivirus program that I will monitor” to put the alert messages out of commission.

Printer Messages Are A Hassle

A menial task like sending files to a network printer should not raise any problems, but still, this does not seem to be the case. The moment you give a command to the printer, Windows pops again letting you know that you are printing! It is easy to handle this nuisance. Just use Control Panel, Printers and Faxes. There, in File, Server Properties, you will see a box next to a message that goes like: “Notify me when remote documents are printed”. Just uncheck this box, and there you go.

Irritant: Email Client Refuses to Open URLs

Today, we can use more than just one web browser to surf the Internet. The thing is that Windows do not like changes like these and it acts accordingly. If you wanted to use for some time Mozilla Firefox, and then just returned to Internet Explorer, you will see what mess you have gotten yourself into. Just after you made the switch and you uninstalled Firefox, you get an e-mail through Thunderbird or Outlook. And, surprise! Any URL from the e-mail no longer works and you get annoyed and frustrated. Here is how you should do to save yourself a headache. From Control Panel, choose Internet Options; there, in Programs, make Internet Explorer the default browser for surfing the net. That’s all!