Annoyances, and sometimes solutions. <> == Speeding up Adobe reader plugin == Clicking on a PDF link in the browser spawns the Adobe reader plugin, which takes an interminable time (several seconds) to load all of its plugins. You can disable these plugins, though. * for [[http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/007183.html|Adobe Reader 7]] * for [[http://www.neilturner.me.uk/2004/Feb/08/speeding_up_adobe_acrobat_reader_properly.html|Adobe Reader 6]] == Hibernation fails == All of a sudden, going into hibernate mode isn't working. XP changes the setting to "Stand by," instead. It looks like this was caused by upgrading the amount of memory. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909095 "When you experience this problem, the hibernate feature is not available on the computer until you restart the computer. This problem typically occurs when the computer uses 1 gigabyte (GB) or more of RAM." There is a [[http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/0/3/e03931ba-dbf1-4c07-ae86-d8be41472af2/WindowsXP-KB909095-x86-ENU.exe|hotfix]] available on that page. == So many reboots! == Just in the initial setup, without installing my own software preferences, I must have been required to reboot a half-dozen times. No workaround on this one. == Automatic Update == I told it I don't want automatic updates, but it keeps nagging. [[http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000294.html|This blog]] contains a lot of info around Auto Update settings. [[http://www.egreeley.com/messages/1899.html|This message]] suggests disabling the Auto Update Service. == Norton Antivirus == is also nagging me, but I don't want to install it. I plan on installing Trend Micro, so [[http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10168_7-5543538-1.html|this article]] may be useful in taming the beast. == Default Settings == Why are they so hard to find? I've installed Winamp, and associated it with every file format it knows, but the "default music player" is set to iTunes. == Deleting unwanted software == With ''Control Panel->Add or Remove Programs'' I uninstalled * Easy Internet Signup * LiveReg (Symantec) [denied] * Norton Internet Security 2005 (funny, it asked me to agree to a license agreement) ''requires reboot'' * Norton Security Center (should have done this before Norton Internet Security, I think) It kept popping up asking me to agree to the license and, when I said no, told me to go to Add Remove Programs, which wouldn't uninstall it because it was open. Finally I went into task manager and killed it. It also disappeared from Add Remove Programs '''without doing an uninstall.''' I fear this will cause problems in the future. * LiveReg is also now gone from the list * LiveUpdate (Symantec) gave an error saying it was already gone. When I told it to remove it from the list of programs, it told me I didn't have sufficient privileges, but removed it from the list. With ''Control Panel->Add or Remove Windows Components'' I uninstalled * MSN Explorer * Outlook Express (apparently only the links to it) * Windows Media Player (apparently only the links to it) * Windows Messenger (apparently only the links to it) ---- CategoryAnnoyances