No More Apple Blue Screen of Death
A web site has been airing a commercial on ESPN and other networks for its computer tuneup services.
The first time I saw the commercial, I felt sorry for the iMac and iBook users whose computers crash when they use Windows XP to check their email and browse the web. Getting a blue screen of death on your Apple laptop can't be easy to repair -- if FinallyFast.Com helps these unfortunates, more power to them. But a disclaimer on the commercial indicates the service only works with PCs.
Without trying the software, I suspect it does some adware and spyware removal and cleans out temporary files and junk in the Windows Registry. You can accomplish the same thing with trial versions of the shareware programs Adaware and WinCleaner and pay nothing until you decide whether they're useful.
The company that makes the software, Ascentive, is slammed by McAfee SiteAdvisor, which claims that it "offers little or no security protection and may use deceptive sales tactics."
One bit of good news, though: I was able to freeze-frame the video and recover the document one woman was working on when her software crashed with an "illegal operation" error:
Little Red Riding Hood skipped happily down the path to Grandma's house. She was a couple minutes later than usually, but thought nothing of it. Grandma was too kindly a lady to care about a few minutes. Just then, she heard the sirens. An ambulance, followed by an animal control vehicle raced by her at top speed. "I wonder where they're going ..." And she continued to skip down the path.
Alice wandered down the dirt path, wondering what she would find next. Her adventures so far were so exciting and different. There was the Mock Turtle, the Mad Hatter's tea party, and so many others. Excited about what she may come upon next, Alice began to skip happily down the path, humming a little tune to herself. "Oh, I hope I get to meet the White Rabbit again," Alice thought to herself as she skipped through the forest. "Although my adventures here had put me in grave danger, I still am curious as to what other interesting creatures live here in Wonderland. Maybe dragons or unicorns." The more Alice thought about her possible adventures, the faster she skipped and the happier she hummed her song. But, all of a sudden, Alice stopped. There was her next adventure, right in front of her eyes. At the end of the path there were 2 men wearing masks that covered their nose and mouth. They stood at a tall gate. Alice approached the men. "Hello," said Alice. "Sorry, kid," said the taller man, "you can't leave Wonderland. This area is quarantined with Sars."
Quasimodo was a charming, well-spoken fellow, but unfortunately, misunderstood due to the way he looked. Quasimodo wanted to be like everybody else in Notre Dame. He wanted to be treated as an equal. Although a loner, one day he decided to come down and visit the town of Notre Dame. Unfortunately, once again, because of his not-so-charming appearance, people screamed in fright. A shot was fired and hit Quasimodo square in the chest. When he regained consciousness, he was in a hospital. "Doctor," Quasimodo started, "did the bullet do any damage?" "The gunshot appears to have caused only a minor flesh wound. It's that huge hump on your back that worries me. Sir, it's malignant."
Comments
I just freeze framed it too because I thought I saw something about sars!
Man, sars was so 2006.
The desktop seems to have a folder called "STUFF" with some dude's picture on it
Why would any iMac or iBook user have ANY windows program except for one on Parralells or another program that runs windows stuff.. Certainly not to get there e-Mail.. you don't seem to know much about Macs.. hardly anyone uses WindowsXP and windows virii have NO effect on Macs...you don't get a blue screen from windows or from a virus... and why do PC users call it the blue screen "OF DEATH".. I guess it makes it sound like Macs DIE from this or something.. what a load....
Dragon, no offense but you are a bit misinformed....You are correct in that PC viruses have no effect on Macs, but that is when Macs are running Mac OS. If you have Windows installed on a Mac, viruses can indeed be a problem....
Second, you can certainly get BSODs from software-based issues (such as viruses causing OS corruption)
Either way, this site is flagged to be using rogue-AV software to "protect" your PC so you should definitely stay away from it -- after all why go here to "cleanup" your PC and just get it infected..?
FinallyFast is a laugh. Have a look at my findings at my wifes website. I ran one of their "applications" through WINE in Linux (safest way to test it), and compared the windows to that of a clean windows directory (one I knew to be safe). They load down your computer with spyware, and then tell you your computer is running slow, and that you should buy their product to fix it. They charge you to remove their product.
what can be used for Apple?
Dobble-names do exist.
Stay away from FinallyFast. I use a version of McAfee that's provided by the Govt, and it tells me to avoid this site at all costs. It has it listed as a Red Zone site, which means the site looks harmless, but it will do more damage than good to your system. Not only does their TV advertisement show bogus information, they're wanted by the BBB because of it. They are a long established company, with a just as long established nasty reputation.
A program that runs a speed test should NEVER NEVER NEVER install itself into your system folder. It should install itself into your program files folder. But finallyfast installs into your system folder to set itself up a gateway. A gateway is what it uses to sneak viruses and so forth ONTO your system, so that when you run it's "checker" program, it finds them, and fools you into thinking that you got them from god knows where. It then deletes them, and tells its server to block sending to your IP address for 24 hours or until next scan, so that it would appear to you that it made your system faster. If you've visited their website, run every decent virus program you've got, and do a thorough scan of your system. They've actually set it up so that they download garbage to your system, just by you visiting their website. They do this by using a backdoor, which basically allows them to get around your
firewall, and upload stuff to your computer without you knowing it.
This is their report on the site:
The site is linked to ascentive.com, which is seconded ONLY to
brothersoft.com for their prolific use of deceiving users into
installing bogus programs stuffed full of adware, malware, and worse.
The company has an extensive history of leaving a bad taste in
consumer's mouths, and more information can be found here:
www.complaints.com
reviews.cnet.com
everyone who has commented on this page is really really dumb and should probably get off the internet for everyone else's sake if not their own
Dear Reid
You're obviously the dumb sad one that answers the 800 number at $2 an hour.
Hope your marriage with cousin Arlene works out.
Recently, we paused the commercial and looked at the person's buddy list and the IM conversations they were having... do it. I dare you. Under the category "assholes" on their buddy list are: "McCainandAbel" and "PalinHo" something or other.. The screen name they are using is "Obamanator08" ... liberal much? WTF. get a life, finallyfast.com and stop scamming people.
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