Consumed Consumer . org

I was hit - for the nth time - with the now familiar face of MSN Messenger in my tray at a system start-up. I've decided to document my uninstall efforts this time, to reduce the chances of the nightmare reoccurring.

One of the most annoying "features" in Windows is the "Compressed Folders" feature, where Zip files are displayed as folders. While this may be nice for some, most users accumulate a large number of zip files in a folder, making it unviewable in Windows Explorer. We look at how to get rid of it.

One of the features designed to help beginners that ends up annoying the hell out of anyone else is the Windows Update "Restart your computer now?" nag. We look at a few ways to stop it.

I am quite happy with Windows 7 Home Premium. However, I sometimes have to leave the computer on and unattended and would not want it to restart, especially if it's rendering a movie.

I recently had to play a bit with a new installation of Ubuntu and again, old unnerving ghosts came back to haunt me. Since these ghosts have a habit of tormenting indiscriminately, I am sharing my solutions with you.