Microsoft is the Antichrist
I have a laptop with Microsoft's XP operating system on it. I visited a shady website once and accidentally installed some annoying software that replaced a bunch of registry keys for my web browser, MS Internet Explorer. The malicious registry entries would always replace my homepage and "page not found" pages with their stupid search page, leading mostly to their affiliate porn sites. I tried deleting the offending registry entries but that didn't work. So I got fed up and decided to delete my installation of IE and replace it with a downloaded version from Microsoft.com.
Deleting IE is not easy. In the add/remove section fo the control panel it doesn't show up under the regular icon. You have to go to the "Add/remove Windows Components" and the interface is counterintuitive. Instead of putting a check in the boxes next to the program you want to remove you have to uncheck it. Getting this right is harder than it sounds since IE sits next to some important operating system applications and the boxes are randomly checked or unchecked when you open the panel. I almost deleted the search index before I realized my "error".
So I deleted it and then tried to run the installer that I had downloaded. No dice. The installer detected that IE was still installed on my computer and wouldn't let me continue with the installation. I revisited the registry and deleted everything that said Internet Explorer and restarted. Still no luck. I tried deleting the folder, "Internet Explorer" in my programs folder. That wouldn't work because my computer said the application was still in use. I tried deleting the contents of the folder file by file. I got rid of most but then I noticed they were magically coming back. I had had enough. I was, for the first time, sympathizing with those that brought a lawsuit against Microsoft for embedding their web browser into the operating system and I was feeling a little like a tourist from Arkansas lost in the maze of a casino, unable to find the exit.
The solution: Mozilla.org. Four minutes of downloads and installation and I'm able to see the web again. Some slight problems viewing the same things I used to view (for example I no longer see the handy bold, italic and hyperlink buttons on Blogger) but hey, I don't have the same irritating home page I used to have and I've taken the first step in breaking free from the clutches of the Dark Lord of computing. I have the exit door in sight. The slot machines are a mere buzz in my ear. My next stop, the Linux Zone.
