The next time you load software, maybe you'll profit from my experience of this past Friday night. Matter of fact, I hope you'll print this out and save it for when you something similar happens to you!

The large number of computer viruses floating around these days prompted me to get McAfee Office, a software suite containing McAfee VirusScan and eight other diagnostic and performance enhancing softwares. Friday night, I decided to load the anti-virus software program and several others (First Aid 98, 2000 Toolbox and Uninstaller). I loaded all four programs at once....then the trouble began.

(I probably got what I deserved, since I ignored Hainge's Rule Of Computing #12: Never load new software when facing a deadline. I have an important project due, so I should have held off until after it was completed. But....)

After loading the four programs, I had trouble accessing my computer. When I was able to access it, it would freeze. When it was unfrozen, the Windows main screen would appear, but the mouse had no effect. Strangest of all, at one point everything on the screen started flashing whenever I moved the mouse. Menus started popping up where I wasn't even clicking. It was possessed!

I was finally able to correct the problem (I?ll tell you how in a minute), but I wanted to share with you the lessons I learned from my 4-5 hour experience recovering from near disaster. They are:

* When you buy a software suite of any kind, load only one program. Use it for a day or so. If all is well, load the next program and repeat the procedure. In my case, I loaded four programs at once, so it was difficult to tell which program caused the problem. If you load just one program, your techie or tech support for the product will have an easier time straightening out the problem.

* Don't load software on the weekends if the software company isn't open on the weekends. Naturally, the McAfee tech support was open only Monday through Friday! Therefore, I couldn?t get to the tech support that could have provided the fastest solution to my problem.

* In most cases, it pays to uninstall the old version of a program before installing the new one, unless your new program is an "update" program. I had an old version of McAfee on my computer, and confusion between it and the newer version I was installing might have caused the problem. NOTE: If the program you're uninstalling has data or template files you want to save, save them to another directory or to disk before uninstalling the program

* Keep this number handy: 800-936-5700. That's the number for Microsoft's $35 per call "priority" support. Fortunately, I found the number recorded in my database. The technician was wonderful, and she spent over an hour working me through the problem. Well worth the $35, since it is 24 hour tech support, 7 days a week, excluding holidays.

* Keep this command in your database and written down in your "computer book," a bound book that you can keep all technical data in: scanreg /restore. This is the command that the tech support person had me use when my computer was coming up but nothing would work. Here's how you use it:

When you turn on your computer, hold down the Control key. This gets you to the dos prompt (C: ). Then she had me type in scanreg /restore and hit Enter. This brings up "registry list" for the past few dates you've used your computer. I had one dated 4/17, one dated 4/16 and one dated 4/15. She had me highlight the one for the date before the problems started (4/15) and press enter. This started the computer using the registry file for the last time I used the computer before problems developed. (The registry file is the file that controls how the computer starts up.) She figured, correctly, that using this file, the last one before the problems came up, we'd get the computer to start as it did when everything worked. It did, and we were able to work on and eventually solve the problem by uninstalling all the software I'd loaded Friday night...whew!

The biggest lesson? Do regular backups of your complete hard drive in case a botched install makes it impossible to get to your data. Matter-of-fact, it's been awhile since I've saved everything to my tape backup, so I'll do that tonight...

For more Technology News and Issues, Check out the Agent News Technology Section

Published: April 21, 1999

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Editor's Note: This article reflects the opinions of Allen F. Hainge only and not necessarily the views of this or any other publication, organization or Website owner.

Allen F. Hainge is a nationally known real estate technology speaker and author with a difference: he builds his seminars and articles around concrete, practical experiences he learns from his CyberStars(tm), a group of top agents nationwide who use today's technology to dominate their marketplace. He is the author of "Dominate! Capturing Your Market With Today's Technology." Allen's seminar schedule and offerings may be found www.afhseminars.com. Subscribe to Allen's Newsletter by Clicking Here