By us I mean the consumers who have to endure countless ads that often have no direct connection with the product being advertised.  Sure, during the Super Bowl companies come out with some pretty entertaining commercials, but other than that we just seem to be going through the same thing over and over again.

The latest commercials I wish would go away are presented to us by dear old Microsoft.  Now I have to admit to being slightly amused when Bill Gates does that little shimmy during the first commercial with Jerry Seinfeld, but since then I think the commercials are just too boring.  When you think about it, do those commercials provide any information whatsoever that would prompt someone or keep someone from buying the next operating system from Microsoft?  Computers and computer software isn’t really even mentioned so what’s the use anyway?

I started this mini-rant so I will tell you what the use is.  Microsoft had to come out with something that popped to compete with Apple’s ads.  I don’t know how Jerry Seinfeld does that and I don’t know what their latest commercials, where people claim to be a PC, actually do to further their cause either.  Speaking of furthering their cause.

Microsoft, in my humble opinion, has the most powerful marketing ever known to man.  They shouldn’t care that another company has whole 10% or whatever share of the market.  They are the giants of the computer industry and Apple has only made a small dent in their share of the market.  What other company can churn out so many flawed products and still have such a large share of the market.  What if Nike had the marketing of Microsoft?  Could you imagine a more powerful Nike with more of the athletic apparel market?  Well as popular as Nike is, having the marketing success of Microsoft would make them even more popular - that is pretty hard to imagine.

Commercials, on TV, are just played out to me.  God bless whomever has to feed their families by coming up with some of this stuff.  I guess they don’t realize how smart many consumers are today.  We have the Internet and we have so much product information at our fingertips, we would be crazy to just go out and buy something based on a dumb commercial.  Or would we?

Here is something to think about.  I would be willing to bet that many people in the TV business and advertising have a Tivo/DVR at home.  Think about that for a second.  Does that really make sense?  Hmmm.

Don’t you think it is about time you get control of your computer? If you are fully aware of what is going on with your computer then this isn’t for you, but it would be nice if you gave any nuggets of advice you have to share. Also, and I just have to say this, if you are using a Mac you probably don’t have this problem.

The problem I speak of, the control you should have, is the software that is running on your computer right now. It is your computer and it is only right for you to know what is running - background applications too. We are living in a time where we have an application for so many things that computer companies and those with malicious intent will slip something extra in without you knowing. I’m talking about crapware.

Crapware is software that you don’t want on your computer. There is some debate concerning what is and isn’t crapware because a piece of software that one person wants might be something that another person doesn’t. Some software will fall in the grey area where people need - or they think they need - certain features of the software but it causes them grief by causing system slowdown or instability. Yes, there it is right there! What I’m talking about could be causing your computer to slow down right now. If that doesn’t get your attention this is either old hat to you or you are using a Mac. Otherwise, you need to know about crapware and what you can do about it.

For the most part crapware makes its way to your system courtesy of the manufacturer (Dell, HP, Sony, etc.) or is included as a bonus (yeah right) when you install other software. Think about it, you may enjoy playing all those demo games and like the fact that you have a 60-day trial of Norton Security Suite, but what happens later? One thing that will happen is you will keep getting bugged when those trials run out. Do you think those programs just start to ask you to upgrade or they are running in the background all the time? Yep, there is a good change those programs are quietly and almost transparently robbing your computer of precious resources. Don’t worry, there is hope.

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it’s fast and contains NO Spyware or Adware! I have used this one personally and it seems to work.

AutoRuns is a utlility I haven’t used personally, but I would hope it is safe and works since it is from Microsoft.  AutoRuns shows what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login and shows the entries in the order Windows processes them.  Good information to know if you think a dubious program could be bogging your system down.

One of the downfalls of Microsoft’s operating systems (Windows XP and Vista) is the need to routinely clean things up to keep the system running optimally.  This is something we should know, but it isn’t really verbalized as much as it should be.  Honestly, there are people who make money performing routine maintenance on computers.  This is what they love to hear: “Yes, my name is John Doe and my system is running slower than when I first got it.  Is there anything you can do to speed it up?”  Can you say cha-ching?