I wandered into my office last night to check on a client’s PC and knew immediately that something was wrong. The office was conspicuously quiet. My usually noisy computer sat silently under my desk in an electricity-deprived coma. I pressed the power button but wasn’t surprised that nothing happened. I checked a few connections and went through the usual troubleshooting only to determine that there would be no “Aha!” moment. My computer was dead. I’ve not had the heart to begin the morning’s post-mortem.

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Every now and then I come across something on the Web that blows me away. This week I’d like to share something that I can’t help feeling is the most exciting cross between media and technology since Tivo. It’s called Pandora, and I have no doubt that you’ll be as enthralled with it as I am.

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Windows programs behave like messy children at times.

Microsoft Word has a bad habit of running out the door and forgetting to delete temporary backup files it makes while you type documents.

Adobe Reader unloads a toy box full of goodies into a temporary folder every time you download and install a new version.

Internet Explorer is a pack rat: Every time you take Explorer for a spin on the Internet — even if it’s just for a quick glance at a few news sites — it furiously scribbles down copies of everything it sees and stores it on your hard drive.

What you need is a handyman to dig deep and clean up after messy programs. Wallets are tight, though, so you need one that will do all that hard cleanup work fast, but for free. If your new handyman could fix a few other things around the house and make the place run a little more smoothly, that would be great too.

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An increasing number of viruses and other types of malware pose as friendly geek Samaritans, selflessly willing to rid your PC of woes that you never knew it had.

Unfortunately, these often-convincing programs are designed to fool you, infect your PC and steal your money.

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You probably already know what it is, and you probably either love it or hate it. You might use it only because it was turned on by default. You might not know about it because someone turned it off for you and you’ve not seen it since. You might just want me to cut to the chase and introduce the topic for the day so that you can decide if you want to invest another five minutes reading the column or move along. Fair enough. Today, we’re going to talk about the “Preview Pane” in Outlook and Outlook Express. When we’re done, you’ll be savvy enough to know whether or not it’s for you.

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Windows programs can be messy. I don’t think they intend to be, but they tend to act like children at times. Microsoft Word has a bad habit of running out the door and forgetting to delete the temporary files it made as backups of the document you were typing. Adobe Acrobat unloads a whole toy box full of goodies into your personal temporary folder every time you download a new version. Internet Explorer – well, that kid’s just a pack rat. Every single time you hop onto the Internet – even if it’s just for a quick spin around the news sites – he’s furiously scribbling down copies of everything he sees and storing them on your hard drive, just in case you might ever need to trot something out and look at it again.

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There are an increasing number of viruses and other types of malware that are designed to fool you, infect your PC and steal your money. If you’ve used a computer on the Internet, you’ve probably come across some of these fake “friends” yourself. Perhaps you were surfing away and suddenly a box popped up on your screen saying that you’re infected with a virus. Oh no! Maybe it will tell you that you’re computer is overrun with or spyware, or that your “registry” is damaged or needs to be cleaned. It sounds horrible, but the message box also assures you that it can perform a free scan of your computer and fix the problem. What should you do?

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If you’ve had your computer for a while, take a look at your mouse. Pay particular attention to the left mouse button – the one you’re used to clicking all the time. Is the plastic a little bit worn from where you’ve clicked it a few bajillion times? Maybe there’s a little bit of “finger-dirt buildup” lingering right around the sweet spot where you’re used to resting your finger. Now, look at your right mouse button. If you noticed much “wear and tear” on the left button, see how the right button compares. If it looks like you’ve never even clicked the poor neglected thing, this week’s article is for you.

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This week, a reader writes:

My grandson evidently connected his window messenger to my computer when he was here last time. How do I get him off? I’ve now signed up for Windows Messenger but his name kept coming up instead of mine. I had to “knock” him offline and sign in. Can I get him off for good?

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I’ve just been made aware of an annoying new trend that I thought my readers should be aware of. Was Santa good to you this Christmas? Perhaps he dropped a new Dell laptop or PC down your chimney this year in exchange for a few cookies and a glass of milk. Unfortunately, if he stopped by Wal-Mart on the way to your house to buy that shiny new computer, he might not have known that Dell will refuse to provide service to you if you need it (and if it was pre-loaded with Microsoft Vista, chances are good that you will) because, according to Dell, Wal-Mart still “owns” your PC, not you.

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