Tutorial: Remove PeoplePC Software (BartShel.exe, etc) and create Dial-Up Networking Connection

Tutorial: Remove PeoplePC Software (BartShel.exe, etc) and create Dial-Up Networking Connection

[This tutorial is intended for existing PeoplePC dial-up customers who want to remove the PeoplePC software, and still be able to use their PeoplePC dial-up account. It is a outline for those of you using Internet Explorer on Windows XP. Be sure to make browser/OS specific version specific adjustments. I'm not a software company. I'm just a guy, at my house. Ergo, you are on your own, so be careful and do a little of your own thinking.]

What will change when I do this:

In practical terms, nothing much. The dial-up service will connect faster, you will not be forced to wait for the PeoplePC shell application and browser to load. There are a few visual changes. One nice feature is that the PeoplePC auto-disconnect will no longer kick you off line at arbitrary times.

You will also no longer be forced to use the PeoplePC homepage. You can always set that back if you like.

Two methods of notification to you from PeoplePC will change:

Local Access Numbers: You will not get an automatically updated list of telephone numbers through the PeoplePC connection manager however, you'll have to monitor that yourself, but you can sign up through http://www.peoplepc.com/connect/internet_access.asp (using the request access number link at the bottom of the page) to be notified if anything changes in your local dial-up neighborhood.

Email: You will not get an 'email received' notification from the PeoplePC Browser/Javascript script if you do not use PeoplePC's home page. This is no biggie really, since all you have to do is have your pop email client (Outlook Express, Thunderbird, or whatever) notify you when new email arrives. There are instructions to setup Outlook Express: http://home.peoplepc.com/helpinfo/emailsettings/default.asp

Gather Information:

1. Make sure you have a properly working PeoplePC account. Verify this by dialing up and logging in by clicking the little blue smiley-face icon located in your system tray, desktop, or however you normally do it. If all that is okay, continue. If not, don't make any changes yet. Get your service working before you proceed. Calling PeoplePC support might help. You may want to have your PeoplePC CD handy or the most recent version where you can reinstall it if need be.
   
2. Get an updated list of dialup numbers for your area: http://www.peoplepc.com/connect/internet_access.asp Copy/Paste the ones appropriate for your area into a text file, which you should save somewhere in a file named something like peoplepc_access_numbers.txt.
3. Type/Write down your complete email address and password. Make sure these are exactly what you've used to connect in step 1. It's safer if you copy and paste this whenever possible.
   

Setup the Connection

• Click on Start..Settings.. Network Connections.. New Connection Wizard..[NOT NETWORK SETUP WIZARD]
  

• NEXT, (Connect to the Internet) NEXT, (Setup My Connection) Manually NEXT, (Connect using dial-up modem) NEXT

Type a name: PeoplePC Hack (or whatever)
Type A phone number: (copy a phone number from your list to this location)
User name: your_user_name@peoplepc.com
Password: ******** (your password)
Verify Password: ******** (your password again)
Probably check 'use this', and 'make this'

• NEXT

• Check "add a shortcut to my desktop'
• FINISH

You should get the dial-up dialogue box pop up as soon as that action is complete.

• You might want to check 'save this user' and 'anyone'

Double Check your area code in the phone number box, or if you need a 1 and all that under 'Dialing Rules'.

Make sure the modem properly dials the phone number. If it is a long distance number, you are going to be paying toll for the call.. so check into that.

Also, important:

• Properties..Options.. Idle time: never.

Remove PeoplePC Software

• Start.. Settings..Control Panel.. Add/Remove Programs..

Items to uninstall:

• PeoplePC Online - Change/Remove - Yes - OK (don't reboot yet)
• PeoplePC:PeoplePC Toolbar v X.x - Change/Remove - OK

It's up to you whether or not to uninstall

• PeoplePC Internet Security Pack Change/Remove [I did. I already have this functionality with other applications, and freed up 764 MB of drive space]
  

• Close any open applications.
• Reboot

Note:

You will no longer use the blue smiley-face icon (which should be gone) to connect. You will just click on your dialup connection shortcut, or just open your web browser or email client to initiate a connection. ]

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That's it. You are now free of BartShel.exe, Toolbar, and all that, and can enjoy your inexpensive PeoplePC dial-up account with simplicity and with ease.

Experiencing the People PC Dial-up Product

When my wife and I first moved to Portland, and needed net access, we usually stopped down at the library in St. Johns. That was a fun outing, but could turn into a hassle if there are a lot of people were waiting to get online. They also strictly limit you to an hour (with an application that closes your browser session and logs you off, regardless of what you are doing), so we had been hoping to get some kind of service at the house for awhile.

Knowing we were going to be where we were staying at her dad's for only a short time, and being somewhat broke, one day at Fred Meyer, we picked up a PeoplePC CD with a kind of garish blue and white cover, featuring a running stick man, and decided to give it a try. Under my windows-software-installation-suspicious eyes, installation went smoothly, and the service worked okay, albeit kind of slowly. But it was cheap, and free from any long term commitment. $5.47 per month, for the first 3 months, and 10.96 thereafter.

Not that we weren't grateful, but one of the main problems I found right away with the service is their BartShel.exe module, which manages the dial-up connection, acceleration setting, and what have you. It is resource intensive (slow), and doesn't always cooperate with other installed software. Parts of the service application design are not robust, difficult to understand, and impossible to control. You are forced to keep a IE window open which can't be minimized or closed, which is pointed at their homepage, and which generates script errors in Internet Explorer. They have a search window, at the top which launches a new iteration of Internet Explorer at the target url. To this I'll add, I don't really dislike it as much as some other packages I've seen, but I also don't want more unnecessary software on my pc, simply the dial-up connection.

Their customer interaction methods rely heavily on Javascript, which (in my case) spits a lot of error messages, and that, on probably one of the most common browser/os platforms on the planet (ie/xp). I'd recommend they rethink that approach. The customer is always in a better position if they have the ability to make their own choices. PeoplePC is not, an online service. They are a dial-up internet access provider. They should, at minimum, provid dial-up internet access. Services or features beyond that shouldn't take away from their core offering, but should be optional, easy to add or remove.

It's all academic at this point, since I just bypassed BartShel and uninstalled it, which you can read about in my next post. The advise I'd offer PeoplePC (for which they won't probably ask) is that it is would be better for them not to try to manage every aspect of a person's account and online experience especially not with code that can't work across a variety of browsers.

We'll see if my adjustments can turn PeoplePC dial-up into the product I actually want, instead of the one they want to offer me. The price is still right, and on a good day, the network approaches speeds that can be considered usable.

Also, we recently ordered the new peoplepc DSL product, for which we haven't heard or seen many other reviews. We'll see how that goes.

I'll keep you posted on the status of DSL from them, which is now available through Earthlink, although their homepage still officially states they don't offer such services as DSL. You get a graphic link simply stating PeoplePC DSL in your proprietary uncloseable ie connection manager window, so I imagine you'd have to already be a customer in order to see it.

Thanks,

-Warren

Survival of Blog Setup

Hey, I made it through.. templates and all.

I've been meaning to do some publishing for quite some time, and found a good excuse today. So, here is my Blog at blogspot.com. Yeay!


Thanks for reading,

-Warren