Messages

1

Non-Windows Software / Re: linux mint newbie

« on: November 07, 2015, 05:22 PM »

I see there are different Linux 'flavors' each with its own +'s & -'s.
I am heavily invested in Windows 7, but I see a growing consensus that future Windows releases may not be the way to go.
It looks like a good course for me to follow would be to begin a long-term interest to familiarize myself with Linux, towards the day I must upgrade from Win 7 to Win 10 or something even newer as yet unreleased (i.e. Win 11, 12... etc.).
That would be a good time to switch from Windows 7 to a Linux OS.
By then I would have a better idea what 'flavor' to switch to.

2

Non-Windows Software / Re: linux mint newbie

« on: November 02, 2015, 06:38 AM »

Tnx Shades & 40hz. 
I see here at http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2932 that a new update is due out any time now.

3

Non-Windows Software / linux mint newbie

« on: November 01, 2015, 11:12 AM »

Before I try wading through a mountain of help files, although I don't mind doing that once I get a basic feeling of orientation, I was hoping to get some answers to a few basic questions.
I downloaded the latest linux mint 64 bit iso, burned to dvd, and booted from it.
My hard drive with Windows 7 was accessible as a data drive.
The lower task bar font was microscopic and nonreadable, but I enlarged it nicely.
I got online with Firefox, but TOR Linux 32 & 64 bit gave error mssgs on dnld & extract.
I made a few basic changes, like setting up a sound driver.
I could not set up shortcuts from the HD to linux mint desktop.
Finally I rebooted, and lost all my changes.

How do you set changes permanently to linux with a dvd, or can't you?
Do you still need an antivirus with just linux mint on dvd, or only if you run an accessory HD?
Can a root kit still invade the mobo if you only run linux mint on dvd?

edit: I do have a 500 GB SATA HD I could spare for this.
Would that enable me to save changes to the OS?
Would I need antivirus protection?

4

Living Room / Re: What are your favorite movies?

« on: October 03, 2015, 09:12 PM »

The Hidden Fortress

5

Living Room / Re: What are your favorite movies?

« on: October 03, 2015, 03:48 AM »

Seven Samurai (inspiration for The Magnificent Seven)

6

General Software Discussion / Re: macro to edit a .txt file?

« on: October 01, 2015, 07:37 AM »

How would I tell WG to find numbers 0 thru 9 and colon [:] all in one shot and make them disappear?

-bit (September 30, 2015, 11:49 PM)

([\[\]\d":]) - match [, ], digits, ", or :

-4wd (October 01, 2015, 01:45 AM)

Good gosh, that's exactly the string you had already put in your screen shot, right in front of me.
Amazing; nothing happens as I type in the string character by character until the last entry, then shoom!, it gives you exactly what you want in one big transformation. 

7

General Software Discussion / Re: macro to edit a .txt file?

« on: September 30, 2015, 11:49 PM »

WildGem

[ Invalid Attachment ]

Or if you want to do a global search and replace over multiple files there's Find & Replace or PSPad, both free.

-4wd (September 30, 2015, 08:47 PM)

Way cool.
How would I tell WG to find numbers 0 thru 9 and colon [:] all in one shot and make them disappear?
I can get it to do one number at a time so far, and it seems to have no file size or page limits.

8

General Software Discussion / Re: macro to edit a .txt file?

« on: September 30, 2015, 03:55 PM »

I got it to convert/process chapter #1, then successfully added #2, #3, & #4, and then it hung when I tried to add #5, with chapter #6 & #7 still to go.
This was with about one page per chapter, so it's pretty short.
SedTester does a great job of removing numbers & characters, esp. with the extra script comments by you and 4x4 on how to remove those other brackets.
If there was some way to increase its capacity, it would be even more useful.

My eyes aren't what they were, and I like to convert digital English language text to number-free format for audio playback with TextAssist, which also displays the text on playback, giving me built-in 'subtitles' to look at in case I didn't hear something spoken clearly enough to recognize it.
I can also play back numbered text, but it's a little tedious sometimes hearing spoken numbers with every line. 

9

General Software Discussion / Re: macro to edit a .txt file?

« on: September 30, 2015, 01:50 AM »

I was referring to a Linux or DOS (with sed added) command-line, not to SedTester.

In SedTester you'd have to only paste the quoted part in the SED expression field: s/[0-9"]//g
and check the -r checkbox
Like this (I pasted the Input text from AbteriX' post):

[ Invalid Attachment ]

-Ath (September 30, 2015, 01:24 AM)

Success! Wow, that's powerful!
PS - I see you also check-boxed 'Autocheck'; and when I did that, it worked. 
PS - For some text, the unwanted numbers look like this:
1:1: (plus desired text)
1:2:
1:3:

With s/[0-9"]//g only, it leaves this:
 : : (plus desired text)
 : :
 : :

If I add : to the script, like this: s/[0-9":]//g
it also removes all the colons [:]

Some text sources list unwanted numbers in [square brackets], and although SedTester still removes the numbers, the square brackets cannot be removed with SedTester.
However, a simple text 'search & replace' for the brackets or colons easily removes them all.

PS - Is there a way to increase the text body size limit to, say, 50 pages of text?
I froze up SedTester with a 13 page text file size.

10

Living Room / Re: Any photoshoppers feel like trying to hauntify a house photo

« on: September 30, 2015, 01:25 AM »

Cool house! I don't feel competent enough to do what you want.
But you could also set up one of these:
Remote Controlled Flying Ghoul Prank Freaks Out Joggers & People In Park
(esp. starting at 1:45)

Full size remote control flying Witch

Skeleton on the motorcycle scares people- Prank Brazilian

11

General Software Discussion / Re: macro to edit a .txt file?

« on: September 29, 2015, 06:48 PM »

Well, I didn't say sed was easy

You'd get the desired result by using this command-line:

Code: Text [Select]

1. sed -r -e 's/[0-9"]//g' input-file >output-file

Or optionally add the -i parameter and remove the '>output-file' part to do a destructive, in-place, replacement in multiple input-files but not keeping the original file(s).

-Ath (September 29, 2015, 10:17 AM)

I clicked on 'Select', and copy & paste highlighted string into top window of SedTester, then pasted sample text in which each line is consecutively numbered into first large window.
Second large window says:
sed: -e expression #1, char 26: Unterminated 's' command
Error 1

I tried individually checking each check box, but no success yet.
Tnx. Over to you?

12

General Software Discussion / Re: macro to edit a .txt file?

« on: September 29, 2015, 07:23 AM »

I thought of a possible alternate method to eliminate numbers, but it won't work so far.
My desired application is to use TextAssist v.4.0 (i.e. TA) for text-to-speech playback on text that has every line consecutively numbered.
TA allows the use of specialized 'speech dictionaries' (suffix '.tad') in which you can set it up to substitute words in speech.
For instance, a hypothetical 'block.tad' speech dictionary may be selected, and the word 'cube' in print, can be set up to be spoken as 'block'.
Thus; "I found a cube," in print, would be spoken, "I found a block."
So I tried creating a 'no numbers.tad' speech dictionary, and entered numbers 0 through 9, with no spoken equivalent, the idea being to induce TA to say nothing when encountering numbers.

But some entries seem to be hard-wired, and the attempt failed.
I've tried to find where these hard-wired entries are located in a TA program file, without success.
If I could open and edit the hard-wired entry list, perhaps a separate copy of TA might be set up, with a backup original copy preserved.

So it was a thought, but I have no idea how it might be done.

13

General Software Discussion / Re: macro to edit a .txt file?

« on: September 28, 2015, 10:40 PM »

^With apology, I tried Sed and even viewed a nice yt 'how to' about it, but it seems a little too technical for me.
Tnx just the same.

14

General Software Discussion / macro to edit a .txt file?

« on: September 28, 2015, 01:27 AM »

I could sure use a simple program snack or 'macro' that allows me to delete numbers 0 thru 9, and the quote marks, in a .txt file, with just a few clicks. 

15

Living Room / Re: Possible rootkit attack

« on: September 28, 2015, 12:12 AM »

^Heh.  What shall we do with a drunken sailor...
The BIOS boot pop-up is found to be a legitimate ASUS mobo 'case open' mssg.
I found and disabled it, and time will tell, but I suspect now that was the problem.
OTOH, my clock continues to be goofy and I think I really need to check out a new CMOS battery. 

16

Living Room / Re: Possible rootkit attack

« on: September 27, 2015, 08:22 PM »

If you google the error message, you'll see a lot if hits (like this). Most of them blame an Asus motherboard and say you can go into the BIOS and disable the chassis intrusion setting, or check the relevant jumper on the motherboard and make sure it is jumped.

-x16wda (September 27, 2015, 06:38 PM)

^Checking this out......
Yes, mine is an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium, and it was exactly as you said; I found the case open warning set to 'enabled' in BIOS and disabled it. 
Also, I swapped in a different disk in the disk drive and now it reads it just fine.
And my other SATA WD HD that had long ago stopped booting after clone backups to it, just booted perfectly.

17

Living Room / Re: Possible rootkit attack

« on: September 27, 2015, 06:19 PM »

That 'weird' BIOS on boot pop-up reappeared, with a failed boot-up.
This time, the Lazesoft boot-fix disk failed to fix it.
This is what the pop-up message said (appearance simulated here with double line brackets):
============================
Message Confirmation
The system intruded, chassis opened or tempered before ,
Please check the system
[OK]
============================
It wanted me to click on the [OK]; I did not click on the [OK].
The 'weird' pop-up was green with black letters, which seems nonstandard.
Normally, legitimate BIOS pop-up mssgs are a different color.

I switched to a clean backup EIDE Maxtor HD and rebooted successfully.
My pc seems to read the CD/DVD disk drive OK on boot, but not from Desktop.
I am preparing to run a new/repeat [EASE US Todo Backup Free 4.0] HD clone backup from the EIDE Maxtor HD to the failed-boot SATA Western Digital HD, but am becoming increasingly skeptical of lasting success.

I will look into replacing the CMOS clock battery, as Shades suggests.

18

General Software Discussion / Re: clock synch problem

« on: September 27, 2015, 06:08 PM »

If your clock is off by that much each passing day, you might be replacing the CMOS battery on your motherboard. These are not expensive , very available and easy to replace, even if you don't/won't do computer hardware repair. Because of previous posts in different threads on this forum, I know you have an older system and batteries on motherboards usually last between 3 to 5 years. 

Once you have done that, also check the regional settings to see if your computer is in the correct time-zone. That can also cause unexpected hour jumps. Especially when you are in a time zone that uses one system for DST and the (MS) server that verifies your clock using another DST system. This is always messy around May and October of each year.

For example: the US uses DST and apply this when each celestial equinox occurs. Most of the other countries that use DST, use the end of seasons as the moment to apply DST. There is usually a two/three week difference between those DST events.

Although this doesn't seem like a big deal for most people, it is a major source of headache for programmers that actually need to apply this properly in applications. Kind of a 'Damned if you do, damned if you don't'-deal, while being in a 'between a rock and a hard place'-kinda situation.

-Shades (September 27, 2015, 08:20 AM)

I'll look into replacing the CMOS battery.
Plz see my other thread, renamed 'Possible rootkit attack' (formerly 'TOR Vidalia - cannot connect') for further info. Thank you.

19

General Software Discussion / Re: clock synch problem

« on: September 27, 2015, 05:59 PM »

Is it exactly an hour, or two, off? Or some random amount of time between an hour and two? Does it drift gradually throughout the day after you fix it? Or is it suddenly way off?

Did you install CryptoPrevent? What "protection level" are you using?

-ayryq (September 27, 2015, 05:00 PM)

No, not 'exactly' one hour off; more like 'random wandering'.
I'm using 'Default' level in CryptoPrevent.
Now, my pc is having trouble reading D: (disk drive) from Desktop, but seems to read it OK on boot.

Plz see my other thread, renamed 'Possible rootkit attack' (formerly 'TOR Vidalia - cannot connect') for further info. Thank you.

20

General Software Discussion / clock synch problem

« on: September 27, 2015, 06:46 AM »

On Win 7, my pc clock keeps going out of synch by an hour or two a day.
When I go to double-check and correct it, after I right click on it and choose 'adjust date and time', the first thing I get is a pop-up that says, "CryptoPrevent - A restricted .CPL program has been blocked:
C:\Windows\System32\timedate.cpl
Allow program to run?"
Then I click on 'yes', choose Internet Time tab, and Change Settings, Update Now, and OK, and it is corrected... ...until the next day when it happens all over again.

edit: I think I just answered my own question.
I have CryptoPrevent, created by FoolishIT, which is an anti-CryptoLocker ransomware blocker.
I may have chosen unduly strict protection options, blocking my own Desktop clock. :P

21

Living Room / Re: TOR Vidalia - cannot connect

« on: September 26, 2015, 02:42 PM »

This is all just guesswork, and I only have procedural ability (push this button, insert this disk, etc.), not tech.
This morning, none of my HDs would boot.
The Fix:
Hit del on boot, had to reset CMOS/BIOS device boot priority to DVD first.
(no bogus BIOS popups appeared).
Tried various boot disks......FINALLY tried Lazesoft bootable recovery CD, hit basic 'bootfix'.
Fixed & rebooted from HD successfully.
So I'm back......thinking of running Malwarebytes full scan, maybe Norton full scan, not sure what else.

22

Living Room / Re: TOR Vidalia - cannot connect

« on: September 24, 2015, 11:57 PM »

I seemed to have a rootkit which was causing startup to go directly into BIOS and give me a pop-up that used poor English and flawed grammar, informing me that 'something intruded' and asking me to click on OK.
I didn't click on 'OK', I hit 'reset' button, which rebooted successfully to Desktop.
Every so often, the weird BIOS pop-up would reappear, and 'reset' got me past it.
I have [FoolishIT], which I'm guessing was partially blocking a full-blown rootkit takeover.
So I did a backup restore of my entire OS from an older backup HD which was saved about April 2015.
Among a plethora of other actions, I ditched free AVG and updated Norton 360 Premier (which was never uninstalled from the backup), and I reinstalled Malwarebytes, which used to delay all folder & file openings for 10 to 20 seconds, and the MWB-related folder & file opening delays are gone.
A MWB scan found 6 threats and killed them.
I also ran updates and scans with Adwcleaner (which killed a few baddies), Desinstaller, and JRT.exe.
Then I spent a couple hours searching for vital up-to-date files on the goofed up HD that needed to be copied to the backup outdated HD.
Then I ran Glary reg-check, then CCleaner cleaner & reg-check, then ChkDskAssist on the backup HD.
Finally, I ran a [EaseUS Todo Backup Free 4.0] clone HD restore from the good but outdated HD to the goofed up-to-date HD.
AFAICT, all threats are gone, everything is up-to-date on both HDs, the backup HD is updated & disconnected again for 'the next time', and everything seems to be running smoothly.
On top of all this, I also discovered my vintage TOR Vidalia works fine now.

23

Living Room / Re: TOR Vidalia - cannot connect

« on: September 23, 2015, 11:11 PM »

I installed it where it wants to install, to Desktop\Tor Browser.
On a one-time basis, after each fresh uninstall, reg check, and reinstall, it starts and progresses all the way to 'Loading authority certificates', then hangs.
On all subsequent restarts, it only progresses to 'Loading network status' and hangs.

I have contacted their help email address.
I think they may show me how to access and send them the log, for troubleshooting.
If so, I'll confirm success or failure here. Tnx. 

24

Living Room / Re: TOR Vidalia - cannot connect

« on: September 23, 2015, 10:41 PM »

Try the alpha version: https://www.torproje...tall-5.5a3_en-US.exe

All I did was run it to extract, then run the Start Tor Browser shortcut, clicking Connect on the next window.

Just tried again, took 35 seconds for connection on first run, 5 seconds for subsequent runs.

Copy the folder to a flash drive and try it on another computer.

I entered Firewall and set a rule to 'allow' TOR connect & TOR exe; no success.

-bit (September 23, 2015, 09:38 PM)

What TOR Connect ?

-4wd (September 23, 2015, 10:27 PM)

re: [What TOR Connect ?]: I meant 'Start Tor Browser'.
^I'll give it a try, and tnx.
PS - My PC clock keeps resetting itself 2 hours ahead, and just did it again.
When I first right click on the clock to correct it, the first thing I always get (and didn't used to) is a pop-up mssg;
"A restricted .CPL program has been blocked:
C:\Windows\System32\timedate.cpl
Allow program to run?"

I discovered some setting that should be checked to maintain the clock, wasn't checkmarked, and just reset it again.

25

Living Room / Re: TOR Vidalia - cannot connect

« on: September 23, 2015, 09:38 PM »

Hasn't TOR Vidalia ceased to exist?

Now it's either TorBrowser or the main gateway/relay program.

TorBrowser 5.5a3 (latest alpha) connected OK after about a minute the first time I started it, thereafter it connected in about 10 seconds.

Only needed to allow tor.exe through the firewall.

-4wd (September 23, 2015, 09:13 PM)

Now you mention it, yes, I see I've actually installed torbrowser-install-5.0.3_en-US.exe.
I tried basic connect option, and it 'starts', but never 'connects'.
I tried various 'provided bridges'; no success.
I entered Firewall and set a rule to 'allow' TOR connect & TOR exe; no success.
I entered Advanced Firewall, set a rule to allow 'domain', 'private', & 'public' (i.e. 'all'); no success.

I've seen some reports that if your PC clock is off by even a few minutes it can fail to connect, but I just reset my clock to check automatically with correct zone Internet time last night and it should be good.