Messages

51

Post New Requests Here / Re: Turn a batch file into an AHK script.

« on: May 29, 2013, 09:11 AM »

My drives are all still working and the sun has disappeared (yet again) but I don't think that was your fault. 

If you start it after a VPN connection and it can't run rasdial or rasdial throws an error then it won't show the tray icon

If VIndicator is run at start-up or as I have it set as a scheduled task is that not avoided?
If rasdial does not run would that not prevent a VPN from connecting, at least in the way that I am using it? 
Just trying to understand the technicalities.

The log files are not a big issue, several of the disk cleaning programs I use get rid of them without my changing anything.

Whenever I see log files I am reminded of a weather program I used before I started using sWeather, every time it checked for a change in conditions it created a separate log file, as it ran all the time and checked frequently by the time I discovered what was happening I had quite literally hundreds of them, if I remember correctly they were quite a bit bigger than yours and for some reason all my cleaning programs were ignoring them?

I appreciate there is quite a lot of information that can be picked up from a connection but how often do people check it.
When you started helping me with this I looked at the information that is available through the context menu of NAI, I had never looked at it before and I have never looked at it since.
Mind you, if I do want any usage information I can get it from Networx.

Having logging as an option sounds like a very good idea, I might not use it but I'm sure that some people would.

Personally I'm a great believer in simplicity (there are those who would say I had a head start on everybody else) and I was trying not to complicate things for you. 

52

Living Room / Re: SSD's - How They Work Plus Tips

« on: May 29, 2013, 04:51 AM »

When it comes to cache and temp files if you have enough memory put them on a RAM Disk, no loss of speed and if you want to save it on shutdown you can.

-pilgrim (May 28, 2013, 09:37 AM)

There have been one or two lengthy discussions here on the pros and cons of RAMdisks. Do you see significant benefits, pilgrim?

-johnk (May 28, 2013, 11:24 PM)

As I commented elsewhere I never benchmark anything so my answer/opinion is entirely subjective.

Compared to my newest PC both my XP computers are slow, the Netbook has an N270 (OC'd to 1.74Ghz), the PC a 3.066Ghz P4, both are limited to 2GB of RAM which in turn limits the size of RAMDisk I can use.
One of the first things I moved was the Firefox cache and in my opinion that definitely improved things on both computers, for other things I would say that there was an improvement but by how much is debatable.

On my newest PC I have 16GB of RAM, most of the time my normal usage rarely exceeds half that so a 4GB RAMDrive is not a problem, I do not have a Page File.
Because of the overall specifications of the machine and the fact that the system drive is an SSD any advantages in terms of performance are probably minimal.
Having said that, it keeps the cache and temp files off of the SSD and it is faster than it would be if I had moved them to a hard drive.
Also, as I said in my previous post I use it for other things.

The bottom line: As long as I had the resources in terms of available RAM I would always use a RAMDisk.
Would I recommend them to others? Subject to the same criteria yes, there is something to gain and as far as I can see nothing to lose.
I am only aware of one thing that some might consider a negative and that is if you save a RAMDisk image that has a lot of files on it, it will increase your start-up times, by how much depends on the files involved and the system itself.
That's one of the reasons my image contains just a few empty folders, if I am about to shut down and want to save anything else I simply copy it to a hard drive.

Open at your own risk!

I was surprised at the reservations expressed about SSD's in this thread.
I know that to start with there were problems with some of them.
But unless I am mistaken I'm sure I read something recently that said SSD's can be cured?

53

Post New Requests Here / Re: Turn a batch file into an AHK script.

« on: May 29, 2013, 04:15 AM »

The Netbook is pretty slow which is why 'sleep' was added between the 'start' items, and because Peerblock always tries to check everything when it starts, its icon still opens several seconds after the connection is made.

If devcon's speed was an issue surely that would affect my existing batch file as well?

I don't think the AV is affecting things as I was trying the script out after the computer had been running for some time and according to the Task Manager nearly all the CPU usage was on the System Idle Process and the AV wasn't showing any.

Don't waste any more time on it unless you want to, the batch file in my last post works every time, all I was trying to do was loose the flag file anyway. 


Thanks for the update to VIndicator, I was intending to ask you today if it was ready for a wider audience yet?
I also have a couple of other questions about it:

You have mentioned before about getting away from its dependency on rasdial but as the most recent versions have proved reliable is there any particular reason for doing so?

Log files: When I moved the latest update into the folder I am running it from I noticed that it is creating a separate log file for each day that it is run, they are I admit only 1kb each but is there any built in limit to their number?
If not, once you decide you have gone as far as you can with the program and do not need possible debug information any more will there be an actual need for them?

54

General Software Discussion / Re: Opera 15 Preview

« on: May 28, 2013, 09:47 AM »

I use Opera Mail on Windows 7 and after the problems I had setting it up I have been wondering about what the changes to Opera will mean.
My inclination was not to update Opera for now and see what other people think, having looked at the quote above I might leave it as it is permanently.

55

Living Room / Re: SSD's - How They Work Plus Tips

« on: May 28, 2013, 09:37 AM »

When it comes to cache and temp files if you have enough memory put them on a RAM Disk, no loss of speed and if you want to save it on shutdown you can.

I use Dataram RAMDisk on all my computers, on Windows 7 it's set to 4GB and holds all the cache and temp files for both 7 and XP Mode.
I also use it to temporarily install to if I just want to check out any software or get a product key.

I keep an image file with just the empty folders I use, save the image to a normal hard drive and it reloads at startup.

56

Post New Requests Here / Re: Turn a batch file into an AHK script.

« on: May 28, 2013, 09:16 AM »

devcon status "*DEV_001C*" | find /i "disabled"

So what does the above produce for enabled/disabled?

-4wd (May 26, 2013, 07:05 AM)

enabled: Nothing!
disabled: Device is disabled

And what does this output:

Code: Text [Select]

1. devcon status "*DEV_001C*" | find /i "disabled" >NUL
2. if errorlevel 1 goto running
3. echo disabled
4. goto alldone
5. :running
6. echo enabled
7. :alldone
8. pause

C:\Documents and Settings\Pilgrim\My Documents\Received Files>
devcon status "*DEV_001C*"   | find /i "disabled"  1>NUL
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.
The process tried to write to a nonexistent pipe.

I'm attaching a copy of the full script I'm running in case it is of use:

57

General Software Discussion / Re: Connection Conundrum

« on: May 27, 2013, 07:43 AM »

OK, a partial report:

I tried enabling the R&RA service nothing changed.

Tried tracert (7):

1 General Failure.

Checked Event Viewer and it showed the following for one failed connection:

CoId={AE3F56B9-E6A4-4FCF-BB7B-1DBE6D654A5E}: The user PILGRIMS-PC\Pilgrim is trying to establish a link to the Remote Access Server for the connection named VPN - NL using the following device:
Server address/Phone Number = 'IP Adress'
Device = WAN Miniport (PPTP)
Port = VPN3-1
MediaType = VPN.

For another failed connection it showed:

CoId={63B5372A-8D8F-4644-925E-8E40E890A72B}: The user PILGRIMS-PC\Pilgrim has started dialing a VPN connection using a all-user connection profile named VPN - NL. The connection settings are:
Dial-in User = 'username'
VpnStrategy = PPTP
DataEncryption = Require
PrerequisiteEntry =
AutoLogon = No
UseRasCredentials = Yes
Authentication Type = CHAP/MS-CHAPv2
Ipv4DefaultGateway = Yes
Ipv4AddressAssignment = By Server
Ipv4DNSServerAssignment = By Server
Ipv6DefaultGateway = Yes
Ipv6AddressAssignment = By Server
Ipv6DNSServerAssignment = By Server
IpDnsFlags =
IpNBTEnabled = Yes
UseFlags = Private Connection
ConnectOnWinlogon = No.

Both of the above showed error type = Information.

When it showed an Error it was:

CoId={8E0F690F-7BF5-4925-99D4-05E12EC4C3B5}: The user PILGRIMS-PC\Pilgrim dialed a connection named VPN - NL which has failed. The error code returned on failure is 807.

Unless this tells you anything I'll try again.

58

Living Room / Re: English as it is spoke.

« on: May 27, 2013, 06:14 AM »

...my formal education ended at the age of 10.

-pilgrim (May 27, 2013, 03:46 AM)

Did it really? How so? I'm impressed.
I always tried my damnedest to avoid attending school, but the best I could do was miss 53% of it (on average).

-IainB (May 27, 2013, 05:33 AM)

By that age I could outrun the teachers.

My parents however were determined that I should continue my education, so they locked me in the pantry for several hours each day with a pile of textbooks.

I suppose you could could say that I'm shelf-taught. 

The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth!

My comment, which has been quoted, is actually a true one and has to do with the system not being able to deal with individuality.
These days you hear of children going to college or even university at well below the normal age of acceptance, in my day it never happened.
Even now it is often a question of having sufficient money or knowing the right people - the first was out of the question for me and although I have since met several of the second it wasn't until many years later.

The one advantage that I had was that I could concentrate on anything and everything that interested me while ignoring the rest.
When I was older I spent 15 years studying everything I came across that related to human existence.
I started with religion and ended with quantum theory, having taken in history, philosophy, psychology, and numerous other things along the way, so I now know a certain amount about everything and nothing.

The more I learned the more I realised how little I(/anyone) knew.

(At one point I did consider being a genius........................but I refused to lower my standards.)
(Sorry about that but the alternative to laughing about it is to cry about it and neither would serve a useful purpose.)

Some years ago I was asked to talk to the teenage son of a couple that I knew, although his circumstances were very different to what mine had been he was facing some of the same problems.
So much for progress in education. (Or society for that matter.)

59

Living Room / Re: English as it is spoke.

« on: May 27, 2013, 03:46 AM »

(This appears to be on topic.)

Which one?

You'll have to make allowances for the fact that my formal education ended at the age of 10.

For years I thought that 'irony' was something you did after you did the laundry?

60

General Software Discussion / Re: Connection Conundrum

« on: May 27, 2013, 03:37 AM »

Thanks for the replies, I'll try the suggestions later and let you know.

Mark0,

The R&RA service is disabled and I'll try with it enabled later, but that doesn't explain why all my other PPTP/L2TP VPN's connect without issue.

4wd,

The VPN ports are open for all traffic in both the firewalls and the router, I have even tried a second router and it was doing the same thing.
My usual router does not require rules for VPN's, in the other one the rules were set up manually when I started using the provider whose server I am having trouble with.
As I said in the original post I have tried shutting down both firewalls and the AV (Avira) without any change, I have the same AV on all my computers and they have identical settings apart from file paths to various exclusions, (only one 'Program Files' in XP).
I'll get back to you on tracert.

and you're paranoid

Thanks, I like you too! 

(What's the difference between a 'noid' and a 'paranoid'?
The second implies there's two of them.)

61

Living Room / Re: Google Buys A Quantum Computer

« on: May 26, 2013, 08:35 AM »

40hz,

That's the first time I've heard that and I have now doubled my music collection.

Thank you.

62

Post New Requests Here / Re: Turn a batch file into an AHK script.

« on: May 26, 2013, 07:18 AM »

You're Famous!:

 

I'll check the script out when I'm next using the Netbook. 

63

Living Room / Re: Google Buys A Quantum Computer

« on: May 26, 2013, 06:12 AM »

For all the geniuses of quantum theory, past and present, my hat's off to you all.  I'm totally amazed at your understanding of such things to the point that I wonder if you even came from this planet.  

-Tinman57 (May 25, 2013, 07:52 PM)

"Na nu Na Nu."

That reminds me I must phone home.

EDIT:
P.S. As my Dad used to say "Keep your hat on they're shooting the old 'uns".  

64

Post New Requests Here / Re: Turn a batch file into an AHK script.

« on: May 26, 2013, 06:05 AM »

Code: Text [Select]

1. devcon status "*DEV_001C*" | find /i "disabled" >NUL
2. if errorlevel 1 goto running

You forgot the 1 didn't you?

-4wd (May 26, 2013, 05:54 AM)

Who moi? 

Actually no, I noticed it was missing the first time when I compared it to other scripts I have a note of. 

Still didn't work. 

65

Living Room / Re: English as it is spoke.

« on: May 26, 2013, 05:24 AM »

What they need is a copy of THIS.

I've got one and it's very precise.......................in fact it's precisely 3cm thick which is exactly what I needed to support a table with a damaged leg.
Yes, I'm always working on my English Usage.

66

Living Room / Re: Microsoft keyboard sticking keys

« on: May 26, 2013, 05:09 AM »

Funny, most of mine are ambisextrous ... they'll screw up (non-directional) regardless which hand I use.

-barney (May 26, 2013, 01:06 AM)

Sounds confusing, how can you tell if you're coming or going?

67

Post New Requests Here / Re: Turn a batch file into an AHK script.

« on: May 26, 2013, 03:52 AM »

devcon status CLI results:

Connection Enabled:

C:\Documents and Settings\Pilgrim>devcon status *DEV_001C*
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&SUBSYS_E00C105B&REV_01\4&192AC53F&0&00E0
    Name: Atheros AR5007EG Wireless Network Adapter
    Driver is running.
1 matching device(s) found.

Connection Disabled:

C:\Documents and Settings\Pilgrim>devcon status *DEV_001C*
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&SUBSYS_E00C105B&REV_01\4&192AC53F&0&00E0
    Name: Atheros AR5007EG Wireless Network Adapter
    Device is disabled.
1 matching device(s) found.

68

Living Room / Re: Google Buys A Quantum Computer

« on: May 25, 2013, 10:15 AM »

Should mean more jobs for quantum mechanics.

69

Living Room / Re: Microsoft keyboard sticking keys

« on: May 25, 2013, 09:41 AM »

Also try to convince resident cats or kittens that their assistance with the small pieces is not required.

-x16wda (May 25, 2013, 09:31 AM)

I know somebody who had that trouble.
I suggested he should paws every now and then.

70

Living Room / Re: English as it is spoke.

« on: May 25, 2013, 09:39 AM »

Rereading this thread one of the earlier replies reminded me about something I read about the person mentioned in my original post, Noah Webster.

He was evidently considered by many who actually knew him to have been a selfish person throughout his life.
One of his childhood friends was quoted as saying that while he always expected you to have time for him he rarely had time for U.
His subsequent publications would tend to confirm that view.

71

Living Room / Re: English as it is spoke.

« on: May 25, 2013, 08:45 AM »

English as it is spoke.

Yo dawg?

-Tuxman (May 25, 2013, 07:53 AM)

The English version doesn't have one. 

72

Post New Requests Here / Re: Turn a batch file into an AHK script.

« on: May 25, 2013, 08:35 AM »

VIndicator v0.3.0.23

CPU - 0-2%, only briefly hit 2% once, 1% flashed up every few seconds the rest of the time 0%.
RAM - 1st 3 minutes 10MB. Next 3 minutes slowly dropped to 2.7MB. Following 3 minutes slowly dropped to 2.2MB and stabilised.
These readings are rounded up or down slightly but seemed to ignore what was going on in terms of traffic.

Icons - All 4 of them showed depending on traffic, the one for connection idle and the one for combined traffic up and down seemed to respond quicker than the other two based on what Networx was showing at the time.
I have long had a suspicion that although Networx is set to ignore LAN traffic both it and NAI, which is set for the router, are actually picking up other things which might account for them being slightly out of synch with the VIndicator icons.

I never tried the options in the context menu as I still have the Scheduled Task set up to enable it and the main batch file to shut it down, if you want I will try them another time but I am sure they will work.
The auto-scaling works fine but I was surprised you had abbreviated 'Received', as in my case the connection name is the longest line in the pop-up the full word would not have made it any larger.

It looks like you have a winner. 

73

Living Room / Re: English as it is spoke.

« on: May 25, 2013, 07:06 AM »

By the way, I liked the jokes.

-IainB (May 25, 2013, 06:08 AM)

Just when I was beginning to think that everybody was a critic.


Actually I have been thinking about my original post and remembering how I used to think that pawnbrokers were very strange people, and talk about vain!
Have you seen their sign?
I've often wondered if in very cold weather they are prone to the same problem as that experienced by a certain type of monkey?  


Reminds me of the story about the woman who had just given birth to her first child, she saw that when the midwife looked at the baby she had a shocked expression on her face.
The mother said "What's the matter, please tell me there's nothing wrong with the baby".
The midwife replied "No there's nothing wrong with it, you have a lovely son............................but tell me is your husband a pawnbroker by any chance?"

74

Post New Requests Here / Re: Turn a batch file into an AHK script.

« on: May 25, 2013, 06:54 AM »

I'm afraid you're going to have to do better than that, being an ex-tech I want want to know every little thing you tried without me asking for it....including the obvious things like typing devcon status "*DEV_001C*" in a CLI and you telling me what it says both with and without the interface disabled.

-4wd (May 25, 2013, 06:16 AM)

Strewth Guv, gi's a break I'm only a beginner. You call that obvious? Thank God we're not into difficult stuff. 


Thanks for the update, the details look interesting.

I'll get back to you on both.

75

Living Room / Re: English as it is spoke.

« on: May 25, 2013, 05:16 AM »

Shouldn't this go in the "Silly Humor" forum?

-Tinman57 (May 24, 2013, 06:21 PM)

I'm not sure it qualifies for either.

I always thought that a Living Room was a suitable place for 'humour', perhaps I was mistaken?

Perhaps I should stick to computing subjects? Or simply stop posting altogether and just read the threads?

Really!