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Topics - questorfla [ switch to compact view ]

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126
The raid Mirror failed on one drive.  The otther seems to be in decent shape but that makes it the only viable copy of over 10 years worth of files saved into one place so I am being careful.
My plan was to first try an actual copy onto a single new drive to make sure they were all readably.  That was first catch, Permissions.  I found a way to use a single right click via a reg edit that now does most of the grunt work that but t is still terribly slow and besides it is making my workbench system the owner.  So i probably will have to do again.

I was wondering if there is a way to change the permissions tro "everyone" in general such thatthe copy would work with no edits for permissions once i get the RAID Rebuilt?
.
I could just clone it (and may yet for safety) but in the end I need to confirm the files can be opened and read.  At  least sampling a few.
The fastest copy / backup utility I have found was Good-Sync although I had a few comments on Tera-copy, Karen's replicator. and one i had never heard of called Rich Copy 4 but it seemed a little dated.

Once this is all ready to roll, it is the better part of a 2TB drive that has to be copied to another 2TB drive.  Once i have THAT for a backup, then i will load it onto a 2TB RAID Mirror as it was for years.

Thanks for any names or suggested software. I think I am stuck on the permissions as i have seen nothing but people complaining about the the same issue.

Just wondered if anyone had any Preferences for speed and reliability when used in house, no Internet, this is just one system with  a ton or ram and a Fast processor and i just need to Copy the files to make sure they can be copied.  In case they are corrupted for any reason.  I have not had time to investigate the Raid crash but the other drive half is pretty dead.  Click of Death :(

127
Living Room / Weird Router Issue Hoping someone has seen before
« on: July 18, 2014, 05:59 PM »
This is pretty specific and while I have seen just about everything this one has me stumped.  The network layout itself would be hard to even describe but if that is the problem it has been the same for 8 years and never had as issue like this till now.
We are using a Linksys model AC1900 (I think it is the high end AC unit only a few months old)  The router is set to use a "private sub of 10.0.50.xx".  The router is set for WPA. 

The office it is in has connections where people use wired when they think about it and wireless when in a hurry.  Almost every system is a laptop.  In most case they are always plugged in (and while it annoys me that it does so) almost every one of them will always connect (Windows default unless overridden) to Both the wired and the Wi-Fi.

Again, it has been doing this for many years, through different router and different ISP's and no problems till lately.  (by that maybe 2 or 3 months tops).  I am on one of these laptops right now and this is the issue:

Windows is showing the Wired connection being down.  At the same time, this user also said they had no internet.  This was true and windows showed such.  However, I was able to get the Wi-Fi to work by doing the following:  Unplug the wired adaptor.  Nothing changed.  This happened while nothing was being done.  The wire goes to a connector and direct to the router.  The Wi-Fi signal is the only one also coming direct from the router.  Plugging the wire back in immediately kills the wife's ability to connect to the net.  But it does not disconnect the signal or show anything other than Windows saying it is "unable to determine the problem"

Initially we thought it was the ISP.  We had their network techs out yesterday.  He gave a pass on the whole setup and at the time, of course, there was nothing to show. It was all up and running.

The Wi-Fi is a Ralink device if that matters on Windows 7x64.  This is a recurrent issue that intuition says is the router but as for the logic to back-up that guess I have no idea.

I am about to try switching it anyway to one of the new Netgear Nighthawks but I was wondering if there were any Wi-Fi Experts inhere with a reason for this behavior.  This is not the only laptop that has exhibited this.  Worse, in some cases, people have found the exact opposite.  That disabling the Wi-Fi makes the wired start working.  No changes in anything, just use the windows control panel to disable the wireless.

90& of the time, almost every system in here is connected to Both with no problems.  The 10% that are left...
We have done a full power cycle on all components and the issue, when here, stays until.. it stops.  Might be an hour or whenever.
I hate to make this any longer but the one final detail that makes this a real mystery is that on a few occasions,  Every System in here fails and when that happens Windows reports unable to contact primary DNS server.  That was why we called the ISP.  Even during the times when we are unable to connect to the primary dns, the ISP shows we are up with no problems and nothing they can find shows any issues with their DNS.

OK.  That is my question for the weekend.  What  might be the reason  (PS, We just had the whole office network setup re-wired just in case.  No change. Same problems.  New router, New Switches, new cables.  Same Old Problem.
Many thanks for any Input  I am sure someone else has to have seen something like this somewhere.

128
I say SIMPLE because this is something I need to be able to email out to a bunch of people who are definitely not technologically inclined.  There is no way I would want them running regedit with a sheet of instructions on where to go.  But:
On the specified page for How to Know Which Updates to Run on the Microsoft Website this is all they offer:  Three different sites to go to depending on the value stored in a specific location of the entire value of a Specific Key.  
That is enough to make even ME swear off all Office Products! :tellme:
This is the key they give.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

This is what it says about the procedure:

Each GUID uses the following format:
{BRMMmmmm-PPPP-LLLL-p000-D000000FF1CE}
In this format, <PPPP> represents the product ID.

To get the correct upgrade of all components:  This is what is needed to determine the version of OneDrive for Business installed on your system.  This next steps after this tell you where to go if you have "which version".  Three different sites depending on what you find in that registry key at that location.

I almost cannot believe this is posted on the Microsoft Help Page!

•If "PPPP" is 008C, the Click-to-Run version of Office is installed on the computer.
•If "PPPP" is 00BA and "LLLL" is a nonzero value, the OneDrive for Business client is installed as part of the Office 2013 suite.
•If "PPPP" is 00BA and "LLLL" is 0000, the stand-alone OneDrive for Business client is installed.



I KNOW I will get a faster solution here than I will on the MS site is why I am asking.  :)
Does anyone know of an easier way to do this as there is no way I can expe4ct the Users here to be able to follow this procedure. :'(

129
In the process of TRYING to use SharePoint I have ended up with a LOT of zero length  (0 kb) files scattered all over a folder that has a total of over 50k small files in it.  These have various names and most if not all may have a space in the filename.  You would think there would be a simple command-line argument to remove all files of zero length.  If there is I can't find it.  And what I did locate used the "find" command with some arguments that may no longer be valid. 

I just need a way to do the scanning and removing of these empty files in various sub-folders and sub-sub-folders of a "c:\Data" directory.
The variations on the Find command only return errors and some of the options may be invalid in newer Windows OS systems even at a command prompt.  have to run this on more than one system,  some running  Windows 7 some 8.1.

Code: Text [Select]
  1. find . -empty -type f -delete

as well as
Code: Text [Select]
  1. find . -type f -size 0 -delete

These examples are supposed to work but don't
Not only do I get a config error but I don't see any way for this to scan recursively when run from a command prompt inside the Data folder.
It might be a better idea to MOVE those Zero length files to a folder named "C:\Zero" instead of outright deletion.   Just in case.  Paranoia is a good thing some times. :-\

130
I have a need for a quick and easy way to scan all file and folder NAMES within a directory to replace all instances on one character with another.  There are several possibilities, all of them are on the "invalid for use"   by  SharePoint" list.  
The reason for this being doing after the fact is that the collection of files and folders was created before we were using SharePoint and this problem kind of hit me by surprise.   Only when I had repeated failures of a number of files did I check to see the problem.  There are over 50,000 files and one of the "invalid characters" is "#" which appears in over a hundred filenames alone.   If I had checked beforehand, we might not have moved everything to the Office 365 Setup but hindsight being 20/20 doesn't help now.        
Searching for solutions brought up several possibilities, one of which is linked below.  RR.exe at nicj.net (is already compiled) but I don't think it is recursive.

I was wondering if anyone else had ever run into this problem and maybe already has a solution.  If I have to run a script for each character to be replaced, then that is what I will have to do.  Since these filenames are already listed in the database software, I have to try to standardize my replacements so that when a Search looks for a file with a "#" in the name, I have to have a preset replacement list to provide people.
Instead of "&" the filename will have the entire word "and" and so on.  "#" I was going to replace with "-"  but any suggestions appreciated.  SharePoint has a list of maybe 20 characters that can never be used and most never would be.  
But some..... "?"   ????     :-[ OR   <<<<  (for that matter "<" or ">"   :(   )   None of these can be used and if they were I have to replace them with something or the files will not Sync.


          This is the best I have found and I don't think it is recursive.

NOTE!  The "Duh" factor just set in  :D!  Still not a complete solution and I am playing with the other "normal" ways but "dir *#*.*" when run from the top directory level does return valid instances of the improper files so I suppose "ren" might work as well?

 :-\


131
This is needed due to total sloppiness by some users.  In a directory resource for a database, many of the folders contain nothing but the letters A - Z as alphabetized sub-folders.
Files put in folders of this type are SUPPOSED to be put inside the correct Alphabetic subfolder like a filing cabinet.  But... They often are not.
Over a period of a few weeks, I can have as many as 100 loose files that the DB that LOOKS for them under the alphabetic sub-folder they belong in.
"Alexander, John.pdf" should have gone in the "A" subdirectory inside the parent folder but instead he shows up outside the sub-folder in the parent.  This usually occurs in large groups.  I have yet to figure out which of the people loading this cannot read the alphabet but someone can't!

The next person to use the DB software, it brings up a "no record found" because the DB software is looking under A or B or C subfolders

So far, I have been moving these by hand to the correct subdirectories when they start to pile up in each parent folder but there must be some way automatically scan these loose files and move all of them into the correct  sub-folder based on the first letter of their last name. (usual format last name, first name).

Thanks if you have an easy to run script! It should process all loose files in a directory moving them into the correct subdirectory based on the first letter in the filename  Note:  0 - 9 are considered to be under A as there are so few

ALSO note:  I have been trying scripts from another site worded like this>

  • $ mkdir -p output/{A..Z}; for i in tstdir/*; do export FILE=$(basename "$i");  LTR=$(echo" ${FILE:0:1}" | tr [a-z] [A-Z]); mv "$i" "output/$LTR/$FILE" ; done

                                                                                     <or>
    $ mkdir -p output/{A..Z}
    $ for i in tstdir/*; do
        FILE=$(basename "$i") 
        LTR=$(echo "${FILE:0:1}" | tr [a-z] [A-Z])
        mv "$i" "output/$LTR/$FILE"
      done


But not getting there. And as I mention next, the ultimate would be to make the directory "self-adjusting" to prevent anyone from even being able to put a file out loose in it to start with.

132
This one I had thought would be the Big Kahuna for my "always wanting to have to all" file download info.  I had been playing around with the file save on a webpage to be able to read through some of the scripts when it dawned on me that the Mht format was an Excellent and compact way to save... Everything!  It saves ALL the links, all the data, all the related hyper links and just about everything a researcher could ask for when sifting through all the diamonds in the rough trying to find a solution to a problem.
When I go on these "scavenger hunts" I usually get in a "Don't stop till you drop" fluing from hyperlinmk to hyperlink in a cvhase to find the "Ultimate Solutition'
This inevitably results in downloading at least 40 different apps, scripts, programs, you name it.  I have asked many timed for a way to link all these interesting downloads in some way that I could find them when needed as the original Search inevitably morphs into totally different questions that had nothing to do with my original need but they ALL look like something one day I would like to know more about.
I guess I am a Knowledge Junkie :)  I should go "On The Wagon" and limit my drinks from the well of Internet Knowledge to one or two per week but..
AThere is so m,uch out there.
Anyway, the problem at hand was HOW would I EVER find out what I was thinking at the time much less find my way back to where I downloaded a file named "XD12objldv2.3a.exe" or some other weird acronym but at the time, the info on the page was enough to make me SURE I was going to need that info to create HG Wells Time Machine or some other.

Anyway, Lo and Behold, the simple .mht" web-archive file was a Gift from the Gods.  It had EVERYTHING including the references that got me there and the text that caught my eyte.  Imaginer my dismay to finf out that Default "Save As" for a Webpage was some clunky multi file/folder setup until i accidentally saved one as an "mht".
WHOA!
NOW I had a way to0 not only get everything I wanted but it the default name for the webpage mht file was descriptive enough to be used as a search tool.
A directory full of these mht files would be an invaluable resource and could be sorted by fate or contents of the filename. They contrain the actual working hyperlinks to re download any files I did not take time to get the first go-round

Now, i only needed way to :
1: make the mht format the DEfault format for Save As.  Yes, I know I can create a Save as Mht Button for the browser (IE anyway) and i did. Wehen i can remember to use it.  Old habits die hard.  Save as was the only way I had till then.
2:  find a way to gert it all.  Be able to search "textually" within the mht without having to open each one.
3:  create some kind of special Searchable MHt reference database (that was the reason for the read the words inside without having to open)
The end result of a search would give me all the knowledge I had gleaned from previous "rampages" where the only thing I wanted was a way to be able to get back to anything i saw that looked to be interesting or likely to be needed one day. 
And preferably keep them all in a single folder by default.  Like Favorites for MHT files.

And being paranoid, i probably would be downloading at least one or more of the resources on the pages I found so a way to link those downloads back to the mht file I created from the site where i got them would be very handy.

zI figured i better ask fore the Starts so I might at least get the Moon,  :)  Anybody have any ideas?  First step is figure out WHY SOMETIMES IE and other browser will do a site in mht and then keep using mht until for an unknown reason it shift back to html.  Seconfd step is find a way to put the downloads from that mht-file into a folder by the name of the file.

All of this could go under "Scavenger Hunt"  :)
i can see how to create the folder by the name of the mht.  I can see how to get the mht into that folder.  I can even see how to get any DL's from that "mht" to be stored in the same folder so the Downloads and the page itself are all indexed into folders named by the words that were of interest.
I just don't see an easy way to script this al out , I would have to do each one manually.
And what;s the fun in that?

This might be a little bit over the top for a Coding Snack.  But thanks



133
Need to change the recovery options on a windows service (for an added software) from the default "take no action" to "restart service" on at least "first and second occurrence" and probably on "all subsequent" as well.
The timing is not critical as the defaults from the GUI when used in control panel work fine but this is for some people who are not here and should not be allowed to even know that control panel exists.  :)
I almost got there with SC stated as :
          "sc failure xxxxx actions=restart/60000/restart/60000// reset=120" but not quite. Windows error-ed "invalid option" but it should work with xxxxx being the service name.

This format also may not set the subsequent failure option to restart as well which is the layout I have tested and found to work best.  I am not familiar with using SC and have never configured anything with it before.  I also saw some other more complex comands but I only need to set these three options on only this one service.
Thanks

134
Situation is a stated.  We have those two separate sources.  The fiber is where they threw us off.  New install, new building.  we are first fiber user. They put in a  24 port capable switch at their demarcation point,  We were the ONLY users.  Somebody forgot to cap the ports.
We got 5mbps for our phone system and .... well it looks like ALL the rest for our Fiber switch. This was a regular off-label 8 port unmanaged gigabit switch and all5 systems connected to it shows 100+ on multiple tests at multiple times of day.  needless to say, we had NO bandwidth issues

Until recently,  The problem was that I have always used OPEN DNS or GOOGLE DNS as they are always MANY times faster than COX's DNS (They are our provider)

A week ago we started getting all kinds of DNS issues.  somewhere back up the line cox DNS link had blown out a ram module and after than our dns ran to nothing. 

<< ADDED:  We have also been informed that NO MORE Freedom of DNS.  EVERY system MUST USE ONY COX DNS!! No OpenDNS  No Google even though they are MUCH faster!

No options!!.  If I try ANYTHING but the COX DNS it  I get windows error saying unable to contact dns server.  I was told it was a "security thing" but I have not heard from anywhere as to what this is or why

WHen they came in to check, they found the "error" and capped us back to 5gbps.  Unfortunately by them we ha offloaded a bunch of our files to cloud access.

20 workstations using cloud storage instead of a local server was convenient and worked fine at 120/120mbps+ but not so good at 5mbps.
The upgrade to fiver to PAY for 120 was MEGAbux,  But we could get 150/20 CABLE and did.

However:  the same feed into the same switch ended up at 5gbps on the systems after running through the same switches that had been running fine on the fiber.
Cable tech blames the switch and shows me where it drops off after the first Gigabit switch as though it was only a 100MBIT switch.  He says it is due to it being an "Unmanaged" switch.

Even though it worked fine on Fiber,  Wont work right on cable.
However.  If I run the cable into a gigabit Router with combined gigabit switch.  each output feed DOES get full 150.  If I add switches after router, it STAYS at 150.

The problem is, I have to provide this input to systems which normally pulled from the switch after the cable modem so I could have the static IP's for each system.

If I run them through router, I am confused about the ability to have separate IPS on each device,  These are small webservers and must have static IP plus have
required ports passed through to be a webserver.

I will try to draw up a ma and upload it but I am still a bit fuzzy on how I can get full bandwidth through a router but drop to 5mbps through a switch.

Any Info on this appreciated.  I need to know the best way to split up the output from a cable modem so hat all devices show close to max as possible.
What combination and what layout would do that.

Next part is  one of the static GOES to the office router which feeds maybe 30 workstations.

in my original setup, ALL showed almost full speed in every speed test .  Now all show 5mbps.

Is anyone out there well schooled enough in this to tell me if I am getting a load of bs?
And if not, how can I fix?






 

135
Living Room / Free Software Requirements
« on: May 13, 2014, 03:06 AM »
Don't take this the wrong way as i am 100% in favor of paying for any software used on a regular basis.  I would not work at MY job for Free and don't think others should either.

I have noticed an unusual trend in almost every program that offers a free trial period.  They all ask for your name and your email address.  Of you don't give it, they wont let you have a copy.  They don't even seem to care if it is your real name.  And only the few that send confirmation emails care if it is a your real email.  AVAST and Malwarebytes have even begun to do  like GOOGLE and almost FORCE you to read the "fine print" which they make very large but still let you skip through ad no one ever reads it.
The gist seems to be that they are telling you that they will be collecting certain data from your system for their usage (NEVER to be shared) to "help make a better program".
This is all OK with me and in most cases I end up buying the program anyway but it seems that every trial program i have ever dealt with has started this exact same procedure in only the past few months.  Has anyone else notice this?

Was this a government regulation thing or...Somethign else.

136
Sorry this is long but i have never seen anything like this before.

The solution would be pretty simple on a Domain but not so easy on a Work-group.  The situation is this:

It is an office environment where 20 users all connect to the work-group with laptops that run Windows 7, Windows 8 and windows 8.1.    I need a way to configure a network profile that, when chosen,  would connect each system to prefigured settings that would have their static IP, sub-net, gateway and DNS  for their IPV4 on the Hardwired connections locked in.  In addition I need to completely disable all WiFi capability ( reason further down )   This would be akin to a WORK profile on a Domain.  Having this would allow for them to change to a Home Profile when leaving and open up their WiFi for use outside the office

As the 2nd part, I would like a simple (Hah!) way to disable all HOME-GROUP options and capability and if possible permanently remove all capability for creating or joining one.  These are all office systems which the users DO take home but they do not belong to them so disabling Home-groups should not be an issue.

WHY I want to do this: during a Recent network problems, I found today that one person had resorted to using her laptop's WiFi to connect to her I-phone Hot-spot to get on the Internet.    As it was explained to me, she had also allowed some of her friends to also use her hot-spot.  I do not have all the details as they do not seem to be eager to discuss the issue but one of the people she gave permission to is about 150 ft away from, her desk.  I have seen (and used) the WiFi hot-spots that are built into a smartphone and I have yet to find one that would carry over 15 ft.  Much less 100 ft!

After investigating I found that all of the users who did manage to connect are on the same network switch.  That switch connects over 20 people and printers to a line coming from the Office router.  In this case, the input to the router had been cut so there was no Internet but apparently the connection through the Switch enabled this one person to in some way use the switch in a "back-flow" manner with her Iphone providing Input to allow these other people 100+feet away to be able to piggy-back onto her I-phone.  Most switches are now "smart" such that any port can be the "input" so the switch just took what it was given and distributed it

To make matters worse, when I started shutting them all down to try to reconnect the router into the network, several of the systems popped up messages saying that it I rebooted it would break their connection to the >>HOME-GROUP<< they were in!

This <<Home-group>> turned out to belong to yet another user who did not know she was connected to anyone through anything.  Much less providing a Full Home-group connection to share ...??? i don't even know what.  That mystery I am still trying to resolve.  This same procedure also happened on two others systems and they were connected to even more Home-groups owned by people who also did not know they were connected to anyone by anything.  No one remembers anything about any kind of questions about permissions or passwords

I have never seen this type of behavior before but I must find a way to put an end to it!

My Preference would be deleting all Home-Group capability on all systems!  No one uses it and most people honestly did not even know what it was.  But the possibility for serious problems provided by people being interconnected "in the  background" as it were, looks to me like an open invitation to all kinds of bad things.  

Since this is a Work-group and not a domain, I have no control over what, if any, security software each person uses or doesn't use.  Viruses and Malware would have a field day in a setup like that where many systems are already on a "hidden in plain site" sub-group which neither the users nor the owners of had any idea they were connected to.  They have no use for ir but Something! obviously did.

It could have been this way for months  When they go home, most just shut down Windows and leave.  I cannot believe it has been like this for very long or I would have seen it at least once.  I found a total of 4 separate systems that were broadcasting invitations to join their Home-group.  Yet I have never seen an "invitation" to join anything and no one else says they have either.  

None of these people are very Tech-Savvy and none of them even knew what I meant or the risks involved.  None of them even knew (or would admit to) having said YES to any kind of connection but I have seen what a Home-group Invite looks like and it is innocuous enough that i doubt anyone would say NO if invited even though they have NO idea what it is.

I have found a multitude of methods for disabling various parts of the Home-group thing but no single solution.  Some of them involve changes in the Registry that involve elevating the permissions to the SHELL group so that a change can be made at all.  It is EASY to turn off WORK-groups so why is it so hard to disable HOME-groups?

Sorry this was so long, I should have made it two questions but I have been at this all day and I have a bad feeling that if i don't find a solution soon, the problems are going to get worse.  I have run multiple Malware and AV scans and actually did turn up several PUPs on one system but those are not the kind of thing I would send up a lot of red-flags over although they should not have ANY.  Malwarebytes found and removed those very easily.  If they are all back again tomorrow  THEN I get worried!

In closing.  The first and foremost I need is the Profile utility  I have found a few on Source-Forge and I a trying to see if any can be configured from what I need.

I could do part of it with a script (disable all WiFi) and that would leave only the hard-wired NIC to deal with.  Is there a net-use command to disable WiFi>?  and re-enable it afterward?

Please excuse typos and other.  It is late and I am totally distraught.


Thanks for anyone who took the time to read this.  

137
I would like a way to be able to use the right click, save picture as option to do a couple of things that Outlook doesn't offer.  (maybe Chrome does?  I would be willing to change to Chrome but I cannot also learn Firefox AND Chrome so either IE or Chrome would be nice)

The first is to either have the option to save as .png or at least offer it as an option instead of jpg or other format.

The second is to be able to choose either the original size and aspect or one of 2 custom sizes to save in.  Either 742x350(p) or  650x100 (p).  No others and these never vary so without the "keep current aspect ratios" option set

All saves should go to the "images" folder I am currently working in to keep from having to search for it afterward.

The purpose of all this is a simple one page layout on a website.   I can start in the images folder, Google search for the images I need and, when I find them, save them in the only two formats I can use.  My normal procedure is to find image, hit "save picture as", search for the folder I want it in (the Save always starts out anywhere but where I want to be).  I have to save it in whatever format it was loaded in (usually jpg).  Next open the mage with Paint, change the size to one of the two pixel settings remembering to uncheck the option to keep current aspect ratio, and finally save it as a PNG making sure  it saves in the images folder I am working in and not another images folder I was in earlier.  Paint also seems to prefer to save in either the folder it was last used in or some other location.  I often have to search for the image I just saved if not careful.

I find it easier to gather several possibilities, then see how each looks when used.  Some stretching is OK as long as it does not look ridiculous or lower the displayed resolution to the point it is blurry.

I used to have a small program (NOT Photoshop) it was a free utility like paint that could resize an image without loss of perspective in an intelligent way.  But I have lost the name and there are hundreds with far to many features when I only need the one capability.  This utility could double an images size and in some way never lose any clarity, I suppose by interpolating the correct pixels to use to fill in the spaces created when enlarging.  Photoshop can do that but it is far to much to use for this one feature.

I could probably create a custom right click add-on to do much of this but I hope some web-designer out there already knows the quick and easy way.  I only have to do this with two images per site and by the time I get the thing done I cant get interested in looking for a better way for next time because there is always something else that needs doing
 

138
I am not even sure this can be done the way I need it to work.
First.  We have a CLOUD drive full of documents.  a LOT of them.
Second We have a website (actually several)  where some of these documents are posted for "subscribers" to view.  They have to have a username/password to get into the site their site.
Third.  Currently, the procedure has been to get the documents (pdf's usually) from the server that holds them and upload them to the website server in the folder they need to be in.

This has worked perfect now for 2 years.  The problem is that recent changes in the access provided by many ISP's has made it impossible for many of the employees to "work from home".

I am not smart enough to explain WHY or HOW the ISP's do it.  I do know that it involves blocking port 445 to the Home Internet Users.  And in such a way that having a VPN does no good.
I have had several people tell me that this can't be done but I can prove that it is 100% possible and actually results in the Users not having access (via mapped drive anyway) to the Office servers when the users are on their home Internet.  hey can connect a VPN with no problem and until recently that VPN WOULD allow mapping of a network drive.
But however they do it, it is the result of some kind of block on port 445 that cannot be bypassed using a VPN.

I CAN create a "network Place" and I am looking at a way to use that.  In the meantime, we went to CLOUD storage which works , sort of, but VERY SLOW because they might need to upload 30 files at a time in an hour or less.  Some may be large files.  I have clocked the actual download time from the cloud at 775kbps TOPS.   Once they get the file they have to Upload it to the Website server.  And where that once was almost instantaneous it is now horribly slow.  All of the employees are still trying to upload stuff to the webserver that is actually still in the Queue from the CLOUD drive to even get to their system.  They think it is already there just because they can see the name.  No one looks at the files size to notice it is "0" and growing by the minute.  so they try to upload a file that is currently still downloading.  30 of them all at once.  Just won't happen

Anyway.  It occurred to me that there might be a much more efficient solution if I knew how to make it work.
The employees would post a LINK to the file which resides on the CLOUD drive instead of uploading a full copy of the  actual file itself.

IF there is a way to do this.

I am sure there are probably a 100 other issues I have not considered but if this could be done it would sure make things faster and easier.  Upload the documents only once to the Cloud Servers.
Then post a LINK to each one as needed in a folder on another website.  Visitors who had access would click the link to view the file which is actually what they do now.  Only at this time, the file they click on resides on the webserver itself, not a remote cloud drive.  So they click on a pdf that is located on in a CACHE folder on the webserver.  I need to use a LINK  to a location on another CLOUD drive  IF  that can be done. 

And for security sake, it would need to be a non-retraceable link.  In other words, the people viewing it would not know it was a link back to another Source.

There are probably many other ways to accomplish this, one of which is to copy the entire 15GB of documents onto each employees laptops and keep it synced to the CLOUD drive.
the issues only arise when they are loading the websites.    The ones who use the SLOW  CLOUD access to get the files into the database to start with are fine as they may have 1 fle every 10 minutes or so to upload.

It is the ones who try to download 30 and then upload them to the webservers at the same time.  They were used to the speed of a direct mapped drive which was a LOT faster.

OK  Long post.  Any ideas appreciated.  This is probably something done everyday by people who know how.  I just don't know HOW?





139
Script to input a name and use it to create a folder with that name then copy the contents of another folder into the newly created one.
Can this be done in a one line script?  I think I am trying too hard.

140
Help!  I hope someone else has had to do this and it is easy to accomplish.
Being the IT guy, I have full access to our mail server.   So I Know for a fact this is not being done there or by us.
But some mail server or some application (or maybe some malware ?) has decided to put the word "***SPAM***" in the subject line if a lot of email that is sent from a couple of users here.  I have tried my best to explain to them that if they Don't even bother to delete that word before they forward the message on, it leave me with no way to know when it happened. 
But trying to explain email "How Email Really Works"  to most people is the subject of many a cartoon.

Right now I just need a Bandage to get by until I can figure out who did it to whom.

I cannot see a way to remove that from the subject line.  I can scan for it  find it  but my options  if it is found do not include "remove this word" which is all I need for now.

I know this has happened in the past with AVG but no one uses AVG and this header marker is VERY specific  it ALWAYS puts that same "***SPAM***"
Preceding the subject.  If I could get it out for now it would help.  They forward email back and forth constantly so this mark is all there but who knows from where it started? 

Any help with a temporary fix would be appreciated. It sounds more like something MALWARE would do to me.





141

Sounds weird but this is a "Real" Question. :wallbash:

I am hoping someone can offer some suggestions to help in an unusual situation.
I have 4 people who use a huge number of document files for two different programs.  Both programs need to use the same files but for different reasons for these 4 people.

Due to recent changes in ISP rules, we are no longer able to use network drive mapping as we have been.  Connecting by VPN works fine for everything except mapping a network drive to the remote folder on the server.  COX has nor joined Comcast and many others in blocking port 445 for HOME internet users.  If they pay for business Internet, the problem immediately disappears so we pretty much narrowed it down very fast with that one fact.

Regardless of the reason, the vendors on the main program which is a SQL database said that many of their other users had switched to using CLOUD hosting to solve this problem.  This is due to the fact that their SQL relational database requires a fixed drive letter as a reference point.  When using the program to look up something it is always referenced by storage at a mapped network drive.  As soon as these people go home, they no longer have access to a Mapped drive on a business Server.
The only thing that changed was all the ISP’s where this occurred were admitting to blocking port 445

The Cloud service they recommend has a solution for this and does allow me to map a drive letter to their CLOUD storage which works very well for that program’s needs.  Even though CLOUD access is “streaming” files from beginning to end, it is fast enough for that program as it deals with files on a one by one basis. .   While these are all small files, there are over 50,000 in total number and no way to make it any less.  It will actually be more over time.   But in size, it is only about 10gb.

These same people also need to be able to use these same files as documents to be uploaded to a website.  They need to be able to upload several files at a time which requires a long delay to get them streamed first to their local drive before they can upload it to the Website.  We quickly found out that if they tried to go direct from the CLOUD drive to the website, it failed as soon as they filled up the buffers since the files were in their system yet to upload, they were still in the stream coming down.

One possibility I considered is to give each of the 4 people a full “seed” copy of all the files and keep it Synced to the CLOUD copy at all times.  They would use the local copy for their website uploads and the CLOUD copy (which CAN be mapped as a drive letter) to do the work needed for the Program that must have a Drive Letter.
Interestingly enough, the Server that hosts the SQL database program has no problem at all running over the VPN because port 445 is not needed.  Only Windows requires it for SMB protocols in Drive mapping but SQL can run without the mapped drive,  You just have no access to the documents referred to which you pull up a record.

But I can see all kinds of problems in Synchronization that could well cause a disaster at some point,  On the good side, If it works, I would have 4 off-site back-up copies of the entire data drive should something happen to it at the CLOUD location.

If I was going to even try this at all, I need a way to create a desktop display showing the total size, number of folders and number of files along with a baseline showing the largest size the CLOUD  drive been  along with the largest number of files and folders.

This would provide an easy way for each to monitor their CLOUD drive compared to their corresponding local folder.  A large discrepancy in anything would indicate a problem so it could be resolved before it was a disaster.

While I am sure there has to be a better way, the only one that I have proven will work is for each person to pay for business Internet at Home. Then their ISP will remove the port 445 block and we can go back to the normal networked drive access over a VPN.

I am hoping someone here has run into something similar and may know another way around this.  The port 445 block was obviously to prevent “work from home” rather than the proclaimed “additional security from Internet Worms” as that is what is does best at.

I look forward to seeing if anyone knows a better way to give both of these programs what they need.  I can tell you for 100% certain that the vendor of the software has already said they have no plans for making changes to their literal requirements for a common mapped drive letter for all users.  The “path” to document is coded into their software and they are not going to change it.

They are not concerned about the fact we need to use those same documents at all  the same workstations to do a task unrelated to their own.
Currently, the users are all coming up with various ways to beat the problem by copying what they think they might need into various folders all over their laptops and it is creating  disaster for who has the most current copy of any file as well as where did they happen to put it.


142
Living Room / Powertools For Free
« on: April 06, 2014, 03:52 PM »
I feel sure that by now someone else has already posted this information.  Bu the people over at Macecraft are trying to use Crowdsourcing a way to be able to put the entire source-code for their software up for anyone who wants it.

I have used JVR Powertools 2014 for some time now and I wondered if anyone had any comments on it before I join the movement.  I definitely don't mind supporting the results I have gotten from their product by purchasing it but would rather support the effort if it is worthy.

I just wondered if anyone else had any information either good or bad.
Crowdsourcing for Powertools

Main website for download

143
This just happened last week and I have not yet found a solution.
Apparently there is a new Java Updater Exploit.  (as if there were not enough of them already)
It was not caught by AVAST nor Bit Defender or any other AV that the people who got it were using.
It may be by now but too little, too late.
Now I have to find a way to get rid of the BAD copy and replace it with a good one.
Sounds easy enough but if using a browser that is already infected it redirects you back to another infected copy.

The fact that the update was only 800kb you would think would have set off someone's alarms but most people (Just People)
never even look at that.  If the site LOOKS real (and it did  Very real).  They just go for it.

Now I need a way to get them back to clean.  Only when I ask Google for a "Clean copy of Java" you get 100 sites that offer to give you NOT clean copies.

If you go to JAVA, they try their best to install it JUST for you.  Which may or may not be the best idea.  But either way  it isn't ME that has the problem.

If I send the link to the download to the people with the BAD copy, as soon as they enter it into their browser it is redirected to the Infected copy. and the cycle begins again.
except now they blame ME for giving it to them. :mad:

Any options would be appreciated.

Even if I just knew for 100% sure I could tell them to UNINSTALL Java and NEVER put it back.   :tellme:





144
OK, Time for another "How to I DO this" and I know :Thmbsup: this is the best place to ask.

I have a need to be able to send many PNG files which are actually screenshots showing how to do something or what they should see when they try to do it to a number of people.  I have a whole library of these covering various problems.


On the first time out, the screen capture program even by default adds it to the email as an attachment.  This may not seem such a big deal but since PNG files by default are opened as Windows Photo manager or some such quite often the result is not usable or does not convey the original meaning in its entirety,  I have tried all kinds of auto-size and such to get the image down to a what I saw when I made it but that still is not a solution.  PAINT does the best job but it is not the default PNG viewer on many (most) systems.

The perfect solution would be to embed the image within the email at about 50% of the original.  I can do that now, but it takes a LOT of manipulating to do so.  Right click send as email wont do it.  Opening an email, inserting the png, and resizing to 50% is the only way I have found.

Is there a utility or method that I am overlooking?

All I want to do is right click the correct screenshot.png and choose send by email and have that option open an email in outlook with the image already inserted at 50%.

Then I can add any necessary info and I do not have to worry about Outlook Blocking the attachment since there isn't one.
Plus I know they see it at a size that can fit on one page.

Thanks for any advice.  

Even from 4WD.   :P

Because he seems to already know all of it.
(you too Mr. Shades)   :)




145
General Software Discussion / couple of one-click requests
« on: March 19, 2014, 01:00 AM »
One of these I posted in detail over in Snacks so I wont cover it here other than to say it would be a simple mod made to the File>Send>"page by email" option in Internet Explorer.  If I could just figure out where the script for it is hidden so I cold create another that would say File>Save>" Page to Word.doc".   This would be an elegant solution to something I have been trying to find a way to do for some time.
The page by email option works but creates a lot of activity that saving a word doc would be faster and more useful.

This one is something that other programs do so it must not be that hard.  It involves using the Windows Hosts File as a Filter for Nagging Ads  and Malicious websites.  Powertools and Spybot do it within their programs and call it immunization.  It took me a while to get Notepad++ to default opening with Admin rights so the Hosts file could be edited and the results saved directly to the ETC folder.  Then creating a shortcut to the Hosts file on my Desktop that I could easily find it to edit.  Too many clicks.  :(

Anybody got an idea of how Spybot can tag on 50 entries and save it in a flash.  This prevents known Malware sites from accessing IE by Pointing them to 127.0.0.1.  It was the constant Google ads I was after and it was only two lines.  If I could open a quick-access window with a text-editor feel that was correctly formatted to already have the localhost IP typed in and maybe 10 spaces then let me type in the site name to be blocked.  Clicking "enter" would take you to the next line to add site if needed and a save button would write the whole string to the end of your current hosts file and save it (which takes Admin rights) back where it belongs in the ETC folder.
As in:  "127.0.0.1         www.I-Hate-These-Ads.com"

A utility like this would allow anyone to add them on the fly as needed.  Sounds like it would be a nifty tool. 
Better yet, take it one step further and make this a "browser Add-in with a Button on the bar.  Or on the desktop so it could work with any browser.  Click it to add the current site in the browser address bar to the Hosts lists correctly formatted to block it.

:)  Might as well wish for the Moon while wishing!

 :Thmbsup:
Having it's counterpart for the LMHosts file would be nice although I have only had one time when I ever needed to use it  Bu that One time was a Life Saver :).
Another nifty feature would be that some kind of Text File/Icon Notification be added to the desktop to let others know the HOSTS file was not "Normal".  :'(

I have run into situations where I spent a lot of time fighting what looked like a weird network problem only happen to think about looking there and find that someone had already pre-programed the Server IP to the old server and unless you just happen to think to look   It can be very frustrating.     Changing to a new network server with a new IP was almost impossible with that built-in reference still there.  Not sure where the best place would be to put it but any kind of notice that would be easy to see that said  "Hosts File has been Modified!" or some such would be nice.

146
I know this can't be as hard as it seems.  I cannot find a way to add anything to the File>send> options in IE11.  They don't seem to be connection in any way with the Send To: Options under Roaming so adding other options there only helps if you two-step send th shortcut to desktop, then right click, "send to" again.

I can File>send>page by email which is fine and I can even send it to myself but again that takes a lot of typing when sending the page to Word would allow me to even edit it before saving.  Better yet, file>send>page +shortcut (or favicon or hyperlink) to WORD.

Click it, word opens, page is added, hyperlink is written and I am left with a document to add comments to and save.  Even the name of the document would default to the most part of the hyperlink since WORD does that anyway.  The first words written are the default name of the file unless changed.

Anyone have an idea of how to do this?

147
Living Room / Problem with Office 365 and Windows 8
« on: March 11, 2014, 01:32 PM »


I posted this in the other software forum as well.  Normally I would not waste electronic space but this is an Urgent request for any information that might be of help. :'(

Does anyone have any info on a way to prevent Office 365 from EVER using Offline mode.  I understand the reasons for it but I have a lot of people who don't.  When they hit send, if the item says it sent, they expect it to be gone.  Then the recipient may not get the item for hours because it really did NOT get sent but put in a cache waiting for the next internet connection.  There is not indication to the sender (or not one they ever see) that this item did not really g out.  It is not in the Outbox and shows in the Sent box.
And eventually it does send.  But on items of an Urgent nature this is a  Nightmare!

I can even understand their reasons for the request, they just want Outlook to work the way it always has.  I have tried to research this but it almost looks like no one even wants to discuss it.
If she hits SEND, and it does NOT really go out for whatever reason, she wants it to show that by staying in her OUTBOX so she KNOWS it is not sent.

All attempts to explain the "new way" that Microsoft forced on everyone with the "OneDrive" default has been a total nightmare at most businesses.  and If there is NO other way, I might have to suggest they go back to Office 2010.  Although I am not even sure that is possible as far as importing the new PST file from Outlook 2013 (365)  into Outlook 2010.

This company uses Outlook like a Giant Filing Cabinet and learning NEW ways here is not a good thing.  The new laptops all come Windows 8 preloaded with Office 365 ready to go.  I know Office 2010 works fine on windows 8 as I build my OWN systems for my use and for the servers.  They run Office 2010 with no problem on windows 8 and Server 2012.

So right now, any help would be appreciated.  I just spent 3 days to find a way to unravel the "OneDrive" default and get rid of it.  Most people here did not even notice that they were defaulting to ONEDRIVE instead of their local systems other than complaints about the OPEN and SAVE being SLOW.  I almost missed it myself.  The only evidence being the address bar on SAVE showing
"httP://" instead of c:\

Getting rid of ONEDRIVE is worse than a cockroach infestation.  It just wont go away.  In addition is played havoc with locally mapped network drives in our office. 

Right now my only concern is Outlook 365 as this is a desperate request direct from the Owner and I hate to tell her I simply don't know the answer yet.  I hope someone here does.



 

 
 
 

148
General Software Discussion / Office 365 and Outlook
« on: March 11, 2014, 01:17 PM »
Does anyone have any info on a way to prevent Office 365 from EVER using Offline mode.  I understand the reasons for it but I have a lot of people who don't.  When they hit send, if the item says it sent, they expect it to be gone.  Then the recipient may not get the item for hours because it really did NOT get sent but put in a cache waiting for the next internet connection.  There is not indication to the sender (or not one they ever see) that this item did not really g out.  It is not in the Outbox and shows in the Sent box.
And eventually it does send.  But on items of an Urgent nature this is a  Nightmare!

I can even understand their reasons for the request, they just want Outlook to work the way it always has.  I have tried to research this but it almost looks like no one even wants to discuss it.
If she hits SEND, and it does NOT really go out for whatever reason, she wants it to show that by staying in her OUTBOX so she KNOWS it is not sent.

All attempts to explain the "new way" that Microsoft forced on everyone with the "OneDrive" default has been a total nightmare at most businesses.  and If there is NO other way, I might have to suggest they go back to Office 2010.  Although I am not even sure that is possible as far as importing the new PST file from Outlook 2013 (365)  into Outlook 2010.

This company uses Outlook like a Giant Filing Cabinet and learning NEW ways here is not a good thing.  The new laptops all come Windows 8 preloaded with Office 365 ready to go.  I know Office 2010 works fine on windows 8 as I build my OWN systems for my use and for the servers.  They run Office 2010 with no problem on windows 8 and Server 2012.

So right now, any help would be appreciated.  I just spent 3 days to find a way to unravel the "OneDrive" default and get rid of it.  Most people here did not even notice that they were defaulting to ONEDRIVE instead of their local systems other than complaints about the OPEN and SAVE being SLOW.  I almost missed it myself.  The only evidence being the address bar on SAVE showing
"httP://" instead of c:\

Getting rid of ONEDRIVE is worse than a cockroach infestation.  It just wont go away.  In addition is played havoc with locally mapped network drives in our office. 

Right now my only concern is Outlook 365 as this is a desperate request direct from the Owner and I hate to tell her I simply don't know the answer yet.  I hope someone here does.



149
OK, I know I am at the right place, so hopefully someone here already has this.  Being a knowledge "junkie" makes for tired fingers even with a computer and one thing that would be of great help would be an add-in for IE11 (preferably) to slightly modify the usual multi-click and lots of typing to be able to so one simple thing.

File, Send, link by email, which opens an outlook email with the link in it but then I have to fill in a standardized list of about 5 email addresses, add a short note as to why I thought this link would need to be revisited, then click send, and HOPE it goes out eventually.

I found out after time that the SEND button is somewhat misleading as the email does not actually go out. Not even if I have Outlook set to Send immediately.   When sending the link in this manner, the email apparently just gets loaded into the outbox and is sent the next time I open outlook,  Which isn't a big deal but annoying since when I hit SEND, I wanted it sent.

The addresses I do this for are all my own at various computer stations I work from located at more than one building and the links are usually just fortuitous finds that I happen to run across.   Adding the site to favorites on the one computer does no good since the information may relate to a job I am working on at another company.  Or even something I want to review later at home.  And the "Favorite" doesn't really do well at adding a note as to WHY I wanted to save it.

Using outlook to do the sending is also a waste in that one of the addresses in always the computer I am on at the time so I end up with two copies, one in sent and one in received.  Plus as I mentioned Outlook has always had that annoying habit of not actually sending it when you click send.  And yes, I have tried setting every possible location including perform an automatic send receive every 1 minute (which is a BAD idea when you think about it).   Worse, links sent in this manner use an "envelope" that apparently does not work with autofill so you have to type in the full address for every recipient, every time.

I have managed to beat that problem with a preprogrammed hotkey to fill in all 5 email addresses with one Alt+M but that is still more than it should take.  

While an Add-in would be nice only because I have become accustomed to the File/Send part in IE, it would probably be easier to set this whole thing up in a script using some form of code and link it to a hotkey.  The following VB script is something I have used before but would require a lot of modifications for this specific task.

Code: Visual Basic [Select]
  1. Dim mail As New MailMessage()
  2.         Dim SmtpServer As New SmtpClient("smtp.(mymailserver)")
  3.         mail.From = New MailAddress(txtid.Text)
  4.         mail.[To].Add("Email Id to"all 5 email addresses")
  5.        mail.Subject = txtsub.Text
  6.        mail.Body = txtmess.Text
  7.        mail.Attachments.Add(New Attachment(OpenFileDialog1.FileName))  <<<Here is where I need to get the IE link added
  8.        SmtpServer.Port = 587
  9.        SmtpServer.Credentials = New System.Net.NetworkCredential(txtid.Text, txtpass.Text)
  10.        SmtpServer.EnableSsl = True
  11.        SmtpServer.Send(mail)
  12.        mail.From = New MailAddress(txtid.Text)
  13.        MsgBox("E-mail Has Been Send Successfully !")

While it could probably be modified to activate from a hotkey and it can be preaddressed the attachment I need to add would be the link to the page the browser is on.

I also have other simple batch files to essentially do the same thing but none of them is quite up to the task of capturing the hyperlink in focus at the time along with letting me add a brief reminder of what I thought it would apply to.

At some point I might even want to create a rule in outlook to capture all emails arriving like this and file them in a separate "Ideas" folder as well as keeping any that are unread with the oldest at the top of the list in that folder as most of these ideas are time sensitive dealing with problems in the immediate time frame.

I guess this amounts to a glorified reminder list but my interests are so varied that ideas that pop up while browsing are often lost if I don't make some kind of note as I find them.  and the note has to be more than a scribble on a napkin which gets tossed in the trash.

There may well already be "An App for That"  and if someone knows of one I would appreciate finding it. And if not.  I am certain someone here knows how it could be done.

150
I know this is easy to do for anyone with decent tech savvy.  But trying to walk several people through the process over the phone (or worse by email) only ends up with me having to do a remote connect and do it for them.
It does not happen often but when it does, it is a real pain. 

We use several mapped drives on a single server which are mapped to the IP rather than the FQDN.  Mostly because everything is run on a simple workgroup.  With the people in the office, it still results in me having to do  it for them,  right click, map network drive, bring up the old route, change to the new IP, save etc..   Then repeat for about 5 mapped drives.
Then find the next person who could not follow those simple instructions

I got to wondering if there was a utility that could be programmed to simply change all occurrences of xxx.xxx.xxx in the registry under mount points to the new IP.  I'm not even sure it could be done that way.  But since Windows has the option to save the Wi-Fi connections to a flash drive and transfer them to another laptop,  I figure there must be a way to just change the IP used for drive mapping.  Nothing else changes, they have the same username, same password, same everything.  Only happens when the server has to be moved to another IP, usually due to a change in ISP bit sometimes due to reallocation of storage space.
 

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