Recent Posts

351

General Software Discussion / Re: Need software to resolve RFI issue

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 11, 2016, 07:14 AM »

Ah, does the widget use a battery? Otherwise it's probably RFID like most car keys these days so you may not have much luck with the bike alarm, you may have to try the garage remote instead.

-4wd (November 10, 2016, 06:02 PM)

Yes, it uses one of the 3.5v 2032 (BIOS) batteries ... Which was only putting out 2.98v when I checked it at the office after it decided to flake out at a gas station.

So... that part may not actually be related. Although I still have to figure out what's up the garage doors ass.

352

General Software Discussion / Re: Need software to resolve RFI issue

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 10, 2016, 03:57 PM »

If it's something that isn't specifically WiFi broadcast related then I'm not sure the apps Wraith mentioned will help, you really need a Field Strength Meter. I don't suppose there's any HAM Radio people you know that can help?

-4wd (November 09, 2016, 05:23 PM)

Yeah, that's the thing I was going to ask about if I'd have known what it was called...

@SJ: I guess another simple thing to try that might give you a clue is directional shielding, eg. grab a sheet of steel/Al/etc, (maybe around 4' x 4'), and place it on one side of your bike centered near where the receiver for the alarm is.  Then see if you can activate the alarm from the opposite side from what would be a normal distance.

-4wd (November 09, 2016, 06:34 PM)

I like it! It's a button-less proximity widget, so I generally have to be sitting on the bike (or very damn close) to test it. But I do believe I can come up with a stop sign or something to test with.

The whole RF thing is just not really in my skillset.

353

General Software Discussion / Re: Need software to resolve RFI issue

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 09, 2016, 07:17 AM »

SJ: Is it screwing with the 802.11bgn (2.4GHz) or 802.11a/ac (5GHz) WiFi ?Or both?

-4wd (November 08, 2016, 04:07 PM)

I don't think my (antique) WRT54G has 5GHz so I'm guessing it's in the 2,4GHz range. However I've not a clue what range the garage door and ignition/alarm fob on the bike run at. Come to think of it the house alarm system is cellular and appears to be unaffected ... Or - since some of the sensors are reporting low battery - it may be causal if it (can...) turn itself up a bit in an attempt to reach them. Alarm control, garage door and spot where bike alarm flaked are all within 30' of each other. Wireless router is quite slow, but stable-ish, and at the other end of the house.

@Curt - I do not believe that the situation is intentional. I suspect that something in the (strictly residential) vicinity is either saturating a channel, gone a tad out of spec, or both. e.g. there's no need to get the - instant over complication - Fuzz involved ... Even if I could get them to stop laughing long enough (small southern town...) to take a report.

Radio/Ham armatures never really came to mind as that type of interference always manifests differently. You can/will hear them talking over various audio devices like clock radios or TVs. Case in point, where I work there is a tow yard next door, and any time one of the drivers transmits (high-end CBs) from the yard I can hear them over the computer speakers in my office. Kinda freaked me out at first because I didn't know where "The Voices" were coming from...but I hardly notice it anymore.

354

General Software Discussion / Re: Need software to resolve RFI issue

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 08, 2016, 11:15 AM »

contact the proper authority and complain; Radio frequencies are potential dangerous and must be controlled accordingly.

-Curt (November 08, 2016, 09:50 AM)

I do hope you're joking - Because that's never gonna happen.

355

General Software Discussion / Need software to resolve RFI issue

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 08, 2016, 06:53 AM »

Greetings
   So it appears I have a bit of a weird issue going on in my neighborhood. Somebody is broadcasting some type of either very dirty or high output signal that is screwing with everything wireless in my world. My garage door opener, the wireless alarm fob for my bike, my wireless network, etc..

    Is there a best option (free...) application I can toss on a laptop (or Windows Phone) to try and track this signal menace down?

Thank you,

Stoic Joker

356

Living Room / Re: computer not recognizing scanner

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 04, 2016, 11:18 AM »

I get where you're coming from, but he's already tried it using 2 different cables, on 3 different machines. So most likely there is either a procedural error being made during the install, or the device is borked.

There are some USB devices that require the software install be running when the device is plugged in so it can modify how the device is interpreted by the OS during driver/device installation. So if you just plug in the device and try to feed it a driver, it will never get the (software installer's) help that it needs to be identified properly. But since I'm inclined to assume TechiDave already knows that ... My guess is that the device is borked.

357

Living Room / Re: computer not recognizing scanner

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 04, 2016, 07:05 AM »

Well... Epson's site says it's Win10 compatible...without any conditions. So assuming that the software and driver combo was installed prior to the scanner being connected. If the device still is not being properly recognized. I gotta go with Jill on this one, it sounds like the device is borked.

When was the last time either one of the scanners worked?

358

General Software Discussion / Re: (urgent) Need AMD/ATI Catalyst Software: CCC 15.7 WHQL - Windows 7 BSOD

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 01, 2016, 11:23 AM »

If this was an update that went bad, try doing a driver rollback with Device Manager.

359

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: [free one year license] RegOrganizer 7.52

« Last post by Stoic Joker on November 01, 2016, 07:21 AM »

Looks like the RegOrganizer offer expired, and their site appears to be a bit broken. I tried getting the EaseUS Data Recovery and the account creation went fine...but the license and DL is 404ing.

360

General Software Discussion / Re: svchost /k netsvcs [Problem on Win.7]

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 27, 2016, 07:22 AM »

Okay, a solution for Windows 7 X64 which has worked for two machines:
Install KB3161608

Listed with direct links under "Alternative Fix (June 2016)"
at this superuser post (via superuser link above):
http://superuser.com...n7-sp1/997067#997067

Took a while on the older machine, but both machines found downloads and were able to successfully download and install (I didnt do all updates in one go FWIW)

Note:
my problem was not only very high CPU usage, but also inability to find *any* updates

-tomos (July 19, 2016, 09:42 AM)

Never ran into this previously, but have had a Win7 x64 machine on the bench all week because it had been checking for updates for almost 2 days. Ran the above fix and it found 233 updates inside of half an hour.

I'd say it's a keeper!

Thanks Tom!

361

Living Room / Re: Surface Pro 4 (etc); observations from long term use?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 19, 2016, 11:13 AM »

Personally, I prefer pen and paper for most 'Tablet Type' tasks. Even though my hand writing is shit...it's still a more fluid medium for me to work with.

362

General Software Discussion / Re: OneDrive Crashing in Windows 10

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 14, 2016, 11:15 AM »

Keep an eye on it for awhile. I went the JP route with mine (albeit a few versions ago) and found it to be a complete nightmare of weird assed behavior (sync half the files/none of the files/part of a file[Yeah...])

I finally gave up and skipped the JP when I got a new machine.

363

General Software Discussion / Re: Outlook add-in to force all hidden URL's to "unhide" in Outlook 2016

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 13, 2016, 11:22 AM »

Not what you're asking but IMO a better solution to the actual problem would be to get signed up for something like the Human Firewall Security Awareness Training.

364

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Group Policy settings

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 12, 2016, 06:38 AM »

... or more likely, "We know how to protect users from themselves, think of all the support we'd have to provide for Home users when they screw up their Group Policy settings or forget their Bitlocker password, that'll cost us bucket loads, just remove those items from the Home edition."

-4wd (October 10, 2016, 08:24 PM)

That makes a bit more sense. Not that I agree that it shouldn't at least have some easily unlockable featureset, but I can see that rationale.

-wraith808 (October 11, 2016, 06:55 AM)

Think back to how many times in the past you've had a user in a business environment ask you what the green files are for ... and that's about as much justification as is needed.

-Stoic Joker (October 11, 2016, 11:11 AM)

It annoys me when I say, Open Windows Explorer.  Then we go through a bit of back and forth... and I realize they've opened Internet Explorer.

-wraith808 (October 11, 2016, 11:47 AM)

After suffering the agony of constantly having to tell people not to type the www. in front of support.companyname.com (ad nausium). I finally gave up, and created an cname alias of www.support.companyname.com. Because the back and forth was consuming way to much time trying to catch them doing it.

It really is amazing how many people just assume things are complicated and simply shutdown with out even trying.

365

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Group Policy settings

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 11, 2016, 11:11 AM »

... or more likely, "We know how to protect users from themselves, think of all the support we'd have to provide for Home users when they screw up their Group Policy settings or forget their Bitlocker password, that'll cost us bucket loads, just remove those items from the Home edition."

-4wd (October 10, 2016, 08:24 PM)

That makes a bit more sense. Not that I agree that it shouldn't at least have some easily unlockable featureset, but I can see that rationale.

-wraith808 (October 11, 2016, 06:55 AM)

Think back to how many times in the past you've had a user in a business environment ask you what the green files are for ... and that's about as much justification as is needed.

366

Living Room / Re: Is there a reliable printer?

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 10, 2016, 06:24 AM »

All the printers I have owned, around 10,...

-kalos (October 09, 2016, 07:13 PM)

That's not very informative.

What brand(s) & models have failed you most recently?

-Ath (October 10, 2016, 03:48 AM)

...And how did they fail?

Paper handling issues are most frequently caused by warn pickup rollers/separation pads, bad (or moist) media, and driver misconfiguration.

367

DC Gamer Club / Re: MIT Morality game for self-driving cars

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 08, 2016, 12:36 PM »

I would weigh both animals and people the same...however people should be held responsible for knowing better than to walk out in front of a speeding car....period.

So to me the test is flawed from the get-go. Didn't your mother tell you to 'look both ways before crossing the street'??? Animals don't have that luxury.

Break failure == self driving car should do the same thing that people driven car should/would do - Flash the lights and lay on the fucking horn like mad! That way people - or at least the non-distracted astute ones... - know to get the hell out of the way.

There's no way for the car to know gender/race/age/criminality in a split second...or likely at all. So I find it to be a rather disingenuous. misdirect to even bring that into the question.

This is just a great way of causing more deaths by trying to remove responsibility for one's own safety from people ... and handing it to a fucking machine.

368

General Software Discussion / Re: No video after resuming from sleep - Windows 10 Anniversary Edition

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 07, 2016, 07:09 AM »

BTW, one thing I also noticed with the Anniversary Update, Windows Defender would no longer do scans in the background, ie. you couldn't close the window as it would say it would cancel the scan ... there's a backward step.

-4wd (October 06, 2016, 04:43 PM)

I ran into that the other day too ... Really quite annoying.

369

General Software Discussion / Re: How can i force Windows 10 to ALWAYS go to the login screen on Boot

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 04, 2016, 03:31 PM »

It's a bit counterintuitive (and untested), but if you use one of the auto logon utilities out there and configure it with the wrong password. It  should - in theory - cause it to stop and ask for the right one allowing the user to switch accounts.

370

Living Room / Re: Trying to remember quote about design and beauty

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 04, 2016, 06:31 AM »

Nope... *Sigh* ...I really should have saved it when I first saw it. I'm almost positive it was on the board here somewhere several years ago.

371

Site/Forum Features / Code Highlighting Tags Broken

« Last post by Stoic Joker on October 01, 2016, 08:25 AM »

IIRC there is a proper form to report board issues in...but damn if I can find it at the moment ... So I'll just drop this here.

I've been trying to send (PM) some C++ code to a guy since Friday, but every time I use the code highlighting tags (to preserve the formatting) the page blows up saying it can't be loaded.

Is it really just my day (/week...) in the barrel, or is the board glitching on the code tags?

372

Living Room / Re: HP "timebomb" prevents HP inkjet printers from using non-HP ink cartridges.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 28, 2016, 06:49 AM »

The right way to handle the costs of this stuff is to factor everything in then assess the cost per page for your printed output over the life of the printer. If it's now the case, particularly at the consumer end, that the majority of the cost is in the ink cartridges then that just makes the calculation easier, surely?

-oblivion (September 27, 2016, 02:10 AM)

I did that. Which is why I own a laser printer and not an ink printer.

I haven't replaced my toner cartridge for literally years, and it still prints away when I need it to.
An ink cartridge would have dried up after a few months, whether I used it or not.

-Deozaan (September 28, 2016, 01:48 AM)

Laser printers aren't a magic bullet in that regard as the toner cartridges also have a "shelf life" of sorts. There are seals (scraper blades etc.) in the cartridge that become weak/brittle over time. If the cartridge is left in service for too long they will fail, dump all of the toner remaining in the cartridge on one page, and turning the printer into a gooey mess. Thus ended the life of my LaserJet 2100 ... The cartridge was 5+ years old ... The seals failed ... And it wound a toner soaked page up into the fuser while melting the rest of the toner into a semi solid "puddle" that covered most of the insides of the machine.

This is not a rare occurrence with aging cartridges. Once they pass their recommended shelf life (~2-3 years), they become time bombs. And printing defects (spots, streaks, etc.) do not always occur prior to catastrophic failure...they can just go poof ... Like mine did.

373

Living Room / Re: Guides or tools to help with adding GMAIL to Desktop Outlook 2016 in Windows 10

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 26, 2016, 06:45 AM »

Some of the mentions i have seen on this mentioned two-stage authentication as an issue.

-questorfla (September 25, 2016, 04:18 PM)

Yepper, that one's a bugger. And they make it really hard to disable by burying the link (that I posted earlier..). While I haven't had occasion to deal with Office 2016 much, I have seen Gmail accounts take exception to Office 2013 a few times ... And the "fix" was always to enable Access for Less Secure Apps. Log into the target account, then past the link into the browser to get there. Enable it and then wait 10-20 minutes for it to actually take effect (I've seen it take up to an hour), and then it should behave after that.

We go through this frequently when setting up Multi-Function Printers to get Scan-To-Email working with Gmail accounts. Which is why I had - and keep - the link handy.

374

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows Upates changing to Single update

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 26, 2016, 06:31 AM »

While I get the idea behind this change at MS, they could underestimate the side-effects of many who will disable Windows Update.

-Shades (September 26, 2016, 12:31 AM)

Maybe not considering how hard it is (for the average user) to do in Windows 10. If they hustle 08 & 7 through the EoL cycle they could have a captive audience of subscribers in no time at all.

375

Living Room / Re: HP "timebomb" prevents HP inkjet printers from using non-HP ink cartridges.

« Last post by Stoic Joker on September 26, 2016, 06:20 AM »

And to compound the problem - if you're trying to hold out with older firmware - HP's tech support will also always insist that you have the latest firmware installed before addressing any issue(s) you may be having with one of their devices.

Ya know...just in case the fix was addressed in the update...