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976

General Software Discussion / Re: Configure Host file!

« Last post by Shades on March 04, 2016, 07:14 AM »

Well that was quick and painful.

-IainB (March 04, 2016, 02:51 AM)

I have had a similar experience with the Oracle XE database software from Oracle. After re-installing this software and using the Oracle prescribed start procedure would only sometimes result in a start of the database, while most of the time a reboot was required.

When I used the free version of RevoUninstaller to remove the Oracle XE software and then re-install, the Oracle XE software worked every time as expected. Since then I always use Uninstaller software to get rid of software.

Most of these software packages first create a restore point, then use the official uninstaller that comes with the software you want to get rid off and when that is finished, it will look in the registry and on the hard disk for remaining entries and files.

Unfortunately there is a big difference between the user's expectation and the actual result of uninstalling software using the Windows control panel option. In all of their "wisdom", the developers of the software you have installed think that leaving a lot of files and registry entries will make a re-installation of their software a breeze. The user likely thinks he/she got rid of every file and registry change that was applied during the installation of this software.

Most 'smaller' pieces of software do remove everything, strengthening the user's belief in the force behind the control panel's uninstall option. After a developer has created his/her program, he/she needs to make a choice which installing software suite he/she is going to use for the distribution of his/her program. There are quite some options to choose from and these are definitely not created equally. This part of the process in getting the (paying) user an installer he/she can use to deploy on his/her system varies from uninteresting to a pain in the behind. Don't be surprised if the developer unintentionally overlooked one or more options for the creation of the uninstaller inside the installer...after all, who wants to get rid of the creation he/she put so much effort in?

That realization made sure that when I read the software creator's recommendation to use the control panel for uninstalling it is always translated into: use uninstaller product xyz instead.

The abilities of uninstallers vary, but the ones I tried all did a much better job than the uninstalling part that comes with software installers.

All of the above also made me appreciate portable versions of software in such a manner that if I need a piece of software, I look if there is a portable version of it. And if it doesn't, I look at alternatives that do.

After 3 years I have amassed quite a software library, yet the control panel only reports I have 32 pieces of software installed (not counting the Windows related entries from Microsoft, but counting MS Office related entries). 6 of those 32 entries are (GOG) games. As a result my system still feels as nimble as the first day it was installed.


TL;DR:
Always, always, always use uninstaller software like RevoUninstaller to remove software from your Windows computer.

977

General Software Discussion / Re: Configure Host file!

« Last post by Shades on March 02, 2016, 07:19 AM »

The firewall that comes with Windows 7 (and up) is actually good in blocking incoming/outgoing network traffic. And there are (freeware) tools available that make working with this firewall easier, if you find it's default interface intimidating/fugly.

978

Living Room / Re: Consider installing 2 x 8Gb RAM cards in your 64-bit laptop.

« Last post by Shades on March 02, 2016, 07:14 AM »

Not all memory controllers are made equally, so look at the specs of your laptop to see how much RAM your laptop can support. You would be amazed about the artificial limits build into memory controllers of laptops (because the manufacturer will save money where it can).

Also, the speed of the RAM is important too. Verify again what the manufacturer of the laptop specified as max speed of the RAM. It is best to buy RAM modules in sets from the same series of one brand. That way there is less chance of RAM modules being incompatible with each other.

Do not expect that adding another module to your existing one will work at the advertised speeds. In some cases that won't work at all, as in you hear your laptop beep, while only showing a black screen. Again, not all memory controller chips are created equally, some really cannot compensate for any difference in timing/speed/latency of different RAM modules.

Buy a set of RAM modules and sell the original module(s) if you have to...that is the best course of action.

979

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Tips

« Last post by Shades on February 29, 2016, 09:34 PM »

Well, I guessed that if you only heard it from me, you would rightfully put it to anecdotal evidence or hearsay. So I added links to the finding of Fred Langa (a person with much more credibility than I have) and a link to a technet post, assuming those were credible enough.

Now I have several Linux and Windows machines networked. Netbios is enabled on some Windows machines, not on others. I also use a router PC with the pfSense 2.2.4 software including its DNS server. The machines that do not use NetBios are much faster retrieving content from network accessible folders than the other ones.

I prefer to disable NetBios (over TCP/IP), mainly because it is a really old standard that has proven to be vulnerable. Besides, even if it is enabled, that standard has become more and more irrelevant since Windows 2000 and up. A more recent TechNet article states the same.

But yes, NetBios (over TCP/IP) works differently than DNS. And from the articles above you'll see that the standard is hardly, if at all, used for network communication since Windows 2000, even if you do have it enabled.

About the other part:
More often than not, 'Less is more'. Software and services/protocols that are not needed, you best get rid of to prevent Windows taking unnecessary actions. By 'getting rid of' I mean disable, not remove as there might be a future task for which you might need it again.

But you will notice an increase in computing power when reducing in this way.

Differences between Workgroups and Homegroups:

• Workgroup
• In workgroup all computers have equal rights.
• Workgroup cannot be password protected.
• Workgroup has a limit of twenty computers.
• In workgroup all computers must be on same local network.
• Workgroup works on all windows version.
• Workgroup works on both IP versions: IPv4 and IPv6.
• In workgroup every computer requires same workgroup name.
• Workgroup needs technical knowledge to setup.
• Workgroup requires security and sharing permissions to be set.
• To use a workgroup computer you need to have a user account on that computer.
[/li]

• Homegroup
• Homegroup does not have a limit of computers.
• You can join as much computers as you want.
• Homegroup can be password protected.
• Homegroup is easy to setup. All sharing options are enabled automatically.
• Homegroup requires IPv6 to work.
• Homegroup can be span over the subnet.
• Homegroup requires window7 or higher version.

When you add layer over layer over layer to make things "easier" on the front-end you will actually accomplish the opposite on the back-end. Or worse, settings are adjusted in your network, because Microsoft deemed their choices to be safer than yours. While you cannot blame Microsoft to err on the side of caution, the net result is that you'll end up with a network that is slower than it is supposed to be. That was what the article from Fred Langa was about. If memory serves me, he also did transfer tests between different versions of Windows with and without Homegroup. Homegroup was the slower option, all the time. Unfortunately, his article disappeared behind a paywall.

Personally, I would not be surprised if the Homegroup requirement of IPv6 could be the cause for slowdowns in an IPv4-only network. The NIC in the computer could wait a millisecond or so, because of the incomplete/wrong IPv6 configuration before reverting back to the working IPv4 configuration, each time a TCP/IP packet needs to be ACKnowledged. This adds up when transferring (big) files. I would also have no problems imagining that the 'spanning over a subnet' introduces extra overhead in some network drivers.

As most people only have access to IPv4-only networks, which I don't see changing any time soon, the unnecessary Homegroup slowdown will remain a problem.

Now I can imagine that you don't want all that headache disabling software this and service that to have the most optimal amount of computing resources for the computing task you are going to execute. Most people don't care enough about this and usually do other things on the computer during the executing of this sub-optimal task. All part of their workflow and there is nothing wrong with this.

Taking a look at the differences between Workgroup and Homegroup anyone should notice that Workgroup is relatively simple in setup when compared to Homegroup. With all the Homegroup related problems reported in the Microsoft Technet forms and Windows 7 & up forums, it's background complexities create a lot of trouble. Much more than the simpler Workgroup system does. So, if you do know about how to handle/work with Workgroup, there is no reason at all to use Homegroup.

 

980

Find And Run Robot / Re: Farr freezes when using shortcuts to UNC network paths

« Last post by Shades on February 27, 2016, 08:46 AM »

Your problem reeks of an TCP/IP protocol issue, which is most likely answered in this donationcoder post.

981

Screenshot Captor / Re: screenshot captor and NAS unsuable

« Last post by Shades on February 27, 2016, 08:05 AM »

How do you access the NAS? By name or by it's IP number? What version of Windows do you use? And (what is worse) do you have Homegroup enabled on your Windows machine?

Windows 7/8.x are known to slow down to a crawl when accessing network folders, especially when you use computer names, instead of IP numbers. For clarification: DNS translates the name of a computer into an IP number after which you can access the desired computer. This translation works the same on an internal network as on the internet.

Problem is that DNS requests that go through Homegroup functionality never have the same speed twice and are always(!) 10 to 15% slower than a DNS request being made without Homegroup.

You must also know that by default any TCP/IP request has a maximum wait time of 30 seconds before that protocol deems a connection unresponsive and only after that time it will create a new connection. This behavior is a remnant of the telephone modem days, giving the user the impression an application 'freezes', while it is simply waiting for the TCP/IP protocol to finish and create a proper network connection.

Last I checked Microsoft had instructions on their MSDN/TechNet website for adjusting this wait period. However, they never created a GUI interface for this, so this and other TCP/IP protocol settings are only changed by people who know what they are doing in the Windows registry.

If you really want to change this or other TCP/IP protocol settings, you'll have to find the links yourself, as I won't link to these on purpose.

What you should do is the following:

• Never use Homegroup in any way or form (disable Homegroup related services in your Windows is the best way to accomplish this).
• Visit this TechNet link (the answer starting at about half of the page is what you should do).
• Use IP numbers where you can.
• Configure the correct user name and password for accessing your NAS (by its name and and also its IP number) in the 'Credential Manager' of the Windows Control Panel. You should repeat this on any computer in your home network.

When you apply these 4 steps above, you will find that transferring any type of content that uses the TCP/IP protocol will go a lot smoother to the point that you don't even notice a difference in accessing a network folder or local folder anymore. This way you are eliminating a lot of actions Windows needs to take to help you.   

982

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Tips

« Last post by Shades on February 27, 2016, 07:14 AM »

I would sure hope not, the 15% drop in network speed is never worth the "ease" Microsoft envisioned when creating a LAN network in your home (or small office)!

-Shades (September 11, 2015, 07:40 AM)

15% drop in network speed? Huh?

-f0dder (February 26, 2016, 12:51 PM)

I was wondering this too... but didn't know enough to question it.

-wraith808 (February 26, 2016, 02:13 PM)

It is the first thing to do when using any Windows 7/8.x PC on any network:
http://windowssecret...etworking-slowdowns/
http://fredlanga.blo...n-win7-advanced.html
https://social.techn...um=w7itpronetworking

Homegroup:  the "comfort" has not been worth the sacrifice, hence it has no reason to exist.

983

General Software Discussion / Re: Computer blogs that you read?

« Last post by Shades on February 20, 2016, 07:46 PM »

raymond.cc
techrepublic

More directed at professional users, but still interesting enough:
Petri It Knowledgebase
msexchange.org
datamotion

Ct Magazin (in German. They used to have also an English language version, but it seems you need Google translate or something similar or learn German.)

You ask us for many and give only two? Share the love mate...  

984

General Software Discussion / Re: Software discontinued...help!

« Last post by Shades on February 20, 2016, 11:46 AM »

OneStore does not have an import function?

You could find out where the files of the default new store are stored. Verify if the file name(s) of the file(s) from your old store are the same.

• If that is the case, you can try replacing the file(s) from the new default store with the file(s) from your old store. Make sure to close OneStore down completely (that includes background services if there are any) before you do this. By doing so, there shouldn't be any process 'locking' the store file(s).
• If that isn't the case, you can try replacing the file(s) from the new default store with the file(s) from your old store using the file-name(s) from the new default store. Make sure to close OneStore down completely (that includes background services if there are any) before you do this. By doing so, there shouldn't be any process 'locking' the store file(s).

After that you should start OneStore (and background services if there are any). If it doesn't crash and your old data appears, you are in luck. But to be honest, this method is a 'hail Mary' move and could result in OneStore crashing. Depends if there were changes in the data format/structure of the file(s) created by the version of the OneStore instance that contained all your info and the store file(s) from the newer version of OneStore you want to use now. Crashing OneStore isn't too big of a deal, as long as you copy your old store file(s) into the new location, not move the old store file(s) into the new location.

The version difference between the version you had and the new one seems to be a minor one, so it is quite safe to assume there are no (significant) changes in the ways data is stored. But always remember: assumption is the mother of all f.ck-ups.

Find out if there if there is a function in OneStore that allows you to import your old store file(s) into the new OneStore instance first. Decently written software provides you with an import functionality.

985

General Software Discussion / Re: Software discontinued...help!

« Last post by Shades on February 19, 2016, 07:36 AM »

Creating a virtual machine with Windows 7 and the archive you possibly could get from the internet's "wayback machine"?

The pages:  http://www.x2net.com/   &   http://www.x2net.com/downloads/   contain serial codes and all the downloads from X2net that is legal for them to distribute.

A file name search in Google is also an option: 'x2net_onestore_setup.exe' (as modeled after the names I saw on the official link) resulted in link and link. Trustworthy sources?  I have my doubts, but now you know the value of keeping the installers of software you actually use, backed up on a safe location (that is not the internet/cloud). From what I saw the installer is around around 13MByte or so, which is hardly any space at all.

986

General Software Discussion / Re: hulu & tor

« Last post by Shades on February 15, 2016, 05:54 PM »

What eleman says. That or start living in the US on a location where you can receive Hulu.

987

Living Room / Re: liquid on keyboard

« Last post by Shades on February 15, 2016, 05:51 PM »

Better to open the case, use paper towels/toilet paper to soak up as much liquid as you can from all electronics and plastic parts that easily stick together. Sugar and Aspertan aren't friendly for circuitry. After he soaking up part leave the device open and air-dry the device. Use a fan, but never ever a hair-dryer or any other device that blows heat and air. If you decide to use a fan, 'tornado'-mode is not necessary, just a slow and steady stream of air.

Still it would be best to wait a day before you re-assemble the device again. The above is the pound of cure. The ounce of prevention would be the discipline to not use beverages near electronic equipment.

988

Living Room / Re: Windows Phone Narrator should be punished!

« Last post by Shades on February 06, 2016, 10:16 AM »

After finally giving in on updating some apps and system software I noticed an an option called: Narrator. Curiosity got hold of me and I activated it. Then I forgot about it and the phone went into energy saving mode.

-Shades (February 06, 2016, 12:11 AM)

So... In your many years of experience with Windows. You never once wandered across - or afoul of - the Win + U hotkey that sets off Narrator to present the Ease of Access features that have been around since Win2k? Ouch! Damn curiosity..

-Stoic Joker (February 06, 2016, 07:57 AM)

No, I did not. The Narrator appears to be for people that have very poor to no vision. And there aren't many people that have such problems in my circles. The ones I do know are usually in their golden years and solve their vision issue(s) with glasses in one form or another. So no, I am not that familiar with hot-keys for functions that allow people with disabilities to work with Windows.

If it wasn't clear from my story...there wasn't even access to the on-screen keyboard. Besides headphones (the simple wired kind without microphone) and SD-card, I don't have a need for peripherals. So there wasn't  a blue-tooth keyboard either.

Connecting the phone to my PC only reveals a window where the status of the phone (battery level, messages, storage space) is shown. And the icons that allow direct access to the phone's storage, import pictures and manage media. It is rather simple in design, but very workable from the beginning. A far better experience than I have had with any Android phone or tablet or iPad. If there would be an option to write WhatsApp/Skype/SMS/MMS messages using this window, it would have been perfect. Writing messages with a proper keyboard...ah well, there must be room to dream, right? Unfortunately, the 'Project my Screen' project isn't working nicely with my Lumia 520, but it should with model 630 and up. And there is also it's spiritual successor, Continuum.

As I said, my needs for a smart phone are very basic. Too basic for me to justify buying the Lumia 950 and necessary devices to make the Continuum concept happen. Still, people that want to do all of their computing with their phone, I will never understand. Buying every kind of peripheral, play games, play movies etc. ...it is just a phone! No matter the size of its screen, it is too small to truly enjoy a movie or other form of media. Is this a problem of me being old-fashioned or not accepting sub-par computing/media just like the rest of the world seems to be so eager to do? I don't know.

Anyway, enough ranting for the day.

989

Living Room / Windows Phone Narrator should be punished!

« Last post by Shades on February 06, 2016, 12:11 AM »

Let me begin by saying I have a simple Lumia 520 smart phone (WP 8.1 Cyan). Till 2 hours ago I was very happy with the device. It does what it needs to do and does that well. Until 2 hours ago, that is.

After finally giving in on updating some apps and system software I noticed an an option called: Narrator.
Curiosity got hold of me and I activated it. Then I forgot about it and the phone went into energy saving mode.

Now I must add that some of the hardware buttons on the phone hardly work. Not a big deal, as their functionality is covered by on-screen buttons. To get my phone out of sleeping mode I just need to double-tap the screen on my phone and it activates, then I need to scroll up to access the functionality of the phone...a measure to prevent 'butt-dialing' and similar tricks smart phones put you through.

However, with Narrator activated, scrolling is disabled. Frustration levels start to rise very quickly. Actually I don't know of any other device that can instill so much rage in anyone in such a short amount of time.

After 45 minutes of trying to get this functionality go away by trying to be fast enough, using many(!) very(!!!) explicit terms I finally arrived at this tip: use the 'Start' button and volume up button to deactivate Narrator.

Great!...that is one of the broken buttons on my phone!

Then the tip: use Cortana to gain access to the Narrator settings and turn it off.

Even better!!...My hatred for Cortana has just been surpassed by my hatred for this phone at this point in time. So that functionality was disabled from the get-go!

So here I am, looking for a way to find the creator of Narrator and shove my phone through his/her throat with all the force I can muster. To make it more of a sport, I would shove it sideways!

Cooler heads prevail, so venting pressure resulted in quite some physical distance between my phone and me. Now I start looking for a solution to fix the buttons on my phone.

Guess what, I was not the only one with broken buttons and this Narrator problem. Fixing the buttons was actually very easy and cheap.
Although the 520 isn't the only phone with this problem, it appears to be the model that is affected most by a design flaw with the hardware buttons, which can cause micro-fractures that break the contact between the hardware board and the button(s).

You can fix this by removing all the covers from your Lumia phone. Cut a piece of plastic from any kind of thin package material (slightly curved) about 5 millimeters wide and 25 millimeters long. Cut as many as you need and slide one piece of plastic over the broken button. Do this firmly, but gently. Once you are in 5 millimeter to a centimeter in, the plastic hardly goes any further.

Start pressing the previously broken button and you'll notice it works again. The piece of plastic should push the button back down on the phone's main board, recreating the connection and its function.
Cut whatever piece of plastic still sticks out (without moving it, of course)and put back your cover(s). That's it.

I didn't believe it would work myself, but this Narrator mishap made me desperate for any solution. After fixing my buttons this way, the problem was solved quickly and painlessly.

Sure hope this will help anyone else faced with the vile piece of crap that is Narrator.

990

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows XP Key Code

« Last post by Shades on February 04, 2016, 05:36 AM »

There is a lot of software that allow you to retrieve your Windows product key:

HowToGeek has an article about this.
MagicJellyBean - you might have to look for an older version that supports XP, seems to have been bundled with adware, nowadays.
NirSoft - one of the places to look first on any piece of software that accesses core Windows functionality, the other one is SysInternals. Both offer suites of their software. Get both of them!
Belarc Advisor - oldie, but goodie.
SIW - I use this one in my own arsenal of portable tools.

991

General Software Discussion / Re: Convert mpg to mp4 file - which is best software ?

« Last post by Shades on January 30, 2016, 08:37 AM »

Handbrake would indeed be the best tool. Although I don't find it's interface confusing, the existence of Vidcoder proves that there quite some people that do. Vidcoder groups its settings differently and/or easier, but for the rest it is Handbrake under the hood.

Vidcoder has the option to be used as portable application. If that is your thing, of course.

992

Living Room / Re: Thinking of switching to WP8 from Android

« Last post by Shades on January 28, 2016, 10:15 PM »

The 'Backup' option is also available on my phone, but when scroll down (a lot) the other backup option appeared. To my knowledge I didn't download any app that might have added this option. The only thing I do is updating existing apps and tools that already came with the phone. It is part of the ms provided tools, but I didn't find version number info of any kind. The phone runs on Lumia Cyan.

993

Developer's Corner / Re: Kerberos and VMs and NLB

« Last post by Shades on January 28, 2016, 06:54 PM »

StackOverflow mentions:
in IIS > 7, I had to add "useAppPoolCredentials = true" to the application's configuration in order to have everything work as expected. Without that configuration element, all authentication was broken.

The situation described at the link has an image indicating the problem...which on first glance matches with your description. Perhaps the suggestion above could be of any help?

994

Living Room / Re: Thinking of switching to WP8 from Android

« Last post by Shades on January 28, 2016, 06:45 PM »

I've got a Lumia 928, and absolutely no interest in looking at anything else. It does what I want it to do, nothing more, nothing less. I'm not interested in tinkering around with the phone...or any phone for that matter. It needs to just work and this does.

-Stoic Joker (July 30, 2014, 02:12 PM)

I got a Lumia 730 lately (I think 735 is more common in the US -- the 730 is dual sim).
I'm a very basic user:
phoning, text, email (gmail), taking the odd picture, checking the weather, occasionally following a link from an email, Whatsapp/Viber.

It's a lovely phone -- yes, I really like the OS -- with a great camera. I'm not familiar with any high-end phones' cameras, so cant compare. This one has lowish resolution by today's standards (6.7MP), but got very good reviews and didnt break the bank (~170US$ at time of purchase). I suspect the lower resolution helped it's low light performance.

Most initial quirks disappeared after updating everything

My remaining annoyances are:

• Microsoft's idea of backup is Cloud, full-stop. I have to admit I havent even connected the thing to a computer yet, but why not allow me to back up contacts, messages, and images to the SD card? I suspect there are ways around this (there is no file manager offered) but it neither obvious nor easy, and it's way down my ToDo list.
• For gmail it insisted on getting my main gmail password, i.e. it wont use an application specific password. The (translated) 'login once for all google products' quickly falls flat on it's face: I need to give in my password again to see replies to comments on YouTube. (I didnt bother.)
• The clock suddenly jumped backwards today -- this may be a problem with my network, I dont know. Weird though, reminds me of wind-up watches... not what smartphones are supposed to do...

-tomos (January 28, 2016, 03:23 PM)

On my old Lumia 520, it is not a problem to make a backup to an SD card. In my 'System Settings' there is an option called 'Contacts and Messages backup'. This allows me to backup to SD card. You have a much better model than I do, so I kinda expect your phone to have this feature too. My WP is 8.1 and my usage pattern matches yours almost completely.

995

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by Shades on January 26, 2016, 05:49 AM »

Australia day? I couldn't give a lick...

996

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by Shades on January 24, 2016, 06:08 PM »

@40Hz:
With that image of yours, I can only see the right part...

997

Living Room / Re: Very slow internal network speed - any ideas

« Last post by Shades on January 23, 2016, 06:32 AM »

First, connections through cables should always be faster than WiFi. If that isn't the case, something is wrong with the cable.

3 ports are occupied with 4-way switches, you say. Given their small size, I assume these are not 'managed' switches. Did you try the 4-way switch with the troublesome device on a different port? If not, swap the device to a different port and see if the problem still exists. Some ports on switches wear out faster than other ones.

There is also this to consider: likely your 4-way switch has 1GByte/sec ports. That means your switch has a total bandwidth capacity of 4GByte/sec when it was new. The quality of the chips used to get to 4GByte/sec bandwidth can deteriorate. After all, it is electronics and not every device is exactly the same.

I have found out that consumer grade WiFi gear and switches vary a lot here in Paraguay. Never liked WiFi as a solution when I still was living in the Netherlands, but here in PY i have learned to hate WiFi with a passion. Even the wired consumer gear isn't always performing as expected. So, I stepped up and spent more on one 'managed' switch with enough ports for now and future needs. It's a Zyxel and I am very satisfied with it.

Reducing the amount of "hops" any LAN or WAN network is always better. Getting one good switch and pulling a cable to a location where you need to use WiFi gear is much more reliable, especially if you stop using consumer grade gear. The max length of a Cat5e/Cat6 cables is 100 meters (after that you need to hook up a switch and from that point you can "travel" another 100 meters, etc.).   


I imagine your setup to be like this:

      Internet
          |
    +---------+
    |  Modem  |
    +---------+   
          |
    +---------+
    |  Switch  |
    +---------+   
      |  |  |  |
      |  |  |
      |  |  +-----------------------------+
      |  +----------------+                    |
      |                          |                    |
    +---------+      +---------+     +---------+
    |  Switch  |       |  Switch  |     |  Switch  |
    +---------+      +---------+     +---------+
      |  |  |  |           |  |  |  |          |  |  |  |
     


I would suggest the following:

      Internet
          |
    +---------+
    |  Modem  |
    +---------+   
          |
    +------------------------------------------------+
    |  Switch                                                         |
    +------------------------------------------------+   
      |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
      |  |  |  |
      |  |  |  +-----------------------------------------+
      |  |  +-----------------------------+                  |
      |  +----------------+                    |                  |
      |                          |                    |                   |
    +---------+      +---------+     +---------+    +---------+
    |  Device  |       |  WiFi 1   |     |  WiFi 2   |    |  Device  |    etc.
    +---------+      +---------+     +---------+   +---------+
     
     
While this results in a bunch of cables going from the switch into different directions, it may not be the most visual pleasing solution. But it is much more reliable and when I am watching a monitor that is usually where all my attention is focused on. Could be because I am a male

998

General Software Discussion / Re: Use a flash drive as memory in Windows XP?

« Last post by Shades on January 22, 2016, 08:08 AM »

Get an SSD hard disk. The biggest one your budget allows for. While the SSD may not perform to its max performance (it will be connected into an old laptop with a slower SATA hard disk controller after all), it will be a serious speed boost.

On average an SSD will be at least 10 times faster than the hard disk that is currently inside the laptop. And in holt's case, that is the only option left to speed up his windows-based laptop. If his current hardware setup cannot be adjusted, then replacing his Windows with a newbie-friendly Linux distribution (Linux Mint) would be a better option. Did you already check/fix the alignment of your hard disk? This will enable Windows to read/write faster to your hard disk. Windows will start working 10% to 15% faster after leaving the laptop on for a night while software is fixing alignment issues.

Removing the page file is not something I would advise anyone to do, even when they have 32GByte of RAM or more in their PC. Above 16GByte of RAM you can start reducing the size of the paging file. The Windows memory controller is smart enough to use the available RAM and won't mind working with a reduced page file. But no page file? Windows becomes unstable (the part that controls memory).

Disabling the onboard RAM?!? The only thing you accomplish with that is that the laptop won't boot at all! Anything you connect externally won't work as fast as the parts inside a laptop or PC. Never ever consider replacing internal parts with USB-based external parts to be a good or smart idea! Last resort option, sure.

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Living Room / Re: Why GOD has not updated the world ?

« Last post by Shades on January 19, 2016, 03:41 PM »

Shareware period has lapsed?


Or worse, trial period lapsed and God is busy with de-installing...

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DC Member Programs and Projects / Re: PDF FIles Corrupted

« Last post by Shades on January 18, 2016, 07:04 PM »

The scan software you used to create the PDF file with...do you know which version of the PDF format it creates?

If it is an older PDF format, you might be in luck finding (open source) software to repair or recover your data from. Maybe a copy of Libre Office or Open Office (both open source) is able to read the "mangled" file(s).

Newer PDF formats have much more "trickery" build into them. Even if those new features aren't used in your generated PDF, it is highly likely that repair is much more difficult and possibly costly to recover/repair.

If repair isn't a possibility, would it be too difficult/Time-consuming for you to regenerate these PDF files (perhaps using an older/simpler version of the PDF format while you are at it)?