Monroe

ZortMcGort11, rn10950 ... Thanks for the information on cleaning ... I found a couple of web pages that did not open completely but most have so far. Just wanted to experiment with RetroZilla and see how it would work on XP. I will continue to follow your project. ...

rn10950 ... nice project, I tried it with XP and it works very well. I know there are more improvements - changes in the future. I'm only asking ... I might have missed it. Is there a setting to automatically clean everything when the browser is shut down? ... cookies, history and such? Really works great on XP ... so far anyway. thanks ...

I thought I would post about my working to get the perfect "XP Factory CD" backup over the last 10 days. I wanted to achieve this before the end of 2015 ... have it ready for 2016 and beyond. I had always decided to stop at version 2.0 for .NET Framework, just to have it available for any program that might need it. I decided to update to version 2.1 and then to version 2.0 SP3. That took a day getting all the final MS updates downloaded and installed on my ThinkPads ... then after cleaning junk, logs and burning it all to a DVD ... I had a very good backup on Dec 26th ready for 2016. However, the very next day I was thinking ... why do I need .NET Framework at all on my XP setup? I wasn't even sure I had one program on my XP setup requiring it. So I decided to remove all traces of .NET Framework ... do all the cleaning again and burn a new DVD backup. I still would have the Dec 26th backups with .NET Framework 2.0 SP3 installed but would use and work with .NET Framework removed. So on Dec 28th ... I had those backup DVDs burned ... found a few mistakes or missed items ... I have a check off list but missed doing a log cleaner program and a setting or two. So a new set of DVD backups were made on Dec 30th ... had a new problem with saved web pages not working correctly ... I posted about that here ... got it figured out and finally on Jan 6th made another DVD backup set for my ThinkPads ... finally the perfect backup ... I missed my goal of doing this before the start of 2016 ... but this should be that perfect Factory CD backup that I have been after for all of 2015. I post all this because I was surprised at just how much space I gained on the DVD backup once I removed .NET Framework. I did not have the whole .NET Framework installed ... I knew the complete install does take up a lot of space ... I just didn't know only having part of it installed also took up a large amount of space on the hard drive. I was still able to get everything on one DVD but it was getting close to where two DVDs would be required one day ... I didn't want to get there, wasting a second DVD for a just a few items. Now with .NET Framework removed completely ... I will not be needing a second DVD ever or anytime soon. Here are my DVD backup figures with .NET Framework installed and then removed on one ThinkPad. With .NET Frame 2.0 SP3 installed: 5,092 GB ... with compression 4,580 GB With .NET Framework completely removed: 4731 GB ... with compression 4,219 GB So I now have more room to stay with just one DVD required in the future but I plan to burn no more DVD backups unless I discover some other missed items or junk hidden somewhere. I will maybe do backups from now on to a 16 GB or 32 GB flash drive. Have piece of mind now that I can quickly get back to a good, working system ... the only updates from MS these days for me ... are the MS Office 2007 updates that keep showing up almost every month. I'm good through the Dec 2015 updates on the DVD backups and I'm not even sure I will add future Office 2007 updates ... I will save them but do I really them, not sure at this point. So far with .NET Framework removed ... have not noticed any problems. ... just to add or ask, if anyone else has made this decision earlier to completely remove .NET Framework from their XP system ... have you run into any problems doing so and had to re-install it? Also to add, I did these additional clean ups on my system ... I found the information at a forum or an article a year or so back. I rebuilt the Layout file in the Prefech folder ... I had not done this since 2013 and it seemed to really have grown in size ... I guess it can be rebuilt over 72 hours but I found this instant rebuild ... I clean the items out of the old Layout file and then run this. Rebuild Layout.ini File Why wait three reboots or 72 hours, rebuild now ... Start | Run | Paste: Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks Click OK DFRGNTFS.EXE and DEFRAG.EXE will run ... assuming your disk is formatted NTFS. then I came across these cleanup suggestions which I saved and have used with no problem except for one which I will go into detail later ... I had to reset a Service from Manual to Automatic and no longer have a problem. I still say to be careful using this information ... I've used the information enough on my XP system and now know what to expect. The one log cleaner may free up a lot of space on a computer ... this is from the system administrator who posted about it. "Being a system administrator, I have used this command line to free as much as 500 MB of clutter from systems that had not been formatted for a long period of time. It is worth mentioning here that many cleaning tools had already been used on these systems on a periodic basis including the windows disk cleaner. However, these log files never seemed to be removed until this command was used." From that forum I saved these various suggestions: Cleaning Before Backup Flushing the DNS Cache Flush cache - Command: ipconfig /flushdns View cache - Command: ipconfig /displaydns Defrag Prefetch File - Command: defrag c: -b ** I'm not sure Flushing the DNS Cache really is important ... it seems to fill right back up with information. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: A College of Ag Sciences Enterprise machine Windows XP-based computer records events in as many as six logs. You may clear all these logs. Normally, the largest log is the Security log. If you are receiving "log full" errors when the computer starts, you may clear just the Application, Security and System logs. Under the Event Viewer, Right Click on Application and choose Clear all Events. When asked to save the log, click No. Under the Event Viewer, Right Click on Security and choose Clear all Events. When asked to save the log, click No. Under the Event Viewer, Right Click on System and choose Clear all Events. When asked to save the log, click No. Close the Computer Management window. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Delete Log Files From Windows Directory Using Command Prompt Many times after using numerous tools for cleaning clutter from a system, the primary drive still seems to lack free space despite the fact that there is little data saved on it. This is because there are many log files that remain in the Windows directory in the primary drive, which many tools are unable to remove. This command line will help you remove such unnecessary files which will help clear the log files from the Windows directory. Simply open the command prompt and type: cd\ ... and hit enter. Then type: cd windows ... to select the Windows directory and hit enter again. This will select the appropriate directory and give you the access from the command prompt to delete log files. Now type: del *.log /a /s /q /f ... and press enter to delete the log files. All log files will be deleted from the directory. In this command "a" signifies all, whereas "s" deletes files from all sub folders, "q" bars from any prompts to ask for a yes/ no question and "f" forcibly removes the files. Being a system administrator, I have used this command line to free as much as 500 MB of clutter from systems that had not been formatted for a long period of time. It is worth mentioning here that many cleaning tools had already been used on these systems on a periodic basis including the windows disk cleaner. However, these log files never seemed to be removed until this command was used. You can also empty TEMP folders (just type TEMP and %TEMP% ... one by one in RUN dialog box and press Enter and C:\Windows\Prefetch folders regularly to free up disk space. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now to the problem I ran into using the "del *.log /a /s /q /f cleaner". I had the Distributed Transaction Coordinator -- MSDTC Service set to Manual and it would not start after I ran the log cleaners. I found these instructions to restart the service and then I also changed the service from Manual to Automatic. Distributed Transaction Coordinator Service Error Tip 10458 - When you start the Distributed Transaction Coordinator service in Window XP, or Windows Server 2003, you receive error -1073737712. When you attempt to start the MSDTC (MicroSoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator) service in Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003, you receive: Windows could not start the Distributed Transaction Coordinator on Local Computer. For more information, review the System Event Log. If this is a non-Microsoft service, contact the service vendor and refer to service-specific error code -1073737712. The Application event log records: Event Type: Error Event Source: MSDTC Event Category: LOG Event ID: 4163 Description: MS DTC log file not found. After ensuring that all Resource Managers coordinated by MS DTC have no indoubt transactions, please run msdtc -resetlog to create the log file. Event Type: Error Event Source: MSDTC Event Category: TM Event ID: 4185 Description: MS DTC Transaction Manager start failed. LogInit returned error 0x5. The System event log may record: Event Type: Error Event Source: Service Control Manager Event Category: None Event ID: 7024 Description: The Distributed Transaction Coordinator service terminated with service-specific error 3221229584 (0xC0001010). This behavior will occur if the MSDTC service cannot access the %SystemRoot%\System32\Msdtc\msdtc.log file. To resolve this issue: 01. Open a CMD.EXE window. 02. Type "msdtc -resetlog" and press Enter, making sure that you DO NOT have any pending pending transactions before you run the command. 03. Type "net start msdtc" and press Enter. If your problem is resolved, exit this procedure. *** There are more steps but fortunately for me the problem was fixed. As I said be careful ... experiment with a backup in place. That log cleaner (del *.log /a /s /q /f) did seem to remove a lot of files and I use various cleaners all the time. If you run it a second time you may see a difference in cleaning speed from the first time you ran it ... it all happens very fast. monroe

The problem seems to be fixed with running the HTM/HTML Associations (Restore the default associations for htm/html files) and I had to reset K-Meleon as the default browser. The pages look OK ... just as they always have. Not sure what happened but that little file must have repaired something. Thanks for your help. Just some additional information ... I have another ThinkPad setup the same ... the web pages also did not work correctly on that computer. I did not apply that HTM/HTML Associations (Restore the default associations for htm/html files) fix. I just made K-Meleon the default browser again and everything worked just fine after doing that. So the little download fix was not really needed but that still seems to be a good little collection of downloads to have around. K-Meleon is always my default browser but somehow that got changed and needed to be set again. ...

I am using mostly K-Meleon v1.8 and also Pale Moon v25.8.1 (Atom/XP). I don't get a correct web page with either version ... but for years everything worked just fine. All the old web pages that I saved can no longer be opened. I have come across this information and am in the process of downloading all these files into a folder to keep. Windows® XP File Association Fixes http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm I'm wondering if running the HTM/HTML Associations (Restore the default associations for htm/html files) will fix the problem? I will try it after I download all the files to burn to a CD for possible future use. ...

Been doing this for years with no problem. A few weeks ago I noticed that I could no longer open correctly a web page that I saved about a year ago. I didn't have time to really check it out and decided that the page had not been saved correctly ... although everytime I do save a web page, I will check the saved page to be sure it was saved correctly. Well, today I discovered that my web pages that I have saved recently or over the last few years no longer work. They were working just fine a few weeks ago ... now nothing. So in the last few weeks something has been changed on my setup. I have spent an hour or so searching Google for some answers or tips ... I'm only finding "How to save a web page" nothing on trouble shooting a web page problem. Hoping someone here has some ideas or a solution ... I go to the File tab - Save Page As - Web Page Complete. I've tried saving several web pages today and they are not being saved correctly or like they used to be. thanks ...

Well another thing about people changing their own oil ... it's harder to get rid of the stuff in today's world. Years ago you could just dump it on your neighbor's property when he wasn't home !!! All these regulations today have put a stop to that ... life was so much simpler back then. ...

I will wait to see if jaclaz weighs in on this ... this is my diet ! ... man, don't tell me it's over ... no point in wanting to move to Italy now. I still like the Italian accent and the old violins ... hope that's not on the way out. Italians Lose Appetite for Healthy Mediterranean Diet Fears of obesity epidemic as Italians turn away from vegetables and fish in favour of red meat and dairy produce. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/12072005/Italians-lose-appetite-for-healthy-Mediterranean-diet.html By Alice Philipson, Rome 28 Dec 2015 It has long been lauded by doctors across the world for its health benefits and life-lengthening properties, but it appears the Mediterranean diet is becoming increasingly unpopular in Italy. A study has shown that fewer than half of Italians now eat a traditional diet rich in vegetables, olive oil, pasta and fish. Instead, many people are turning to foods more commonly found in the British or North American diet, including red meat and butter. Scientists at the Institute of Clinical Physiology in Pisa found that a diet low in fruit and vegetables and high in dairy and protein was linked with obesity – a phenomenon once rare in Italy, but now increasingly common. The study, published in the Eating and Weight Disorders journal, measured to what extent Italians adhered to the principles of the Mediterranean diet on a scale of one to ten. “Fifty years ago our country measured between eight and 10, depending on the region,” study coordinator Antonino De Lorenzo, a diet and nutrition professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, told Corriere della Sera. “Now it’s less than two. Almost like in the United States, where it’s less than one.” Overall, only 43 per cent of Italians now eat a diet rich in vegetables, olive oil, pasta and fish. Instead, one Italian in three follows a diet classed as "lacking in fruit and vegetables", eating an average of one or two vegetable portions a week. Almost a quarter of Italians – 23 per cent – said they preferred a "Western-like” diet, eating red meat and dairy products once or twice a day. However, far more young people – 31 per cent – admitted a preference for foreign eating habits than those aged between 55 and 64 years – 16 per cent. The findings come several years after Italy was found to have the highest proportion of overweight children in Europe. more at the link ...

Well, I was in that crowd many years ago ... something new, why not ... go for it. Eventually we get older and wiser and our brain adapts to the old saying ... "if it ain't broke" ... or maybe if it is broke ... "live with it". I remember in my very early years when I bought my first car .. it was a jewel ... special order with a nice color ... Gulfstream Aqua ... back then it was a special color, today I would just say "blue". Anyway, it came complete, it had everything including a three year car loan. Well, I kept it clean ... and all the other good stuff that you do to with your very first car. Then one day I noticed a "scratch - dent" type of thing ... I can only guess it happened at the shopping center with someone being careless with a shopping cart ... only a guess. So now in my mind ... my new car had this "scratch - dent" ... I actually lost interest in the car and didn't want it anymore! ... however, I still had three years to pay on the piece of junk. Today, I drive a 25 yr old car ... in very good shape but with many dents and scratches from being on the Earth for 25 years. So the moral of this story ... I don't think there is one ... I can look back and laugh at that first "dent and scratch" but it sure wasn't funny back then, especially having to make payments for three years on something you no longer want. ...

The story ... "Scientists have discovered a shark that glows in the deep ocean and is so tiny that it might even fit in your hand." Tiny shark that glows discovered in the deep ocean By Michael Casey December 28, 2015 http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/12/28/tiny-shark-that-glows-discovered-in-deep-ocean.html?intcmp=latestnews Scientists have discovered a shark that glows in the deep ocean and is so tiny that it might even fit in your hand. Named Etmopterus benchleyi in honor of shark conservationist and “Jaws” author Peter Benchley, the jet-black lanternshark with glass-like teeth and emerald eyes was caught in 2010 as part of an expedition off the Central American coastline on the Pacific Ocean side. With only eight specimens to go by, very little is known about this shark which spends most its time in the darkest parts of the ocean at depths ranging from 2,742 feet to as much as 4,734 feet. Scientists still don’t know what it eats, what threats it faces and even how widespread it is. “It is probably living in an environment where it might, even though it is really small compared to other sharks, be one of the larger things there,” said Victoria Elena Vasquez, a grad student at the Pacific Shark Research Center in California and part of the team that made the discovery along with David Ebert of the center and Douglas Long of the California Academy of Sciences. “We’re not totally sure what this one is eating but other lantersharks are eating smaller fish, crustaceans,” she said. “It’s likely that it’s eating the same things or something similar.“ But the scientists behind the discovery can say for sure this pint-sized shark wouldn’t send beach goers into a tizzy – as the famous great white shark did in “Jaws.” “I've seen a few reports alluding to how dangerous and scary this shark might be, which is pretty funny to me since the largest one we found (a full grown adult) was 515 mm long (20 inches) from head to tail,” Vasquez said. “Since we don't have a lot of specimens we can't confirm if they grow larger, but since it lives in the deep sea, it would be too challenging for people to have a chance encounter in the water without a submersible,” she told FoxNews.com. “So I just wanted to clarify that there is no danger to people with this new species.” Although this shark has the characteristic glow of most lanternsharks, they believe it uses that skill much less – hence its common name, the Ninja Lanternshark. That name was suggested by several cousins of Vasquez ranging in ages 8 to 14 and inspired by its black appearance. “The idea is that they would be stealthier than other lanternsharks,” Vasquez said, adding they found fewer of the photophores or dots that emit light on this species than on other lantersharks. .... more at the link

heinoganda ... I was checking the situation on older ATI drivers before I posted earlier and I have mostly found this answer with relation to the drivers. I have this driver: ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 Driver ... but I have found this in searching Google. April 12, 2006 My X1900XTX is my second ATI card, and I resisted installing .NET on my computer for my Radeon 9700 Pro for about a year because of the nasty stuff I'd heard, but after installing .NET I really can't say anything bad about it. It didn't break anything that I'm aware of and there are security updates for .NET. April 12, 2006 You only need the .NET Framework if you install the Catalyst Control Center. And yes, its a piece of crap. When you're installing the driver choose a custom installation and only select to install the driver itself. No problems then. The .NET Framework itself isn't the problem though. .net is not the devil and it does not break anything. You are right however that you do not need it for the drivers... only the Control Center. You need Microsoft .NET Framework installed for Catalyst Control Centre (CCC) to work. I am pretty sure I do not have the Catalyst Control Centre on my computer ... just the ATI 7500 driver, so that may be OK. I did find this information: After Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) acquired ATI, the utility became known as AMD Catalyst Control Center. monroe

Interesting article ... perhaps Windows XP will make a comeback ... possibilty Windows 98. Probably things will not go that far! I kind of like this movement ... I've been feeling like I was "left in the dust" over the last few years. Techno-Skeptics’ Objection Growing Louder December 26, 2015 https://www.washingtonpost.com/classic-apps/techno-skeptics-objection-growing-louder/2015/12/26/e83cf658-617a-11e5-8e9e-dce8a2a2a679_story.html Astra Taylor’s iPhone has a cracked screen. She has bandaged it with clear packing tape and plans to use the phone until it disintegrates. She objects to the planned obsolescence of today’s gadgetry, and to the way the big tech companies pressure customers to upgrade. Taylor, 36, is a documentary filmmaker, musician and political activist. She’s also an emerging star in the world of technology criticism. She’s not paranoid, but she keeps duct tape over the camera lens on her laptop computer — because, as everyone knows, these gadgets can be taken over by nefarious agents of all kinds. Taylor is a 21st-century digital dissenter. She’s one of the many technophiles unhappy about the way the tech revolution has played out. Political progressives once embraced the utopian promise of the Internet as a democratizing force, but they’ve been dismayed by the rise of the “surveillance state,” and the near-monopolization of digital platforms by huge corporations. Last month, Taylor and more than 1,000 activists, scholars and techies gathered at the New School in New York City for a conference to talk about reinventing the Internet. They dream of a co-op model: people dealing directly with one another without having to go through a data-sucking corporate hub. ... more at the link

After updating .NET Framework 2.0 to .NF 2.0 SP2 over the past few days ... I have decided to completely remove all versions and files of .NET Framework. I have a backup available if I want to change my decision in the future. When I first installed .NET Frame in 2012 ... it was only because a few programs required it on the computer. Several times if there was a program requiring .NET Frame, I would just search around for a similar program that didn't require it to be installed. Anyway, I may have two or three programs installed that did require .NET Frame and I wanted to use them. I no longer remember for sure what programs they were, if there are any. So my question ... if I remove .NET Frame and there are a few programs on my setup requiring it ... what will happen if I try to open one of these progams? Will it just not open or will a box open saying that .NET Framework is required ... you will get a message when you first install some programs that .NET Frame is required, if it's not already installed ... but what happens if you remove .NET Frame after those programs have been installed? Just to add ... if there are any of these old programs requiring .NET Frame on my setup ... I probably don't even need them and will remove them as discovered ... unless I really do need some version of .NET Frame on my computer for web pages or inner workings with my setup from downloading all the XP updates over the years. thanks ...

Here's additional news on rigged jackpots in Kansas. Prosecutors say Tipton rigged two jackpots he purchased tickets for in Kansas Dec 21, 2015 https://www.lotterypost.com/news/297278 MUSL computerized drawing scandal now confirmed in 5 states, still looking for more. The former security chief for a national association that operates lotteries personally bought two tickets that won jackpots in Kansas, investigators said Monday, bringing to five the number of states where he may have rigged lottery drawings. Investigators recently linked Kansas jackpots won in 2010 to Eddie Tipton, the former security director of the Multi-State Lottery Association, Iowa assistant attorney general Rob Sand disclosed in court documents. The evidence will show that Tipton associates who claimed the prizes returned half of the money in cash directly to him in early 2011, he wrote. Tipton allegedly purchased two winning tickets to the "2by2" game at separate locations while he was traveling through Kansas on business in December 2010, the Kansas Lottery said in a statement. Each was worth $22,000, the prize for any player with the day's winning numbers, and were claimed by individuals from Iowa and Texas, the statement said. As chief of security for the association managing lotteries for 37 states and territories, Tipton managed random number generators that pick winning numbers for some national games such as Hot Lotto and games played in individual states. Kansas Lottery officials said they were asked to look into those jackpots by Iowa investigators earlier this month. The alleged manipulation of those tickets happened at the association headquarters in Iowa, not on any Kansas Lottery equipment, the statement said. Prosecutors believe that Tipton, 52, used his access to those machines to surreptitiously install software programs that let him know the winning numbers in advance before disappearing without a trace. They say he worked with associates such as his brother Tommy Tipton — a Texas judge — and Texas businessman Robert Rhodes to play those numbers and collect prizes dating back to 2005. Earlier this year, a jury convicted Tipton of fraud for fixing a $16.5 million Hot Lotto jackpot dating back to 2010. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but is free while he appeals. After fixing the winning combination, Tipton went to a gas station near the lottery association to buy those numbers and then passed the winning ticket to Rhodes, who unsuccessfully tried to collect the prize with associates, prosecutors say. Rhodes is fighting extradition back to Iowa to face charges in the case. Since Tipton's conviction, Iowa prosecutors have charged Tipton with ongoing criminal conduct and money laundering for allegedly fixing jackpots valued at $8 million in Colorado,Wisconsin and Oklahoma. The Kansas jackpots were added to the charges in that case on Monday. Tipton's attorney, Dean Stowers, laughed out loud when told of the latest allegations on Monday by The Associated Press. He repeated his longstanding contention that there is no evidence that Tipton tampered with the computers, and argued that any charges related to the old jackpots should be barred by the three-year statute of limitations. Sand is fighting Tipton's motion to dismiss the case, saying the additional jackpots were only recently uncovered. Stowers said the new information was a publicity stunt designed to bring more attention to the case, which is set for trial next month but likely to be delayed. "If you look at what they are claiming they have found after the first trial, you would think these investigators must be completely incompetent," he said. "They apparently are telling everybody that they never looked before the first trial." Stowers said that claiming the games were rigged was a risky strategy for state lotteries. "If that's their claim, what is their obligation to the players? Obviously they were running games that weren't legitimate and collected all this money from people and spent it," he said. ...

I have PS 1.0 installed ... PS 2.0 would not install. I only have .NET Framework 2.0 installed and it said that .NET Framework 2.1 SP1 was required. I found that update and then I then found .NET Framework 2.0 SP2 and several more updates for .NET Framework. I thought .NET Framework 2.0 was completely updated ... but it's not. ...

I found a Windows PowerShell update for Windows 7 but was also for XP ... but this version is only for Windows XP Service Pack 3. It makes no mention of .NET Framework so I don't know if 2.0 is OK or a newer version of .NET Framework may be needed. PowerShell 2.0 for Windows XP http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/11/02/powershell-2-0-for-windows-xp-etc/ Posted on 2 November 2009 by John PowerShell version 2.0 shipped with Windows 7 and with Windows Server 2008 R2, but it only recently became available for other versions of Windows. The release of PowerShell 2.0 has been more like a leak than a product launch. The announcement page hardly reads like an announcement. The title reads “Description of the Windows Management Framework on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008.” What’s this “Windows Management Framework”? I’ve never heard of that. I just want the new PowerShell. The first time I saw this page was when someone sent me a link saying PowerShell 2.0 was available for XP. I thought they’d sent me the wrong link by mistake because I didn’t see anything about PowerShell at first. Only if you scroll down to the middle of a long page can you see links to download PowerShell. I expected something more like the following. PowerShell 2.0 Released Download for your platform: XP Vista (32 bit, 64 bit) Server 2003 (32 bit, 64 bit) Server 2008 (32 bit, 64 bit) The MS XP download page ... https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16818 Update for Windows XP (KB968930) Date Published: 10/26/2009 File Size: 5.9 MB Supported Operating System Windows XP Service Pack 3 *** This might still be of use to someone with a lot of XP computers still in the workplace ... maybe not. Use PowerShell to Find Windows XP Computers Still Alive in Your Active Directory Domain Ashley McGlone 29 Jan 2014 http://blogs.technet.com/b/ashleymcglone/archive/2014/01/30/use-powershell-to-find-windows-xp-computers-still-alive-in-your-active-directory-domain.aspx PS PSA – PowerShell Public Service Announcement Usually I like to offer deep technical content on the blog, but today I’m going to keep it simple. Everyone should be keenly aware that Windows XP support officially ends on April 8, 2014. Many companies are migrating from Windows XP and need a quick script to check their progress. This is a simple solution with a couple variations to meet your needs. Get-ADComputer If you have tinkered at all with the AD PowerShell module, then this cmdlet should be familiar to you. Lucky for us Active Directory tracks the operating system of computers. Listing all the Windows XP computers in the domain can be as simple as this: PS C:\> Import-Module ActiveDirectory PS C:\> Get-ADComputer -Filter {OperatingSystem -like "*XP*"} It is worth noting that the OperatingSystem attribute is not stored in the global catalog, so you will need to query each domain separately. Beyond the basic attributes returned in the default set it would be nice to see date stamp fields that can help us determine if the Windows XP computer account is still active. In a previous post I discussed some tips on working with date fields in AD, and we’re going to use that technique here. We’ll also snag the relevant operating system attributes. Notice that I’m not using the infamous “-Properties *” option. For efficiency I list only the specific fields that I want to query and display. Finally, I’ve thrown in some PowerShell magic to grab the owner recorded on the account. *** there's more to the article. ...

OK, I just came across a program from MS that I have never heard of ... Windows PowerShell 1.0 ... this version is for XP and it only requires .NET Framework Version 2.0. Windows PowerShell 1.0 English-Language Installation Package for Windows XP (KB926139) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7217 Date Published: 6/23/2008 File Size: 1.6 MB Supported Operating System Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows XP Service Pack 3 Requires .NET Framework Version 2.0 Then I found another topic of creating a command using Windows PowerShell to show "only" the following for a file. First - the date it was created, Second - when it was modified, Third - when it was last accessed. http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2014/02/07/use-powershell-to-find-files-that-have-not-been-accessed.aspx This is the fifth in a series of posts that talk about working with files and folders by using Windows PowerShell. There are three basic properties of a file that I commonly use when looking at files that are neglected. The first is the date it was created, the second is when it was modified, and last is when it was accessed. These properties are visible when I to go the General tab of a file in File Explorer. I can use the Get-ChildItem cmdlet and the Select-Object cmdlet and return the three properties. The command to do this is: Get-ChildItem c:\fso -File | select name, *time The following image illustrates the command and its output: There is an image showing the results at the link. This is getting a little complicated but this might be a nice program to have for Windows XP ... the download still works at the MS website for the program. I have to read more about this program ... anyone familiar with or use Windows PowerShell? ...

Very nice program ... leave it to NirSoft to have a program, they seem to have one for everything. I have some of their software on my sysytem ... I wasn't aware of that program ... it sure does provide a lot of information. When I added it, the "File Created On" date and time were correct. I went through the list and I saw a lot of dates ... 05/05/2012 and 05/06/2012. This was when I installed XP and then several days of adjusting settings and adding software. The very last column "Last Executed On" seems to have correct dates ... MalwareBytes and the other programs look OK. However, the question that started this topic is still not answered ... I see no listing for .NET Framework ... there are a lot of MS product listings. The dates seem to be OK or make sense in the last column ... the only thing is that a lot of programs seem to have December 2015 dates ... I have not opened a lot of programs for some time so I'm not sure about that. Still a good program for information. * I meant December 2015 and not 2012 in the last paragraph ... I've got 2012 in my head. ...

submix8c ... OK, there is something crazy going on here. I just checked MalwareBytes on my setup. I haven't really run it for a few months but I update the program at least once a week. It shows no date of last being used and says "Used Rarely". Even if I don't actually run the program to check for problems ... I'm still starting it to get the latest updates. Now here's where it gets crazy ... I have two lotto programs on my system that I rarely use but they have a number generator ... so I installed them ... it would have been a "fresh install" onto my XP setup in May or June of 2012 ... after installing XP of course. One program says "Used Rarely" and that it was last used on 08/23/2006. The other program also says used "Used Rarely" and that it was last used on 08/13/2007. How can that be? ... since I didn't install these programs till 2012. I probably had them on my Windows 98SE setup in 2007 ... but they were installed fresh on the XP setup. I guess that information in the "Add Remove Program" list is really not correct or can't be trusted. I will leave .NET Framework 2.0 on my computer ... it may have been used many times since 2012. This is interesting to have found this out. I'm wondering if there is a non MS program that might actually report accurate information about when a program was last used? ...

OK ... that I'm not sure. Now you have me wondering if a person has more than one computer are they allowed to have SpywareBlaster installed on all the computers. I can't find anything saying just one computer is allowed to have the program installed. All I see is this ... Free for personal & educational use. So I guess all computers can have SB installed. ...

I update my other computer this way ... I update one XP computer and then I copy the SpywareBlaster folder in the Programs folder to a flash drive. In the other XP computer I just copy the SpywareBlaster folder on the flash drive to the other computer ... Programs folder. Of course ... SpywareBlaster has to be first installed manually on each computer and then just updating with an updated copy on a flash drive should update all computers. You have to then open the SpywareBlaster program ... there will be some items that will have the protection disabled ... just hit the bottom page tab "Enable All Protection" and you're good to go. I work with an XP to XP system ... not sure if doing Windows 2000 to XP ... or different systems would work. They might be installed different with different settings ... not sure. ...

There is a newer version of SpywareBlaster released as of 12/18/2015. SpywareBlaster 5.4 http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/spywareblaster.html Author: Brightfort Date: 12/18/2015 Size: 4.08 MB License: Freeware Requires: Win 10 / 8 / 7 / Vista / XP Here's the home page ... http://www.brightfort.com/spywareblaster.html ...

vinifera ... thanks for the information that you feel the "last used" date information is correct. I just started up a program that I haven't used for a very long time ... System Information for Windows 2010 (SIW) ... it shows the date that I installed Windows XP ... which was 05/05/2012 ... a month later on 06/06/2012 is the last time showing that .NET Framework 2.0 was accessed in some way in the Add-Remove Program list. I never wanted to go with the .NET Framework 3.5 version mainly because the download was so large ... plus I wasn't even sure I really needed a newer version. With .NET Framework 2.0 not having been accessed since 2012 ... maybe I don't need .NET Framework on my computer at all. Anybody have a Yes or No on that ... perhaps just leave the 2.0 installed as is ... or free up some space. I have 160 GB hard drive, so I have plenty of hard drive space available. Anything negative with having .NET Framework installed ... even if it's never used? ...

Maybe some of you remember the earlier story about the guy rigging a lottery computer to win a large jackpot with a root kit that destroys itself. Now it looks like he may have been doing this with other states ... at least the investigation is widening. Jackpot-Fixing Investigation Expands to More State Lotteries Dec 18, 2015 https://www.lotterypost.com/news/297188 DES MOINES, Iowa — The allegations read like a movie plot: a lottery industry insider installs an undetectable software program in the computers that pick winning numbers so he can know them in advance. He enlists accomplices to play those numbers and collect the jackpots. And they enrich themselves for years until a misstep unravels their high-tech scheme. Eddie Tipton, former security director of the Multi-State Lottery Association, has been accused of tampering with drawings in four states over a six-year period, and investigators are now expanding the inquiry nationwide to determine if the number could be larger. State lotteries in Colorado, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma have confirmed they paid jackpots worth $8 million to Tipton associates, including his old college roommate, Robert Rhodes. Investigators are looking at payouts in the other 37 states and U.S. territories that used random-number generators from the Iowa-based association, which administers games and distributes prizes for the lottery consortium. The inquiry is sending a chill through state governments that receive $20 billion annually in lottery revenue, and that depend on public confidence in the contests. Tipton installed software or had access to machines for national games such as Hot Lotto and some state-based games. The most lucrative ones, Powerball and scratch tickets, weren't part of the scheme, according to lottery officials. "It would be pretty naive to believe they are the only four" jackpots involved, said now-retired Iowa deputy attorney general Thomas H. Miller, who oversaw the investigation for 2½ years. "If you find one cockroach, you have to assume there are 100 more you haven't found." Tipton, 52, was convicted in July of fraud in the attempt to claim a $16.5 million jackpot in Iowa. He was sentenced to 10 years but is free pending appeal. He is also charged with ongoing criminal conduct and money laundering involving the other three state lotteries. Rhodes, a businessman from Sugar Land, Texas, is charged with fraud in connection with the Iowa jackpot, and is under investigation in Wisconsin. Tommy Tipton, Eddie's brother, who bought a winning Colorado Lotto ticket in 2005, resigned his position last month as a justice of the peace in Flatonia, Texas, 100 miles west of Houston, but hasn't been charged. Colorado authorities are investigating. Eddie Tipton's attorney, Dean Stowers, says his client is innocent. "There's just absolutely no evidence whatsoever that he did anything to alter the proper operations of the computers that were used to pick those numbers, absolutely no evidence. It's just all speculation," Stowers said. Rhodes' attorney did not respond to messages and Tommy Tipton did not return calls. The scheme allegedly continued for years. Prosecutors say Eddie Tipton installed software known as a root kit that enabled him to manipulate numbers without a trace. Tipton was tripped up, investigators say, by the audacious move of buying the winning ticket himself at a service station near where he worked in Des Moines. "This is kind of an eye opener," said Oklahoma Lottery director Rollo Redburn. "It reaffirms the fact that we've got to be constantly vigilant against people trying to defraud the system." Iowa launched the investigation in 2012 after a lawyer representing a trust tried to claim the $16.5 million Hot Lotto jackpot, turning in the ticket hours before a one-year deadline. The trust — which said it benefited a corporation in Belize — eventually withdrew the claim rather than identify who purchased the ticket. Investigators initially suspected it was merely someone trying to hide winnings from a creditor. The case took a dramatic twist when authorities released surveillance footage from the service station showing a stocky, hooded man buying the winning ticket and hot dogs in December 2010. Stunned lottery colleagues stepped forward to say the man looked and sounded like Tipton — a man with access to their computers. Eddie Tipton had worked at the association since 2003, after a career in information technology, including at a Rhodes-owned firm in Houston called Systems Evolution. He was promoted to lottery security director in 2013. Investigators allege that he passed the winning ticket to Rhodes, his University of Houston classmate, who then worked with associates to try to collect. At Eddie's trial in July, brother Tommy insisted the man on the video wasn't his sibling, who he said was larger than the person shown. In the Wisconsin case, authorities said, Rhodes hired a law firm to claim a $2 million Megabucks jackpot for him in 2008, and took legal action so the $783,000 cash payout could go to his limited liability corporation instead of him. Wisconsin Lottery spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis said nothing seemed suspicious and that other winners have done the same. In Oklahoma, investigators have alleged a $1.2 million Hot Lotto jackpot claimed in 2011 is linked to Tipton but haven't spelled out details. Miller praised the Iowa lottery's skepticism about the suspicious jackpot but wonders whether other lotteries would have been as careful. Prosecutor Rob Sand, who is now leading the case, said investigators want to talk to anyone who has been asked to claim a prize on behalf of someone else. They are focusing on jackpots that involve tickets in which the numbers were specifically requested by winners rather than chosen randomly. ...

submix8c ... no the date is still the same - 06/06/2012 for .NET Framework 2.0.