Monroe

I would like to ask others still using MS Office 2000 if they are still downloading monthly Office 2007 updates for having Office 2000 installed with XP SP3. I have downloaded and installed the two Office 2007 updates for October 2015. However, I am thinking of no longer downloading any more future updates. I do not download the XP POS updates for XP ... my XP updates stopped in April-May 2014 but almost every month since that time I have been getting one, two or three Office 2007 updates ... there were maybe one or two months with no updates. I'm asking myself ... why keep downloading these updates every month ... I hardly use Office 2000 and when I do need to use it ... I'm always offline anyway. Office 2000 works just fine for me at this stage ... so do I really need these updates, which I imagine are mostly security updates ... but I'm not 100% sure about that? I'd like to know what others are doing with the Office 2000 updates. The updates just seem to be taking up more hard drive space for a rarely used program. ...

Remember not too long ago when the whole drone thing was just really getting started ... all the discussion of the good and bad with drones. So spying and intrusion seem to be the thing ... none of us want to be spied on. I wonder what rights a person has to destroy a drone hovering over their property. I thought I read a few months ago someone was arrested for destroying a drone that was either flying over their property or spying through a window. "Drones are set to be must-have Christmas presents this year. Many cost as little as £40 and have the ability to shoot clear and downloadable footage." Shock Rise in Sex Pests Filming Brit Couples from the Sky CREEPY peeping toms across Britain are taking to the skies with drones to film randy couples romping – without the stars of their film ever knowing. 29th October 2015 http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/472715/Shock-rise-in-sex-pests-filming-horny-Brit-couples-from-the-sky Official figures have seen the number of reports of nuisance flying – which includes suspected voyeurism – skyrocket over the past year. One police force has logged 20 times more incidents than the year before. Across the UK drones equipped with video cameras are perving on sunbathers, hovering outside windows and hanging above children's parks. Worse still a Daily Star Online investigation has found illicit candid clips, including intimate moments between couples, are being shared on porn websites online millions of pervs. Drones are set to be must-have Christmas presents this year. Many cost as little as £40 and have the ability to shoot clear and downloadable footage. But sex experts are warning that in the wrong hands the flying gizmos are simply another way for peeping toms to gather candid clips for their sexual gratification. One website we found celebrates "hunting for girls using the most advanced geek technology. It's a must have toy for all geeks in the world". It adds: "We developed our usage for porn and it's going to be something you have never seen before! "Using drones to hunt for girls. Welcome to voyeurism 2.0 baby!" John O’Neill, director of the Menninger sex-addiction clinic in Houston, told the Daily Star Online the problem will only get worse. He said: "Someone with an interest in voyeurism may use a drone to find new material to satisfy their urges or needs. "There have already been examples of people calling the police due to concerns about drones in their area public beaches. "It makes sense that a person with a voyeuristic disorder would seek out new and exciting methods for obtaining sexual images such as drone technology. "We live in a world where people have a wide variety of fetishes, and certainly technology allows people to explore them. "Drones absolutely open up a new world of opportunity for voyeurs as well as stalkers to seek out new material to feed their interest." Mr O'Neill said he believes "it is a reality that images obtained through drone technology will be viewed via the Internet". He added: "There are thousands of websites dedicated to voyeurism and a strong market for new and exciting images or videos. "If there is a market for sexual images, there are people willing to meet the demand." Already drones have allowed legitimate filmmakers to shoot porn from never seen before angles. One of these is Ghost+Cow Films who are credited with making the first adult movie called Drone Boners. Made using the mini-aircraft. which has won plaudits from mainstream critics for its camerawork. But a spokesman for the company warns that illegal voyeurs are now in the sky preying on unsuspecting victims. He said: "It's already a problem. If you can shoot something digitally and it exists as a digital file, it can be put all over the web." In the past year there has been an explosion of reported suspicious activity involving what are essentially remote controlled flying cameras. The Metropolitan Police (Met) has seen a huge rise in reports of nuisance drone flying, logging 21 cases in 2015, up from just one the previous year. Sinister reports logged by call handlers include one person becoming alarmed at being spying on through their window. Another was reported to police for repeatedly flying outside windows in a hotel area in the capital's West End. Worryingly, some dialled 999 over a drone buzzing over a children's play area. Currently it is illegal to fly the drone within 50m of a person or any crowd of people. If used by voyeurs it could be prosecuted under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, although this has yet to happen.Greater Manchester Police alone has logged 58 incidents since early last year. In one a drone sex pest was reported videoing someone in the city sunbathing on three occasions. In neighbouring Liverpool drones were also repeatedly reported film over playgrounds. Meanwhile down south naked sunbathers on the famous Studland nudist beach in Dorset are furious that a radio-controlled drone equipped with a camera is often seen flying up and down videoing. Met Chief Inspector Nick Aldworth, one of Britain's most senior police officers, has personally taken charge of dealing with the problem. "Is it conceivable we’ll have these things, particularly the ones with cameras, hovering outside people's bedrooms for whatever nefarious reason?" he told a House of Lords committee. "I can definitely tell you this technology has been used around London and elsewhere in the UK." ...

Reading this yesterday about Google balloons around the Earth ... good or bad, sounds OK but will they also spy on people ... gathering up information. Google's Project Loon internet balloons to circle Earth 28 October 2015 http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34660205 Google believes it is on course to have enough internet-beaming balloons in the stratosphere to form a ring over part of the world next year. It told the BBC the move would let it trial a continuous data service to people living below the balloons' path. The declaration coincides with the announcement that three of Indonesia's mobile networks intend to start testing Project Loon's transmissions next year. One expert said the plan had benefits over other solutions. Sri Lanka previously signed a separate agreement signalling its wish to be another participant in the giant helium balloon-based scheme. 4G-like speeds Google first revealed its superpressure balloon plan in June 2013, when about 30 of the inflatable plastic "envelopes" were launched from New Zealand. OK ... the sheer number of these balloons is huge ... I thought I had read that there would be 300 balloons around the entire globe but these numbers are just for one area - country. Google To Put 20,000 Internet Balloons In Indonesian Skies October 29, 2015 http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/10/google-20000-balloon-indonesian/ Google is making sincere efforts to make the internet available in deprived areas using its large party balloons that fall under its Project Loon. The company released 20 balloons over Australia and now has plans of putting 20,000 such balloons over Indonesia to provide internet in remote areas. ... then there is this with the balloons ... it could happen a lot with thousands of balloons everywhere. Neighbors Shocked When Giant Google Balloon Falls From Sky Onto Quiet SoCal Street September 12, 2015 MOUNTAIN VIEW (CBS) — A giant Google research balloon caused quite a shock for some Southern California neighbors when it fell out of the sky onto a quiet street in Chino Hills. The fifty foot balloon crash-landed in a palm tree. Janet Olaffson didn’t realize it had fallen in her front yard until she got a knock on the door from the local sheriff’s deputies. “We ran out, and the police said don’t go near it,” she said. “At that time they had got a call from the company that said it’s a weather balloon,” said Olaffson. Curious neighbors came to see it by the droves — driving by, snapping photos. Rumors began to circulate. Some speculated it was a weather balloon traveling from Las Vegas to Japan. In fact, the orb that fell from the sky belongs to Project Loon. It’s part of a research and development idea to deliver 3-G Internet access. Mountain View-based Google launched the project in partnership with the government of Sri Lanka. The goal is for these high altitude balloons — called Loon Balloons — to someday transmit signals to people all over the world, so people can “Google” from anywhere, including Chino hills. But according to Google, the Loon Balloon was supposed to land nearby — not at Olaffson’s house. Fortunately, no one was hurt. ... this seems to be some project, what would be the cost to maintain thousands of balloons, if that's the number. ...

The Google freak show continues ... we have a Google's self-driving car crashing with injuries. Google's self-driving car has achieved a notable first, though not one it was eager for - its first accident with injuries. http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/17/autos/google-self-driving-car-injury-accident/ Fortunately, the injuries were minor, according to the company. And Google insists that like all the other accidents in its self-driving car program, it was the fault of humans, not the self-driving car. We have the every Email and details being forever saved somewhere. Now they want to deliver things using drones ... as Amazon is doing ... good thing, bad thing ... I'm not sure ... maybe as long as there is no "spying" along the way. Google Wants to Use Drones Too, but Not in the Same Way As Amazon http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/10/24/google-wants-to-use-drones-too-but-not-in-the-same.aspx So now Google wants to get into a person's head to fix it ... probably sounds good but it also sounds like a form of possible "mind control" ... it may start off with good intentions but will it be used one day to control how people vote, if they are against some hot button issue such as climate change / global warming ... I can see this being a very dangerous thing in the future. Google wants to monitor your mental health. You should welcome it into your mind. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/11961415/Google-wants-to-monitor-your-mental-health.-You-should-welcome-it-into-your-mind.html 28 Oct 2015 Next week, Dr Tom Insel leaves his post as head of the US National Institute of Mental Health, a job that made him America’s top mental health doctor. Dr Insel is a neuroscientist and a psychiatrist and a leading authority on both the medicine and public policies needed to deal with problems of the mind. He’s 64 but he’s not retiring. He’s going to work for Google. More precisely, he’s going to work for Google Life Sciences, one of the more exotic provinces of the online empire. He’s going to investigate how technology can help diagnose and treat mental health conditions. Google doesn’t just want to read your mind, it wants to fix it too. It’s not alone. Apple, IBM and Intel are among technology companies exploring the same field. IBM this year carried out research with Columbia University that suggested computer analysis of speech patterns can more accurately predict the onset of psychosis than conventional tests involving blood samples or brain scans. Other researchers theorise that a person’s internet search history or even shopping habits (so handily recorded by your innocuous loyalty card) can identify the first signs of mental illness. Computers can now tell when something is about to go terribly wrong in someone’s mind. Where does it end with this company ... they sure have "expanded" from many years ago when G-Mail first started. ...

While searching for something else, I came across this article about being able to drag files to the CD burner icon to burn to a CD. I use an older Nero version and never knew this. I post this in case someone else also wasn't aware of this feature and might have use for it. Copy or drag the files or folders to be recorded to the CD-R drive icon, or right-click on the files or folders and select Send To, Writable CD. http://www.seniorsguidetocomputers.com/backup.asp Windows XP CD Copy Windows XP has CD-Recordable (CD-R) disc burning support for most CD writers. First set your CD-recording options: Open "My Computer" Right-click your CD-R drive and select "Properties". See figure BK-1. Select the "Recording" tab (if this tab isn't available, your device doesn't support CD burning). Check the box to "Enable CD recording on this drive". Select the drive to hold the temporary files (before the system burns a CD-R disc, the system writes the files to be recorded to an intermediary area - this area must have enough free space to hold an entire CD's content). Select the CD recording speed (Fastest, 4X, 2X, and 1X). Select whether to eject the media after recording. Click OK. Perform the following steps to record to a CD-R: Insert a blank CD-R disc into your CD burner. Copy or drag the files or folders to be recorded to the CD-R drive, or right-click on the files or folders and select Send To, Writable CD. After you have copied all the files, select the CD-R drive from "My Computer" and you'll see the waiting files as "Files to add to the CD." Right-click the CD-R drive, and select Write to CD. Enter a name for the CD-R disc, and click Next. The files will be written to the CD-R disc. After the system writes all the files, it will eject the CD-R disc (if you chose that option above). Click Finish. This is a good way to make identical copies of your files and folders. The CD will be readable by any computer. But backing up large amounts of data is much easier if you use dedicated CD/DVD burning software.

I found some additional information regarding Win XP and SHA-2 ... the article says that Win XP SP3 should be OK, if I understand this. Anything lower than SP3 will not work ... "Support for SHA-2 has improved over the last few years. Most browsers, platforms, mail clients, and mobile devices already support SHA-2. However, some older operating systems such as Windows XP pre-SP3 do not support SHA-2 encryption." SHA-2 Compatibility Software and Hardware that Support SHA-2 https://www.digicert.com/sha-2-compatibility.htm Support for SHA-2 has improved over the last few years. Most browsers, platforms, mail clients, and mobile devices already support SHA-2. However, some older operating systems such as Windows XP pre-SP3 do not support SHA-2 encryption. Many organizations will be able to convert to SHA-2 without running into user experience issues, and many may want to encourage users running older, less secure systems to upgrade. This page lists the minimum version required for SHA-2 as well as some exceptions. .... there is a list.

Yes ... Dibya is new with only 10 posts ... I hate to think about my first 10 posts when I joined MSFN. They were probably very stupid posts and actually may have caused some long time members to leave the forum for good. However, we improve and in my case with newer posts that may still be considered "borderline stupid" ... I am proud to now be considered an MSFN Expert ... just don't ask me any questions !!! monroe

Speaking of certificates ... this just came to my attention a few minutes ago. "Certificate authorities said they will respond by no longer issuing SHA1 certificates at midnight, January 1 2016, opting instead for SHA2 certificates. SHA2 is a significantly stronger algorithm that will last for many years to come. But there's a problem. A small but sizable portion of the internet's users don't have browsers or devices that are compatible with SHA2." As sites move to SHA2 encryption, millions face HTTPS lock-out "We're about to leave a whole chunk of the internet in the past," as millions of people remain dependent on old, insecure, but widely-used encryption. October 23, 2015 http://www.zdnet.com/article/as-sha1-winds-down-sha2-leap-will-leave-millions-stranded/?tag=nl.e589&s_cid=e589&ttag=e589&ftag=TREc64629f In 2016, tens of millions of people around the world will face trouble accessing some of the most common encrypted websites like Facebook, Google and Gmail, Twitter, and Microsoft sites. Why? Because their browser or device will be unable to read the new, more secure certificates. SHA1, the cryptographic hashing algorithm that's been at the heart of the web's security for a decade, will be retired in a little over a year. Some say it could be cracked by the end of the year, essentially making it useless and weakening security for millions of users. Certificate authorities said they will respond by no longer issuing SHA1 certificates at midnight, January 1 2016, opting instead for SHA2 certificates. SHA2 is a significantly stronger algorithm that will last for many years to come. But there's a problem. A small but sizable portion of the internet's users don't have browsers or devices that are compatible with SHA2. "We're about to leave a whole chunk of the internet in the past," said CloudFlare chief executive Matthew Prince, during a conversation in our New York newsroom earlier this month. 'One million websites' running risky crypto Encryption isn't important just for protecting your online banking, email accounts, and social networks. That green lit-up bar or padlock in your browser also verifies the integrity of a site, offering a strong level of assurance that the page has not been modified in any way. More sites nowadays are adopting encryption because it costs little to nothing to implement. In an age of daily data breaches, hacks, and mass surveillance, adopting a strong SHA2 algorithm is more important than ever. But browser makers and website owners alike thought they had more time. Prominent security researchers thought SHA1 would last until about 2018, but now they think the SHA1 algorithm may be broken by the end of 2015. The good news is that most website are already using the stronger SHA2 certificates. About 24 percent of SSL-encrypted websites still use SHA1 -- or, about 1 million websites. That figure is declining every month, so much so that by the end of the year it could fall as low as 10 percent of all websites, meaning the vast majority of encrypted websites will be safe from SHA1 collision attacks. For most people, there's nothing to worry about. The majority are already using the latest Chrome or Firefox browser, the latest operating system, or the newest smartphone with the latest software, which are compatible with the old SHA1-hashed websites and the newer SHA2-hashed websites. But many, particularly those in developing nations, who are running older software, devices, and even "dumbphones," the candy-bar cellphones that have basic mobile internet, will face a brick wall, because their devices aren't up-to-date enough to even know what SHA2 is. Mozilla's 'one million downloads' mistake There's no way to tell exactly how many will be affected until it happens, in part because there are no concrete figures on how many people are running old or unsupported browsers or devices. Ivan Ristic, head of of SSL Labs at Qualys, said in an email that users of Windows XP SP2 and earlier, and Android 2.2 and earlier, do not support SHA2 certificates. ... it's a long article ... more at the link. monroe

w2k4eva ... again thanks for more information, for sure I know a lot more about root certificates than I did one week ago. Yesterday I found out about the nssckbi.dll in FFox, Pale Moon and K-Meleon. I have an older version of KM (v1.8.24) from last year and I just downloaded K-Meleon 75.1 (portable) and transfered that dll to my older KM v1.8.24 version ... all seems to be working well at various web sites ... when I tried the nssckbi.dll from the latest version of Pale Moon 25.7.3 into K-Meleon many web pages did not work ... many errors. I would like to keep using the older KM version but later today I am going to work with the newer K-Meleon 75.1 version also. At this time last week I did not know that many browsers had their own root certificates included ... I was under the impression that the MS update was also for other browsers ... which it is for some but not for others. Very good information provided by everybody ... monroe

w2k4eva ... thanks for the reply and all the information on certificates, very good reading. I never knew too much about them, since MS would supply updates every so often. A few days ago I decided to get more information ... when I found out how to locate them and I saw so many foreign certs and expired certs ... I was wondering if they were safe to still have around. After I posted that earlier post I found someone also saying what you said ... expired certs can still be needed. I also found this article ... Why do we not trust an SSL certificate that expired recently? http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/31463/why-do-we-not-trust-an-ssl-certificate-that-expired-recently So you cannot trust an expired certificate because you cannot check its revocation status. It might have been revoked months ago, and you would not know it. A good question. The simplest answer is that having an expiration date ensures that you have an "audit" every so often. If there were no expiration date, and someone stopped using a certificate (and protecting the private key), no one would ever know. However, by having an expiration date you ensure that the user goes back to the company that sold them the SSL certificate and pays them lots more money err, I mean, has an audit and is re-validated as the person or service they claim to be (I'll try to leave rants about the current internet security model out of this question). The problem then becomes: If you're going to have a grace period in which you ignore expired certificates, how long does it last? A day? A week? A month? At some point you simply have to stop trusting the certificate; if you make that point a day after the expiration, you can still ask yourself: "What could have happened between today and yesterday?" And you fall into a loop. Essentially, you're right: People don't magically stop protecting their private keys as soon as the expiration date hits (or they may have stopped protecting them a long time ago and no one knows because they didn't revoke them and they haven't expired yet). The expiration date says nothing about the security of the certificate, but if you don't have a cut off you'll never know that a certificate may be forgotten about whereas with one you at least know that much. ... well I will probably leave everything as is for now ... I need to know more about certificates. I also do not use Internet Explorer very often. I have Pale Moon (Atom-WinXP) installed and there are frequent updates ... so the certificates in that browser would be more up to date ... if I understand about browsers and certificates correctly. monroe

Just to add that the older version of Malwarebytes v1.75 still works with Windows XP SP3 ... the newer version also works but I like the older version feel and look. I'm not sure about earlier versions of XP. You don't have to upgrade when getting database updates for the older 1.75 version, you need to take out the checkmarks under the "Settings " tab. Go to "Settings" ... then go to "Updater Settings" and uncheck : Download and install program update if available ... I also uncheck: Notify me when a program update is ready for installation It should work just fine on XP SP3. ...

Reading the other post about rvkroots.exe and rootsupd.exe posted by heinoganda and others ... I became aware of Certificates Manager in XP. Spent a lot of time searching around on Google and have a few questions. I looked in the various folders of the Certificate Manager and see many strange foreign looking items. I was reading this in an article about maybe getting rid of items that you don't know what they are. These paragraphs are from the article ... I will also post a link to the article. I was not aware of doing this manually. I have never "cleaned" anything out the Certificates Manager. Is this a necessary thing to have been doing? "From an even broader perspective, you should keep your certificate stores clean in the same manner you limit the software installed on your systems. The same best practice applies to both scenarios: If you're not using it or don't know what it is, get rid of it! That said, consider "clean" certificate stores as being those free of any outdated, unwanted, or unneeded certificates. Outdated or unnecessary certificates can cause a lot of problems for SysAdmins. And the maintenance needs to happen both on the CA and the application hosts. Both of the reasons mentioned above can cause your applications or websites to fail; and if your customers (be they external or internal) can't access the tools they need to do business, no one in the situation will be happy." Recommendations for Cleanup The recommendation for addressing the first reason is pretty straightforward: replace any certificates with a key length of 1024 bits or less with a stronger certificate ASAP. If you can't do that this month, and you have the necessary level of control over the computers that rely on those certificates, make sure those computers are not configured to automatically deploy KB2661254 when it goes live. As for the second reason, we recommend reducing your certificate stores to about 180 certificates or less - just to play on the safe side. As you consider what certificates to remove, think of the following as "safe to delete": Expired certificates Unknown foreign certificates Certificates with a key length of 1024 bits or smaller Article link: Keep your certificate stores clean - applications could fail if you don't https://thwack.solarwinds.com/community/solarwinds-community/geek-speak_tht/blog/2012/10/01/keep-your-certificate-stores-clean--applications-could-fail-if-you-dont Maybe this has been discussed before but I seemed to have missed it ... I always thought the roots certificate from the MS monthly updates would be doing that ... but do all the old certificates or no longer used certificates just remain in the CM and keep building up. So the question from above ... should people be going into Certificates Manager to clean out what the above article talks about? I also found this article: Certificate cleanup for most personal computers http://windowssecrets.com/top-story/certificate-cleanup-for-most-personal-computers/ Manually removing the certificates from XP systems Windows XP users have the option of deleting the certificates manually or merely looking over the list of certificates installed to see whether the DigiNotar cert. is there. Here’s how: Start out by clicking on the start button and typing mmc.exe. into the Run box. You’ll see a window pop up typically labeled Console1. ... there are more steps in the article. I also found this article and someone posted a followup question: I got into Certificate Manager on my XP system by going to computer Tools, Options, then certificates. I am horrified that there's all these foreign certicates on there, are they necessary and are they bad? Like TUrkey and a bunch of other places I have no idea what they are or why they're there. I've been trying all day to speed up my computer, cleaning, etc and this is the latest thing I'm finding to question. Thanks for any help you can give me. How can I start the Certificate Manager on Windows XP? http://www.delphifaq.com/faq/windows_user/f1571.shtml Question: I know that Windows has a GUI interface to manage digital certificates. I have seen it on another computer but I cannot find a shortcut on my system at home, even though I have admin privileges. How can I start the Certificate Manager on Windows XP? Answer: The certificate manager is implemented as a Management Console Snap-in Control (MSC) file. The application can be started as certmgr.msc Below is a list of other management console Snap-in controls. They are all in \Windows\System32 You can start them from the start menu, by clicking on 'run' and then entering the desired command, e.g. certmgr.msc. ... Is there a free tool around to "clean" old or junk certificates out of an XP system or it has to be done manually? Just to add ... when looking in the Trusted Root Certification Authorities folder and Certificates folder ... I see many foreign entries from Brazil, India and other countries ... also many expired items from 2009, 2010 and so on. monroe

Good read ... Unstoppable 100-Year-Old Works 6 Days a Week October 20, 2015 - USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/inspiration-nation/2015/10/20/100-year-old-works-6-days-week/74263334/ BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Felimina Rotundo works six days a week washing clothes at a local laundromat and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon, even at the age of 100. Rotundo washes clothes and handles dry cleaning at the College Laundry Shoppe in Buffalo. She works from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. She says that she likes being out and working because it “gives her something to do.” Rotundo said that she hasn’t considered retirement. She says she doesn't think that "old people" should be sitting idle, and doing nothing, because that is a waste of time. So when would be an acceptable age to retire? According to her, 75 would be a good age but only if health is an issue. Rotundo was born in 1915, and this past August she reached the century mark. She says she has been working for 85 years of her life. She has worked in the area for nearly 40 years. When she first started she only made about 25 cents for washes. --------------- 'Get out and do some work': NY woman, 100, still working 11 hours a day, 6 days a week October 20, 2015 Associated Press http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/10/20/get-out-and-do-some-work-ny-woman-100-still-working-11-hours-day-6-days-week/?intcmp=hplnws BUFFALO, N.Y. – Felimina Rotundo works 11 hours day, six days a week at a Buffalo Laundromat and says she has no plans to quit working even though she turned 100 last summer. She tells WGRZ-TV that she got her first job at 15 during the Great Depression and has been working ever since. Rotundo works from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week washing clothes and handling dry cleaning at the College Laundry Shoppe on Main Street in Buffalo. She says she hasn't considered retirement and will continue working as long as her health is good. Rotundo, who hit the century mark in August, says she likes being out and working because it "gives her something to do." She says too many people retire too soon. Her advice to her peers: "Get out and do some work."

heinoganda ... no way am I angry, I usually have to ask more questions or get more information on various workings of the computer or XP ... could also be of help to someone else. I will have more time this evening to go over the information you provided. Thanks ...

I am somewhat confused and have some questions with the current "rvkroots.exe" and "rootsupd.exe". So far all I have done is install the rootsupd.exe (v6.0.6000.16386) ... I forgot to look first to see what version I had installed before I ran the update. When I check the version number of rvkroots.exe on my computer it is v6.0.6000.16386 ... and reading the last posts by dencorso ... "the version number in the registry seems not to affect the operation of the certificates in any way." and heinoganda ... "The version number "rvkroots.exe" and "rootsupd.exe" to write to the registry are unique identifiers for Windows Update or Microsoft Update and have no effect on the functionality of the certificates!" So far I have made no changes to the registry, I downloaded everything that heinoganda had posted with the links to several posts back. I have only installed the rootsupd.exe update (6.0.6000.1638). So if that's all I have to do for now and in the future ... then I have a current "working" roots certificate on my machine by just installing the update "manually"? Do I understand this correctly and there is no need for me to go through all those other steps ... with registry and inf files? ...

dencorso ... thanks for the heads up on PlainOldFavorites for Pale Moon (Atom-XP) ... like the Favorites tab better. ...

If you didn't see this, it's pretty funny. Parrot Unwinds After A Long Day With A Shower In The Kitchen Sink http://iaf.tv/2015/10/17/parrot-takes-shower-in-the-kitchen-sink/ After a vexing day of repeating other people’s words, Charlie the parrot just wanted to cool down with a nice cold shower in the kitchen sink. Charlie gave up birdbaths years ago after realizing how unsanitary they were. Sometimes he sits in the rain, but when he’s in the sink, he couldn’t be happier. He excels at rinsing, washing, and especially repeating. ...

heinoganda ... thanks for the reply and links. I am going to study all this step by step later today or tomorrow. I'd like to keep that Roots certificate updated as much as possible. monroe

Here it comes ... it was bound to happen someday with all the close encounters around airports and houses. I wonder one day if a person has a tiny insect drone ... will that also have to be registered? This is where a good flamethrower would come in handy ... it might set the whole neighborhood on fire but it should destroy the drone. U.S. Will Require Drones to Be Registered Oct 16 2015 http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-will-require-drones-be-registered-n446266 The federal government will announce a new plan requiring anyone buying a drone to register the device with the U.S. Department of Transportation, NBC news has learned. The government has been concerned about the rise in close calls between unmanned drones and aircraft flying into and out of some of the nation's biggest airports. The plan is expected to be announced Monday. In July, there was a dangerously close encounter between a drone and a passenger jet with 159 people aboard setting up to land at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The unmanned aerial vehicle was just 100 feet away from the passenger jet at an altitude of 1,700 feet; normal safe separation distance is between aircraft is at least 1,000 feet. Private drones were also blamed for hampering aerial firefighting efforts over a California blaze in July. Firefighting aircraft trying to attack the fast-moving blaze in the Cajon Pass had to leave the area for around 20 minutes over safety concerns, officials said. The fire swept over a busy freeway and torched 20 vehicles. Under the plan, the government would work with the drone industry to set up a structure for registering the drones, and the regulations could be in place by Christmas. Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed a $1.9 million fine against Chicago drone company SkyPan, which was alleged to have flown dozens of unauthorized flights over Chicago and New York since 2012. ...

Just a crazy question with how this works with XP ... without the newer updates? I am not applying the POS updates at this time. I got this from the MS link you posted. With the October 13, 2015 revision of this advisory, Microsoft is announcing the availability of an update for all supported releases of Windows that modifies the Code Integrity component in Windows to extend trust removal for the certificates to also preclude kernel-mode code signing. then ... WindowsXP-KB3080446-x86-XXX.exe 10/12/2015 WindowsXP-KB3093983-x86-XXX.exe 10/12/2015 (cumulativ) IE7-WindowsXP-KB3093983-x86-XXX.exe 10/12/2015 (cumulativ) IE8-WindowsXP-KB3093983-x86-XXX.exe 10/12/2015 (cumulativ) WindowsXP-KB3094996-x86-XXX.exe 10/12/2015 so I guess those XP updates are for an XP setup with POSReady updates applied or maybe also for an XP setup with no newer upates installed after April 2014? Thanks, just not sure if I understand this correctly. ...

I don't know if this is a hoax or for real ... there are several pictures. Weird Animal with 'Body of Buffalo and Head of Crocodile' Baffles Everyone http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/weird-animal-body-buffalo-head-6577508 05 Oct 2015 By Kirstie McCrum Confusing genetic creations happen all the time, but this is one of the most unusual animals seen in a long time. Images have been shared of a most unusual creature spotted in a remote village - and it's the stuff of sci-fi movies. The strange animal appears to have the scaly, rough head and skin of a reptile such as a crocodile. However, on closer inspection, it's also got the body, limbs and hooves of a mammal such as a calf. The creature appears to have been born of a buffalo, but is clearly not a normal-looking creature. According to the site, the animal died soon after birth, but "It is surprising and is believed to bring good luck to the family and the village." ...

Wow ... you are really going back. I didn't think there was anyone still alive from the days of the Pony Express ! Don't forget the Supermoon lunar eclipse tomorrow ... monroe

vinifera ... you don't have to upgrade when getting database updates for the older version, you need to take out the checkmarks under the "Settings " tab. Go to "Settings" ... then go to "Updater Settings" and uncheck : Download and install program update if available ... I also uncheck: Notify me when a program update is ready for installation I can get database updates for the older version and no "program updates" are downloaded ... nothing is changed except for the newer database updates. monroe

Probably not much help but I'm still using the older version 1.75 with Windows XP SP3 ... I just didn't like the new version look and there was something else that the newer version was lacking over the older version ... but I can't think of it at this moment. Someone had mentioned it in another forum. The older version still seems to work very well with XP. Maybe others will have more to say on the subject. ...

Just to briefly mention about the IE 9 spoof provided by dencorso and the fact that he uses it with XPSP3 ... just caught this today. I have IE 8 on the computer for XP ... I was concerned that the registry change might mess up using the MS Update request under Tools ... I still run it every month and only get MS Office 2007 updates these days. I installed the IE9 Spoof and then ran the Update tool and everything seemed to work OK ... the same as it did before I installed the IE9 Spoof. I never use IE anymore, just for the updates. I use K-Meleon and Pale Moon (Atom/XP) mostly. Thought I would mention this for anyone else thinking about MS Updates. ...