CharlotteTheHarlot

I'm a little confused by this ... (1) In your REG script I don't see any non-HKLM that will be applied to the current user. You have coded for a specific user ( HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx-500 ) and that -500 usually means it is the built-in administrator account. I'm pretty sure that you might want to change all occurrences of ... HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx-500 ... to ... HKEY_CURRENT_USER So this ... [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2382118143-2802985254-1031643562-500\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager] ... becomes this ... [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager] (2) You are going to have to define exactly what you mean by "default" user in your question. (3) For those values that you are deleting ( e.g., "0" = - ), the spaces are superfluous. Actually I can't recall seeing it done that way. It might not matter, but this ... [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager] "ColorName" = - "DllName" = - "LastUserLangID" = - "LoadedBefore" = - "SizeName" = - ... is usually written as this ... [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ThemeManager] "ColorName"=- "DllName"=- "LastUserLangID"=- "LoadedBefore"=- "SizeName"=- (4) I am going to guess that your registry script is a result of capturing changes from previous testing. I can easily see quite a few that should not be ported because they are either meaningless, transitory or in at least one case a bad idea ( the random number generator should not be ported unless you are trying to clone systems, but even that won't work ). I suggest you carefully audit this for meaningless or even dangerous items that need not be pushed. Here is what I see at a quick glance. Keys re-grouped by similarity and comments preceding each ...

Licenturion did much research into this in 2001. Two of the original papers are: Here and Here. Both those papers and XPInfo ( a program for basic research ) are on that page. Wikipedia has some info too. P.S. This is a very tender subject on clean boards like MSFN, tread carefully, read the forum rules and don't discuss circumvention. Probably best to take this elsewhere, but that's just my opinion as I don't work here. You can always PM the moderators to ask if something is legit or taboo!

Some of this probably does not directly affect the OP ( togermano ) who is doing a full re-install, but this information might help those that Google into this thread looking for information about those Compaq files. I took a closer look at those Compaq drivers since every so often I get a Compaq in for repairs, virus cleaning, reinstall, etc and always wind up trying to get the drivers out of the setup wrappers. This has been a pain in the butt for years and I am still looking for the key to extracting these and I am afraid to say that with what I found yesterday, it may never be possible due to very erratic and sloppy programming by the geniuses at Compaq. I have already tried the usual methods besides WinRar, that is WinZip, 7zip, InstExpl, and a variety of other generic tools. I also tried the specific Installshield decompilers ( Icomp, I5, I6, etc ) and they fail as well. There may be a few more left to use that I will eventually get around to. I also heard that some Compaq internal tools leaked out but I do not believe I have yet come across them. Anyway I located a PDF that purportedly explains a way to get the files out of the installer ... Frankly, I've seen these instructions before and they never worked before, but I gave it a shot again on this group. For this laptop there are 20 available downloads and only 4 are perfectly extractable using WinRar. Out of the 16 remaining maybe another 5 can be partially or wholly examined by gathering files from various folders ( Temp, Root, etc ) from the installer while it is running. From testing those 16 non-extractable files ... I got 9 completely different kinds of results! This means that there are at least 9 different ways these Compaq ( mostly custom installshield wrappers ) installers were compiled. They simply did not follow their own guidelines meaning those extraction instructions will not work except perhaps on one file. Here is a summary of what actually happened ... sp11763.exe .... 8,268,891 ... Extracted with WinRar sp12659.exe ... 15,365,177 ... Failed (7) sp14107.exe ...... 377,504 ... Failed (6) sp14776.exe ...... 280,149 ... Failed (7) sp15238.exe ...... 718,941 ... Failed (6) sp15535.exe .... 1,289,288 ... Failed (5) sp15602.exe ...... 810,833 ... Extracted with WinRar sp15770.exe ...... 296,296 ... Failed (2) sp15932.exe ...... 586,142 ... Failed (3) sp15949.exe ... 12,528,827 ... Failed (4) sp16205.exe ... 21,795,313 ... Failed (4) sp16211.exe ...... 337,033 ... Failed (3) sp16212.exe ...... 300,522 ... Failed (3) sp16778.exe ... 14,998,950 ... Failed (8) sp17363.exe .... 9,197,688 ... Failed (9) sp17385.exe .... 8,909,407 ... Failed (4) sp17398.exe ...... 380,075 ... Failed (2) sp18184.exe .... 3,958,640 ... Failed (1) sp18759.exe .... 4,815,008 ... Extracted with WinRar sp20598.exe ... 10,478,980 ... Extracted with WinRar More details and notes are here ... Speaking for myself, the main reason to be able to extract the files is to construct a directory with them all expanded that can be copied onto a HDD before or during a Windows install so that the Windows setup can be directed to the folders and use them at will. Those PDF instructions are meant for similar scenarios like making a driver disc or deployment image. Anyway, there are good reasons not to trust an installer created by career under-achievers masquerading as programmers at a company like Compaq ( and others ) who have little adult supervision and certainly no real quality control. Those reasons quickly became quite clear. Here are some important notes ... None of those installers followed the commandline parameters outlined in the PDF, disregarding both the /e to cancel automatic and the /f to select a target folder. Worse, two of them used /s silent install even without it being specified. This is sloppy and dangerous. At compile time they are supposed to import a template that embeds common modes and commandline parameters. That is how a real company ( and independents ) operate. That's professional. Since almost all these files originate in the same timeframe it does not bode well for the sum total of Compaq and HP ( don't get me started ) history because there must be hundreds of different variations in existence now. Files were written into C:\Cpqs and C:\Cpqdrv and C:\Sp15770 and C:\Sptemp and C:\Appl.zip ( that is a folder ), not to mention C:\Temp and C:\Windows\Temp and even %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp. All these locations from the few of those installers that even ran. Additionally, they managed to create two executable autorun files ( on WinXP no less ) C:\Cleanbl.bat and C:\Windows\Dosstart.bat. Their contents here ... At least one of them created a buttload of registry gargbage that has no purpose I can see. I recognize some of these as from Vcomm System Commander or one of their related programs ... The OP ( togermano ) might want to take note of this: At least one of the installers has a programming error, sp14776.exe ( "SMSC USB Ethernet Driver" ), where the installer is looking for the wrong file in the TEMP folder, it is trying to unzip "156080.zip" but the actual payload the installer drops into TEMP is 156323.zip. I see no way for ths update to actually work unless it is only a mistake in a dialog box. But the files can be retrieved from TEMP if it does not work ... Finally saving the worst for last, at least one of those installers which I have not yet identified, deleted the entire contents of C:\Temp, including all subfolders!. WTF! This is not just sloppy, it is incomprehensible. No setup program should ever remove files that it did not install, and even then they should still be prompted with a choice. Real programmers create private sub-directories off the TEMP folder and work in there, and delete that and ONLY that during cleanup. These programmers are lucky I am not their boss. Seriously, this kind of thing puts in perspective why long time veterans go through all the trouble of tearing apart setups rather than simply trusting the authors. EDIT: typos

It seems NeoWin has finally stopped celebrating the cherry picked Nokia statistics and realized something I noticed above in Post #1512 ... Here are their two more realistic stories yesterday ... Nokia's Asha range outselling Lumias 2:1 ( NeoWin 2013-01-13 ) Samsung: Over 100m Galaxy S series phones sold so far ( NeoWin 2013-01-14 ) Note that they still cannot bring themselves to actually mention that these Asha phones are non-WP8 phones, nor are the Symbian based handsets either. Well at least the NeoWin authors have finally gotten around to reading the articles they put up just a few days ago. Nokia WP8 phones cannot even compete with Nokia at the moment, let alone Apple or Samsung. This begs the question I asked earlier, just how did Microsoft plan on penetrating the mobile market? What crazy bug is lurking in their Excel spreadsheet projections that convinced them that this was going to succeed? There must have been something really obvious, a slam dunk projection, to cause them to make this gigantic lurch destroying the "Windows" look and feel, and the brand itself in a reckless gamble that it would somehow attract us Windows veterans and n00bs into falling hopelessly head-over-heels in love with the phone interface. This is one of the great mysteries we are left to ponder.

I don't know about the Surface, but most LCD's are vulnerable ( flashback to Post #509 ) to pressure. It is also possible that they may have an anti-glare coating that will come off. All in all I think I was correct in speculating that Microsoft has secretly bought stock in display manufacturers, cleaning supplies, and eyeglass makers. Go long on these stocks.

Four ideas, though I'll bet you tried the first two already ... - It may simply read the date/time. Set the clock back ( I know, it's obvious ) - It may phone home. Disconnect internet first, prevent it from getting the current date/time or status from a server somewhere. - It may have flagged itself as expired. Use a clean original non-executed copy of the Symantec file if you have one, this is to prevent self-modification which happens more frequently than people might imagine. It can easily flag a bit in itself as expired which would make the clock setting irrelevant. - It may have flagged an external bit as expired. Use a clean original non-executed copy of the file on a computer that has never seen the program run before. Save registry export and filelist before and after. The idea is to capture any changes such as a registry value or even a changed file date/time somewhere that it reads before execution. Unless I am completely senile I cannot imagine any other avenue it could use to stop working on Win9x. But I could be wrong.

What about that outage? Forum maintenance or DDoS?

It is most likely by design, now stop complaining about innovation you h8er! My favorite part in that photo is ... Excellent thinking!

I guess maybe they added more installshield formats to WinRar 4.x because v3.9x doesn't understand it, nor does anything else like 7zip. Try this one: Presario Notebook Trident Cyberblade Cbi7 Graphic Drivers 2001-02-18 , Version:5495-19A, 14.3M If you use UniExtract can you let me know which application it uses to open it? I'm pretty sure I have all the utilities it uses. Thanks. P.S. Just getting the files out might still be the easy part. What I want to see are any dependency checks ( or pre-install and post-install actions ) are coded into the wrapper to find what Compaq branding it is looking for. Getting these out of Inno sometimes work ( Disasm.exe CompiledCode.bin ) but most of the others like installshield, NSIS, Indigo are lost in the extraction. This is one of the gripes I always had about setup programs, their native ability to process secretly with no real way to see the detailed script.

That's what I thought too. I downloaded the driver files ( see the direct links above ) and noticed that many of them cannot be easily extracted. They are using a custom installshield wrapper so I am guessing that the dependency is buried in there. They probably seek out a registry value or file location before they extract. This is not normally the case in my experience. I like to grab all the drivers, extract them, build a folder tree with all the drivers and then copy that tree to a hard drive root before windows setup so that when the installer is looking for drivers I can just aim it at the tree and kind of pre-configure windows to have a set location for the required INFs and system files. Compaq chose a terrible strategy, one that matches its reputation really. Its no wonder so many people complain about them.

Is this what the outage was yesterday around 18:50 UT? What's gonna change with the upgrade ( besides spam measures )?

Details about that computer are at the HP website ... Compaq Presario 1600-XL145 Notebook PC ( at HP website ) - Product Specifications - Software & Driver Downloads The Downloads are all still alive and direct ... Are any of those listed downloads the one that you have and require some Compaq branding?

The Compaq Win98se CDROM I have seems to be an "update" disc rather than "full install". It is an original blue and silver distribution disc and has this in small print: "This program will search your system to confirm your eligibility for this special update edition". I did an audit between the Microsoft Windows 98se and Compaq CDROMs and found three main files of difference in the \Win98 folder, (Compaq shown ) ... 1999-04-23 ... 17:22 ..... 168,096 ... Dossetup.bin 1999-04-23 ... 17:22 ... 1,351,645 ... Precopy2.cab 1999-04-23 ... 17:22 ...... 37,299 ... Setup.txt The CDROM structure is largely identical, however 2 subfolders are removed from the Compaq disc that appear on the Microsoft disc ... \Tools\Admin \Tools\Nettools Additionally there is one extra file on the Compaq disc not on the Microsoft disc ( and probably not of consequence ) ... \Drivers\Printers\Hp\Djet690c\Disk2\Hpf69r08.gid Within the \Win98 folder, there are three files on the Microsoft disc missing from the Compaq ... \Win98\Format.com \Win98\Oemsetup.bin \Win98\Oemsetup.exe Full stop here. I believe this means that the Compaq CDROM is considered an "Update" disc rather than full install, because of the lack of format. I thought they were essentially the same in those days, but I may have mis-remembered. Anyway, continuing ... Many of the CABs are binary different but it is because of 7 files that appear in almost all of the Microsoft CABs that are missing from the corresponding Compaq CABs. So when you WinDiff the two CDROMs there is a large list of differences until you compare the CAB contents. These are the 7 files that repeat in almost every CAB on the Microsoft disc but removed from the Compaq disc ... Dibeng.dll Gdi32.dll Iosclass.dll Krnl386.exe Ntdll.dll Systhunk.dll Vfd.vxd Additionally Compaq removed these files from their version of Win98_74.cab which exist on the Microsoft CDROM ... Under~10.wav Under~11.wav Under~12.wav Under~13.wav Under~14.wav Under~15.wav Under~16.wav Under~17.wav Under~18.wav Underw~6.wav Underw~7.wav Underw~8.wav Underw~9.wav The differences that matter all occur in PRECOPY2.CAB where most of the INFs have the references to those 7 extra Microsoft files edited out. Whatever driver update files that the OP ran which require Compaq branding, the references will most likely be found within these 22 files that differ between the two CDROMs (Compaq shown ) ... 1999-04-23 ... 17:21 ...... 54,959 ... copy.inf 1999-04-23 ... 17:21 ...... 56,353 ... copy1.inf 1999-04-23 ... 17:21 ...... 50,498 ... copy2.inf 1999-04-23 ... 17:24 ...... 76,410 ... default.sfc 1999-04-23 ... 17:21 ...... 45,747 ... del.inf 1999-04-23 ... 17:21 ...... 35,342 ... del1.inf 1999-04-23 ... 22:22 ...... 40,816 ... ieeula.chm 1999-04-23 ... 22:22 ...... 23,355 ... iesupp.chm 1999-04-23 ... 17:31 ...... 56,006 ... layout.inf 1999-04-23 ... 17:31 ...... 57,187 ... layout1.inf 1999-04-23 ... 17:31 ...... 55,036 ... layout2.inf 1999-04-23 ... 22:22 ...... 26,204 ... lic_help.txt 1999-04-23 ... 22:22 ...... 40,816 ... license.chm 1999-04-23 ... 22:22 ...... 26,204 ... license.txt 1999-04-23 ... 22:22 ...... 23,355 ... mtshelp.chm 1999-04-23 ... 22:22 ...... 23,361 ... setupc.inf 1999-04-23 ... 22:22 ...... 17,997 ... setuppp.inf 1999-04-23 ... 22:22 ..... 745,168 ... setupx.dll 1999-04-23 ... 16:35 ...... 61,528 ... subase.inf 1999-04-23 ... 22:22 ....... 8,116 ... support.txt 1999-04-23 ... 22:22 ...... 57,292 ... webhelp.chm 1999-04-23 ... 16:35 ...... 28,028 ... winver1.inf The most likely solution for OP will be to obtain a proper full install Compaq version of the Win98se disc and re-install. An alternative method might be somehow converting his official Microsoft full install disc to Compaq branded by obtaining those three files: DOSSETUP.BIN and PRECOPY2.CAB and SETUP.TXT and dropping them into the \Win98 folder and overwriting the originals and then burning the disc again. This would keep FORMAT and the other files in place. Whether this would work I am not sure. Due to the relative lack of information given, I am not sure if his Hard Drive actually has Windows physically in place, which is a requirement for the "update" to work ( it probably on requires one file really ). So this is up in the air. Since this is Win9x you could even skip the burning of the disc and just copy the entire contents to the harddrive in the laptop and running the SETUP from a dos prompt if you can boot to clean DOS. Personally, here is how I would do this. Pull the HDD out, slave it in another computer ( rigged for 2.5" drives ). If there is any Windows installation still on that HDD I would back it up temporarily, and then format it FAT32 with system ( so it boots ), copy the Win98se Compaq CDROM to the HDD, ( and copy the backed up Windows installation if it existed ). Put it back in the laptop, boot to DOS and then run SETUP from the copied folder. If the transplant of those Compaq files onto a full install CDROM does not work, I would have to Google to find the trick to make it full install. I believe this is do-able, but might take a few tries. Still better to just find a Compaq full install Win98se on eBay I think. The OP has not given nearly enough information though. Depending on specs there is some chance you might be able to get Win2k working. P.S. Here are all the disc comparison details ...

Adobe CS2 UPDATE: Later info read at TechSpot: Adobe offering Creative Suite 2 for free, but they didn't mean to. Near as I can tell, they -permanently turned off the activation servers used by this CS2 Suite a month ago. Existing customers owning that suite still need to be able to reinstall that software on occasion but could no longer do this without the servers. Consequently Adobe put up that page with altered versions that no longer require activation for use by these existing customers. The page is still live and will likely remain live. For people that do not own these versions ( the CS2 Suite or the individual standalone versions ) you are on the honor system to not use them! This is indeed a very unusual situation. Adobe is between a rock and a hard place and had to choose whether to simply abandon those customers by killing the servers in effect killing the software should it ever require re-activation, or just place non-activated versions of the software available on a public server which no longer even requires a sign-in. Many long-timers may remember that this was discussed when "Activation" first became popular around 2000 with Office and then Windows XP. The logistics of how to handle the inevitable future scenario of maintaining activating servers "forever" was one of the arguments against this style of DRM. Now we have just witnessed the choice made by one company, Adobe, and I think they made the right choice, the customer friendly choice. We are left to ponder, what will Microsoft do? The right thing or the wrong thing? EDIT: corrected link

So this is a laptop and you are talking about Win98se, correct? What is actually installed now? Is this how it was originally delivered? Do you know what the partitioning is? In other words, is it just C: or maybe several partitions, perhaps a hidden partition with recovery/restore files? What are the specific discs you have? Are they distribution or CDR? We need to know what you are missing! What are the files you say you downloaded and are they the exact ones for that laptop?

I believe you are talking about two different CDROMS. You said you "installed" from a ( official Windows ? ) disc but then you say the "drivers" then "check" something. Did this "check" happen during the install? And by "install" do you mean Windows setup or the Compaq recovery which are two different things? It would help if you describe exactly what you did in detail including describing the discs you used, and Windows version. The "Recovery" or "Restore" discs are different from "Windows discs", and were a completely different animal in those days. Some that I remember for that Win9x era contained OEM created images or similar packed files with the OS and OEM branding and crapware all in one. This is roughly comparable to the way it is done today in the Windows 6.x era with recovery partitions holding the same type of stuff ( Dell, HP, etc ). Others had only the applications on the "Recovery" or "Restore" discs and required setup from the OEM Windows CDROM first. It can be very confusing! ( Although this doesn't apply to you with Win98 gold, I have the Microsoft Win98se and the similar Compaq branded version, they are the "Windows discs" and only differ slightly with OEM branding stuff and some INFs in two CABs ( one is Precopy2 iirc ). This Compaq Windows CD is not tied to any Compaq model however, unlike the "Recovery" or "Restore discs" which are very specific to the exact model of computer. ) In theory, a complete reformat and install from any non-OEM branded official Microsoft "Windows" disc usually works, only resulting in some missing logos in the owner page and other minor things. However, at least Compaqs had a radically different BIOS arrangement that used some local files in addition to the CMOS chip. So, while 95% of computers can be tamed by re-formatting and full installing Windows, you might very well have one of the very few that are actually locked to custom install files. What I am saying is that you might have the type of computer that cannot be wiped and installed normally and will have to track down the correct discs. Also, the Compaq model is very important for another reason. If I am not mistaken, they had these very specific Driver PAQs ( update and support files ) that might be necessary, but this info should be able to be researched today in Google ( unlike in those days in the early to mid-1990's ). So you have to really be specific on what discs you have, what you did, and what was the result. What is the exact Compaq Model? What exactly do the discs look like? Is one of them the correct "Recovery" or "Restore" disc for that model? I despise those recovery-restore discs personally but you may be stuck and have to rely on it unfortunately. There is some chance an image of it can be downloaded from a Compaq user group website, but failing that, there may be one on eBay.

--- Nomination for 2013 Most Ridiculous Theory from an Industry Analyst --- PC prices must rise, not fall, to solve Windows 8's lousy start, analyst argues ( PC World 2013-01-07 ) The story is very much related to the mini-discussion in the previous few posts concerning rising PC prices. Using similar logic as Paul Thurrott another analyst called Steven Baker ( of the NPD Group ) has a novel suggestion to save ailing PC sales: Raise Prices! Worth a read, especially the PC World commenters who pulverize his theory. I don't know what the analyst is on about, he got his wish already. Just read the last few posts here Steven Baker! --- Nomination for 2013 Combat Valor Behind Enemy Lines --- Wait, first I have to now admit an egregious error. Sometime back I suggested that The Verge was not dogmatic, well the site is not but the commenters certainly are. So I was wrong, sorry. The peanut gallery at The Verge are clearly evolving into a direct competitor to NeoWin in the MicroZealot Olympics. Knowing that, when a story like this comes along you know it is going to be a seriously fun read ... Windows 8 Usage Uptake Lags Behind Vista (now with complete data!) ( The Verge 2013-01-09 ) This particular article appears in their Microsoft Tribe section, ( no I'm not kidding, they have sections for their commenters who can select their favorite cult ). Anyway, this commenter is simply fabulous. He researches the little available website statistical data that we have and displays it in the area where it will upset the most Windows 8 zealots. Not only that, like an expert swordsman he slices and dices his way through a long thread of crybabies presenting endless tired arguments and whining disapproval for him having the temerity to post this information. Excellent job. EDIT: typos

On October 5, 2012, a few weeks before the Windows 8 launch I did a quick infographic to capture the current prices before they got washed away ( Post #1083 ) Note the specs and prices on those first two. How about them apples! Instant price inflation. Thank you Microsoft for doing what no-one else could do, you have even repealed Moore's law.

Valve's Gabe Newell Gives Details on Steam Box ( Tom's Hardware 2013-01-10 ) Microsoft Xbox exec on Steam Box: selling console hardware "is a really tough business" ( NeoWin 2013-01-10 ) Yeah and Microsoft sure should know all about it: Report: Microsoft's Xbox division has lost nearly $3 billion in 10 years. Mobile Hotmail & Outlook.com users hit with access issue ( NeoWin 2013-01-10 ) And the forecast today calls for cloudy skies with a good chance of loss of access to your data. ( This is a cloud story which the headline writer tries to hide ). Just wait for problems in Office 365. Uh-oh, Windows RT, Samsung's got second thoughts ( Cnet 2013-01-11 ) Samsung gets cold feet, won't launch Windows RT device in the USA ( NeoWin 2013-01-11 ) They think that Microsoft has bollocksed up the thing with the marketing and and confusion. The genius commenters at NeoWin cannot even acknowledge that simple fact and instead say that they don't want to compete with Apple! ( wait, what? see next story ) Samsung's record quarter: $8.3 billion profit, 63 million phones sold ( TechSpot 2013-01-10 ) Nokia's Lumia did 'better than expected' in Q4, 4.4 million units sold ( TechSpot 2013-01-10 ) Nokia sold 4.4m Lumia Windows Phones last quarter, "exceeded expectations" ( NeoWin 2013-01-10 ) The last headline is cherry-picked though, this is the quote about Nokia: "4.4 million Lumia smartphones were sold, along with 9.3 million Asha full-touch handsets and 2.2 million Symbian devices". ADDED: So Nokia sold 16 million phones total and the Lumias were a quarter of them. Unless I am mistaken, Microsoft is even losing marketshare just with Nokia! In other words, even if all other companies stopped making phones and only Nokia continued, they would still lose marketshare. Am I reading this correctly? And that ends the Christmas silly season. It's all downhill for three more quarters. Meanwhile it looks like they are getting crushed by the others: "Samsung sold about 62 million handsets in the quarter, compared with Apple’s 45 million, according to estimates reported by Bloomberg." No breakdown on the Samsung numbers between Android or WP8 that I can find, but it must be microscopic. The Microsoft thought process just doesn't add up. I have been trying to understand what they found in their spreadsheet projections that justifies turning the world upside-down with the Windows 8 fiasco and also the destruction of consumer value by forcing higher prices ( see next story ) with touchscreen madness. I just don't see what they saw. How could they even contemplate gaining any marketshare. It is far more likely they will gain nothing or even lose. This is starting to look like an Xbox gamble where "Windows" becomes the "console" but they never actually make any money except on the games ( Apps ). It looks similar to the Printer market where they only make profit on the ink and lock out other avenues of refills. More than a little coincidence I think. Acer Aspire S7 Review ( TechSpot 2013-01-10 ) TechSpot review of the Windows 8 flagship from Acer. This is essentially an Ultrabook and no MicroZealot can complain that the OEM here is slacking or sabotaging their precious Windows 8. Very few parts in this thing could be spec'd any higher without blowing the price out further. What we have here is an Acer laptop / ultrabook / tablet with a 13" touchscreen ( jacked up price ) i7, integrated graphics and 256 GB SSD. It will only set you back $1650. They even compare and benchmark it against three other nearly identical units, the Lenovo Yoga, another Acer S5 and Apple's MacBook Air. We know that Intel was pushing this Ultrabook thing hard, but this is in reality a Wintel operation because of Microsoft pushing the Windows 8 and Metro nonsense which demands a touchscreen. Microsoft has singlehandedly brought the traditional value curve of increasing performance at decreasing prices over time, which has been in effect for most of 30 years, to a complete screeching halt, and in fact reversed it. And it happened even fast than I could have imagined. I had been recommending careful shoppers who need new computers should get ready to buy something within a year because the market will be taken over by over-priced Apple-esque Windows gadgets. I fear it is too late now ( not for me, I build them, but too late for customers buying finished PC's ). Microsoft must actually have listened to the over-whelming complaints and warnings about this Windows 8 abortion, and instead of listening to the customers, they monopolistically strong-armed the OEMs in backroom deals to go whole hog, wiping out the Windows 7 high-value units in favor of Apple priced boutique toys. This is how they want to save the PC industry, turn it into double or triple priced crap, a shopping mall full of nothing but Apple shops. It is true that there are a few deals around, but you never want to be shopping for the last remaining remnants of value because that is by definition a "sellers market". We have been very lucky to have had a "buyers market" for many years. It is over, at least for now ( again, unless you build your own ) and it is over precisely because of Microsoft. Make no mistake, the customer is the last thing on their mind. What they are now is a company consumed by Apple-eny led by a CEO who literally defines the Peter Principle. This may yet turn around but it is hard to say. There will be a bloodbath of OEM companies awash in red ink once this experiment in Apple-economics comes crashing down. Pricing every manner of device ( phones, tablets, laptops, AIO ) with displays from 5" to 15" at $1000 average is suicide. The luckiest people I know are those that bought systems last summer and early fall before this technological collusion hit the market. EDIT: added another link

I had a chance to try that OSK on Win98se ( without KernelEX ). No good. OSK caused an invalid page fault in module SHELL32.DLL at 017f:7fcbfbea. I'm afraid that this is probably not a version conflict, it looks like they compiled the EXE or that DLL for something specific in the WinME system. I didn't have time to debug it ( in fact I am not even sure I have a debugger on that Win98se machine any longer ), nor did I scan for deeper dependencies that might be tucked away in there. Perhaps another day. These are the WinME file dates/times pulled right from the CABs ... MSSWCHX.EXE........16,384..06-08-00..5:00p.MSSWCHX.EXE MSSWCH..DLL........32,768..06-08-00..5:00p.MSSWCH.DLL OSK.....CHM........32,435..06-08-00..5:00p.OSK.CHM OSK.....EXE.......270,848..06-08-00..5:00p.OSK.EXE OSK.....HLP........12,410..06-08-00..5:00p.OSK.HLP You should track down some of the members using that WinME to Win98 port because I am sure they came across this type of error.

Ah, I see you're correct after re-reading. Not enough info given IMHO though. Quantity of files? I would still personally do this in a batch script given a list of the files just to be accurate and make no mistakes. Multiple renamers are great, but you usually first have to teach the person how to understand Expressions. I like the one called Scarabée Siren which has insane string handling flexibility. ( Insanely good ).

Assuming that period at the end of that quoted sentence is not what you want ... ren "TSP1PayStatus010512" "TSPPayStatus010512" That batch file would need to be in the same exact folder as the file. It would be better if you mentioned the exact path to the file so it could be included in the script because then the batch file could be located anywhere. Why don't you just select that file, Press the F2 key, and then paste this name directly on it ... TSPPayStatus010512

I just wanted to add a couple of other things in addition above stuff about AOL and Routers and Modems. Modem Disc :: When you get a package deal that has Broadband + Phone + TV ( be it Cable or FIOS Fiber or DSL ) or even if you just get the Broadband by itself, they often include a CDROM with a setup program. In all situations I have seen, this disc is not necessary. Primarily it sets up Wi-Fi settings ( if it is a combination Router+Modem like FIOS ) and hijacks your homepage to the ISP website, install an application or links to your ISP for checking mail and billing and of course spamming you with purchase opportunities. Maybe years ago when Wi-Fi was new and most people did not have a separate router it might have been necessary for a single computer plugged directly into the modem ( not a good idea ) and it likely installed a firewall or made some changes to the Windows firewall and network settings. I obviously cannot speak for the whole world, but I can suggest that at first you completely ignore this disc and proceed as above. Assume the Internet broadband feed is ready-to-go and skip to installing a router right between modem and the computer(s). Router Disc :: Likewise, most routers also include a setup CDROM as well. Obviously this has nothing at all to do with your ISP or the Cable/DSL/Fiber modem. It is there to do one thing, make it easy for the non-techie person to configure the router. Don't let it do that. Take a few minutes to learn about it, find a forum thread that details the specific model and learn the basics. The problem with auto-configuration of routers is that they, like Windows 8 are designed for lay people. What happens is that it might default to WEP for simple Wi-Fi security and will almost always program a weak passphrase like groups of digits separated by hyphens. It will probably broadcast the default SSID ( Netgear xxx ), and probably leave the default router password ( also bad ), and make a few other lowest common denominator choices. It is much better if you simply learn the basics and do that stuff yourself so you can harden your security. This is done from your computer jacked into a router ethernet port, in your web browser after typing a URL like 192.168.1.1 Again, I cannot speak for all the combinations of equipment and providers that are out there. But my suggestion is to physically hook it up as mentioned ... Modem <-> Router <-> Computer(s) ... Avoiding the setup discs ( at least at first ) and immediately program the router from your browser. When it is done, test other remote webpages in the browser which will verify that TCP/IP is good. For the OP asking about AOL, it is at this point after everything else is working that he can either install AOL Software, or just use the web version from his browser. A lot of people ( in my area with our common arrangements ) get confused during setup because they believe they need to use the Modem disc to enable or unlock their Internet service or that they need to enter some magic number from the computer to begin their subscription. The way it has actually worked for at least a decade in these parts is that the Modem itself is the key and it is unlocked when they issue it and install it. They ( the ISP ) have all the addressable numbers from the box, the MACs and whatever, and when they are there first setting it up you will see them make a phone call and someone remotely "turns it all on". The end-user has very little to do, and most of it is only configuring their router which they normally purchased earlier. Some pictures from Google Images that illustrate this basic idea ...

Microtardia and Metrotardia These two articles are nominally about Windows 8, but if you ask me there is a larger point in play, and that is the comments and attitudes of the MicroZealots. To these selfish children, it is all about them and them alone. If it works for them then it will work for you, and you better like it and change and adapt to it. Their way or the highway. These are textbook narcissists, they have no consideration for anyone but themselves, let alone consideration for the past history of the industry, nor for the future. They appear in every thread usually calling us h8ters and trolls for not grasping the brilliance of Windows 8 and Metro exhibiting unimaginable levels of hypocrisy while they insult you. These two aren't important stories by any means, I just happened to notice the attitudes which jump out at you after a year now of controversy. To me, this is really the most interesting phenomenon: somehow around the Vista debacle Microsoft planted fanboy seeds and they have now germinated into full bloom iSheep mSheep. How they did this is beyond me. It is certainly the ugly side of the modern era. Previously it was allegedly the iSheep that were the arrogant fanboys ( even though I cannot remember any of them personally bothering me ever ) evangelizing their toys. Now we have some kind of Twilight Zone role reversal where the dogmatic lunatics are on "our side". Microsoft must be so proud ( actually I bet they are since the arrogance flows freely from there ). The most common symptoms of what we might call Microtardia ( or perhaps Metrotardia ) seems to be a combination of narcissism and arrogance with the most visible manifestation of the disease resembling Tourette's syndrome, where instead of only barking out profanities, they shout orders and guidelines telling you how to do things different than you have always done. This is where the fashionable Microsoft "you're doing it wrong" meme ties in. Ultimately, a patient suffering from Microtardia cannot really fathom how other people interact with their computers different from themselves, they cannot imagine someone doing other tasks than those very few that they have actually experienced, and cannot believe that other people may require different equipment entirely. So, just two random stories from yesterday, where the usual expectation of Microtardia is met ... What a whopper! Huawei hints at giant 6-inch Windows Phone ( NeoWin 2013-01-08 ) A simple story about larger form factor phones filling in the gaps between cells and tablets. You can always spot children because when they open their mouthes the brain gets disconnected. "Whats the point in this exactly, if you need a 6" device, you need a tablet.". And another: "It's a tablet! This is getting ridiculous.". And another: "stick a sandal on your face to know how rediculous it is to talk to a 6" 'phone'.". ~sigh~ Hey kids, for starters try to imagine different size people other than yourselves. Think basketball instead of Angry Birds players. Think adults rather than children. Do you think a 5" phone fits the same in a hand almost twice your size? Grow up and you might understand ( and be able to hold a larger phone too ). Even if everyyone had uniform hand size there would still be people desiring or even requiring larger screens because they don't like wearing glasses to read a text message or want to watch a video as tiny as a webpage embed. Look, I know we all have had children, but what is it with parents that they have not even addressed the narcissism growing in their basements? Folks have to get a grip on this and teach their little brats not only to have respect for other peoples' choices but to understand that the world does not revolve around them in any manner whatsoever. These kids are going to be in for a rude awakening in the real world. Viewsonic reveals new touchscreen monitors for Windows 8 ( NeoWin 2013-01-08 ) I've been on about this ergonomic issue for a while. It is going to become very important over time. So I see Viewsonic, like everyone else is trying to sell desktop touchscreens. One sensible commenter dislikes the idea of fingerprints on his screen, so a Microtardia sufferer immediately helps him out by saying: "Does your keyboard and mouse look like the back of a fry cooker at a McDonald's or something?". Well let's see, the keyboard is an input device, the monitor is an output device. You spend a microscopic amount of time looking at the keyboard, you spend all of your time looking at the monitor. It doesn't matter if the keyboard is dirty, it matters if the monitor is. Furthermore, people do not want dirty keyboards either so they spend lots of time being careful not to mess up their keyboard, and the monitor will demand an order of magnitude more consideration. The level of fail exhibited by this Microtardia sufferer is clearly inversely proportional to their intelligence. Another perfectly sensible commenter mentions a back problem and the fact that his monitor is elevated higher than one would be laying flat. Insensitive child replies: "The idea is that touch monitors wouldn't be positioned the same way non-touch monitors are.". This is the new and necessary meme about 'redesigning your workspace' to make Windows 8 a viable tool for you. What, cut the legs to lower the desk, saw a hole to sink the monitor lower so that the tilt-mechanism might be of use? Is anyone really imagining the physics here? Look at your monitor and imagine tilting it, raise your seat higher now, angle your neck to look down! These people will do anything to fulfill their narcissistic personality disorder. The same Metrotard ( these are usually interchangeable, Microtard == Metrotard ) says: "Technology is never going to evolve for you if you're unwilling to experiment with your work space.". This is a logic fail. Tech will evolve with or with us. Whether it penetrates and sells is a completely different matter. In fact most would agree that technological darwinism requires consumers to reject nonsense so it does not evolve down the wrong path. This means NOT carving up your desk, changing chairs and developing medical conditions simply to accommodate a product. That is utter insanity. You don't adapt to technology, it is adapting to you. You don't support ill-suited or inferior technology because that will only perpetuate it. The minute that you are expected to adapt to Microsoft or Windows 8 or some other bone-headed idea is the very minute you should have woken up and got smart. Someday I'm going to have to collect these kinds of examples and pool them into a medical case study on the mental illness of technology cult members. It reminds me of a while back when the Microtards were stunned that people wanted the Start Menu and the Taskbar as well as all other options available. This makes it flexible for the computer user because they can choose to put hot work items on the desktop, common programs on the taskbar, more on the Start Menu and have the complete inventory under All Programs. That's Flexibility. It wasn't long before the first signs of an outbreak of Microtardia surfaced almost exactly a year ago when the Start Menu was first removed in the CP. Very quickly this contagious disease circulated among fanboys and the meme coalesced as "You don't need the Start Menu, just pin them to the taskbar!" I couldn't believe they would even go there, unless they were people that literally did nothing on their computer except Cut The Rope and stalk people on Facebook. Back in Post #1159 I noted how one great commenter at NeoWin illustrated the absolute absurdity of this ... ... and how the responses were hilarious precisely because they didn't get it. That should tell you something about Microtards. His image demonstrates exactly what they impulsively tell the so-called "haters" to do, yet they still cannot understand it! Cognitive Dissonance.Microtardia EDIT: updated image URL, and again

Valve’s Gabe Newell on Steam Box and the “giant sadness” of Windows 8 ( Maximum PC 2013-01-09 ) Gabe reiterates his earlier observation on how his old company Microsoft is hurting everyone but Microsoft ( and I would add their fanboy cult ). He catches a lot of grief in the comments of articles like this, but I don't think he cares. He is plowing along with using Linux in future products and this also upsets the MicroCult. The guy was there in the early days of Windows and probably had a good look at lifelong under-achievers like Sinofsky, Julie and Ballmer so his insight is far from meaningless. How dare an ex-Softie criticize the Borg. Nokia accused of $545m tax evasion in India; offices raided in investigation ( NeoWin 2013-01-08 ) Funny how two companies teetering on the brink of disaster have bet their entire farm on Windows 8, which could be the last straw for each of them. HP and Nokia ( and HTC could be a third ). If any or all of them get burned to the ground there will be some blowback on Microsoft, yet I doubt they really care. I would be sorry to see Nokia disappear, less so for HP, but they have asked for it. Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall of the backroom when Ballmer was hard-selling them with the used-car salesman schtick. Microsoft Signs $617 Million Windows 8 Contract With US Gov't ( Tom's Hardware 2013-01-08 ) Let me be the first to state the obvious ... another Government Bailout! of course. A few years ago it was $600 Billion, and then $700 Billion, and only some of us complained, so what's another thousandth of that gonna do. It is being spun as cost savings, as if the existing corporate SA agreement was renegotiated with better terms for the customer ( the Pentagon, err, I mean the Taxpayers ). The MicroZealots are actually spreading this bull. But please, think it through! ... If the agreement was renegotiated resulting in a savings to the Pentagon, then Microsoft would have had to lose on this "deal" ( i.e., collecting less money from the Pentagon ). So which is it? A large new sale resulting in new net income ( black ink ) for Microsoft along with more red ink for the Pentaon ( and taxpayers ) , or, some new magic fantasy agreement where the Pentagon ( and the taxpayers ) are saving money and Microsoft gets what? Red ink or black ink?. Actually this stinks of the worst kind of cronyism. Avoiding party politics here completely, there were many recent articles about Microsoft donations in the recent campaign and upcoming inauguration, not to mention the hiring of a plugged-in political insider as a VP, so this is classic payback and is probably perfectly legal. I say probably legal because there are some very specific acts that address Pentagon spending and cronyism, and I am sure others will be looking at this down the road. This kind of shady deal does beg the question though, Why don't we taxpayers now get corporate licenses since we are the ones that actually paid this bill? Microsoft: 60 million Windows 8 licenses sold, 100 million app downloads ( NeoWin 2013-01-08 ) The MicroZealots are ecstatic of course, and naturally unquestioning of any news that Ballmer lets out. Obviously "licenses sold" is mostly OEM backroom shenanigans, plus corporate agreements, plus the new government bailout, plus boxed SKUs sold to retailers and then finally SKUs sold to the lemmings directly. The latter group is microscopic, the first three are sizeable but do not represent installs at all and includes downgrades to Windows 7 of course. The first group and last two groups really would tell us something since they include returns from angry customers ( of which I am personally aware of a dozen or so, something I cannot remember ever happening in the past ). Naturally Microsoft does not tell us anything useful as usual, they really never have but this cooking the books came to prominence IMHO around the Vista era. Don't believe a word they say now because Ballmer will never be truthful because he is a bureaucrat and a marketer. That is the modern equivalent of a Snake Oil Salesman. Questions for journalists, how many of the alleged 60 million licenses sold are installed? How many of those 60 million were literally returned? How many were actually Windows 7 downgrades? About the App Store, there is something else to consider. When you download and install an app, their telemetry obviously is recording this. What happens when you uninstall? Don't tell me their telemetry dos not record this also. So why not report Installs minus Uninstalls equals Net Apps distributed? Unless I am mistaken fraudsters can simply download, install, uninstall, and repeat to drum up numbers. And while we're talking about this, what about Free Apps versus Paid Apps. Once again, don't tell me their telemetry granularity is so coarse that it cannot easily break down that 100 million into both categories. The fact that they do not is very telling. It would be of huge interest to the developers that Ballmer is trying to snooker into his Apple-esque walled-garden. So where are the details Steve? What phonies. Followups to the last article ... Microsoft: Windows 8 passes 60M licenses sold ( ComputerWorld 2013-01-08 ) 'Not even Santa could save Microsoft's Windows 8' ( UK Register 2013-01-04 ) A closer look at the Windows 8 sales figures ( NeoWin 2013-01-09 ) Microsoft exec defends Windows 8 sales pace ( ComputerWorld 2013-01-09 ) Microsoft pats self on back over Windows 8 sales ( UK Register 2013-01-09 )