Subj : Re: Why Windows won't spe To : Barry Martin From : Ky Moffet Date : Tue Nov 19 2024 07:08:00 BARRY MARTIN wrote: > Hi Ky! > > > OK, possibly that aspect: nothing is running Windows here except the one > > Virtual Machine with XP so no experience. > KM> Yeah, they're trying to make sure I only run old Windows in a VM > KM> too. > > Currently here the only reason for running Windows is to get ILink. > ..Should switch it all to SeaMonkey (but first!). Also have the > software for the X10 (home automation) stuff on it (VM XP) but switched > that over to a Raspberry Pi. Also occasionally ran utilities to repair/ > recover thumbdrives but those generally failed: if the underlying Linux > system doesn't see the thumbrive (or see it properly) then the Windows > on top of the Linux system probably doesn't see it either. That kinda indicates a hardware-level fail. The VM has its own drivers. > KM> Today I'm trying to figure out why the one Win11 is constantly > KM> downloading... something, to the limit of the available > KM> connection. It was a preview build (cuz that's the one I could > KM> get intact, the real thing won't complete the download) but it > KM> doesn't seem to be updating. > > Something like 'Task Manager' or 'System Monitor' to see what programme > is doing the download? Years ago I had a tangential problem Not useful in this case. And being it's a, um unofficial build, there could be Things Going On we need to know about. (As happens, there weren't.) But... === Finally tracked down the apparent bad behavior by the "Need for Speed" Win11, the only one that would agree to install on Zombie, probably because it uses the Win10 installer. (Also has a few handy things, including a much better version of Office 2016 than the one I still resent having paid $8.99-legal for.) However it is a "preview" edition, and occasionally whines that it expired a year ago. (Tho activation through MSGuides worked.) I tell it that its calendar needs updating. So I always run Task Mangler, and... why is it filling up every scrap of download capacity that some other machine isn't using?? (And it's really good at getting out of the way when something else wants bandwidth. Regular Windows Update is not, it likes to hog the whole thing.) Wireshark wouldn't show me ANYTHING. Like, blank. *suspicious glare* So ran one or another of the NirSoft utils and observed many connections, all pulling lots of data. Some to Akamai which is one of Microsoft's CDNs, and more to... Edge-something, I've already forgotten, but it used to be Yahoo's CDN. 157.x.x.x. After much thrashing around, I learn that this is another of Microsoft's CDNs, specifically a cache server, and apparently Zombie is running a huge update in the background, without running Windows Update (which seems to operate entirely independent of this, and still handles security and driver updates). One of the connections IDs to the domain for Office updates. Learned that this has been going on for most of this year, and has caused some alarm at the enterprise level, and among home users with the savvy to notice. (Has also generated a slew of complaints to various abuse loggers.) You couldn't just TELL us...??? But apparently it does not affect Win11 Home, as the little netbook doesn't have this habit. (Actually, WinAero Tweaker can totally disable updates, to where it goes "Whuuu??" if you try to run Windows Update.) But this is Pro, apparently. And does not require a Microsoft login to work, as Home does. === So, it's not a problem, or malware, or anything untoward; it's just a bad decision by Microsoft. And when it finished a couple hours later, I couldn't see any difference, and I STILL haven't found where it was storing the updates (they're not in Software Distribution, where they normally land). And why the heck did the Office2016 I paid money for have such a gawdawful interface it's entirely unusable, but the one from, uh, unofficial channels is normal? Not to complain, finally got what I paid for, but geez. OTOH, Control Panel doesn't work. The functions are still there, you just have to dumpster-dive for them. : > SchedulesDirect (for MythTV - provides the TV programme listings) was not > updating. Somehow found out the reason was because I had a 'constant > connection' to their website, so I used some sort of IP monitor to > discover that information. Shut off the offending computer (it was a > laptop I was testing but don't recal why I installed MythTV on it); > regained my SchedulesDirect data a few hours later. (The remote site > had temporarily blacklisted my connection and automatically reset.) That's possibly the dumbest behavior I've ever heard of. Like no one ever has two installs in the same household?? > > KM> But I'm wondering if it's also why linux generally won't speak to > KM> older Windows too, despite that the LiveCD of the same distro did > KM> so just fine. > KM> So which line am I fixing?? > > The green one. If the LiveCD worked but the installed version does > not I'm thinking compare the configurations. Files > Other Locations > > Windows Network > select computer. No, I mean in, what was it in, uh, fstab ?? > Another option is at the bottom of the Other Locations panel is "Connect > to Server" and try a new connection. Maybe in Gnome!! > I have also used tools like Remmina, TigerVNC, and now NoMachine to > connect to the desktops of remote computers. Only Linux here, so no > experience with Windows, etc., but Remmina does have RDP (Remote Desktop > Protocol) and I think that's for Windows. I don't need to connect to the desktop, I need to connect to the filesystem. > > KM> It's just bizarre that they can't make this backward compatible > > KM> without whining about "security risks". You just handle > > KM> networking, and let me worry about my own bloody security! > > That's probably the issue: most people don't know how to run those > > details on their computers. Those stories of people using the CD tray > > as a cup holder and stuffing money in the floppy slot are true! ...To > > me a warning/reminder of a potential problem is nice, but yes, let me > > get around it if I need to, plus have the option to stop whining about > > the specific incident. > KM> It wouldn't be that hard to have it disabled by default, but when > KM> you try to use it (like for contacting older device) have it pop > KM> up with "You need to enable..." and a Control Panel link. Just > KM> like they do when something needs a runtime module. That way the > KM> morons would be protected and the rest of us could fix what we > KM> need to. > > It's creating the linked popups that's creating the problem with the > programmers! Oh, is THAT how it works! I wonder, if I stick a pin in the bubble... > KM> But instead it just acts like there's nothing to see on the > KM> network. > > Yes, and sometimes the error messages give barely a clue other than "oh > hey: something's wrong". Oh, that would be Apple, which LITERALLY spits up "Dude, something went wrong!" as the official error message! WinAero Tweaker to the rescue -- one of its settings restores the proper error messages in the event of a BSOD. But that does no good for smaller errors, tho one can trawl Event Viewer and sometimes discover the problem. It's amazing how many silent faults happen. þ RNET 2.10U: ILink: Techware BBS þ Hollywood, Ca þ www.techware2k.com --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com (454:1/1) .