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MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

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  MS Shadow Copy service    thread has replies from me. === Windhowk  micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2025-03-29 01:32 -0400
    Re: MS Shadow Copy service    thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Michael Logies <logies@t-online.de> - 2025-03-29 13:50 +0100
      Re: MS Shadow Copy service    thread has replies from me. === Windhowk micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2025-03-29 16:09 -0400
    Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2025-03-29 09:07 -0400
      Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2025-03-29 16:08 -0400
        Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2025-03-29 19:38 -0400
          Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2025-03-29 21:42 -0400
            Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2025-03-29 22:57 -0400
              Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2025-03-30 09:20 -0400
                Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2025-03-30 10:39 -0400
            Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-03-30 02:08 -0400
              Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2025-03-30 07:43 -0400
                Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2025-03-30 10:11 -0400
                  Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Newyana2 <newyana@invalid.nospam> - 2025-03-30 13:18 -0400
                    Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2025-03-30 13:44 -0400
                      Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-03-30 18:38 -0400
                        Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-03-31 08:29 +0100
                          Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2025-03-31 08:23 +0000
                            Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2025-03-31 04:46 -0400
                              Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> - 2025-03-31 10:08 +0100
                                Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk Daniel70 <daniel47@eternal-september.org> - 2025-03-31 21:15 +1100
              Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> - 2025-03-30 09:28 -0400

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#18035 — MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

Sorry that I didn't reply earlier to posts in the 
    MS Shadow Copy service   
thread, above, but something else took my time.  I have written 4
replies there in the last couple days


I also wanted you all to know that my biggest complaint about win11 has
disappeared, that the Taskbar could be only one row high. 

I tried a dozen times to make it taller but the double headed arrow
would never appear.  But it did tonight. 

My best guess is that Windhawk made this happen.  How and How long it
will last I don't know. 

Windhawk appears to be a framework so to speak, and after installing it,
there are if I counted correctly 193 possible tweaks one can make.  I
only installed two** and neither of them have worked, and neither of
them claimed to make the taskbar more than one row.  That one was so far
down the list I had not read about it yet.

**
a) Taskbar labels and combine boxes on taskbar.   I wanted that to save
space, but afaict it didn't change anything.  Changing and saving which
of the 4 options I chose did make it reload the taskbar, but it looked
the same.   Unless I chose Combine boxes and no Labels.   That worked,
but I dont' want to combine the boxes for Firefox or other programs. 

b) Add folder size to File Explorer.  I tried this just to see if
Windhawk was actually doing things and it made no change.  I have in
win10 FolderSize, which works well and probably works in win11 too so I
don't need this.  FolderSize takes up to several minutes to add up***
the sizes of every item in a directory, so I use it only when I have a
special need.  Plus FolderSize adds an item to the context menu and
probably works with any File Manager, certainly with FE and PowerDesk.
***Is there a way to do this without adding up all this sizes? 

Many of the tweaks in Windhawk were written by the same guy, m417z, and
he wrote the two I've tried to use, and he also wrote one that says it
will make the taskboar span more than one row. So maybe whatever code
does this he (accidentally?) included in one of the two tweaks I
installed, and that's why it's happening, but worth noting, I've
disabled both of those tweaks and the taskbar is still two rows high!!!
And could maybe be higher!

Windhawk gives the count of the number of people who have downloaded
each tweak (although it probably only knows that and not if they are
still enabled).  The tweaks are listed in order of popularity, starting
with 120,291 users, down to 2.    That's not a big user base,
considering how many win11 users there are.

I'm not going to want more than 1 or 2 of the others, and I think I'm
happy with the way it is now. 


BTW, Explorer Patcher and Aerotweaker didn't even claim to increase the
number of rows in the taxkbar.  I'm pretty sure I tried to make it
higher after installing Explorer Patcher, but I was sick for 7 weeks,
away for a week, and I've just lost track.  I'm no longer 100% positive
I tried to make it higher after installing the Windhawk framework. 

Meanwhile, it's tried several times to install version 24H2, and it
can't because Explorer Patcher is installed.  I could uninstall it
temporarily. Maybe I will.  So far none of its new features interest me,
and I'm afraid it will take away my 2-row taskbar. 


Now that my taskbar is 2 rows high, I have to try to remember what I
deleted from it to make room, and maybe put those things back. 

The day of the week has appeared on the line between the time (to the
second) and the date. 

I felt like I spent $600 to get something worse than what I had, but I
don't feel that way now. 

 

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#18050

On Sat, 29 Mar 2025 01:32:26 -0400, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com>
wrote:

>Windhawk appears to be a framework so to speak,

For me it works well on Windows 11 24/H2.
I am using "Taskbar height and icon size" and "Taskbar Labels for
Windows 11".
My taskbar has standard height, but defining the width of the programs
in the taskbar has helped me to fit the number of windows of programs
I am using at the same time  (10-15).

Regards

Michael

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#18056

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sat, 29 Mar 2025 13:50:03 +0100, Michael
Logies <logies@t-online.de> wrote:

>On Sat, 29 Mar 2025 01:32:26 -0400, micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Windhawk appears to be a framework so to speak,
>
>For me it works well on Windows 11 24/H2.

Good to here.

>I am using "Taskbar height and icon size" and "Taskbar Labels for
>Windows 11".

I tried the second one, Taskbar Labels, and I set it for No labels and
Do NOT Combine Buttons, but it didn't change anything.  It reloads the
taskbar when I change and save my choice, but it looks the same. Now I
have two rows and lots of space so maybe when I have more buttons and it
needs the space, it will get rid of the labels.

>My taskbar has standard height, but defining the width of the programs
>in the taskbar has helped me to fit the number of windows of programs
>I am using at the same time  (10-15).

I'll try that. I would like the buttons to be wide enough for the icon
and no text.  Before I noticed I could make two rows, I always got at
minimum 1 or 2 letter and 2 ellipsis dots. 
>
>Regards
>
>Michael

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#18051 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

On 3/29/2025 1:32 AM, micky wrote:
 > I also wanted you all to know that my biggest complaint about win11 has
 > disappeared, that the Taskbar could be only one row high.

   I've posted this at least once previously:

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\

Create DWORD value TaskbarSi (I know, huh? I asked the same thing.
Why didn't they name the value TSe? :)

Set to 0, 1, 0r 2. I had a sloppy taskbar, with icons that seem to be
showing at 16 pix but with
another 50% empty space. Setting the Reg value to 0 fixed it.
Explorer Patcher gave me back Quick Launch, but I think the Registry
setting is needed for sizing. If you now have a sizing arrow then one
of the shell extensions you installed, possibly EP, must have done that.

So, congratulations on spending only $600 to get something almost
as good as what you had. :) Once I remove what I don't want, I don't
see any notable difference between 10 and 11, aside from Win11's
broken taskbar, which requires special attention to fix.

 > Meanwhile, it's tried several times to install version 24H2, and it
 > can't because Explorer Patcher is installed.

   I've found that MS have become quite aggressive about disapproving
of tweaks. They haven't said anything that I know of, but I've found
that tweaking tends to break updates. There are too many variables
to track it, but in my admittedly limited experience, systems with
little or no tweaking have run updates and activations without a hitch.
Systems with tweaking fail to successfully do either and updates will
break things before they fail to install.

    Microsoft are forcing a choice: "Either you let us control
everything and spy on you, or you're on your own." This seems to
be the dual curse of "agile programming" and SaaS. Software is shipped
with minimal testing, updates are done with minimal planning, but updates
are a constant dripfeed, so today's screw-up can be fixed in tomorrow's
patch. It's a system designed to acclimate people to not thinking
of software as something they buy, own a license to, and install locally.
They might still buy it, and it still installs locally, but it's now defined
as a service. (The other day on Slashdot someone was complaining
about their new Bosch washer that refuses certain functions until
the "owner" opens a Bosch account with a cellphone app! This is
only going to get worse until some Supreme Court case establishes
basic consumer rights that we used to taake for granted, such as
"When you buy a widget, that widget is yours to do with as you
please and DMCA claims cannot override that."

   So my rule of thumb now is to install, activate, run any updates,
then batten down the hatches, locking out MS spyware and updates
permanently. I do the same with other dripfeed boondoggles, like
Firefox and Thunderbird, only updating occasionally and only after
a version has been tested by early adopters on dripfeed. (The posts
in these groups are enough to make me hold off.)

    People gasp at such reckless behavior, but few of these
updates are relevant to a reasonably cautious person who doesn't use
dangerous crap like MS Office or Remote Desktop. (The latest patch
pile fixes Remote Desktop and MS Access, as well as patching an
attack that requires opening a file or clicking a link in an email. But
that latter is only a "privilege escalation" vulnerability. Another attack
requires physical access to a computer. It's nice that MS fix these
things, but most of them are mainly relevant on corporate workstations
where people are running MS Office in lackey mode, with no rights, and
"privilege escalation" is a threat to the company. The rest are
generally not an issue for people who exercise reasonable caution.
(Don't enable remote execution software or services, don't allow
javascript in office or email programs, limit javascript in the browser,
and don't open unexpected files, especially from unknown people.
I assume the worst, even from friends, unless they actually tell me
in the email that they've attached a file.)

https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/march-2025-patch-tuesday/53162/

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#18055 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sat, 29 Mar 2025 09:07:19 -0400, Newyana2
<newyana@invalid.nospam> wrote:

>On 3/29/2025 1:32 AM, micky wrote:
> > I also wanted you all to know that my biggest complaint about win11 has
> > disappeared, that the Taskbar could be only one row high.
>
>   I've posted this at least once previously:
>
>HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\

I must have missed it.  Thanks for posting again. 
>
>Create DWORD value TaskbarSi (I know, huh? I asked the same thing.
>Why didn't they name the value TSe? :)
>
>Set to 0, 1, 0r 2. I had a sloppy taskbar, with icons that seem to be
>showing at 16 pix but with
>another 50% empty space. Setting the Reg value to 0 fixed it.
>Explorer Patcher gave me back Quick Launch, but I think the Registry
>setting is needed for sizing. If you now have a sizing arrow then one
>of the shell extensions you installed, possibly EP, must have done that.

Sizing arrow?   What is that? 

BTW I'm not crazy about having 5 different tweakers, Explorer Patcher,
Ultimate Windows Tweaker, Aerotweaker, Windhawk, and well, NOT
7-tweaker. .... Maybe there are only 4, but even 4 means it's hard to
remember where something got set.  Like with Windows, I guess settings
all over the place. 

>So, congratulations on spending only $600 to get something almost
>as good as what you had. :)

Thank you.  But now the new one is better.  It is faster,  the screen is
white not cream-colored, and the wireless receiver broke last month on
the old one (Good think I already had a USB wireless rcvr.)   I thought
the colors were screwed up on the old one but the people in the Firefox
group fixed that.    Still I probably would have been better off waiting
a couple more years to buy a new one. 
>
>Once I remove what I don't want, I don't
>see any notable difference between 10 and 11, aside from Win11's
>broken taskbar, which requires special attention to fix.

> > Meanwhile, it's tried several times to install version 24H2, and it
> > can't because Explorer Patcher is installed.
>
>   I've found that MS have become quite aggressive about disapproving

I've heard that. 

>of tweaks. They haven't said anything that I know of, but I've found
>that tweaking tends to break updates. There are too many variables
>to track it, but in my admittedly limited experience, systems with
>little or no tweaking have run updates and activations without a hitch.
>Systems with tweaking fail to successfully do either and updates will
>break things before they fail to install.

The guy from Explorer Patcher says explicitly that it has to be
uninstalled to install 24H2, and then it can be installed again

>    Microsoft are forcing a choice: "Either you let us control
>everything and spy on you, or you're on your own." This seems to
>be the dual curse of "agile programming" and SaaS. Software is shipped
>with minimal testing, updates are done with minimal planning, but updates
>are a constant dripfeed, so today's screw-up can be fixed in tomorrow's
>patch. It's a system designed to acclimate people to not thinking
>of software as something they buy, own a license to, and install locally.

Wasn't there a plan to charge yearly for Windows?  Is that still in the
works?  

>They might still buy it, and it still installs locally, but it's now defined
>as a service. (The other day on Slashdot someone was complaining
>about their new Bosch washer that refuses certain functions until
>the "owner" opens a Bosch account with a cellphone app! This is

Wow.  

>only going to get worse until some Supreme Court case establishes
>basic consumer rights that we used to taake for granted, such as
>"When you buy a widget, that widget is yours to do with as you
>please and DMCA claims cannot override that."
>
>   So my rule of thumb now is to install, activate, run any updates,
>then batten down the hatches, locking out MS spyware and updates
>permanently. I do the same with other dripfeed boondoggles, like
>Firefox and Thunderbird, only updating occasionally and only after
>a version has been tested by early adopters on dripfeed. (The posts
>in these groups are enough to make me hold off.)
>
>    People gasp at such reckless behavior, but few of these
>updates are relevant to a reasonably cautious person who doesn't use
>dangerous crap like MS Office or Remote Desktop. (The latest patch

Is Remote Desktop MS's version of TeamViewer.  Is TeamViwer also
dangerous (not counting the person you let in on purpose)?  

>pile fixes Remote Desktop and MS Access, as well as patching an
>attack that requires opening a file or clicking a link in an email. But
>that latter is only a "privilege escalation" vulnerability. Another attack
>requires physical access to a computer. It's nice that MS fix these
>things, but most of them are mainly relevant on corporate workstations
>where people are running MS Office in lackey mode, with no rights, and
>"privilege escalation" is a threat to the company. The rest are
>generally not an issue for people who exercise reasonable caution.
>(Don't enable remote execution software or services, don't allow
>javascript in office or email programs, limit javascript in the browser,
>and don't open unexpected files, especially from unknown people.
>I assume the worst, even from friends, unless they actually tell me
>in the email that they've attached a file.)
>
>https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/march-2025-patch-tuesday/53162/

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#18060 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

On 3/29/2025 4:08 PM, micky wrote:

> Sizing arrow?   What is that?
> 
   My understanding is that the arrow is gone in Win11, It certainly
was in mine. So if you get the sizing arrow then probably one of
the tweakers you instaklled did that. The Registry setting controls one
of 3 heights. Size 0 looks perfect for me with 16px icons. So
maybe it's 24px? The other options are 1 and 2. I don't know what
they are. Maybe 32 and 48?

> 
> The guy from Explorer Patcher says explicitly that it has to be
> uninstalled to install 24H2, and then it can be installed again
> 

Interesting. I'm not surprised. But then there's the question
of whether your stable of tweakers might interfere. I don't
know about Windhawk. I do have Winaero Tweaker. But that's
just a control for various Registry settings. Classic/Open Shell
might be trouble, if you have that.

> Wasn't there a plan to charge yearly for Windows?  Is that still in the
> works?
> 
     They're definitely moving toward a rental model with ads. How and
when that manifests is anyone's guess. Active Desktop, 27 years ago,
was supposed to introduce ads to Windows. Remember the Channel Bar?
It was just an ad billboard stuck to the Desktop. No one noticed!

   For non-corporate systems it's already a situation where you buy
a computer, Microsoft controls it, and spying/ads are planned.
Copilot will let them track everything you do. They're currently testing
ad-supported MS Office apps.

   I read today that almost half of the streaming accounts in the US
have ads. People would rather see ads in their TV than pay $5 more!
Once MS gets people used to the idea that they can't own a copy
of software, maybe they'll do the same -- something like $10/month
or $5 with ads.

>>     People gasp at such reckless behavior, but few of these
>> updates are relevant to a reasonably cautious person who doesn't use
>> dangerous crap like MS Office or Remote Desktop. (The latest patch
> 
> Is Remote Desktop MS's version of TeamViewer.  Is TeamViwer also
> dangerous (not counting the person you let in on purpose)?
> 
    I'm not sure about TV. I read recently that RD is going to
be renamed. I've never used any of it, so I'm not clear on details.
Long story short, if you or someone else can access your computer
from elsewhere then you've opened a potential backdoor that
doesn't exist normally. With remote functionality disabled, and
with a firewall dropping incoming requests, there's no venue
for hacking in. Remote Desktop has been connected with a lot
of vulnerabilities over the years.

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#18064 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sat, 29 Mar 2025 19:38:35 -0400, Newyana2
<newyana@invalid.nospam> wrote:

>
>
>Interesting. I'm not surprised. But then there's the question
>of whether your stable of tweakers might interfere. I don't
>know about Windhawk. I do have Winaero Tweaker. But that's
>just a control for various Registry settings. Classic/Open Shell
>might be trouble, if you have that.

Oh, yeah.  I do. I knew I had 5 tweakers but couldn't remember the fifth
one. 
>
>> Wasn't there a plan to charge yearly for Windows?  Is that still in the
>> works?
>> 
>     They're definitely moving toward a rental model with ads. How and
>when that manifests is anyone's guess. Active Desktop, 27 years ago,
>was supposed to introduce ads to Windows. Remember the Channel Bar?
>It was just an ad billboard stuck to the Desktop. No one noticed!
>
>   For non-corporate systems it's already a situation where you buy
>a computer, Microsoft controls it, and spying/ads are planned.
>Copilot will let them track everything you do. They're currently testing
>ad-supported MS Office apps.
>
>   I read today that almost half of the streaming accounts in the US
>have ads. People would rather see ads in their TV than pay $5 more!

Yes.  $5/months I presume.  Thats' why I have ads on youtube.  Though if
you don't count youtube, I have no streaming accounts.   I had one for 3
month -- I forget which -- and it was incomprehensible. 

>Once MS gets people used to the idea that they can't own a copy
>of software, maybe they'll do the same -- something like $10/month
>or $5 with ads.
>
>>>     People gasp at such reckless behavior, but few of these
>>> updates are relevant to a reasonably cautious person who doesn't use
>>> dangerous crap like MS Office or Remote Desktop. (The latest patch
>> 
>> Is Remote Desktop MS's version of TeamViewer.  Is TeamViwer also
>> dangerous (not counting the person you let in on purpose)?
>> 
>    I'm not sure about TV. I read recently that RD is going to
>be renamed. I've never used any of it, so I'm not clear on details.

I used it to help my older brother with his computer, and I think one
session each with a couple other people. It was a lot better than having
him describe the problem.   I got things fixed, TV was free. 

>Long story short, if you or someone else can access your computer
>from elsewhere then you've opened a potential backdoor that
>doesn't exist normally. With remote functionality disabled, and
>with a firewall dropping incoming requests, there's no venue
>for hacking in. Remote Desktop has been connected with a lot
>of vulnerabilities over the years.

OT, I tried to call Social Security's 24/7 number tonight, at their 800
number, to find out from their computer how much they paid me to include
in my tax 1090. I kept getting someone who want to give me free a
medicalert one wears around his neck to call for help.  It said to press
1 for that but I never pressed 1,  I noticed a  year ago that with a
Verizon FIOS phone line -- I guesss this is VOIP? -- I don't have to
dial the 1 to get long distance, like with a cell phone iirc, so tonight
I added the 1 again and got SSA, an entirely different number. 

Most of the numbers I've called withough have not been 800, but I think
some have.   Has someone bribed Verizon or is this normal? 

The recording say if you don't press 1 to hear about the medicalert,
you'll get other options, and then when it replies like you did press 1,
it says it's sending you to other options, and then immediartely gives a
busy signal. 

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#18065 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

On 3/29/2025 9:42 PM, micky wrote:

>>    I read today that almost half of the streaming accounts in the US
>> have ads. People would rather see ads in their TV than pay $5 more!
> 
> Yes.  $5/months I presume.  Thats' why I have ads on youtube.  Though if
> you don't count youtube, I have no streaming accounts.   I had one for 3
> month -- I forget which -- and it was incomprehensible.
> 

   The deals keep changing. I think Netflix is up to $18/month
now, and their selection keeps getting worse. I'd cancel it but
the woman I live with wants it. I just ordered Starz. Special
deal. $24 for a year! I couldn't afford not to buy it. But they
also have crap selection. They all have crap selection. I see
more movies on DVDs from the library.

   I also saw an inteesting piece today about how streaming
and TV companies are trying to come up with new ways to
make ad money:

https://www.vox.com/technology/405879/roku-amazon-netflix-moana-disney

   The Netflix DVDs through the mail were great. They had virtually
every movie made. But those days are gone. Meanwhile, Amazon
has almost every movie, but they cost the price of a theater
ticket! I would never do business with Amazon, anyway. Just
too sleazy.

   I have Hoopla and Kanopy, which are both paid for by one's local
library, but both stopped working via browser streaming. I can't
find out why. I'm guessing it's just that they, also, want more
personal data collection. So they're breaking the browser streaming
in hopes that people will use apps on cellphones. It's like the old
Bruce Springsteen song: 57 channels and nothing on... But I
got a beautiful movie from the library this week. The Dead Don't
Hurt. Written, directed and starring Viggo Mortensen. I figured
it had to be good with him doing it, and it was.

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#18073 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sat, 29 Mar 2025 22:57:39 -0400, Newyana2
<newyana@invalid.nospam> wrote:

>
>   I have Hoopla and Kanopy, which are both paid for by one's local

I tried to watch a movie on Kanopy once, but I was in Europe and that
was before I knew about VPN's.  By the time I was using a VPN, I was too
busy to watch a movie. 

>library, but both stopped working via browser streaming. I can't

Didn't know that.  Darn.   I have a Kanopy app on my phone, but havent'
used it , ever.   But I don't want to use a little screen unless I'm on
an airplane and I have to. 

>find out why. I'm guessing it's just that they, also, want more
>personal data collection. So they're breaking the browser streaming
>in hopes that people will use apps on cellphones. It's like the old
>Bruce Springsteen song: 57 channels and nothing on... But I

Yes, amazing.  I was in a hotel last month and it wasn't as good as tv
over the air at home.  At home, I press one button and it tells me what
program I've tuned to in the middle.  But there I had to go to channel
48 to find the schedule, and it was a cheap hotel and I had to find
channel 48 on my own and then I kept forgetting the number. 

>got a beautiful movie from the library this week. The Dead Don't
>Hurt. Written, directed and starring Viggo Mortensen. I figured
>it had to be good with him doing it, and it was.

Never heard of it, or him!

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#18078 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

On 3/30/2025 9:20 AM, micky wrote:

>> got a beautiful movie from the library this week. The Dead Don't
>> Hurt. Written, directed and starring Viggo Mortensen. I figured
>> it had to be good with him doing it, and it was.
> 
> Never heard of it, or him!
> 

  The first time I saw him was in The Road, a very sad Cormac
McCarthy story of post-apocalypse. He's been in a number of
movies. Very intense actor. Recent movies have been Green Book
and Captain Fantastic. He's one of those people who I keep an
eye out for because they have depth. I like movies that are
deeply moving and human. When I saw him in The Road I was
just struck by the depths of human experience that he can
portray.

   Years ago I saw Winter's Bone and it was so affecting that
I made a mental note: If I ever come across that actress
Jennifer Lawrence, or that director Debra Granik again...
Of course, JL went on to do a number of notable movies,
and DG later did Leave No Trace, another beautiful piece of
work.

   I guess these are mostly what might be called arthouse
movies. I don't watch Disney, Spielberg, Marvel, and so on.
I don't expect any real depth from the likes of Scorsese,
Tarentino, Woody Allen, Ridley Scott, Billy Wilder, or the
Coen Brothers, even though they can make well crafted
entertainment. I steer clear of George Lucas and James
Cameron, with their special effects junk food.

    I'll always watch a Clint Eastwood movie. They're not
amazing, but he has heart. I look out for Bill Murray because
he's made a number of quietly profound movies.

    I saw Anora just before the Oscars and thought that one
was also amazing. Especially the star actress and the thug
character she befriends. It was such a comical, yet profound,
study in cultures. Interestingly, it won awards but a
lot of people didn't like it.

   To me this is about Art with a capital A. Painting, movies,
music, etc can all be called art. But Art, with a capital A,
has spiritual value, addressing the human condition. That
kind of art is not so common. Yet moviemakers regularly
manage to produce great works, despite the complexity of
the craft.

   Some years ago, Bill Moyers was interviewing Sister Wendy.
She gave a definition I liked. She said social and political
expression is low art. Religious art is higher. Spiritual
art, not necessarily religious, is the highest. Moyers then asked
SW if she thought Piss Christ was art. She said that yes, the
artist was making a valid point about Catholic corruption. Then
she added, "Of course, he's not a very talented young man."
Bingo. She highlighted the difference between art and Art.

   The kind of movies I like to see are getting harder to find. I get
some at my library, but most people won't have much selection
at their local library. I find that the major streamers are filling
their schedules with crap TV shows from foreign countries and
assembly line limited series shows. They always have a handful of
worthwhile things, but I've usually seen them. A few years ago
I would have been able to get the latest award winners on Netflix
DVDs within months. Today? Good luck finding Anora in the next
year, unless you want to pay Bezos $20 for it.

    Recently we saw The Brutalist that way. Friends with an Amazon
account rented it, we brought dinner, and 4 of us watched it.
Unfortunately, The Brutalist was a very stupid, inauthentic movie
that apparently won awards only because of Brody's skill and
a lot of wokist flag waving about Jewish suffering, the Holocaust,
black oppression, and so on. The Oscars actually have a checklist
of wokist themes now. Any movie that might be a contender must
follow those guidelines. Crazy stuff. Like left wing McCarthyism.
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a33967270/oscars-best-picture-diversity-requirements/

  The Brutalist played like a storyline produced by AI to answer the
prompt: "Give me a plot for a movie that will win an Oscar."

    Anyway.... not much about windows in this post. Though I
stream Netflix and Starz and PBS now on Win10 and a Raspberry Pi. :)

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#18066 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

On Sat, 3/29/2025 9:42 PM, micky wrote:
> In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sat, 29 Mar 2025 19:38:35 -0400, Newyana2
> <newyana@invalid.nospam> wrote:
> 
>>
>>
>> Interesting. I'm not surprised. But then there's the question
>> of whether your stable of tweakers might interfere. I don't
>> know about Windhawk. I do have Winaero Tweaker. But that's
>> just a control for various Registry settings. Classic/Open Shell
>> might be trouble, if you have that.
> 
> Oh, yeah.  I do. I knew I had 5 tweakers but couldn't remember the fifth
> one. 
>>
>>> Wasn't there a plan to charge yearly for Windows?  Is that still in the
>>> works?
>>>
>>     They're definitely moving toward a rental model with ads. How and
>> when that manifests is anyone's guess. Active Desktop, 27 years ago,
>> was supposed to introduce ads to Windows. Remember the Channel Bar?
>> It was just an ad billboard stuck to the Desktop. No one noticed!
>>
>>   For non-corporate systems it's already a situation where you buy
>> a computer, Microsoft controls it, and spying/ads are planned.
>> Copilot will let them track everything you do. They're currently testing
>> ad-supported MS Office apps.
>>
>>   I read today that almost half of the streaming accounts in the US
>> have ads. People would rather see ads in their TV than pay $5 more!
> 
> Yes.  $5/months I presume.  Thats' why I have ads on youtube.  Though if
> you don't count youtube, I have no streaming accounts.   I had one for 3
> month -- I forget which -- and it was incomprehensible. 
> 
>> Once MS gets people used to the idea that they can't own a copy
>> of software, maybe they'll do the same -- something like $10/month
>> or $5 with ads.
>>
>>>>     People gasp at such reckless behavior, but few of these
>>>> updates are relevant to a reasonably cautious person who doesn't use
>>>> dangerous crap like MS Office or Remote Desktop. (The latest patch
>>>
>>> Is Remote Desktop MS's version of TeamViewer.  Is TeamViwer also
>>> dangerous (not counting the person you let in on purpose)?
>>>
>>    I'm not sure about TV. I read recently that RD is going to
>> be renamed. I've never used any of it, so I'm not clear on details.
> 
> I used it to help my older brother with his computer, and I think one
> session each with a couple other people. It was a lot better than having
> him describe the problem.   I got things fixed, TV was free. 
> 
>> Long story short, if you or someone else can access your computer
>>from elsewhere then you've opened a potential backdoor that
>> doesn't exist normally. With remote functionality disabled, and
>> with a firewall dropping incoming requests, there's no venue
>> for hacking in. Remote Desktop has been connected with a lot
>> of vulnerabilities over the years.
> 
> OT, I tried to call Social Security's 24/7 number tonight, at their 800
> number, to find out from their computer how much they paid me to include
> in my tax 1090. I kept getting someone who want to give me free a
> medicalert one wears around his neck to call for help.  It said to press
> 1 for that but I never pressed 1,  I noticed a  year ago that with a
> Verizon FIOS phone line -- I guesss this is VOIP? -- I don't have to
> dial the 1 to get long distance, like with a cell phone iirc, so tonight
> I added the 1 again and got SSA, an entirely different number. 
> 
> Most of the numbers I've called withough have not been 800, but I think
> some have.   Has someone bribed Verizon or is this normal? 
> 
> The recording say if you don't press 1 to hear about the medicalert,
> you'll get other options, and then when it replies like you did press 1,
> it says it's sending you to other options, and then immediartely gives a
> busy signal. 

What kind of phone device is this ?
Is there an ATA with an RJ11 on it ?

My VOIP, you pick up the phone and there is dial tone.

You can log into the ATA and check the settings on mine.
There would normally be one IP address for the VOIP server
and one IP address for firmware updates, stored in two
settings boxes in the web page the ATA presents.

If you're the person who set it up, you would have written
down what IP the ATA appears at. The ATA has an Ethernet
connection.

   http://192.168.1.1      # Not likely, but an example

ATA boxes can be locked or unlocked. On the locked one, your
password may give you access to some very basic information.
The unlocked one, there are a ton of settings related to
telephone service, and up to eight different CODECs for
voice quality.

There wouldn't normally be garbage on the line. It should
just have dial tone. The sounds it makes, are emulations
of a real phone. It has a ringer voltage to ring the handset.
It should make the reorder tone, if you leave the handset off hock.
That sort of thing. And it should have dialtone. Any ordinary
phone (your old POTS phone) should connect to the RJ11. Maybe
pins 3 and 4 on the RJ11 have signal (equiv of "Line 1", the same
wires the POTS wiring would have used) .

On a Google, I got this as an example of a separate ATA box.
The VOIP can also be an RJ11 or two RJ11 on the side of a
modem/router or just on the router. Grandstream is a company
that makes ATA boxes.

   https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/analog-telephone-adapter

You can actually set up an ATA to dump a session log to one
of your home computers. If you wanted some idea of what it
was doing, that's the closest I could get you, to some
information. You should see the ATA box logging into the
provider IP, after it has been power cycled or "rebooted".
The web page for the ATA should have a reboot button.

SYSLOG server  129.168.123.23                  # A home computer on your LAN
SYSLOG level   Debug/Info/Warning/Error/None
Send SIP Log   No/Yes

   Paul

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#18071 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

On 3/30/2025 2:08 AM, Paul wrote:



>> Most of the numbers I've called withough have not been 800, but I think
>> some have.   Has someone bribed Verizon or is this normal?
>>
>> I noticed a  year ago that with a
>> Verizon FIOS phone line -- I guesss this is VOIP? -- I don't have to
>> dial the 1 to get long distance, like with a cell phone iirc, so tonight
>> I added the 1 again and got SSA, an entirely different number. 
> 
> What kind of phone device is this ?
> Is there an ATA with an RJ11 on it ?
> 
> My VOIP, you pick up the phone and there is dial tone.
> 

   I may have misunderstood, but I think what he's saying is that
someone seems to have figured out how to hijack the call if
he doesn't dial 1. Canada may be different. In the US we have
to dial a 1, presumably a country code, at the start of a US
call.

    The surprising bit to me was that anyone might call the
Social Security Admin. Trump/Musk/Doge have been trying to
cripple it, firing people. And this week I read that Musk is
sending in his script kiddies to rewrite the existing COBOL
code base. It's very worrisome. Up until now, SS has been
a remarkably well run operation, and a lot of poor people
depend on getting their payment deposited without delay.

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#18076 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 30 Mar 2025 07:43:38 -0400, Newyana2
<newyana@invalid.nospam> wrote:

>On 3/30/2025 2:08 AM, Paul wrote:
>
>
>
>>> Most of the numbers I've called withough have not been 800, but I think
>>> some have.   Has someone bribed Verizon or is this normal?
>>>
>>> I noticed a  year ago that with a
>>> Verizon FIOS phone line -- I guesss this is VOIP? -- I don't have to
>>> dial the 1 to get long distance, like with a cell phone iirc, so tonight
>>> I added the 1 again and got SSA, an entirely different number. 
>> 
>> What kind of phone device is this ?
>> Is there an ATA with an RJ11 on it ?
>> 
>> My VOIP, you pick up the phone and there is dial tone.
>> 
>
>   I may have misunderstood, but I think what he's saying is that
>someone seems to have figured out how to hijack the call if

Well, I thought about the word hijack but didn't use it, because, after
all, we are supposed to use the 1 and I wasn't using it.   It has the
same form as the difference between www.something.nnn and something.nnn,
and afaik no one says that those should not give different results.  

Nonetheless, the text of the message, saying I had to press 1 but then
not actually waiting for that, and saying other options were coming when
they were not, is suspicious.  Someday I may well need a medicalart
necklace.  Even now I've been dizzy a couple times, I could fall and no
one would know for days or longer.  But I figured t here was a catch.
The voice on the phone was very pleasant, and almost seemed to be
replying to what I said, but she said word-for-word the same things the
next time.   She was bot, so all my fantasies about what she looked like
ended up as a square box of metal.  Darn. 

>he doesn't dial 1. Canada may be different. In the US we have
>to dial a 1, presumably a country code, at the start of a US
>call.

I think Paul lives in the US. 

>    The surprising bit to me was that anyone might call the
>Social Security Admin. Trump/Musk/Doge have been trying to
>cripple it, firing people. And this week I read that Musk is
>sending in his script kiddies to rewrite the existing COBOL
>code base. It's very worrisome. Up until now, SS has been
>a remarkably well run operation, and a lot of poor people
>depend on getting their payment deposited without delay.

Yes for sure.   They probably sent me a letter at the end of the year
with the total for the year (which is probably 12 times the monthly
amount), but last year I just logged into MySSN, or something like that.
So far that has not worked. For one thing, it seems to say it's only
open certain hours, even though it's a computer.  And when I tried
during those hours (which are pretty extensive***.) it still didn't
work.  In one case it said I didn't have authorization.  It must have
taken more time and money to screw this up than it would have to leave
it alone so it kept working.  But maybe it's not really screwed up.
I''ll try again right now. 

***Okay, it's "right now" and I'm trying and it says 
"Online Services  Hours of Service:   Monday - Friday 4:15 AM - 1 AM ET
|  Saturday 5 AM - 11 PM ET   |  Sunday 8 AM - 11:30 PM ET"

That is a lot, but it's a computer... Why not 23 or 24/7?

Even last year I wondered why there are two ways to log in:  Login.gov
or ID.me

And even though it is within those hours, it again says what it said
before "We are unable to process your request.
        For further assistance, please contact us. "

So they have a separate line 
"Documents
Get benefit verification letter
Get tax form (1099/1042S)"
which leads to 
"Sign in to your account
Download your 1099 or 1042S tax form in your Social Security account.
    Sign in"

Which like before says "Forbidden
Unfortunately, you do not have access to this service. Please check your
url for errors and try again.
If you need immediate assistance: please contact us"

So I called the 800 number, with a 1, and it say. Welcome..... Can't
change things over the phone.... more stuff.... 
  Status for disabilty, 200 - 230 days. 
  more stuff....
  Be aware of impersonators. Report to www.oig.ssa.gov/report 
  M-F
Say 1099.  as the webpage said to say when it asked "How can I help
you?" 
 
Instruction how to use web page, but she continues: 
Getting a replacement for 2024 Yes
Any other years from the previous 5, No
Need more info to prove it's me, should take 6 minutes. 
Continue, need mobile phone
Need permission to use wireless device. 
Yes.
Any person who makes a false rep may be liable for fine or imprsion ment
Give SSN one digit at a time 999-99-9999.  
She repeats it. Yes. 
DOB  She repeats it. 
Calling from mobile phone No. 
Give number
Right?  Right
Sorry, having trouble. [Even though she repeated my phone number
correctly. and by now the phone was on.]  Normally I would get an agent
to help  you but [it's Sunday] m-f 8AM -7PM

So I'll try tomorrow. 

But I did look at the online bank statement, and they allow a filter for
only deposits, and it oonly took a ocuple minutes to see that it went up
some in Jan 2025, and also Jan 2024, but all 12 payments in 2024 were
the same.  So I have my answer, but I will still pursue this tomorrow. 

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#18080 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

On 3/30/2025 10:11 AM, micky wrote:

>> he doesn't dial 1. Canada may be different. In the US we have
>> to dial a 1, presumably a country code, at the start of a US
>> call.
> 
> I think Paul lives in the US.
> 

   Ontario, if I remember correctly. Trump may be massing
troops on the border, but we don't own them yet.

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#18081 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 30 Mar 2025 13:18:04 -0400, Newyana2
<newyana@invalid.nospam> wrote:

>On 3/30/2025 10:11 AM, micky wrote:
>
>>> he doesn't dial 1. Canada may be different. In the US we have
>>> to dial a 1, presumably a country code, at the start of a US
>>> call.
>> 
>> I think Paul lives in the US.
>> 
>
>   Ontario, if I remember correctly. Trump may be massing

I guess I confused him with someone else. 

>troops on the border, but we don't own them yet.

I'm too old to fight, but if I could, I'd fight for Ontario. 

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#18083 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

On Sun, 3/30/2025 1:44 PM, micky wrote:
> In alt.comp.os.windows-11, on Sun, 30 Mar 2025 13:18:04 -0400, Newyana2
> <newyana@invalid.nospam> wrote:
> 
>> On 3/30/2025 10:11 AM, micky wrote:
>>
>>>> he doesn't dial 1. Canada may be different. In the US we have
>>>> to dial a 1, presumably a country code, at the start of a US
>>>> call.
>>>
>>> I think Paul lives in the US.
>>>
>>
>>   Ontario, if I remember correctly. Trump may be massing
> 
> I guess I confused him with someone else. 
> 
>> troops on the border, but we don't own them yet.
> 
> I'm too old to fight, but if I could, I'd fight for Ontario. 
> 

The leading "1" is for Long Distance routing in the PSTN.

If a city has more than one area code, all dialing
requires 9 digits.

If a city has only one area code, seven digits is sufficient.
The three leading digits in such a case are "assumed".

Let's make up four numbers.

     234-567-0123   \___ These could be in the same city.
     345-567-0123   /    We always dial nine digits, to be sure.

     800-111-2222        The city may accept this, via nine digit analysis
   1-800-111-2222        But this is unambiguous, as to intended purpose.
                         This should always work, in my opinion.

The step-by-step mechanical switches, could never have accepted
dialing plan changes, without significant work at the facility.
The "1" on the step-by-step, was necessary to abort local
calling analysis by mechanical means.

The number scheme above works, because all the step-by-step
are removed, and all the switches are digital, and dialing
is handled by a computer program (on a very strange computer).

The scheme still requires analysis and handoff, from one company
or domain, to another. That's why there can still be healthy
pauses for directory analysis. You can still be paying
for Long Distance, depending on who you are getting
services from, and each entity along the way, has a
record of the call, the call duration, and computes
the monetary compensation for carriage.

Some routing, whether via VOIP or via Skype, uses
only local calling at each end. The transport is
IP the rest of the way. But even the local calling
entities, are in a different domain, and there can
still be a charge for access to the PSTN. There are
fewer intermediaries than for traditional trunking.
If I set up a VOIP office in some city, I need
cabling from my VOIP office to the PSTN (CO)
building, and something capable of carrying CBR
connections has to be used, so "trunks" from the
VOIP can enter the regular phone network.

A lack of trunking, is why the old phone network
had trouble making calls on Christmas day. There
might have been a lack of nailed up connections
(64Kbit CBR connections) between cities. With fiber
optics today, trunking is no longer a problem.

At least in one country, PSTN is to be shut down
in two years. Who knows what safety features
will exist then, for removing spam from the resulting
phone network. It could be chaos. You might have to
turn off your ringer :-) That's because Black Hats
will be making IP calls. The system could still benefit
from a little "administration". And a fly swatter.

   Paul

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#18092 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

Paul wrote:

[snip]

> 
> At least in one country, PSTN is to be shut down
> in two years. Who knows what safety features
> will exist then, for removing spam from the resulting
> phone network. It could be chaos. You might have to
> turn off your ringer :-) That's because Black Hats
> will be making IP calls. The system could still benefit
> from a little "administration". And a fly swatter.

Here in the UK PSTN was supposed to be shut down by the end of 2025.  I 
think it's been postponed.

One problem is that the VoIP which replaces it will still be carried 
over copper pairs.  This will continue to be either ADSL or VDSL rather 
than fibre for the foreseeable future (20+ years is my guess!), with 
consequent reliability problems.  Fibre is sometimes being installed for 
new customers but the rollout is quite patchy.

A second problem is that the internet connection - whether it be carried 
over copper or fibre - requires a terminator (modem or ONT) and router 
(sometimes integrated in one package) and these components require 
electrical power.  Belatedly, there are separate battery backup options 
only now being offered.  So there will be problems for users when there 
are power failures.  The UK doesn't suffer from significant earthquakes, 
but powerful storms do occur most winters and these bring down trees 
onto power lines.  The time to repair can be up to 10 days.  The same 
areas that suffer the most damage from storms are those where mobile 
service is thin or non-existent, so mobile phones are not a viable 
substitute.  Even their cell towers generally don't have battery backup 
- or if they do, they only support an outage of a few minutes.  We can 
expect power resilience to deteriorate as ageing infrastructure is not 
replaced (think Heathrow's problem last week) and there is increasing 
terrorist or military threat (think Putin & Trump).

A third problem is that many (particularly old) folk rely on "panic 
alarm" devices many of which don't work with VoIP and they are not aware 
that these will need to be replaced.

I've seen quite intelligent people be completely unable to connect a 
VoIP phone to a router and be able to make & receive phone calls - the 
support provided to ordinary non-technical users by the phone/internet 
suppliers is woefully inadequate.

But I don't think it will make much difference to the levels of spam. 
It's already a significant problem.



-- 
Graham J

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#18093 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

Graham J wrote:

> Here in the UK PSTN was supposed to be shut down by the end of 2025.  I 
> think it's been postponed.

Now reprieved until end Jan 2027

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#18094 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

On Mon, 3/31/2025 4:23 AM, Andy Burns wrote:
> Graham J wrote:
> 
>> Here in the UK PSTN was supposed to be shut down by the end of 2025.  I think it's been postponed.
> 
> Now reprieved until end Jan 2027

Let's hope the engineering of this change is first rate.

Is the replacement scheme, organized in any way ???
Who is in charge ?

   Paul

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#18096 — Re: MS Shadow Copy service thread has replies from me. === Windhowk

Paul wrote:
> On Mon, 3/31/2025 4:23 AM, Andy Burns wrote:
>> Graham J wrote:
>>
>>> Here in the UK PSTN was supposed to be shut down by the end of 2025.  I think it's been postponed.
>>
>> Now reprieved until end Jan 2027
> 
> Let's hope the engineering of this change is first rate.
> 
> Is the replacement scheme, organized in any way ???
> Who is in charge ?

In the UK the telephone service is a nationalised entity called BT Group 
PLC (was British Telecom) which owns Openreach, which in turn owns the 
infrastructure, see:

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openreach>

Openreach sells the use of its copper pairs to ISPs (of which BT is one) 
to carry broadband services.  These copper pairs run from the customer 
premises to the exchange (or an intermediate cabinet for FTTC).  The 
PSTN is analog over these lines, and is digital thereafter.  The 
analog/copper part is old, unreliable, and high maintenance.  It is 
completely unsuited to supporting a broadband service.  So Openreach 
want rid of it.  Openreach makes some money from carrying phone calls, 
and some from carrying broadband services.  The phone service is seen as 
a Universal Service Obligation but there is no such requirement for 
broadband.

Openreach and other entities are installing fibre.  There appears to be 
no co-ordination or organisation in this: where a competing supplier 
installs fibre Openreach rushes to catch up.  Some areas are well 
served, others not at all.

NOBODY is in charge!


-- 
Graham J

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