Server Trouble

[Verpies]

Then go to the first location here......
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\RUN

Whatever you see in the right pane that is not familiar to any programs you recognize, delete the line(s). Actually I would delete everything since this is the way I run my computer all the time.

Do the same at this location.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\RUN

That's only the tip of an iceberg.
I strongly recommend installing this 591kB utility from Microsft to see the rest of the Auto runs.

[muDped]

Excellent suggestion Verpies - for those who find that they cannot
survive without Micro$oft.

For the rest of us there's some flavor of Linux distro which fills our
needs without any of the problems associated with WinDoze.

Every instance of data loss and mysterious hard drive failures
due to malware attacks that I've experienced has been with
Win98 browsing online.  Since transitioning to  Puppy Linux
several years ago those problems have ceased to exist.

The only problem now is assuring that my "older" machines
have sufficient RAM to accommodate today's massive web
pages when online.  500MB just doesn't cut it anymore, and
1GB is barely adequate.  Thankfully, used RAM for older machines
is quite inexpensive now.

Yep, all of my computers are at least 10 years old.  Cheap I am.

[ion]

Verpies is correct, it is just the tip of the iceberg. I would scrap windoz in a second were it not for a few programs I need to run that are just not available in Linux versions. Typically these run data logger software through external hardware boxes or something similar.

The machine I am running right now has both XP and Ubuntu 14.02 installed.

And yes, I too have a  lot of machines nearly 10 years old or more that I hate to scrap. Some of them run Puppy Linux or stripped down, customized versions of XP or both in dual boot. They run quite fast without the bloat.

Thrifty?

[muDped]

I would scrap windoz in a second were it not for a few programs I need to run that are just not available in Linux versions. Typically these run data logger software through external hardware boxes or something similar.

I know.  There are quite a few Windows programs which are
able to perform normally in Linux with Wine.  I use several
myself with Wine.

On the rare occasions when I do use XP or Win98 I never
operate with my network connection activated or even plugged
into the computer.

Although not free as Wine is, Crossover is another approach
to running Windows programs either in Linux or on the Mac.

The Non-WinDoze world is getting better and better!

[Farmhand]

Just yesterday I cleaned a friends Windows 8.1 computer which was riddled with malware and I think a virus or a Trojan.

I used SpyBot Search and Destroy. To clean out the Malware.
Then Installed AVG Free Antivirus and it found 1 threat which it promptly removed.

He claims even the screen looks better, probably because the performance is better. It was almost unusable due to pop up warnings from the Paid Anti Virus solution that had expired and ceased working.
It was slow and took a very long time to start up. But now it is working as it should and he is very happy, he tried another guy but he failed to clean out the bugs so now he is pleased. I warned him to stay off the porn sites and don't be tricked into installing "Paid for anti virus solutions" as well as the other tricks used when installing a program it is best to choose the custom install option and uncheck all the things they try to include with the program. Users of free ware on windows will know what I mean.

That was a HP Core I3 laptop, I wish I had one. 
I told him to just be aware of when it seems like something is not as it should be and he needs to bring it back in about a month so I can finish the job and tune his settings in windows or upgrade to Windows 10 for him. I'll introduce him to puppy Linux at the same session and make him a usb stick with a version of Linux on it, Linux Mint is my favorite, he has room for a dual boot, but only one hard drive.

Success. I should be charging for it as it took a fair while but I just enjoy making things work properly.

[muDped]

...but I just enjoy making things work properly.

Good man FarmHand!!  I share that philosophy.

WinDoze users seem to be a hard-headed lot and
I never charge them for helping them to find a way
through their misery by cleaning out their cluttered
systems.  Very few are interested in learning to use
Linux though...  They seem to think that Linux is hard
and that since its "free" it must lack something.

Android users with their tablets are often very much
interested in Linux on their PCs.  Makes sense since
Android is in reality Linux based and they've already
got their feet wet.  So our World turns...

[Matt Watts]

Just a little note...

Linux is just as vulnerable to attack as Windows.  It all hinges on a very stupid mistake not found on mainframe systems--you NEVER ever mix code and data.

I like Farmhand quite like the look-n-feel of Linux Mint, but I've had it hacked via the Chromium browser.  I dare say take any fresh installation, of any modern OS, put it live on the Internet with no firewall, hit a few porn and warez sites and your machine will be junk from that point on.  The script kiddies will say, "you're owned!"  And they are right.  As long as you have a computing device that will execute data instead of only code that belongs there, plan on blowing your system away and reloading it at regular intervals.  I personally don't think it's an accident PCs are designed this way.  I'll bet there was a time and place where software and hardware architects were told to venture down the path we are on.  I could be wrong and if so, please find me an article that describes an incident of IBM z/OS acquiring a virus.

[Farmhand]

The only really secure Operating System is a Custom Operating System, even then it is only as secure as the people that create it.

I agree with muDped about Android and add that I think Android is probably one of the best things that's happened for Linux spread, reading the Android developers forum and such I see many people who (ROOT) their Android phones to get more use from it also become interested in Linux. A (ROOTED) Android phone can make good use of the Android Terminal Emulator, I've haven't gotten far in learning Android but I have successfully done a full system backup and restored it to the phone after trying a custom ROM on a cheap Chinese phone. Lots of fun. Full on Linux users do seem to be the more computer savvy of us.

Maybe these posts should actually be moved to the rants and moans thread.

[muDped]

The "attachment" problem has just re-occurred.

I was able to create a reply w/attachment without any
problems.  Later when attempting to modify the reply
and add another attachment the process seemingly went
well with the pause for upload.  Then, once the upload
completes the "Start new topic" window appears.

Then I attempted to reply to the same thread with
a new reply to attach the document with the same
result.  The uploads take place followed by the "Start
new topic" page...

I'll now resort to clearing the browser cache to see
if that will change anything.  Providing, of course,
that this reply is accepted.

We shall see...
- - - - - - - - - -

Clearing the cache made no difference.

I've just cleared cookies too (necessitating a new
login to the forum) so we'll see what that may
have accomplished...
- - - - - - - - -

This is getting stranger and stranger.  Clearing
cookies made no difference either.  What might
it possibly be?  Re-attempting to modify replies
or to add attachments seems to have blocked
me out of the thread.  What has happened to
the uploaded files?  Black Hole?

- - - - - - - - - -

It must be the attachment of 10+MB.  I am
able to modify this reply without any difficulty.

[Matt Watts]

It must be the attachment of 10+MB.  I am
able to modify this reply without any difficulty.

There are two settings:  One in the forum software itself and the second in the PHP configuration--both should match up and be large enough for typical usage.  Maybe Peter can take a look, make adjustments as may be needed and bounce the web server.

[Peterae]

OK chaps well done, so indeed it looks like we are unable to upload anything greater than 8mb, it's not the settings in smf but as Matt has said above it looks like the server is limiting it, i don't have control on this shared hosting account, so will open a ticket to get them to change it, but first i thought i would ask Matt if he knows what sort of settings are normal.

What size do we want, maybe 100mb and it looks like we can set a time value before this upload times out.

I have no idea what the normal settings would be, we never set this on the previous server.

[Matt Watts]

I have my local server set to (php.ini):

upload_max_filesize = 2048M
max_file_uploads = 20

This is a local server on my LAN that also supports WordPress.  The sizes are large enough to allow me to push video media directly to the site.  I tend to doubt a shared hosting service will allow you to go anywhere near that large.  Probably best to ask for 64MB and hope that you get it.

[Peterae]

Thanks Matt
I will try them for 64mb 

[Peterae]

OK they have set it to 50mb.

[Matt Watts]

OK they have set it to 50mb.

Better than a poke in the eye.  hehe

If you ever have to or decide to move again, you might consider getting a virtual server from linode.com.  That way you can do with it whatever you want, since you have root access to the machine.  It's what we did with open-source-energy.org.  A little more expensive yes, but you have complete control of all the software and configuration.

[Peterae]

Thanks for your help Matt

I've been really happy with these guys so far, they always respond to my call for help, and their pricing seems very reasonable to me.
https://www.eukhost.com/

[Farmhand]

50 mb is plenty. Most short videos can be made smaller than that.

Well done. 

[muDped]

Aye, I'll echo the "Well Done!"

It is nice to know about these complexities of
successful forum setup and maintenance.

Not that I'd ever like to pursue this sort of challenge
though.  I'll leave it to the more capable men such
as we have here and be grateful that such "good
hands" make this all possible.

[Smudge]

I am still having trouble loading pages.  The home page comes up immediately but anything else times out and takes 2 or 3 reloads to get it up.  This does not happen on my laptop running windows 8, only on my PC running XP.  I cleared my Chrome cache and that made no difference.  I downloaded the Autoruns utility and there is so much stuff there that I don't know what to disable and what to keep.  I tried disabling all the things I thought I didn't need, rebooted and still I have the problem.  It didn't occur before the change to a new server.  I also get the other problem, when trying to modify a post I sometimes get the start new thread page.  Maybe I'll just have to use the laptop all the time.

Smudge

[Peterae]

Hi Smudge

I am using windows XP with no problem but using Firefox browser, I am not sure what the problem can be if you already cleared the cache, Sorry.

Peter

[Farmhand]

I am still having trouble loading pages.  The home page comes up immediately but anything else times out and takes 2 or 3 reloads to get it up.  This does not happen on my laptop running windows 8, only on my PC running XP.  I cleared my Chrome cache and that made no difference.  I downloaded the Autoruns utility and there is so much stuff there that I don't know what to disable and what to keep.  I tried disabling all the things I thought I didn't need, rebooted and still I have the problem.  It didn't occur before the change to a new server.  I also get the other problem, when trying to modify a post I sometimes get the start new thread page.  Maybe I'll just have to use the laptop all the time.

Smudge

Can you post a screen shot of the autoruns screen, just press 'printscreen button on the keyboard and paste into paint, then save as a jpeg, resize if over 1024 pixels ( I do out of habit for forums). Those of us with xp can assist no worries. Others better than I for certain but I can help with some things. I'm curious I'll get on the xp laptop.

Site seems to work ok with my xp machine. I used the autoruns utility and disabled some startups in the logon section and the services section anyway, not sure how that would help Chrome but there is Internet Explorer settings as well. nice utility. Old laptop boots a few seconds faster. 

P.S. I just realized I could make the pages in Chrome 150% zoom by default. So much easier to read. I was doing it manually per page, silly me.
..

[muDped]

Smudge,

Are the problems you're experiencing specific to the
Chrome browser?  Do you have other browsers available
for comparison on that machine?

I agree, it is an interesting problem.  Hopefully the cause
will be discovered one way or another...

[Smudge]

I have the same problem using IE so it's not the Chrome browser.  And my laptop uses Chrome with no problems.  Both machines have Norton so it is unlikely that is the problem.  Although the home page comes up immediately, if I try to refresh it then I'm back into the waiting game with error time outs and reloads before getting the page back up.

Smudge

[Verpies]

Excellent suggestion Verpies - for those who find that they cannot survive without Micro$oft.

Of course this suggestion was for Windoze users because Wattsup was looking into Windows registry, which does not exist on Linux.

[Farmhand]

Thanks to Verpies link I found this other utility as well Process Explorer- https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/processexplorer

A screenshot like this (from windows 7 desktop comp.) during the time the issue is occurring might help. I wasn't able to reduce the size without bluring the figures and words. sorry. I only had this site open and a pdf in firefox as well as the utility.

This web site handles attached pictures very well for my purposes, I like the way it displays the attached pictures.

First shot is my windoze 7 machine. Second shot is my windoze xp machine. Something is up with the IO on my windows 7 machine, apparently. It takes a long time to start up and is a bit sluggish, old install, could do with an upgrade to doze 10. I'll have unlimited Home Broadband soon so I will do it then. Maybe. The xp machine has SSD while the 7 machine has a HDD. Maybe just windows 7-10 wasting power for me/us.

Last shot is windows 10 machine a 6 core 3500 Mhz, so 10% cpu usage is a fair bit really and the network usage is conveniently not given by windows 10 to the utility to show. I can see how The different windows versions use the resources differently. Makes me want to use xp to save power and network data usage ect. 10 is pretty good to use though after setting it up and killing all the data eating stuff. Still cannot turn off automatic updates which is a big no no to me.

I was using this site and doing other stuff when the shots were taken.

P.S. Windows 10 was actually updating. I just got the notification to restart due to updates are installed. grrrrrr. Just for curiosity the last shot shows the system usage during the update and when it stops.
.