Windows 10 Strange problems recently appear caused by microsoft ransomeware protection

 recently I had some strange issues crop up that made no sense, and if they generated errors at all they also did not make sense.

First was this one: https://robert.guildig.org/2023/03/nero-burning-rom-does-not-see-blank-or.html

the next one happened this morning. I was making a backup to blu-ray (which worked fine).
I (being a bit old school) went to a command prompt and attempted to issue this command in a folder the path of which is c:\users\username\documents\backup

command was as such dir /s d: > backup24.txt
simple right?
no! it comes back with file not found (I don't remember the exact wording).
What the heck! file not found?! it should just create the file.
now I think I'm losing my mind because I've been working on computers since dos 2.11 I've done this MILLIONS of times. after confirming I haven't suddenly developed dementia (by googling the command), I try creating the file in the GUI (which works) and run the command again.
the results:
not enough space on the disk
there's 759 gigs free!

Remembering what happened yesterday I go in to ransomware protection and sure enough CMD.EXE is blocked from accessing that folder and a bunch of other folders (most of which I never use).

I unblock it and the command works perfectly.

If the command had come back with "access denied" I would have dealt with it differently, but the unconventional errors that did not match the actions being prevented was not helpful.

I don't know when Ransomware protection was installed. my googlefu says possibly sometime in 2019, but that it was not activated by microsoft until recently (because I didn't activate it or even know about it). All this worked in september 2022.

Nero burning ROM does not see blank or any disks in burner

nero 10
problem started sometime after 9-23-2022 (last time I burned disks).
same Blu-ray/DVD/CD burner.
same media I have always used.
Reads all media just fine.
windows shows disk changes.
windows shows when disks are blank.
connect an external burner and same issue.

nero 10 suddenly stopped seeing the drives at all.
uninstalled nero 10.
purchased and installed latest version of nero 2023 25.0.1.4.
Nero now sees the drives.
place empty disk in drive nero does not see disk, but windows does.
updated firmware on drive. rebooted, nothing changed.
uninstalled drivers for drive, rebooted, nothing changed.

tried burning with windows (never did that before always used nero) takes forever and doesn't complete because it says I need 816 PB and disk is only 4.7GB or 25GB. data is 4.3GB.

contacted Nero and they were no help. found this article but not by searching for the symptoms. 

windows 10 ransomware detection was the problem.
you have to go in and allow blocked nero apps.

there was no warning or popup that a block had happened it just suddenly stopped reading or seeing disks.

very frustrating.

Magix Vegas not responding when splitting or deleting video while it plays

I have vegas 18.0 build 527 every time I split while I am playing a video or hit delete while a video is playing vegas would freeze or be not responding.

what worked for me to make this go away was to go in to Options/preferences/file I/O and put a check mark on Enable Legacy AVC decoding. now I can split while playing or hit del without lock up.

Failure mode of an APC Back-UPS 1500

If you own an APC Back-UPS 1500 UPS possible model number BN1500M2 and have experienced a failure with Error F04 and possibly Error F02 with the sound of arcing coming from the unit the problem may be the transformer. It appears the units are shipped with transformers that have copper coated aluminum wire and the connections have failed or broke free. If you have unit and it is in some critical role you may want to take it out of service.

see this video for details.

 

Security First 5005 camera wire pinout

Security First (which seems to be no more) 5005 cameras use RJ11 6 pin connectors. Their pinouts are as shown in this diagram.

The wires in the connector and 100 foot cable are Red white black black. pin 5 may be yellow in the 100 foot cable. the colors in the diagram are from the camera.

the wires internally to the camera are Red white black yellow.

Information I can find states the red wire can accept 12-15vdc which means that it probably has a voltage regulator in side and is compensating for the massive voltage drop through 100 feet of very small wire.

I have no other information than what is presented here.

Sainlogic WS0835 weather station manual

Sainlogic WS0835 weather station manual

This is the manual (including calibration) for the above weather station. This version does not have a wifi connection. I do not know if that matters for the calibration.

When it asks you to login or create an account click X in the upper right.
Then Click Download in the upper left corner.

Omeprazole, Prilosec, Losec, and neuropathy

Several years ago I was put on omeprazole for acid reflux at night. The doctor never indicated any concerns for long term use of it, As usual I read the side effect.

After an unknown amount of time I began to develop a feeling in my feet like they were always dry. I didn't pay much attention to it because I could feel heat, cold, and touch just fine.

Eventually I went to the a neurologist after seeing a podiatrist over an unrelated matter.

It seems that I had neuropathy in my feet. How I got it was a mystery. After some testing it was determined that A. it was not genetic, B. it was not diabetes, and C it was a vitamin B12 deficiency.

How did I get a B12 deficiency? I eat foods with lots of B12.

I did some research on it and found that buried deep in the drug manufacturers website was that omeprazole should not be taken for more than 2 months. It did not say why. Well the reason is that omeprazole interferes with the bodies ability to absorb certain vitamins.

I am now on vitamin B6, B12, and folic acid supplements but I could have lost the use of my hands if this had gone too far.

I smell a class action lawsuit.

Defrost board repair HK2EA001 or 1173636

Defrost board repair HK2EA001 or 1173636 This defrost board may be used in heat pumps made by these companies: Day & Night, ICP International Comfort Products, Bryant, Keeprite, Payne, and United Technologies. my heat pump model number nxh524gka100

 

Emerson 635 470501 RCA RP-168 45 record changer

if you have an Emerson 635 radio/record player the record player has part number 470501 this record player is also an RCA RP-168 45 record changer. Here is the service manual PDF for it.

increase font size in outlook 2016

it is not possible to do this in outlook 2016 (in the program itself).

most sites will tell you to do this in display settings and change the display ratio to 125%.

you could do that but it messes up a whole lot of formatting in windows and in other programs.

what works slightly better is to go in to settings - ease of access - make text bigger.

move the slider to the right in small increments until you get the size you like.

this may also mess up some other programs as well.

Longines Symphonette LTV-77 Schematic

 Longines Symphonette LTV-77 portable Black and White TV Schematic 3 versions very large files no compression. AKA Universum FK100R AKA CTV-14

also a link to a PDF of both. When it asks you to login or create an account click X in the upper right.
Then Click Download in the upper left corner.

I have no other info on this TV.
 

Posada Chimichanga steak and cheese burrito

 

I don't normally do reviews of food but I felt I had to in this case. this is a prime example of lies when it comes to truth in advertising.

We accidentally bought a bunch of these thinking they were something else. first lets describe a chimichanga. Chimichangas are a deep fried burrito (simple really). these are not deep fried or if they are it was for a millisecond as they sort of have an oily taste to the tortilla. The burritos claim to be 5 oz. I opened one up and all but around 1 once of that is tortilla. They claim to have "steak" in them. they often do have at least one chunk of utility grade "meat" in them, but I doubt it's anything I would call steak. tough and gristly. there is a small squirt of "cheese" and often the skin from a green chili. all in all these are a lie at best and nasty otherwise. they look nothing like the picture above.

T3 Time out no ranging response received Motorola SB6141 surfboard cable modem

 If you have a Motorola SB6141 surfboard cable modem and you are getting T3 Time out no ranging response received error messages a possible cause for this may be bad/swollen capacitors.

I've been having strange issues with my cable for a month now. had the cable company come out twice, the swapped out some splitters the first time, removed an un-needed MOCA filter, tested the lines and replaced one of the cable ends at the pedestal.

The strange part about this is that the problems occurred during the day starting about 7am (give or take 10 minutes) would be the worst till around 11am then be mildly annoying till 3pm where it would get bad again till about 8pm then be totally fine all night long.

I opened my cable modem and found this:

all the caps circled in red were swollen, I replaced them and all the other ones with the brand name of FOAI. so far as of 18 hours later my cable modem has been stable.

Not 100% sure what the cause was and maybe was multiple issues.

Firefox ignores disabled HTTPS only mode on local IP's

you have set firefox to Don’t enable HTTPS-Only Mode. you try to access a local IP http://192.168.0.22 and firefox changes it to https://192.168.0.22.

Firefox ignores disabled HTTPS only mode on local IP's specifically if the IP address does not respond firefox will change it to https://192.168.0.22

type about:config in the address bar. 

respond that you know what you are doing.

search for 

browser.fixup.fallback-to-https

double click will change it to false.

now firefox will leave the address as you typed it LIKE IT SHOULD HAVE ALWAYS DONE!

Collectible Teddy bears and why they are garbage

If you are reading this you probably were looking to find out how much those teddy bears you inherited from your deceased mother are worth.

They are worth less then she paid for them.

We inherited over 300 Raikes and Steiff teddy bears as well as many hand made one offs from random makers.

The above picture is just a tiny portion of what we inherited. The bears were originally priced at anywhere from $40 to $350 each.

We quickly learned that the market is flooded with them, and that nobody wants them. The people that do want them don't want to pay shipping for them.

we ended up selling some on facebook, giving many away and the rest went to an estate sale.

almost all the bears had warning tags that said they were not toys and not meant for children.

Never buy "collectibles" as an investment. If it says it's "collectible" it's not. Anything is "collectible" even dog shit if you are weird enough.

Sony BDP-S6700 fries HDMI

I have a Sony BDP-S6700 I bought in 2018 when my previous Blu-ray player was not able to play newer discs.

Starting soon after I got it I noticed popping and cracking noises when watching youtube from the youtube app on it. It did not seem to do it with discs, and it did not do it with all videos, so I though it was a quirk of certain videos. In December of 2021 the HDMI ports on my HDTV died. I ordered an HDMI to YPbPr+R/L Audio Converter, which seems to have died also due to the sony blu-ray player.

Unfortunately the circuit boards in the player and the converter are all SMD so not easy to diagnose or repair.

I have ordered a new player and converter.

Archer 61-2780A power strip light flashing

The Archer Six outlet power strip with spike protector and broadband noise filter has a light on it that states

"Light indicates spike protector is functioning. If light is out unit must be replaced or repaired."

First this is bullshit. The light is just a power indicator. Second the light is blinking because it is a neon light and they wear out over time. So in all actuality you can ignore it However! if you wish to repair it here is how:

Acquire a neon bulb of similar size I used an NE2 and a proper 100k resistor for said bulb. Remove power from the unit (unplug it)! You will need to remove 2 screws on each end that are on the bottom of the bracket. You may have to remove 4 screws from one side. They have a square head socket and take a special bit. it is not a normal square head, and may not be a Robertson bit.I used a smallish philips and applied a lot of pressure while turning them. Then remove the bottom plate. Once opened you will see something like this:

There will be 2 screws holding the circuit board down and some spade connectors. remove the 2 screws and the spade connectors (noting where they were connected). Next  Located the neon bulb and it's resistor mine are in the picture below circled in green.

on the opposite side of the circuit board de-solder the bulb (red oval) and resistor (Green circles), if your bulb uses the same resistor leave the old one.

Install new bulb and resistor (if needed) and solder them in place, do not push the neon bulb all the way through the hole. Make sure the neon bulb wires are not touching each other and install the circuit board back in the plug strip.

Carefully push the neon bulb through the hole as far as it will go. double check your wires are not touching, and re-attach the spade connectors to the switch and board. If the spade connectors are loose use a pair of pliers to lightly squash the female connector before installing them.

close everything up. I replaced the proprietary screws with regular screws of a similar size. Apply power. When switched on the bulb should glow and no longer flicker. If it still flickers or does not glow you messed up somewhere, your replacement bulb maybe bad, and I cannot help you.

Earth Fissures in Queen Creek

While looking up information on geological formations of Arizona I stumbled on a map overlay for google earth that shows the location of known surface fissures in Arizona.

 

The nearest fissure to me that would be easy to get to is at  33.207964°,-111.728298°

But as you can see the top 90% of the area has been bulldozed flat recently for houses.

So we went to a different location located at:  33.200071°,-111.618853°

here is the google earth view with the overlay:

Those black areas that look like holes in the ground...

Are indeed holes in the ground, approximately 10 to 15 foot deep. It's hard to tell because we did not want to get too close to the edge lest the sides cave in.

What causes them? one theory is excessive pumping of ground water.

More information can be found here,  the map overlay can be got here.

Dataframe XP 30 Power Supply won't start

I have an old Supermac dataframe xp 30 external scsi hard drive case. I wanted to use the power supply to power hard drives without having to plug them in to a case power supply.

I pulled the switching power supply out of its case and went to test it. The PS would not start and would just pulse, causing the fan to twitch and pulse on and off. I had not powered the device on in 10 plus years.

To make this very short after much testing I found that the power supply MUST have a considerable load on it, or it will not start. The fan and LED are not enough. Connecting a hard drive to it and it powered up fine.

Also the following items can be replaced with other components as listed:

2SK538 N channel Mosfet can be replaced with an FQP9N90C.

UA431 Adjustable Precision Shunt Regulator can be replaced with a TL431 or KA431.

The Blue POT VR1 adjusts the 12 volt power supply.

I do not know the ratings of the power supply but the hard drive in it was rated at 1 amp on the 5 volt supply and .68 amps on the 12 volt. I suspect it may be able to handle 2 amps on both but have not tested it.

Regency R1090 Scanner Owners manual

Regency R1090 Scanner Owners manual PDF

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9v4da7qt45ec4u5/Regency%20R1090%20Scanner.pdf?dl=0

When it asks you to login or create an account click X in the upper right.
Then Click Download in the upper right corner next to sign up.