blim

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Posts posted by blim

  3. The Besttechie Cafe'

    in Open Chat

    Posted

    Sidekickcat, I agree, a proper Victorian needs Turrets, gables and all the trimmings! We have a some beautiful Queen Annes from the "Lumber Baron Era" in the city nearby (Bozodog, ever been to the Hackley House in Muskegon?), but they are in bad neighborhoods now:(

    And I agree about lack of insulation--blowing that in was the first and best improvement we made! Although the tall ceilings sure are nice in the hot weather. No pocket doors--the dining room was an addition and there is an unusual arch between the two rooms (we call it our conversation piece) which after years of research, I think the arch was originally a picture window with stained glass above (sure wish that was kept).

    I see you live in an antique, too--1919--a Craftsman or a Bungalow? Can you tell that I would have loved to be an architect :) till I found out about the math involved.....

    Your freezer soup brought back memories--I used to make it too, when the kids were little and we actually HAD leftovers!! One time Hubby put baked beans in it ("what, they're vegetables"), and it was delicious!! Never woulda thought....

    Thank God the chemical explosion wasn't dangerous--that is really, really scary!! Especially at a time when most folks are asleep!! Our tornado sirens malfunctioned around 11:30 pm last night and rang for over 30 minutes--we weren't worried as Lake MI keeps tornados away, the skies were clear, we knew it was broken, but I guess a lot of complaints to Town Hall were made this morning

    Liz

  4. The Besttechie Cafe'

    in Open Chat

    Posted

    Hi Vile,

    My house was "started" in 1857, I am told. It was originally only 2 rooms and has been added on to since--the latest being a "too small" back porch in the 1950's. It looks like your typical 2 story Victorian farmhouse--no turrets or bay windows. It still has wood siding with pretty gingerbread on the top windowframes, "roofers nightmare" steep roof, the tall skinny "wavy" glass windows (well, some panes have been replaced over the years) and the bottom floor has birdseye maple wood floors throughout. The "first parlor" (living room) is square and a couch just won't fit right--it was designed for the little table in the center and chairs--so we have a living room with no couch :) At least it has a "second parlor" (family room) which is big enough for a couch and an antique settee!

    I have been restoring it for 20 years--a neverending process--removing dropped ceilings--they used to wallpaper ceilings back then, what a scraping job that was--and the reason why the ceilings were dropped was to conceal the wiring to the ceiling light fixtures--electricity and plumbing were afterthoughts--my sculpting skills came in handy burying the wires into the plaster--, ripping up carpeting and vinyl and reshellacing the floors, refinishing the staircase (which was painted white originally--never found any shellac under the paint) It will never be done but I love the work!

    I have 2 sisters in Cape Coral, FL and parents winter in Ft. Myers after wintering in Marathon for 10 years--grandparents used to winter in Ft Lauderdale--I love Florida, even in August!!!

  5. The Besttechie Cafe'

    in Open Chat

    Posted

    Found some pastries for you, Vile. Hmmm, is Macmarauder trapped in one of his "cute sites" or is he still doing cinnamon experiments in the basement?

    My Mothers Day was pleasingly uneventful once again since I quit celebrating it, although I did break down and called my mom. Son told me "Happy Mothers Day", because his girlfriend made him, and Hubby made supper so I could work on reclaiming flower beds--spent all summer last year painting the house (and victorian houses are big), so boy are they neglected.

    Its warm again!!! Yea!! We keep flipping from 30-40s and snow to 70s, no "inbetween" Must be driving folks with bad sinuses nutty. Sidekickcat, my redbud finally bloomed today- you need to plant one. :) Its kinda wimpy this year but after last winter, its a miracle it survived at all.

    Out to the garden!

    Liz

  7. Reinstalling Windows 98

    in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

    Posted

    Hi Robroy,

    Thanks for the "escape route" on the floppy disk--going to try them out--maybe today! (Son wants to try to reinstall the broken CDburner software to get some songs out of PG first)

    I use Mcafee Firewall and VS--I'm usually a big supporter of Mcafee (especially since you can get it free with rebates) but every once in a while they produce a flop version, and there is a glitch or two with the latest update, according to their forums, but nothing to do with IE. It updated a "good week" before we did all this stuff. I looked at the log and that "Bootstrap Client" thing has not appeared since the one time--so thats good. The firewall "console" has been giving illegal operations and the updater, too, but I figure it's because of the internet not working right, as these didn't happen since we "broke the internet" (gosh, I feel like Lori from Leoville).

    Liz

  10. The Besttechie Cafe'

    in Open Chat

    Posted

    Hello All,

    I don't celebrate it because for 10 years, I ended up with either sick kids, head licecapades-ugh, or "family rumbles" (I decided it was a jinx), but just want to wish all the Moms (genetic and honorary, single Dads, too) a Happy Mothers Day!

    Liz

  11. Reinstalling Windows 98

    in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

    Posted

    Thanks, Terrorist,

    Knowing that the Firewall is blocking Netbios already, I feel much better knowing its supposed to be blocked :)

    I think Son made a copy of the disk you suggested, at least I see a floppy labeled "BT--ME" on the desk that wasn't there a few days ago! Glad to see he is reading things here and not just playing in the Arcade!

    Liz

  14. Reinstalling Windows 98

    in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

    Posted

    Phew, after a busy week, the kids are out and I can catch up on things!!! Next week is "merely" soccer, band concert and prom, so I may have a little more time.

    Regarding the Emergency Start Up Disks we made---how do I exit/end this program once it starts? (whether it works or not!)--as I have no idea what it will look like or how it behaves. I'm assuming it will look like a DOS program, right? Do I just shut down the PG and remove the disk, or remove the disk with it running or exit out of the program (and how)? I need an escape plan ;)

    Rummaging through the Gateway stuff, I discovered I also have a Universal Boot Disk made by Gateway--assuming that is the same thing, right? (another backup!)

    Hi Terrorist, newer Gateway models have the go back program :( Missed that feature by about 6 months.

    Robroy and all, When we first tried Internet Explorer, a box came up that said basically, "Oh, so sorry, IE encountered a problem and needs to close" and away it went--(at least the "newer" Illegal Operation Messages are less scary now :P) . When Son was fiddling with options to fix IE with the same results, the last option he chose was to "restore IE", which brought us back to IE4(I think) and when we open it, we get "Illegal Operation and will shut down" box. When he tried to Install IE6 (downloaded on to a CD from the working Dell) the "Internet Explorer.....Wizard...Thing" encountered an error and needed to close--poof.

    Mcafee has been giving a lot of Illegal Operation Boxes so I poked around there and found some "unusual" things--when checking the Firewall Log, it said,

    "Bootstrap Protocol Client was trying to open port 68. Some ISP's use Bootstrap Protocol as a 'keep alive' mechanism. Suggested that routine attempts to access this port from a server at your ISP, you should add that address to your trusted sites list to guarantee your DSL modem is not disconnected. The source IP is a 'non routable IP', address 10.65.118.1", have no idea if it's Charter Internet's address.

    1.) We have cable but not DSL--is this a dialer trojan (thank God for cable) or are both cable and DSL modems called DSL Modems?

    2.) or is the Firewall blocking this port the source of these problems and should I open it? How?

    Also multiple attempts from my internet address using NetBios Datagram attempting to open port 138. This has come up once in a while with the Dell's log, but this shows up in the PG's log alot.

    Again, naughty or nice??

    Or are both of these oddities the result of a broken IE? (that's what I'm leaning toward, but what do I know?!?)

    Wondering if something in the adaware scan didn't play nice with the firewall--although I'm hesitant to uninstall the firewall...I think something got wonked in the registry....although if I plan to reinstall 98, I suppose it couldn't hurt, huh?

    Confused yet? :blink: ?

    Liz

  15. The Besttechie Cafe'

    in Open Chat

    Posted

    Hi All!

    Sidekickcat, you're definitely a mom-and a great one, too--just a mom whose kids don't share your genes!! I have a lot of those, too, who I love as much as my own. :)

    Vile, that co worker sounds like a trip! From researching and printing items for personal use at work to how he treated you is just impolite and wrong. You had every right to offer your help for a fee, after all, it's your time, you're going to his house and you're doing the work! If it were me, I wouldn't let you leave my house without payment or a barter! And $35 hour is a bargain when you consider your expertise and the trip. Son is a soccer referee and makes $30-$40 for a 90 minute game--and he is just a kid--but not everyone has the training and the license to referee--and being a good ref, he has 4 soccer directors fighting over him, so he is busy.

    Oh dear, Macmarauder's on a cinnamon rush and in the basement, wonder what he's going to do this time?? :rolleyes:

    Trees are still bare, but it must be spring--the orioles are lurking in my yard--time to put out the oranges!

    Liz

  16. Reinstalling Windows 98

    in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

    Posted

    Yes, quarantine would work great unless SON DELETES the quarantine file before seeing if the idiot box works right! :angry: ! Me thinks he won't do that again! He said, "Uhhh, doesn't 98 have a system restore?" as I slapped my forehead and sighed....I'm Dummybook educated and he took a college class in computers...geesh! Sometimes I think that boy took too many soccerballs in the head. :lol:

    We tried fixing IE, reinstalling it, restoring it, all that stuff and nothing worked--not showing in Ad-Remove Programs anymore. And seeing as the PG almost never did work right, a fresh install hopefully will fix the kinks and gives an opportunity to get rid of a lot of junk we don't use anymore now that its the "backup". Besides, I've done all this homework! :) Although I must say, it doesn't freeze anymore!

    Liz

  17. The Besttechie Cafe'

    in Open Chat

    Posted

    Hello All!

    An amusing story from our newspaper--Benton Harbor, MI marching band planned on performing the song "Louie, Louie" (or "Louie, Lou-I") in the Benton Harbor Floral Parade Saturday. One of the parents complained, saying the lyrics were "raunchy"--which led to the school superintendent ordering the band not to perform the song, even though the band wasn't going to sing it.

    Apparently, the lyrics are a "lament of a seafaring man for the girl he left behind and contain no profanities or vulgarities." In 1963 the FBI spent TWO years investigating the lyrics before declaring they were not obscene-- but also were "unintelligible at any speed" (our tax dollars at work).

    Due to many parents saying the decision to ban the song was ridiculous, the director added it back in to the performance. Only in Michigan. :lol:

    Macmarauder, thanks for the baby pic! That photo is now my mothers day card that I emailed to the moms I know (yep, I stole it..... :blink: ) I have a couple sisters with one baby and 2 toddlers between them--I know they'll love it!

    Busy day is done, teeth are fine, Son's neck is cured (DO's crack 'em--instant fix with no chemicals), Mother Daughter Banquet was nice! Phone kept ringing, only vacuumed one room--ahh, tomorrow!

    Liz

  18. The Besttechie Cafe'

    in Open Chat

    Posted

    There are a LOT of terrific writers on this board--I like the "trained writing", the "head leaks" and the "gabbies" :D

    Something buried in Montague?? Maybe thats why my address doesn't exist in Google's satellite pictures--sure hope you used Terraservers directions, Macmarauder! And compliments to spelling Montague correctly--the telemarketers are hilarious when they try to pronounce it--"Montag, Montage and my favorite, Montagkwee". Of course I wait for them to attempt the pronounciation :P Apparently none of them ever heard of Romeo and Juliet....

    Thanks for the Belarc info, Barb, I remember reading that it was updated and was wondering what it was--looks like a handy little tool and the link explained it very well!

    Sidekickcat, that is a great link--I'll poke into it a little further when I get a little more time. And I'll let my mom know about the celery, thanks!

    Busy day today--shopping for Son, running Son to doctor this afternoon (kink in his neck), making sure Son gets off to his soccergame on time and Mother-Daughter Banquet at church (which is a pain since I have to make dinner for the boys before I leave...)! Meanwhile, better become bonded to the vacuum cleaner......

    Realized I haven't cooked here in a while--Home made chicken vegetable soup (I make killer soup)

    Liz

  19. Reinstalling Windows 98

    in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

    Posted

    Thanks, Bearskin,

    So far Teatimer has worked on the PG--at least it alerted me when Mcafee was trying (unsuccessfully) to update. Somewhere I read to uninstall or disable all that virus-spyware stuff before reinstalling. When I reinstall the virus-spyware stuff (IF the reinstall 98 works, that is) I will not install Teatimer to be on the safe side!! Seeing as everything was fine after Spybot was installed, I think it was something I removed in Adaware that broke the internet, but not going to take any chances!!!

    Liz

  20. Reinstalling Windows 98

    in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

    Posted

    The emergency floppy start disk you made may work. Turn the PG (possessed gateway ) off, put the floppy disk in the drive, then turn PG back on. The PG should boot up.

    Try this and let us know what happens

    Hi Robroy,

    With this do you mean to see if it works? I've been wanting to do this to make sure we made it right, but I've been chicken :blink: . Will it boot to just letters and numbers (DOS) or will it boot to windows? (if it works, that is) Any idea what it would do if we didn't make it right? And most importantly, how do I "get out of it" after I try it? Thanks,

    Liz

  21. The Besttechie Cafe'

    in Open Chat

    Posted

    Hello All!

    Haven't been to the Cafe for a few days, spending my now limited internet time lurking in Windows Support trying to decifer instructions :) Trying to share one internet ready computer with the kids leaves little time for Mom.

    Mac, thanks for the missle--I loved the screamplay. I think the missle is hovering over the Possessed Gateway (now known as PG) waiting to strike, unless it went to Robroy's place first.

    Sidekickcat, don't you just hate it when "one simple task" takes practically all day and leaves your mood shot??? Oh!!, I remember you writing about celery and blood pressure--is the celery still working and what is the "dosage" again? My mom recently started blood pressure meds and hates taking "chemicals" everyday. And she loves celery--told her about it and she asked, "does it work the same if the celery is in bloody marys? :D "

    Gotta rant about my Gateway Adventure---I wanted to confirm that the Product Key code on the front of my MS manual is the code needed to reinstall windows, as I couldn't remember from 5 years ago and didn't write it down. Emailed Gateway Support as they "should" have it on file, at least you would think. Support emailed me back, saying,

    "look through your boxes, it may have been misplaced"

    !!!Like I have the boxes anymore, its 5 years old!! Found a great solution through one of Macmarauder's links and found the code in the registry. Easy as pie (yes, I actually WENT to the "forbidden registry" just looked, didn't touch)

    Thinking about toying with Gateway Support, writing back, "no cannot find it" to see if they suggest what I learned, or to write back with the solution so they can put it in their "database" and tell them how rotten their support was. Hmmmmm.

    Thinks Sidekickcat's mailman was trained by a PC Support Supervisor, as I learned Dell's support isn't any good, either (had another problem which I ended up solving through google after an hour with Dell!)

    Dentist appt today, wish me luck!!

    Liz

  22. Windows Registry

    in On The Web

    Posted

    Hi Macmarauder,

    Your description is exactly the way I envisioned the Registry, complete with wolves and dorky glasses!! Made me laugh! I always figured it was some scary DOSthing full of H_KEYS that once you went there, you were trapped forever and your computer died. (sigh, I've read too many Hijack This advice posts) I actually WENT into the Registry(!) to confirm my Product Key number, thanks to your Geekstogo link in Windows Support, I was so scared of the thing, thats why I googlehunted it.

  23. Reinstalling Windows 98

    in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

    Posted

    Thanks Terrorist for a great translation! One additional further translation needed?

    "Yes formatting will wipe the drive. This can be done with the floppy bootdisk."

    Wait, is this floppy bootdisk the Gateway System Restore CD, the Windows 98 CD, the Emergency Start Up "square disk" :) that we made today or something different???

    And Macmarauder, that Geekstopandgo link is wonderful. The pictures really helped translate the printed stuff.

    Murtu and Terrorist, thanks for clearing up the Fat 32 confusion--I remember reading about converting Fat 16 into Fat 32 somewhere, and I was afraid reinstalling would convert windows back to Fat 16 which would be "bad"--nice to know I shouldn't have to worry about that (right??)

    More questions when I come up with 'em :blink: thanks, Liz

  24. Reinstalling Windows 98

    in Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

    Posted

    Hi All,

    Am going thru the links--thank you all so much! (feel free to keep the advice coming) Son goofed around with the Possessed Gateway today and yes, the internet explorer is definitely broken--not even showing in add/remove programs anymore, yet the desktop shortcut and the icon in the left side of the taskbar are still there. The firewall works (log shows baddies being blocked) and Spybot Teatimer works, but AIM doesn't work and its the Mcafee Updates giving us the illegal operation boxes. Assuming these gadgets need IE to work.

    Questions: (there will be a lot of 'em :blink: )

    1. The Possessed Gateway "came" with FAT32--supposed to be "good". Is that something that happens automatically or do I do something after the Brain Transplant?

    2. Also (oh Terrorist!!! Wasn't it you who recently dealt with a Possessed Gateway?) am leaning towards using Gateway's instructions--starting with the System Restore CD then Win98 CD. The instructions conflict a bit.

    On one source, it looks like the System Restore CD "tells" the idiot box to boot to the CD on restart, looks fairly easy, yet another source (The "instructions" that came with the System Restore CD) says (and I quote):

    Press F1 at startup to enter system setup utility

    Use arrow keys to highlight the Boot Options menu item

    Press enter to select the Boot Options menu

    Highlight First Boot Device then press Enter

    In the menu that appears, highlight CD-ROM then press enter

    Highlight Second Boot Device then press Enter (at this point I'm getting lost)

    In the menu that appears, highlight Floppy then press Enter

    Highlight Third Boot Device then press Enter (really lost now--why?)

    In the menu that appears highlight Hard Disk then press Enter

    Press F10, then Enter

    The system saves your changes and exits the setup program

    *uhhhwhat??*

    I was leaning on trying the "easy method" first, if that didn't work, restart and do the second method, but a heads up sure would be appreciated!

    3. And Macmarauder, when you say zero out the drive, and Robroy when you say a clean install, does that mean "format the hard drive and reinstall windows?" or "delete windows and reinstall?" I'm thinking you mean "format, etc." making sure :)

    Thanks, Liz

  25. Windows Registry

    in On The Web

    Posted

    Hi All,

    While poking around the web, I found an awesome site that explains the Windows98 Registry with pictures. It's not nearly as scary as I thought!! I am guessing that XP's registry can't be all that bad either after reading this. Now I'm not saying to change anything (!) but after seeing the instructions and pictures, I at least am not scared to death of the program anymore....

    registry

    There is also an area on the left side of the website with more options for us beginners to check out--some complicated stuff for the experts, too. :)

    Liz