welo

If you don't want to be logged in as admin create another account without admin privileges, can't imagine why you want to, there are people on this thread saying admin does not have enough privileges.

Yeah, I know how to create an account without admin privileges or revoke the privileges from my current account.

The problem on Windows is that users and software developers have lived too long without this basic but effective security concept. Now users have a hard time implementing this concept because a lot of software will not run with limited user accounts at all, even after installing them under a privileged account.

I tried to work on a restricted account on Windows XP but it was a pain in the a**. And I'm not talking about inconveniences but major obstacles to make software work on 'standard' user accounts. I am not a professional Windows administrator but consider myself a (very) advanced user, but in the end I gave up. And I dare say that this is a commonly acknowledged problem for Windows XP home users (larger companies with their own IT department are a different story), and that's why this whole UAC thing actually came up. To provide an easier way to implement a more restricted (and safe) Windows environment.

But I more or less forgot about it until recently, when I switched to 7 and UAC.

I will give it a try and see what happens on win 7 on a restricted account

welo

If I'm not mistaken, the default user account in Windows 7 does not have Administrative privileges (unlike XP).

Just checked, mine is still member of Administrators group. Not sure if this is something you can choose on installation, can't remember

to supernova and welo a great big thankyou for all your help. i installed the new software and now i have english. great stuff i did not delete the thai language just changed the regional settings advanced to english U.K. before i did the install rebooted and now have english. I have set up extended desktop very happy with the result. thanks once again for your help.

Did you change the regional settings (especially language for non-unicode files) back to Thailand afterwards? According to the post it should be possible and the Intel drivers should still remain in English language.

If anybody still feels like hacking the driver files I recommend going with supernovas solution. My instructions were incomplete anyway I realized now. I think that maybe I did similar with another device driver but never with the Intel graphics driver, or did I?? way too long ago...

welo

On the question why to upgrade? Sometimes it's just a single feature that can make a big difference, depending on your use case:

• Being able to switch the system language without even restarting the system (logoff/logon)
  
• The reworked UI - MS improved many smaller things which together make a huge difference to XP (start menu, explorer, task bar, search, task switching, systray icons)
  
• Supporting more than 3.5GB of RAM with 64bit
  
• Increased stability (XP was not bad but my Win7 is rock solid)
  
• Improved system recovery options built-in (system imaging software)
  

I guess you can mod Windows XP with additional software to make it behave/look similar to Win7 (imaging software, skins, alternative start menu), but it's the 'package deal' you get that makes Win7 a good choice. Costs are probably not the decisive factor since all those tools will cost as much as a Win7 license.

welo

i have tried everything in your link except for renaming to .bak

thanks this is driving me crazy.

Did you try the solution I quoted, it's actually taken from the same website just AFTER all the comments trying to manipulate system folders and such. I don't recommend to mess around with the system32 folder.

If the proposed solution works this would only temporaily change the non-unicode setting while updating the driver, and then revert back to the old setting.

Don't forget to reboot after changing the setting before updating the driver, otherwise the driver doesn't pickup the changed locale I guess. Just make sure you follow the instructions carefully, details DO matter!!

If this doesn't work you can try manipulating the installer package which is not that hard, too, but the solution above seems easier to me for the average user.

Here is the download link for the current driver.

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/16835/a08/winxp_14324.exe

If you have any packer installed (7Zip, WinRAR, whatever) you just do a right click on the downloaded file and use 'Extract..' to unpack the installation bundle. Then search the directory structure for folders named 'lang' and delete the 'tha' folders completely. There are two folders in the package! Make sure you get both!

Then run the setup.exe.

If it doesn't work you might have to uninstall the driver package before re-installing with the Thai language files removed.

welo

Compared to Vista, the implementation of UAC in Win7 is so much better; less intrusive. Overall, a welcome change in this department. However, I do agree that having to grant Administrators access rights to folders like Program Files doesn't make a whole lot of sense. More often than not, it just gets in the way of things.

I guess the idea is to protect sensitive files by default, and this includes system and program files. It makes sense if you think about what a user can accidentally or intentionally do when having write permissions to the program files folder.

I haven't made up my mind up yet on UAC, it is not really clear what it has been designed for. Just to protect the user from himself, or work as a security boundary to prevent malicious programs to change the system.

There was a huge discussion on that topic when it turned out that the less intrusive UAC in Win7 actually gives a free-pass for malicious programs to circumvent UAC. Conclusion was that if you expect any protection from malware through UAC you have to set UAC to its highest level, which will make Win7 behave like Vista again (in regards to UAC). Google 'Windows 7 UAV flawed' or read here.

I run UAC at tightest level and can't say I am annoyed. The only time it can get frustrating is manipulating secured folders from a non-elavated program (e.g. file managers such as Windows' own Exlorer). In such cases you can temporarily run Explorer as Administrator (that is start Explorer as administrator in the first place and not elevate it through the UAC prompt) and it'll work like a charm.

UAC is also criticized to create a false sense of security. The issue reminds me of that of personal firewalls with application based rules. Both UAC and personal firewalls will provide information when a process tries to do something, but for the average user it is still difficult to correctly decide whether a specific request is legitimate or not.

The whole topic is still a bit confusing to me, I wonder whether I should actually try running Windows 7 as regular user without administrator permissions at all.

And I guess the problem is that to have a secure system you either have to deal with questions of security yourself (which is actually a fair bit of work and requires some knowledge) or you have another person (administrator) take care of it (that's what bigger companies mostly do). An administrator will restrict your user account and will be in charge of system and software changes relieving you of the burden of worrying about it (but leaving you with little control over your PC).

welo

It's all there on the website that supernova linked to. Sometimes you have to read until the very end.

Step 1: Change the Non-Unicode programs language to "English US" and Reboot. You can do that from Control Panel > Regional and Language Options > Advanced Tab > change the language in the dropdown menu to "English US" Don't forget to Reboot

Step 2: Go the Device Manager and Update the Intel Graphics Driver again. Now when the driver is being installed, it will use the default Non-Unicode programs language which is currently English

You can do that from Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > System > Hardware Tab > Device Manager > Click the + sign next to Display > Right click on the driver and click Update Driver > Automatically.

Step 3: Change back the Non-Unicode programs language to "Hebrew" and Reboot

You will find that the problem was solved and still you haven't changed the Non-Unicode programs language or messed up with System and Registry files

I struggled with this one myself last year, I definitely had some Google misfortune because I couldn't find a solution (or the problem). Can't remember for sure how I fixed it but I think I ended up deleting the Thai language files out of the installer package BEFORE running the installer. If above doesn't work come back here and I will come up with instructions. Switched to Win7 though so can't check it out easily right away...

welo

The Formula for Permutation is :

nPk i.e. k objects from a set of n

(n!)

---------

(n-k)!

This formula only applies for sequences where each element (in our case letter or digit) can appear only once, like a lady picking k 'winners' out of a bowl where n distinct elements are represented once each.

http://z.pe/RRR would not be a possible combination then.

It's late though so...

Domain names are not case sensitive, regardless of Linux or Windows servers.

Correct!

However, we are talking about the part of the URL that follows the domain name, you may call that 'path' or 'filename' or whatever.

But I admit that talking about routers would rather imply that we talk about domain names which are - as you pointed out - case-insensitive.

welo

Hi there!

Im just currently using 2 laptops and pc - all three individually , data is entered into Excel. then combined together after the roadshow. All very basic. the problem is - with just 3 terminals, my data collection is just not fast enough. Also, with just the 2 laptops and pc, the visual effect is not there.

If only I can lay out maybe 6-9 or maybe even 12 monitors and keyboards, the visual impact created will itself draw many others to come register.

Using 6-9 monitors + 6-9 keyboards connected into 1 computer/hard disk will definittely be much, much cheaper to deploy than getting 6-9 tiny netbooks .

Cheers!

New netbooks start at 12000 THB, the cheapest laptops at 13.000 THB . Since you don't need processing power you can go for those. Netbooks are small but can look pretty slick. But it seems you would rather like to go for the big screens (22" - 23" TFTs are ~5000 THB).

If you compare the two setups, netbooks without external screen vs. 'terminals' (screen + keyboard), the terminal will cost you maybe half of the terminal solution, IF the latter really works.

The way you collect your data (Excel) does not interfere with any of the two solutions. Since you don't have a central database you are very flexible from a technical point of view. In case of using separate clients you don't even need to network them.

However, you might speed up the data collection by introducing a more customized 'application' that offers drop down boxes, multiple choice fields, auto completion and other stuff to enter the data quicker.

Is the data collection slow because of technical difficulties or because of 'social' aspects.

welo

I thought routers ignore url letter case

Not true. Case sensitive vs. non-case sensitive is mostly a matter of the OS the web server is running on. Linux and other *nix-es are case sensitive, Windows is not. So case sensitive URLs are pretty common on the web.

On Linux there are ways around case-sensitive URLs, e.g. the URL rewriting module thaivisa uses for thread URLs ignores the case, but try to change other parts of the url that describe the file path on the server (/forum/index.php) and it will fail.

Depending on the exact use-case for the shortened URLs it might be better not to make them case sensitive - for instance if the URLs are shortened so people can memorize them more easily.

Available combinations

3 characters

case sensitive alphabet plus numbers 62^3 = 238.328

case in-sensitive alphabet plus numbers 36^3 = 46.656

4 characters

case sensitive alphabet plus numbers 62^4 = 14.776.336

case in-sensitive alphabet plus numbers 36^4 = 1.679.616

welo

Aster XP from ibik software should do exactly what the OP is looking for, at least I get that impression when reading the software manual. I am still a bit doubtful though since the product doesn't seem to have a lot of coverage/reviews on the internet. However, it is listed on softpedia.com which should rule out any rogue ware. Seems to have been developped by a russian company, the manual states 2003-2007, and only compatible with Windows 2000 and XP. So maybe no active development anymore.

There is a trial though and softpedia lists the price with 80 USD, so it might be worth a try. Depending on how sophisticated your current desktop application is the price of having a custom web solution developed could be much higher. Usability for simple web solutions often suffer, but the whole setup could be more flexible and scale better (in the long run). Of course you could always combine the two solutions, running e.g. two terminals per one computer.

Often survey databases are simple programs done in MS Access, which can also be adapted to support multiple terminals. (I am no friend of MS Access, but sometimes the most straight forward solution is not the most elegant/sophisticated one

Why the OP doesn't tell us more about the application / setup he/she currently uses.

welo

The issue the OP is facing probably has something to with Windows 7 Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) being incompatible with ACPI. By disabling ACPI in the BIOS, it may be possible to get Windows 7 up and running (don't quote me on this one). Still, it's better to update the BIOS than to disable ACPI features anyhow.

Well, that's what Google told me too, but I wanted to hear from the OP

welo

Well if you couldn't be bothered finding out the information for yourself you really shouldn't be whinging...

Ever heard that before?

My advice is...nah, you won't be listening to any advice, would you?

Slow down, man! Obviously he DID listen to advise given here... Did you have a rough night?

welo

Interesting topic...

Not sure if TeamPlayer works for this. It seems you can have two (or more) mouse pointers but only one can be active at a time ('click to take control'). Not sure though since I just read one short article and I'm too lazy to check on it

It's kind of obvious that there are Linux solutions available since Linux has always been a multi user environment from the start with multiple terminal sessions and XWindow being flexible enough to do all kinda things.

Windows however... well the technology is there, Windows can manage multiple remote user sessions even though the feature is restricted on non server versions AFAIK.

Found one product that claims to be able to do what you need on Windows, never heard of it before or tried to run it (lazy..)

http://international.ibik-soft.com/

Not sure what application you use to collect your data, just make sure it can handle multiple users writing to the database - if the app is file based (like Excel or Word) it will probably not support if users write to the same file even if you get a sophisticated product to run multiple users on one computer.

welo

May I ask why Windows 7 wants you to update your BIOS? What is the exact message?

welo

This Express Service system, which I have not seen in practice, may have arisen to make up for the free visas being issued. I would have been happy to pay $20? to get my passport back the next day, and have one less day in PP.

I am not sure you will be able to pay for that 'service' inside the embassy at the counter, since I doubt it is officially offered. I asked one of the 'agents' that linger outside the embassy right in front of the gates. He 'connected' me to a police officer in the booth next to the gate who would later in the afternoon return at the scene without uniform and retrieve the passport through a side window and hand it over to me

I recommend to ask at a travel agency that offers visa services if they can do the whole process for you, then you don't even have to show up at the embassy yourself but just leave the passport with the agent the evening you arrive or early morning the next day and you should get it back late the same day (I picked it up myself and had to wait until 16:30).

welo

I checked the TOT website for internet service packages & prices. Their website had no details on packages or prices. It just says for more info call 1100.

From my experience the english TOT website is completely outdated. Most times you can find the current broadband prices listed as 'promotion' on the start page. Here is the current promotion, I suggest using the translator of your choice (Google Translator or maybe your gf/wife)

http://www.tot.co.th/index.php?option=com_...amp;Itemid=1636 (Thai only, translated by Google)

There used to be a special website dedicated to the new broadband packages. I can't remember how I found it, but today it was well hidden on Google and it took me some time to dig it up again. I am not sure it's offline again or has just been hacked, however, you will find a nearly blank page and some resources being loaded from an obviously malicious domain.

http://tothispeed.tot.co.th

The flash based website with prices is still available (Thai language) under

http://tothispeed.tot.co.th/main_dev.swf

welo

OK. Here's my take on this:

TTT is a company that was partly owned by another company called Jasmine. TTT is now undering massive restructuring because of their debt holders are now acting. Yes, basically they are backrupted and the only part of this company that is making profit is Maxnet.

Jasmine therefore is pulling itself out from TTT and is going to control only Maxnet. What they are doing now is they start up a new company called 3BB and now they're in the process of transferring all Maxnet users to 3BB network.

So what about the phone lines? In the countryside you used to have the choice between a TT&T phone line plus Maxnet as provider or a TOT line plus TOT itself as provider. Is/will 3BB still be offered only on TT&T lines?

welo

Screenshot Captor

http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mous...ptor/index.html

http://download.cnet.com/Screenshot-Captor...4-10433616.html

This is the right tool if you need to take more than the occasional 'one' screenshot, e.g. for software tutorials, documentation, etc. Has a handy feature to quickly take snapshots of only parts of a application window (e.g. only the browser content frame without toolbars). Furthermore you can quickly blur parts of the picture, add arrows and text, etc.

Didn't run it on Win 7 yet but website states its compatible....

welo

Excellent advise from supernova (as usual)

Using Firefox but taking an age to open and then finding I cannot access the page I'm after.

In general not being able to update a page and then getting "page not available"

This might be due to an unstable internet connection. Firefox checks for updates on startup - in case of connection timeouts (this is different from being offline) its startup might be delayed considerably.

You can also try disabling addons (maybe use Firefox (Safe Mode) from the start menu) and compare the behavior.

Also a few days ago Windows Firewall and Auto Updates were constantly turning off without me doing anything.

Is this a virus or trojan of some kind?

This behavior looks looks very much like a trojan infection to me...

Try Malwarebytes as already suggested by supernova.

Since you suspect an infection you should not rely on one antivirus software alone (escpecially not AVG). I recommend use one of the free online On-Demand scanners available, since it's not a good idea to install more than one antivirus software (with guard/shield enabled).

Pick one (or even more) from here, I recommend one of the more popular choices like Eset NOD32, F-Secure, Bitdefender, or Kaspersky. I personally use ESET since you can download a small installer that will run independently from the browser - so you can run the free version once a month in addition to your primary choice of antivirus - just open the online scanner in any browser other than IE.

welo

So agents charge 5$ for applying in your name - sounds reasonable since 4 Tuktuk rides will cost you 1-2$ each. There are reports that an already booked flight ticket back can convince the embassy to return the visa application the next day (without fee). This was a couple of months back, though, and no guarantee of course.

Anybody was offered/asked for 'express service' (pickup the same day) with travel agencies or the agents outside the embassy? Was 15$ (~500THB) back then.

welo

Augustine, you either have to go to Phnom Penh and apply for the visa yourself or you use an agent/agency service from Poipet/Siem Reap. I've done both. If you'd like to travel Cambodia anyway you can go to Siem Reap/Angkor Wat (just 2.5 hours from Poipet), stay maybe 2 nights, and continue to Phnom Penh (maybe 5 hours by bus). Just half a year ago tourist agencies would do the visa for just 10-12 USD and you would get it within one day (fee includes the 'express service' fee). Don't have any more recent info though. Checkout my report from last year from taiphoon's post above.

If you are not interested in Cambodia you can use an agent/agency from either Bangkok (checkout ads from the Bangkok Post - are you in Thailand already?) or Poipet. Bangkok agencies charge about 6000 THB - they'll bring you to Poipet and have you stay there 2 nights while your passport is taken to Phnom Penh for the Thai visa. The price includes Cambodian visa fee, bus, hotel, 7 meals and 2 nights in a hotel. This is just taken from the ads, never used them myself.

If you go to Poipet on your own you can contact an agent there and stay in hotel either within the Casino area or in Poipet. Air-con rooms start at 400 THB, but in the casino hotels add about 500 THB in promotion chips that are added to the price. Read more here.

You need a Visa to enter Cambodia or stay in the Casino area which is 20 USD (plus 0-200 THB tea money) or 1000 THB (300 THB tea money included) plus 1 photo. For less hassle get the eVisa online which ads up to the same price (20 USD + 5 USD processing fee) but gives you a smoother border experience. Some people do not trust the Singapore company though who runs the e-payment part, I've been using the service for a couple of times already and didn't have any problems with fraud yet.

If you go to Poipet on your own be sure to do more reading on this forum before you go, then you will have a good experience.

welo

PS Thaiphoon, where did you dig out that old thread

Thanks for the hints!

We stayed at the Star Vegas. The offer 'standard' rooms for 800 THB incl. 500 Baht promotion chips.

Those rooms are not in the main building but in a rather functional looking building on the backside of the main building only separated by the (big) pool/garden. The rooms (size, interior) seem to be the same as for the 1500 THB rooms (incl. 1000 THB promotion chips). Rooms have air-con, hot shower, fridge, TV with TRUE cable with HBO and CNN, and hardwood floor (nice, so much better than worn-out carpeted floors).

The pool is pretty large (though not very deep - enough for swimming though), water is clean enough, and during our 2.5 day stay we've only seen 2 other people hanging out there.

Breakfast is not included, buffet (actually available all day) is 100 THB pp, you get a free voucher when you change 5000 THB to chips I've been told. The location is close to the 'market' area with small shops, stands, and restaurants - rather 'local' of course (and so are the prices!) though I've seen one selling Pizza

We played the promotion chips conservatively and were lucky enough to 'win back' the 2x500 THB and even a bit more, so eventually the rooms costed us less than 300 THB per night. Doing that and drinking the free beer in the casino I felt a bit 'cheap', but seeing all those people losing thousands of Baht in a couple of minutes my bad conscious for exploiting the casino was very limited.

I was pleasently surprised by our hotel and the area surrounding it. It was a bit off the stressful main road, and with the 'market' area close there was actually an opportunity to stroll around. I felt pretty safe even after nightfall since lighting was good and the area was busy enough with people. I guess the Casino area should be pretty safe anyway, since the casinos are definitely not interested in bad publicity that might scare off customers.

Free shuttle cars will take you to other casinos, and even though to me they all looked the same it was something to kill time (other than playing the casino and possibly losing a lot of money )

Only downside was the rather long waiting times at the immigration counters, maybe there's a peak now with tourists arriving in December extending their 30-day stay permit adding to the tourists coming from/going to Angkor Wat.

welo

I'm going for a visa-run to Poipet and will have to stay 2 nights there awaiting my visa. I just learnt that my (Thai) wife will not require a Cambodian visa if we stay within the Casino zone. Can anybody recommend a hotel there at 500 THB or less room rate? I'm not interested in any package offers (room and chips) since I will probably not gamble at all.

I found older posts that Grand Diamond has decent rooms for 500 Baht.

Orkiday Angkor Hotel has room rates between 400-600, but is just outside the casino zone - I guess she cannot stay there without a visa, right?

Any advice/hints welcome! Thx!

welo