Items filtered by date: December 2015

This a batch file i wrote for my sage installations. In sage it is important that you map a netwrok drive when using a network location for the storage of the database files. Some version of windows, especially Windows XP will constantly drop mapped drives and you would ahve to intiate them in my computer before they would work again.

This batch file forces the connections to be re-established on every boot.

net use m: "\\server\Admin Documents" /yes
net use p: "\\server\Sage Payroll" /yes
net use s: \\server\Accounts /yes
net use t: "\\server\Tax Share" /yes
net use y: "\\server\Sage Accounts Production" /yes
net use z: "\\server\Sage Corporation Tax" /yes

Today’s blog is going to cover some issues regarding the installation of MS12-034 (2686509).  When installing this update you may encounter the following error message:

Setup cannot continue because one or more prerequisites required to install KB2686509 failed (0x8007F0F4)

Solution

Security Update KB2686509 will not install- error code 0xf0f4 - Microsoft Community

I struggled with this for days. Here is what was happening and what I did that worked.

faultykeyboard.log listed 24 entries of the form   kb*.kbd

I searched and no such files exist on my computer. By running regedit and looking I found 24 abnormal looking subkeys matching the list in:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Keyboard Layouts

After carefully reviewing the potential for damage I discovered that the operating system automatically restores this section of the registery if a boot failure occurs.

I then boldly deleted all subkeys of the type *.kbd from the registry. I deleted faultykeyboard.log. I rebooted then ran the update KB2686509 and it installed and rebooted the computer.

The problem is gone.  Everything works.

or try

Good tips in this thread. It ultimately led me to my solution. The problem computer here was also running a version of Windows XP modified with NLite.

I was able to resolve this problem by first opening the faulty keyboard log. On the problem computer, it was located in C:\Windows\system32\faultykeyboardlog.log.

The faultykeyboard.log file simply listed these four items:
KBDDV.DLL
KBDUSX.DLL
KBDUSL.DLL
KBDUSR.DLL

I went to a computer that I knew had an unmodified version of Windows XP Professional, copied those four DLL files from C:\Windows\system32. I then transfered them to the C:\Windows\system32 on the problem computer and re-ran the manual installation file for KB2686509 which can be downloaded at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29804.

Other Solutions

Try these if the above does not work

• Security Update for Windows XP (KB2686509) will not install - Microsoft Community
• KB2686509 repeatedly fails with Error code 0x8007F0F4 - Microsoft Community
• Setup cannot continue because one or more prerequisites required to install KB2686509 failed (0x8007F0F4)

When trying to add, delete, or sync any music in my iTunes I receive this error. "You do not have enough access privileges for this operation. iTunes could save your music library"

Or

I keep getting an error "The iTunes library file cannot be saved. You do not have enough access privileges for this operation." in random times when I use iTunes. I said in random times because I don't get an error when I import files to the library or to my iPhone and even though I click on "Don't show this message again." I still get it after I restart my PC.

The itunes library file cannot be saved. you do not have enough access privileges

You possibly cannot update your itunes library

Solution 1

What i found whas that BT Cloud Sync had a lock on the iTunes ITL file and was always trying to sync it to the cloud. Because it was locked, iTunes could never update it and could never save it either. This can also be true for other applications that might be syncing files or backing them up.

NB 1:

In my C: Drive itunes music folder i had 900.tmp files, i have deleted these, could someone explain what these are for?

Those .tmp files means some other software has a lock on the iTunes Library.itl file. Every time you play a song, podacst, etc....itunes makes a tmp file, when it is done it renames it to iTunes Library.itl with the updated play count.

Something else has a lock on the ITL file, so itunes cannot rename it.
A common culprit is security software. If it is scanning the ITL file, tell it not to do that.

The iTunes library file cannot be saved. | Apple Support Communities

NB 2:

If you're an advanced PC user, get Process Monitor from SysInternals, Set it to monitor what is accessing iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Library.xml
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

What should i Do?

uninstall or disable BT cloud sync. If it is not this, you should use the SysInternals method to find out what program is locking the ITL file.

 Other Solutions (not tried)

• check permissions on the \My Documents\My Music\iTunes folder
• run iTunes as an administrator
• "Goto \My Documents\My Music\iTunes and right click on the iTunes Library file, select properties > then unselect Read-Only". 
  some times everything is set as read only
  

• The location of the iTunes Library file may be read-only or owned by a different user.
  
  Default locations:
  XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<login>\My Documents\My Music\iTunes
  Vista: C:\Users\<login>\Music\iTunes

  Windows 7: C:\Users\My Music\itunes
  
  Right click the iTunes folder and choose Properties
  Look at the Attributes and see if Read-Only is checked.
  Uncheck it and click OK, at the apply to all subfolders and files prompt, make sure all subfolders and files is selected and click OK.
  
  If your iTunes library saves now you are done.
  If it does not you will need to try on each directory above the iTunes directory.
  
  Of course if you are not using the default locations you'll have to alter the path to the one you find in iTunes Edit->Preferences, Advanced tab.

• If the earlier suggestion didnt work, just delete the itunes library file "iTunes Library.itl" and re-open itunes.
  
  Default locations for the itunes library file:
  XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<login>\My Documents\My Music\iTunes
  Vista: C:\Users\<login>\Music\iTunes

  Windows 7: C:\Users\My Music\itunes

  This solved it for me...
• - right click on music folder
  - click on properties
  - click restore defaults
  - welcome back itunes
• I had this same problem I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit.
  I found away to fix my problem
  If you go to the iTunes.exe
  C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.exe
  Right click on the iTunes.exe
  select "Properties"
  Click on "Security" Tab
  High Light your User Name
   ** I did not have "Full Control"
  I click on "Edit..."
  High Lighted my User and check "Full Control"
  Clicked "OK"
  Click "OK"
  And now opened my iTunes again and played my music with out getting that error anymore
• I finally got this fixed on my machine.  Windows 7, 64 bit.
  
  - Turn off UAC - User Account Control
  - Keep in mind this does turn off the protection provided.
  - Go to Control Panel, System and Security, Change User Acount Control settings.  Drag the slider down to never notify.  Restart your computer.
  
  Bingo bango, it worked!
• Hey! I just solved this issue myself. I hope this helps
  
  1. Right click over the iTunes Icon
  2. Select "Properties"
  3. Select Compatiblity
  4. Uncheck the box that says, "Run this compatiblity in mode for.."
  5. Apply
  6. Ok
  
  I really hope this helps!
• check privilages of iTunes.exe in your C:\Program Files\Itunes\ or C:\Program Files(x86)\Itunes\ folder

Other Threads to Check

• iTunes Privileges Error with Windows 7 - Microsoft Community
• Trouble adding music to iTunes library or importing audio CD - Apple Support
• The iTunes library file cannot be saved. | Apple Support Communities

• 1 account per website /APP / Application
• several properties ie subdomains cpanel.quantumwarp.com , demo.quantumwarp.com (you might possibly have a quantumwarp app seperate)
• but 1 account per thing is better because you can do what you want with it including moving the account to another google account. only accounts can be moved and thier permissions controlled

the layout of thes layers of analytics is confusing.

Answers from h.m.comp on ebay

400V 100uF 105°C electrolytic radial Capacitor

is this low ESR ?
No these are not low ESR caps.

do you have one that is, same specs. it is for a power supply in a tft monitor. i have installed this cap and the monitor is now working but i believe that it will not last unless i put a low esr one in. am i right?
Out of experience i can say that the big capacitor in power boards for LCD Monitors and TV's do rarely fail.
They are usually High temp/Long Life capacitors and usually outlive the smaller caps.
You will find the datasheet for this one here:
http://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/products/pdfs/e-pt.pdf
I do have a panasonic version of the 400v 100uf ,but again this is i high temp/long life capacitor too.

The big capacitor i swapped had spilt its guts so has definately gone.
High temp/Long Life capacitors = not ESR ?
so using this nichion capacitor should be ok?
Yes they will be ok for power supplies.I have used them many times myself.

This is my list of  3rd party Desktop sharing services/clients i have found on the internet. Some are free and some are really expensive.

• AnyDesk
• Teamviewer
• Gotomypc
• Join.me
• Avast has remote control built in. Both PCs need Avast installed
• Gotoassist
• Hamachi free
• Open VPN + RDP
• No Machine 4
• Meraki Systems Manager
• VNC
  • RealVNC
  • UltraVNC
• Jumpdesktop.com/free-remote-desktop
• Chrome remote desktop
• Gbridge
• Spiceworks + RDP
• Server 2003 + RDP Etc..
• Aeroadmi.com
• AMMY admin
• RDP
• Centra Stage ©
• Mikogo ©
• Skype (probably has remote desktop)
• Zoom
• Radmin
• MSP360 Connect (formerly CloudBerry Remote Desktop)
• Google Chrome
• Microsoft Assist
• Remote Utilities
  • Get Free License | Remote Utilities - Get free license for business and personal use.
• Splashtop

The following Script / Code will allow you to check if your server or website is protecting agains XSS (cross site Scripting)

http://server/cgi-bin/testcgi.exe?<SCRIPT>alert(“Cookie”+document.cookie)</SCRIPT>

Before doing the following try a selective startup to make sure it is not a 3rd party server via msconfig

• load taskmanager with the svchost = %100 issue
• load services Snapin / Control Panel
• disable/stop each service until the memory/cpu usage is normal

Additonal

• svchost viewer can be used to narrow down candidates, but just going throught he list alphabetical is easier
• try windows update first (automatic updates), this can also be npoted that when you stop the offending svchost its starts later again on its own
• There is an app that seperates out the child processes of svchost
• there is a registry setting to force all svchost child process to run individually

I had a prestashop ecommerce shop installed using paypal and i was getting issues where i could not get a successful payment transaction when using PayPal. I asked the following

"This test you ran shows that the PayPal is working in your situation but I need a way to test if the IP I am using is blocked. I will use this for further test when the problem re-occurs. Please can you show me a website/utility/method of checking to see if an ip address is blocked by PayPal."

The test in the following response can be useful in diagnosing errors to do with PayPal connections.

Hi,

We have recently seen contacts from merchants whose host IPs got blocked by an ISP in-between PayPal and the host, effectively blocking them from reaching PayPal. we do not block these IPs ourselves, this is an issue outside the scope of our company.

You could execute ( or ask your network administrator to do so ) the following commands and send the results to your admin (or host) for further analysis, this will help them to find a definitive fix for this situation.

openssl s_client -connect www.paypal.com:443 ( or the endpoint -url- you use to connect to PayPal)

The IPs used by our systems can be found here :
https://cms.paypal.com/fr/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=developer/howto_api_golivechecklist

Also please have a look at this guide: https://ppmts.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/733

Regards,
Cosmin.

This is my research on setermining which ESR meter i should buy.

What is the ESR of  a Capacitor?

There is a series resistor inside capacitor, using 100kHz to remove the impedance 1/(2*pi*F*C), the impedance become small, and we can then measure the true series resistor value.

A bad E-capacitor will have larger ESR and create large ripple rather than filtering noise. Normally, a big capacitor is larger than 3 ohm.

Using this theory, we can measure the capacitor is bad/ damaged or good in condition.

Because our ESR meter only applies less than 15mV DC or peak to peak on a good capacitor, as a result we can use it as in circuit test. Because this low testing voltage, it cannot turn on the semiconductor inside a circuit under testing.

During repairing TV, LCD, Audio board, etc. we can in circuit testing the capacitor is good or not.

What is an ESR Meter for?

Firstly, what is an ESR Meter? An ESR Meter is used to measure the internal resistance of a capacitor. This feature allows you to measure a capacitor in-circuit and determine if it is faulty by its resistance. This make diagnosis consumer electronics much easier because other wise to measure a capacitor you would have to remove it from the circuit which involves desoldering, test it and then resolder it back into the circuit if not faulty. This process will have to continue for all the capacitors on the board. With an ESR Meter you can check capcacitors in moments.

How They Work

A 100KHz sine wave is pushed through the capacitor at such a low voltage that no components are triggered (opened or closed) and the sine wave is measured. From this you can determine the internal resistance of a capacitor. This outcome is determined by several variables of the capacitor:

1. Capacitance
2. Can Size (Physical Size)
3. Rated Voltage
4. Series / Model
5. Manufacturer

As a rule of thumb, if the internal resistance is above 1Ω (ohm), the capacitor is faulty. This is definately the case in most consumer electronics.

Which Meter Should I Buy ?

This was a very tricky thing to find out. There are alsorts of devices that says they measure ESR. Many are not practical, acurate or cheap. Which ones have protection, which are easy to use and so on. I have research all the main ones you will; come across and i have made a little pros and cons of each one. I also at the bottom have put my recommendation and why. This will be the one i actually bought and used.

Jingyan MESR-100 V2

Pros

• cheap
• Range 0.001R to 100R
• Auto-Ranging In Circuit
• backlit LCD display
• Uses true 100 KHz sine wave to measure the ESR value#
• is pre assembled in a durable plastic case
• can be powered from USB with a Micro USB cable
• can be powered by batteries (2 x AA)
• Test cables are connected by standard 4mm Banana Sockets
• There is a matching Capacitor Meter (Jingyan M6013 V2 Capacitor Meter), this is also very well made
• Diode protections on the inputs - they will not prevent massive voltages ie 400V, i am unsure of the maximum it would protect against
• has a basic ESR tables printed on the case

Cons

• Diode protection on the inputs - you cannot check the internal resistance of a battery.

Other ESR Meter Notes

• everyone recommends MIB Instruments for buying stuff
• how do i check/discharge a capacitor before using this meter
• what is the largest voltage it is protected against (MESR-100 V2)
• LCR meters can measure ESR and are really expensive. They should only be bought by experienced engineers or when you know why you need one.
• longer test leads can affect accuracy and need to be special sheilded
• Standard test leads are 15cm, for longer test leads need special shielding to affect the EMI inference (MESR-100 V2)
• ESR meters need to be zeroed before use
• you cannot use ESR meters on live circuits or charged capacitors
• You must make sure you discharge a capacitor before testing its ESR

Different ESR Meters

During my research i cam across the following different brands of ESR meter

• Jingyan MESR-100 V2 (there is a matching Capacitance meter aswell) i bought mine from mib_instruments on ebay
  • MESR 100 v2 - Quick look + teardown - YouTube
  • Esr Meter MESR100 v2 Hands on look at a low priced Equivalent series resistance meter. - YouTube
  • New ESR meter - MESR-100 V2 by 'Jingyan' - Page 1 - Forum thread discussing this meter
• Peak Electronics ESR70 (there is a matching Capacitance meter aswell), this is the never version of the ESR60
  • Review: Peak Atlas ESR70 Capacitance and ESR meter - YouTube
  • Peak Electronics ESR70 ESR & Capacitance Meter - YouTube
  • ESR70 & Blue ESR meters, comparison, features and differences - YouTube
• UNI-T UT612 - This is an expensive LCR meter that also does ESR.
  • T4D #70 - The last T4D for a while...UNI-T UT612 Overview - YouTube
  • Review and tear-down of UNI-T UT612 LCR meter - Page 1 - Forum thread discussing this meter
• Agilent U1733C LCR
  • EEVblog #234 - Agilent U1733C LCR Meter Teardown - YouTube
• Anatek Blue ESR meter - An older style ESR meter with no protection but is able to check a battery's ESR
• Low Cost PCB style meters on ebay (~$10 - $15)
  • Low cost ESR Meter review - YouTube - The cheap PCB style ones on eBay
  • $20 LCR ESR Transistor checker project - Page 1 - Forum thread discussing this meter

Links

Misc

• How to choose an ESR Meter - an old article on this subject but worth a read.
• Atlas ESR and ESR+ Manuals

Some Other Notes

• Some good brands of LCR: Agilent, Mastech, UNiT
• Most ESR meters do not have protection on them and a charged capacitor will kill them
• Most LCRs do not have input protection on them because it affects measurements. A charged capactitor will kill a LCR (teardown thread) (video - jump to about 32:00))
• A lot of the decent LCR have ESR meters on them, but not all
• The UNI-T UT612 LCR has an ESR option on it and can be connected to a PC for logging.
• The Agilent 1703C has some input protection on it. See eevblog video and add time here
• The MESR-100 V2 uses a true sine wave at 100KHz to test ESR and has some diodes for protection (see eevblog forum post) but this prevents it from testing battery ESRs, this is fine by me because I want to test capacitors. A good write up
• You can test a batteries ESR with a an ESR meter to check if it is knackered (see crazy guy video + time)
• You need to discharge capacitors before testing. You can check with a multimeter for voltage or with a capacitance meter with protection to see if it is charged
• You can discharge a capacitor by
  • Using a screwdriver to short the pins, only use on small capacitors
  • Using a wire and a resistor (add dads link here)
  • Use a capacitense meter with an auto discharge feature
  • Use a peak esr60/esr70 to discharge the capacitor. These will only discharge capacitors up to 50V, if you connect greater that 250v (I am guessing) it will blow the meter
  • Notes – thread 1 how to discharge and bleeder resistor notes
• The atlas peak esr60/esr70 meters, and in particular the 70, have an auto discharge feature built in with audible alerts and gets some favourablie write-ups but as with the MESR-100 you cannot check battery ESR
• LCR check impedance, Resistance and capacitance (and ESR). This functionality is probably not included on a multimeter because to measure them the devices become fragile and should only be used by professionals
• If you have a spate ESR meter it makes testing capacitors on mass easier
• The MESR V2 seems to be the best cheapest ESR meter online that works
• Those really cheap ESR (+ do other things) that are not in cases work ok and you can add your own probes onto them and then zero them.
• Another straight ESR meter id the Blue ESR meter based on a design by bob barker. I have also heard of one made by a Russian guy call GO-ESR which also has some input protection
• my Mastech MS5803 as the preferred LCR/ESR meter in my lab ? mention on eevblog forum with the mesr100 right up, see link above

Questions

• Does the honeytek really auto discharge capacitors upto 1000V