zalternate

I read something the other day about Bing taking over as the default search. Might of been to do with IE 8's latest version.

The Canada to U.S. border(U.S. border agents) can steal your computer under the charges assumption of Terrorism and 'Maybe' return it in 3 months or so. So why worry?

I don't know if Microsoft has any law 'User agreement' on if you have to have you authentication sticker on the case.

I guess edit time ran out......    Fixed it better.

Not sure if the Canada border agents take computers and phones as well if they are doing illegal profiling. Or need a new laptop for home use.. 

you wanna check your download/upload speed, last week i found a site here internet speed check can be done...further assistance visit

[snipped for advertizing]

According to

http://whois.domaintools.com/122.165.35.254

That site is in India and the particular test is the one banned here due to spamming.

It also doesn't even show half of what my download speed is.

edit to remove url in quote

The U.S. to Canada border can steal your computer under the charges assumption of Terrorism and 'Maybe' return it in 3 months or so. So why worry?

I don't know if Microsoft has any law 'User agreement' on if you have to have you authentication sticker on the case.

Windows 7. Oct 22 2009. 

My kids Vista Basic box does not get offered the update of SP2, due to the fact that SP1 was offered and then pulled by Microsoft after one month, due to it having a conflict on OEM PC's that have a driver for Intel and AMD on the board at the same time. And I'm too lazy to fix it myself, But It still gets regular updates.

Oh and a major crash coming out of standby yesterday, makes me all the more want need to get rid of Vista. Even though the updates have made it more stable over the past year and a half. 

I found the Anik F2 satellite, but I could not find  WildBlue 1 does it have another designation??   There are several Direct/Hugh's Internet satellites up there.   It appears that I am on beam 46 on WildBlue's Anik F2, of their internet system I think in the middle Tennessee area..  Who Knows.......

WildBlue1 should be almost next to Anik F2, The dish TRIA(electronics on the end of the dish) has a left or right designation.

And if you really want to get confused with satellite names just for the early naming of WildBlue1, try the Google link. There are some people that are complete satellite junkies and pay attention to all that is satellite.

http://www.google.com/webhp#hl=en&q=wildblue1+west&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=wildblue1+west&aqi=&fp=1mZ_-PL2Zjc

WildBlue-1 will be put into operational service at the 111.1

Hughesnet SpaceWay3 was given to service at about August 2008.

Many users do not put their service platform.

KU band is old satellites. Hughesnet Ka band is newer SpaceWay3.

WildBlue will have to wait until later 2011 when the ViaSat1 is launched. Or at least until in-orbit testing is done.

WildBlue on the Anik F2 and WildBlue1. And now on a leased EchoStar satellite for a few more beams.

Hughesnet = Daily FAP. But overnight non-FAP time.

WildBlue = Monthly FAP. Which many burn through in two weeks on basic plan.

Anyone right now would recommend Hughesnet SpaceWay3 with the HN9000 modem. Since it's newest. But support is crap on both services.

Others recommend kicking the Telco and Cable lobbyists(that block land line Internet roll outs) out into the middle of the Pacific to see how long they can swim and then how long they can float. 

The HN9000 was never offered.  I just got something in the mail from them saying I can upgrade to the HN7000S for free and that it is a better and more secure modem.  After I upgraded the modem it wouldn't work at all, so they put me on another transponder and I have been regretting it ever since.  The transponder they put me on has, at max, a signal strength of 78.  That was the best one they could find.  When I had the DW7000 it was 66, max, but at least it was consistent with the speed.  I have the pro plan...does the HN9000 work with that? 

And with the free modem comes a 18 month contract(As far as I have read). Otherwise no contract with paying for the modem.

The HN9000 is a KA band on it's own dedicated satellite at 95west(and different equipment than the KU's).

I can't remember if the bad satellite number position was 93 west that had the power problem.

This looks like the proper map for some Ku(etc.)satellites. Hover over the spot to see it's name. Someone, somewhere has probably compiled a list of defective satellites.

http://www.intelsat.com/flash/coverage-maps/covmaphome.htm

Your control center should say what satellite and transponder you are on, so you can check out it's status in other places.

Control center address   192.168.0.1

http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/america.html

They keep changing the names of the satellites, but positions are always the same.

I used to have the DW7000 and I would get about 1100 down and 200 up on the Pro plan, no matter what time of day it was.  I switched to the HN7000S because they touted it as being faster and more secure.  Well, for the last month and a half that I have been on this new "modem", my speeds have been terrible.  Sometimes so bad that it times out when opening Google.  At other times it will spike to 1250 down, which makes no sense.  I called them and it was the same ole same ole.  They sent a request to have "level 5" tech service call me, because after three hours they couldn't figure out what was wrong, and I gave them the times I would be home.  They called twice at completely other times so I was never able to talk to them.  I finally called tech support back and told them I wanted to go back to my old modem and they said it was impossible.  What a bunch of crap!  It must have some self destruct mode where all of the circuits fry when they decomission it?  I'm not that stupid!  They just DON'T WANT to switch it back.  Oh, and when I upgraded they made me switch transponders because they said the new one wouldn't work with the transponder I was on.  I think that either the new transponder, or the modem, or both have the ability to be throttled down by them, and I think that is what is happening.  Half of the time they don't know what they are doing in tech support and the other half of the time they lie.  Upgrading to this new modem was the worst thing I could have done...and now I am stuck with it.

New software has been put on the NOC's to ensure more efficient use of bandwidth via the HN units(so a particular transponder will be used for the DW units until the cutoff). So eventually Hughesnet will just pull the plug on the old DW units and force the people to upgrade. A great business model eh.

One of the KU band satellites was just replaced a few weeks ago with an in orbit spare due to power problems.

Maybe there is another transponder on your satellite to try out?

The throttling is like setting a clock according to timing reports. Probably just an incentive to upgrade to the SpaceWay3 and HN9000 modem.

But with zero government oversight........... Consumers get screwed.

One day, one of these constant lawsuits that get filed against Hughesnet will target 'call support' and make them pay for the B.S. that they spew to customers on an hourly basis.

Sorry about the long post but contracts are an interesting thing to tear apart. 

Some interesting parts in that agreement. But how many people actually read the fine print anyways. It's that false advertising that hooks people in and then all sorts of S#!t hits the fan when full details of the non-guaranteed and heavily limited service come to light. Most people are not programmed to read "legalize" or drill down many pages into a website for full details and can not understand what the actual meaning of the document is.

"In the event that you did not receive all 5 pages of this agreement, Do not sign this agreement. Some reviews report installers will quickly just have the customer sign the signing portion "at the end of the install" and get grumpy if the customer wastes their time reading the whole document.

"You acknowledge that an owners manual or similar material was provided to you....."   Once again a customer could of signed and not gotten the manual.

Section 10.1 is the big one to note. It pretty well says the service may not work and the customer can still keep on paying for a service that does not work.

And if someone from WildBlue tells you something, well that information is bogus and not to be taken as something to fix the problems with the WildBlue system.

"Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of an implied warranty" Many have had their States Attorneys either fix problems or get the contract null and voided, due to being unfair to the consumer.

Section 10.2 Would seem to infer that if your service dies and you call in and they don't fix it for months, you can get your monthly fee's back for the time past the original call of non-working service.

Actually section 10.4 is a general disclaimer for system maintenance. Which unfortunately is not pre-announced to customers. And with the DAMA controls on the system, phone service for the most part will not work anyways. But what the agreement actual says is" The service shall not be used as you primary or 'life line' tele-communications service". That would be construed as email or instant messages and possibly some type of phone service that may kind of work on the system.

Section 10.6 Is interesting. Who is this "Us"? "The provisions of this agreement are for the benefit of Us, WildBlue and our respective....." So wheres the consumer protection in this contract with this section being in here? Does the consumer not have any rights in this contract?

Section 11.2 The U.S. mail notification or even email. Unless there is confirmation of a person receiving the document. That sent document is void unless confirmation of receipt is confirmed. Thats how court summons work.

And people can also not be expected to go to the website on a daily basis to see if there are any changes in the agreement.

Section 11.4 This one is always interesting and Judges are now voiding entire contracts due to it. "If any term of the agreement is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be construed in such a way, as to eliminate the offending aspects, while still giving as much effect as possible to the intension's of such term" Now what this means is that if parts of the contract are illegal and anti-consumer, then the company just rewrites that portion to comply with actual laws or even removes that section. But Judges are finding that to be not good enough anymore and are voiding the entire contracts that are designed to screw the customer and make millions for the company,while providing spotty service.

Xplornet Internet services in Canada actual has a line in their agreement that says "4. USE OF SERVICE: You are prohibited from using the Service and......" They know about it and have not fixed it.  So anyone using the service is violating the agreement. It should read something like... "4. USE OF SERVICE: You are prohibited from using the Service for and as well shall....."

  I am still confused as to why some have NO problem with Dish/WildBlue as the IPS.  I would like to as a followup to a prior question" whats wrong with the speeds"??  Daytime speeds run from 1.0meg down and 120Kbps upload, after 4pm they usually tank to as little as 85Kbps down .04Kbps upload.  as a norm at this time 350Kbps-550Kbps download and .08- 80Kbps upload.  There have been times that testmy.net was not able to test, so I used another site and it never tested either.  I have the middle package from Dish,  SO WHATS UP  WILDBLUE can you help me..Please 

Well some are installers that post their lovely speeds. On another forum the posters, posts a testmy.net speed test. Notice that the speedtest time codes shows the test was done during the morning when there is still plenty of bandwidth available. When they are confronted with that fact, they post the PrimeTime speed test which shows a slowdown in speeds. But they continue to post that fast morning test weekly. So new users checking out WildBlue on the forums see's great speeds that are near the advertised rate. And then once they get installed and experience actual 24 hour speed variations and that monthly rolling FAP, well the cursing begins.

The short of it is, bandwidth availability on some NOC's(land based uplinks/downlinks). And also some beams do not have as many subscribers, due to population and therefor can show decent PrimeTime speeds. Many people out there do not know what their speeds actually are and if the connection is slow, have the ability to walk away(or never use the system during the fast times and don't know how slow they really are). Some need the fast connection for work or school and can not walk away. And then face the daunting task of calling un-tech support. Designed to blame the user's computer for slow speeds, and wasting many hours of the users time, until they stop calling. Some users go to forums and find out the facts of why call support is not support at all.

Where an issue lies, is with the pricing tiers. You pay for the speed tier of 513Kbps to 1000Kbps. If your speeds continuously drop below 513Kbps, well thats fraud. Otherwise what use is a pricing tier system without set highs and lows. Some complain about that major speed drop and for about a month may have proper speeds before the speeds go back to like before. The user may get a one month credit as well.

The 9.8Gig of data transfer(up/down combined) on the basic(value) plan, ensures people 'upgrade' when they get FAPped at about two weeks of their new high speed broadband Internet connection. Since the plan is great for email and reading Internet text.

Next is the 'Select' plan with 15 Gigs of data transfer.

The 'Pro' plan has 22 Gigs of data transfer.

Going below 200Kbps(download) on satellite will cause page time outs. And dialup will be faster according to many.

Last I read France is right on the RIAA's bandwagon though. Their president and his celebrity wife that is. And all he knows is his weeny is wet, and his wife wants. So she gets. 

Wasn't there a news story about how politicians in France don't know what the Internet is?  Or at least don't know how it works.

And make sure you don't dispute the fact either.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0509/1224246190914.html

The RIAA has probably toyed with the idea of uploading loggers with the file from their honey pots. Just to be able to get the computers name and Owners/users name as well.

Other than that would not exactly get them anywhere in an actual court case, as uploading that logger is illegal.

But thats what these civil lawsuits are for. Stupid users think it's easier to give away all their cash, than go to court, where a Judge needs 100% legally obtained, factual evidence. Or at least be informed on just how the RIAA got their evidence.

And an ISP cutting off your service on just an 'accusation' is illegal. Something to still be challenged in court if the time comes. But it's not like the courts matter if the government blocks access to them to protect yourself.  Shoot, here in BC the monopoly insurance company will declare you a Dangerous driver with a couple of tickets of a certain type or quantity  and without a court appearance to prove you are a dangerous driver. And it comes with a fine that you have to pay before you can renew your drivers license as well.

I think it was Italy where the red light camera intersections, had real short yellow lights to obtain more safety ticket revenues. Many law/government officials gone to court and possibly jail. And an actual police chief broke the case because too many tickets were being issued by the cameras in his zone.

Thats reminds me of the late, great 'Screen Savers' show. There is another video somewhere of how to make the ignition switch.

At 2:30 seconds for the thermite bit.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4147847319296070400

This is a great way to stop people from breaking in to your house and trying to steal your computer.... No more computer and no more house.    "What evidence, your honor? It was a burglar alarm. Designed to go off to destroy my 'secure' data if someone lifted tried to steal the computer."   

And remember when dealing with the CopyRight Mafia, they aint got shiat on you that would hold up in an unbiased court. Too many people just pay the shakedown money and then fade away.   

But since it's just a letter from a secret admirer looking to bang you up the pooper shooter.    ..... Lesson be learned.  Next time you will be a good citizen and go out and buy your DRM encoded music and enjoy it until the server gets shutdown and then you can go out and buy it all over again, just to support the 5% the Artist gets for every sale.       Oh and lets never forget about those Root Kits that somehow get on the music CD. 

Maybe the 'router' is set to top out at 2Mbps with wireless?

To point the dish, he should of had a small square box that tells him what satellite the dish is pointed at and the fine tuning is done with it.

Otherwise to get system alignment stats, you have to call WildBlue and have them tell you your alignment strength(SVT numbers). Since the modem is a dumb piece of equipment with no end user interface, just an interface via WildBlue support. Or if you are friends with an installer, he can get you the numbers.

The Hughesnet modem has a user interface that gives all sorts of information.

When your various programs or system can't see the hard drive, it's a real battle.

Too bad no spare drive with the same specs for swapping the controller board out.

As far as I know yes, because from the way I understand it, the master Boot record flashed on the drive itself, so if it points to a specific sector on the HDD that isn't there, then the process stops right there.

But his is a third data drive and not the master drive.

I don't mean to bud in, and I might not fully understand the situation, but from what I gather, the HDD spins, but you find nothing on the disk, but that could mean that the directory fubared, sometimes, you can clone the drive, "acronis" and from the new drive, use fixmbr, and it has been known to reset the file structure to readable.

But like I said, I might not have fully read the thread enough o know if this is even the problem.

But would a lost directory cause the machine to not boot, when the drive is connected?

Since you can plug a new non-formatted drive in to a system and not cause a boot failure.

I'm not sure if he means "it spins when in the system during the boot failure" and not "just spins while being rotated lightly in a hand".

Interesting article. But doing this will void your warranty and it depends on how easy it is to find another 'exact' drive for real cheap to try this alternate method out.

http://ezinearticles.com/?One-Method-of-Data-Recovery-from-a-Dead-Hard-Drive&id=84559

Luckily for us the drive won't spin up at all. I say luckily because the usual problem is that the circuit board on the bottom of the drive went bad. That doesn't mean that something else isn't the problem, but replacing the circuit board is the simplest thing to try.

The first thing needed is another hard drive. That may sound easy but it isn't. You need an identical hard drive, and by identical I mean the same model number, part number, firmware, everything.

Some more articles.

http://www.google.com/webhp#hl=en&q=hard+drive+change+circuit+board&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=hard+drive+change+circuit+board&fp=Li-R6mbKWrc

Ok the CD that Zal gave me booted but now i um ... have no idea what to do with it...

Never mind i did it going and still the HDD is not present in Linux too. Damn. 500 Gigs Gone

Any Western Digital warranty left on it? 

Seagate with their faulty firmware on some drives was helping to get back the customers data, via a data recovery program for certain serial numbers. Since the drives ended up bricking themselves after a few months. Luckily I never got any of those bad ones around that time, since I bought 4 of them of various sizes.

I have'nt played around much with Sata drives, but you could read up on 'hot swap' for the hard drive.  I know my kids Vista box has the 'safe to remove hardware' icon on the task bar.

So the theory is to boot the system and then plug in the problem hard drive....But An issue if the drive does not power up and spin though... And then hope Windows recognizes it and you don't have any data loss from hot swapping the data/power cables. Lots of Information on Google.  Maybe leave the power cable on the drive and then plug the SATA cable in after boot? You'd have to Google for that, to be sure drive won't go crazy without the SATA cable on.

There is also this, to run a bootable CD that uses Linux to fix stuff without booting in to windows. Be very careful with it, as you can cause damage if done improperly.

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=85811&package_id=88964

It is a 235MB ISO.

Does the 500GB drive power up or even spin?

Found this interesting tid bit on the net.

Don't open the hard drive up. Just hold the case of it and twist your wrist real quick.

Other than power supply problems, stiction (static friction) is the usual cause of a hard drive's failure to spin. The drive heads become stuck to the platter and the motor can't overcome the sticking force.

To fix this problem, the platters must be rotated with enough force to free the heads. Twisting the drive violently in the same horizonal plane as the heads will usually free them. The inertia of the heavy platters tends to keep them from moving while the heads are moved around them.

Heres a decent one for general things.

http://majorgeeks.com/HD_Tune_d4130.html

If you know the specs of the original drive then you can compare the reading.