RPG GAMING - Vampyr

"Vampyr is an action role-playing game played from a third-person view.  The player controls Jonathan E. Reid, a doctor who was made into a vampire, and whose thirst for blood compels him to kill innocent people.  To do this successfully, he must study and change his targets' habits, collect clues, and maintain relationships with the sixty citizens under his care in London, which serves as a fictionalized semi-open world built around hubs of neighborhoods tethered to other areas.  A skill tree facilitates the improvement of abilities, which is fueled by experience points gained from blood and, alternatively, investigation.  Feeding on human blood provides nourishment in addition to unlocking new vampire powers.  Abilities can be manually activated and passively upgraded.  Active skills afford defensive, aggressive, healing, and tactical measures; passive skills increase health, stamina, the blood gauge and absorption, bite damage and regeneration, and carry capacity." - Wikipedia

 

Before You Buy

I've just started playing this game on my Win7 PRO 64bit Desktop rig with 8GB RAM, Intel Core i5-4690 CPU @ 3.50GHz, NVIDIA Corporation GK104 [GeForce GTX 770] 2048 VRAM, and it is outstanding to play.

All you need is to view the "Before You Buy" video to see if Vampyr is for you.

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PC GAMING - Sniper Elite 4

Weeks ago I installed Sniper Elite:Italia and some DLCs (Steam) on my Win7 Pro 64bit desktop.

I also have Sniper Elite v2 and Sniper Elite 3.

This is the best of the series from Rebellion.

It has all the elements of Sniper Elite 3 and more.

What I like about this game series is using and improving my tactics to complete missions.

In addition to the Main Mission (several parts) operations in Italy, there are 4 DLC Missions.

• "Target Fuhrer" (one mission)
• "Deathstorm" (3 part mission)

And there's "Bullet Time where you watch your shot in slow-mo.

Below are some screenshots from the game:

Your target is one of Hitler's top henchman, and what he carries, in the mansion in the far background.

When you start a mission you can choose weapons and supplies.  Your primary is (of course) a sniper rifle, secondary is an SMG, and third is your pistol.

Example

Your Level changes weapons effects:

Those bullet drop and wind.  Of course you still have the "Hold Breath" option which puts a red target where your shot will hit.

As you play, at the start of each mission you can adjust your "Skill Tree" with the skills you earned during missions.

The yellow [i] means these have not been assigned, one you have not earned are grayed-out.

Then there's your "Service Record" (aka Stats):

I have played several rounds over the weeks and have reached the Level "Ghost" and am working on the Level "Elite" (2,481,370 out of 3,000,000 pts).  And I am Death Incarnate.

And now videos:

PC GAMING - Tomb Raider 2013

Now that my PC Desktop rig is powerful enough I installed "Tomb Raider 2013" (Steam) and WOW what a game.

This is the first time I've seen a console game that was very well ported to PC.  With really usable PC controls.

The graphics are outstanding, the story line very consistent, and the 'puzzles' neat.

"Tomb Raider" is addictive.  Hail Lara Croft, ultimate survivor.

Down side, check-point saves and saves at campfires.

MICROSOFT - Privacy Invasion Port to Windows 7 and 8

"Microsoft backports privacy-invading Windows 10 features to Windows 7, 8" by Joel Hruska, Extreme Tech 9/31/2015

Excerpt

Every time Microsoft releases a new version of an operating system, there’s always a few users bitterly unhappy at the company’s decision not to support new features on older products.  Microsoft has finally listened to these die-hard devotees of older operating systems.  If you felt like Windows 7 and Windows 8 offered you a little too much privacy, rejoice: Microsoft is updating those operating systems with the same telemetry gathering software it deployed on Windows 10.

What?  You wanted DirectX 12?

Ghacks.net has discovered four KB updates for Windows 7 and 8, each of which is described as an “Update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry.”  Each is detailed below:

KB 3068708:  This update introduces the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to existing devices.  By applying this service, you can add benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded.  The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights.

KB 3068708 is listed as collecting diagnostics about functional issues on systems that take part in the Customer Experience Improvement Program.  Determining whether or not you are a member of the CEIP, however, is less than obvious.  The KB also notes that “Most programs make CEIP options available on the Help menu, although for some products, you might have to check settings, options, or preferences menus.”  This is a recommended Windows update.

KB 3022345:  This update has been superseded by KB 3068708, but previously provided the same telemetry-tracking services.  It’s not clear how the two updates differ, but if you want to remove all traces of telemetry tracking, you’ll want to remove this update as well.

KB 3075249:  This update adds telemetry points to the User Account Control (UAC) feature to collect information on elevations that come from low integrity levels.  What this appears to mean is that MS wants more information about the kinds of applications that trigger UAC in the first place, presumably because it wants to know what they do and why they need that access.  This update is classified as Optional.

KB 3080149:  This update is described in identical language to the first two.  “This package updates the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service to existing devices.  This service provides benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded.  The update also supports applications that are subscribed to Visual Studio Application Insights.”  It is provided as an Optional update, even though the first was classified a “Recommended” update.

Hard-coded phoning home

One of the assumptions made by various privacy advocates and journalists, including me, is that third-party utilities would be able to shut down the tracking Microsoft deployed in Windows 10.  To some degree, that’s already happened, but there are certain new “features” of Windows 10 that can’t be blocked by any OS-level tweaks, including the hosts file.  The updates listed above connect to vortex-win.data.microsoft.com and settings-win.data.microsoft.com.  These addresses are hard-coded to bypass the hosts file and cannot be prevented from connecting.  It’s been reported that software firewalls aren’t sufficient to block them, though this is unclear.

IMPORTANT:  You should uninstall updates in reverse order starting with KB3080149 and Restart after each uninstall run.  Uninstall KB3068708 LAST (it is the key update, the others are updates to this one).

The upshot for Windows 7 & 8 users who want MORE privacy, uninstall the listed 'updates' and hide them when they come up again.

There is more in the full article.

WINDOWS 7 - Classic Shell

Just found something that is outstanding for my Windows 7 Pro 64bit rig.

Classic Shell for Windows 7 & 8

Here are screenshots of just two examples:

This shows the style I'm using for the [Start] menu.

This is the file Explorer classic style.

There are more styles for other Windows UIs.

Why do I like this utility?  See my [Start] menu:

SOFTWARE - Hardware Monitor on My Windows 7 64bit Rig

Quite awhile back I posted an article bout CPUID's Hardware Monitor (aka HWMonitor).

Well, above is what it is showing for my custom built Windows 7 64bit 'Super Rig.'

I was surprised by the display of my UPS (Uninterpretable Power Supply) info.

This was not displayed in my dead-and-berried WinXP Rig.  Maybe it's because on my new rig the UPS is connect via USB.

Note that HWMonitor comes in a free none-Pro version.  HWMonitor Pro ($) allows you to create graphs.

WINDOWS - WinXP vs Win7

As I said in my previous post, I was forced to go to Windows 7.

I have found that Microdunce has 'broken' features in Win7:

[Send to]:  This is the first broken feature I ran into.  In WinXP you can put any shortcut in your [SendTo] folder and it will work when using the Context Menu [Send to] option.  NOT in Win7, you cannot use normal shortcuts in your [SendTo] folder.

POINTERS:  In WinXP you can set custom pointers sourced from anywhere, any CUR file.  In Win7 ALL pointers must be in C:\Windows\Cursors.  This means you have to copy cursors/pointers from your other sources to that folder for any Pointer Customization to hold on next boot, ALSO you should save a the DEFAULT cursor theme.

SOUNDS:  In Win7 there is no "Start Windows" sound listed.  "Exit Windows" is listed.  Luckily I found a utility to change the "Start Windows" sound.  Now tell me, what is the logic of NOT having "Start Windows" listed?


I consider features 'broken' if any change makes it HARDER to use Windows.

I will add more 'broken features' here as I find them.

HARDWARE - My New Super-PC (updated)

Well.... after 20+ years my old WinXP desktop PC died, gave up the ghost.

So I got new custom built PC, went BIG.

• Windows 7 Pro  64bit
• CPU:  Intel Core i5-4690 @ 3.50GHz (aka Quad Core)
• Memory:  8gb
• Hard Drive:  4 Terabytes, Hybread (Solid State + SATA)
• Video Card:  GeForce GTX 770 CUDA Core, 2k memory

What the hybread hard does?  Think of the SSD as a super-cache.  The drives copies the most used programs to SSD, which is actually memory, and works much faster.

NOTE:  The original build was with Windows 7 Home Professional.  I used Windows Anytime Update to change to Windows 7 Pro.  The update was flawless and took under 15min.



AND..... I upgraded to broadband network (AT&T U-verse, really had no choice, they're dumping DSL).  Speed test below.

via Speed Test NET

UTILITIES - A Better System Information for Windows

I've posted about this utility a long while back but they just came out with a 2014 version.  In my opinion this utility is worth the price.

SIW or System Information for Windows

SIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that analyzes your computer and gathers detailed information about system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner.

SIW can create a report file (CSV, HTML, TXT or XML), and you can run it in batch mode (for PC Inventory - Software and Hardware Inventory, Asset Inventory, Software License Management, Security Audit, Server Configuration Management).

The System Information is divided into few major categories:

• Software Information:  Operating System, Software Licenses (Product Keys / Serial Numbers / CD Key), Installed Software and Hotfixes, Processes, Services, Users, Open Files, System Uptime, Installed Codecs, Passwords Recovery, Server Configuration.

• Hardware Information:  Motherboard, CPU, Sensors, BIOS, chipset, PCI/AGP, USB and ISA/PnP Devices, Memory, Video Card, Monitor, Disk Drives, CD/DVD Devices, SCSI Devices, S.M.A.R.T., Ports, Printers.

• Network Information:  Network Cards, Network Shares, currently active Network Connections, Open Ports.

• Network Tools:  MAC Address Changer, Neighborhood Scan, Ping, Trace, Statistics, Broadband Speed Test

• Miscellaneous Tools:  Eureka! (Reveal lost passwords hidden behind asterisks), Monitor Test, Shutdown / Restart.

• Real-time monitors:  CPU, Memory, Page File usage and Network Traffic.

SIW (Technician's Version) is a standalone utility that does not require installation (Portable) - one less installed program on your PC as well the fact that you can run the program directly from an USB flash drive, from a network drive or from a domain login script.

Client Platform:  Windows 8.1 / Windows 8 / Windows 7 / Vista / Windows XP / 2000 / Media Center / Tablet PC / WinRE / BartPE / Winternals ERD Commander

Server Platform:  Windows 2012 (R2) / Windows SBS 2011 / Windows Server 2008 (R2) / Windows Server 2003 (R2) / Windows Server 2000

NOTE:  This is not freeware.

Screenshot of my home desktop rig (click for larger view)

I have the Technician's version, yearly subscription.

You only get SIW.exe which is the entire utility (NOT an installer).  When you first launch it you get a dialog to enter your registered name and license key, it then generates a siw.key file which must be in the same directory as SIW.exe for it to run.  This means you just copy both files to a USB stick and you can run it from there.  Of course, to run it on your system you create a folder and move the files there then create a shortcut (I used the System Tools category) to run it.

WINDOWS - A Better Start Menu

This post is about my suggestion on a way for users to have a better Start Menu in Windows.

To summarize, instead of having all applications listed under [Programs] in the Start Menu (WinXP), have categories of applications. Here's my Start Menu:

As you can see, I have expanded to my [Games], [Adventure & RPG] category.

How did I do this? Edit the Start Menu folder:

In my opinion, this type of Start Menu is much simpler to navigate that dumping everything under [Programs].

Also, the shortcuts in this scheme are only those needed to run the app, or those related and used regularly. (how may times are you actually going to use the "Uninstall" shortcut, so why have it?)

Also, after installing applications and coping the needed shortcuts to my scheme, I move its [Programs] entry to a [Smenu] folder I create in the home-folder of the app so I do not loose what the install created.

You can do this in Windows 7 where Start Menu folder paths are:

• Win7 User Start Menu:
  C:\Users\profile-name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\
• Win7 All Users Start Menu:
  C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\ (normally this is a hidden folder)

Give it a try.

WINXP - Corrupted Icon-Cache UPDATED

At work there was a WinXP Pro SP3 system that had the wrong icon for C:

After much hair-pulling I found the cause was the user had placed Setup.exe AND an Autorun.inf file in the root. This caused the C: icon to change to the icon for Setup. Deleting both files from the root was the main fix, but had to also fix the Icon-Cache file.

Also, the Icon cache can be corrupted by other causes that the one above.

IMPORTANT: The Icon-Cache is NOT actually needed! My home and work WinXP desktops to not have one and they work just fine.

Here's how to get rid of the need for the Icon-Cache:

You disable the offline file replication in Windows XP

Open My Computer, select [Tools], [Folder Options], [Offline Files] tab, then UNCHECK the Enable Offline Files check box.

(click for better view)



Here's how to rebuild your Icon-Cache if you have wrong desktop/Favorites icons:

Rebuild the Icon-Cache file by deleting it

1. Delete the hidden file Iconcache.db

WinXP each user has their own file
C:\Documents and Settings\User-Name\Local Settings\Application Data\Iconcache.db

Win7 and Vista, see
%userprofile%\AppData\Local


2. IMPORTANT - Close down all explorer.exe processes using the Task Manager
(Or else it will create a faulty file during logoff/restart)


3. Use the Task Manager (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC) to launch the explorer.exe again
(Or press CTRL+ALT+DEL to perform a restart/logoff)


4. When the Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) starts again, it will recreate a correct Icon-Cache file

Also note that Icon Phile, mentioned in previous article, will work for changing individual Desktop Icons. It also includes a tool to rebuild the Icon-Cache.

WINDOWS - Window Management Utility

This post is about WindowManager by DeskSoft

WindowManager helps you to improve your work flow by remembering and restoring the position and size of your programs and windows. Many programs don't remember their position and size between sessions and even Windows explorer does not always restore windows to their last position. This is where WindowManager steps in and makes sure your windows are placed exactly where you want them every time you open them. WindowManager even allows you to lock the position and size of any window, so that it will always open at the same spot no matter where you move it. The window handling is fully customizable and you can set up special rules for your favorite or most frequently used windows.

Key Features:

• Remembers and restores the position and size of your recently used windows


• Supports explorer windows, programs, dialogs, etc.


• Special rules for moving or sizing only, etc.


• Ignore list for preventing position or size change


• Fully customizable


• Now with full Windows 7 and 64 bit compatibility

Supported operating systems:

• Windows XP


• Windows XP x64


• Windows Vista


• Windows Vista x64


• Windows 7


• Windows 7 x64


• Windows Server 2003


• Windows Server 2003 x64


• Windows Server 2008


• Windows Server 2008 x64

NOTE: I have tried this utility and found that it interfered with ONE window on my WinXP system. It caused the window to open in the minimized mode EVERY TIME even though the shortcut was set for normal mode. I tested this by disabling the utility, then the window would open as expected. I have removed it from my system. This is by no means saying that other users MAY find the utility works for them, especially if you NEVER use the [Save] option.

WINDOWS - Win7 Menu Bars

This is about turning ON Menu Bars in Windows 7 (Win7).


Menu Bar in Explorer (My Computer):

1. Click the [Start] logo-button and type folder options in the search-box, click Folder Options link displayed


2. Click the [View] tab and check [X] Always show menus


(click for better view)

IE 8 or 9, and Media Player Menu Bars:

1. Open Internet Explorer or Media Player
   


2. Right-click on a EMPTY area on the Tab Bar, then [X] check the Menu Bar option

UTILITIES - Move from WinXP to Win7

This post is for those who want to move your old WinXP system to a Win7 system.

CAUTION: I have not used this utility, so I cannot verify LapLink's claims.

PCmover Pro from LapLink

The Easiest Way to Move to Windows 7!

PCmover is the ONLY software that moves programs, files and settings from your old PC to your new PC – even restore from an image (or old hard drive) or perform an in-place upgrade.

The easy-to-use wizard will guide you in selecting which programs, files and settings you want on your PC. When complete, your new computer will have the personality and functionality of your old PC. And, PCmover is safe – it removes nothing from your old PC, won’t overwrite anything on your new PC, and includes an easy "Undo" feature.

Looking at the edition comparison table on their Overview page, the Professional edition is the only one worth the money. Also note the inclusion of their "High Speed Transfer Cable" if you order the boxed utility.

Also note the [Docs & Requirements] tab on the linked page. You can get the PDF docs to evaluate if this utility will do what you want.

OT - Win7 [Start] Menu Locations

So, in Windows 7, Microsoft changed the location of the [Start] Menu as follows.

• Win7 User [Start] Menu location

C:\Users\profile-name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs


• "Win7 All Users" [Start] Menu location

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs


• "Win7 All Users" Desktop

C:\Users\Public\Desktop

My question is why for heavens sake? Especially the location of "All Users" [Start] Menu. What was wrong with keeping the convention like C:\Users\All Users\ ? I have no problem with the change of C:\Documents and Settings -> C:\Users, at least this is logical.

OT - Microsoft Outlook

Due to a recent experience with Microsoft Outlook I've decided to post on this.

Win7 does NOT include Outlook Express, so the Win7 Easy Transfer tool cannot import Express emails. It DOES import Office Outlook emails. (Win7 Easy Transfer works VERY well by the way)

Be aware that the format of Outlook mailbox files (filename.pst) changed after Outlook 2000. Outlook 2003 thru 2007 use MIME. To use Outlook 2000 mailbox files you must import them to newer versions of Outlook mailbox files.

1. First without opening Outlook, rename your transferred 2000 mailbox files, examples:


• Outlook.pst -> Outlook2000.pst


• Archive.pst -> Archive2000.pst



2. If you use a Transfer Tool (like Win7 Easy Transfer) AND you have not used Outlook yet, you should be offered the option to import mailbox files when you first start Outlook. Simply import the 2 renamed files above (they should be shown as being old format).



3. Otherwise you can manually import via File menu, Data File Management.


Use Outlook's Help: Search "Convert a non-Unicode data file" and you should see the link at the top of the listing.

Just follow the step-by-step instructions to import:


• Outlook2000.pst -> Outlook.pst


• Archive2000.pst -> Archive.pst

WINXP - Parted Magic

Ever need to troubleshoot or fix a hard drive?

I've found a nice utility: Parted Magic (Open Source freeware)

Note the, "If you would like to use Parted Magic from a CD" on their page, which is a download of an ISO image you can write to CD, and have the Parted Magic LiveCD (bootable).

You boot to the CD and get a Linux Desktop (screenshot, outdated) where you can run hard drive tools.

• Ghost for Linux


• Linux Partition Manager (can handle NTFS partitions)


• TestDisk from CGSecurity

I also like, that after reaching the Linux Desktop (in a RAM-Disk) it ejects the CD automatically. Therefore if you select to reboot, it will not boot to the CD.

(click for larger view)

OT - TweakUI for Vista/Win7

Ultimate Windows Tweaker

We are pleased to release our Ultimate Windows Tweaker v 2.0 for Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Ultimate Windows Tweaker is a freeware TweakUI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows 7 & Windows Vista, 32-bit & 64-bit. It can simply be downloaded and used as a portable application to customize your Windows to meet your requirements. With judicious tweaking, it can make your system faster, more stable, and more secure with just a few mouse clicks. The tweaker detects whether you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista installed and accordingly offers you the relevant tweaks only.

(click for larger view)

As I've said in the past, "they" always come out with a TweakUI, so why not include this in the original release of Windows, no matter who engineers it?

WINXP - The BETTER Disk Cleanup Utility

On a previous post I recommended using Windows Disk Cleanup (in System Utilities menu) to clean excess files on your hard drive. Well there is a much better utility.

CCleaner (freeware)

(click for larger view)
What makes it better can be seen in the screenshot, the selection of WHAT you want to clean, which is remembered for the next run. The list is more extensive than what Windows Disk Cleanup offers.

CCleaner includes the Applications tab. Also note the sidebar utilities.

The Applications tab allows you to clean MRU (Most Recently Used) lists for applications.

Also (note the screenshot) that you select what to clean BEFORE you analyze or run. Which is much different than Windows Disk Cleanup, with it's long wait.

Works with WinXp, Vista, Win7, Win2003 Server.

CAUTION: You do have to be careful on what you select to clean.

WINXP - WEB Browser Evaluations

What follows is my very personal evaluations of various WEB Browsers I've "played" with. My evaluations are not highly technical, which is why I used the term "played."

The evaluations were performed on 3 WinXP SP3 systems with IE8, 2 at work and my home.

One system at work is an IT Test Station (slow with low resources) with a vanilla WinXP SP3.

One system at work (my office desktop), and my home system, both run RoboForm and Star Downloader.

Browsers (my-rating):

• IE8 (3/5)


• Firefox (4/5)


• Opera (3/5)


• Safari for Windows (1/5)

IE8:

While IE8 has been improved since it initial release, like everything Microsoft, it is still a resource hog. And from what I see, slower than the other browsers I've looked at.

CAUTIONS:

To make IE8 fully safe, there are things you should set/enable.

• Use Microsoft Update

If you are not using it now, just open Windows Update and look in the lower-right corner, you'll see the offer to upgrade to Microsoft Update. Use the link to open another window to install.


• Open Internet Options, Advanced tab, and ensure Automatically check for Internet Explorer updates is checked.

Firefox 3.6:

I really like Firefox, especially since it automatically integrated RoboForm and can use Star Downloader.

It has the capability of installing Add-ons (Plug-ins & Extensions).

Plug-ins = additional code, usually a DLL file (like the ones for Star Downloader or Google Updater).

Extensions = Files that you can download/install from the Mozilla Firefox Add-ons WEB page. Example, ABC SpellBound spell checker.

There is one bug, at least with Firefox 3.5.x, the Print-to-Fit does not work properly. I used this Star War article as a test because in has tables. Firefox's Print-to-Fit chops off the right side of the tables.


Opera 10.10:

This is an offering from Norway, and is seen by many to be very good. From my testing is does look good, especially its in-built downloader and Password Manager (can be set to work like RoboForm with a Master Password).

The Print-to-Fit also works correctly and it has some nice configuration options.

The Bookmarks menu takes a bit to get use to, but if you add the Bookmarks Drop-Down button it becomes more familiar.

The one flaw I found is when I tried to use Blogger's editor (which I'm using now, in Firefox) it did not display correctly.

Safari 4 for Windows:

This is a MAC import of course. But, for Windows, it is NOT ready. Its configuration, even after 4hrs, was hard to understand. Like another evaluation article commented, it does not automatically have a Home button! Also, I found WEB page display problems with some sites.

This browser needs more work.