OT: Odd system folders!
 

My PC has been running slow as of late, no viruses or spy ware could be found. However today I found a few new files on my C-Drive. Can any one tell me what they are?

I googled msxml4-KB927978-enu and it came back as something to do with MS update. I opened the file and its filled with line after line of code.

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

It's crap left behind by the installs or upgrade of software. I found several of them after upgrading to IE7. I deleted them without any problem.

When my computer runs slow, I reference a guide on google I found, Optmize windows xp

And I also open up my computer and clean out the dust bunnies from everything.

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This latest update keeps causing my modem to lock up. I have to reboot every so often now just to be able to access the web. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif God I hate MS at times.

Thanks for the tips Azselendor, I went ahead and removed them. I will also check out the site you linked too as well.

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This is what they say at the bottom of the page about FireFox.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Fire Fox Myths

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What a joke! No computer program more complicated than 'Hello world!' is completely secure. The point is that Firefox is vastly more secure (or less insecure if you want to put it that way) than Internet Explorer, which still has more unintended vulnerabilites (i.e. 'bugs') than Firefox and also intended vulnerabilities like 'Active-X' and god-knows-what-else that Microsoft thought would be 'kewl' to have but wasn't intended to be used on anything but closed Local Area Networks within corporations. When they had to play 'catchup' with everyone else and put Windows online, they didn't bother revamping the security. Only with Windows NT did they finally start to think about security.

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It's the only part of this guy's thing I disagree with. FireFox is vastly superior to IE.

Besides, last time I checked, Mozilla wasn't coding backdoor programs into our computer programs for the NSA -- like Microsoft does!

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Part of MS agreement with the US Government to avoid monopoly break up was the "secret" incorporation of back door access that only the US Government can utilize. I.E. they get a computer that is encrypted or protected and MS will break into if for them, or give them the tools and training to do it. The FBI has special tools that allow them to remotely access any computer on any network that is running any Microsoft OS product, such as XP. And now that the US Government is moving toward a "centralized" email hub shadow network, even our emails will not be safe from investigation. (this goes beyond what the NSA, and others now have.)

Also many people don't realize that their printers, Digital cameras, DV Cameras, and even your CD burner all encode the products they produce. Your printer prints all information about itself, and your PC on each and every peace of paper printed. The META data in Digital images gives all information about the camera and its settings at the time the image was taken. Your CD burner burns its serial number, and your PC information onto each disk you create.

They say this is to help prevent and reduce counterfeiting of money, movies, music, and documents, but it what it really is all about, is knowing who is doing what, when, and where.

I believe that we live in a free society about as much as I believe that IE is a better product than FF.

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"Special tools" my ***. $10 gets you $0.01 that's been cracked by now. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

AT, something about emails you should know: emails are about as secure as a postcard. They can potentially be read at any stop along the way, and there are usually dozens of stops.

That said, any attempt to isolate every email would die on the vine simply from the insane number of the things that gets sent every day.

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Atrocities said:
Your printer prints all information about itself, and your PC on each and every peace of paper printed.

bull. Your printer can print a diagnostic sheet with some info about itself, sure. But that is purely for your use in trouble-shooting. No consumer-level printer can possibly print secret information on every page, either with some sort of "invisible ink" or at tiny, tiny resolution such that you can't see it with the unaided eye. That would require massive engineering costs, making them impossible to sell in the low hundreds of dollars range.

The META data in Digital images gives all information about the camera and its settings at the time the image was taken.

Yes, it's called EXIF data. There is nothing unusual or scary about that, in any way. It is there to provide you, the photographer, with extra information about your photos. The entire process was designed and implemented openly, at consumer (mostly professional level, but still consumers) request. Maybe you should look up just what EXIF data is...

Your CD burner burns its serial number, and your PC information onto each disk you create.

I'd have to call bull again. MAYBE a drive serial number, but even that is unlikely. If drive manufacturers were to attempt this (or be forced by the government), there would be privacy related lawsuits about it. The ALCU, for one, would be all over it.

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

These are not "bull" as you so gently put it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif In fact they are quite real. Your printer does indeed print information about itself and your PC on each page in the form of little yellow dots Here Is A Link. The Secret Service use special methods to view and read the dots. This was shown on a Discovery Channel show. Sorry don't recall the name of the program but I believe it was Secrets of the Secret Service or something like that. In fact all of the things I mentioned were shown on that show. Your CD burner does encode information about itself and your PC on EVERY DISK you burn.

As to the information contained in digital images, like you said this is nothing new. However, many people do not know about it. For Digital Video, every frame of video shot, 30 fps, it is time coded, and the image you see is actually smaller than what is really recorded. Most people don't know about this as it is really unimportant. However, if your on a tight shot of some person reading a statement, and all you see is their face, the FBI will see another 6 to 12 inches around them, and that could reveal a gun to the person head, or someone or something in the back ground that they can use. Also the camera records its serial number along with the time coding on to each frame of video.

Most people didn't believe that they could be tracked by using their cell phones five years ago. I recall someone telling me that I was full of "bull" back then.

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

I know about printers. However -
Cite sources.

CD-R/DVD-R media is detectable not because of some secret data being written to the disc, but because of the very nature of the media. Dye-based recordable media is different from "pressed" manufactured media and is detectable as such.

http://www.advance.mb.ca/hiworks/cd_r.htm
http://www.megalodon.com/disc-manufacturing.html
http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq02.html#S2-4

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

The way it was described on the show left the impression that it was putting the information onto the disk without the knowledge of the PC operator. That this information was considered "secret" and quite detailed. Until I watch the show on on the Discovery Channel, I did not know that every disk I burned had this information on it. The CD-Rom serial number, my PC information, and the date and time it was burned all encoded without me ever knowing it.

Now that I do know about it, I want to be able to turn it off. While there are advantages to this technology, I.E. to prove that whatever data is on the disk is yours, it also can be misused horribly. So the option to have the feature turned on or off is something that I would be very interested in.

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

*shakes head*

The discovery channel runs a lot of garbage conspiracy theory stuff, you know... You aren't supposed to believe it as real.

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There is a serial number created for every burned CD, but I haven't seen any information that it is either unique or traceable to the creating machine. If this turns out to be true, I'd say the RIAA/MPAA are more likely culprits than the government for getting the hardware and software producers to do this. Since they are pushing for legislation to add all sorts of DRM junk to our systems, the industry might be trying to work out a 'better deal' with them so they will drop efforts to make the more expensive and difficult enforcement into law.

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Well the guys that they interviewed were Secret Service Men.... so I think this was on the up and up.

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Or so they alleged... The Discovery Channel is pretty much antithetical to a valid source.

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Never the less the yellow dots proved true, and so will the the CDRom stuff. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif Whether or not the government is behind it, well that certainly is a valid point of contention. I don't believe they are, although, I am sure that they benefit from it.

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Microsoft was recently exposed for loading NSA back door program keys into their operating systems. It's not a matter of factual or not. Lotus too, and a few other companies.

There even is a patch that'll let you change the key now.

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

A link to a CNN story about the NSA connection And here is another link that has another MS employee offering yet another explamination for the back doors that differ from the first article. If they cannot keep their story's strait, then what are we to believe? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

Do you have any creditable (not sensationalist news story) sources on the yellow dot thing?

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CSI perhaps http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

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AT - if you're that bothered about MS, run Linux. Then all you have to worry about is getting SEIV & V to run...

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

Last year, an article in PC World magazine pointed out that printouts from many color laser printers contained yellow dots scattered across the page, viewable only with a special kind of flashlight. The article quoted a senior researcher at Xerox Corp. as saying the dots contain information useful to law-enforcement authorities, a secret digital "license tag" for tracking down criminals.

If you choose not believe this than that is fine Fyron. Its real, its not a conspiracy theory, its not imagined, and all because it was disclosed on the discovery channel, a channel that you sight without any proof at all as being dubious in its program honesty, doesn't discount the fact that the dots are real. I would ask you to provide proof that the discovery channel's programing is dishonest. I would ask you to disprove the yellow dots as I have already provided sufficient proof as to their existence and use with the "news" article link. Unless that site is in league with the Discovery Channel and or is a spoof site, which I believe it is not, then the article is valid as is the information it reports upon.

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

I am not alone with being "that bothered" by the things that MS does Dogscoff, however what can we do? To install and run linux is not an option. I lack the needed PC skills to do so and while that is regrettable, it is the reality I live in. I am simply stuck with what I have as are many people. And when a problem is posted it's being posted with the hopes that someone else has already ran into the problem and might know a solution as indeed was the case here.

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

I can hear the printer print. I have never heard it print more than I told it to print.

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

Impressive ears, Narf! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Atro, you could pay someone to install Linux for you - it costs much less than paying someone to license and install Windohs for you.

What MS has done is evil and scary, and what they have in mind is even worse (Vista, licensed software "as a service", etc.).

Other options include writing to goverment representatives, boycotting evil products, supporting public interest groups (atrocities, see WashPIRG), etc., continuing to write about it in Internet discussions, etc.

PvK

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

Edited emphasis. Yellow dots, but on laser printers only. And color laser printers only, to boot. Not only that, but "many" color laser printers, not "all" color laser printers. And the "many" most likely corresponds to only the highest quality laser printers, and that's why the Secret Service requires the yellow dots. Because, the Secret Service was not created to protect the President of the US... it was created as a branch of the Treasury Department to track down counterfeiters of US currency. The yellow dots allow detected counterfeits to be traced to a printer manufacturer and serial number, allowing the SS to track down criminals, or more specifically, counterfeiters, via information on the location a specific printer was sold. But, this of course is blown out of proportion, and equated with "teh government is spying on all your printers," which is simply untrue. Frankly, they have better things to do.

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

I should also point out that on most enterprise-level printers for businesses, you'll find that when you duplex (double-sided print) they will never line up perfectly, they are offset by 2mm to 4 mm on each side. While annoying to those making brochures, it is a SS anti-counterfeiting tool. Also, if you you print images with many fine details with the same or similar color pallets as found on a dollar bill, it will cause the printer to lock in most situation and require a service technician to unlock it.

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

The US Secret Service must do what it can to prevent the onslaught of counterfiting that was introduced to the US when laser and color printers became previlent in the market place.

I can remember back in the early 90's as a checker when people would try and pass off photocopied fake bills. It was very annoying. If we accepted a fake bill it came out of our pocket to cover the cost. (Illegal now, but mainstream practice back then.) The big red S had earned a notorious reputation because many managers would use the laser printers in the office to photocopy bills and then replacing a real bill with a fake one in many checkers tills when they would turn them in at night. They would pocket the real money, and then bill the checker for the fake bill.

Thankfully it is very hard now to print fake money. I have no problems with any security steps that have been created so long as I have the option to turn them on or off with the exception of the printer dots. Those I think are a good thing and really don't effect me.

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

Ok AT, so what you posted several posts earlier is, in fact, still bogus. A manufacturer serial number added by a relatively tiny number of high end printers (which very few people have in their homes) is a far, far cry from "your printer prints all information about itself, and your PC on each and every peace of paper printed." That post is the same kind of sensationalism I was referring to earlier. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

I hear yellow dots are now being used in web pages too!
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/redface.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/stupid.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smile.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/Injured.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image.../firedevil.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/fear.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/yawn.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rant.gif [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/icon49.gif[/img]

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

That is correct, I did over state and post incorrect information, however, the topic moved away from that incorrect information onto the very real yellow dot discussion. While this technology may not yet be mainstream, it certainly is possible that it could become mainstream within the very near future. While I have no issue with this, I am certain there are people who will.

I doubt that the Washington Post article is bogus, but if you have any proof to verify that, please by all means post that information. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/stupid.gif

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

Hum, interesting, how would you decode these dots?

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I think that parses as "terrorism-nukeular"

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http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif SEV is almost ready
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif SEV is in the mail
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif SEV is here
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif Couldn't get the graphics options to work right
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/redface.gif the above was my fault
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/stupid.gif time to play
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif Empire building
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif there are game bugs!
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif Eventually the bugs will get fixed
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif Is there an AI in the game?
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif ship to ship combat
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Balance Mod to the rescue
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif new game version
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/eek.gif delete old game - start new game
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smile.gif New game has many great improvements
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/Injured.gif While attacking 1 empire- another attacks me
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image.../firedevil.gif Stop with the ridiculous treaties
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif never ending turns
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/fear.gif is the next patch out yet
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/yawn.gif take a nap waiting for the turn to complete
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rant.gif Damn power failure
[img]/threads/images/Graemlins/icon49.gif[/img] Glass the planet!

Re: OT: Odd system folders!
 

I think this VIDEO about sums up Microsoft. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif Enjoy.