I bought a new laptop last night with Windows Vista Home Premium and the first thing one should do with a new computer and uninstall all of the junk software that comes pre-loaded on most new computers.. like Norton Internet Security, etc. After that, then it's time to install all of the security software that one needs... like an antivirus (I downloaded Avast Free edition), antispyware (I'm giving Windows Defender another try since it came pre-loaded) besides the main antispyware that runs in the background (WD in my current case) like Spyware Blaster from Javacool.com, Spybot - Search & Destroy from Safernetworking.com and Ad-Aware. Then all of them have to be updated and properly installed. Then add a free firewall... my current firewall of choice... Comodo Firewall Pro.
My first adventure was with Spybot when it wouldn't let me immunize my system saying I didn't have administrator rights... although I do and I'm the only user on the laptop. After doing a little Googling, I found a Spybot forum thread http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=19135 but trying the things listed there didn't work for me either. Finally, after looking around and based on the things I read in that thread, I decided to right click on the Start Menu - All Programs - Spybot start and chose Properties. Then in one of the tabs in Properties, I was able to put a check mark in Run As Administrator and that fixed Spybot.
I'll edit and add more to this post as I come across more "Adventures".
Lenny Vasbinder
http://www.neighborhoodhomeservices.com/
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
How I ALWAYS do a clean install of Yahoo Messenger (YM) on Windows XP, With Updates For Vista And Windows 7
Notice - See my NEW computer ONLY blog at http://lennythecomputerguy.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-i-always-do-clean-install-of-yahoo.html for the most up-to-date version of this article. Check out all of my other computer related blogs at http://LennyTheComputerGuy.blogspot.com
Edit/Update -
July 17, 2010 - Added "Quick-Steps" to the top of this post;
June 24, 2010 - added new location for Yupdater.exe file;
May 08, 2010 - added an email sent to someone with some info;
April 14, 2010 - fixed a link;
January 31, 2010 - to add more info about using Revo Uninstaller and to add info for Windows Vista and newer YM versions;
Many other updates prior.
Quick-Steps To Summarize The Below Information:
(NOTE: Create A Restore Point before each step if you are unsure of your computer tech abilities)
1. Uninstall Yahoo Messenger (YM) using the Revo Uninstaller. Save a copy of your Archives folder if you keep archives of your chat sessions. Turn off and re-start computer.
2. Run CCleaner Registry Cleaner (or WinASO or other legitimate registry cleaner)
3. Run Secunia Online Scanner to see if it finds any OLD remnants of YM.
4. Make sure you have updated versions of Adobe Flash Player and Sun's Java browser plugins for Internet Explorer, preferably version 8 (mainly for use in the Chat Rooms, not as much for YM)
5. Download a FULL sized version of YM from FileHippo.com or your preferred download site, to your desktop or preferred download folder.
6. Turn off and re-start your computer and make sure IE is working properly, including the Java and Flash sites.
7. Go to your downloaded FULL sized version of YM and run the .EXE file to start the installation. You may not want to install any toolbars or other add-ons that Yahoo may have included in the download. DO NOT RUN YM YET.
8. Move your copy of your archive folder back to where it should be.
9. Start up YM and go through all of the Preferences Menu setting things up how you like them since the above steps would have removed all of your previous settings.
10. Start IM'ing your friends, testing all of the features and go to Chat Rooms to make sure things are working well. If they aren't, leave me a comment below or go to the Yahoo Messenger Yahoo Group (link in next paragraph), join the group and post your questions there.
Also read http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2010/05/im-going-to-upgrade-to-yahoo-messenger.html where I documented my uninstall of YM 9.0 and upgrade to YM 10.0.
Following is a message and amendment that I posted in one of my Yahoo Groups, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Yahoo_Messenger, back in May 2007 but I've been meaning to post it to my blog as well so here it is about five months later! And I have updated this article many times since.
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 10:21 PM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: How I ALWAYS install Yahoo Messenger on Windows XP
Hi YM Group,
I thought I had done this before but after someone contacted me off list, I searched through the archives and couldn't find my post so I guess I've just added bits and pieces of this information in various replies over the years but here is how I prepare my computer before downloading a new version of Yahoo Messenger (YM).
Uninstall old version of YM using Add/Remove programs for the YM uninstaller. Reboot computer. OR BETTER YET, use the Revo Uninstaller and use it's default settings to find and remove a lot of the junk that the normal YM uninstaller leaves behind. http://www.revouninstaller.com/ Go through each step and delete the files and registry keys that it highlights and recommends except you might want to save a copy of your archived chats and other archived info as mentioned later in this article.
Reboot your computer after each step in this article.
Run a GOOD registry cleaner. I use and recommend WinASO Registry Optimizer http://www.winaso.com/download.htm which is FREE to download and use as long as you like, but the trial version has a limitation that is more of an annoyance than anything else, in that it tries to get you to pay for the unlimited version but if you don't mind dealing with the annoyance, it works as good as the paid version. I've been using the FREE trial version for several years since version 1.0. I've never had a single problem using it to clean and optimize my registry. The downside/annoyance of the free trial version is that it will only clean 10 items each time it is run. The first time you run it, you may find several hundred items that need to be fixed so you will have to run it dozens of times. OR BETTER YET, you can run CCleaner's Registry Cleaner option, http://www.ccleaner.com/, to get rid of most of the junk and then follow it up with WinASO to do a full cleaning since it does a better job than CCleaner. After that, if you run WinASO 1-2 times a week, it will be much quicker, easier and keep your computer from being bogged up as much with junk. After cleaning/fixing your registry, reboot your computer.
Another FREE registry cleaner is offered as an online scan from Microsoft by going to the Windows Live OneCare Safety Center http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/cleanup.htm and run the Clean Up scan. DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE ACTUAL ONECARE PROGRAM that is advertised on that page. It's not needed to use the free scans and it's not that great of a program anyhow... compared to other free security software that is out there.
Now download and SAVE (to "desktop" or your favorite file folder for saving things where you can find the download after you reboot) the full version of Yahoo Messenger from http://www.filehippo.com/download_yahoo_messenger/ or your favorite safe program download site. DO NOT chose "RUN" during the download and DO NOT RUN or execute the full version after it is downloaded. The full version of YM is around 10-15MB (depending on which version) in comparison to the Yahoo Messenger "official" installer that is only around 484kb when downloaded from http://messenger.yahoo.com/ I find that the Yahoo installer will have more problems especially if someone has a strong firewall or slow internet connection.
It's this "installer" version that causes so many problems, IMO. Because when you run it, it then starts downloading other bits and pieces of the program and if there are any glitches in your internet service or with Yahoo servers (and we all know there are those! ;-\), you can end up with a bad download with various bugs. When you download the full version from FileHippo or another download site, after you download it and get ready to run it, there should be Publisher listed, which should be Yahoo! Inc in a blue link which is to a digital verification site to verify that you have a legitimate version of the program. This works for most programs you may download although there are many that will not have this digital verification capability and when you go to execute one of these "unsigned" programs, you will get a little warning message on the box. If I know I downloaded the program from a reliable site, I don't worry about this but if you are not sure, you should never run a program without a digital signature attached. Many other programs have a way to run a check-sum on the download to make sure you got the download in full without errors but I've never seen this available with YM. Usually, if you have the digital signature, it means things went smoothly and you have a full version without errors.
If you use CCleaner, you should run it now to clean out your temporary files and TIF files. I am not going into all the aspects of CCleaner in this post but for most folks, it can be a problem to remove things they did not want cleaned if they do not go through and become very familiar with the program. It will clean auto-complete info, search history, cookies, etc., when used in the default mode. The CCleaner Registry Cleaner is OK to use in default mode but the rest of CCleaner should be understood before running or the user could lose information that they actually wanted to keep. This is why I like WinASO as a registry cleaner. Even a rookie can run the registry optimizer without causing problems to their computer... at least it's never caused me problems in hundreds of times of running it.
If you don't use CCleaner and did not use the Windows Live OneCare Safety Center Cleanup Scan, you should use your web-browser Tools to empty the TIF files. Then run a Search on your computer for all temporary files and remove them manually. If you don't know how to do this, then you should download CCleaner and become familiar with CCleaner and use it for this purpose or use the Windows Cleanup online scan. Feel free to ask me here and I'll tell you how I have my CCleaner set up to run it daily to keep the junk files off my computer.
Reboot the computer and leave all other programs turned off except for anti-virus and firewall.
Then, if you downloaded YM full version to your desktop, simply click on it to execute the program. If you have a firewall, you should get a pop-up asking for access, from the YM program installer, to the internet and other areas of your computer. Permit this and if you use an advanced firewall (which you should be using over the Windows Firewall which isn't very good), put a check mark in the box to allow it on a permanent basis. You can always go back to the firewall user interface and delete this permission later if you want to.
Choose the "CUSTOM" install instead of Yahoo's recommended install. This makes sure that all you install is YM and not all the other junk they try to get you to install like tool bars, etc. I choose CUSTOM install on ALL programs that I install on my computer to make sure I don't install junk I didn't want. The CUSTOM install still gives you the option to install other things but it doesn't force them on you without your knowledge. This is common practice on all FREE programs as a way to help them pay for their free program. Google, MSN, Yahoo and other companies pay to have their toolbars and desktop search programs included in the downloads. Reputable download sites and programs give you the option of opting out of these add-ons.
Now, once the YM program is installed on your computer. Reboot again.
Rebooting is important to computers as it's a way of letting the computer put everything back into place. If you are in the habit of leaving your computer on for days at a time, if you find it getting sluggish, a reboot will normally speed it back up again.
Now start up YM and go through your preferences, setting things to work how you like them. Become familiar with the Messenger Menus and the Preferences Menus and ask questions here about anything you may not understand.
The last thing that I do with any new install of YM is go into the C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger folder (or for version 10.x, the Yupdater.exe is now located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Yahoo!\YUpdater and find the file Yupdater.exe and change the name to Yupdater-NOT USED.exe. You can also use your firewall to simply block Yupdater.exe from connecting to the internet but many folks do not utilize their firewalls in an advanced mode so Yupdater.exe would have access unless you went into your firewall and blocked it. This way with changing the file name, your installed version of YM will not automatically update to any newer release of YM without your express consent as YM will not find the Yupdater.exe file when it tries to contact Yahoo like it will do on a regular basis if you don't block it or change the file name. YM 10.0x does have a section in the preferences that allows you to check off saying that you do not want YM to update automatically and I have that checked off but I still change the Yupdater.exe file as well.
If you decide you are not happy with your current version, you can then repeat the steps above and download a more recent version and install that version. I've found that allowing Yupdater.exe to connect to Yahoo, it constantly stays in contact with Yahoo whenever YM is in use. I've verified this with my firewall. I'm not sure why an updater process would need to stay in constant contact with the manufacturer. Even my Antivirus, Antispyware, etc., only contacts their updates once a day for new malware definitions. None of my other programs on my computer stays in constant contact for updates. They either run on a monthly basis or some other time interval. Certainly, Yahoo isn't releasing daily updates so YM should not need 100% access to Yahoo servers, IMO.
Hopefully, if all went well, your newly installed or reinstalled version of YM will be much more stable and cause less problems for you and you will not need to update to new versions as often.
I still run YM versions 8.1x, 9.1x and 10.0x and they are very stable on my computers compared to some of the stories I read about daily and with the people I help on a daily basis here and on other forums and my friends and neighbors that used the Yahoo Installer.
I hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have. I'll probably put this on my blog with some screen shots of WinASO and CCleaner and how I have my CCleaner set up so it does not clean things some people actually want to keep and I'll post a link when I do.
Ooops. I almost forgot one step. It may not be critical but it could cause you to lose your archived chats if you have YM set to save them. Before uninstalling and cleaning up your computer with WinASO, CCleaner and Windows OneCare Cleanup utility, go to C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger\Profiles\(your yahoo name)\Archive and copy both of the folders in the Archive folder. There should be a Conferences and a Messages folder. Just copy and save them to your desktop or your other favorite place to save things.
Usually, during an uninstall and reinstall of YM, these folders are left in place but in the past, if I had a buggy YM install, I would sometimes go and delete the entire Messenger folder (C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger) to make sure I get rid of all traces of the buggy version. By saving copies of the Archive folders, I can move them back into their proper place after a new clean install. If you go to this extreme of removing everything associated with YM, make sure you run WinASO, CCleaner and Windows OneCare Cleanup utility before doing the clean install of the new full version download.
Hope this helps!
Lenny Vasbinder
Here are the emails that I mentioned in the May 08, 2010 Update:
-----Original Message-----
From: J
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2010 10:46 PM
To: lnvtm1@gmail.com
Subject: I'm back!!
High Lenny,
Thanks for the 2 sites you gave me to uninstall and check for updates, really good ones.
I did the complete uninstall and downloaded the latest IM 10.x and the scan said it was perfect, it also picked up 3 earlier versions of yahoo that are lying in my registry that uninstall has not removed. How do I identify that and erase it?
I have copied the new IM 10.x to a flash drive and am going to uninstall the sytem again and reinstall after I have erased the old Im's, as I still have the same display problem at 480 x 800 ech time I log on. Added to that, my cam works on IM, but when I choose a room it won't connect, just says getting room list and stays dead, so it's got worse damnit.
Thats why I want to start fresh again, also I now get a add on notification on any site saying website wants Adobe flash player wants to be added on. I have okayed it and run it but nothing changes the system and it keeps on appearing.
I have also checked my add ons in tools and they are all enabled.
So once again, would you kindly give me your thoughts?
regards,
MORSELS / Jerry
And my REPLY:
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2010 11:32 PM
To: 'J'; 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: I'm back!!
Hi Jerry,
See one of my previous replies. After you did the FULL install of YM, did you check the YahooMessenger.exe file Properties>Compatibility Tab, to make sure that you don't have a check mark in the display settings box? It shouldn't be but possibly one of your old versions has a registry key that is affecting the settings of your new download.
If that isn't the problem, I'm wondering if one of the old version or some registry remnant from one of the old version is messing things up in other ways.
Did you save the FULL download from http://www.filehippo.com/ (or your preferred download site)? If you saved it on your desktop or in a folder in your My Documents folder or however you have your computer organized, then there is no need to copy that to a flash drive. When you uninstall YM, it will not delete the file that you downloaded so after you clean things up, you can just click on that .exe file again and start the install process all over again.
When you uninstall YM 10.x, I would use the Revo Uninstaller and then follow the instructions with Revo to delete all of the leftover registry keys and program remnants. See my blog article for more details.
Then run the Secunia Online Scanner again and see if it finds any remnants of the old versions of YM. If it does, it will actually list the file path to where that remnant was found and you can just follow that file path and just highlight and delete the files. OR... after running Revo, you can just go to your C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger and delete the entire Messenger folder but you may want to go through that folder and only delete the things you do not want to keep. For example, I save my archived chats so I move those Archive folders to My Documents folder and then move them back to their proper place after I install a new version. For Windows XP, the Archive folder is in the above file path.
For Windows Vista and Windows 7, the file path is:
C:\Users\\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger\Profiles\
If you feel comfortable fooling with your Registry, you could also search for Yahoo Messenger entries in your registry and clean them out manually, although I would use CCleaner's Registry Cleaner and then WinASO Registry Optimizer to look for and clean up any errant registry entries... and if you used Revo Uninstaller, it probably already got them all!
After things are all cleaned up, then do the installation again, check the Properties>Compatibility Tab to make sure nothing is checked there and if you are still having monitor issues, I would have to think it's one of the other problems with a driver that needs to be updated or rolled back. See my earlier reply for some of the other issues that caused monitor issues related to YM.
As far as Adobe Flash, once you've uninstalled it and removed the old remnants, using the same methods above, go to http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/155/tn_15507.html and it will check your version and http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ will show an animated flash video that says "Adobe Flash Player Successfully Installed" and then change to another Adobe related Ad. If you aren't updated or installed properly, go to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ (you may want to uncheck the Google Toolbar thing... I NEVER install all of the add-on software that is often pushed from many free programs) Click on Agree And Install and follow the prompts to install Adobe. Prior to doing this, Secunia's Online scanner should have told you about out-dated Flash remnants and you can follow the file paths to delete the outdated flash files that were left over from previous installations.
As far as going to the rooms, I think you have to have Java installed. Did Secunia identify if you had Java installed and updated? If you didn't, get it here. http://www.java.com/getjava/ On that page, right below the Free Java Download button, there's a link to "Do I Have Java?" so you can check it first and that will also tell you if you have the latest version.
I probably need to add some of this info to my article on doing a FULL and CLEAN install of YM since Flash and Java are often needed with YM.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/ (Rants, Raves, Opinions & Information)
CLICK THE LINK "YAHOO MESSENGER" UNDER THE LABELS SECTION TO THE LEFT FOR MORE OF MY BLOGS ABOUT YAHOO MESSENGER
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and
files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your
computer.
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.22/1112 - Release Date: 11/5/2007
7:11 PM
P.S. - I no longer use AVG Free but instead I use the FREE Comodo Internet Security Suite from http://www.comodo.com/ which includes a GREAT firewall, good antivirus and antimalware protection. Of course, I still do my weekly updates with Spybot's Immunize feater and SpywareBlaster and I still run regular scans with MalwareBytes, SuperAntiSpyware, a-Squared Free and various online scans to make sure Comodo is catching everything but for the most part, Comodo's suite is doing a good job and is a very low resource suite compared to other suites that I've used. I even use it on an OLD XP computer with only 384MB of RAM and can still run other high resource programs like Outlook 2003, Word 2003, IE8, etc.
Edit/Update -
July 17, 2010 - Added "Quick-Steps" to the top of this post;
June 24, 2010 - added new location for Yupdater.exe file;
May 08, 2010 - added an email sent to someone with some info;
April 14, 2010 - fixed a link;
January 31, 2010 - to add more info about using Revo Uninstaller and to add info for Windows Vista and newer YM versions;
Many other updates prior.
Quick-Steps To Summarize The Below Information:
(NOTE: Create A Restore Point before each step if you are unsure of your computer tech abilities)
1. Uninstall Yahoo Messenger (YM) using the Revo Uninstaller. Save a copy of your Archives folder if you keep archives of your chat sessions. Turn off and re-start computer.
2. Run CCleaner Registry Cleaner (or WinASO or other legitimate registry cleaner)
3. Run Secunia Online Scanner to see if it finds any OLD remnants of YM.
4. Make sure you have updated versions of Adobe Flash Player and Sun's Java browser plugins for Internet Explorer, preferably version 8 (mainly for use in the Chat Rooms, not as much for YM)
5. Download a FULL sized version of YM from FileHippo.com or your preferred download site, to your desktop or preferred download folder.
6. Turn off and re-start your computer and make sure IE is working properly, including the Java and Flash sites.
7. Go to your downloaded FULL sized version of YM and run the .EXE file to start the installation. You may not want to install any toolbars or other add-ons that Yahoo may have included in the download. DO NOT RUN YM YET.
8. Move your copy of your archive folder back to where it should be.
9. Start up YM and go through all of the Preferences Menu setting things up how you like them since the above steps would have removed all of your previous settings.
10. Start IM'ing your friends, testing all of the features and go to Chat Rooms to make sure things are working well. If they aren't, leave me a comment below or go to the Yahoo Messenger Yahoo Group (link in next paragraph), join the group and post your questions there.
Also read http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/2010/05/im-going-to-upgrade-to-yahoo-messenger.html where I documented my uninstall of YM 9.0 and upgrade to YM 10.0.
Following is a message and amendment that I posted in one of my Yahoo Groups, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Yahoo_Messenger, back in May 2007 but I've been meaning to post it to my blog as well so here it is about five months later! And I have updated this article many times since.
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 10:21 PM
To: 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: How I ALWAYS install Yahoo Messenger on Windows XP
Hi YM Group,
I thought I had done this before but after someone contacted me off list, I searched through the archives and couldn't find my post so I guess I've just added bits and pieces of this information in various replies over the years but here is how I prepare my computer before downloading a new version of Yahoo Messenger (YM).
Uninstall old version of YM using Add/Remove programs for the YM uninstaller. Reboot computer. OR BETTER YET, use the Revo Uninstaller and use it's default settings to find and remove a lot of the junk that the normal YM uninstaller leaves behind. http://www.revouninstaller.com/ Go through each step and delete the files and registry keys that it highlights and recommends except you might want to save a copy of your archived chats and other archived info as mentioned later in this article.
Reboot your computer after each step in this article.
Run a GOOD registry cleaner. I use and recommend WinASO Registry Optimizer http://www.winaso.com/download.htm which is FREE to download and use as long as you like, but the trial version has a limitation that is more of an annoyance than anything else, in that it tries to get you to pay for the unlimited version but if you don't mind dealing with the annoyance, it works as good as the paid version. I've been using the FREE trial version for several years since version 1.0. I've never had a single problem using it to clean and optimize my registry. The downside/annoyance of the free trial version is that it will only clean 10 items each time it is run. The first time you run it, you may find several hundred items that need to be fixed so you will have to run it dozens of times. OR BETTER YET, you can run CCleaner's Registry Cleaner option, http://www.ccleaner.com/, to get rid of most of the junk and then follow it up with WinASO to do a full cleaning since it does a better job than CCleaner. After that, if you run WinASO 1-2 times a week, it will be much quicker, easier and keep your computer from being bogged up as much with junk. After cleaning/fixing your registry, reboot your computer.
Another FREE registry cleaner is offered as an online scan from Microsoft by going to the Windows Live OneCare Safety Center http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/cleanup.htm and run the Clean Up scan. DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE ACTUAL ONECARE PROGRAM that is advertised on that page. It's not needed to use the free scans and it's not that great of a program anyhow... compared to other free security software that is out there.
Now download and SAVE (to "desktop" or your favorite file folder for saving things where you can find the download after you reboot) the full version of Yahoo Messenger from http://www.filehippo.com/download_yahoo_messenger/ or your favorite safe program download site. DO NOT chose "RUN" during the download and DO NOT RUN or execute the full version after it is downloaded. The full version of YM is around 10-15MB (depending on which version) in comparison to the Yahoo Messenger "official" installer that is only around 484kb when downloaded from http://messenger.yahoo.com/ I find that the Yahoo installer will have more problems especially if someone has a strong firewall or slow internet connection.
It's this "installer" version that causes so many problems, IMO. Because when you run it, it then starts downloading other bits and pieces of the program and if there are any glitches in your internet service or with Yahoo servers (and we all know there are those! ;-\), you can end up with a bad download with various bugs. When you download the full version from FileHippo or another download site, after you download it and get ready to run it, there should be Publisher listed, which should be Yahoo! Inc in a blue link which is to a digital verification site to verify that you have a legitimate version of the program. This works for most programs you may download although there are many that will not have this digital verification capability and when you go to execute one of these "unsigned" programs, you will get a little warning message on the box. If I know I downloaded the program from a reliable site, I don't worry about this but if you are not sure, you should never run a program without a digital signature attached. Many other programs have a way to run a check-sum on the download to make sure you got the download in full without errors but I've never seen this available with YM. Usually, if you have the digital signature, it means things went smoothly and you have a full version without errors.
If you use CCleaner, you should run it now to clean out your temporary files and TIF files. I am not going into all the aspects of CCleaner in this post but for most folks, it can be a problem to remove things they did not want cleaned if they do not go through and become very familiar with the program. It will clean auto-complete info, search history, cookies, etc., when used in the default mode. The CCleaner Registry Cleaner is OK to use in default mode but the rest of CCleaner should be understood before running or the user could lose information that they actually wanted to keep. This is why I like WinASO as a registry cleaner. Even a rookie can run the registry optimizer without causing problems to their computer... at least it's never caused me problems in hundreds of times of running it.
If you don't use CCleaner and did not use the Windows Live OneCare Safety Center Cleanup Scan, you should use your web-browser Tools to empty the TIF files. Then run a Search on your computer for all temporary files and remove them manually. If you don't know how to do this, then you should download CCleaner and become familiar with CCleaner and use it for this purpose or use the Windows Cleanup online scan. Feel free to ask me here and I'll tell you how I have my CCleaner set up to run it daily to keep the junk files off my computer.
Reboot the computer and leave all other programs turned off except for anti-virus and firewall.
Then, if you downloaded YM full version to your desktop, simply click on it to execute the program. If you have a firewall, you should get a pop-up asking for access, from the YM program installer, to the internet and other areas of your computer. Permit this and if you use an advanced firewall (which you should be using over the Windows Firewall which isn't very good), put a check mark in the box to allow it on a permanent basis. You can always go back to the firewall user interface and delete this permission later if you want to.
Choose the "CUSTOM" install instead of Yahoo's recommended install. This makes sure that all you install is YM and not all the other junk they try to get you to install like tool bars, etc. I choose CUSTOM install on ALL programs that I install on my computer to make sure I don't install junk I didn't want. The CUSTOM install still gives you the option to install other things but it doesn't force them on you without your knowledge. This is common practice on all FREE programs as a way to help them pay for their free program. Google, MSN, Yahoo and other companies pay to have their toolbars and desktop search programs included in the downloads. Reputable download sites and programs give you the option of opting out of these add-ons.
Now, once the YM program is installed on your computer. Reboot again.
Rebooting is important to computers as it's a way of letting the computer put everything back into place. If you are in the habit of leaving your computer on for days at a time, if you find it getting sluggish, a reboot will normally speed it back up again.
Now start up YM and go through your preferences, setting things to work how you like them. Become familiar with the Messenger Menus and the Preferences Menus and ask questions here about anything you may not understand.
The last thing that I do with any new install of YM is go into the C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger folder (or for version 10.x, the Yupdater.exe is now located in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Yahoo!\YUpdater and find the file Yupdater.exe and change the name to Yupdater-NOT USED.exe. You can also use your firewall to simply block Yupdater.exe from connecting to the internet but many folks do not utilize their firewalls in an advanced mode so Yupdater.exe would have access unless you went into your firewall and blocked it. This way with changing the file name, your installed version of YM will not automatically update to any newer release of YM without your express consent as YM will not find the Yupdater.exe file when it tries to contact Yahoo like it will do on a regular basis if you don't block it or change the file name. YM 10.0x does have a section in the preferences that allows you to check off saying that you do not want YM to update automatically and I have that checked off but I still change the Yupdater.exe file as well.
If you decide you are not happy with your current version, you can then repeat the steps above and download a more recent version and install that version. I've found that allowing Yupdater.exe to connect to Yahoo, it constantly stays in contact with Yahoo whenever YM is in use. I've verified this with my firewall. I'm not sure why an updater process would need to stay in constant contact with the manufacturer. Even my Antivirus, Antispyware, etc., only contacts their updates once a day for new malware definitions. None of my other programs on my computer stays in constant contact for updates. They either run on a monthly basis or some other time interval. Certainly, Yahoo isn't releasing daily updates so YM should not need 100% access to Yahoo servers, IMO.
Hopefully, if all went well, your newly installed or reinstalled version of YM will be much more stable and cause less problems for you and you will not need to update to new versions as often.
I still run YM versions 8.1x, 9.1x and 10.0x and they are very stable on my computers compared to some of the stories I read about daily and with the people I help on a daily basis here and on other forums and my friends and neighbors that used the Yahoo Installer.
I hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions you may have. I'll probably put this on my blog with some screen shots of WinASO and CCleaner and how I have my CCleaner set up so it does not clean things some people actually want to keep and I'll post a link when I do.
Ooops. I almost forgot one step. It may not be critical but it could cause you to lose your archived chats if you have YM set to save them. Before uninstalling and cleaning up your computer with WinASO, CCleaner and Windows OneCare Cleanup utility, go to C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger\Profiles\(your yahoo name)\Archive and copy both of the folders in the Archive folder. There should be a Conferences and a Messages folder. Just copy and save them to your desktop or your other favorite place to save things.
Usually, during an uninstall and reinstall of YM, these folders are left in place but in the past, if I had a buggy YM install, I would sometimes go and delete the entire Messenger folder (C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger) to make sure I get rid of all traces of the buggy version. By saving copies of the Archive folders, I can move them back into their proper place after a new clean install. If you go to this extreme of removing everything associated with YM, make sure you run WinASO, CCleaner and Windows OneCare Cleanup utility before doing the clean install of the new full version download.
Hope this helps!
Lenny Vasbinder
Here are the emails that I mentioned in the May 08, 2010 Update:
-----Original Message-----
From: J
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2010 10:46 PM
To: lnvtm1@gmail.com
Subject: I'm back!!
High Lenny,
Thanks for the 2 sites you gave me to uninstall and check for updates, really good ones.
I did the complete uninstall and downloaded the latest IM 10.x and the scan said it was perfect, it also picked up 3 earlier versions of yahoo that are lying in my registry that uninstall has not removed. How do I identify that and erase it?
I have copied the new IM 10.x to a flash drive and am going to uninstall the sytem again and reinstall after I have erased the old Im's, as I still have the same display problem at 480 x 800 ech time I log on. Added to that, my cam works on IM, but when I choose a room it won't connect, just says getting room list and stays dead, so it's got worse damnit.
Thats why I want to start fresh again, also I now get a add on notification on any site saying website wants Adobe flash player wants to be added on. I have okayed it and run it but nothing changes the system and it keeps on appearing.
I have also checked my add ons in tools and they are all enabled.
So once again, would you kindly give me your thoughts?
regards,
MORSELS / Jerry
And my REPLY:
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2010 11:32 PM
To: 'J'; 'Yahoo_Messenger@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: I'm back!!
Hi Jerry,
See one of my previous replies. After you did the FULL install of YM, did you check the YahooMessenger.exe file Properties>Compatibility Tab, to make sure that you don't have a check mark in the display settings box? It shouldn't be but possibly one of your old versions has a registry key that is affecting the settings of your new download.
If that isn't the problem, I'm wondering if one of the old version or some registry remnant from one of the old version is messing things up in other ways.
Did you save the FULL download from http://www.filehippo.com/ (or your preferred download site)? If you saved it on your desktop or in a folder in your My Documents folder or however you have your computer organized, then there is no need to copy that to a flash drive. When you uninstall YM, it will not delete the file that you downloaded so after you clean things up, you can just click on that .exe file again and start the install process all over again.
When you uninstall YM 10.x, I would use the Revo Uninstaller and then follow the instructions with Revo to delete all of the leftover registry keys and program remnants. See my blog article for more details.
Then run the Secunia Online Scanner again and see if it finds any remnants of the old versions of YM. If it does, it will actually list the file path to where that remnant was found and you can just follow that file path and just highlight and delete the files. OR... after running Revo, you can just go to your C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Messenger and delete the entire Messenger folder but you may want to go through that folder and only delete the things you do not want to keep. For example, I save my archived chats so I move those Archive folders to My Documents folder and then move them back to their proper place after I install a new version. For Windows XP, the Archive folder is in the above file path.
For Windows Vista and Windows 7, the file path is:
C:\Users\
If you feel comfortable fooling with your Registry, you could also search for Yahoo Messenger entries in your registry and clean them out manually, although I would use CCleaner's Registry Cleaner and then WinASO Registry Optimizer to look for and clean up any errant registry entries... and if you used Revo Uninstaller, it probably already got them all!
After things are all cleaned up, then do the installation again, check the Properties>Compatibility Tab to make sure nothing is checked there and if you are still having monitor issues, I would have to think it's one of the other problems with a driver that needs to be updated or rolled back. See my earlier reply for some of the other issues that caused monitor issues related to YM.
As far as Adobe Flash, once you've uninstalled it and removed the old remnants, using the same methods above, go to http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/155/tn_15507.html and it will check your version and http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ will show an animated flash video that says "Adobe Flash Player Successfully Installed" and then change to another Adobe related Ad. If you aren't updated or installed properly, go to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ (you may want to uncheck the Google Toolbar thing... I NEVER install all of the add-on software that is often pushed from many free programs) Click on Agree And Install and follow the prompts to install Adobe. Prior to doing this, Secunia's Online scanner should have told you about out-dated Flash remnants and you can follow the file paths to delete the outdated flash files that were left over from previous installations.
As far as going to the rooms, I think you have to have Java installed. Did Secunia identify if you had Java installed and updated? If you didn't, get it here. http://www.java.com/getjava/ On that page, right below the Free Java Download button, there's a link to "Do I Have Java?" so you can check it first and that will also tell you if you have the latest version.
I probably need to add some of this info to my article on doing a FULL and CLEAN install of YM since Flash and Java are often needed with YM.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com/ (Rants, Raves, Opinions & Information)
CLICK THE LINK "YAHOO MESSENGER" UNDER THE LABELS SECTION TO THE LEFT FOR MORE OF MY BLOGS ABOUT YAHOO MESSENGER
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and
files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your
computer.
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.15.22/1112 - Release Date: 11/5/2007
7:11 PM
P.S. - I no longer use AVG Free but instead I use the FREE Comodo Internet Security Suite from http://www.comodo.com/ which includes a GREAT firewall, good antivirus and antimalware protection. Of course, I still do my weekly updates with Spybot's Immunize feater and SpywareBlaster and I still run regular scans with MalwareBytes, SuperAntiSpyware, a-Squared Free and various online scans to make sure Comodo is catching everything but for the most part, Comodo's suite is doing a good job and is a very low resource suite compared to other suites that I've used. I even use it on an OLD XP computer with only 384MB of RAM and can still run other high resource programs like Outlook 2003, Word 2003, IE8, etc.
Review of Sunbelt CounterSpy Anti-Spyware Program version 2.5.1040
Review of CounterSpy (CS) from http://www.sunbelt-software.com/
Knowing my two year subscription to Spy Sweeper was expiring soon, I started searching to see if there was something better out there and decided to try out CounterSpy since it was getting rave reviews from many in the computer security industry.
I was able to purchase it at a special price of only $13.13 for their Halloween special through WXPNews newsletter. I also opted to purchase the 2nd year of the subscription at a special price of $9.98 so the two year subscription was only $23.11... a small price to pay for two years of spyware protection while surfing the net!!!
Prior to writing this review, I first uninstalled my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from http://www.webroot.com/, then I ran WinASO Registry Optimizer http://www.winaso.com to clean out any registry entries, rebooted the computer and started the installation of CS.
Even the FREE trial version of WinASO, http://www.winaso.com/ will do a full registry repair but you simply have to keep running it over and over since it will only fix 10 registry entries each time in the FREE trial mode. Once you have your computer cleaned the first time, then weekly WinASO scans will usually only result in 1-2 scans needed to fix things unless you are a heavy downloaded and uninstaller since those two things leave scattered registry entries. The first time you run WinASO, you may have to run it dozens of times to clean your registry properly.
Installation was simple enough and the program did not ask to try and install any 3rd party applications like search bars or tool bars which was a pleasant surprise. So many programs try to push other programs on people and if you click yes, you end up with a bunch of bloated non-essential programs hogging up your resources. It did take a little longer than expected to update the definitions from version 617 to version 667, even with a DSL connection. I had to allow three connections from CS.
According to Task Manager (Cntrl-Alt-Del on Win XP), there were two processes running during the initial scan. SBCSSvc.exe and CounterSpy.exe. During initial scan, highest CPU % noted was 47% by SBCSSvc.exe with the average amount being around 15-30% and 15% by CounterSpy.exe. However, while typing this post, I noticed the CPU usage jump to 99% but not the entire time I was typing so it may have been something it was scanning that caused it to jump up to 99%. It went back down to the 15-30% range after a few seconds at 99%. Peak Mem Usage for SBCSSvc.exe was 219,640K and Peak Mem Usage with the Mem Usage in the 16,000K range during most of the scan. For CounterSpy.exe, the Peak Mem Usage was 40,228K with the Mem Usage in the 20,000K range during most of the scan. I also noticed CounterSpy.exe CPU usage jumping up into the 80% range while it was scanning the registry keys while the SBCSSvc.exe stayed in single digits for CPU usage during the registry scan.
Compared to my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from Webroot, CounterSpy (CS) is using much less system resources when running a full system scan. SS would use up into the 80% range during a full system scan and stay at that level or up into the 90% range the entire time so at least with CS, while running a full system scan, you should be able to do other computing without too much hang time occurring.
During scan, CS scanned Memory Processes first and scanned a total of 2,202 with 0 Memory Processes detected with any spyware.
Then it started scanning files. After scanning 117,156 files, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it started scanning registry keys. After scanning 251,553 registry keys, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it scanned Cookies and after scanning 166 cookies, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
A Scan Results window popped up upon completion and it shows total scan time as 59 minutes 20 seconds with a clean bill of health on my computer... which I kind of already knew but I wanted to see what CS might say on it's first scan.
I then started poking around and ran the My PC Checkup which suggested five things that needed to be fixed and it said 77 others were OK. I ran the fix on the five it suggested. It also has a History Eraser and Secure File Eraser. I don't worry about the History Eraser stuff like some folks so I skipped that step but I did try out the Secure File Eraser on a rather persistent file that I've been trying to delete for a week or so but every time I try to delete it, even in safe mode, it shows the file is being used by another program and it won't let me delete the file. I created this video file (.wav) using my webcam with a security program where it would use my webcam to monitor my office to see if anyone came in while I was not around and it created this .wav file that was over 1GB in size and I haven't been able to delete the file because it says the file is being used by another program. I haven't been overly worried about the file but it is something I need to remove so I tried the Secure File Eraser to delete/shred this file but it caused the SFE to hang up and I had to end the SFE task using Task Manager. I'll notify CS tech support about this issue.
I then went through and set up the automatic download of definitions and scan schedules to when I prefer them.
Generally speaking, I like CounterSpy but I'll follow up with further posts as I learn more about it.
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
Knowing my two year subscription to Spy Sweeper was expiring soon, I started searching to see if there was something better out there and decided to try out CounterSpy since it was getting rave reviews from many in the computer security industry.
I was able to purchase it at a special price of only $13.13 for their Halloween special through WXPNews newsletter. I also opted to purchase the 2nd year of the subscription at a special price of $9.98 so the two year subscription was only $23.11... a small price to pay for two years of spyware protection while surfing the net!!!
Prior to writing this review, I first uninstalled my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from http://www.webroot.com/, then I ran WinASO Registry Optimizer http://www.winaso.com to clean out any registry entries, rebooted the computer and started the installation of CS.
Even the FREE trial version of WinASO, http://www.winaso.com/ will do a full registry repair but you simply have to keep running it over and over since it will only fix 10 registry entries each time in the FREE trial mode. Once you have your computer cleaned the first time, then weekly WinASO scans will usually only result in 1-2 scans needed to fix things unless you are a heavy downloaded and uninstaller since those two things leave scattered registry entries. The first time you run WinASO, you may have to run it dozens of times to clean your registry properly.
Installation was simple enough and the program did not ask to try and install any 3rd party applications like search bars or tool bars which was a pleasant surprise. So many programs try to push other programs on people and if you click yes, you end up with a bunch of bloated non-essential programs hogging up your resources. It did take a little longer than expected to update the definitions from version 617 to version 667, even with a DSL connection. I had to allow three connections from CS.
According to Task Manager (Cntrl-Alt-Del on Win XP), there were two processes running during the initial scan. SBCSSvc.exe and CounterSpy.exe. During initial scan, highest CPU % noted was 47% by SBCSSvc.exe with the average amount being around 15-30% and 15% by CounterSpy.exe. However, while typing this post, I noticed the CPU usage jump to 99% but not the entire time I was typing so it may have been something it was scanning that caused it to jump up to 99%. It went back down to the 15-30% range after a few seconds at 99%. Peak Mem Usage for SBCSSvc.exe was 219,640K and Peak Mem Usage with the Mem Usage in the 16,000K range during most of the scan. For CounterSpy.exe, the Peak Mem Usage was 40,228K with the Mem Usage in the 20,000K range during most of the scan. I also noticed CounterSpy.exe CPU usage jumping up into the 80% range while it was scanning the registry keys while the SBCSSvc.exe stayed in single digits for CPU usage during the registry scan.
Compared to my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from Webroot, CounterSpy (CS) is using much less system resources when running a full system scan. SS would use up into the 80% range during a full system scan and stay at that level or up into the 90% range the entire time so at least with CS, while running a full system scan, you should be able to do other computing without too much hang time occurring.
During scan, CS scanned Memory Processes first and scanned a total of 2,202 with 0 Memory Processes detected with any spyware.
Then it started scanning files. After scanning 117,156 files, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it started scanning registry keys. After scanning 251,553 registry keys, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it scanned Cookies and after scanning 166 cookies, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
A Scan Results window popped up upon completion and it shows total scan time as 59 minutes 20 seconds with a clean bill of health on my computer... which I kind of already knew but I wanted to see what CS might say on it's first scan.
I then started poking around and ran the My PC Checkup which suggested five things that needed to be fixed and it said 77 others were OK. I ran the fix on the five it suggested. It also has a History Eraser and Secure File Eraser. I don't worry about the History Eraser stuff like some folks so I skipped that step but I did try out the Secure File Eraser on a rather persistent file that I've been trying to delete for a week or so but every time I try to delete it, even in safe mode, it shows the file is being used by another program and it won't let me delete the file. I created this video file (.wav) using my webcam with a security program where it would use my webcam to monitor my office to see if anyone came in while I was not around and it created this .wav file that was over 1GB in size and I haven't been able to delete the file because it says the file is being used by another program. I haven't been overly worried about the file but it is something I need to remove so I tried the Secure File Eraser to delete/shred this file but it caused the SFE to hang up and I had to end the SFE task using Task Manager. I'll notify CS tech support about this issue.
I then went through and set up the automatic download of definitions and scan schedules to when I prefer them.
Generally speaking, I like CounterSpy but I'll follow up with further posts as I learn more about it.
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
President Bush's GREAT State Of The Union Address
Here is a recent message and my ranting reply to the message posted to one of the many Yahoo! Groups which I belong to. This was in reference to the "State Of The Union" speech on January 31, 2006. The entire speech can be found at this White House web page. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060131-10.html
Hi Bernie,
I don't know if this is a good forum for discussing politics, but Chrissy didn't say anything about politics in her recent rules reminder. :-P
I'm a BIG supporter of President Bush so I thought it was GREAT. I like his aggressive stance on terrorism and I don't mind spending money for a strong military (that's provided for in our Constitution) but I don't like the fact that he is just like the liberals with his over-spending on our liberal social programs (NOT in our Constitution). I was hoping he would curtail some of the social programs. Instead, the next several generations are now faced with paying for my and the previous generations added health care programs. I know it's harsh but we can't expect our grandkids to pay for our Medicare and Pharmacy bills while we buy new cars and big screen TV's and do not save enough to take care of our selves as we get older. It's WRONG to pass on our retirement and health care bills to our kids and grand kids as a whole.... just because we want to take a nicer vacation and enjoy all of the luxuries in life as we're living it up in the fast lane!!!!!
The Social Security program was never properly funded from the beginning and grandfathered in millions of people that never contributed one penny to the program or very little before they started drawing out much more than they ever paid in. Social Security and Medicare has always been supported by taxes paid by the next generation, regardless of the mindset of so many people in my generation and my parents generation. The sad fact is that any money we paid was used to pay the previous generation's bills... not saved up for us.
I am also a big supporter of MSA's (Medical Savings Accounts) rather than buying regular health insurance as it puts US in control of our health care expenses rather than relying on the "group mentality" to pay for the bills of some people who do not take care of themselves. I would rather have ALL of my money go towards my family's health care rather than paying for
someone else that smokes, drinks and over-eats themselves into critical healthcare issues. Just like any other insurance, health care should be based on the individual's risk assessment and people who live more risky lifestyles should be charged more than someone who lives a less risky lifestyle.. and believe me, I would fall into the more risky lifestyle so this is not a self-serving statement.. just the facts!!!! I don't have a problem with subsidizing some kind of critical health issues that are not brought on intentionally by the individual, such as birth defects, etc., but I don't like paying the HUGE costs associated with the vascular and pulmonary problems of smokers who intentionally inhale burning carcinogenic matter. I don't have a problem if they smoke... just don't expect me to pay for it!!! Just like I don't expect them to pay for any part of my health care expenses.
Oh well.. enough ranting on my part. Unfortunately, so many people in America are apathetic when it comes to voting and politics that the large groups like AARP, etc., will continue to lobby and push government subsidized health care down the rest of our throats and wallets in my
lifetime but maybe my rantings will change things for the future generations.
It's time for everyone to start taking personal responsibility for their lives for everything from health care to education to retirement and quit expecting the rest of society to take care of you and your family for you!!!!!
The original income tax proposed in 1913 was only 10% on people making over $500,000.00 back then, whereas combined taxes have now grown to where most people pay over 50% of their income in taxes to wasteful government programs... from health care to education to retirement... and now they think they are "entitled" to it since they paid in to it. It's time to stop the madness!!!! OK.. that really was my last rant... :-D
Lenny Vasbinder
http://www.NeighborhoodHomeServices.com
Hurricane Damage Cleanup, Gutting & Tear-Outs,
Sheetrock & Flooring Removal, Handyman Repairs,
Homeowner's Contractors Agent (HCA), etc.
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com
504-621-1870 eFax - 413-318-0742
NHSNOLA@Gmail.com
***Mardi Gras... the greatest FREE show on earth starts February 17, 2006
through Fat Tuesday, February 28, 2006. Come on down and help New Orleans
recover from Katrina! This will be the best Mardi Gras ever!!!!!
Message:
Date: Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:13:18 -0000
From: "Bernie S" <bernieszya@>
Subject: OT: What did you people in the "Great" USA think of President Bush's Speech??
Date: Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:13:18 -0000
From: "Bernie S" <bernieszya@>
Subject: OT: What did you people in the "Great" USA think of President Bush's Speech??
I'd be really interested to hear what people living in USA think of President Bush's speech??
Bernie
MY REPLY:
Hi Bernie,
I don't know if this is a good forum for discussing politics, but Chrissy didn't say anything about politics in her recent rules reminder. :-P
I'm a BIG supporter of President Bush so I thought it was GREAT. I like his aggressive stance on terrorism and I don't mind spending money for a strong military (that's provided for in our Constitution) but I don't like the fact that he is just like the liberals with his over-spending on our liberal social programs (NOT in our Constitution). I was hoping he would curtail some of the social programs. Instead, the next several generations are now faced with paying for my and the previous generations added health care programs. I know it's harsh but we can't expect our grandkids to pay for our Medicare and Pharmacy bills while we buy new cars and big screen TV's and do not save enough to take care of our selves as we get older. It's WRONG to pass on our retirement and health care bills to our kids and grand kids as a whole.... just because we want to take a nicer vacation and enjoy all of the luxuries in life as we're living it up in the fast lane!!!!!
The Social Security program was never properly funded from the beginning and grandfathered in millions of people that never contributed one penny to the program or very little before they started drawing out much more than they ever paid in. Social Security and Medicare has always been supported by taxes paid by the next generation, regardless of the mindset of so many people in my generation and my parents generation. The sad fact is that any money we paid was used to pay the previous generation's bills... not saved up for us.
I am also a big supporter of MSA's (Medical Savings Accounts) rather than buying regular health insurance as it puts US in control of our health care expenses rather than relying on the "group mentality" to pay for the bills of some people who do not take care of themselves. I would rather have ALL of my money go towards my family's health care rather than paying for
someone else that smokes, drinks and over-eats themselves into critical healthcare issues. Just like any other insurance, health care should be based on the individual's risk assessment and people who live more risky lifestyles should be charged more than someone who lives a less risky lifestyle.. and believe me, I would fall into the more risky lifestyle so this is not a self-serving statement.. just the facts!!!! I don't have a problem with subsidizing some kind of critical health issues that are not brought on intentionally by the individual, such as birth defects, etc., but I don't like paying the HUGE costs associated with the vascular and pulmonary problems of smokers who intentionally inhale burning carcinogenic matter. I don't have a problem if they smoke... just don't expect me to pay for it!!! Just like I don't expect them to pay for any part of my health care expenses.
Oh well.. enough ranting on my part. Unfortunately, so many people in America are apathetic when it comes to voting and politics that the large groups like AARP, etc., will continue to lobby and push government subsidized health care down the rest of our throats and wallets in my
lifetime but maybe my rantings will change things for the future generations.
It's time for everyone to start taking personal responsibility for their lives for everything from health care to education to retirement and quit expecting the rest of society to take care of you and your family for you!!!!!
The original income tax proposed in 1913 was only 10% on people making over $500,000.00 back then, whereas combined taxes have now grown to where most people pay over 50% of their income in taxes to wasteful government programs... from health care to education to retirement... and now they think they are "entitled" to it since they paid in to it. It's time to stop the madness!!!! OK.. that really was my last rant... :-D
Lenny Vasbinder
http://www.NeighborhoodHomeServices.com
Hurricane Damage Cleanup, Gutting & Tear-Outs,
Sheetrock & Flooring Removal, Handyman Repairs,
Homeowner's Contractors Agent (HCA), etc.
http://lennyvasbinder.blogspot.com
504-621-1870 eFax - 413-318-0742
NHSNOLA@Gmail.com
***Mardi Gras... the greatest FREE show on earth starts February 17, 2006
through Fat Tuesday, February 28, 2006. Come on down and help New Orleans
recover from Katrina! This will be the best Mardi Gras ever!!!!!
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Neighborhood Home & Property Services is launched due to Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, Louisiana
I started Neighborhood Home Services, now called Neighborhood Home & Property Services under the original URL http://www.GeoCities.com/Neighborhood_Home_Services back in 2003 but I put the business on the back burner since I was still so busy with my Legal and Medical business.
After I rode out Hurricane Katrina, I was standing on my second floor balcony in Metairie (Jefferson Parish, Louisiana), overlooking the 15" flood waters still standing in the courtyard and 24" in the parking lot. I knew that my previous business in the New Orleans area was DONE! The Legal and Medical industries in the New Orleans area were going to be severely affected by the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. The Levee's had just breached and flooded most of the City of New Orleans with up to 10 feet of flood waters.
I looked down at the water and knew that there would be phenomenal opportunity in the home repair business so I started planning on how Neighborhood Home & Property Services would be able to take advantage of this disaster. When life deals you lemons, make lemonade!!!!
I started working for the Condominium Complex doing the cleanup that was needed and started lining up jobs to start gutting the flooded first floor Condo's. It has been 10 weeks since Hurricane Katrina caused so much devastation in the area and I am still gutting Condo's in my "Neighborhood" and I also have several other Condo's, Homes and even a Tomb to go and gut and repair in the coming weeks and months. I have also hired two full time sub-contractors to start repairing some of the now-gutted Condo's.
The papers report that there are over 400,000 homes and businesses that suffered moderate to severe flood or storm damage so I suspect that I will be busy for many months and years to come.... just gutting and rebuilding homes and businesses.
The New Orleans area is still suffering a severe shortage of "employees" so I am constantly looking for help. I have even called in some favors with some old friends from Honduras to see if any of their relatives want to come "visit" New Orleans and live and work with me. The last time I was down there on a scuba vacation, there were many young men and women wanting to come to America for all of the opportunities that exist here. I sure hope that things are doing GREAT economically down in Honduras but I also hope there are a couple of skilled men and/or women that want to come work in the construction industry in the New Orleans area. I am also going to put out some feelers with some friends that I have down in Mexico. There is still a severe shortage of living space in the area and I only have a one bedroom condo so I will only be able to have one or two people living with me. It could be a win-win situation for the people who take advantage of this opportunity to fly to New Orleans, live rent free and make some good money in the coming months. I need the help and they'll make lots of money and live for free.
If any of my fellow neighbors and hurricane victims need help with gutting their homes or businesses or with the follow-up repairs, please feel free to call or email me.
Well, signing off of the Blog for now.
Lenny Vasbinder
Neighborhood Home & Property Services
504-677-5111
eFax-413-318-0742
NHAPServices@Gmail.com
After I rode out Hurricane Katrina, I was standing on my second floor balcony in Metairie (Jefferson Parish, Louisiana), overlooking the 15" flood waters still standing in the courtyard and 24" in the parking lot. I knew that my previous business in the New Orleans area was DONE! The Legal and Medical industries in the New Orleans area were going to be severely affected by the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. The Levee's had just breached and flooded most of the City of New Orleans with up to 10 feet of flood waters.
I looked down at the water and knew that there would be phenomenal opportunity in the home repair business so I started planning on how Neighborhood Home & Property Services would be able to take advantage of this disaster. When life deals you lemons, make lemonade!!!!
I started working for the Condominium Complex doing the cleanup that was needed and started lining up jobs to start gutting the flooded first floor Condo's. It has been 10 weeks since Hurricane Katrina caused so much devastation in the area and I am still gutting Condo's in my "Neighborhood" and I also have several other Condo's, Homes and even a Tomb to go and gut and repair in the coming weeks and months. I have also hired two full time sub-contractors to start repairing some of the now-gutted Condo's.
The papers report that there are over 400,000 homes and businesses that suffered moderate to severe flood or storm damage so I suspect that I will be busy for many months and years to come.... just gutting and rebuilding homes and businesses.
The New Orleans area is still suffering a severe shortage of "employees" so I am constantly looking for help. I have even called in some favors with some old friends from Honduras to see if any of their relatives want to come "visit" New Orleans and live and work with me. The last time I was down there on a scuba vacation, there were many young men and women wanting to come to America for all of the opportunities that exist here. I sure hope that things are doing GREAT economically down in Honduras but I also hope there are a couple of skilled men and/or women that want to come work in the construction industry in the New Orleans area. I am also going to put out some feelers with some friends that I have down in Mexico. There is still a severe shortage of living space in the area and I only have a one bedroom condo so I will only be able to have one or two people living with me. It could be a win-win situation for the people who take advantage of this opportunity to fly to New Orleans, live rent free and make some good money in the coming months. I need the help and they'll make lots of money and live for free.
If any of my fellow neighbors and hurricane victims need help with gutting their homes or businesses or with the follow-up repairs, please feel free to call or email me.
Well, signing off of the Blog for now.
Lenny Vasbinder
Neighborhood Home & Property Services
504-677-5111
eFax-413-318-0742
NHAPServices@Gmail.com
Friday, June 10, 2005
NEW rules (guidelines) to replace the 1" per gallon rule (guideline) for Freshwater Aquariums
NOTICE - Article moved to http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/02/new-rules-guidelines-to-replace-1-per.html
I no longer participate in the forums at aquariumfish.com due to their poor or complete lack of moderation to keep trolls or spammers from constantly causing problems. Come visit me at my new "homes" at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife or one of the other groups or forums listed on the right side of my new fish blog at http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/.
I have moved this Blog/Article, "NEW rules (guidelines) to replace the 1" per gallon rule (guideline) for Freshwater Aquariums", to my new GoldLenny Blog where I will be keeping all of my aquarium fish and pond related "Articles" and Blogs. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I no longer participate in the forums at aquariumfish.com due to their poor or complete lack of moderation to keep trolls or spammers from constantly causing problems. Come visit me at my new "homes" at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AquaticLife or one of the other groups or forums listed on the right side of my new fish blog at http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/.
I have moved this Blog/Article, "NEW rules (guidelines) to replace the 1" per gallon rule (guideline) for Freshwater Aquariums", to my new GoldLenny Blog where I will be keeping all of my aquarium fish and pond related "Articles" and Blogs. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Pond Maintenance - Q & A about an Algae Bloom and How-To make an inexpensive Filter system
Also visit my fish related Blog - GoldLenny - On Keeping Aquarium Fish - Goldfish & Tropicals where I will be moving all of my fish related articles and updating them as needed.
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 14:15:29 EDT
From: cfit421@
Subject: gross water
Hi,
A friend of mine has a small pond. I'd say it's about 200 gallons. It is stocked with 12 (I think) Wal-mart goldfish, there's only a trickle of water falling from a rock to aerate the water, and the filter and pump are at the bottom of the pond. The water is disgusting. It's FULL of stringy and blanket type algae and there's a rusty color to the water. She said she got a hold on it just a few weeks ago, then it rains, and it gets all gross again. She said if there's any expense involved in making it right, it won't be able to happen. So, is there anything she can do to fix the water, even if it involves a LITTLE work and a LITTLE money? Thanks!
AND NOW MY REPLY:
The algae bloom is usually caused by several factors. Too high of Nitrates and Phosphates in the water and too much Sunlight are the main two reasons for algae. The high nitrates are caused by over-feeding and poor water maintenance.
Too much sunlight is a little tougher to handle but can be helped a little by water lilies and hyacinths in a wide open pond. You should let them grow till they cover over 50% of your pond. I don't know what the layout of the pond is and if there are any trees providing shade, etc.
Test the water for Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates and also pH if a test kit is available. The Ammonia and Nitrites are usually more of a worry when a pond is new or too much of a bio-filter change has been done. Some people "clean" their ponds and disrupt the bio-filter too much when they do this.
The high Nitrates can be lowered by partial water changes... no more than 25% at a time unless it's an emergency such as an illness... just pump some of the pond water into the gardens and replace it with properly conditioned tap water but be careful about using the garden hose unless the hose has been running for a while to get any plastifiers out of it first. I just read about this recently after someone had a pond fish kill. I have a 30 gallon clean garbage can that I only use for the pond water. Then I add the conditioner and then pour the water into the pond. Set up the garbage can near the edge of the pond first so after it is full and conditioned, you can just slowly pour it into the pond.
The other reason for high Nitrates is OVER-FEEDING of the Goldfish. Goldfish are great actors and act like they are starving all of the time. Any time you walk near the pond, they will come to the surface and beg for food. Resist the temptation and ONLY feed them once or twice a day per the instructions on the food. Some times, it is good to skip a day just to let them scavenge around for any food that sank to the bottom and to give the bio-filter a chance to catch up with the goldfish waste. Many website articles recommend this. Some even say you can leave for a 3-day weekend without worrying about the Goldfish eating. They eat just about anything and if they are really "starving", they would munch on the greens in the pond but they won't really be starving... just acting! I take this back in advance if you come home from your 3-day weekend and all of your pond plants have disappeared. At least the Goldfish ate well! :P
Neither of the above items cost you anything.
Now, another low-cost or free long term solution.
I'll assume they have a pump that is pumping the water up to the rock and presuming that the pump is OK, then the pump and/or lines are just clogged up with algae growth. Take the tubing off from the Pump to the Rock and clean it out. I used the garden hose to force water through it. Take the tubing all the way out of the pond when you do this and let the junk and water that comes out of the tubing flow into a garden. It will be great for that purpose. Prepare to get a little messy during this job.
Next, make a pre-filter for the pump (assuming it's a small 3-4 inch cube type) to keep all of the junk out of it and the lines. I can't find the link now but I found a diagram on a website years ago where you take a 12" plastic basket, like the kind used for pond plants (get it at the local home improvement or pond store). Buy some "natural" filter material (it was a blue color and used for furnaces and was inorganic and will not harm the water and lasts forever). Buy enough so that you can cut it up to fit all four sides, the bottom and top of the plastic basket between the four side pieces. Put the bottom piece in and then put the four sides in. Put some pea gravel in as weight and for the pump to sit on top of. Then put the top piece on after cutting small slits for the tubing and electrical wiring. All of the pieces should be cut to fit snuggly inside of the basket and the top piece should fit snuggly on top. Optional - put a few bunches of weighted anacharis plants on top of the basket to finish off the system or you can tuck the ends of individual strands between the seams of the blue filter material.
Here is a link to a website http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm that shows a similar, but larger DIY pre-filter so depending on the size of your pond, you could use the one I describe with 12" plant basket or the larger one using a milk crate.
EDIT added 07/27/05 - Someone recently found the original website for my pre-filter in the wayback web archives... at this link - http://web.archive.org/web/20001210043100/theplantplace.com/ourfilter.htm
Now you have a pre-filter for the pump and a GREAT bio-filter as well. Around $10.00... and maybe even free if you have these materials around your home already. The Blue filter material will turn greenish soon as it filters out the junk and will blend in with the bottom of the pond or you can put it behind a plant or something which is probably where the pump was at in the first place. I also saw someone do this with a plastic milk crate but it required more of the filter material which most people do not have handy. Do not use Fiberglass filter material. I wish I could find the website that explained the exact material but it was the only Blue filter material that you could buy at Home Depot. It is about 1" thick and sturdy... like the material in a kitchen or floor scrub pad... but inexpensive and came in a 24" x 36" piece in one package. It was enough for one filter kit.
The gravel and filter material will become a phenomenal bio-filter after a couple of weeks. When cleaning, if necessary, never clean more than one or two pieces of the filter material at a time and never clean the gravel or bottom piece. When you take the assembly out of the pond, put it in a tub of pond water so you do not kill the good bacteria in the bio-filter. The best thing to do if the filter material is getting clogged up is to just swish it around in the tub of pond water to remove the big debris without removing all of the bio-filter bacteria. Put the piece of filter material back into the basket and use that water in the tub for watering your plants or garden. It's packed with nutrients!
Run this new pre-filter assembly for a week and then do another 25% water change and clean two of the pre-filter panels and repeat until your pond is crystal clear.
When you do maintenance on your pre-filter, always unplug the pump first and any other electrical items in the pond and then put a larger bucket in the pond and put the pre-filter in the bucket (with water) so the pre-filter stays submerged when you remove it and do your filter and pump maintenance.
Continue this until the pond is crystal clear... which will happen as long as the over-feeding is cut out and partial water changes are made. Eventually, the partial water changes can be cut back on once the natural bio-filter is doing its job and the algae does not have all of the extra food/nitrates to feed on.
Hope this helps.
Lenny Vasbinder
Neighborhood Home Services
http://www.neighborhoodhomeservices.com/
Cell - 504-621-1870
eFax - 413-318-0742
LNVTM1@gmail.com
NHSNOLA@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 14:15:29 EDT
From: cfit421@
Subject: gross water
Hi,
A friend of mine has a small pond. I'd say it's about 200 gallons. It is stocked with 12 (I think) Wal-mart goldfish, there's only a trickle of water falling from a rock to aerate the water, and the filter and pump are at the bottom of the pond. The water is disgusting. It's FULL of stringy and blanket type algae and there's a rusty color to the water. She said she got a hold on it just a few weeks ago, then it rains, and it gets all gross again. She said if there's any expense involved in making it right, it won't be able to happen. So, is there anything she can do to fix the water, even if it involves a LITTLE work and a LITTLE money? Thanks!
AND NOW MY REPLY:
The algae bloom is usually caused by several factors. Too high of Nitrates and Phosphates in the water and too much Sunlight are the main two reasons for algae. The high nitrates are caused by over-feeding and poor water maintenance.
Too much sunlight is a little tougher to handle but can be helped a little by water lilies and hyacinths in a wide open pond. You should let them grow till they cover over 50% of your pond. I don't know what the layout of the pond is and if there are any trees providing shade, etc.
Test the water for Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates and also pH if a test kit is available. The Ammonia and Nitrites are usually more of a worry when a pond is new or too much of a bio-filter change has been done. Some people "clean" their ponds and disrupt the bio-filter too much when they do this.
The high Nitrates can be lowered by partial water changes... no more than 25% at a time unless it's an emergency such as an illness... just pump some of the pond water into the gardens and replace it with properly conditioned tap water but be careful about using the garden hose unless the hose has been running for a while to get any plastifiers out of it first. I just read about this recently after someone had a pond fish kill. I have a 30 gallon clean garbage can that I only use for the pond water. Then I add the conditioner and then pour the water into the pond. Set up the garbage can near the edge of the pond first so after it is full and conditioned, you can just slowly pour it into the pond.
The other reason for high Nitrates is OVER-FEEDING of the Goldfish. Goldfish are great actors and act like they are starving all of the time. Any time you walk near the pond, they will come to the surface and beg for food. Resist the temptation and ONLY feed them once or twice a day per the instructions on the food. Some times, it is good to skip a day just to let them scavenge around for any food that sank to the bottom and to give the bio-filter a chance to catch up with the goldfish waste. Many website articles recommend this. Some even say you can leave for a 3-day weekend without worrying about the Goldfish eating. They eat just about anything and if they are really "starving", they would munch on the greens in the pond but they won't really be starving... just acting! I take this back in advance if you come home from your 3-day weekend and all of your pond plants have disappeared. At least the Goldfish ate well! :P
Neither of the above items cost you anything.
Now, another low-cost or free long term solution.
I'll assume they have a pump that is pumping the water up to the rock and presuming that the pump is OK, then the pump and/or lines are just clogged up with algae growth. Take the tubing off from the Pump to the Rock and clean it out. I used the garden hose to force water through it. Take the tubing all the way out of the pond when you do this and let the junk and water that comes out of the tubing flow into a garden. It will be great for that purpose. Prepare to get a little messy during this job.
Next, make a pre-filter for the pump (assuming it's a small 3-4 inch cube type) to keep all of the junk out of it and the lines. I can't find the link now but I found a diagram on a website years ago where you take a 12" plastic basket, like the kind used for pond plants (get it at the local home improvement or pond store). Buy some "natural" filter material (it was a blue color and used for furnaces and was inorganic and will not harm the water and lasts forever). Buy enough so that you can cut it up to fit all four sides, the bottom and top of the plastic basket between the four side pieces. Put the bottom piece in and then put the four sides in. Put some pea gravel in as weight and for the pump to sit on top of. Then put the top piece on after cutting small slits for the tubing and electrical wiring. All of the pieces should be cut to fit snuggly inside of the basket and the top piece should fit snuggly on top. Optional - put a few bunches of weighted anacharis plants on top of the basket to finish off the system or you can tuck the ends of individual strands between the seams of the blue filter material.
Here is a link to a website http://www.mvwgs.org/filter.htm that shows a similar, but larger DIY pre-filter so depending on the size of your pond, you could use the one I describe with 12" plant basket or the larger one using a milk crate.
EDIT added 07/27/05 - Someone recently found the original website for my pre-filter in the wayback web archives... at this link - http://web.archive.org/web/20001210043100/theplantplace.com/ourfilter.htm
Now you have a pre-filter for the pump and a GREAT bio-filter as well. Around $10.00... and maybe even free if you have these materials around your home already. The Blue filter material will turn greenish soon as it filters out the junk and will blend in with the bottom of the pond or you can put it behind a plant or something which is probably where the pump was at in the first place. I also saw someone do this with a plastic milk crate but it required more of the filter material which most people do not have handy. Do not use Fiberglass filter material. I wish I could find the website that explained the exact material but it was the only Blue filter material that you could buy at Home Depot. It is about 1" thick and sturdy... like the material in a kitchen or floor scrub pad... but inexpensive and came in a 24" x 36" piece in one package. It was enough for one filter kit.
The gravel and filter material will become a phenomenal bio-filter after a couple of weeks. When cleaning, if necessary, never clean more than one or two pieces of the filter material at a time and never clean the gravel or bottom piece. When you take the assembly out of the pond, put it in a tub of pond water so you do not kill the good bacteria in the bio-filter. The best thing to do if the filter material is getting clogged up is to just swish it around in the tub of pond water to remove the big debris without removing all of the bio-filter bacteria. Put the piece of filter material back into the basket and use that water in the tub for watering your plants or garden. It's packed with nutrients!
Run this new pre-filter assembly for a week and then do another 25% water change and clean two of the pre-filter panels and repeat until your pond is crystal clear.
When you do maintenance on your pre-filter, always unplug the pump first and any other electrical items in the pond and then put a larger bucket in the pond and put the pre-filter in the bucket (with water) so the pre-filter stays submerged when you remove it and do your filter and pump maintenance.
Continue this until the pond is crystal clear... which will happen as long as the over-feeding is cut out and partial water changes are made. Eventually, the partial water changes can be cut back on once the natural bio-filter is doing its job and the algae does not have all of the extra food/nitrates to feed on.
Hope this helps.
Lenny Vasbinder
Neighborhood Home Services
http://www.neighborhoodhomeservices.com/
Cell - 504-621-1870
eFax - 413-318-0742
LNVTM1@gmail.com
NHSNOLA@gmail.com
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
How To Soundproof Bass Music From A Noisy Neighbor
After trying to help someone in one of my Yahoo! Groups deal with this problem and Googling this subject and reviewing dozens of pages, here is my final analysis of how to deal with this very common problem... at least according to the hundreds of thousands of hits on Google.
It starts with the original request for help and some of the other replies with my research and conclusions at the end.
ORIGINAL Message:
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 03:14:50 -0000
From: hello314314
Subject: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
Hello everyone -
We're hoping for some advice on how to soundproof approx. 100' along the north side of our home in order to block out the 'base' level of music from a noisy neighbor. The problem is not the volume, but the traveling sound waves of the base (bass).
We're interested in utilizing materials such as wood fencing or plants.
Our home is a single level 60 yr.+ rambler with the bedroom, living room and office parallel to this neighbors driveway. This north side of our house has an overhanging eve with vinyl siding, two large corner picture windows and three sash windows -- all facing the neighbors driveway, which is approx. 25' away.
We're considering installing a fence along this north side of our home, and beyond (the perimeter, if possible). Fencing can be installed approx. 6-8 feet high (need to double check w/ the county on the height restrictions). We're wondering if storage cabinetry built in to this same fencing along the most egregious area would be any help. The neighborhood is otherwise a generally quiet residential.
We're also wondering if there are any special types of glass for windows that are to be recommended for muffling these sound waves. Fully soundproofing glass does not seem preferable.
Thank you for any and all advice on how to dampen the 'base' (bass) noise.
Also, any advised fence building companies in the Northern Virginia area would also be greatly appreciated.
Note: FYI, Our requests to the neighbor to turn off the music has only managed the volume be turned down, but the base, even at a low volume, is still jolting. The neighbor has car music cranked up as he pulls into the driveway. The damage is then already done (waking us up, or baby) even for those few minutes. Also, music is played with friends that hang around outside. Our complaints to the police say that they have to hear the noise as it is going on. No other neighbors seem to complain -- but none other have their bedroom 20' away from car music.
Thanks for your help.
REPLY Message: 1
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 07:49:18 -0400
From: Eldred P
Subject: Re: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
From my past reading about music studio design(soundproofing to keepexternal sound OUT), the only thing that will really stoplow-frequency waves is mass. Mass would be something like a concrete wall or heavy insulation. Unfortunately, that's not real practical ina residential setting. You might check with some builders in your area - maybe someone has experience in studio design who can offersuggestions. Good luck.
Eldred
REPLY Message: 2
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 12:25:24 -0000
From: "twestbrook_77530"
Subject: Re: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
One cost effective measure used locally is to build a fence employing Hardiplank as the field material with the posts on 4' centers. Some local communities use this as a sound barrier next to a freeway.
REPLY Message: 3
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 06:43:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tim R
Subject: Re: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
Hello "Hello":
Simple answer: No, you cannot effectively stop this low frequency noise. The offending frequencies (100-500 Hz, or cycles per second) have such a long wavelength that your fence/walls would have to be several feet thick, made of a dense material such as concrete, and extend upwards for meters, to begin to attenuate them. Not practical or feasible. Your only remedy is likely legal, a civil action against the neighbor as a Private Nuisance. Sorry for your situation. If you can afford it, I'd think of moving...OTOH, if the cause is the high school kid of the neighbor, perhaps you can weather it out for the next couple years until he/she moves out.
TIM
REPLY Message: 4
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 01:59:59 -0000
From: "bluestardaddy"
Subject: Re: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
I don't know the size of your land, but if you can manage to raise at least a portion of the land, as in a thin burm, and plant trees and shrubs of varying heights , it tends to break up noise better than a heqdge row of single height. I used to manage a landscape crew and we installed raised burms frequently. If you can plant plants in front of each other to increase the thickness it helps, as in double rows, better than a single row of plants. Of course ytou must chose the right plant/trees for such a project. Consult your nursery or a landscape company first.
REPLY Message: 5
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 15:09:33 -0000
From: "joeyfun2003"
Subject: Re: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
There is an article on this very subject in April 2005 THIS OLD HOUSE magazine.
AND NOW.... MY RESEARCH AND REPLY:
I did a http://www.google.com/ search on: This Old House April 2005 Soundproofing
You might want to do the same search and look over the information.
This link was near the top. This page also contains many other links.
http://www.americanmicroinc.com/ami_newsfeed.html
(These people also make a Memory Foam Mattress similar to Tempur-Pedic but at a fraction of the cost, according to one of the articles I looked at.)
Here is their solution to Soundproofing A Wall. They do have an "Econobarrier" that you might be able to put up on your proposed fence or on the inside or outside of your bedroom wall. Read down this link and look it over. It might be a solution but it seems like it would be better on the outside and/or inside of your wall rather than the entire fence as 135 sq ft is $283.00 but that seems like it would cover the wall of your bedroom facing the noisy neighbor with extra for a double dose to make a removable covering for your window. 90 sq ft is $189.00.
This site also has many other possibly helpful links.
http://www.acousticalsource.com/how-to-soundproof-a-wall.html
I did a second Google search on: Soundproofing Bass Music from Noisy Neighbor
I got 534 hits on that search.
Here's a series of posts about your topic from 2002. It seems this problem has many people caught up in the "boom" of hip-hop and other bass heavy music.
http://www.lowertheboom.org/links/w05_drown_bass.html
This page has questions and answers for virtually every type of "noise" so maybe this page will help other people with "noise" problems.
http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/feedback.cfm?topic=Noise%20Cancellation
And if you look over their suggestions, it does not look good for people with Bass Music problems because it's not just something you "hear" but you "feel" it as well.
Here is another site and they also make the soundproofing fences that are put up next to Interstates, etc. so maybe they have a residential fence product that is affordable and might work in your situation.
http://www.acoustiblok.com/residential.html
Here is another site called SoundProofingAmerica and it has a page for soundproofing a room appropriately titled Soundproofing Your Teenager's Bedroom so maybe this will work in reverse for you.
http://www.soundproofingamerica.com/teen.asp
Here is an organization (possibly non-profit) that might help also.
http://www.noisefree.org/index.html
They even have a page called "Boom Cars" with links concerning your exact problem and a downloadable PDF book that may offer you some more help.
http://www.noisefree.org/boomcars/boombooklet.html
IN CONCLUSION: The high density foam or other high density solutions seem to be the only thing that will stop Bass Music waves.
Hope this helps.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://la.local.yahoo.biz/LennyVasbinderSalesAndMarketing
http://www.VemmaBuilder.com/115110105
Home/Office - 504-888-3391
Cell - 504-621-1870
eFax - 413-318-0742
mailto:413-318-0742LNVTM1@gmail.com
It starts with the original request for help and some of the other replies with my research and conclusions at the end.
ORIGINAL Message:
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 03:14:50 -0000
From: hello314314
Subject: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
Hello everyone -
We're hoping for some advice on how to soundproof approx. 100' along the north side of our home in order to block out the 'base' level of music from a noisy neighbor. The problem is not the volume, but the traveling sound waves of the base (bass).
We're interested in utilizing materials such as wood fencing or plants.
Our home is a single level 60 yr.+ rambler with the bedroom, living room and office parallel to this neighbors driveway. This north side of our house has an overhanging eve with vinyl siding, two large corner picture windows and three sash windows -- all facing the neighbors driveway, which is approx. 25' away.
We're considering installing a fence along this north side of our home, and beyond (the perimeter, if possible). Fencing can be installed approx. 6-8 feet high (need to double check w/ the county on the height restrictions). We're wondering if storage cabinetry built in to this same fencing along the most egregious area would be any help. The neighborhood is otherwise a generally quiet residential.
We're also wondering if there are any special types of glass for windows that are to be recommended for muffling these sound waves. Fully soundproofing glass does not seem preferable.
Thank you for any and all advice on how to dampen the 'base' (bass) noise.
Also, any advised fence building companies in the Northern Virginia area would also be greatly appreciated.
Note: FYI, Our requests to the neighbor to turn off the music has only managed the volume be turned down, but the base, even at a low volume, is still jolting. The neighbor has car music cranked up as he pulls into the driveway. The damage is then already done (waking us up, or baby) even for those few minutes. Also, music is played with friends that hang around outside. Our complaints to the police say that they have to hear the noise as it is going on. No other neighbors seem to complain -- but none other have their bedroom 20' away from car music.
Thanks for your help.
REPLY Message: 1
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 07:49:18 -0400
From: Eldred P
Subject: Re: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
From my past reading about music studio design(soundproofing to keepexternal sound OUT), the only thing that will really stoplow-frequency waves is mass. Mass would be something like a concrete wall or heavy insulation. Unfortunately, that's not real practical ina residential setting. You might check with some builders in your area - maybe someone has experience in studio design who can offersuggestions. Good luck.
Eldred
REPLY Message: 2
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 12:25:24 -0000
From: "twestbrook_77530"
Subject: Re: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
One cost effective measure used locally is to build a fence employing Hardiplank as the field material with the posts on 4' centers. Some local communities use this as a sound barrier next to a freeway.
REPLY Message: 3
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 06:43:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tim R
Subject: Re: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
Hello "Hello":
Simple answer: No, you cannot effectively stop this low frequency noise. The offending frequencies (100-500 Hz, or cycles per second) have such a long wavelength that your fence/walls would have to be several feet thick, made of a dense material such as concrete, and extend upwards for meters, to begin to attenuate them. Not practical or feasible. Your only remedy is likely legal, a civil action against the neighbor as a Private Nuisance. Sorry for your situation. If you can afford it, I'd think of moving...OTOH, if the cause is the high school kid of the neighbor, perhaps you can weather it out for the next couple years until he/she moves out.
TIM
REPLY Message: 4
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 01:59:59 -0000
From: "bluestardaddy"
Subject: Re: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
I don't know the size of your land, but if you can manage to raise at least a portion of the land, as in a thin burm, and plant trees and shrubs of varying heights , it tends to break up noise better than a heqdge row of single height. I used to manage a landscape crew and we installed raised burms frequently. If you can plant plants in front of each other to increase the thickness it helps, as in double rows, better than a single row of plants. Of course ytou must chose the right plant/trees for such a project. Consult your nursery or a landscape company first.
REPLY Message: 5
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 15:09:33 -0000
From: "joeyfun2003"
Subject: Re: Soundproofing noisy neighbor's base music with fencing
There is an article on this very subject in April 2005 THIS OLD HOUSE magazine.
AND NOW.... MY RESEARCH AND REPLY:
I did a http://www.google.com/ search on: This Old House April 2005 Soundproofing
You might want to do the same search and look over the information.
This link was near the top. This page also contains many other links.
http://www.americanmicroinc.com/ami_newsfeed.html
(These people also make a Memory Foam Mattress similar to Tempur-Pedic but at a fraction of the cost, according to one of the articles I looked at.)
Here is their solution to Soundproofing A Wall. They do have an "Econobarrier" that you might be able to put up on your proposed fence or on the inside or outside of your bedroom wall. Read down this link and look it over. It might be a solution but it seems like it would be better on the outside and/or inside of your wall rather than the entire fence as 135 sq ft is $283.00 but that seems like it would cover the wall of your bedroom facing the noisy neighbor with extra for a double dose to make a removable covering for your window. 90 sq ft is $189.00.
This site also has many other possibly helpful links.
http://www.acousticalsource.com/how-to-soundproof-a-wall.html
I did a second Google search on: Soundproofing Bass Music from Noisy Neighbor
I got 534 hits on that search.
Here's a series of posts about your topic from 2002. It seems this problem has many people caught up in the "boom" of hip-hop and other bass heavy music.
http://www.lowertheboom.org/links/w05_drown_bass.html
This page has questions and answers for virtually every type of "noise" so maybe this page will help other people with "noise" problems.
http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/feedback.cfm?topic=Noise%20Cancellation
And if you look over their suggestions, it does not look good for people with Bass Music problems because it's not just something you "hear" but you "feel" it as well.
Here is another site and they also make the soundproofing fences that are put up next to Interstates, etc. so maybe they have a residential fence product that is affordable and might work in your situation.
http://www.acoustiblok.com/residential.html
Here is another site called SoundProofingAmerica and it has a page for soundproofing a room appropriately titled Soundproofing Your Teenager's Bedroom so maybe this will work in reverse for you.
http://www.soundproofingamerica.com/teen.asp
Here is an organization (possibly non-profit) that might help also.
http://www.noisefree.org/index.html
They even have a page called "Boom Cars" with links concerning your exact problem and a downloadable PDF book that may offer you some more help.
http://www.noisefree.org/boomcars/boombooklet.html
IN CONCLUSION: The high density foam or other high density solutions seem to be the only thing that will stop Bass Music waves.
Hope this helps.
Lenny Vasbinder
http://la.local.yahoo.biz/LennyVasbinderSalesAndMarketing
http://www.VemmaBuilder.com/115110105
Home/Office - 504-888-3391
Cell - 504-621-1870
eFax - 413-318-0742
mailto:413-318-0742LNVTM1@gmail.com
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Satellite Imaging Software Comparison - Google's KeyholeLT ($29.95) vs. NASA's WorldWind (Free)
I've been a long time user of Keyhole, even before Google purchased them. I saw a recent post by someone about using Google's address locator feature and then looking at the Satellite image option that comes up. This Google feature is not as "zoomable" or feature enabled as Keyhole but not bad for free.
I was reading a recent http://www.pcworld.com/ e-newsletter and they had the below snippet of information:
Dig This: NASA World Wind is similar to Google's KeyHole, but it's free. World Wind uses USGS data, satellite images, and other sources to give you some cool images of anywhere in the world. [Thanks to Mike D. for this gem.] http://snipurl.com/worldwind
Here's Keyhole:http://www.keyhole.com/
I have not downloaded the WorldWind program as of yet (see below where I detail the download) but it seems to be about 171Mb in size (actually ended up over 500Mb) and it requires a relatively newer PC with at least a 1Ghz processor and says most computers purchased in the past two years are compatible. The screenshots on the website seem impressive.
I know that with Keyhole (a much smaller and more efficient program), I can actually zoom into a single house and get pretty decent resolution for most major cities. I can't read a license plate like the CIA/FBI can probably do but it aids in looking over an unfamiliar area and street ingress/egress. I can also put in an address and zoom into that address however I have found a few errors over the years where it will go to an address as much as a block away so it is not infallible. Keyhole does have a FREE Trial edition (only 10 days) so if any of you want to compare the products more closely, please download both of them. I will be downloading WorldWind soon and will report back with more info (see below for my continuation of this report).
I know that Keyhole can get pretty high resolution images (where you can zoom into an actual building) of most of the metro New Orleans area and most of the westbank (but not all of Metairie nor any of Kenner). It also has high-resolution images of Baton Rouge and Shreveport/Bossier City. It has lower resolution images of the rest of the State where you can still look at streets but not zoom into actual clear images of a particular address. I recently emailed Keyhole support since the satellite image on the FREE Google Address page had a better image than my Keyhole program and they responded that they are updating the Keyhole database on a daily basis.
On a separate note, for those P.I.'s or other businesses who do not have a website as of yet, Yahoo is offering a FREE easy to build small business website with up to five pages and a FREE listing in their search engine and White/Yellow pages. Go to: http://listings.local.yahoo.com/ and you can have your own website up in about an hour's time. It may not have all of the bells and whistles of a website designer's multi-hundred dollar website but heck.. it's FREE and you can make changes whenever you like. If you have never utilized a FREE website service such as Geocities or if you are not very good with computers/websites, email me off list and I will be happy to help via email or over the phone, also FREE. I put my Yahoo.biz website together last night in about 45 minutes if you want to take a peek at my partially completed website at http://la.local.yahoo.biz/LennyVasbinderSalesAndMarketing. I only used three of the five pages available at this time but I will be adding more in the next few days.
*******************************************************************
Well, I just finished downloading WorldWind from NASA. Even with a DSL (Lite) connection, it took nearly 3 hours because you first have to download a small program called BitTorrent which is a download utility that also works as an upload utility. As you are downloading a program, using BitTorrent, it is also uploading the same file to another BitTorrent downloader so it uses your ISP upload bandwidth as a way of enabling more people to download the software. This is my first time using BitTorrent but it seems to be a pretty efficient way for people to download really big software programs like WorldWind which is 171Mb. (It actually ended up being 564Mb !!!!!) BitTorrent has a default setting to download the program to your Desktop. You can change the default setting by browsing to a particular folder of your choice if you do not want the program download created on your desktop.
And after you finish downloading WorldWind, BitTorrent keeps running, uploading the file to someone else who is downloading it until you close out BitTorrent, I think. I'll have to look into how long BitTorrent will continue to run. I'm just going to let it keep running while I finish installing World Wind. Does anyone else have any information about BitTorrent? Good, Bad or otherwise?
Next, you have to open the WorldWind.exe program which is identified by the NASA logo on your desktop. (There is also an update to WorldWind but you have to finish installing the downloaded version first, then go back to the WorldWind download site and download the upgrade.)
I have Windows XP-Pro with SP2 but I next had to install Microsoft's DirectX for Managed Code Update (December 2004) and the EULA requires you to have a legal copy of the Windows OS that you are using.
After completing the MS-DirectX download, the NASA World Wind 1.3 Setup Wizard opens. After accepting the EULA for World Wind, you get the option of which components that you want to install. I accepted all of the NASA original components and all of the NASA add-ons but I unchecked all of the Community Add-ons since I did not know what they were. Hopefully, as I learn more about this program, I can look into the Community Add-ons and maybe add some of them. Some of them looked interesting from an education standpoint.
Next, you choose where you want the program installed. I accepted the default Destination Folder - C:\Program Files\NASA\World Wind 1.3 (The final size of the program WITHOUT all of the Community Add-ons is 564.1 Mb) It still took about another 20 minutes to install this bad boy. This better be worth it! I don't remember Keyhole being nearly as lengthy of a download or install process. I would also recommend that you close any other programs while you are installing World Wind as it seems system intensive. Even typing this email causes glitches or slow-downs in my typing where it takes a few seconds for letters to appear after typing them. I have 512Mb of ram but it seems the install process utilizes quite a few of them Mb's.
O.K., The Wizard says the Setup is complete. When you click Finish, it gives you the option to view the release notes. I accepted just to see what they say and here is the beginning of the release notes:
*******************************************************************************
NASA
World Wind 1.3Release Notes
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS===================
* Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP* 3D graphics card (http://wiki.worldwindcentral.com/Video_Card_Compatibility)* Internet connection* DirectX 9.0c and Managed DirectX 9.0c* .NET Framework 1.1 runtime libraries
Minimum configuration---------------------
With the minimum configuration, performance and functionality may be less than expected.
* 700 MHz or higher CPU* 128 MB RAM* 1 GB disk space (World Wind's cache size is 2 GB by default; you must reduce the size of your cache)
Recommended configuration-------------------------
* 1.4 GHz or higher CPU* 256 MB of RAM* DSL/cable connection or faster* 3 GB of disk space
******************************************************************************
O.K., back to my download of the upgrade.
I attempted to move the World Wind.exe file from my Desktop to the WorldWind folder that I created in MyDocuments but it would not allow me, saying another program is using the file.... I'm guessing the still open BitTorrent upload that I still have running.
O.K., I started the download of the upgrade, which is 6.3Mb, and upgrades World Wind 1.3.0 to version 1.3.1. I executed the upgrade and installed it via the Wizard but once again, I unchecked all of the Community Add-on components although some of them look intriguing.
I did not have to restart Windows like with some downloads so here goes!!!!
O.K., it opened up with the Earth visible from space with the continent of Africa showing. There are about a dozen icons across the top. Keyhole opens with the USA visible and there is a series of controls at the bottom including a place where you can just enter an address or city/state and it will zoom into that address. I don't see that feature on World Wind yet. I decided to just click on the western horizon of the Earth and it spun the image around. O.K., I'm beginning to see how this works. Keyhole has the same feature.
I had to experiment a little... I know I should just read the darn Help Manual but I'm hard-headed. I decided to hit Shift-+ and it started zooming into the good old USA. I kept pointing my mouse and clicked on the New Orleans area and then hitting Shift-+ and it zoomed in but then stopped zooming while I was still looking at the entire Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas.
Not sufficient!!!
I then clicked on different Icons but nothing was happening. I opened the "Place Finder" window and entered "New Orleans, LA" in the Search box and clicked Enter. A list of "Places" showed up (i.e. - Churches, Hospitals, Radio Stations, etc.) I clicked on the New Orleans Jazz Museum and some Lat/Long numbers showed up in the position box. I clicked "Go" and it started zooming in and the various "Places" names showed up on a blurry picture. The altitude was set at 9Km so I lowered it to 1Km. Still only the name in yellow on a dark gray image.
Nothing visible.
Doing some more experimenting, I clicked on the "WMS" Icon which opened up the "Web Mapping Server Browser" window. Hmmmm.. .nothing really user friendly in there.
O.K., some more experimenting and I finally have something showing up. I clicked the "USGS Urban Area Ortho" icon and it started bringing up some type of image. The first actual viewable image since I started trying to zoom in closer than the Gulf Coast area. A rather blurry B&W image of the "New Orleans Jazz Museum" came into view. I clicked the "USGS Digital Ortho" icon and lost the blurry B&W image, only to be replace by another blurry B&W image.
So far, Keyhole is far superior to World Wind as far as ease of use and learning curve goes.
I remember being able to jump right into Keyhole and start using it's basic features and functions.
I started Shift-- keying out of the close up of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Keyhole has a simple game type control panel for moving around, zooming in and out, etc., where with this program, you just have to click on one of the edges of the map to pan the image that way.
I opened up the Place Finder icon/window again and tried putting my street address into the "Look for place named:" box but it said "Not found". I then just put "Veterans Blvd., Metairie, LA" into the box and clicked Search. It's taking a while in it's "Searching" mode. Keyhole is superior to World Wind in this function. I probably could have just kept clicking the edges of the map or zooming out and finding Veterans Blvd on my own and zooming back in but I'm waiting to see what the Search produces. The 5 minute search for Veterans Blvd. (a very large street if you are not familiar with Metairie, LA) produced no results.
Hmmmm.. not very good so far.
Using my own locate and zoom, I was able to bring up a better image of Veterans Blvd. and David Drive intersection than Keyhole has although Keyhole says they are upgrading their high resolution maps of metro areas. I could never find a way to bring up street names on the image which is very easy to do with Keyhole. Also, I do not see an easy way to email an image to someone. With Keyhole, you just click on the envelope icon.
I did find out that you do not have to use the shift key when using the + or - signs for zooming.
Also, you can just use the cursor up, down, left and right keys for panning around the image.
In conclusion, I LIKE KEYHOLE MUCH BETTER THAN NASA'S WORLD WIND PROGRAM FOR PRACTICAL USE BY P.I.'S, REAL ESTATE PEOPLE AND GENERAL MAP PRODUCING PURPOSES. World Wind looks like it would be good for world wide viewing but not as useful for mapping out streets and addresses with an overhead satellite image.
I hope this review wasn't too long but the NASA program is kind of complicated... maybe kids and astronauts will be able to jump right in but this old computer geek had a little trouble. I'll keep this program for a while since I have about 40Gigs of free HD space but at over a half a Gig in size, this isn't for everyone. As I play with the program and figure out how to use more of it's functions, I may write a follow up review. I hope I can figure out how to put a layout of Streets into the image.
I really like that feature on Keyhole.
For ease of use, size and functionality, Keyhole for $29.95, gets my vote, even though it's not free like World Wind.
After trying WorldWind for two weeks, I uninstalled it. I'll keep using KeyholeLT and Google.com Address Search for my Satellite Imagery.
Hope this helps some of you guys and gals.
Sincerely,
Lenny Vasbinder (Retired P.I.)
http://www.Geocities.com/LennyVasbinderPI
Yahoo! Groups Owner/Moderator:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ask_The_P_I
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GulfCoastVolleyball
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KingOfTheCue
EDIT ADDED 05/11/2005-
WWWWWWWWOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!
I just got a Keyhole email saying that they have updated the entire database and I checked it out and the images of my area are SOOOOOOO MUUUUCCCHHHHHH BETTTTTTTEEERRRR, I mean so much better than it was a few days ago!
And now when you sign in, you can choose from the Old Database, called the Legacy Database, or you can pick the New Database, called the Primary Database.
Now, without a double, Keyhole is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better than WorldWind, even though it costs 10 cents a day to use.
I was reading a recent http://www.pcworld.com/ e-newsletter and they had the below snippet of information:
Dig This: NASA World Wind is similar to Google's KeyHole, but it's free. World Wind uses USGS data, satellite images, and other sources to give you some cool images of anywhere in the world. [Thanks to Mike D. for this gem.] http://snipurl.com/worldwind
Here's Keyhole:http://www.keyhole.com/
I have not downloaded the WorldWind program as of yet (see below where I detail the download) but it seems to be about 171Mb in size (actually ended up over 500Mb) and it requires a relatively newer PC with at least a 1Ghz processor and says most computers purchased in the past two years are compatible. The screenshots on the website seem impressive.
I know that with Keyhole (a much smaller and more efficient program), I can actually zoom into a single house and get pretty decent resolution for most major cities. I can't read a license plate like the CIA/FBI can probably do but it aids in looking over an unfamiliar area and street ingress/egress. I can also put in an address and zoom into that address however I have found a few errors over the years where it will go to an address as much as a block away so it is not infallible. Keyhole does have a FREE Trial edition (only 10 days) so if any of you want to compare the products more closely, please download both of them. I will be downloading WorldWind soon and will report back with more info (see below for my continuation of this report).
I know that Keyhole can get pretty high resolution images (where you can zoom into an actual building) of most of the metro New Orleans area and most of the westbank (but not all of Metairie nor any of Kenner). It also has high-resolution images of Baton Rouge and Shreveport/Bossier City. It has lower resolution images of the rest of the State where you can still look at streets but not zoom into actual clear images of a particular address. I recently emailed Keyhole support since the satellite image on the FREE Google Address page had a better image than my Keyhole program and they responded that they are updating the Keyhole database on a daily basis.
On a separate note, for those P.I.'s or other businesses who do not have a website as of yet, Yahoo is offering a FREE easy to build small business website with up to five pages and a FREE listing in their search engine and White/Yellow pages. Go to: http://listings.local.yahoo.com/ and you can have your own website up in about an hour's time. It may not have all of the bells and whistles of a website designer's multi-hundred dollar website but heck.. it's FREE and you can make changes whenever you like. If you have never utilized a FREE website service such as Geocities or if you are not very good with computers/websites, email me off list and I will be happy to help via email or over the phone, also FREE. I put my Yahoo.biz website together last night in about 45 minutes if you want to take a peek at my partially completed website at http://la.local.yahoo.biz/LennyVasbinderSalesAndMarketing. I only used three of the five pages available at this time but I will be adding more in the next few days.
*******************************************************************
Well, I just finished downloading WorldWind from NASA. Even with a DSL (Lite) connection, it took nearly 3 hours because you first have to download a small program called BitTorrent which is a download utility that also works as an upload utility. As you are downloading a program, using BitTorrent, it is also uploading the same file to another BitTorrent downloader so it uses your ISP upload bandwidth as a way of enabling more people to download the software. This is my first time using BitTorrent but it seems to be a pretty efficient way for people to download really big software programs like WorldWind which is 171Mb. (It actually ended up being 564Mb !!!!!) BitTorrent has a default setting to download the program to your Desktop. You can change the default setting by browsing to a particular folder of your choice if you do not want the program download created on your desktop.
And after you finish downloading WorldWind, BitTorrent keeps running, uploading the file to someone else who is downloading it until you close out BitTorrent, I think. I'll have to look into how long BitTorrent will continue to run. I'm just going to let it keep running while I finish installing World Wind. Does anyone else have any information about BitTorrent? Good, Bad or otherwise?
Next, you have to open the WorldWind.exe program which is identified by the NASA logo on your desktop. (There is also an update to WorldWind but you have to finish installing the downloaded version first, then go back to the WorldWind download site and download the upgrade.)
I have Windows XP-Pro with SP2 but I next had to install Microsoft's DirectX for Managed Code Update (December 2004) and the EULA requires you to have a legal copy of the Windows OS that you are using.
After completing the MS-DirectX download, the NASA World Wind 1.3 Setup Wizard opens. After accepting the EULA for World Wind, you get the option of which components that you want to install. I accepted all of the NASA original components and all of the NASA add-ons but I unchecked all of the Community Add-ons since I did not know what they were. Hopefully, as I learn more about this program, I can look into the Community Add-ons and maybe add some of them. Some of them looked interesting from an education standpoint.
Next, you choose where you want the program installed. I accepted the default Destination Folder - C:\Program Files\NASA\World Wind 1.3 (The final size of the program WITHOUT all of the Community Add-ons is 564.1 Mb) It still took about another 20 minutes to install this bad boy. This better be worth it! I don't remember Keyhole being nearly as lengthy of a download or install process. I would also recommend that you close any other programs while you are installing World Wind as it seems system intensive. Even typing this email causes glitches or slow-downs in my typing where it takes a few seconds for letters to appear after typing them. I have 512Mb of ram but it seems the install process utilizes quite a few of them Mb's.
O.K., The Wizard says the Setup is complete. When you click Finish, it gives you the option to view the release notes. I accepted just to see what they say and here is the beginning of the release notes:
*******************************************************************************
NASA
World Wind 1.3Release Notes
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS===================
* Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP* 3D graphics card (http://wiki.worldwindcentral.com/Video_Card_Compatibility)* Internet connection* DirectX 9.0c and Managed DirectX 9.0c* .NET Framework 1.1 runtime libraries
Minimum configuration---------------------
With the minimum configuration, performance and functionality may be less than expected.
* 700 MHz or higher CPU* 128 MB RAM* 1 GB disk space (World Wind's cache size is 2 GB by default; you must reduce the size of your cache)
Recommended configuration-------------------------
* 1.4 GHz or higher CPU* 256 MB of RAM* DSL/cable connection or faster* 3 GB of disk space
******************************************************************************
O.K., back to my download of the upgrade.
I attempted to move the World Wind.exe file from my Desktop to the WorldWind folder that I created in MyDocuments but it would not allow me, saying another program is using the file.... I'm guessing the still open BitTorrent upload that I still have running.
O.K., I started the download of the upgrade, which is 6.3Mb, and upgrades World Wind 1.3.0 to version 1.3.1. I executed the upgrade and installed it via the Wizard but once again, I unchecked all of the Community Add-on components although some of them look intriguing.
I did not have to restart Windows like with some downloads so here goes!!!!
O.K., it opened up with the Earth visible from space with the continent of Africa showing. There are about a dozen icons across the top. Keyhole opens with the USA visible and there is a series of controls at the bottom including a place where you can just enter an address or city/state and it will zoom into that address. I don't see that feature on World Wind yet. I decided to just click on the western horizon of the Earth and it spun the image around. O.K., I'm beginning to see how this works. Keyhole has the same feature.
I had to experiment a little... I know I should just read the darn Help Manual but I'm hard-headed. I decided to hit Shift-+ and it started zooming into the good old USA. I kept pointing my mouse and clicked on the New Orleans area and then hitting Shift-+ and it zoomed in but then stopped zooming while I was still looking at the entire Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas.
Not sufficient!!!
I then clicked on different Icons but nothing was happening. I opened the "Place Finder" window and entered "New Orleans, LA" in the Search box and clicked Enter. A list of "Places" showed up (i.e. - Churches, Hospitals, Radio Stations, etc.) I clicked on the New Orleans Jazz Museum and some Lat/Long numbers showed up in the position box. I clicked "Go" and it started zooming in and the various "Places" names showed up on a blurry picture. The altitude was set at 9Km so I lowered it to 1Km. Still only the name in yellow on a dark gray image.
Nothing visible.
Doing some more experimenting, I clicked on the "WMS" Icon which opened up the "Web Mapping Server Browser" window. Hmmmm.. .nothing really user friendly in there.
O.K., some more experimenting and I finally have something showing up. I clicked the "USGS Urban Area Ortho" icon and it started bringing up some type of image. The first actual viewable image since I started trying to zoom in closer than the Gulf Coast area. A rather blurry B&W image of the "New Orleans Jazz Museum" came into view. I clicked the "USGS Digital Ortho" icon and lost the blurry B&W image, only to be replace by another blurry B&W image.
So far, Keyhole is far superior to World Wind as far as ease of use and learning curve goes.
I remember being able to jump right into Keyhole and start using it's basic features and functions.
I started Shift-- keying out of the close up of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Keyhole has a simple game type control panel for moving around, zooming in and out, etc., where with this program, you just have to click on one of the edges of the map to pan the image that way.
I opened up the Place Finder icon/window again and tried putting my street address into the "Look for place named:" box but it said "Not found". I then just put "Veterans Blvd., Metairie, LA" into the box and clicked Search. It's taking a while in it's "Searching" mode. Keyhole is superior to World Wind in this function. I probably could have just kept clicking the edges of the map or zooming out and finding Veterans Blvd on my own and zooming back in but I'm waiting to see what the Search produces. The 5 minute search for Veterans Blvd. (a very large street if you are not familiar with Metairie, LA) produced no results.
Hmmmm.. not very good so far.
Using my own locate and zoom, I was able to bring up a better image of Veterans Blvd. and David Drive intersection than Keyhole has although Keyhole says they are upgrading their high resolution maps of metro areas. I could never find a way to bring up street names on the image which is very easy to do with Keyhole. Also, I do not see an easy way to email an image to someone. With Keyhole, you just click on the envelope icon.
I did find out that you do not have to use the shift key when using the + or - signs for zooming.
Also, you can just use the cursor up, down, left and right keys for panning around the image.
In conclusion, I LIKE KEYHOLE MUCH BETTER THAN NASA'S WORLD WIND PROGRAM FOR PRACTICAL USE BY P.I.'S, REAL ESTATE PEOPLE AND GENERAL MAP PRODUCING PURPOSES. World Wind looks like it would be good for world wide viewing but not as useful for mapping out streets and addresses with an overhead satellite image.
I hope this review wasn't too long but the NASA program is kind of complicated... maybe kids and astronauts will be able to jump right in but this old computer geek had a little trouble. I'll keep this program for a while since I have about 40Gigs of free HD space but at over a half a Gig in size, this isn't for everyone. As I play with the program and figure out how to use more of it's functions, I may write a follow up review. I hope I can figure out how to put a layout of Streets into the image.
I really like that feature on Keyhole.
For ease of use, size and functionality, Keyhole for $29.95, gets my vote, even though it's not free like World Wind.
After trying WorldWind for two weeks, I uninstalled it. I'll keep using KeyholeLT and Google.com Address Search for my Satellite Imagery.
Hope this helps some of you guys and gals.
Sincerely,
Lenny Vasbinder (Retired P.I.)
http://www.Geocities.com/LennyVasbinderPI
Yahoo! Groups Owner/Moderator:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ask_The_P_I
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GulfCoastVolleyball
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KingOfTheCue
EDIT ADDED 05/11/2005-
WWWWWWWWOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!
I just got a Keyhole email saying that they have updated the entire database and I checked it out and the images of my area are SOOOOOOO MUUUUCCCHHHHHH BETTTTTTTEEERRRR, I mean so much better than it was a few days ago!
And now when you sign in, you can choose from the Old Database, called the Legacy Database, or you can pick the New Database, called the Primary Database.
Now, without a double, Keyhole is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better than WorldWind, even though it costs 10 cents a day to use.
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World Flag Counter added 04/14/2010 and U.S. Flag added 04/26/2010, so the numbers are WAY low.
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