Safari Prompts Authorization for Video in Password Protected Folders
Using Safari 6 and trying to password protect a site with videos? You might run into issue where Safari prompts you for a password. Unexpectedly, you’ll find that you’re unable to interact with the fields to re-authenticate or even move the box to get it out-of-the-way.
If you run into this issue, check your folder structure. If your videos are in a password protected folder and inherit from the parent like below, you’ll have to move the video files out of the password protected folder to get the videos to play.
Main
—Password Protected Folder
——Videos
Your new folder structure will need to be similar to something like:
Main
—Password Protected Folder
—Videos
Once you do that, your videos should play with no issues. I’ve already reported the issue to Apple when I first encountered the issue but there’s been no fix to date.
Photography Blog is Now Live
It’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog but I’ll be adding more posts about thoughts and technology soon. On an unrelated note, I’ve gotten heavily into photography and am becoming quite proud of the art I’ve created. With the amount of photos I’ve taken, I’ve decided to split the photography into its own blog that’s more suited for showcasing the work. The wolf picture above is one of the latest pictures I’ve taken and there’s plenty more that you can see at http://gregv.photography.
How to Capture Google Analytics Before Redirect
Up until today, everyone I know has struggled to capture a Google Analytics event on redirect links. We’ve all had to come up with hacks and workarounds to ensure that the initial landing page is tracked. Today I finally figured out a solution that works. Google analytics now offers a callback event which lets you fire the redirect (or any custom functionality after the main tracking event fires.
The snippet to add after the Google analytics tracking code setup is below:
ga('send', 'pageview', {
'page': '/my-new-page',
'hitCallback': function() {
window.location.replace = "[new url]";
}
});
ESET AntiTheft Causes Dell Machines to Lose Permissions on C:
I just spent the past two days complaining about Windows 8 to everyone I know because of how awful the experience is. I installed Windows updates, rebooted, and the system stops working.
It turns out it wasn’t Windows causing the problem but ESET AntiTheft on Dell laptops. It turns out there’s a permission bug specific to Dell machines when ESET creates it’s ghost account and instead of giving it restricted access, the system essentially copies the permissions and then changes everything on the C: drive to a state where the permissions are no longer accessible.
Unfortunately, the only known fix at this point is to contact ESET support. I called their support line in North America and the tech knew about the issue right away. You’ll have to reboot into safe mode, and then get them to remote in to install a utility that runs a script that resets the permissions.
Contact Info here: http://www.eset.com/us/about/contact/
The tech assured me they are working with Dell to get this issue resolved so until they do, make sure you don’t activate ESET’s AntiTheft on the Dell machine.
What’s the Problem?
A few years ago, I started at a company as a help desk tech. After establishing myself, I’d often get put on all the…interesting issues. When nobody else could figure out the problem, I’d get called in to figure out the issue. During my early days as a new tech there, the manager of the team passed me a ticket and stopped by to give me background on the situation. This particular client would call in every week because one computer couldn’t talk to the server and at one point, every tech on the team had worked on the problem and nobody had been able to figure it out. My manager told me not to stress about it because it was definitely something on their side but he treats the situation as a rite of passage for all new hires.
I give the doctor a call back and he gets me connected to his PC and begins to elaborate on the problem and all the things everyone has had him do. He explains how his tech knows the problem is with our software since everything on the network side works. He clicks on the Windows XP start menu and by sheer luck, the tech had set the menu back to classic which meant the banner along the left showed which version of Windows was running. As the doctor continued on with his explanation, I noticed the banner on the start menu said “Windows XP Home Edition”.
I politely interrupted the doctor and informed him that I had figured out the problem. He went quiet for a few seconds and said “You haven’t done anything yet and I haven’t finished explaining everything. How could you possibly have figured out the problem?” I informed him that he’s running Windows XP Home Edition which doesn’t support business networking and explains why he couldn’t connect to the server. He insisted that all his computers are running Windows XP Pro and besides, how could I possibly know that without having even done anything?
I asked him to click on the start menu and then he went quiet. I asked if he was there and he apologized and said he was going to call his tech to get the OS fixed. He asked if it would be alright for him to call and request my help if there are any problems from there.
I closed the ticket with “Problem solved. Issue was Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition”.
Maple Syrup Pie Recipe from Aux Anciens Canadiens Restaurant
In January, I decided to take advantage of vacation deals and went to Quebec for a weekend to explore Quebec, Chateau de Frotenac, and the Ice Hotel. I had an incredible time overall. During my stay at the Chateau, I wandered around a bit and discovered the Aux Anciens Canadiens Restaurant, supposedly the oldest building in Quebec. The restaurant is located in the historic Maison Jacquet, just down the block from the hotel. The food was incredible and the service was impeccable.
After my incredibly sumptuous dinner, they presented me with a dessert menu and I noticed one I’ve never had before called the Maple Syrup Pie. It was the house speciality so I decided I had to try it right away. If you can make it out there, I highly encourage you to go to the restaurant and try the restaurant’s amazing food. Until you can enjoy this unique dessert at the Aux Anciens Canadiens Restaurant, you can make it yourself with this easy recipe.
Maple Syrup Pie
Aux Anciens Canadiens (www.auxancienscanadiens.qc.ca)
34, rue Saint-Louis C. P. 175 succursale Haute-Ville
Québec QC G1R 4P3
418-692-1627
- 1 ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup 35% cream
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoon butter at room temperature
- 1 pie crust
- Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
- Blend brown sugar, cream, eggs, maple syrup and butter in an electric blender until unctuous consistency.
- Pour into a pie crust.
- Bake for around 45 minutes.
- Serve at room temperature with fresh cream.
How to remove win64/sirefef.AE trojan & c:\windows\system32\services.exe win64 patched b.gen trojan
I’m kind of the default “go to” guy for all PC issues with friends and family. One of the most common problems people bring to me is malware. Going forward, I’m going to document the removal process for some of the more difficult ones I encounter.
The most difficult trojan I’ve encountered thus far is the sirefef.AE trojan. It infects the PC by replacing c:\windows\system32\services.exe which is pretty ingenious in that it’s extremely difficult to remove since Windows requires it and it’s always in use which keeps the antiviruses and applications from being able to remove it.
I just spent a few days battling this one and successfully cleaned it off the system.
To remove it:
- Run the ESET Online Scanner (http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner/). Have it scan archives and let it remove whatever it finds.Side note: If you use Norton or McAfee for antivirus protection, now’s a good time to dump them for an antivirus that actually works and doesn’t hog resources: http://go.eset.com/r/7NQZN
- Run ComboFix (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix) in safe mode. It will find and remove some of the trojans already downloaded. Instructions are on the bleepingcomputer page on how to use it but for the most part it’s mostly automated.
- Download and install MalwareBytes (http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5756). The free version will suffice. Run a full system scan and remove whatever it finds.
- You will need a Recovery Disc from Windows 7 for the next step. Make one on a non-infected computer if you don’t have one already.
- Download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool x64 (http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/farbar/FRST64.exe) and save to a flash drive.
Enter System Recovery Options.
To enter System Recovery Options from the Advanced Boot Options:
- Restart the computer.
- As soon as the BIOS is loaded begin tapping the F8 key until Advanced Boot Options appears.
- Use the arrow keys to select the Repair your computer menu item.
- Select US as the keyboard language settings, and then click Next.
- Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
- Select your user account an click Next.
To enter System Recovery Options by using Windows installation disc:
- Insert the installation disc.
- Restart your computer.
- If prompted, press any key to start Windows from the installation disc. If your computer is not configured to start from a CD or DVD, check your BIOS settings.
- Click Repair your computer.
- Select US as the keyboard language settings, and then click Next.
- Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
- Select your user account and click Next.
On the System Recovery Options menu you will get the following options:Startup Repair System Restore Windows Complete PC Restore Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool Command Prompt
Uninstalling Trend Micro Client/Server Security without a Password
Lost or forgot your Trend Micro Client/Server Password? How about inheriting a computer that had the software installed by an IT team or consultant that won’t give up the password? I had to work on a network with the latter and it’s rather annoying. The product is utter crap as the machine is spyware infested even though the antivirus is running and present. I went to uninstall it but can’t because the previous person/company password protected it and nobody has it.
Here’s how to bypass the protection:
- Load up Regedit and browse to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\TrendMicro\PC-cillinNTCorp\CurrentVersion\Misc.\Allow Uninstall - Change the value to 1.
Now you can uninstall TrendMicro’s crappy product and replace with a real solution like Eset.
TrustedInstaller.EXE CPU Usage
Solution 1: Clear Problem History
The following fix is intended for situations where trustedinstaller.exe causes problems due to the Problem Reports and Solutions history maintained in Windows Vista.
- Go to Start and then select Control Panel.
- Turn on Classic View.
- Select Problem Reports and Solutions.
- Click Clear Solution and Problem History in the left panel.
- Confirm your decision.
- Exit the Problems Reports and Solutions Window and Control Panel.
You can also click Change in the Problems Reports and Solutions Window. And then change the configuration from Check for solutions automatically setting to Ask me to check if a problem occurs.
Solution 2: Change Microsoft Update Startup Settings to Manual
- Go to Start and then select Control Panel.
- Select Administrative Tools and then select Services.
- Scroll down to Microsoft Update, right-click on it and then select Stop.
- Right-click on Microsoft Update again and select Properties.
- On the General tab, set Startup type as Manual.
- Next, display the Recovery tab.
- Choose Take No Action and click OK for First Failure.
- Exit the properties dialog box.
- Bring up your Task Manager by pressing on Ctrl + Alt + Del or Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
- On the Processes tab, look for and select trustedinstaller.exe.
- Click End process to kill trustedinstaller.exe.
Solution 3: Disable Automatic Update
- Go to Start and then select Control Panel.
- Go to System and Maintenance.
- Click Turn automatic update on or off option.
- Next, depending on your preference choose one of the following options:
- Never check for updates (not recommended)
- Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them
- Download updates but let me choose whether to install them
- Click OK to save your changes and exit the dialog box.
Solution 4: Stop the Windows Module Installer That Runs Trustedinstaller.exe
- Click on Start, in the Start Search box, type msconfig and then press Enter.
- Click Continue when User Account Control prompt is displayed.
- In the System Configuration window that is displayed, open the Services tab.
- Locate and clear the Windows Module Installer check box.
- Click OK save your changes and exit the dialog box.
- Next, open Services window again and change the Startup type of Windows Module Installer to Manual.
Rockstar Collection
Here are some photographs I took of various Rockstars at the Uproar Festival 2012 that I’m particularly proud of.
I’ve moved these to my photography blog as I had to disable my Flickr plugin due to extremely poor performance. You can view all of the photos at http://gregv.photography/portfolio/rockstar-collection/
Shinedown
[slickr-flickr tag=”Shinedown” items=”10″ type=”gallery” thumbnail_size=”small” thumbnail_captions=”on” flickr_link=”on” sort=”title”]
Godsmack
[slickr-flickr tag=”Godsmack” items=”10″ type=”gallery” thumbnail_size=”small” thumbnail_captions=”on” flickr_link=”on” sort=”title”]
In This Moment
[slickr-flickr tag=”In This Moment” items=”10″ type=”gallery” thumbnail_size=”small” thumbnail_captions=”on” flickr_link=”on” sort=”title”]
Adelita’s Way
[slickr-flickr tag=”Adelita’s Way” items=”10″ type=”gallery” thumbnail_size=”small” thumbnail_captions=”on” flickr_link=”on” sort=”title”]
Staind
[slickr-flickr tag=”Staind” items=”10″ type=”gallery” thumbnail_size=”small” thumbnail_captions=”on” flickr_link=”on” sort=”title”]
Fozzy
[slickr-flickr tag=”Fozzy” items=”10″ type=”gallery” thumbnail_size=”small” thumbnail_captions=”on” flickr_link=”on” sort=”title”]