dbminter

How about in Build mode? Is it direct copy from source to target without anything going to TempDir or memory?

AH! BUT, remember, I am not BOTHERING with the antispyware stuff in ZA. ZA IS bothering ME with it by installing it WHETHER IT IS NEEDED OR NOT as part of its install. The free trial of ZA Pro is the same installer as ZA free, which does not have antispyware. Even IF you disable the antispyware in ZA Pro, it still gets installed, and see my thread about my drive problems for why that is the problem. Only ZA AV, which has no antispyware engine files in its installer package, is immune, unless it is a build less than 737 AND you don't update the antispyware definitions/engine within ZA's updater.

I'd like some people's recommendations for a piece of firewall software. Do NOT recommend the following: 1.) Microsoft's Only goes one way. 2.) Norton's Symantec is only second to Microsoft at sucking ass in the software department. 3.) ZoneAlarm I am trying to REPLACE it as best I can because of a huge error apparently introduced into the antispyware engine that is only NOT present in one version of ZA. BUT that version has its own limitations. Basically, the closest to ZoneAlarm that is free the better, but, I'm willing to also try out pay options, too, IF they have free trials or the features I'm looking for from ZoneAlarm. Thanks!

Well, I figured it out! I had to develop my own FUCKING MATHEMATICAL COROLLARY, but, I did it! It takes into account all factors save for the one about the drive suddenly being able to remember the last letter it had used. And, I believe I can chalk that one up to an error on my part, though it requires one egregious break of Occham's Razor. However, I'm not inclined to test it at the moment, but, it's as good enough as damn it. That the factor default installation setting for the first system optical drive WAS the same as the letter as I had designated for the drive in my own environment. I HAD to get that drive letter from somewhere, so, why wouldn't I have used the same one the manufacturer of my machine did? I don't really care too much about that anomaly because I have taken all the other weird factors of this case and came up with something that works for all the test cases and solves the remaining problems. After version 6.5.722, ZoneLabs introduced a major and unimaginably unrelated error into their antispyware engines in ZoneAlarm. It is NOT present in the 722 main installer, as near as I can remember. IF it is, then, it is easily disabled by simply disabling the antispyware to start with, I forget. I DO know that it is present IF you update the antispyware engine after installing 722. Updating the antivirus only updates the definitions. BUT, for 722, updating the antispyware portion updates the engine because ZoneAlarm needs to reboot the system. Which causes the problem ONLY after this update. Installing the latest build, 737, then, causes the problem from the start BECAUSE this downloaded latest antispyware engine would be IN the installer package. Because if you install 737, nothing is downloaded for the antispyware engine, because no reboot is required after updating it. This also explained the weird anomaly with the "regular" flavor of ZA. I had wondered why the plain version of ZA would exhibit this behavior since it does not have antispyware installed. Because it DOES! The "regular"/free flavor of ZoneAlarm is actually the installer for ZoneAlarm Pro because it lets you use it either as a freebie or as a 15 day trial, where you enter a serial number to activate ZoneAlarm Pro. Thus, the "regular" installer is the same as the Pro installer, which would contain the antispyware engine in it even if you don't want it... AND it also goddamn INSTALLS the antispyware engine even if you NEVER try the 15 day free trial! IDIOTS! Because the problem IS present in ZoneAlarm's free version, but NOT in the ZoneAlarm Antivirus version. DESPITE the confusing name, it actually means ZoneAlarm WITH Antivirus. But, ZAA does NOT contain the antispyware engine because they want you to pay more to get it with ZA Pro. So, the antispyware engine is NOT present in the ZA AV version but IS in the Pro version, so, it WON'T be in the installer package for ZA AV but WILL be present in the one for ZA Pro. And, since ZA Free is just the same installer package AS ZA Pro, that explains that one anomaly. I cannot explain what possible FUCKER error they introduced into the antispyware engine. Because, why should that and ONLY that affect the drive letters on the system? That's why I invented the term fucker error. But, it is there, and, I can finally isolate WHAT triggers it. Again, not WHY the error is there, but, why it remained so elusive. Because, as I said, the problems being manifested were NOT related to that area at all UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES. But, with fucker errors, you never know. And, since I can regress to Build 727 of ZA Pro's 15 day trial AND not have the problem UNLESS I use the antispyware/update the antispyware after install AND since it is NOT present in ZA AV's 15 day trial AND since ZA AV HAS NO antispyware engine, I can finally pinpoint that the cause and effect are not necessarily related. One does cause the other, but, there is NO reason why it should, save for the definition of fucker error. Plus, the extact triggering mechanism is exceeding unique. What causes the syptoms to appear from the ZA bug is not unique to any one USB device. It is NOT caused BY just the first USB HD or the 2nd. As I discovered, ANY USB drive can trigger it! The external DVD drive, even a USB thumb drive. What causes the problem is NOT any device but HOW MANY ARE ATTACHED AT A GIVEN TIME! And, the results will NOT be manifested by ANYTHING but the Daemon Tool's virtual drives driver! Hence why the problem on appeared in Daemon Tools and Alcohol. Because use the same virtual drivers driver. To FINALLY start to understand the problem, we must first set some definitions. A drive here will be defined as a fixed disk of some sort. This will include DVD's, which normally aren't really fixed disks, but, it helps here, so, I'm going to use it. Every current Windows drive will have at least 1 fixed disk, the drive it boots from. Now, remember, that a fixed disk CAN have more than one partition. So, that's why I wanted to clarify the drives term. In this system, Drive 0, aka the first fixed disk, the one that has the booting partition, Windows, on it, has 5 partitions. But, the number of partitions is NOT important initially. It BECOMES important IF the number of partitions means that the number of drive letters assigned by Windows comes CLOSE to be the number of the drive letter I normally assign to the first DVD drive, which is R. That's the ONLY reason why the DVD drive letters kept changing It only mattered if the number of assigned partitions was close to reaching the 18th letter of the alphabet. THAT'S why it only sometimes appeared to be affecting the DVD drives. The DVD drives were ONLY being affected if the number of partitions came close to R. The drives that were ACTUALLY being changed were the virtual ones in Daemon Tool's. BUT, they were only being changed as a result of this error in ZA being triggered by the following unique series of system attributes. Where N is the number of drives, remember that being fixed disc, then, if N+1 virtual drives are assigned to Daemon Tools, then, the bug in ZA's antispyware engine kicks in. WHY it affects this cause, as I said, I don't know. I only know this is what triggers it. Repeated tests have shown this. For instance, N will always be at least 1, as I said above. The first drive in my system will always be the SATA HD. That's Drive 1. In a case where only 1 ATA DVD drive was installed, Drive 2, then this was the case: if only 1 of the USB HD's was turned on, then, nothing happened. BUT, if I turned on USB HD 2 OR the external USB DVD, and this was where the pieces FINALLY started falling into place, then IF I had MORE than 2 Daemon Tools virtual drives installed, the problem started on Windows start. THAT'S where the N+1 factor became important. For example, when I reconnected the 2nd ATA DVD drive, that set the number of Drives in my system to 3. So, ANY number of virtual drives I had installed was enough to cause the problem. Setting the number to 0 fixed it. Or uninstalling ZoneAlarm did. For more valediction of my results take the following test cases below: Attached drives Fixed: Drive 1 (SATA HD) and Drive 2 (PATA DVD 1) Virtual: 3 Results: When USB HD 1 was turned on with non ZA AV version installed, no problem. WITH USB HD 1 turned on, then turning on EITHER USB HD 2 or the USB DVD caused the problem. Attached drives Fixed: Drive 1 (SATA HD) and Drive 2 (PATA DVD 1) Virtual: 2 Results: When USB HD 1 was turned on with non ZA AV version installed, no problem. WITH USB HD 1 turned on, then turning on EITHER USB HD 2 or the USB DVD did NOT cause the problem because the number of Virtual drives was NOT N+1 or greater. Attached drives Fixed: Drive 1 (SATA HD), Drive 2 (PATA DVD 1), and Drive 3 (PATA DVD 2) Virtual: 3 Results: No need to turn on ANY of the drives USB HD 1, USB HD 2, or USB DVD. The problem was present. Changing the Virtual drives to anything but 0 and the problem showed up. Attached drives Fixed: Drive 1 (SATA HD) and Drive 2 (PATA DVD 1) Virtual: 3 Results: When inserting USB PEN DRIVE, the problem resulted. With all of these cases, with ZA uninstalled OR ZA 6.5.722 with NO updates installed or ZA AV 6.5.737 ONLY installed, the problem did NOT show up at all. So, that's the bottom line. The problem is with ZoneAlarm's antispyware engines greater than 722's installed version. And, with all that, the solutions range from the simple to the expensive. 1.) do not use ZoneAlarm at ALL 2.) use ONLY ZoneAlarm 6.5.722 and NOT use the antispyware feature 3.) use ONLY ZoneAlarm 6.5.722 and use the antispyware feature BUT NEVER update the feature 4.) replace both USB HD drives with one that has the same as or greater space than the two combined 5.) replace ONLY the internal HD, keeping the enclosure, of one of the USB HD's with a drive that has the same amount of space or greater as the sizes of the two USB HD's combined Using no firewall at all is not an option. ZA's was the best of those I'd found, but, my only other experiences were Microsoft's and Norton's. And they speak for themselves. Using ZA is still an option, though, even though some features will be unavailable or not updatable, because ONLY ZoneLabs can fix this as they introduced it. The last two options require money. But, are a viable one. PHEW!

I 10:28:01 Average Write Rate: 12,023 KB/s (80.2x) - Maximum Write Rate: 29,838 KB/s (198.9x) Maybe, one day, optical drives can be written to as fast as a Build mode to the HD partition running Windows on it on an SATA HD.

Well, of goddamn course, as it turns out, the problem is not that fucking simple! ZoneAlarm is PART of the problem. This IS a multifacted situation! ZA's part is that something they changed in it makes the problem manifest itself earlier AFTER version 6.5.722. But, ZA's not entirely to blame. One of the USB drives is triggering the effect but ONLY when ZA version later than 6.5.722 is installed! A few lingering issues were bothering me. That one drive, the first optical drive, the first master on the first controller. Somehow, even when Windows was installed from the recovery CD, it was able to read my mind and set itself to the drive letter that I ALWAYS had to change it to LATER, as opposed to changing to the first available drive letter. HOW could it possibly remember what letter to set it to? Especially when it had never exhibited this before. Even with the partitions all destroyed and Windows installed from the Microsoft CD. Something else was bothering me. New drives when attached to the system. Windows didn't pop up the dialog to say what it should do with it. It only started doing this NORMAL behavior, which it should have been doing from the start, WHEN the drive letter problems appeared. So, what starts the drive letters problems? Detecting one of the USB drives. When it was turned off and not detected, even with ZA build 737 installed, no drive letter problems. BUT, the moment the drive was turned on, the drive letter problems started. And, will not disappear unless ZA is uninstalled. So, the problem is, at least, 2 fold: ZA builds greater than 6.5.722 AND the first USB HD. The 2nd one doesn't seem to be the problem, because when that was on and the other was off, it never occurred. However, I will need to test this same case with the 2nd turned off and the 1st turned on. The problem could well be that the system doesn't like more than 1 USB HD connected? However, that doesn't explain how this setup worked for nearly 2 years with no problems, and works before ZA 6.5.733 was released. Unfortunately, testing things like the USB port or the USB cable to the first USB HD are not possible because the USB connection to that drive connected with a weird sort of serial to USB cable: USB at the end of the data cable going into the PC, but, the end going into the enclosure is a weird serial type affair, complete with screws. This drive is, after all, from 2002, I think, so, that weird cable prevents proper testing. Plus, given the age of the drive, that also needs to be taken into consideration, too. Now, since I've tested this drive connected to other USB ports before, I can rule out the problem of the USB connection on the PC itself. So, the drive's problem could be either internal or the USB cable itself. However, given the unusual design of the USB cable, that cannot be tested easily. Still, there are some tests I can do, of course! First, I need to perform the test mentioned earlier: USB HD 1 turned on and USB HD 2 turned off, XP installed from scratch, 1 ATA DVD connected. After that, if we infer at this point the problem is in USB HD 1 (Well, technically, the problem is a dual one: it is in something else AND Zone Alarm post build 722. But, this something else is triggering it.) then what I need to do is a little of my creative madness! Connect an ATA HD I have lying around to the open test enclosure from one of the USB DVD drives I had that I keep for such tests. They may be useless for testing external DVD drives because of their ALI bridges causing semaphore timeout errors. BUT, I HAVE tested them for external HD tests and they read and write fine. Detect on the system fine. AND, best of all, it HAS detected, etc. fine on the system WITH USB HD 1 attached in the past. This would help isolate if the problem is in USB HD 1. Because, if this test enclosure and HD work fine, then, I can remove the HD (Maybe...) from the USB HD 1 enclosure and swap them around and see if the problem repeats in the opposite direction. If it does, the problem is the enclosure or the weird USB cable of USB HD 1. Then, the problem is more easily fixed: get a new enclosure. If the problem repeats but in the SAME direction, then, the problem is in the HD itself inside of USB HD 1.

Well, it makes NO sense... but, all current versions of the ZoneAlarm application are royally fucked as far as this issue goes... EXCEPT, strangely, for one. ZA AntiVirus. It's version of the firewall behaves like ZA SHOULD be and has been... save for the versions and updates after 6.5.722. Even the plain, old freebie flavor of ZA is broken. What a bunch of fuckers! So, it looks like my choices are stick with 6.5.722 and NEVER update it until they fix it, or go with ZoneAlarm AntiVirus 6.5.737's firewall version

You know? I kind of had to laugh at this one. The NEC 3500a will burn SONY08D1 8x DVD-R's at 16x... yet, "Sony's" DRX-820U, which has a drive internally recognized as the DRU-820A, will burn the maximum only the 8x maximum write descriptor. I can see why it wouldn't, in a way, but, the fact that Sony's advertised drive won't on Sony's own media has just the smallest bit of mirth inherent in it.

AND... as expected, there was a later installer, and, no, it didn't do a damn bit of good. The problem manifests itself RIGHT from the start, without the modem even being turned on. So, it's in the installer. Something in those engine files relating to the antispyware that gets installed along with everything else. Some common, shared driver of some kind. Like how Nero's inclusion of the DVD-R DL burning engine into their applications broke Nero Recode so it always, incorrectly adds layer breaks randomly into DVD-5 images. Idiots! Anyway, the version, etc. numbers in this test case, for anyone's edification are: Installer - ZoneLabs ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 6.5.737.000 base zaSuiteSetup_65_737_000_en.exe ZoneAlarm Security Suite version 6.5.737.000 TrueVector security engine version 6.5.737.000 Driver version 6.5.737.000 Anti-virus Vet engine version 11.9.1.000, DAT file version 11.9.9815.000 Anti-spyware engine version 5.0.63.0, DAT file version 01.200605.256 AntiSpam version 4.8.2.7565 To be fair, this was pre-check for updates. So, let me update it and see that it still fails. Otherwise, I know the routine: keep trying other flavors of ZA to see if there's one without the Antispyware/offending modules included.

Wow... I NEVER would guessed the fault was where it was. As it happened, I just randomly stumbled into it and followed on through with the tests from there. But, 10 out of 10 times the problem is repeatable under the known, given conditions. Sit back and grab 8 or 1200 cold ones, folks... ZoneAlarm's last AntiSpyware engine update! Don't ask me GODDAMN HOW IT COULD EVEN AFFECT THE GIVEN AREA, but, it is the cause. It's either the Anti-spyware engine version 5.0.63.0, DAT file version 01.200608.330 or the AntiSpam version 4.8.1.7217. At least, these are the listed versions post the update that causes the problem. Could be the Driver version 6.5.722.000 perhaps, depending on if it is updated by the anti-spyware update. By the same token, could be the TrueVector security engine version 6.5.722.000. If antivirus in ZA is disabled and antispyware is enabled without an update, no problem. If antispyware is updated, problem. If antispyware is disable and antivirus enabled, no problem, even after an update. When ZoneAlarm is uninstalled, the problem goes away. Now, I can at least begin to TACKLE the cause! I may need the latest full blown installer versus the one I have, and avoid the update file. Or, if I have one or and if I need AND the update still is problematic, then, the simple solution is disable the fucked up spyware scanner or not use the update until ZoneLabs fixes this. Yet another stupid fucker error they've inserted into a gradually worsening product! They STILL haven't gotten the export/import of saved settings to work right, YET! STILL, it's really the only solution out there, and, it's free, so, some points there. I'd be willing to wager some might even be able to... dare I say it... REPRODUCE my problem on their machines! If you're using Alcohol of Daemon Tools virtual drives, then, update if you haven't and have ZoneAlarm installed (The version and flavor MIGHT matter. I started with ZA Internet Security Suite 6.5.722.00 base installer.) and have its antispyware option on. BE WARNED THOUGH! That whatever the problem is appears to be a file installed or replaced by the engine update. Disabling the antispyware option AFTER updating ain't gonna be good enough for us bastards. Nope! Nay, ne'er! If you do decided to give it a toss and it happens, you'll have to uninstall, reinstall, and reconfigure ZoneLabs. This also explains the apparently random instances I was having of the problem across different partition backups. Some ZA installed, some didn't. Some I'd install it on BUT not update the engines because I was that "far" enough yet in testing. 30 days... 30 days to find... THAT was the problem...

Tried it that way and it still wouldn't boot all the way. Same problem as before. I'll just image the disc and then inject files into the ISO with UltraISO. Seems to be the best thing for bootable discs, anyway, that I've found so far.

It's a Unix boot/Acronis rescue disc, so, it's sort of like Windows boot CD's. And, given the same boot image size, I'll give it a try.

Actually, there are posts elsewhere of this thing dying on some people the next DAY after.

Yes, with the candle stick... wait a minute... I didn't realize how that sounded until I after typed it! Should have grown a Clue.

Well, you know, it's already starting. The fuckers have already entered the picture. For instance, the listed firmware is 2.0c. Sony's listed latest firmware? 1.0b! Plus, it seems this drive could very well actually be a rebadged Benq using Panasonic chips in some way. Eh, who the fuck knows?

OMG! THIS IS FUCKING INSANE! Turn the Subtitles option on, too! http://home.comcast.net/~dwedit/flash/mikomiko.html

Blu-Ray discs http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817130011 $13! It's the Panasonic DVD-R days all over again! Back in 2002, they were charging the same amount for discs that one could get similar quality for at 10 times LESS! And they weren't even CMC! If you have to have it, you can burn it with: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16827131034 Only $700! On the upside, though, it does most of everything else the latest Sony burner does... only at about half of the maximum speed. e.g. DVD-R capped at 8x.

Yeah, I personally sign it, in my own blood, sweat, and tears (In that order, each letter with a different humour.) "I HAVE CURSED THIS ONE TO DIE, TOO, TOSSER!"

That makes me wonder... is there such a thing as a possible... oh, dear... a cash Bar Mitzvah? "Gimme a Little Off The Top."

Anyone else think that the president of Iran, Ahmadinejad, looks like Bob Denver?

And what of the recent news program that supposedly had people watching porn on a screen in the background? Or was it that the service actually suddenly had a life feed of hardcore burst... into it. Reminds me of that satellite fuck up, literally years ago when hardcore porn suddenly interrupted the middle of Gilligan's Island and/or The Flintstones.

Yeah, that log entry is a good idea. The boot image was 2 KB. Seems a bit small to me, but, I've heard that enough times... wait... wrong forum. The El Torito configuration error box that comes up with other emulation types says the Size is 2,048 bytes. To be precise. Just in testing, the only thing that "booted" was the Custom settings with no changes to it, but, when it tried to boot, it just said Boot Failed. However, unlike the other tests, the drive, at least, recognized and tried to boot from, the disc.

Oh, knowing him, it's probably a cash bar!

Well, I can say I now finally possess an external DVD burner that does not suffer the semaphore time out error. I had planned on swapping out the DRU-700a as part of my testing with the latest DRU because it supports things I wanted and/or didn't have yet: DVD-RAM read and write, DVD-R DL, and 6x and 8x DVD+-RW. Well, I say latest, but, the stores only had the 820, and there's an 830 now supposedly with 18x instead of 16x. News to me, but, I don't care for now. I decided to get the USB version to see if it was free from the semaphore time out. My plan then was to swap out the drive from the enclosure for internal use and keep the enclosure to insert drives into for testing. Well, imagine my surprise when 1.) the drive does NOT have semaphore time out problems and 2.) ... it appears to be hermetically sealed with no way to open it.

Paramount would absolutely love Star Trek's replicator technology. Just take a year's worth of Star Trek licensing fees and replicate them ad infinitum. Until then, there this: Paramount appears to want to try to hawk a Star Wars Original Trilogy on the old Shatner series. It wants to release new versions of the old episodes into syndication. New CG effects replace the old ones, new music inserted into the episodes, and digitially remastering the episodes. Hey, maybe they'll digitially insert a REAL bricklayer into a scene behind McCoy? Or replace the phaser rifles with communicators instead?