Windows Monitor Calibration Issue

Calibrating your monitor is important because most monitors are not calibrated by the manufacturer, and do not display accurate color. See Calibrate Your Monitor.

But even after you've calibrated your monitor, it may not display accurate color, especially if you are running Microsoft Windows and have uninstalled the calibration software.

If you research this issue you're likely to be told that Windows doesn't load the calibration CLUT (Color Look-Up Table) properly, and advised to keep calibration software installed. But even then your monitor may not stay calibrated, shifting between calibrated and uncalibrated for no apparent reason. The truth is that monitor calibration can be made to work properly under Windows if you take the necessary steps:

1. Stop Losing Display Calibration with Windows 7 details how to configure Windows to use a calibration color profile. But that may work for you at first, only to shift back again. Something may seem to be fighting with Windows. If so, check the article again, and see the note regarding Intel display drivers, which will lead you to:
2. Intel’s Video Drivers Kill Display Calibration, which explains how Intel interferes with display calibration, and how to solve the problem by disabling the Intel Persistence module. If you use Sysinternals Autoruns to disable Persistence, your monitor should then stay calibrated even without calibration software installed!

Disable Windows 10 Upgrade

Why not upgrade to Windows 10?

1. Privacy: Windows 10 collects data on you, sends it to Microsoft, and there's no way to completely shut that off.
2. Bugs: Quality control has taken a back seat to rapid releases, so bugs are more common than earlier versions.
3. Compatibility: Windows XP and earlier Compatibility Modes have been removed, and not all software and drivers work properly in Windows 10.
4. Control: Options to control updating have been removed from consumer versions.
5. OneDrive: Feature regression.
6. Media: Media Center and DVD Player have been removed.
7. Cost: Microsoft is being coy about the cost of Windows after the free Windows 10 upgrade "promotion". Subscriptions might be required.

Bottom line: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." But with Microsoft aggressively pushing Windows 10 upgrade out through Windows Update (over and over), it can be hard to avoid an inadvertent upgrade, and the ongoing nags are annoying.

KB3080351 How to manage Windows 10 notification and upgrade options provides instructions for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 to disable Windows 10 upgrade through Windows Update. Group Policy is not available in Home versions of Windows, but the Registry method should work. Either method should work in Pro versions.

Registry method (Home and Pro)

1. Create a restore point in System Restore in case you make a mistake.
2. Copy the following lines into a file named something like DisableWin10Upgrade.reg
   
   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"DisableOSUpgrade"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Gwx]
"DisableGwx"=dword:00000001
3. Double-click that file to Merge these changes into the Registry.

Group Policy method (Pro only, not available in Home)

1. Download and install KB3065987.
2. Search for Edit Group Policy and run it.
3. Under Local Computer Policy open Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Windows Update.
4. Edit Turn off the upgrade to the latest version of Windows through Windows Update, change to Enabled, and click OK. 

Screenshots from Group Policy method in Windows 7:

Electric Shaver Sweet Spot

Panasonic ES8103S

Choice is good, but too much choice can be too much of a good thing, and with the plethora of rechargeable electric shavers on the market, with prices from $15 to $500 (yes, $500!), it's hard to select a shaver that's not only a great shaver but also a great value. Pay too little and you risk a shaver that is underpowered, cuts poorly, charges slowly, doesn't hold a charge, is hard to clean, etc. But if you pay too much you can waste money on features you don't need or even get features that don't actually facilitate a good shave.

Features that matter:

• Fast shave
• Close shave
• Minimal pulling or irritation
• Cuts longer hair not just stubble
• Popup trimmer
• Fast charging
• Long battery life
• Easy cleaning
• Wet shaving

Foil vs Rotary. Each type has pros and cons, fans and foes, and the truth is that both can work well enough that you should go with the type you prefer. My own preference is for a good foil shaver, because it gives me a faster, closer shave with less irritation. But see note at bottom.

How many blades? Foil shavers can have anywhere from 1 to 5 blades (currently at least). More blades are touted as being better, but are they really? 2 blades cut much faster than 1 blade without adding much bulk, and 3 blade shavers can have the advantage different types of cutters, slit for longer hairs in addition to standard foils with holes. But past that number (more than 3 blades) there's little increase in shaving speed to compensate for the added bulk, weight, and cost, and not just the cost of the shaver itself.

Replacement Blades and Foils. To maintain shaving efficiency, blades and foils should be replaced regularly, at least annually, more often if needed. The cost of replacements is often overlooked when choosing a shaver, and the cost of a single set of replacements can be almost as much as a new shaver. Over the lifetime of a shaver you'll probably be spending more on replacements than you did on the shaver, so do pay close attention to replacement cost.

Battery technology:

• Poor: Nickel-cadmium (memory effect degrades capacity)
• Good: Nickel-metal hydride (no memory effect)
• Best: Lithium-ion (high capacity, fast charging, light)

Foil brands:

• Good: Remington
• Better: Braun
• Best: Panasonic

Sweet Spot: When all is said and done, the sweet spot of electric shavers (as of this writing) is the Arc3 (3 blade) Panasonic ES8103S:

• Great shaver
• Great price (less than $80)
• Wet or dry shave
• Easy cleaning
• Affordable replacements
• Fast charging
• Long battery life
• Light and compact
• Comfortable to hold
• Excellent pop-up trimmer

Norelco 6100

Best alternatives:

• Panasonic ES8109S: Essentially the ES8103S with a cleaning stand.
• Braun 340s or the newer Braun 3040s. Closest Braun equivalent to the Panasonic ES8103S, but nickel-metal hydride battery is not as good, and shave isn't quite as good.
• Philips Norelco Shaver 6100: If you prefer a rotary shaver, this is the one to get.

Windows 10 Upgrade Nightmare

Windows 10 upgrades have been going so smoothly for me that I got complacent, forgetting about the shaky underpinnings of Windows, and so I got bitten big time. Lessons learned:

1. Windows 10 compatibility checker is imperfect.
2. Windows 10 won't necessarily work well with Windows 7/8 drivers.
3. Windows upgrade rollback has serious limitations.

I had foolishly sent someone down the upgrade trail on her own, which resulted in a panic message to me when it rejected her password after the upgrade. Spent a large amount of time resetting the password on her Microsoft account, but that didn't help. Finally had to go on site, where I quickly discovered the problem, NumLock turned on with a compact keyboard. The Windows 10 upgrade didn't migrate the keyboard Registry fix I had applied to earlier versions of Windows. So applied new fix.

I then went through the hassle of reversing the hijacking of program associations by the upgrade, and upgraded all applications to current versions (which eventually proved to be a big mistake, as I explain below). Not a great experience I thought, but probably still worth it.

3 days later I got another panic message. The problem was that folder view wasn't right for her pictures, and she was unable to change it. Based on experience with her I thought this was probably cockpit error, and so wasted much time and grief telling her what to do before finally turning to (excellent) TeamViewer to do it myself remotely (which I should have done in the beginning). And indeed, folder view options were disabled. She had an administrative account, so that wasn't the problem, Explorer registry setting wasn't wrong, and I couldn't see any Policy issues. So I decided to try System Restore, rolling back to right after the upgrade, and happily that solved the problem. I still don't know what caused the problem, possibly cockpit error, possibly malware, and worried about a possible recurrence.

The next day I made another on site visit to finish up. Most things seemed fine, but there were some issues. Audacity couldn't see any audio devices. Maybe reinstalling it would have solved the problem, but I never got around to trying that. More worrying was the WD Passport drive for File History not appearing as a device. I managed to get it working, but then encountered this issue:

This is an old Windows issue that's never been resolved. It seems to be a result of not having proper drivers for USB: host controller, card reader, etc. Which wasn't good news since support for that Gateway SX2802 desktop computer seems to have ended the day Gateway shipped it. So I spent considerable time trying various drivers for card readers from major chip vendors, but no joy. Registry data suggested the card reader controller was by Alcor, but that didn't prove a fruitful path either.

Finally I remembered I had installed a USB 3.0 PCIe card in the computer for the WD Passport. It had a strange chip, Etron EJ168, rather than the usual Renesas or TI. And when I disconnected and reconnected the WD Passport, one of the two WPD driver errors disappeared and reappeared in sync. But alas, installing Etron EJ168 drivers didn't help either, even when I laboriously tried updating drivers and deleting devices, not helped by the fact that the USB keyboard and mouse would stop working when I blundered on their entries.

In frustration and desperation I finally thought to roll back (revert) to Windows 8.1, assuming that would get the system back to where it was before the Windows 10 upgrade mess, but that proved to be a very bad assumption. The rollback seemed to go well enough, but as soon as I started checking operation I found that some of the applications were screwed up. I noticed these were all applications I had updated after the Windows 10 upgrade, and the light dawned. While the Windows 8.1 and 10 installations are separate, the applications (in Program Files, etc.) are not, so the old Windows 8.1 installation was now out of sync with the updated applications. Ugh.

Not a serious problem, I thought. I'll uninstall and reinstall those applications. Except I couldn't. Because uninstall for some of the applications (Adobe Reader, iTunes, etc.) depends on installers stored outside the Windows directory, which got changed by my updating, and Windows uninstall fails when those install files can't be located. I was able to use the Adobe clean tool to get rid of Reader, but no such tools exist for other applications like iTunes. After wasting a huge amount of time trying to manually uninstall them, I finally turned to the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility, which succeeded in cleaning up the mess so I could reinstall those applications. (The preferred method is Microsoft Fix It.)

Last but not least, Windows 8.1 then restarted the Windows 10 upgrade process on its own. Clicking cancel seemed to do no good, and there's no obvious way to turn it off. I finally solved the problem by (a) uninstalling and hiding KB3035583 and (b) unchecking Windows 10 Upgrade in Advanced options.

What a nightmare. I'm guessing I wasted at least 8 hours in total. And it's left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Stop Xfinity WiFi

Got Comcast Internet service? Then you're probably providing open Internet service to the public, and unless you've read and understood everything very carefully, you probably don't even know it!

When you rent a wireless gateway* from Comcast (as most customers do), by default Comcast enables another wireless network called xfinitywifi for use by other Comcast and Cable WiFi Alliance customers. This is a really bad idea:

• Security and privacy are put at risk by opening up service to outsiders in shared equipment. (Claims that outsiders are completely walled off are disingenuous -- there is always a risk.)
• Internet service is degraded by the additional traffic. The carrier wireless gateway is a cheap low-end device with limited processing capacity (and is a common cause of connectivity problems in general).
• Wireless networking is degraded by the additional wireless traffic. Wireless bands are already crowded and limited in many areas, and this just makes things worse.
• It's not good for guest Internet access (as claimed by Comcast) because it won't work if your guests are not Comcast or Cable WiFi Alliance customers. Set up a private guest network on your own wireless router for your guests.
• Comcast is running its business for free out of your home on equipment you are paying to rent.

It's possible to opt out of this outrageous arrangement (instructions here), but there's no way to be sure you'll stay opted out without continual checking.

The better solution is to never ever rent a carrier wireless gateway. Instead, buy your own:

1. DOCSIS cable modem (from the approved list, like the excellent SURFboard 6183)
2. Wireless router (See Choosing a Wireless Router 2019)

* Cable wireless gateway is a combination of DOCSIS cable modem and wireless router.

To be ethical and above board, Comcast should at least provide a free wireless gateway in return for supporting Xfinity WiFi.

More Info

• Comcast XFINITY WiFi: Just say no
• To Xfinity WiFi we're all hotspots, but you don't have to be
• Are You Sharing Your Wifi?

Comcast

• XFINITY WiFi
• XFINITY WiFi Hotspots

Ad Blocking

uBlock Origin

UPDATES:

1. I now use and recommend uBlock Origin.
2. Firefox (Nightly) now supports uBlock Origin on mobile.

Ads on the Web not only are often annoying and performance degrading, but also can seriously compromise your privacy (by tracking you) and security (as an attack mechanism for malware).

Apologists for ads claim they finance the "free" Web and that some ads are better than others, but those claims are greatly exaggerated, since the Web has many different financing mechanisms including service fees paid by users, and since it doesn't make sense to risk compromising performance, privacy and security.

The best way to deal with ads is to use a blocking extension in the Web brower (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, or Safari).

• The best ad blocking extension (as of this writing) is uBlock, available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
• If you must use Internet Explorer (not recommended), Adblock Plus is a good alternative, but be sure to configure it to block all ads. (So-called "unobtrusive" ads are not blocked by default.)
• Blocking extensions don't work well on mobile, where ads can be even more of a problem due to data consumption, but Adblock Browser can be used instead of the native browser (Chrome or Safari) to do the job.

Ad blocking extensions won't stop malware on your device from serving ads, so it's also a good idea to scan your device for malware. See Anti-Malware for Windows.

Internet Fax

Use a free personal account at FilesAnywhere to send up to 10 faxes per month. Fully professional quality and service, highly recommended!

For more information, see original post Internet Fax.

Oil Change Scam

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." 
 
Pennzoil Platinum is an excellent full synthetic motor oil, a great way to enhance and prolong the life of your motor vehicle. (See Why would I upgrade to a synthetic motor oil?) Unfortunately, the business ethics of Pennzoil, a subsidiary of Shell, do not match the quality its products.

A common promotion for Pennzoil Platinum is a certificate (coupon) supposedly good for $20-25 off on your next oil change (as compared to perhaps $10 off on your current oil change) that will be sent to you by mail. That promise sounds too good to be true, and for many people it is.

One of the principal benefits of full synthetic oil is extended oil change intervals, which helps to offset the much higher cost of synthetic oil. With full synthetic oil many people need only one oil change per year. But the fine print on the Pennzoil certificate limits it to 180 days. In other words, to take advantage of the certificate, you probably have to buy an oil change you don't need, wasting money (on the order of $80) and the planet. If you're going to change oil more than once a year, you're probably better off sticking to regular motor oil.

So don't fall for an empty promise. Instead stick to promotions that apply at the time of service even if they don't seem as attractive.

Notes

• Other good full synthetic motor oils include Amsoil, Castrol Edge, Mobil 1, Red Line, Royal Purple, and Valvoline Synpower.
• Watch out for off-brand "synthetic" oils that may not measure up to the leading brands.
• Watch out for unscrupulous garages that charge for synthetic oil but actually use cheap regular oil and filter, or don't change the filter.

Update: BBB Complaint was simply ignored by the company, now a negative mark against it.

Computer Headset

Plantronics .Audio 478

Headsets are similar to headphones, except headsets tend to be optimized for speech, with microphones needed for chatting, speech recognition, gaming, etc, whereas headphones tend to be optimized for music.

When choosing a computer headset, there are a number of important considerations:

• Analog versus Digital: USB (digital) connection will generally deliver better quality audio than analog jack connection.
• Stereo versus Mono: Both comfort and audio quality tend to be better with stereo headphones even with mono sound.
• Type: The choice of over-the-ear, on-the-ear, or in-the-ear also affects both comfort and audio quality. Many people find lightweight on-the-ear to be the most comfortable, especially for extended wearing, with good quality audio without blocking of ambient sounds.
• Noise Cancellation: Good microphones can cancel ambient sounds making voice pickup clearer, especially with a boom design that puts the microphone hear the mouth.

Of the many manufacturers making computer headsets, Plantronics has a long and distinguished record of making good products, and its on-the-ear .Audio 478 is no exception, delivering good sound and comfort at an affordable price point, with the additional advantage of folding into a compact package for travel. Recommended.

Notes:

1. While the sound quality of the .Audio 478 is good, it's optimized for speech, not music.
2. When ambient sound is an issue, over-the-ear (noise isolating) may be a better choice than on-the-ear.

CD-R Blanks

Verbatim DataLifePlus AZO CD-R

It's getting harder and harder to get decent quality CD-R blank discs. Most of the products left on the market are cheap junk that don't work reliably.

Arguably the best quality CD-R blank discs are Verbatim DataLifePlus AZO. To avoid lower quality Verbatim discs, be sure to get AZO. (This also applies to DVD-R and DVD+R blank discs.)

As of this writing, the best source for these discs is Amazon.