utink blog

There are quite a few apps out there that can tell you what the most cost effective electricity retailers in terms of their rate and discount comparisions are but not many (if any) can give an accurate account in terms of what you actually take from and send to the grid at your own premises. I have attempted to rectify this by introducing an electricity retailer app with a special focus on solar systems that allows you to compare your current retailer's actual costs (or credits) with the new electricity retailers costs by using your current retailer's bill data in the calculations . This produces a cost/credit difference between your current retailer and the new retailer where this difference can determine whether you are better or worse off with your current electricity retailer. As such, I have constructed pages with forms where you can add all the relevant information from your electricity bill(s) including the rates and discounts from the new electricity retailer(s) being compared.

For more information on electricity retailer rates and charges visit the vic gov website Compare.

All of the entered information is stored to your local browser environment using latest technology indexedDB database storage. It means that the information saved can be retrieved at any time on the same browser even if the device had been powered down.

How to use the app:

This is done by entering your current retailer rates and discounts to the 'Current offer' form then adding all of the new retailer's usage, service charges and discounts as displayed on their websites to the 'New offer' form. To the 'Data' page you load your actual electricity usage information as shown on your collection of electricity bills over the payment periods. Pressing the 'Comp' button takes you to the 'Compare' form that shows all of the comparisons made with your current retailer to all of the new retailers previously entered at the 'New retailer' form.

The 'Comp' page consists of outcomes to the calculations to determine the final costs of all the new retailers and your current electricity retailer to produce a cost difference. By summing all of these differences for each new retailer over every billing period gives a total cost difference that can be used to make comparisons with your current retailer. As such we can now arrange the new retailers in order from best to worst when comparing with your current retailer.

Use of the app in detail:

1. Enter your current retailer information to the appropriate fields onto the 'Current offer' form (fig 1)...

Then press 'Save this retailer' button to save this information to your local data base. Now press 'New'.

2. To the 'New offer' form (fig 2) enter the information on all of the electricity retailers you want to compare with your current retailer...

Press 'Save new retailer' button to store the information then press 'Data'.

3. On the 'Bill Data' form (fig 3) you need to include all of the electricity data used as shown on your monthly or quarterly electricity bill. You can add any number of billing periods with a minimum of one. Typically a form could contain billing period name, over how many days, the prime usage in kWh and if you have solar the amount of electricity sent to the grid in kWh.

Press 'Save new data' to save then press 'Comp'.

4. Finally on the 'Compare' form (fig 4) you will see all of the comparisons between your current retailer and the new retailers entered at step 2. Most notably, under the headers of Best Solar and Best No Solar are the cost differences in new retailers to your current retailer listed in order from highest to lowest.

The solar to no solar ratio represents one of the safest retailers (best solar with best no solar combination) you would consider if the solar system goes offline for any length of time. To help in your selection of the safest retailer use the 'Max NoSolar diff' field to enter the maximum amount (refer to the No Solar totals of each retailer) you are prepared to lose if your solar system goes down then press 'Save'.

Below the form you will see (in fig 5) the comparison outcomes of all the new retailers (entered at step 2) over the billing periods entered at step 3.

 

Where:

• Blue indicates the credit amounts as a result of to-the-grid energy from your solar system being greater than what was taken from the grid.
• Green is the new retailer result is better than your current retailer's result (a positive difference).
• Black shows the new retailer result is worse than the current retailer's result (a negative difference).
• Yellow indicates a zero balance or no difference between the current and new retailer.
• Diff is the difference between the two retailer outcomes for both Solar and No Solar over each billing period where green indicates the new retailer has a better outcome than the current retailer.
• % shows the difference between the two retailers as a percentage.
• Totals: is the sum of the values for each retailer over all the billing periods entered using the 'Bill Data' form (fig 3).
• FiT is the retailer's feed in tariff in $/kWh.
• OTP is the retailer's On Time Payment discount in percentage.
• u is the OTP discount applies to usage only and us is the OTP discount applies to both usage and service.
• Save is the amount saved over the billing periods entered when comparing Solar with the No Solar values.
• Diff is the difference between the totals of the two retailers over all the billing periods entered where green shows the new retailer as having a better outcome than the current retailer.

Go to the app here.

 

Vimtag’s S1 Cloud Storage Box app is the most bug ridden software I’ve ever come across. What makes it worse is that their responses (that's if they respond) leaves a lot to be desired.
I puchased the VimBox in Dec 2018.
I'm running the Vimtag app on a desktop pc with Windows 10 Pro system.
The app version is v5.1.8.1808161551.

Vimtag are a high-tech company, VimtagTechnology Co. Ltd, based in Chinese Silicon Valley, Shenzhen. They provide smart space products and services based on video surveillance equipment to mass global users.

Following are some of the issues I have found…

1. Overnight recordings set to 30min intervals, intermittently becomes erratic and records at less than 1min intervals (fig1) that leaves stacks of recordings to scan through at a time (the most annoying). Note that once recorded changing the filter times does not alter the recordings duration.
2. When deleting individual recordings they actually do delete when on the page but when returning to the page they somehow re-appear? The only way to delete the recordings is to format the disc which removes all of the recordings.
3. Sometimes when viewing a recording the picture suddenly goes to black and can no longer be viewed. Have to power down power up to restore.
4. The app's Feedback 'Submit' button does nothing? After painstakingly filling out the Feedback form then pressing Submit - nothing?
5. Watching a recording then press pause the picture shows a grayed out picture of the beginning of the recording - press play starts at the  beginning of the recording not at where it was paused?

 

figure 1    Set to 30mins actual recording intervals are at 1min or less.

So what can I say? It seems that Vimtag do not test their software properly because these issues are to me the most basic of functions for a recordings management operation.  And the worst part is that they don't seem to care when these issues are pointed out to them?
The actual recordings are of good quality so it's a shame the management of them is so off.

As such I would not recommend this product to anyone until Vimtag see the light and have these problems fixed.

My most recent experience with a public dentist (I’ll call PubD) has left me losing all confidence in them, well, this one in particular who is local to me. Thing is, I visited the dentist, PubD, being able to chew on my preferred chewing side and left being unable to chew on that side for over a week. All I wanted was to have a filling that had partially fallen out replaced as the tooth had become acutely sensitive to hot, cold and pressure. The tooth in question is the last molar on the bottom rhs of my jaw.

It all started in 2013 where the tooth developed an acute sensitivity to temp and pressure. PubD examined it and indicated it needed a crown and that I would have to go on a waiting list but that he could do a filling now as a temporary thing. With that the filling was done. When the numbness subsided it was still sensitive but not as bad as before I saw the dentist. And so it remained that way until after a whopping 3 years later when my name came up on the list to have the crown done. Then I was informed that it couldn’t be done by PubD. As such I was given a voucher to have it assessed by another dentist who was a local private dentist (I’ll call PrivD1). OK – so now PrivD1 checked the tooth and suggested that he could fill it in lieu of a crown but if the filling didn’t work out to have the crown done. That was fine, a filling was less intrusive (and less expensive) so I went along with the filling option. About 6 months later the filling fell out leaving a crater and acute sensitivity once again. Back I went to PrivD1 who replaced the filling free of charge and suggested I go back on the public waiting list for a crown as the filling option didn’t appear to be working. So I had my name re-entered onto the waiting list. About 2 months later once again the temporary filling fell out and, even though I could chew on it the tooth was sensitive to extreme hot and cold so decided to go back to the public dentist PubD to have it re-filled.

Now this where the ‘fun’ starts – PubD indicated he would need to remove all of the old filling and replace it with a new better anchored one and that it would still be a temporary thing just to last out another 3 years it would take waiting for a crown. OK – so I went along with that idea and had it filled – I will add here that this filling was the most painful out of all of my visits to a dentist ever (and there have been many over the years) – he didn’t numb it properly – he was riding on the nerve with the fast and slow drill – I could feel every little jab – brought tears to my eyes – told him to stop many times as I needed a break – is one of the reasons I won’t go back there again.

So the thing is, when the numbness subsided (after about 2-3 hrs) and tried to chew on it, I nearly ‘hit the roof’ as it was still triggering the nerve. The PubD did warn me at the time that it would be sensitive for a few days so I waited a week. It didn’t get any better, so decided to get it assessed by a different local but private dentist this time (I'll call PrivD2). The truth was revealed. Turns out the tooth needed a root canal treatment and that it should have been done right from the outset.

OK?? – so now I have to ask the question – why wasn’t this picked up by the PubD in the first place or even PrivD1 for that matter? Might I suggest that due to government funding restrictions public dentists are always on the lookout to keep costs down and as such do the absolute minimum it takes to resolve any tooth issue – hence the fillings rather than a root canal. Btw a crown over a tooth that needed a root canal procedure before hand could have turned out disastrous in this case as it would probably still be sensitive to any form of pressure.

And so the root canal was done by PrivD2 after about two weeks with little to no pain (except for some jaw ache after numbness wore off also the back pocket pain) with no sensitivity on the tooth and the ability to chew on it the following day – perfect.

The fact that it takes 3 years in the public system to get a crown done with a very sensitive tooth is concerning – is the government hoping that most people will pull out early so that they can put the cost saved towards building up the surplus?. You might ask why do I go to a public dentist in the first place? Well, for those on a pension who can’t afford the huge prices at a private dentist the public dentist is very very attractive.

So based on this experience my conclusion is that in order to get the job done properly you would probably need to go to a private dentist and be prepared to pay the big bucks.

I decided it was time to look into solar power. I have been thinking about it for some time now as my brother has been setting up stand-alone solar systems up north in Queensland for years and has been an ongoing topic in our phone conversations. I live in a small town out in rural Western Victoria around 350Ks west of Melbourne.

On this particular day there was a phone call that turned out to be someone from a solar power company who were offering systems to my area. After a few attempts to shut the call down, they're terribly persistent, not taking no for an answer, they were actually a solar company so I thought to myself 'what the heck' and decided to give them a try - at least see what they had to offer - get a quote - no harm done I accepted then arranged to meet with one of their reps at my home. The guy arrived a week later we sat down and began the discussion. The offer was for a 3.3kW system with 10 x 330W Canadian mono panels and a Feronius inverter for $8500 with the STC rebate of $2000. Seemed a bit excessive as I had been pricing solar panels, inverters, railing, wiring, switches for a while now due to ideas of planning to build my own stand-alone system sometime in the future with totals (incl labour costs) being well under this figure.

Anyway, I told the guy thanks very much that I'll be in touch.

So, the journey begins. Mission, to find the most cost effective solar power solution for my home.
Next step is to get more quotes and make some comparisons.

Went online to a solar website and requested two offers for quotes. With the two that were offered one was from Jim's Energy Solar the other company didn't respond. The deal from Jim's Energy Solar was as follows - $5670 total being a 3.24kW system consisting of 12 x 270W Q.Cells panels, a Fronius inverter and an STC discount of $1764. So right away $5670 was a much better price than the previous $8500 with a saving of $2830. Drilling down into this deal I discovered a hidden cost of $800 which turned out to be for travel expenses that didn't show until I questioned the discrepancy to the final balance. OK so there are travel costs involved what I need to do now is get some quotes locally where there shouldn't be any travel costs.

Of all the local places I tried only one offer came through (excuses were sorry not in our service area?) and it was from Keppel Prince Solar who are located in Portland. Their offer was as follows - $6250 total for a 5.6kW system comprising of 20 x 280W poly Talesun panels, a Solis inverter includes an STC of $3,311.00. So, the offer was quite reasonable with no hidden travel costs. At the time I hadn't heard of the Solis inverter but after reading online reviews and forums found that it was quite a reputable one. So, I decided to go ahead with this offer, signed the contract and paid the deposit.

A few days later a friend from Melbourne sent me a pic of an advert from his news paper with an offer for a 6.2kW solar system for $4499 so I decided to chase it up as I were still in the cooling off period with Keppel Prince Solar. Now this seeming too-good-to-be-true offer was from a Sydney based company Captain Green Solar (CGS) and resulted in the following - $5099 total being a 6.5kW system consisting of 21 x 310W JinkO mono panels with a GoodWe 5kW inverter and an STC of $3700 a saving of $1151 over the other. The reason the difference from the advertised price of $4499 to the final price of $5099 is plus a $400 travel cost (they threw in an extra panel which upped it to 21 to compensate) and $200 (negotiated) for a split raised frame. Being impressed with the deal and the savings made I signed the contract and paid the deposit then cancelled the Keppel Prince contract.

Feeling so warm and fuzzy about the deal now 7 weeks on and still no sign of an installation out of the blue I received a phone call from CGS telling me that the installation will not begin until I upgraded my switchboard and that they would charge $1200 to have this done. Wow! Floored me and felt kicked in the stomach as I'm on an extremely tight budget and will find it very difficult to raise the amount they're asking. My switchboard is the old ceramic base type but have replaced all the fuse wire ceramics with plug in circuit breakers. Note that CGS knew about my switchboard layout well before signing and payment of deposit through the pics I'd taken and sent to them and also Keppel Prince viewed my switchboard on site and made no reference to it needing an upgrade. Anyway, I got the call on a Friday so had to stew on it over the weekend before I could do anything about it.

First thing Monday I visited a local electrician, Bob Menzel from Portland, and told him what had happened. He shook his head and being across many solar installations and after viewing pics of the switchboard indicated that it was not unsafe and in keeping with most houses in the area. He said the solar company probably needed more room to place their solar switches. With that he offered to change some switches around that would allow enough room for the solar switches to be positioned. Somewhat relieved I sent an email off to CGS explaining the proposed change to the switchboard and received a response saying they'll put it to the installer.

In the mean time I decided to have a look at the terms and conditions on CGS’s website and sure enough there it was: Para 3 section (h) "In addition to the Purchase price, you may have to pay any unforeseen costs necessary to install your System (if any, not shown in the original quote). These costs will be known to you either during a pre-installation inspection, technical phone inspection or on the day of your installation. We will require your consent of any additional costs prior to the installation."Hmmmmm, got me by the short and curly’s. So worst case on the day of installation they can hit you for any extra costs and put it down to 'unforeseen’. Seems to be a one-sided argument to me.

Moving on - so it turns out the CGS installer had accepted my solution but demanded a signed disclaimer from my electrician saying that he (the installer) would not be held responsible for the switchboard should it fail the solar installation inspection. Hmmmmm again - bolics! I would have to say that this is becoming a nightmarish situation for me definitely not a pleasant experience. My star rating for them has now dropped to 3 stars on www.productreview.com which is a sad state for CGS as it's the installer causing all the pain here.

The electrician came to my home and looked at the switchboard and the wiring behind it. As he discovered everything looked ok, wiring was where it should be and was reasonably neat and tidy. He said that all he could do, as specified earlier, is relocate the two components across to make room for a solar switch and certify it to ESV (Energy Safe Victoria) standards but definitely will not be signing any disclaimer. OK - at this point it seems I have no other choice but to go with the solar installer’s initial demand to fully upgrade the switchboard. At least then the solar installer would be totally responsible for the outcome of the final inspection and there should be no extra cost passed on to me if it fails. If I went with the first option it would be at a risk of a failed inspection then I'd be held responsible for the extra costs of rectifying, travel and another inspection.

So there it is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I decided to contact Energy Safe Victoria to get a ruling on this from them. The following is a response in answer to my question to them 'does a switchboard need a full replacement upgrade if it has ceramic based elements and a new solar system is to be installed?' and their answer...
"There is no specific requirement to retro fit or upgrade an older style switchboard because of the age of the property or the switchboard itself. As you have had the switchboard inspected by your electrician and he is satisfied that it complies, I don’t see any issues. The inspection of the solar power installation, I believe, will relate to that portion of the electrical installation only".
In other words, the inspection for solar should focus only upon the newly installed solar power switch at the switchboard back to the inverter and panels.

There's been a change of heart by the installer? The offer is now that my electrician makes his change to the switchboard and only needs to provide a 'Non-Prescribed Certificate of Energy Safe (COES)' - pity this wasn't offered in the first place? Would have saved a lot of grief, heartache and time if it had. I asked and received confirmation from the solar company that once the certificate had been received by them installation could begin.

Now it seems my electrician has dropped the case and not returning any of my calls? wtf! Thanks very much 'mate'?? Now, I'll have to find another electrician. More delays!

So, I eventually came across another local electrician in Ben Rose who was more than happy to do the job. After inspecting the switchboard he quoted a price that was reasonable which I accepted and then arranged to have my switchboard made solar ready in about a weeks time. Phew! - Thank goodness for that!

It's 2 weeks on and the switchboard is now 'Solar Ready' with a COES certificate thanks to my new preferred electrician, Ben. I've sent the certificate and pics of the modified switchboard to CGS and am currently awaiting word for when installation can begin.

Solar installation began on the day after the switchboard was modified but there was a catch. For some reason the solar installer wouldn't install 7 of the 21 panels on the north facing pergola roof as arranged before signing of the contract? Instead we came to an 'agreement' of 2 strings (1 x 10 panels and 1 x 11 panels) on the west side of the house roof. OK - not exactly as I wanted but you can't argue with the installer right? As it turned out installation was relatively straight forward with no reference to the switchboard layout and no 'unforeseen' costs which was a relief. All that is left now is the inspection.
I since found the reason why the pergola roof with the 7 panels wasn't used and is that the total of the open circuit voltages of the 14 panels on the house roof comes to 567Vdc (where Voc=40.5Vdc and 40.5 x 14 = 567Vdc) which exceeded the maximum input voltage to the inverter of 550Vdc.

My solar system is up and running and pumping power to my home and out to the grid. I will need to contact my power retailer, Alinta, to arrange a FiT refund of 11.3cents/kWh on my power bill. My next power bill will also have an added one-off cost of $60 from my power distributor, Powercor, to enable the smartmeter to record power flow to the grid.

I have set up the wifi connection from the inverter to my router through to the Goodwe portal such that I am now able to monitor data associated with my solar array. Data values such as total voltage and current from the 11 panel string Vpv1 & Ipv1, total voltage and current from the 10 panel string Vpv2 & Ipv2 and power from the inverter all in two minute intervals for around 10hrs every day. It's the middle of winter here in Heywood Vic so the current and power figures won't be outstanding but at least I can get a clear indication of what to look out for. In doing so I have come across a minor intermittent discrepancy with Ipv1 in that for some reason the current on Ivp1 drops to zero amps where Ivp2 remains steady on greater than 0 amps at intermittent intervals? Refer to the data sheet below...

I sent an email off to CGS support describing this condition and received an answer the same day saying it was a cloud based issue. Now looking at the data more closely I discovered a re-occurring pattern of Ivp1 dropping to the zero amps. Looking over a 3 day period I could see it happened at similar time periods on each day which sorta does away with a clouds issue and points more to an inverter issue. Not convinced with the CGS's answer I decided to send an email off to Goodwe support in China and received a response a few hours later saying that they would monitor my portal and make changes to the inverter remotely if needed. Looking over the charts made with data from the inverter I can see that the issue has been resolved by Goodwe remotely the day after I sent the email to them. I'm truly impressed by the response from Goodwe.

It's been a month since installation and not a word about when the inspection is to happen. I decided to give the inspector a call and was surprised to find that he had already done the job and sent the paperwork off to CGS. So CGS has been sitting on it for over a week now without a word? I gave them a call with the response "We'll get back to you". Three days later still no response so I called them again this time on different number and with a more positive response in that they have sent the paperwork off to my power distributer Powercor, and they will send a copy to me. CGS must have sent it right after my phone call to them because Powercor sent me an email saying they had received the paperwork for my case and are now waiting for a response from my power retailer Alinta about an hour after I made the call to CGS?

Over the last 2 weeks there's been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between CGS and Alinta Energy. Initially it was CGS to get the paperwork off to Powercor then it was Alinta who needed a phone call to get them to get back to Powercor. My last phone call to Alinta informed me that Powercor would be arranging a day for someone to visit my premises to re-configure the smartmeter for solar. I can see that my smartmeter is already registering what kWh is being sent to the grid so not sure what that is all about? Alinta sent me a form the ‘application form standard feed-in tariff (Victoria)’ which I had to fill in and send to them before they would respond to Powercor. So, finally I get an email from Powercor saying they had serviced the smartmeter and that now I would be paid for what was being put out to the grid or Feed-in-tariff (FiT). In doing so they zeroed the kWh readings on the smartmeter for both incoming and outgoing which means all that was put out to the grid since installation (some 300kWh's worth) has fallen into a Black Hole. Oh well - everything seems to be in order now so all's left to do now is set up the charts in Excel to monitor the solar energy generated, energy sent out to the grid and energy taken from the grid in kWh's on a daily basis and also to view the next power bill.

I have constructed the charts in Excel as seen below...

The top chart shows the solar pattern over a 24hr period on a good sunny day in winter (in Rual Western Victoria). The bottom chart displays the accumulated energy generated and consumed over this period.

 

My first bill from Alinta with power to the grid entries shows a FiT of $9.96 and that Powercor charged me $60 to re-configure the smartmeter. This puts the total amount to well over what I usually pay a month but expect this to drop severely in the coming months.

A couple of things regarding the solar credits earned and the power retailer...
1) Solar credits earned is not paid out in cash unless you change retailers (see 2). It is debited over the winter months where power costs from the grid exceeds the solar credits to the grid.
2) If you change power retailers the credit gained from the original power retailer may not be transferable to the new power retailer or debited to your bank account. Check this out first before you make the change.

It is now over six months since having my solar panels installed and during that time have accumulated a solar credit of $118.76. This means that my last four monthly power bills ended up with a credit balance where as before solar they were a debit amount of around $90. Below I have included a chart that depicts the solar power distribution over the period.

The chart shows that over the period an average of ~4kWh was taken from the GRID, ~24kWh was sent to the GRID, ~30kWh was generated by the panels with a load at the house being ~12kWh.

 

There was a kock on the door and my mum answered. The person on the otherside was a representative from a power company Red Energy. After introductions and credentials the rep proceeded to convince my mum that they are able to better her current power service provider's offer. Being on the lookout for ways of reducing costs my mum decided to let the person in. The Red Energy rep asked for a latest power bill which my mum found then handed over. The rep proceeded to do the calculations and when the comparsion was made came to the conclusion that my mum would be $$$'s better off with the offer made by Red Energy. In the calculations a period of 90 days was used as specified on the current power provider's bill. So, not being savvy with power bill details, my mum took the reps word for it and being further convinced by the rep mentioning the fact that quite a few of the others in the area are changing over as well my mum decided to go ahead with the deal. On that the rep then drew up the contract which my mum subsequently signed.

I arrived at my mum's place a day later whereupon she informed me that yesterday she had signed off on a 'better deal' with a new power retailer Red Energy. Having dealt with power company reps before and knowing how much they embellish their figures to their favour I gathered together all the paperwork I could regarding the Red Energy's offer and decided to crunch the numbers at home for myself.

So, this is what I found:

Using the computer I punched in all the figures to my Power Calculator app, hit 'calculate' and the result was not surprising. Not only was my mum NOT better off per quarter than her current power company AGL she was, infact, well and truely WORSE off! Like I said, no surprises there.

In analysing the difference I found that the Red Energy rep didn't take into account the wopping 35% On Time Payment discount that AGL used on it's bill but used their 10% OTP (On Time Payment)  discount  with their offer? Obviously this would result in a large discrepancy with the outcome and be biased towards the Red Energy offer. Whether this was deliberate or not (I lean towards being deliberate) it was enough to sway my mum's decision and run with the new offer. In my mum's case the OTP discount would always have been activated as she has a Direct Debit setup with AGL and her bank such that the amount owing would always deducted from her account by the 'due by date'.

 

The figures:

As I mentioned earlier there is an app on my website that allows you to punch in all the details to compare a current power service provider figures with those of a new offer. You can use the Power Calculator app yourself by going to this address. Check it out. It's free to use anytime you wish.

Below is a copy of AGL figures compared with the offer made from Red Energy...

 

 

In Conclusion:

These power companies prey on the fact that when door knocking they catch the occupant by surprise and that the occupant is not aware of the details that make up a power bill at the time. As such sales persons can pretty much say what they like to make their offer look good with the occupant none the wiser. This could result in an outcome of one signed contract that allows them to say bye bye to your current power provider and hello to their provider? It is done and dusted unless the occupant intervenes before the cooling off period but the power companies are counting on this not to happen. My advice is to never sign a contract on the day. Take a day or two to analyse or get someone else to analyse the figures and if everything 'adds up' then sign but never before.

Try this Power Calculator app.

 

This segment will show you how to set the localhost website (IIS) to run php extended files and to be accessible from other PC's that are connected to the local network.
To allow PHP extension pages please consider the following steps:

1.  Ensure the following IIS elements are installed on your PC:

Go to Control Panel -> Programs ->Programs and Features->on left hand side Turn Windows features on or off->scroll down to Internet Information Services ->check that the following boxes are ticked as shown on figure 1.
 To check that IIS is up and running for the first time enter localhost in your browser then hit Return. The following page should appear, figure 2:
 
2.  Install PHP:
a. Download and run the Microsoft Web Platform Installer which is available at https://www.microsoft.com/WEB/downloads/platform.aspx
b. Search for PHP then Add the following programs (figure 3):

PHP 7.1.7 (x64)
Windows Cache Extension 2.0 (x64) for PHP 7.1
IISNode for IIS (IIS exists)
 
c. Hit Install - after installation Web Platform Installer should have the programs marked as Installed - refer figure 3.
d. You should now have PHP 7.1 installed somewhere on your root directory - mine was at C:\Program Files\PHP\V7.1
e. Go to the C:\Program Files\PHP\V7.1 directory then open php.ini  in say, notepad++ and make the following changes (remove leading semi-colons):
       (Note that initally there are two files,  php.ini-development and php.ini-production. Rename one of these to php.ini)

error_reporting = E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE & ~E_STRICT & ~E_DEPRECATED
extension=php_curl.dll
extension=php_gd2.dll
extension=php_mysqli.dll
extension=php_openssl.dll
extension=php_xmlrpc.dll
extension=php_wincache.dll

3.  Save the php directory to Path in System Variables, figure 4. System variables can be found at: control panel->System and Security->Advanced system settings->Environment Variables->System variableshighlight Path then click on New... to add the php directory path or Edit... to make a change to the entry.
 
4. Add FastCGI to Handler Mappings:
Location of the module is at C:\Program Files\PHP\v7.1\php-cgi.exe.
Go to Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager->expand Connections on left hand side->expand Sites->click on Default Web Site->double click Handler Mappings (figure 5).
 
On right hand side select and click on Add Managed Handler or Edit... to change (figure 6)->enter the information as shown on figure 6 -> click OK
FastCGI module should now be seen in the Handler Mappings window.
 
5. Now create a file called test.php and include the following:
6. Run this file from your browser - enter localhost/test.php - it should produce the following, figure 7:
 
So there you have it. Is a rather long winded procedure but hopefully gets your website up and running with php.
 

Is a rather a lengthy procedure which involves using the Task Scheduler and creating shortcuts while UAC (User Account Control) remains enabled on the system but works fine. The example program name used during the following instruction is myTemp which is linked to the program Core Temp.

1.  Open Task Scheduler: Win key + R->taskschd.msc->OK

2.  Under 'Actions' (window on rhs) click on 'Create Task...'

3.  At the 'General' tab under

• 'Name:' enter a name of the program to run eg myTemp
• 'Description:' (optional) add a short description of the program
• 'Run with highest privileges' check the box
• 'Configure for:' select 'Windows 10'

 

4.  Go to the 'Actions' tab click on 'New...' under

• 'Program/script:' enter the command C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe
• 'Add arguments (optional):' /c start "myTemp" "C:\Program Files\Core Temp\Core Temp.exe"

 

5.  Select 'Conditions' tab then under 'Power' in the following order

• Uncheck 'Stop if the computer switches to battery power'
• Uncheck 'Start the task only if the computer is on AC power'
• click on 'OK'

6.  Under 'Task Scheduler Library' (window on lhs) the new task 'myTemp' is shown

7.  Close Task Scheduler

8.  Create a new shortcut: Right click on empty area in desktop select New->Shortcut

9.  Under 'Type the location of the item:' enter: schtasks /run /tn "myTemp"

• click 'Next'

10. At 'Type a name for this shortcut:' enter myTemp

To get this program to run at bootup without the UAC add it to the 'Startup' folder at AppData->Roaming->Microsoft->Windows->Start Menu->Programs->Startup

Not sure why Microsoft have not sorted these issues ages ago but anyway here is my list of them...

 1.   Task bar refuses to auto-hide?
 2.   Windows Explorer doesn't auto detect file/folder changes?
 3.   Desktop icons get re-arranged or are missing altogether?
 4.   Taskbar icons missing on main screen - ok on the extended monitor?
 5.   All desktop icons appear on the extended monitor but not the main screen at bootup?
 6.   Start menu corrupts and will no longer launch?
 7.   Right click menus fail on task bar?
 8.   Start menu corrupts and will no longer launch?
 9.   Windows explorer takes ages to open with slow moving green bar at the top?
10.  PC decides to freeze on random occasions? Usually after a Win10 update and then 2 to 5mins after a login to windows       (Windows 10 Vers:1607 14393.693).
11.  Laptop freezes on bootup, doesn't make it to the Windows 10 logo?
12.  Pressing F8 key to get into Safe Mode from power up not enabled by default?
 

Application Logs:

1a.  Event 4401, EFS - 7.488: EFS service failed to provision a user for EDP. Error code: 0x80070005.
 

System Logs:

 

Firefox issues:

 1f. Annoying intermittent screen blackouts for 1 to 2 secs where Firefox controls become frozen?
 2f. pop up Script Not Running message?
 

Here are the workarounds I use to 'fix' the problems...

 1. &  4. Go to Task Manager (Windows key + X)->highlight Windows Explorer (Note: if Windows Explorer not displayed then you need to run it before starting this fix)->click Restart.
 2. Need to close then re-open to refresh Windows Explorer for changes to be registered. Doesn't appear to be an issue in Windows 10 Anniversary update.
 3. & 5. Here I use a free third party app called 'Desktop Restore'. This app does the job very well in restoring the icons back to their original settings.
 4. Could be in Tablet mode. To disable go to Settings->System->Tablet mode->Hide app icons on the taskbar in tablet mode = off and Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode = off OR try disconnecting all the extended monitors then with only the prime monitor operating the task bar icons should return to this monitor.
 6.,  7.,  8. &  9. Disable the Windows Search service. Windows+X->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Computer Management->Services and Applications->Services->right click Windows Search->properties->Startup type->set to Disabled->OK.
 10. & 11. This is a frustratingly  nasty one! Disabling the fast startup seems? to have improved the situation: Windows+X->Control Panel->Power Option->Choose what the power buttons do->Change settings that are currently unavailable->uncheck Turn on fast startup (recommended) as well as Control Panel->Power Options->Balanced (recommended)->Change plan settings->Change advanced power settings->PCI Express->On battery=off, Plugged in=off. Could try power down power up and if it isn't resolved and stable by about the 5th attempt then re-image with a backed-up version prior to the update.
09-Dec-2016:Recently I have discovered one of the reasons that could be causing the problem and it's something to do with a corrupted Boot process?  I was all set to system re-image my laptop but instead opted to run the Fix Boot Problems app which is available on the Recovery disc from Macrium Reflect.  This app allows you to fix boot problems such as replace the Master Boot Record (MBR), replace partition sector code, reset the boot disc ID and rebuild the Boot Configuration Database and BOOT.INI files. So, after many failed bootup attempts this 'final straw' solution actually did the job. I am now able to bootup the laptop without a freeze.
22-May-2017 A month ago had to re-image back to before the Windows 10 updates due to severe freeze issues. I disabled notification of any further updates via Windows Update in Services. Have been system imaging my laptop using Macrium Reflect on a regular basis since then without any freezing issues. So looks like I'm 'stuck' with this setting until a decent solution can be found.
03-July-2017 OK - think I have the answer - it is a cpu overheating problem on my ASUS N61Jq laptop. This laptop has an overclock or Turbo Boost function on power options which allows a nominal 1.6GHz Intel i7 processor clock frequency to be ramped up to 2.8GHz on a full power setting. Since powering down the clock frequency to a maximum setting of 75% there have been no subsequent freezes. I have also installed and ran all the latest Microsoft Win10 updates without a freeze. So there it is - certain operations can cause a laptop (especially with an i7 processor) to overheat then freeze when on a full power setting - a condition that generates no logs but can still operate in Safe Mode. The setting is under Win key-X->Power Options->Change plan settings->Change advanced power settings->Processor power management->Maximum processor state->On battery: 75%, Plugged in: 75% also change Minimum processor state->On battery: 5%, Plugged in: 5%.
24-July-2017 Since dropping the Processor power management properties there have been no more incidence of freezing.
12. Use this command from Windows key + R:
bcdedit /set {current} bootmenupolicy Legacy
This allows Windows 10 to boot into Safe Mode provided Fast Startup is disabled (refer 9 & 10).

1a. This error appears in Windows Logs Application right after a bootup. The workaround is temporary but effective and involved a change in the registry: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\WMI\AutoLogger\EventLog-Application\{3663a992-84be-40ea-bba9-90c7ed544222}] - set the key "Enabled" value to 0".

1f. &  2f. Nasty and extremely annoying these ones - need to click on task bar Firefox icon to minimise then click again to maximise and restore the Firefox controls. 20/12/2016:Trialing disabling the following service: Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Computer Management->Services and Applications->Services->right click Computer Browser->set to Disabled->OK.
 

Finally...

It is my intention to keep this list updated.

Recently I sustained significant damage to my front and rear driver side rims. This occurred by hitting a large pothole (around 1 metre across by 40cms deep) along the Henty Hwy Portland. It was located just left of centre lines on the road heading into Portland. The rims were assessed by my local Kia dealer in Warrnambool with the news the rims needing replacement at $600 a rim. As I am on a pension this is a significant amount so I decided to lodge a claim with VicRoads. The response from VicRoads - not eligible for compensation due to the amount of $1200 being less than their lower payout threshold of $1380? This means the claim had to be $1380 or greater to be eligible. What a joke! As most locals are aware the roads around this area (Princes Hwy/Henty Hwy) are littered with potholes and is a real dodgem act to avoid hitting one. VicRoads seems to have thrown the 'Duty of Care' policy out the window? - this being the case there is no real incentive for VicRoads to actually fix the roads is there? Anyway, rather than fork out for a new pair of rims I decided to google around to see if it was possible to have the rims repaired. To my surprise and delight it was and could even see how it was done via youTube. As there were no rim repair options locally the only real option for me was to go with these guys: Wheel Solutions (Aust) Pty Ltd refer below. I found them to be very friendly and helpful (especially Matt & Bev Coleman) and they were able to fit me in on the day with only an hour’s notice. The job took around 90mins with a cost of $100 per rim. So huge savings made by having the rims repaired rather than replaced. I highly recommend these guys for pothole damaged rim repairs...
Wheel Solutions (Aust) Pty Ltd
Area 1 - 560 Church Street
Richmond Vic 3121

p: 03 9427 9265
w: www.wheelsolutions.com.au

This is the pothole I hit - was filled in about a week after I hit it...

Some of the other potholes found on Princes and Henty Highways around the Portland area (as at 6-10-2016)...

This one is nasty! I updated to Acronis True Image 2016 recently and occasionally on laptop shutdown get the message "Acronis True Image is terminating the current operations, please wait. The computer will be turned off automatically in about two minutes" and find the laptop remains in this state indefinately or just hangs. So, in order to complete the shutdown I need to power down the laptop. My system is Windows7 Pro x64. If I power up immediately the laptop will boot to windows but after a few minutes everything just freezes and have to power down again. Checking the event log there are no entries other than 'unexpected shutdown'. This issue has been with Acronis over many releases now with still no fix?? Suffice to say I am totally fed up with it and have purchased a rival application in Macrium Reflect which I find far easier to use and doesn't have this issue.

This is just a short account on how I overcame frozen controls in powerDVD15 while running a Blu-Ray movie using an extended monitor (LCD TV screen) from my laptop. PowerDVD15 would start the movie ok but after a short time the controls would freeze. My intitial workaround was to run Task Manager (cntl-alt-del) then hit the Cancel button. This had the effect of 'resetting' powerDVD15 somehow and was enough to enable the controls again but only temporarily. I tried setting the extended monitor as the Main Desktop. It worked for a while but eventually controls would freeze up again. BTW, movies ran perfectly with the laptop screen set as the Main Display and powerDVD15 running from the laptop screen.

After awhile I finally got the thing to work. This was achieved by setting powerDVD15 to 'Cinema' mode.

So in conclusion - when running powerDVD15 from an 'extended monitor', make sure it is set to 'Cinema' mode.

 

A list of JavaScript reserved words:

 When choosing names for your JS variables, avoid using these reserved words:

While developing a web page to house a window frame optimising tool, an issue with jQuery Ajax Data presented itself that resulted in 2 days of researching, testing and wondering why IE11 was throwing a 'SCRIPT65535: Argument not optional' error. Below, Fig1,  is the jQuery script that was being run to retrieve results from a complex algorithm on a separate PHP page called optimiseCalc.php...

Fig 1. IE11 hangs & throws a 'SCRIPT65535: Argument not optional' error running this code.

The above script worked fine in Firefox, Opera, Safari & Chrome browsers but just hung in IE11!  I used google search to try and find a reason why this was the case but just couldn't come up with anything definitive. So, after many attempts at plugging in this & pulling out that I finally discovered why it was behaving this way.

It was in the Ajax DATA contents - the fact that a JavaScript identifier/reserved word, 'frames', was being used as a variable name! - simple as that. For example,  if I changed the original Ajax data {StandardLength:StandardLength,frames:frames} to {StandardLength:StandardLength,frames:fr} where, instead of using 'frames' as a variable name I used 'fr', it would now run correctly in IE11.

Fig 2. This code runs fine in IE11.

 

In conclusion:

In order to get IE11 (or indeed other versions of IE?)  to run the Ajax function correctly make sure that the Ajax Data VARIABLE name is not a JavaScript indentifier or reserved word name.

Continue reading "SCRIPT65535: Argument not optional - Solution to a IE11 problem with Ajax Data"

This BSOD problem has been giving me hassles since purchasing the laptop in 2010. I would get this screen, fig 1, about once every few months initially until recently where it was occurring on a daily basis. I tried many things to try and rectify the BSOD problem. From memory checks, HDD tests, ram card reseating, uninstalling all USB drivers & reinstalling with new and disabling services to various registry cleaners, disc cleaners & virus scans without success. I ended up taking the laptop to the local PC repairer where they found the HDD was on its way out. So I replaced the HDD with a new one of higher capacity. It didn't resolve the issue though as another BSOD happened not long after. Replacing the HDD did, however, resolve the crash dump error along with a critical hibernate fault where the hibernate function stopped working about 6 months after purchasing the laptop. Well, with all the known tests exhausted I concluded the BSOD must have something to do with the motherboard so I decided to replace it. Replacing the motherboard worked ok for a while but another BSOD appeared within a month.

This is a typical BSOD screen. The physical memory dump failed due to the faulty hard drive. The laptop is an ASUS N61Jq with a Windows 7 Pro operating system. One thing I did notice was that days prior to each crash a slight screen flicker would occur at boot up but disappeared once the system had loaded. Also, I noticed that over time the flicker would get progressively worse. Sometimes on the day of a crash there were these horizontal venetian like appearances, fig 2, on the screen or the screen would go completely gray at boot up but these would also clear away once the laptop had fully booted.

 

Screen at boot-up would look like this or go grey. It was at this point I decided to look into why the screen was behaving in this way. I didn't suspect a screen flicker to be causing a BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER error but decided to investigate it anyway. So, I dismantled the laptop along with the screen. After taking the screen surround apart, at the back was a screen cable connector which I disconnected and then cleaned thoroughly. During assembly, I anchored the cable connector to the screen body with tape to hold it firmly into place. The laptop booted up without the flicker so I thought that at least the flicker issue may have been resolved.

 

The screen cable for an Asus N61Jq laptop. Unfortunately about a month later the flicker returned, got progressively worse and another BSOD happened. I repeated the screen cable connector clean process a few times with similar outcomes. So I finally decided to replace either the screen or the cable and settled on the cable because it was the cheaper option. Again I took the laptop apart, disconnected the original cable but this time replaced it with a new cable, fig 3. The boot up was clean and the screen remained flicker and BSOD free during the following month. And now, three months later, not a hint of a screen flicker or BSOD. So there it was - a faulty screen cable all along causing the system crashes and had been doing so for well over 3 years.

Continue reading "BSOD BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER STOP: 0x000000FE"