My wife insists on Windows for Embird, which is for her embroidery passion, but she just got hit with a $99,99 bill for remote removal of malware from her Win7 install, and expects to pay $100 for a 2-year subscription for malware protection now. As retirees on fixed incomes and neither able to work, we don't need bills like that.
I have the skill set to have attempted to clean her PC for her, but I would have to work with all manner of malware protection packages in different combinations, and that is only after I got Win7 to come back up.
Either approach to doing that would put current use at some risk, and having to restore from her hided D: drive would wipe out her user accounts and all her files, because it would put her PC back in its initial software state, Then you have to reinstall all added applications, recreate your user account and settings, and get all the bug fixes and patches downloaded and reapplied. This step alone can take multiple repeats, with long stretches of time required for applying them as Windows shuts down.
it can take as much as a week of constant attention and effort just to get back to the present - still lacking the restoration of all the data loss, which was hopefully all backed up to begin with. And you have to possibly still deal with what protection to add, weither to go with free or subscription version, in what number and combination, and did any get rid of all infestations or not. This would also take days to complete.
At a total of $200 or so to have someone else to do it, and the fact that I don't believe the ends justifies the effort in this case, I did not intervene in my wife's choice.
With Linux, you have much to do with bringing a system back, but if you know to use "sudo rm -r /[!h]*" first, you can wipe away everything except the user accounts and data. Then you use a LiveCD, select "Install", pick "Something else" or "Other". flag the old install partition to have the same structure (usually ext4), to be "/", and skip doing the format. You create the same user account again, and just complete the install. This whole process takes less than 25 minutes.
Linux should then be able to bring itself up to date. There is some protection software out there, but I've never experienced the need for getting it. The install process is so easy and quick that it makes reinstalling the same version or switching to a different version of Linux a breeze. You ever suspect you had a file corruption or have been hacked, this is an easy way to recover. And as icing on the cake, the LiveCD gives you all the tools you need to address your concerns if you elect to just use Try as your choice first.
Windows has no equivalent to the LiveCD, because if it did, Microsoft would have to accept the fact that their protected and expensive software would be all over the place with no increase in revenue to them. They cannot afford to let that happen.
So in a way, Windows is deliberately kept crippled as Microsoft uses every means to increase revenue in its own pocket. Further evidence of this is that MS does not add new features to existing versions, it only patches what is there, and reserves feature additions for the next release to come out, Which you will have to buy and overwrite your exiting version with. MS Partners see the wisdom of this approach as long as people fall for it. and they employ similar tactics. You buy the new version of almost anything, you are nearly force to buy new versions of everything.
The final getchas are: (1) Limited support cycles, (2) Paid-for support, (3) Long delays until new features become available, (4) new file formats, so old apps need to be replaced to maintain compatability, (5) New menus, layouts, etc. to justify new documentation, more paid-for training and certifications, and much of this has nothing to do with making the user or targeted companies more productive or profitable.
Fact is, GUI looks really good, but it goes against productivity because more manual involvement and steps are required to make things happen. When you want productivity or greater efficiency, you find that going back to the command line is the best approach. From simple commands you can move to writing and using scripts, and with either you can employ utilities and task-specific programs, and get a lot done about as quickly as possible. Add a timer option or other trigger, and it can become automated or something that now just takes one step to start.
If you want even more, you can move towards greater computer control by writing your own lower (assembler) or higher (compller) coded source files, then assembling/compiling them.
This is not something that most prople have an interest in doing, but it is challenging, can and has been done, and can be surprisingly interesting, exciting, and even rewarding. For one thing, it adds a whole new dimension to the skills you can use in the pursuit of any other career you might elect to pursue.
I've told people that they can pick whatever major they want, but they should seriously consider the study of programming, and perhaps math, as their minor(s). Ptogramming because it makes the best use of computers, and math because you have better control of what and how you program.
If math is your major, then programming means you can make better use of your math skills.
If computers are your major, then programming and math should be minors, as computer science should be your target, as this includes the study of hardware and software, networks, protocols. structures, databases, protectiom, security, and much more. You pick your area of focus and specialization later, but total exposure up front is a big help in selecting and dealing with whatever area you eventually move into and focus on.
I've been on Ubuntu for nine years now, and even with Windows clients on board and no added malware protection, have seen no evidence of any attack against my PC.
I've an old laptop, still good, set up for here with Ubuntu 15.10/Virtualbox 5,0/Win7/Embird, and I can't even persuade her to pick it up. As far as I'm concerned, this is the only way to have decent protection while using Windows. period.
If I were to fix her PC, I would have to insist on converting it over to Ubuntu first, get everything else on it, and instruct her in the five or so easy steps to make it feel, look, and act like it's really Win7 (which it would be, but only in a safe virtual sandbox). She won't hear of it. Jesus said it first: "But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown." I would just drop the word "town" and it would ring as true in my case.
While Linux is responsible for most of the protection I've had these many years, Virtualbox makes it almost child's play to set up VM clients and manage them, even duplicate and/or clone them,
So just set one up, then use that to create more, and in very short order, you can have it on backup drives , in cloud storage, on other drives and partitions, and that means having backups all over the place. Not only backups, but each and every one stored locally can be made bootable under Virtualbox. So you don't have to restore one, you just switch to it when needed.
Trading or selling clients is perfectly legal, unless licensed or copyrighted, for profit software is involved. That means no doing of this with clients that have Windows, the Mac OS, Red Hat, or Unix on them. not even expired versions. The last rule is utterly stupid, but until it is challened and overturned in the courts, you have to consider it in place.
Since the Red Hat equivalent is Fedora, and the Unix equivalent is Linux in general, these restrictions are insignificant, The real blockers are Microsoft and Apple and their protective outreach over their big money makers.
But, in reality, most of what you find in need or want of with either protected OS is specific apps, mostly game software, or programming languages that people want to have the use of. The solutions?
It pretty much puts it down to: (1) Stay with the original OS, (2) Create a dual-boot machine to boot either way on a restart, (3) Use the new OS equivalent (if any), or (4) Use a VM Manager and install (not move, not copy) the original OS and its apps, then copy existing data from it to the client. With (4), you can have both OSes rinning at the same time, sharing a lot, and switch back and forth on the fly.
And (4) is what Virtualbox provides and really shines at. So when I get an error that keeps me from being able to use it, or that effects any of my clients, I get really concerned. I would actually be upset, but there is always a way out, but this takes time, and I'm not that young that I need more time wasters.
Which is the reason for this thread. Now what can I do to help resolve it?
Well, first I can report it. Reported. Then I can say what seems to be wrong:
(1) See Help where I should See Start in the Virtualbox Menu
(2) Click on client, and see message to perform sudo /sbin/vboxconfig (or words to that effect). I shouldn't have to do this, because these are established clients on an established install of Virtualbox, but that's what is being called for.
(3) Did this and got error:
"Starting VirtualBox kernel modules ...failed!
(modprobe vboxdrv failed. Please use 'dmesg' to find out why)"
(4) Did this, but put "sudo " in front, and got long list of results. So repeated with " | less" appended, then stepped through the listing with the directional keys on the keyboard. See a small group that failed to do their job, but can't judge the impact or know what I should be seeing as well, so I'm going to have to embed the results as a list here. Hate to do it this way, but seems to be no way to send it to a file then upload the file on this forum. If this fails, I can post the file to a cloud locarion and return a link to it.
But let's see if the list approach works or not. Less work for me, but more work for you. I think I've done my share, and serves you right for not supporting the ability to upload files.
- Okay, the list approach failed. The contents of this post runs over 72k, and you only allow 60,000. I thought of cutting the list down or removing some of what is above, but that's a lot more work and not really constructive, so I willl go with the file/cloud/link approach instead, Less work for everybody,
I will point out that pcloud hosting has free cloud accounts with up to 20 GB storage, and low cost monthly chages if you need more storage, Not quite as versitile as having your own web site, bit a whole lot cheeper.
Lwill leave some of the list here, as there are a few elements in it that I think deserve more attention:
.00003000 INTL 20121018)
[ 0.829636] ACPI: Interpreter enabled
[ 0.829643] ACPI Exception: AE_NOT_FOUND, While evaluating Sleep State [\_S1_] (20140424/hwxface-580)
[ 0.829648] ACPI Exception: AE_NOT_FOUND, While evaluating Sleep State
[. 0.887525] system 00:00: [io 0x1800-0x18fe] could not be reserved
[ 0.887858] system 00:05: [mem 0xfed90000-0xfed93fff] could not be reserved
[ 0.887859] system 00:05: [mem 0xff000000-0xffffffff] could not be reserved
[ 0.887861] system 00:05: [mem 0xfee00000-0xfeefffff] could not be reserved
[ 0.888091] ACPI: bus type PNP unregistered
[ 1.192147] audit: initializing netlink subsys (disabled)
[ 1.235026] ehci-pci 0000:00:1d.0: cache line size of 64 is not supported
[ 1.247344] xhci_hcd 0000:00:14.0: cache line size of 64 is not supported
[ 1.264440] PM: Hibernation image not present or could not be loaded.
[ 1.343183] r8169 0000:02:00.0: can't disable ASPM; OS doesn't have ASPM control
[ 4.452745] Adding 18296828k swap on /dev/sda2. Priority:-1 extents:1 across:18296828k FS
[ 4.785953] systemd-udevd[354]: starting version 204
[ 5.104447] lp: driver loaded but no devices found
[ 5.122005] ppdev: user-space parallel port driver
[ 8.178491] [drm] GMBUS [i915 gmbus vga] timed out, falling back to bit banging on pin 2
[ 8.767743] init: failsafe main process (729) killed by TERM signal
[ 10.260722] init: cups main process (872) killed by HUP signal
[ 10.260728] init: cups main process ended, respawning
[ 12.100812] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 12.152919] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
[ 12.152956] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
[ 12.152982] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 15.257138] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link up
[ 15.257146] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
[ 15.908948] init: plymouth-upstart-bridge main process ended, respawning
[ 15.914165] init: plymouth-upstart-bridge main process ended, respawning
[ 40.446202] audit_printk_skb: 186 callbacks suppressed
[ 7698.498594] PM: Entering mem sleep
[ 7698.498645] Suspending console(s) (use no_console_suspend to debug)
[ 7698.498939] sd 4:0:0:0: [sda] Synchronizing SCSI cache
[ 7698.499085] sd 4:0:0:0: [sda] Stopping disk
[ 7698.562601] i8042 aux 00:04: System wakeup disabled by ACPI
[ 7698.562610] i8042 kbd 00:03: System wakeup enabled by ACPI
[ 7698.897959] PM: suspend of devices complete after 398.750 msecs
[ 7698.913975] PM: late suspend of devices complete after 15.996 msecs
[ 7698.930021] PM: noirq suspend of devices complete after 16.025 msecs
[ 7698.930297] ACPI: Preparing to enter system sleep state S3
[ 7698.934296] kvm: disabling virtualization on CPU1
[ 7698.934516] smpboot: CPU 1 is now offline
[ 7698.934787] intel_pstate CPU 2 exiting
[ 7698.935918] kvm: disabling virtualization on CPU2
[ 7699.038040] smpboot: CPU 2 is now offline
[ 7699.038340] intel_pstate CPU 3 exiting
[ 7699.038477] Broke affinity for irq 43
[ 7699.039482] kvm: disabling virtualization on CPU3
[ 7699.142152] smpboot: CPU 3 is now offline
[ 7699.142457] intel_pstate CPU 4 exiting
[ 7699.143603] kvm: disabling virtualization on CPU4
[ 7699.246266] smpboot: CPU 4 is now offline
[ 7699.246567] intel_pstate CPU 5 exiting
[ 7699.246686] Broke affinity for irq 42
[ 7699.247692] kvm: disabling virtualization on CPU5
[ 7699.350390] smpboot: CPU 5 is now offline
[ 7699.350693] intel_pstate CPU 6 exiting
[ 7699.350818] Broke affinity for irq 46
[ 7699.351828] kvm: disabling virtualization on CPU6
[ 7699.454490] smpboot: CPU 6 is now offline
[ 7699.454806] intel_pstate CPU 7 exiting
[ 7699.454898] Broke affinity for irq 16
[ 7699.454902] Broke affinity for irq 23
[ 7699.455912] kvm: disabling virtualization on CPU7
[ 7699.558603] smpboot: CPU 7 is now offline
[ 7699.560048] ACPI: Low-level resume complete
[ 7699.560085] PM: Restoring platform NVS memory
[ 7699.560588] smpboot: Booting Node 0 Processor 1 APIC 0x1
[ 7699.572561] kvm: enabling virtualization on CPU1
[ 7699.574767] Intel pstate controlling: cpu 1
[ 7699.574808] CPU1 is up
[ 7699.574824] smpboot: Booting Node 0 Processor 2 APIC 0x2
[ 7699.586776] kvm: enabling virtualization on CPU2
[ 7699.588990] Intel pstate controlling: cpu 2
[ 7699.589026] CPU2 is up
[ 7699.589040] smpboot: Booting Node 0 Processor 3 APIC 0x3
[ 7699.600991] kvm: enabling virtualization on CPU3
[ 7699.603206] Intel pstate controlling: cpu 3
[ 7699.603240] CPU3 is up
[ 7699.603254] smpboot: Booting Node 0 Processor 4 APIC 0x4
[ 7699.615237] kvm: enabling virtualization on CPU4
[ 7699.617424] Intel pstate controlling: cpu 4
[ 7699.617458] CPU4 is up
[ 7699.617472] smpboot: Booting Node 0 Processor 5 APIC 0x5
[ 7699.629425] kvm: enabling virtualization on CPU5
[ 7699.631659] Intel pstate controlling: cpu 5
[ 7699.631698] CPU5 is up
[ 7699.631714] smpboot: Booting Node 0 Processor 6 APIC 0x6
[ 7699.643653] kvm: enabling virtualization on CPU6
[ 7699.645901] Intel pstate controlling: cpu 6
[ 7699.645935] CPU6 is up
[ 7699.645949] smpboot: Booting Node 0 Processor 7 APIC 0x7
[ 7699.657857] kvm: enabling virtualization on CPU7
[ 7699.660030] Intel pstate controlling: cpu 7
[ 7699.660064] CPU7 is up
[ 7699.667415] ACPI: Waking up from system sleep state S3
[ 7699.672422] xhci_hcd 0000:00:14.0: System wakeup disabled by ACPI
[ 7699.672468] ehci-pci 0000:00:1a.0: System wakeup disabled by ACPI
[ 7699.672556] ehci-pci 0000:00:1d.0: System wakeup disabled by ACPI
[ 7699.685153] PM: noirq resume of devices complete after 13.973 msecs
[ 7699.685499] PM: early resume of devices complete after 0.320 msecs
7699.687468] r8169 0000:02:00.0: System wakeup disabled by ACPI
[ 7699.733218] i8042 kbd 00:03: System wakeup disabled by ACPI
[ 7705.151400] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 7705.164454] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
[ 7705.164491] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link down
[ 7705.164531] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 7708.794255] r8169 0000:02:00.0 eth0: link up
[ 7708.794262] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
[ 7809.080580] mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged
[ 7904.774029] capability: warning: `VirtualBox' uses 32-bit capabilities (legacy support in use)
[11113.027391] systemd-hostnamed[31559]: Warning: nss-myhostname is not installed. Changing the local hostname might make it unresolveable. Please install nss-myhostname!
sudo apt-get install nss-myhostname
[sudo] password for oldefoxx:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package nss-myhostname
I repeated the install effort with with the wildcard "*" added to the name, and this time it worked. I wish there were more consistency between naming conventions and methods, or that apt went to "starts with" instead of "is" when it comes to matching up what to install or remove. Anyway, consider the last warning gone. I just get the new list and replace the old, but whatever the error is, it's still there, as I still can't fire up virtualbox.
Now for the life/cloud/link: https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code ... Id5JPia5Ik