POST COMPUTER PROBLEMS IN THIS THREAD ONLY

[hedgehog90]

I've never used them so I really don't know.  I've had a look though and it seems the email server is shitting the bed, so I'll probably go through and just wipe all notifications as a lot of them are evidently associated with expired email addresses etc.

A load of failed deliveries is expected with any notification system, I wouldn't worry about it.
I doubt it's slowing down the server in any noticeable way.

[NattyDread 2]

youtube-dl worked first time, no problems, highest quality etc.

You're a star. Thank you! Grabbed it in under 5 minutes. Amazing.
Cheers!

[Fambo Number Mive]

Hello

I would like to find out why hackers were able to successfully sync to my Hotmail account despite me having changed my password the day before and having two-step verification enabled.

Does anyone know

- how the hackers managed to get in despite me having two-step verification?
- what else I can do to prevent them doing so again apart from changing my password again?
- could they have hacked my phone somehow?
- how I can send an email to Microsoft to complain?
- what the hackers might have done in my account?

[hedgehog90]

What evidence do you have that your account was hacked?
I'm going to assume you've been notified about a new login to your account that you don't recognize.
Considering you just changed your password, are you 100% certain you weren't notified of your own log in? Secure authorization systems like Microsoft will often do this after you've reset your password and logged back in or if you're logging in from a new device.

The most likely answer to queries like yours is that you haven't been hacked and not to worry, but just to be certain could you provide some more details so I have a better understanding of what exactly happened?

[Fambo Number Mive]

Hi hedgehog90, thanks for your reply

I got a text yesterday from Microsoft saying a sign in had been blocked so I checked my recent activity. I didn't log in using the link in the text but instead via outlook.com

When I click on an entry called Automatic Sync I see the following

Protocol: IMAP
IP: Chinese IP
Account alias:
my email
Time: Yesterday 1:52 PM
Approximate location: China
Type: Unusual activity detected

Protocol: POP3
IP: Appears to be invalid IP
Account alias:
my email
Time: Yesterday 12:33 PM
Approximate location: China
Type: Unusual activity detected

Protocol: IMAP
IP: a French IP
Account alias:
Time: Yesterday 11:29 AM
Approximate location: France
Type: Successful sync

Protocol: IMAP
IP: Czech Ip
Account alias:
my email
Time: Yesterday 9:59 PM
Approximate location: Czechia
Type: Unsuccessful sync

Not sure whether I should include the IP addresses themselves in the post given anyone can see this message.

[Wilbur]

Thats an exchange account and there are currently some quite severe worries/problems with  Exchange vulnerabilities and 2FA.  Change your passwords to something secure and wait for them to fix them Nothing else you can do other than change your email account.

[hedgehog90]

https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2020/03/10/unpatched-microsoft-exchange-servers-vulnerable-cve-2020-0688

https://threatpost.com/microsoft-exchange-server-flaw-exploited-in-apt-attacks/153527/

In short: If this is an Exchange account we're talking about, it appears to be on a compromised server. Microsoft released a patch in February but the system admin hasn't installed it yet. Assuming this is a work/organisation based Exchange account, I'd get in touch with the system admin / IT department in charge, this appears to be a serious security flaw.

If the attacker was able to sync to your account after you changed your password, I'm not sure if changing it again will  provide any more protection.

[Wilbur]

If its a Hotmail account its a Microsoft server. Just saying .....:)

[Fambo Number Mive]

Sorry, should clarify that it is a Hotmail account I am talking about.

[Wilbur]

Perfectly clear ....and amusing.....

[hedgehog90]

Are you using a proxy server to access your email by any chance? If so, it might be re-routing your IP to China / France / Czechia...
Otherwise all I can suggest is to make sure you have 2 factor authorization enabled (not sure that applies to IMAP login attempts however), and to maybe change your password again.
Assuming you're not publishing your account details online or someone isn't looking over your shoulder every time you log in, the only other explanation is a data breach at Microsoft... but that would be big news.
My guess is that these 'successful' syncs are false-positive, as according to this answer:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/my-outlook-account-got-hacked-e-mails-leaked-by/c1a4baaf-1014-4590-a507-4eaff0dcce75?auth=1
You'll notice there's 174 replies to that thread and they're all reporting the same issue as yours, the last response was in January earlier this year. The lack of urgency suggests it's a reporting error that they have still yet to fix... which, given this is Microsoft, wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

[Fambo Number Mive]

I'm not using a proxy server. I do have 2 factor authorized which was why I was so surprised someone got in.

Good to know it looks like an error on Microsoft's part, I've changed my password again anyway

Thanks hedgehog90 and Wilbur for your info and advice. Much appreciated

[Cold Meat Platter]

Hey lads/lasses the power supply on my 12-year old gaming PC has bitten the dust. Anyone know where to look for PSU bargains?
My old PSU was a Thermaltake toughpower 850W but I think my current GPU draws far less power than my initial one.
Core 2 quad Q9450
GTX 960

Cheers.

[the]

I'm looking for a software recommendation:

- Will capture (part) of my PC's screen, recording to a video file
- Will capture it at a steady ~30 FPS
- As lightweight as possible
- Free
- Works on Win 7.

That's all. (I don't need to capture narration or cursor movements or anything like that.)

The purpose is just to capture some graphics that are animating in a browser window and make a (smooth) video file of it. Won't even be long vids, less than a minute each.

I've resorted to asking because there are just so many screen capture apps out there and a lot of them seem pretty rough.

[hedgehog90]

I'm looking for a software recommendation:

- Will capture (part) of my PC's screen, recording to a video file
- Will capture it at a steady ~30 FPS
- As lightweight as possible
- Free
- Works on Win 7.

That's all. (I don't need to capture narration or cursor movements or anything like that.)

The purpose is just to capture some graphics that are animating in a browser window and make a (smooth) video file of it. Won't even be long vids, less than a minute each.

I've resorted to asking because there are just so many screen capture apps out there and a lot of them seem pretty rough.

OBS maybe?
It might be a bit fiddly to set up if you want to capture specific parts of the screen, you'll need to set the canvas size manually, etc.

Edit:
Try ShareX.
I use it all the time for capturing screenshots and GIFs, but it can also record video.
It comes with all sorts of useful, simple tools, like a screen colour picker to get the colour code of a pixel.
I haven't tried to record perfect, smooth video with it before so I can't guarantee it'll be to your liking, but it comes with ffmpeg so it should be possible to capture at any frame rate, quality, codec, etc.
Also, open source, free and reasonably lightwieght.

https://getsharex.com/

Here's a GitHub thread about video capture with some useful chat + screenshots.
https://github.com/ShareX/ShareX/issues/3308

[hedgehog90]

Hey lads/lasses the power supply on my 12-year old gaming PC has bitten the dust. Anyone know where to look for PSU bargains?
My old PSU was a Thermaltake toughpower 850W but I think my current GPU draws far less power than my initial one.
Core 2 quad Q9450
GTX 960

Cheers.

This is what I've got, it's good:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B06X9K8TK6/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'd be wary of going for anything too cheap.
I had a habit of buying cheap PSUs and I got through 3 or 4 in as many years.

[seepage]

speaking of dust: I was getting shutdowns due to voltage errors so thought my PSU was done for, but gave it a good blast of compressed air and now no more errors. Not sure if it's fully OK though: if I turn off the power (to change a component) using the switch on the PSU, then afterwards the PC shuts down and restarts repeatedly until I can get it to start in safe mode. But if the wall socket is switched off and on, Windows starts fine. I would have thought the effect should be the same? 

[the]

Try ShareX.
I use it all the time for capturing screenshots and GIFs, but it can also record video.
It comes with all sorts of useful, simple tools, like a screen colour picker to get the colour code of a pixel.
I haven't tried to record perfect, smooth video with it before so I can't guarantee it'll be to your liking, but it comes with ffmpeg so it should be possible to capture at any frame rate, quality, codec, etc.
Also, open source, free and reasonably lightwieght.

https://getsharex.com/

Here's a GitHub thread about video capture with some useful chat + screenshots.
https://github.com/ShareX/ShareX/issues/3308

Just got this going - yep, gives a nice smooth capture with adjustable quality settings. Excellent recommendation, cheers hedgehog90.

[Wonderful Butternut]

This is what I've got, it's good:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B06X9K8TK6/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have the TX650M. Can't complain about it. It's driving a Ryzen 2600 and a RTX 1060 with no problems. My old PC had a 550w beQuiet! unit in it that didn't give trouble either. Can't remember the exact model though.

[tao of wub]

But if the wall socket is switched off and on, Windows starts fine. I would have thought the effect should be the same?

It sounds like your PSU needs replacing.  I have had a few which act up unless you unplug them and leave them off for about half an hour.  These units have all had bad electrolytic capacitors which then cause unstable voltage, which the computer does not like.

I have had good experience with Seasonic, less so with Corsair, which though being highly positively reviewed, failed and when I opened it was built with garbage quality capacitors..it all depends on the individual design of the unit I suppose, mine was an entry level Bronze efficiency, no doubt they know how to build them well if they choose to!

When you turn the PC off at the switch or using the operating system then the PSU is still supplying power, you can usually see that the mouse for example is still lit up, unless you have a ball mouse like an 80s aficionado.  So behavior is different if you turn off from the wall as the PSU will really be off and cooling down.

Cheap electronics use very cheap electrolytic caps, rated for e.g. 80 deg. C service life 1000 hours from dubious suppliers.  This can cause the kit to fail within a remarkably predictable time frame.

Quality kit uses more expensive electrolytic caps made in Japan from companies like Rubycon, Panasonic etc..these can be rated for a 3000 or 4000 hour service life at 105 deg C and generally last a very long time.

If you want to dip a toe, this might give you some jumping off point, reviews often show lots of details now, like what caps, oscilloscope measurements etc..

https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/reviews/power-supplies-101,4193.html

https://www.badcaps.net/index.php

[seepage]

Thanks, I was comparing switching off at the wall vs. switching the PSU off using the switch on the PSU itself, i.e.  both turning off power to the PC.

PSU is a Corsair HX750i, rated 'platinum', so I thought it might be more reliable.

[Neomod]

Just got new internet with a different provider and everything has connected fine (phone/tablet/xbox) apart from my laptop which is showing an unidentified network and no internet. Laptop works via ethernet and was connecting no problem to cafe wi fi's yesterday.

I've so far,  tried uninstalling and reinstalling the wifi adapter, no change.
When I tried to renew the ip config via the command prompt I got the error message that it was unable to contact the DHCP server. Which I guess is the problem.

Any help would be appreciated with this oddity as I am clueless.

[Wilbur]

So are you connecting via the cable or wireless ? If it is ethernet maybe unplug the cable and connect with  wireless ?

[Neomod]

So are you connecting via the cable or wireless ? If it is ethernet maybe unplug the cable and connect with  wireless ?

I tried via wireless first and there was no connection. Then tried by ethernet and it's fine. Have just tried another laptop and that connects immediately but I need to connect via wireless with this laptop but it's the only one failing to create an IP address. Never had this problem before so it's odd but probably a simple fix (hopefully). I'm running Windows 7 Pro.

[Cold Meat Platter]

Try giving your wireless adapter a static IP address in the same IP range as your other one.

[Cold Meat Platter]

Try giving your wireless adapter a static IP address in the same IP range as your other laptop's.

[tao of wub]

Thanks, I was comparing switching off at the wall vs. switching the PSU off using the switch on the PSU itself

Ooops!  Failing to read properly*. 

That is odd, also the safe mode business.  The rocker switch on the PSU will be in line with the euro plug connectors so in theory should be behaving the same as the wall socket. 

Looking at some photos in the Anandtech.com review I can see that the unit has ceramic Y-type safety capacitors at the switch, (blue ones in the photo I'm looking at).

These will be connected between the neutral and earth and live and earth.  It could be that they are going bad or that the solder joints are cracked and when you use the PSU rocker switch it is disturbing the solder joints.  There should be an X-type safety cap between the live and neutral too.  You could try using the wall socket to turn off then on and seeing if you can induce failure by tapping smartly near the PSU switch prior to boot up.

If you are handy with a soldering iron you could re-flow the safety cap solder joints? 

It could be the switch parts are failing and causing some degree of arcing?  Have you tried giving the switch a good agitation or some deoxit when the wall plug is off?

You could give it all the visual once over for loose connectors and bulging capacitors but it does sound like you could be looking for a replacement soon.

I had what I thought was a bad PSU once, it had some auto protection circuitry and would not stay switched on.  I swapped it out for  a simple non-protecting model and watched the carbon resistors on the mother board pop and burn like some crappy indoor fireworks display.  New board and original PSU was fine!

*Hope my English teacher isn't on here.  Then again she would be 100% inebriated, based on past behavior, so probably I'm in the clear!  Hi Miss L, did you ever escape The White Horse so you could come to double English after lunch?  I doubt it...

[Neomod]

Try giving your wireless adapter a static IP address in the same IP range as your other laptop.

I had a look at that but it seems a bit complicated.

https://www.dummies.com/computers/pcs/how-to-manually-assign-an-ip-address-in-windows-7/

Where would I find the information on the other laptop to transfer?

[Wilbur]

I know it sounds odd but have you reset the router ? The fact that other devices are connected to it OK doesn't mean that isn't where the problem is......in some instances I've had to do a router factory  reset to fix one device not connecting whilst all the others are fine.

[Neomod]

I know it sounds odd but have you reset the router ? The fact that other devices are connected to it OK doesn't mean that isn't where the problem is......in some instances I've had to do a router factory  reset to fix one device not connecting whilst all the others are fine.

Yep, tried it and still the same problem. Ran the wireless troubleshooter and was informed that the wireless connection doesn't have a valid IP configuration.