Consumer Reports future article

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

I never upgraded after Windows 7 on any my home machines, and they will stay that way until I purchase some hardware device that I can't live without that requires a more recent operating system. Even then, the more recent OS will be on a limited number of devices.

The industry has led people to believe that an old, defunct, allegedly unused operating system is the most dangerous to run from a security standpoint. I think that most computer savy folks would say any operating system connected to the Internet is a high risk system, unless you know how to use it.

So what do you do about security updates - comfortable never installing them? If you looked in your “awaiting updates” folder would it have 1,000 updates to do? I’d love to lock mine down too, but Java and security updates are what I install. But yeah, I hear a few security experts who hate the thought of Windows 10. Good to know there are people like me, running older systems.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

I never upgraded after Windows 7 on any my home machines, and they will stay that way until I purchase some hardware device that I can't live without that requires a more recent operating system. Even then, the more recent OS will be on a limited number of devices.

The industry has led people to believe that an old, defunct, allegedly unused operating system is the most dangerous to run from a security standpoint. I think that most computer savy folks would say any operating system connected to the Internet is a high risk system, unless you know how to use it.

All of my systems (including the SageTV server) are Windows 7. Only my laptop has Windows 10 (it came preinstalled).

I run anti-virus, firewalls, and browser extensions on all of the machines. That does more to protect your data than the most current version of an OS.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

All of my systems (including the SageTV server) are Windows 7. Only my laptop has Windows 10 (it came preinstalled).

I run anti-virus, firewalls, and browser extensions on all of the machines. That does more to protect your data than the most current version of an OS.

Anti-virus? I’ve found that Security Essentials is the cleanest, least invasive, FREE anti-virus software, but it’s dying in 2020. What programs do you use now which would be similar...

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Anti-virus? I’ve found that Security Essentials is the cleanest, least invasive, FREE anti-virus software, but it’s dying in 2020. What programs do you use now which would be similar...

Norton Security (supplied free from Comcast) and Malwarebytes.

[KryptoNyte]

My systems haven't had a Win 7 update in 2 or 3 years. I don't run antivirus. I try to keep my browsing habits as sensible as possible, and that's served me fairly well for over 20 years. If I do feel that something is acting a bit strange, I might run Eset's free online scanner once in a while, or MBAM, or something similar. I also keep my systems backed up with full system images stored on a hard drive that is only connected to my network when running backups - this is the most critical activity to mitigate down time and lost data.

I do recommend that others run some form of antivirus.

[KryptoNyte]

I frequently work on computers for friends and family, to upgrade/fix hardware and usually to clean malware and viruses. Interestingly, I have found that the systems with solid state OS drives are the easiest to "feel" when there is a problem, because they are typically so snappy, and when a virus hits them, it becomes blatantly obvious when the OS is brought to a screeching halt with strange activity.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

I frequently work on computers for friends and family, to upgrade/fix hardware and usually to clean malware and viruses. Interestingly, I have found that the systems with solid state OS drives are the easiest to "feel" when there is a problem, because they are typically so snappy, and when a virus hits them, it becomes blatantly obvious when the OS is brought to a screeching halt with strange activity.

good note. I too only use my server for TV related things, Plex, Sage, AirVideo, but I edit things on a different machine. Just recording on the server. BTW, which time-sync service do you find most accurate? I would have thought nist or microsoft’s time would be best, but my machine often falls 5-12 seconds behind my cable converter/satellite box.

[KryptoNyte]

time.windows.com

I don't believe I've ever changed that on any Windows machine. If my Sage server were to fall behind by 5, 10, or even 20 seconds, I'm not sure I'd ever notice it. Any recordings that I might consider important would already have at least 1 minute of padding on each end. I don't record a whole lot of television, probably not as much as many others.

[SHS]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

good note. I too only use my server for TV related things, Plex, Sage, AirVideo, but I edit things on a different machine. Just recording on the server. BTW, which time-sync service do you find most accurate? I would have thought nist or microsoft’s time would be best, but my machine often falls 5-12 seconds behind my cable converter/satellite box.

When was the last time you replace your CMOS battery ?.
If it is still fail keep time try disabling APM or Power Management in the bios but if it is still losing track of time then something on motherboard maybe starting to fail like a bad capacitors or power supply it self by low or high voltage state.
But if your system more 5 years or way older you may want think about replace it especially if it running 24/7.

[xjim1]

NIST. Since they're the time standard, why go anywhere else?
My clock drifts quickly. I just updated it and it was ~40 slow from a 3 day old sync. But that varies a lot from past observations. Sometimes it stays dead-on. Does the cmos battery really have any affect on time on a running system? I admit I've never replaced one.

[SHS]

Originally Posted by xjim1

NIST. Since they're the time standard, why go anywhere else?
My clock drifts quickly. I just updated it and it was ~40 slow from a 3 day old sync. But that varies a lot from past observations. Sometimes it stays dead-on. Does the cmos battery really have any affect on time on a running system? I admit I've never replaced one.

CMOS battery in a computer is used to keep and maintain the real time clock RTC, which is the system clock and power the memory chip that contain the system user configuration file that contain all initial settings as configured for the proper computer operation at boot up.
The CMOS battery has an estimated lifespan of up to 3/5 years when power supply unit is unplugged or when the PSU power switch is just turned off but when power on it supposed last up 10 year but in reality in start degrading before then and can only last up on avg 5 years and note not all batteries are created equal so it can vary from one to next battery and all CMOS battery are not rechargeable not even the ML2023 rechargeable lithium batteries can be rechargeable this is by design same apply with UEFI even apply to Apple PRAM batteries. I beat your even wondering if phone and tablet have batteries for RTC yes but do not have a separate backup battery they rely on the device main battery how ever earlier versions of mobile phones did have an separate battery.

[VCRUser]

I had a problem with mine a while ago, and even when the computer was on, it drifted. Swapped in a new battery (they're pretty cheap), and everything was back to normal.

[waynedunham]

Here's one for you. Yesterday I went through a 12-1/2 hour power outage. Some covered by a generator for individual items, fridge, freezer, etc.

Anyway. When I powered up one of my SageTV servers apparently the CMOS battery is dead. Now usually when I've seen this in the past it would always default to like a 1970 time frame. Yesterday it "defaulted" to 2057!! Needless to say it really messed with the EPG and scheduled recordings.

Even after I set the time/date properly the EPG and scheduled recordings were messed up. Oh, and BTW I do have it set to sync with the EPG server for time/date (or does that just do time?)

I ended up having to swap all my video sources to a different lineup, and then switch them back to get good EPG data. I had to do this because before doing that my system info screen said the next EPG update was "NEVER".

I'd just never seen a dead CMOS battery default to a future year, always far in the past.

[SHS]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

Here's one for you. Yesterday I went through a 12-1/2 hour power outage. Some covered by a generator for individual items, fridge, freezer, etc.

Anyway. When I powered up one of my SageTV servers apparently the CMOS battery is dead. Now usually when I've seen this in the past it would always default to like a 1970 time frame. Yesterday it "defaulted" to 2057!! Needless to say it really messed with the EPG and scheduled recordings.

Even after I set the time/date properly the EPG and scheduled recordings were messed up. Oh, and BTW I do have it set to sync with the EPG server for time/date (or does that just do time?)

I ended up having to swap all my video sources to a different lineup, and then switch them back to get good EPG data. I had to do this because before doing that my system info screen said the next EPG update was "NEVER".

I'd just never seen a dead CMOS battery default to a future year, always far in the past.

Yup odd thing can happing that why is good to setup a auto backup that way you can restore it

[tvmaster2]

I'll check my CMOS battery, but I think I changed it a couple of years ago maximum. It seems like no matter what internet time service I use, nist, windows, pool - my box drops 5 - 10 seconds a week. Guess I'll just update manually twice a week for safe-keeping.
Even my cable and satellite company are 2-5 seconds different, so it's within the margin of error I guess

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by SHS

Yup odd thing can happing that why is good to setup a auto backup that way you can restore it

I have a backup routine set (Veem free version) for all my machines. Each machine backs up to one of the other machines. That way no matter which machine might "die" I can always get to its backup.
I do incrementals daily and a full backup once a week. Only the system and program drives, no recordings.

I do need to revive my old .bat file which would keep 10 generations of my wiz.bin and sage.properties files. I haven't used it in a while, but I do still have a weeks worth of those files in my present backup procedure.

I wanted to try and see if I could get it back without resorting to a restore and had an EPG issue several years ago that caused a similar issue. If swapping lineups and then swapping back hadn't worked I'd have to look through my message archives explaining how to wipe the last EPG update date out of sage.properties to force SageTV to download a new full EPG.

[KryptoNyte]

If each of your machines backs up to a shared directory on a peer-to-peer network, with or without credentials, then you may still be susceptible to a network aware cryptolocker style virus, and you would lose everything.

EDIT: Sorry, not everything, but everything on the infected machine and shared directories on any other machine.

[SHS]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

I have a backup routine set (Veem free version) for all my machines. Each machine backs up to one of the other machines. That way no matter which machine might "die" I can always get to its backup.
I do incrementals daily and a full backup once a week. Only the system and program drives, no recordings.

I do need to revive my old .bat file which would keep 10 generations of my wiz.bin and sage.properties files. I haven't used it in a while, but I do still have a weeks worth of those files in my present backup procedure.

I wanted to try and see if I could get it back without resorting to a restore and had an EPG issue several years ago that caused a similar issue. If swapping lineups and then swapping back hadn't worked I'd have to look through my message archives explaining how to wipe the last EPG update date out of sage.properties to force SageTV to download a new full EPG.

I was refer to sagetv it self once you fix the time and date problem the restore and old ver a few day older wiz.bin and Sage.properties should address that.

[wnjj]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

I have a backup routine set (Veem free version) for all my machines. Each machine backs up to one of the other machines. That way no matter which machine might "die" I can always get to its backup.
I do incrementals daily and a full backup once a week. Only the system and program drives, no recordings.

I do need to revive my old .bat file which would keep 10 generations of my wiz.bin and sage.properties files. I haven't used it in a while, but I do still have a weeks worth of those files in my present backup procedure.

I wanted to try and see if I could get it back without resorting to a restore and had an EPG issue several years ago that caused a similar issue. If swapping lineups and then swapping back hadn't worked I'd have to look through my message archives explaining how to wipe the last EPG update date out of sage.properties to force SageTV to download a new full EPG.

I think epg_data_sources/*/expanded_until is the setting your looking for. Yours probably got set way into the future and the code compares it to the current time to decide when to update:

boolean needsExpand = expandedUntil < Sage.time();

[graywolf]

Also delete the sdmd5* files would force a complete epg reload