Techy advice needed

[domhnallj]

Does anyone know of a browser pop-up called Ads by OffersWizard and more importantly how to stop it infecting every browser on my computer? I've looked for any application on my computer and in the browser settings but can't see how to disable it. Please help. It starts up every page I open and is driving me insane.

Here are a couple of guides to removing it....

http://www.fixyourbrowser.com/removal-i ... pup-virus/

http://malwaretips.com/blogs/offerswizard-removal/

It looks like it installs itself as a file called "Network System Driver" which gives a big warning when you go to uninstall - essentially it is hiding as a system file.

Thanks Doc, that seems to have worked. I'd love to meet whoever dreamt up this scourge and punch them in the nuts.

[Peg Leg]

Does anyone know of a browser pop-up called Ads by OffersWizard and more importantly how to stop it infecting every browser on my computer? I've looked for any application on my computer and in the browser settings but can't see how to disable it. Please help. It starts up every page I open and is driving me insane.

Here are a couple of guides to removing it....

http://www.fixyourbrowser.com/removal-i ... pup-virus/

http://malwaretips.com/blogs/offerswizard-removal/

It looks like it installs itself as a file called "Network System Driver" which gives a big warning when you go to uninstall - essentially it is hiding as a system file.

Thanks Doc, that seems to have worked. I'd love to meet whoever dreamt up this scourge and punch them in the nuts.

It was Meinster

[domhnallj]

Who was? Well anyway, thanks to Meinster too.

[The Doc]

Who was? Well anyway, thanks to Meinster too.

I think he meant that Meinster was the cause of it - he just wants to see you punch Meinster in the nuts - which seems very harsh but potentially a YouTube hit

[domhnallj]

Who was? Well anyway, thanks to Meinster too.

I think he meant that Meinster was the cause of it - he just wants to see you punch Meinster in the nuts - which seems very harsh but potentially a YouTube hit

all water under the bridge now

[fourthirtythree]

Can Chromecast stream an Ace Stream from a windows laptop?

And if so where can I pick one up in town this lunchtime?

Cheers.

[meinster]

Can Chromecast stream an Ace Stream from a windows laptop?

I can't say for sure, I'm afraid. I have a Chromecast, but haven't tried that yet. I know the VLC/AceStream (on your PC) player can be configured to re-stream the stream as a standard HTTP stream. You just need something that can consume that HTTP stream and "cast it" to your Chromecast. VLC (the iOS app) does that on an iPhone to AppleTV, but I don't think they've finished the work on the Android equivalent yet. So you either need another Android app to do the job, or a Chrome (desktop browser!) extension to do the job. I've no experience with either, I'm afraid. I just assume that it has been done, because it's easy enough to do (AceStream has done all the hard work already).

And if so where can I pick one up in town this lunchtime?

Argos or PC World for bricks'n'mortar options.

[fourthirtythree]

Can Chromecast stream an Ace Stream from a windows laptop?

I can't say for sure, I'm afraid. I have a Chromecast, but haven't tried that yet. I know the VLC/AceStream (on your PC) player can be configured to re-stream the stream as a standard HTTP stream. You just need something that can consume that HTTP stream and "cast it" to your Chromecast. VLC (the iOS app) does that on an iPhone to AppleTV, but I don't think they've finished the work on the Android equivalent yet. So you either need another Android app to do the job, or a Chrome (desktop browser!) extension to do the job. I've no experience with either, I'm afraid. I just assume that it has been done, because it's easy enough to do (AceStream has done all the hard work already).

And if so where can I pick one up in town this lunchtime?

Argos or PC World for bricks'n'mortar options.

Cheers, looking round the internet the answer appears to be maybe... but you are quite likely to get not great results.

[meinster]

I can't say for sure, I'm afraid.

VLC/AceStream (desktop) > Chrome (desktop) > Chromecast .. not a runner as far as I know, because Chrome can't play the HTTP stream. This works fine for local AVI/MP4 files, etc., just not for streams/re-streams.

VLC/AceStream (desktop) > VLC (Android) > Chromecast. Will work if your Android phone supports screen mirroring. VLC for Android doesn't support casting to Chromecast natively (yet; a work in progress) so you have to rely on your phone casting the entire screen (with screen mirroring). See this for more info on this setup. If your phone doesn't, but is still a decent/recent one, you could try this. Having said all that, if your Android phone is decent/recent, it probably has HDMI/MHL out already (so just plug it in to the TV and don't bother with the Chromecast at all!).

It works well, but isn't original quality (still better than SD if your AceStream is HD and you've got very good WiFi). Using this method won't give you reliable HD, but definitely watchable and a whole lot better quality than any flash-based stream. It's very finicky though, especially if your WiFi isn't top-notch (i.e more 802.11ac on 5GHz than bog standard 802.11b/c on 2.5GHz). Expect interruptions (either from your AceStream itself or from this convoluted setup).

So if you're still with me, and still interested, the VLC/AceStream setup is just a question of using VLC's docs (search for "Transcode and stream in HTTP"). I do the equivalent for iOS (to cast to my AppleTV), but there's no WiFi involved so it's all down to the quality of the AceStream (which is normally good, to be fair).

[fourthirtythree]

Hmmm... perhaps I should consider Apple TV, I had assumed nothing would work with IOS so hadn't even thought about the iPad.

That said the wifi could do with an upgrade. If I may intrude on your generosity again: have you any suggestions on a replacement for the router UPC give you or should I just plug a new wireless router into an ethernet on that? There are a fair amount of devices in the house...

[meinster]

Hmmm... perhaps I should consider Apple TV, I had assumed nothing would work with IOS so hadn't even thought about the iPad.

You can use VLC for iOS on the iPhone/iPad to take the AceStream from your PC and send it to your Apple TV (which actually only uses the iPad as a kind of remote control, so you can turn the iPad off/sleep once it's playing on the AppleTV). Having said that, there's no way I'd have bought an AppleTV, personally. It's very handy if you're already an iOS household (and a lot more iOS apps will work with AppleTV from your iPhone/iPad like RTÉ Player, etc.). But if you don't use Netflix, or iTunes content, then consider what you will actually use it for (and make sure you know what it can/can't do before forking out the megabucks)!

That said the wifi could do with an upgrade. If I may intrude on your generosity again: have you any suggestions on a replacement for the router UPC give you or should I just plug a new wireless router into an ethernet on that?

Yeah, you can't replace the UPC-provided router yourself, but you can disable the wireless on it, and plug your own WiFi router in to it. No strong recommendations, Linksys (Cisco) and Netgear would be two of the better residential brands. Look for dual channel (5GHz and 2.5GHz for legacy devices). If you're an Apple house already, then the Airport Express is a decent buy (it makes life easier, but the device itself isn't the best value for tech specs, if that makes sense).

[johng]

Yeah, you can't replace the UPC-provided router yourself, but you can disable the wireless on it, and plug your own WiFi router in to it.

Simpler to just use an plain old access point rather than a router. Let the UPC cisco box do the rest.

You can actually bridge the UPC router completely (turning it into a dumb modem) and use your own firewall to connect. In fact this is what they do in UPC to give you a fixed ip address. Probably not a good idea though unless you have a big pointy head as UPC can then not help you if you are in trouble.

So the easiest thing is as I said above. buy a wireless Access point (not router), plug it into the UPC box and disable wireless on the UPC one.

[nc6000]

Anyone want an invite for Inbox by Google?

[sforan]

Yes please!

[jordanracer]

Me too please, if you have some spare,

[sforan]

Anyone want an invite for Inbox by Google?

Legend!! Thank you. If nc6000 runs out of invites let me know and I'll send them on.

[jordanracer]

Thanks sf, will let you know

[Slipper1]

Anyone want an invite for Inbox by Google?

I'll go for one of those too if there are spares.

[meinster]

Simpler to just use an plain old access point rather than a router.

Yes, this is absolutely right, you need an access point, not a router. I've fallen victim to my own pet hate of using popular, but incorrect, terminology!

And now for some balance on the rest of your post, UPC doesn't do fixed IPs for residential services (but it's "almost" fixed if modem is left on), and they can/do use gateway mode (not bridged) for allocation of fixed IP. I.e. you can have fixed IP, VoIP, and WiFi all working on the horrible Cisco. Finally, UPC MAC-lock connecting devices, so you can't replace their modem (the best you can do is put some devices in to bridged mode , but UPC don't support that on residential services). It would be so much better if you could get a bare modem (on request, even)!

But, yeah, sorry about the poor terminology earlier!

[The Doc]

Anyone want an invite for Inbox by Google?

Legend!! Thank you. If nc6000 runs out of invites let me know and I'll send them on.

I'd be interested - I've registered for it but not got one yet - appreciated

Also interested to know people's reactions to it