Stamps.com Add-In Doesn't Work with 64-bit MS Word

Despite downloading the Add-in for Microsoft Word Home and Business 2016 to my Windows 10 64-bit machine it would not install. I could see the Add-in under File - Options - COM Add-ins, but despite trying to click the box to the left of it, it would not install.

After calling Stamps.com I found that it does not support 64-bit MS Word, it only supports the 32-bit version.

So to save you frustration I'm posting this to warn you.

A workaround is to print your envelopes using Mail Merge from MS Word without the stamps and then print them with stamps only from the online version of Stamps.com.

Here's more info  - lest you try to run 32-bit addins on a 64-bit installation.

I haven't tried Endicia? Are there other solutions?

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3945799/using-32bit-com-addin-under-ms-office-64-bit

Check The Firewall For Norton Internet Security (as of Feb 2017) with Stamps.Com - or any other Program or App

This morning I checked the documentation on Stamps.com for how to configure the Norton Internet Security firewall and found it doesn't have the latest version. So here's how to do it (as it was I found it had already been configured when I eventually got to the right screen), but just in case you want to check too here are the screens.
First open Norton Internet Security. Then choose Settings at the top of the screen.

Next choose Firewall.

Then look at the tabs and choose Program Control.

You'll get a list of programs that are already penetrating the Firewall. It will tell you when you click on a program whether the Firewall is allowing one-way or two-way traffic and in which direction. Scroll down the window until you see the app. 

For Stamps.com the app is called ipostage.exe. Check that this file has supports two-way communications through the firewall.

Getting a Netgear D7000 Router to work with AT&T DSL (and Google Chrome)

I wanted to replace my Netgear D6200 (AC1200) router with a Netgear D7000 (AC1900 Nighthawk), the latter purchased from Fry's in Palo Alto. The assistant in Fry's said it would work with AT&T, but that I must call AT&T first otherwise it wouldn't work. Note this router does not work with UVerse. This is my fourth Netgear Router - the first one failed after years of use, the 2nd one was too feeble and the 3rd one was barely adequate as in bad weather the signal gave red signals on our repeater.  Furthermore, the new router had 2 USB 3.0 ports whereas the old one only had one USB 2.0 port.
You can manage the user interface from a web browser or Netgear's Genie App. I chose to manage it using Google Chrome by typing the URL routerlogin.net (or 192.168.0.1 - which I usually change to 192.168.1.1).

Setup Problems

I set my new router to exactly the same settings as my old router and it didn't connect. The Internet light was orange and the DSL light was unlit. I tried both the new VDSL filter and old ADSL filters that came with the older routers. I could not get it to light up. I even tried putting in a Polarity Reverser for the phone line (the router works on wires 2 and 3) lest the cable was bad.

Calling AT&T

So I called AT&T. First I called a "special number" that had been sent to me by email when I last had DSL problems. This was only Tier 1 support outside of office hours - despite the fact it says it works until midnight Eastern Time. I then called the regular support number  - they said I needed the AT&T service that deals with third party devices - (866) -293-3464. This took me through the same line tests as the regular support number, but finally a friendly technician came on the line.
We went through the settings and discovered:

• the DSLconnection only worked when there was no filter
• when it did connect the password was wrong

DSL Connection

To make this work try it without the filter on the line. I replaced the filter with a line splitter.  It seems the D7000 needs to be rebooted if you unplug and reconnect the DSL cable.  The router is also very slow to boot up - the last thing to come on is the DSL light. So be patient when booting it. I will just use a line splitter for the phone and not the VDSL or ADSL filter so I can run a rarely used fax on the same line.

Google Chrome Was Changing The Password

When I typed the email address xxx@sbcglobal.net it came up yellow. I then typed the AT&T assigned password. It had 6 characters but the number of "*"s replacing it was more than 6.  AT&T said this was normal  (in fact it is not, you should get 6 stars for 6 characters). So what was happening?  AT&T Tier 2 support told me that the password was wrong. I suddenly twigged.  Google Chrome was changing the password after I had entered it. That is why the login credentials were colored yellow.  Either that or AT&T had a dynamic password system turned on - that only affected that particular router - seems unlikely.

The remedy was to remove the login ID and password and select Apply, then retype them. AT&T had the right password. I also changed to Microsoft's Edge browser just to check that it too had the right password.

The Parameters

I am in Portola Valley, CA and these are the parameters I need for AT&T DSL.

• Country - USA
• Internet Service Provider - Other (seems to work better than AT&T). Note: first time I set it to Other the fields for choosing service provider disappeared to 1 character wide on reboot and I had to reset the D7000 to factory settings using a paper clip (push it in for 5 seconds or more - I think this is OK now though - maybe I hit Next too fast in the Setup Wizard - better not to use the Wizard).
• Transfer Mode - ADSL (ATM)
• DSL Mode - Auto (actually ADSL2+ was what the D6200 supports and you could probably select that too)
• Internet - enable by checking the box - LLC-BASED
• VPI - 0 (this needs changing from the default)
• VCI - 35
• Don't check Use VLANID
• Does your Internet connection require a login - type Yes and supply credentials
• Encapsulation - PPPoE
• Service name - can leave blank
• Connection Mode - Always On
• Idle Timeout (minutes) - can leave at 0
• Internet IP Address and Domain Name Server (DNS) Address - Get Dynamically from ISP - unless you are paying for a static address as you might if you have a website
• NAT (Network Translation Address) - Enable (you probably need this if you have a bunch of devices using the router)
• Router MAC Address - Use Default Address

So you may not have to call AT&T after all.

How I got my Netgear N750 (DGND4000) router to backup my MacBook with Time Machine

As many people seem to have had problems backing up by using the USB port on their Netgear router and as the Netgear documentation and knowledge fora are sometimes wrong and totally inadequate I am documenting how I installed my drive.  As well as my thoughts on the router. This review is similar to one I put on Amazon.

WHY I BOUGHT THE ROUTER

I bought this router to replace a Netgear RangeMax WNR834B v2 router and a Speedstream 5100 Ethernet ADSL modem that AT&T supplied for their DSL service. 

We had two Netgear RangeMax routers and were using the 2nd one as a repeater, but it broke. So I thought the Netgear N750 would be a good upgrade. It has similar software - Netgear Genie - to set it up.  

WHY THE ROUTER IS NOT GOOD AS A REPEATER

However, a major disadvantage is that to use it as a repeater it must connect with the old-fashioned WEP security protocol, which means devices like iPhones cannot connect to it.  The old RangeMax routers could connect to each other with either WEP or WPS security that is compatible with many other devices. This enabled me to give the same SSID to each router and have one name for people to connect to in our home.

When I spoke with a Netgear support engineer about this  - it seems a silly software restriction to grey out the option for WPS security in this router -  he said that nobody uses a router as a repeater any more - not Cisco, not Netgear, not a whole long list of other companies he rattled off to me. He said I must buy a Range Extender (I did buy a WN2500RP Netgear repeater).  A range extender, boosts the signal. So although the Netgear N750 gives off a pretty feeble signal - the 5 GHz cannot reach the router, the 2.4GHz indicator glows a passable orange - the repeater can pick it up and improve it. 

This is an example of a manufacturer forcing people to buy products unnecessarily. 

Our house is made of concrete bricks with metal bars that hinder wireless signals - so we have to set up the repeater near a window and point the N750 in the right direction. The two old routers worked fine in this configuration. It took some adjustment of the router and repeater to even get an orange signal. I guess I could turn off the 5 GHz option, it suggests doing this to concentrate the 2.4GHz signal, but I didn't try this.

FUN INSTALLING A USB BACKUP DISK FOR MY MAC

The next bit of fun (a whole day's effort while doing other things) was trying to get the backup drive to work. I had a 750GB Seagate Free Agent drive that could take Firewire or USB. I had used it with NTFS formatting on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 without difficulty, although a similar drive had crashed while under warranty as I was using it intensively to access pictures (Seagate says the drives are intended to backup use - but they did send a refurbished one to replace the broken one).  I connected the drive directly to my MacBook to ensure compatibility and it worked fine. I plugged it into the router and found it didn't show up.

The Netgear Genie software told me to plug in the drive. I had it plugged in - tried both the front and back ports - tried 2 different cables. Tried a USB thumb drive - didn't show up. Tried a 2nd thumb drive - it showed up on the router. It is very unclear in the router admin what the drive should be called - the router has a name (DGND4000), you give it a name (BlackDen - my name - I gave it Black In Den at first, but not sure whether this was the name it wanted and knowing it couldn't take spaces I renamed my router - this name is NOT what is used in the end - even though the Help file says what you name your router in Windows is the name for the Shared storage space), it has an IP number as a name, and the shared disk area has a name (readyshare).  So still not sure whether readyshare was the right name I settled on that.

I then read something about formatting in a tech support forum. My sector size was 4096bytes. As I wanted the drive to backup my Mac - running the latest Apple operating system (ignore the Netgear info that says it doesn't work on the latest OS) - I disconnected my drive from the router, plugged it into my Mac and went into the Disk Utility on the Mac, deleted my single partition, renamed the drive and formatted in a Mac Extended format - as shown in the Netgear literature. This did not work. I could not see the drive when I connected it to the router. However, the 2nd USB thumb drive had worked, so I knew the USB ports on the router were not dead - my initial suspicion. Note: formatting initially as Mac Extended did not work - I don't know if there was something in the Master Boot Record or if formatting as FAT then Mac Extended reduced the size of the sectors.

So I then suspected the Master Boot Record. On my Mac I formatted the drive for a 2nd time - removing the Master Boot Record and replacing it with GUID partition table (GPT). I formatted it as FAT - lowest common denominator formatting, I felt. Amazingly - on plugging it into the router it showed up on my Mac. 

However, on going into Time Machine it doesn't like FAT drives and said it would reformat in the Mac Extended format. So I let it do that. I disconnected the drive from the Mac. I put it on the router. Lo and behold it showed up on the Mac - furthermore the drive itself had the words Time Machine on it, not in the USB Storage area.  

Now the next challenge. To log in to the drive. Time Machine opened on the Mac I tried to choose the drive - it was there as the only choice - silly Time Machine doesn't like any old network drive - only Mac ones. Nevertheless the router had performed some tricks on the drive and now the Mac saw it as the default backup drive - great!

It asked me for the login to the router. One problem is the router only allows one person to login at once, so I couldn't see its settings on my PC while logged in and log in to it on my Mac. I logged off my PC and prior to this had logged into it on my Mac as 192.168.1.1, which I put as the address for my browser. This put it in Keyring - where passwords are stored in the Mac. I am not sure this step is essential, but in view of the next step it might be.

So I started the backup. It asked me to log in to the router. I did with its admin login. But the Mac didn't like it, said I didn't have the right permissions, because admin is not a Mac administrator name. So I tried to login with MYNAME - I am an administrator on the Mac. Guess what - the router didn't know me - because it can only support one login name. So my final option was to login as Guest. I thought the guest option wouldn't let me access the drive - not least because the wireless GUEST login for the router had been set not to see my network - but I guess the wireless Guest network for the router has little to do with Mac Guest logins. Amazingly the Guest login had the right permissions and the backup started.

To back up about a million files and 221.63GB it said it would take 2 days! Now having done 39.78 GB in about 4 hours, it says it will take 18 more hours to finish the backup. Not quick - but I just hope it finishes.

I have put this up in detail as many people seem to have had trouble and the documentation from Netgear is totally inadequate.

What To Know About Python: I. Windows Environment

Recently I took a terrific Coursera online course from the University of Melbourne on Discrete Optimization, led by Professor Pascal Van Hentenryck with teaching assistant Carleton Coffrin and team. I highly recommend the course to anyone wanting to learn Discrete Optimization - it presents classical optimization problems with lively videos, many-sized problems and superb graphics.

Professor Van Hentenryck's introductory video to Discrete Optimization

I achieved my goal of upgrading my skills, but sadly failed the course, in part because I needed better Python programming skills. So I'm going to devote some blog pages to what it would have been useful to know before doing the course.
CodeAcademy is a great place to start learning Python. It gamifies learning with short little examples and helps you learn about lists, dictionaries, tuples, as well as for, while and if statements. I did a little each morning.
It's useful to look at the official documentation,  which includes Tutorial, Library Reference and Language Reference.  If you use Google to search for information about Python, chances are it will find the Tutorial, which is useful when you are starting out, but you will quickly outgrow it. So the Language Reference has more detailed information.
I used Windows as my development environment. I started with the IDLE development environment. It provides an editor, a Python Shell and a rudimentary debugger. At the end of the course I found Spyder - the Scientific PYthon Development EnviRonment, which also has these features, but can show you code structure, objects in a more complete Interactive Development Environment (IDE). I wish I'd used Spyder.  Our course recommended Python 2.7, which you can download (different from Python 3). Windows version 2.7.5 came out in May 2013.  You can find Python for many different platforms, including MS-DOS and BeOS too.

AT&T: Please stop blocking access to my AT&T Yahoo! account

We have at least 6 devices, with multiple email addresses that use AT&T's smtp.att.yahoo.com mail server to send messages. If one of these devices has the wrong account password then it will poll to try and get email.  AT&T will think this is fraudulent and shut down access to the MYNAME@sbcglobal.net and MYFAMILYMEMBERSNAMES@sbcglobal.net.

Here's an example.  My Kindle HD hasn't been used for a week, in that week AT&T made me change my password.  When I charge the Kindle and it finds WiFi it starts to look for email and has the wrong password.  AT&T thinks this is a hacker. So it locks the account.

So first I find my email messages aren't getting sent.  Then my husband complains he cannot send email and goes to the coffee shop to send it from his iPhone. 

Meanwhile, I go to Yahoo! and see if I can log in with my email address.  AT&T tells me that I must have the same password for both MYNAME@yahoo.com and MYNAME@sbcglobal.net. I did not know this at one time and had two separate passwords - hence AT&T would constantly lock me out.

I find I can't login to my Yahoo! account. So I click on Forgot Password? and go to an AT&T Page.  It even has a note saying "What User ID Should I Use?":

• Wireless Password

• U-verse Password

• Home Phone / Internet Password

• AT&T Email Password

• AT&T Access ID Password

Note: it doesn't have my Yahoo! Password as a choice - even though the user's Yahoo! email password could be causing the problem. 

I go through the security questions and reset my password to what it was already - I don't want to have to reset the password in all the email systems and websites on my 6 devices every time this happens - although I do believe in changing passwords occasionally when I have a system maintenance day.

I go back to Outlook - I go to Account Settings and test the account settings. The email sending server smtp.att.yahoo.com cannot be accessed. I remember what an AT&T account support rep told me "Go to Yahoo! mail and login with your new password from your usual computer." I do this. I go back to Outlook. Finally I can send email.

AT&T please stop blocking my account.  You have other ways to know what my devices are - you can know the MAC number, you can know my DSL line, you could just block the offending device - in this case my newly charged Kindle - and tell me to change the password on that device.  Please implement smarter rules before you lock me and my family and any house guests out of my account.

Update: May 1st 2013 - account blocked again - password ceases to work.

Update: May 10th 2013 - account blocked again - tried DSL support - I should have found the email support - but this was the best support page I could find - here's a transcript of my conversation.

System

Welcome Ms. Angela Hey.

System

Connecting to server. Please wait...

System

Connection with server established.

System

Technical Support Topic: Other High Speed Internet Issues

System

Bruce has joined this session!

System

Connected with Bruce

Bruce

Thank you for contacting AT&T. My name is Bruce.

Bruce

I see that I am chatting with Ms. Angela Hey and is XXXX the number associated with your DSL/Dial account?

You

No the DSL account is on YYYY

You

The DSL works - so don't troubleshoot that

You

This is an email server authentication problem

You

I can get on the webmail but not the POP mail

Bruce

Please don't worry, I am here to help you.

Bruce

Ms. Hey, thank you for confirming the details.

Bruce

Please let me know the e-mail address with which you are experiencing the issue.

You

MYNAME@sbcglobal.net - I can get on to webmail, but the POP and SMTP server access from Outlook is not working - I used to have Yahoo servers, but I changed to inbound.att.com etc. neither work.

Bruce

Thank you.

You

smtp.att.yahoo.com and outbound.att.net don't allow access

Bruce

Please try to send a test email to yourself and let me know if you are able to send and receive it from webmail.

Bruce

It will make sure if it is a password issue or the settings issue.

You

I can use webmail but not Outlook. It is not a settings issue as it was working for the last 9 days. What happens is AT&T blocks my account because of security issues and then when I reset the password I cannot login. However, I could login to Yahoo on the web. So I suspect there is a delay in updating the authentication servers -that is unacceptable,

Bruce

the e-mail program that you are using is for non supported AT&T software. However, I can assist you with the basic configuration information which is important for any e-mail program such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, and Windows Mail etc.

You

i.e. authentication was reset and works on both att mail and yahoo mail, but does not work with POP and SMTP servers - I have had a 5 minute delay before - but not a 1 hour delay

Bruce

To be able to send and receive e-mail using an AT&T e-mail address while connected to AT&T Internet Services, the e-mail program should have the following settings:

You

I know how to configure Outlook - don't waste time on that

Bruce

1. Incoming mail server (POP3) as inbound.att.net with port number 995 along with SSL.

You

Done

You

Doesn't work

Bruce

2. Outgoing mail server (SMTP) as outbound.att.net with port number 465 along with SSL.

Bruce

3. Make sure to use your complete email address in the “Username” field.

Bruce

4. Please also ensure that "My outgoing server requires authentication" is also checked.

You

I have the complete email name - it worked yesterday!

Bruce

. 5. If you would like to save a copy of the message on AT&T Yahoo! Mail web access, please ensure that "Leave a copy of message on server" is also checked.

You

I don't want to leave a copy on the server

You

I know how to set Outlook - it works fine until AT&T blocks the server authentication

You

Maybe the server is busy:)

Bruce

For this issue you need to contact our Connectech department (paid support), they are experts in non AT&T issues. Shall I provide you the details of Connectech department?

You

No I should not have to pay because of AT&T's latency in transferring authentication from one server to another

You

I need someone to go into the SMTP server and allow me to connect

You

This happens every 10 days

Bruce

Yes, that's why our only our Connectech department would be able to help you with this issue.

You

Give me their number - But I shouldn't have to pay!

Bruce

Our Connectech department is a paid department.

You

Can I send the bill to AT&T

Bruce

As we are from AT&T DSL support team, we don't provide support for non AT&T provided softwares.

You

I already have a blog detailing this appalling service

You

Now why didn't you say that in the beginning - it's clear I need email support, not DSL support

Bruce

It will be fixed for just fifty five cents per day( or $15/month with 1-year agreement) which you can drop anytime in between. You can chat or call 24/7 for any issue like your own personal technical support.

You

Good day

Saturday May 11, 2013 am - went into Yahoo.com  - logged in OK, earlier in the morning DNS problem shows up
Saturday May 11 2013 pm - SMTP server works again

Monday May 13 morning - smtp.att.yahoo.com - not working again - could the Wii be the culprit - I had not touched the Internet services on the Wii - but it does have an Att.net page - does anyone know - does the Wii pre-load pages when you are doing other things - like yoga and reading the AP news on the Wii (which is what I was doing).

Now I am going to change our outgoing mail servers. When we had DSL installed many years ago, AT&T said we MUST send on the AT&T servers - this is not true! 

Changed the outgoing email servers for techviser.com and heymash.com so they did not use the AT&T servers. All is well on those accounts. 

Tuesday May 21 2013.
For the past few days my iPhone has been trying to login to my AT&T/Yahoo! account - I had given up on resetting the password - so today I went into att.com from my computer to reset it. I reset it to yet another password - I wish, like Google, it would tell you if the password has been used before. 
I then went into Outlook to update my Outlook settings. Can't login to sbcglobal.net servers (

pop.att.yahoo.com and smtp.att.yahoo.com)

• Log onto incoming mail server (POP3): Your e-mail server rejected your login. Verify your user name and password for this account in Account Settings.  The server responded: -ERR [AUTH] invalid user/password
• Send test e-mail message: The connection to the server was interrupted. If this problem continues, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).

I go to check my Yahoo! sign in. For the first time I get this message:

We have identified that you have more than one account linked to your ID. Please select the email account you would like to access for this session.

 MYNAME@att.net
 MYNAME@sbcglobal.net

Maybe this is a problem - as I was already logged into Yahoo! when I went there - even though I had a few minutes ago changed my password for MYNAME@sbcglobal.net and even though in the past, AT&T tech support has told me I need the same password for each of these accounts and for MYNAME@yahoo.com.

I check the server names and ports and change them in MS Outlook.  There are a couple of ominous messages:

• AT&T's POP/SMTP settings have changed to inbound.att.net and outbound.att.net, but if you are using the old server settings (pop.att.yahoo.com and smtp.att.yahoo.com), they will continue to work. You do not have to change them at this time.
• If you created a free att.net email address after June 11th, 2011 you will not be able to use an email client to access your email. Retrieve your email at http://www.att.net.

Note "they will continue to work" "you will not be able to use"... somewhat contradictory. My Yahoo! and sbcglobal.net accounts were created long before 2011. 

There seems to be incredible latency between setting up the password on AT&T's website and changing it in the POP and SMTP mail servers.  Meanwhile, my Outlook will keep trying - which then may give a false password to the servers and AT&T will lock me out yet again- totally unacceptable.

Google Bike Routes - What Are Their Criteria?

I would love to know what criteria Google uses for making it's bike routes. They are very beta. I wanted to go from Portola Valley to San Mateo Town Hall and it sent me along El Camino - busy and with many strip malls where traffic comes and goes. Alameda de las Pulgas is a much better route with bike lane - albeit hillier.

Then I tried another route from Portola Valley to Belmont. It sent me across El Camino on to Old County Road, a road with no bike lane. It didn't think of using Brittan Avenue that has a bike lane.

Maybe Google is looking for the flattest route, or routes where I can buy things on the way:).

Does anyone else have a problem with using Google Maps for Directions using a bike.

Another annoying feature is often what you would like to do is ride on a bike to a transit point then maybe put your bike on a bus or train - it would be really good if it could combine modes of transport.

Norton Ghost 14 - a buggy install, but I'm getting there

I still haven't managed to get Norton Ghost 14 to run. I had version 12 before that and it too was a pain to install.

OK - I upgraded from Norton 360, not Norton Ghost 12 directly. I deleted files manually to clear a 750GB external USB drive for backup, I cleaned the registry manually, I removed stray entries in the registry with both Norton and Registry Cleaner tools. I don't like software that tries to do things automatically. As the Advanced Command kept disappearing I could not get "under the hood". Finally, I got it to appear and stay there!

So what's my computer's problem? Symantec says it doesn't support Dual Boot Systems or systems with software that compromises the Boot Files. This should be clarified - it can work within one operating system on a Dual Boot System (I'll find out - the old version 12 worked OK!). I have Avanquest's bootup software so that I can select an alternative operating system or another Vista installation should my usual Vista fail. I also have Avanquest's AutoSave product which backs up software. By contrast this installed easily and works fine. There's also Microsoft's own backup software. So I'm only being cautious putting on a 3rd backup package to my machine - I don't really need it.

At first, when I opened Norton Ghost it caused Vista to send out error messages that showed a disk was missing. Then Norton Ghost said it was trying to find info about itself on disk M: but it's installed on disk C:. I can't find the path to fix this. I'm backing up to disk O: (as I told it!). In fact I told it to backup to a directory called NortonGhost14 on disk O:, but it wrote some files to a folder called NortonGhost on disk O:.

Norton Ghost kept telling me it couldn't make a Recovery Point. I tried deleting the backup schedule and made a new one, but to no avail. I deleted the computer name, and added it back, again to no avail.

Apart from the Home command, the Norton Ghost commands, those on the left side of the screen, disappear when it can't make a Recovery Point. If it can't make one, why doesn't it just prompt you to make a new one.

Frustrated I search the Symantec website. First the list of most popular problems shows hardly anything. Then I find the Tech Support Forums where other people have had drive letters changed by Norton Ghost. The responses from the Symantec technicians show, by their to and fro conversations, that they don't have easy answers either.

So I try to send in some info from the Norton Ghost 14 application on their Feedback form. It can't do it - Connection Timed Out While Sending Feedback. So I send all the info in an email to support AT symantec DOT com. An automated reply comes back saying that Symantec no longer uses email for support (typical for most software vendors today) - obviously they were overwhelmed with support spam and probably too many problems.

So a couple of days later, I'm obliged to post this on my own site as my second attempt to submit a Feedback form also failed. Note to Symantec: bear in mind many of your Vista users may have security really tight on their websites and eliminate scripts and cookies - my cookies and Javascript are there - but IE didn't think so - and it's possible your apps also have problems with security. It would be really good if your other tools - Internet Security or SystemWorks - could actually check whether Norton Ghost can run on a machine or if it is too Secure or has Bad System Configuration - ideally Norton Ghost should do this itself. It should also show its logs in the app - not hide them away for you to open with a tool.

So here's what I was going to send to Symantec, but can't because of rejection by the server.
How likely would I be to recommend this product? 1 on a scale of 0 to 10 - where 10 is likeliest.
What can we do to improve your satisfaction with the product?
1. Make it install on machines that have multi-boot or use other managers to manage the Boot.INI file. This application should not have to look at the Boot.ini file.
2. Get the bugs out. All the versions I have had have been extremely buggy. The drive letters are not mapped correctly.
3. Enable the software to work when moving from another app - Norton 360, or prior version - and the user manually deletes backup and other registry data. Make sure that you can have an option for clean install with no memory of previous apps.
4. Have long timeouts for external drives that maybe slow.
5. Don't have all the commands except Home disappear if the app can't find recovery points.
6. Have a more complete knowledge base - you don't surface enough bugs - they are hidden in forums.
7. It's a good job I'm not reviewing this product - this is one of the worst products I have ever installed - and I've used many prior versions - all have been poorly programmed with vague error messages.

It says Show Me What Will Be Sent. Here it is:
Details Data System.Collections.ListDictionaryInternal Message The remote server returned an error: (404) Not Found. Source System Stack Trace at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetResponse() at Poster.Send() at Symantec.UI.Forms.FeedbackDialog.OK_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) Target Site GetResponse

I then tried to make a recovery disk, just in case it needed one before it could make a Recovery Point. Alas, it didn't recognize my brand new writable disk. It had terrible problems just browsing the list of files - finally I put in Z:\ and it then said the recovery disk was invalid.

So Symantec - if you are listening - please don't ship broken software. Get some decent QA (crowdsource if you like) - or withdraw Norton Ghost. I did actually get Norton Ghost 12 to install with difficulty.

Light is now coming at the end of the tunnel. After waiting about an hour, I actually have the commands down the left hand side working. I can now go and delete the history - finding the stray drive M: from 2007. I can also go through and look at each drive and find which were earlier recovery points from old Norton Ghost releases - the Advanced menu is finally giving me what I want - although it's still really painful to ensure each of three drives that at some time or other have been Backup Destinations are purged of the old backup files. I'm getting there after 3 fretful evenings!

Either after 14 releases it should be near perfect or the code is so old it needs to be completely rewritten. Maybe you should buy Avanquest!

Angela's Almond and Raspberry Pie Recipe (Bakewell Tart)

The almond and raspberry pie I created for the Portola Valley Town Picnic  on June 6^th, 2009 is based on a traditional English Bakewell Tart.  The BBC has a picture of a Bakewell Tart, with a recipe.  Below is my recipe, with footnotes, as it is the details that make a difference.  I also listed the exact brand of ingredients in brackets.

Ingredients

For the Rich Shortcrust Pastry (can be made a day in advance)^1 2

You may use any kind of pastry, including a purchased frozen pastry shell which saves time.  I chose rich shortcrust pastry because it is a bit softer and sweeter than regular pastry.

• 2 cups + ½ a cup for dusting the rolling pin and rolling surface Self Rising (Self Raising (UK)) flour (Gold Medal Specialty Self Rising Flour) – regular flour, including wholemeal, is OK 3 below
• 1 stick (4 oz) chilled butter (Clover Organic Salted)
• 1 egg -  you need the yolk (save the white for glazing the pastry)
• 1 tablespoon icing (powdered) sugar 4
• Juice from one lemon 5
• Approx. 3 tablespoons of chilled water 6  7  8  9

For the Filling

• 3 oz soft butter or margarine (Imperial Margarine non-hydrogenated from soy oil)
• 1 tablespoon sugar 13
• 3 eggs ( Organic Valley large brown eggs)
• 3 oz of ground almonds (or if you can't get them get almond slivers from Bianchini's (Trader Joes sell them in bigger bags, but I've found them a bit dry))11 12
• 2/3 cup Self Rising (Self Raising (UK)) flour (Gold Medal Specialty Self Rising Flour)
• 2 tablespoons of raspberry jam or conserve (Andronico's own brand raspberry preserve) 14
• Small packet frozen raspberries (I used Cascadian farm organic frozen raspberries from Bianchini's) 15
• Almonds for decoration 10 12

 

Preparation

Making Pastry

Arrange an oven shelf so that it is in the middle of the oven. Turn on the oven, setting it to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).  Separate the egg yolk and save the white.  You can do this by cracking the egg on a flat surface (a sharp edge may break the yolk) and carefully pulling it apart slightly so that just the white drains out into a dish, then put the yolk in the food processor.

Squeeze the juice out of a lemon and strain out the pips and pulp.

Take about ½ a cup of flour and put it on a smooth counter top or large board.  Roll it around with the rolling pin until it covers an area that is about 12" by 12".

Chop the butter into thin slices. Take the butter wrapper and grease a pie dish, preferably a deep fluted one, very well (less well if it is non-stick).

Put all the pastry ingredients, except the water, egg white and the extra flour for dusting into the food processor, i.e. 2 cups of flour go into the food processor. I only have one chopping blade in my food processor, so I used that.  If you have a pastry blade, even better. Run it on high until the butter is mixed in and the mixture looks crumby.  While the motor is running, pour about 3 tablespoonfuls of water into the mixer, then trickle in the rest very slowly watching carefully until the pastry forms a single ball.  Hopefully, this won't burn out the motor of your food processor, if it starts to slip and there's a burning smell shut it off for a while. 

Take the ball out and put it on the floured surface. Take some flour and sprinkle it on top of it and make sure the rolling pin is covered in flour. Roll the pastry evenly and quickly, so that it stays cool, until it is big enough to cover your pie dish and the sides as well. 

When it is rolled out, put your rolling pin at one side and roll it around your rolling pin.  Take the pastry and unroll it over your pie dish.  Press it into the sides of the pie dish.  To stop the pastry falling into the pie dish take the pastry at the edges and let it go about ¼" over the edge of the pie dish.  Then trim it with a knife and save the trimmings.

PS If you are serious, check out Julia Child's pastry tips.

I cheated here as I could not get the pastry to stay in one piece. So I put the pastry on the floor of the pie dish. Then I cut strips to go round the walls at the edge and stuck them to the bottom pastry with water. It was easier to let the strips hang over the edge of the dish and fit them into the fluted edge.

Prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork all over. If you like you can put pie weights on the pastry to stop it rising, but if you prick it well this is unnecessary.  Put the pie crust in the oven for no longer than 5 minutes while you make the pie filling, just to dry it out a little bit.  Note: this goes against the grain of fine pastry chefs, but it helps make the walls of the pie stronger!

Squish the trimmings into a ball, then roll with the rolling pin into a long shape.  Cut the pastry into strips about 1/3" wide.

Making the Filling and Completing the Pie

If you don't have ground almonds, then use almond slivers or blanch some fresh almonds. Grind them in a small food processor designed for grinding nuts. Crack the eggs and get all the ingredients ready for the pie filling. 

Take the pie crust out of the oven – it won't be cooked but the base will be a bit drier. Let it cool a few minutes, while you clear up the floury mess from rolling out the pastry. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Spread the raspberry jam on the bottom. Cover the bottom with one layer of frozen raspberries (it doesn't matter if they are still frozen).

Put the fat (butter or margarine), flour, eggs and ground almonds into the food processor. Run the food processor on high until the mixture is smooth (about 2 minutes). Gently spread the mixture over the raspberries – spread it out evenly with a palette knife being careful not to let the raspberries show through the mixture.

Take the ribbons of pastry to make a lattice.  Put some across at about 2" apart – stick each strip at the edge to the existing pie shell with some water. Then put some at right angles to them about 2" apart. Go back to the original direction and put some more strips across between the first layer. Then put a final layer across them.

Here I had to cheat again as the edges of the pie looked raggy. So I bent over the crust into the pie and pinched it.

Decorate the gaps between the pastry strips with either whole or slivered almonds.  Get a pastry brush and dip it in the egg white, left over from pastry making, or dip it in milk or cream.  I used some left-over cream, but the egg white would be equally good.  Paint the strips so they go golden in the oven. Put the pie in the middle of the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes until it is starting to go golden on top.  I used a silicone pastry brush which was a disaster as it doesn't spread the glazing liquid evenly – use a brush with nylon bristles and if it looks like it will melt in the dish washer like mine did, resulting in my purchase of the silicone brush, then wash it by hand.

Turn on the oven light about 10 minutes before the pie  should be ready and watch it – don't open the oven door early on as it may sag and go sad. Take the pie out of the oven. If you are brave and think you can get the pie out of the dish without it breaking put it on a wire rack to cool (I dare not do this step in case it broke!).  Get a tea strainer or fine sieve and a teaspoonful of icing (powdered) sugar – dust it over the top before the pie has cooled. The pie can be eaten warm or cold with or without fresh cream (or custard).

Recipe Notes

I sifted through The Colour Library Book of Baking (1987 – out of print but many copies are available for a penny on amazon.co.uk) to get ideas for a pie recipe.  This book has an excellent choice of pie, flan and tart recipes complete with color pictures for any future competitions.  I modified the recipes for Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (p184) and Bakewell Tart (p234) to create my Almond and Raspberry Pie. The recipe in the book is for an 8" pie dish, but mine was 9" so I increased the number of ingredients.

1. The trick to making good pastry is to keep it very cool outside the oven – as I was in a hurry I put it in the fridge for about 10 minutes – which was not enough.  It rolls better if you put it in an air tight container or wrap it in clear film and leave it in the fridge overnight.
2. Handle the pastry as little as possible so that it does not go rubbery.  Since the pastry was fresh with minimal water, and had not been in the fridge long, it kept breaking so I had to roll it 3 times, not a prize-winning tactic.
3. You don't need self-rising flour for the pastry, but you do need it for the filling. If you don't have self-rising flour, then use any other flour add either 1 teaspoon of baking soda, or ½ a teaspoon of tartaric acid and ½ a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda for the filling.
4. The original recipe had 1 tablespoon castor (powdered) sugar. Castor sugar is fine grained sugar, it's not readily available in the US, where the normal sugar has quite small grains – so you could use normal sugar.  To make sure it mixed evenly, I used powdered (icing) sugar.
5. Fresh lemon tastes best, but you can use bottled lemon juice or juice that comes in a plastic lemon, to save time.
6. I did not use chilled water, but it makes better pastry if you do.
7. Use as little water as possible that forms a ball. If you have too much water, the pastry gets hard.
8. The original recipe called for about 4 tablespoonfuls of water. The flour tends to be dry in CA, so I used more. I trickle the water into the blender as it is running.
9. The original recipe asked for a pinch of salt. I omitted salt as the flour and butter were already salted.
10. Split almonds are usually used for decoration.  The split almonds I found in Bianchini's had skin on them and I couldn't slice some whole almonds very easily, so I used whole, blanched almonds for decoration.
11. I ground my almonds from almond slivers. If you have fresh almonds then you can blanch them by putting them in boiling water to remove their skins and then let them dry and grind them. the best almonds come in mid-summer from the Central Valley, but I bought two 3 oz packets – one of slivered almonds and the other of whole blanched almonds from Bianchini's.
12.  The original recipe called for a few drops of almond essence in the pie filling. I didn't have any, so omitted it.
13. The original recipe called for 1/3 cup of castor (powdered) sugar.  I used 1 tablespoon to save a few calories, but you can add sugar to taste.
14. The original recipe called for 3 tablespoons of raspberry jam. The raspberry preserves that I used were not as sugary and fruity. You could omit the fresh or frozen raspberries and just use jam, as in traditional Bakewell tarts.
15.  I augmented the recipe with raspberries, as I did not have enough jam or raspberry preserves.