Android Hangouts not receiving SMS or MMS text messages from either Android or Apple devices

Solution: Android Google Hangouts client not receiving SMS or MMS text messages from Apple or Android devices. You can send messages, but not receive.

Symptoms:

• Android does not receive SMS or MMS messages using Google Hangouts.
• The phone's native SMS app behaves the same as Hangouts, it does not show messages.
• Android can successfully send SMS and MMS messages.
• The people sending the SMS messages do not see errors; the message appears to send properly.  

At first I thought this was an Apple to Android problem, thinking only Apple messages were not arriving.  But later discovered all messages (Apple and Android) were failing to arrive.  More accurately, my local Android client was not retrieving or receiving the messages; the sending parties were sending them correctly.


Likely Solution:

This solution worked on my phone (4.4.4) and I am using Google Hangouts.  These settings are not available on the phone's native SMS application.

Google Hangouts

1.  On the Android device, open Google Hangouts.
2.  Click the System Menu (the "hamburger" 3-bar menu icon) from within Hangouts main screen.
3.  Choose "Settings"

4.  Choose "SMS" from the menu
5.  Choose "Default SMS Messaging Account"

6.  Change from "your userid@gmail.com" to "SMS only account"

Testing:

Have your Apple or Android friends send either an SMS or MMS message.  All should be well.  Note: You cannot receive MMS messages while talking on the phone.

Yearly Router Updates

How to: Update your Router's Firmware once or twice a year for improvements, bugfixes and security patches.  Upgrades take about 5 minutes and on most devices, the process is semi-automatic.

See this article for how to update older Linksys Routers:  LinkSys WRT110 Firmware Upgrade.

Once or twice a year, you should peek at your routers to see if they need a BIOS or Firmware update.  I typically look once or twice per year and the newer the device, the more frequently I look.  After about three years, your vendor will likely have abandoned the device and looking for updates may not be worth the bother.

You may have one or two routers in your network, depending on how your wireless is setup.  A common scenario is a DSL or Cable Modem, connected to a secondary router.  For example, the first is a Cable or DSL modem, followed by a Wireless router, which connects all of the devices.  Illustrated below is a Century Link DSL router and a Linksys Wireless router.  In a simpler network, you may have a single Cable or DSL router, with your computer plugged directly into the router.




Updating Firmware - Prerequisites

You will need the following, for each device, in order to update firmware:

A.  The IP Address of each router (see below)


Finding IP Addresses: If you do not remember the IP Addresses of your devices, they are easy to find. 

From a DOS/Command Prompt, type this command:
tracert www.google.com

The command takes a minute to run.

The first one or two responses are your devices.  If you have a Wireless router, as illustrated above, this will be the first line, and your DSL/Cable Modem will be the second device.  If you only have one device, look at only the first-returned line.

For example, in my house, my Linksys Wireless is 192.168.100.1
My DSL modem is 192.168.0.1


B.  You will also need the administrative login/password for each device.  Typically, the login is  "admin" or "administrator", followed by a password you setup when the device was first installed.  You did write them down, didn't you?  (The administrative logins may be different than the password you use to authenticate to the wireless.) 

If you do not have the passwords, they are not recoverable and the network needs to be rebuilt.  See these articles:
Installing a Netgear ADSL Modem
Linksys EA2700 Router - First Time Setup

With the IP address and the Administrative account, you can begin the upgrade.


Upgrade Steps:

You must be in the local network to perform these steps, this cannot be run from a remote location.  You can update either the Cable Modem/DSL Router or the downstream wireless router, in either order.  This example demonstrates a Linksys EA2700 Wireless Router.

1.  From any browser, on a wired or wireless connection, open a browser.  Type the IP address you wish to update into the URL line.  For example, to connect to my Linksys Wireless router, type "192.168.100.1"

2.  At the login screen, type your administrative credentials (password). Often, on many devices, the user-id is blank and all you need is the password.

3.  In "Router Settings," Connectivity, click "Check for Updates".  Your router may be different.

If an update is found, it will take several minutes to download and install.  The process is automatic and your router may even to offer to do this automatically, as soon as you administratively login.

DSL/Cable Modem Updates

Your DSL/Cable Modem may also have an upgrade.  Follow these same steps, using the second IP address.   As a caution, my DSL modem warns that an update may force you to re-configure the device, although this has not happened.  Have your configuration settings handy, just incase.  See this related article: Installing a Netgear ADSL Modem


Keyliner related articles for first-time setups:
Installing a Netgear ADSL Modem
Linksys EA2700 Router - First Time Setup

Old routers upgrade steps:  Linksys WRT110 Firmware Upgrade.

Windows 7 vs Windows 8

Discussion: Why Windows 8

This article explores reasons to jump to Windows 8, some technical, some not.  This article was re-visited and trimmed to more accurately reflect the current market.  Originally published in Nov, 2012.  Updated Nov, 2014.

I long-ago upgraded all of my home computers from Windows 7 to Windows 8.  Now, after using Microsoft's new operating system for several years and I have an opinion: Do it, with no reservations.  It is time to abandon Windows 7.

Of course, there are those who disagree.  Windows 7 is good and why change.  You may recall there were a lot of people who balked with the switch from Win 98 to XP, and then from XP to Windows Vista/7 - they will deny it today.  With each there were detractors and all said the same thing: "It is good enough, why change?"

Do you remember 1995?

There are many reasons why Microsoft abandoned the tried-and-true Windows 95/98 design.





Cosmetically the Windows desktop metaphor is over 20 years old.   With touch screens, tablets and phones, it is no longer adequate and does not do what people expect.  (How many times have you reached up to touch a laptop screen in order to move a window or zoom?)  Because of my phone and tablets, I am sometimes embarrassed when I touch my non-touch laptop.  

But Microsoft is no longer developing for Windows 7 and they will soon stop with Windows 8, with Windows 10 just around the corner  (Windows 9 was bypassed to not conflict with Windows 9x). 

The Interface:

Much has been written about the user-interface changes and I'll not repeat it here, but I will make these comments:  Assuming you do not have any "Metro" applications, you will spend a majority of your time on the desktop -- and that desktop looks almost identical to Windows 7.

The most noticeable change is the missing Start button, which has been replaced by the Start Tile page.  But using them entails a change in thinking as you jump from the old-style desktop back to the Start page.

Is it weird to jump from the Windows 8 Start Screen to the older-style desktop?  Yes.  But just think of the Start Page as a bigger, more glorious Start Menu.  It is different.  You can see all of your program icons at the same time and it is easy to configure, far easier than the cluttered hierarchical Start Menus of old.  But many still refuse.  As I like to say, "get over it"; there are bigger things to worry about.

And there is this: Microsoft noticed something about most Windows 7 users -- They really don't use the Start menu that often.  Instead, they use the Task Bar.

Look at your own task bar -- are your most frequently-used applications docked there?

What happened was this: The Start menu was mostly being used for seldom-used programs and most of the time people launched their applications from either the desktop or the task bar.

The new, and controversial, Start Page is basically a blend of the desktop and the task bar -- what is the difference between a Start Tile Page and a Desktop with full of icons?  One thing is for sure, the new Start Page is easier to personalize and organize and no matter how many tiles you have, a flick of the mouse can get you to any of them.

Metro App Designs

Starting in Windows 8, Microsoft introduced a new design for applications, originally called "Metro" and this was part of the operating system's design.

If the Windows Start Screen caused consternation, the Metro design fared even worse.  It appears with Windows 10, Microsoft capitulated and will abandon the Windows "Metro" design, but here was their thinking:  New apps hide everything except what you are working on.  There are no title bars, no menus, no-nothing on the screen.  Because they never shipped a version of MSOffice with this design, I am still unsure how it could behave with a program such as Excel.  But I finally understood Microsoft's intention when I fired up Bing Maps. 

I laughed when it opened.  On my vertical monitor was nothing but the map.
Literally.  Gloriously.
 

I thought for a moment, how do I find Boise, Idaho?

Swipe up from the side and click the standard Windows 8 search icon.  Although I knew this Search would find any installed application, I had not used it anywhere else.

To my pleasant surprise, typing "Boise" (as in Boise, Idaho), did exactly what I had hoped.  The same search icon is always there and is always context sensitive.

This was Microsoft's vision – a clean, uncluttered screen that only shows your work, with no fluff, no accouterments.  There will be no fake leather, no knobs, dials, or books on bookshelves.  Even the typography is clean and unadulterated. 



Unfortunately, the UI changes detracted from the other benefits and this kept many from upgrading and it has been widely reported that Windows 8 sales are anemic.  However, poor sales is relative.  Windows 8 out-right sales and shipments on new machines dwarfs Apple's entire history of shipping products.  Despite the grumbling over an interface that people only use 5% of the time, sales have been steady, but not spectacular.  At least Windows XP machines are finally being retired.

Windows 8 is more secure, faster, and handles multiple monitors better. I also found a variety of other enhancements, everything from colors, to fonts, to the general look and feel.  The initial reason I decided to try Windows 8 was found in the technical details in this article:

ARS Technica:
Better on the Inside: Under the hood in Windows 8

Basically, ARS Technica described better and safer memory management in Windows 8, with much behind-the-scene attention to malware.  Read below for a summary.  

Then, there was this thought:  Apple has shown many times in the past design is important.  Windows 8 has carried this to the next level, albeit with some inconsistencies. Jensen Harris (Windows 8, chief designer) has this lengthy (nearly an hour) video, explaining the reasons behind the design changes.  Is design important?  Yes.  Does design trump function?  No.  In Windows 8, each design change had a functional reason.  Watch this video to learn more:   

http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/Jensen-harris-tells-story-design-windows-8

Other articles of interest. 
ARS Technica:
A Review of Windows 8 - New features from a UI perspective.

Microsoft Surface Hardware Tear-Down - A fun look inside


Under the Hood
There are other, less-visible changes and these were the original reasons I switched. 

Windows 8 expands on the notion of protected memory and a little-known feature called "Data Execution Prevention (DEP)".  With this, Microsoft randomly moves programs to different memory locations.  This means a virus can't exploit a program by targeting a specific memory address and if the program forces a crash, it can't insert code into Microsoft's new protected memory model. 

This doesn't mean it can't happen, but according to all reports, it vastly more difficult for our virus friends to have fun.  And if they did, they would find a lot smaller playground because of the nature of the new applications, described next.

Kitty Litter Sandboxes

If you haven't noticed, the nature of applications have changed, thanks to Apple.  Everyone wants apps - I want apps.  Small, targeted programs that do one or two things.  A password manager, an Alarm Clock, To Do list, Calculator, Address book, music player, news reader, you get the idea. 

The applications are also more trustworthy.  Unlike the Google/Android, both Microsoft and Apple's App Stores vet their products.  The applications are virus free and well-behaved.  Flip this around and think about downloading an unknown application from the Internet – a very scary proposition.  This is why I like the app-store model.

Of course there is still a need for a monolithic application like Excel, WordPerfect or a photo-editor, but these smaller apps must be cheap – a dollar or two.  Paying and downloading from the app-store needs to only take a moment and it has to be at a price where the pocket-book is not concerned.  With such little investment in money and time, they become risk-free. 

Microsoft will carry this into their Operating System.  The industry expects Microsoft to accelerate their operating system rollouts.  What used to be every few years, they will now release yearly, much like Apple and Android - with more incremental, evolutionary changes.  And the price will be smaller, near $30 – making it a risk-free.  Windows 10 is expected to be free. 

Why do this?  Microsoft has a problem that Apple doesn't.  Microsoft has a huge pool of users still in Windows 7 and the upgrade costs were too high for users to bear.  If Microsoft reduces this expense, it will become a "no-brainer" and more people will make the jump.  This means less people running an older and less-secure operating system and more people benefiting from the improvements.  Apple doesn't seem to have this problem because they traditionally sold new hardware at the same time – but this is changing for them too.

Much to Intel, Dell and HP's chagrin, you don't have to buy new hardware.  Windows 8 is performing better than Windows 7 and far better than the now-forgotten Vista.  After all, Windows 8 was designed for anemic tablets; it can only be better on better equipment.

Battery and Performance

Having smaller, sand-boxed apps in Windows 8 has other benefits.  The design gives multi-core CPU's more ability to load-balance across your CPU, giving better performance.

On laptops and tablets, Windows 8 has much more control over the battery and it can shut down idled applications, putting hardware to sleep, with much more skill than the past.  On the other side, even if the machine is asleep, 8 allows an application to wake the machine just enough to check on a task and then drop back into sleep after drawing only a frugal amount of power.  This works on both new and old applications so the benefits are realized now.

And let's not forget about those glorious boot times.  My 7 year-old laptop wakes from sleep in 5 seconds and boots cold in 35 seconds.  What a joy. 

Brain-dump Comments
 

Touch Screens

I have persistently heard from friends that Windows 8 does not work well without a touch screen.  Nonsense.   If you can see it, you can mouse it.  All functions are available on non-touch devices, for both old and new applications.  But the day will come when you will want both.  Your phone has already taught you this.

My observations are this: If you can touch an icon with your finger, you can touch it with a mouse.  I have not found any features that demand a touch screen.  Beyond a few minor differences in how the interfaces work, touch vs mouse works similarly.

The only really noticeable difference between touch and mouse is in a swipe-scroll.  With your finger, flick the screen to scroll, with the mouse, you have to use the scroll bar.  This strikes me as odd because why couldn't the mouse simulate the exact same behavior?  In any case, this is not a systemic design failure.

However, I am pleased to see many new laptops are touch-enabled, but I do not yet own one.  Seeing the Surface Pro 3 makes me want to.

Tiles

Most of the tiles on the default Start Page are useless and I have been busy removing them.  Things like readme files, help icons, license.txt, and uninstall routines.  I delete most, leaving only the main program tile.  Those deleted tiles can be found in other places; for example, help is visible from within the application; uninstall from the control panel, and readme.txt files can be found on the disk.  Delete undesired tiles with abandon.

In Microsoft's defense, adding and removing tiles is easy and I can understand why they wanted a better Start Menu experience.

Of interest, under the hood, the same Start Menu folder structure, with shortcut icons and everything, still exists.  The icon grouping, which is hidden on the Start Page survives inside these folders and you can see them from the Start Page's All Programs charm.

The technical may be interested in these keyliner articles:
Start Tile Properties
Manually Building Start Tiles


Windows Explorer / File Explorer

I found it humorous that "Windows Explorer" was renamed to "File Explorer."  When XP first came out with the "Windows Explorer / Internet Explorer" names, I thought they were idiots.  I was right.  You may recall in Windows 98 it was called "File Manager".  What comes around, goes around.

Previewing pictures is nice - This version can see my camera's RAW files.

Large file copies (e.g. my 30G music library) was always difficult to copy.  Windows 7 would choke and I often had to copy the files in groups.  Windows 8 handled them without a problem. 

Windows Media Player vs Windows 8 "Music"

An initial look at the default Windows 8 Music player showed yet another program that is trying to sell you stuff... it spends most of its energy directing you to purchased music.  Crass commercialization of what should be a straight-forward music player.  I had minor difficulties getting my music files to load and had to learn about the "Library" feature.

If inclined, Windows Media Player is still available.  My music imported in just a few moments and all was good. I use Windows Media player instead of the Windows 8 player because it is more obvious about how it works.

Internet Explorer 10

I can't figure this program out.  Half the time, I can't find the URL bar.  Sometimes it is on top, sometimes on the bottom, and other times, it is nowhere to be found.  The fore and back buttons seem to move.

In Windows 8, open "msn.com," and Microsoft will display a Metro-esc page, where all of the UI elements disappear.  I am completely lost.  I can't find tabs, back-arrows, etc.  This is not a Windows 8 issue -- it is a re-designed IE.

Installing Firefox or Chrome will fix these issues. 


Bullish

As you can tell, I'm bullish on Windows 8 and am looking forward to Windows 10.  I intend to stay with the Tile menus.  With Microsoft's new upgrade cycles, Windows 7 will have a much shorter life than the-still-dying Windows XP.  In my mind, Windows 7 already feels a little dated.

Using Google Authenticator for 2-step authentication

Using "Google Authenticator" for 2-step authentication - This is a new Google feature from the App-store.  This is faster than a regular SMS text message.

I have long been a proponent of Google's two-factor authentication.  With this, you login to Google services (email, gdrive, etc.) using a normal User-ID and password.  Then, a few seconds later, Google sends a text message to your cell.  In a secondary screen, type the SMS numeric code and you are logged in.

Benefit:

Even if your credentials are stolen or lost, nobody can login to your account
You cannot be hacked
Works with all cell phones, smart and non-smart
This is highly recommended and very secure

Setup Google's 2-step verification here:  Two-step verification
(Do this before installing this article's recommended application) 

Improved with "Google Authenticator"

Two-factor, two-step authentication is recommended and using SMS text messages is nice, but if you have a smart phone, install the "Google Authenticator" app and bypass the SMS text message.  New codes are generated directly on your phone.

• This is faster than an SMS
• The code is immediately available; no need to wait for the SMS
• Works even if outside of cellular or SMS services 
• Get the code before or after you start logging in
• Requires a smart phone

Install the app from your favorite app store (Android, Apple) and follow the instructions.  This requires you already have two-factor (2-step) authentication, from above.   

The code changes every 60 seconds and is unique to your phone and your account.

What if you don't have your phone?  You can't login.  However, when you first enable two-step authentication, Google generates a short list of emergency codes.  Store these in an email or some other location, separate from Google Services.  If you permanently lost your phone, and are not replacing it, use the emergency codes to login and then disable 2-step authentication.


If you use Microsoft Services, they also support their own form of a two-factor authentication and they have their own application.  Microsoft's program works a little differently and in some respects, it is better -- but requires you must be on a cellular network.  If you use both Microsoft and Google, you will use two separate applications.  When Facebook has theirs, then you will need three.

Related Articles:
Gmail Protection Steps
GRC's Password Haystack (why a complicated password is not enough)

Webcam missing in Windows 8.x

Solution for Webcam missing in Windows 8.1

On a Laptop, the webcam mysteriously disappeared, probably after a Windows update.  There were no indications the video camera was even an available option; there were no indications the camera ever existed.  In this case, the video camera (webcam) used to work with no issues, then one day, the camera was not found. 

Here are the steps to re-install the Video Webcam software.  Likely, the webcam drivers are built into the operating system and there are no drivers to download. 

These steps were tested in Windows 8.1.

Symptoms:

• Control Panel, Device Manager does not show a webcam or "integrated webcam"
• Control Panel, Device Manager does not show an "Imaging Devices" section
• Skype, Google Plus Video Conferencing, and other programs that rely on the video camera show "no video device available" or "no video hardware"
• Note: The machine does not have a webcam driver to install; vendor likely does not provide drivers or driver installation packages (this is normal)

Solution:

On most modern laptops, especially those with Intel motherboards, including Dell Inspiron 1520 laptops, HP laptops, etc., webcam drivers are not supplied and cannot be installed from the vendor.  Instead, the drivers are built into the operating system.  No additional software needs to be downloaded or installed. 

1.  Open the Windows Control Panel, "Device Manager"  (assuming View by Small Icons)

(if in Category View, click "Hardware and Sound".  In Devices and Printers, click Device Manager)

2. Scroll near the bottom of the list, expand "Universal Serial Bus Controllers"

3.  If any item shows a yellow bang (exclamation), especially if "USB Root Hub", right-mouse-click the item, choose "Uninstall"  (This is safe to do on any and all yellow-banged items).

4.  While highlighting "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" (or highlighting any other sub-section or item in the control panel), choose top menu Action, "Scan for Hardware Changes".  You must have an item selected.

Hardware detection will take a minute or so. 
In this instance, a reboot is probably not required; it will prompt if needed.

The webcam should re-install itself.  There will be no obvious indication.

Confirm:

In Control Panel, Device Manager, note a new section "Imaging Devices".  Note internal device, "Integrated Webcam"

Testing:

Launch any program that uses the webcam.  For example, G+ video conferencing, Skype, or your vendor-supplied video or movie program.  The device should now be working.


If you continue to have problems, consider the following:

A.  From the laptop vendor's support site, download and install update BIOS software; then repeat the steps above.  This step is recommended for all computers, even if you are not having this problem. 

GRC's Password Haystack

Thoughts on passwords.  I keep coming back to this article because passwords do not work.  You need to do more, but more complex passwords are not the answer.  This article was originally published on 08/2011 has been revisited on 2013.05, 2014.10, with changes throughout the text.

Gibson Research Company (GRC) wrote a fun password program, the "Password Haystack."

Link: https://www.grc.com/haystack.htm

In this program, type a password and it reports roughly how secure it is. (Note: GRC is a trustworthy site and I have full-faith in his honesty and security; you should feel safe about testing your passwords here.)  Note this example password has a mixture of upper and lower-cased values, digits, but no special characters. 

click illustration to see a larger view; click right-x to return

The site implies at 1,000 attempts per second, this password takes about 27 million years to hack. The trouble is -- this is for a brute-force password attack, which nobody uses.  If they have the underlying database, such as a Rainbow table, or more commonly, a list of common passwords, they can hack millions of possibilities per second using relatively common equipment. 

GRC goes on to suggest adding a 'special character', such as a predictable [space], adds one more digit to the length and theoretically changed the character set from 62 possible values to 95. According to GRC, the ubber-cluster now needs about 2 billion years to hack. 



Fun to think about, but these calculations are not realistic.  Adding a space (multiple-word passwords) does not change the number of characters from 62 to 95.  The real count is 63 and the hackers know this. 

"Through 20 years of effort,
we have successfully trained everyone to use passwords that are hard for humans to remember,
but easy for computers to guess." -xkcd.com

Other Ideas 

Straying from a brute-force attack, are there other ways to get a password?  Of course, and these are even more fun. No matter how long, no matter how complex, no password is safe if you give it away through social engineering (fake login pages) or if the company is hacked (Adobe, for example) and all passwords are lost at the same time.

Passwords are hackable with this xkcd.com method:






20 Years of Password Nonsense

This now-famous xkcd comic describes the benefit of a simpler password, using multiple words, and it has circled the Earth about a million times:

Click for a larger view, click right-x to return.

But even this idea is flawed and is not as safe as the GRC site would suggest.  Yes. Having a multi-word password, with spaces or not, is better than using "password123", but it is sadly prone to attacks, using some very sophisticated, but widely-available methods, described in a few moments. 

And how many phrases (correcthorsebatterystaple) can you invent, for the myriad of places you need a password?  You won't be able to keep them straight and will start to use the same password for each site -- but, as you already know, this is even more risky; a breach at one company is a breach in all.


What about Password Safes and Vaults?

Password Safes store your long, complicated, and numerous passwords in some other protected program or vault.  Each time you need to login, you have to unlock the safe, find the account, and type the ugly password that you will never remember.  In practice, this does not work and you will never use it. 

Who wants to go to this trouble?  And when all is said-and-done, this does not fix a password's biggest weakness.


It Gets Worse

How long do bute-force attacks take?  Do they take longer with multi-word phrases?  The real answer is it does not make that much of a difference. This amazing "arsTechnica" article discusses the techniques now being used.  Be sure to glance through the hundreds of comments:

Article: Anatomy of a hack: How crackers ransack passwords like “qeadzcwrsfxv1331”
Link:
http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/05/how-crackers-make-minced-meat-out-of-your-passwords

Within a day or two, a single account can be de-coded, provided the credential database was stolen -- which happens too often.



The Real Weakness

No doubt, longer passwords slow the hackers down.  But unless your personal account is a high-value target, such as a movie star or executive, it won't be hacked with brute force.

Instead, the most likely way to lose the password is when the company itself is hacked and all account credentials are lost at the same time.  Any company worth its salt will have encrypted the password, but once the database is lost, they can brute-force-it at their leisure, using all the techniques described above. 

In other words, your credentials will probably be stolen -- either by a database infiltration or by some social engineering scheme.  A password, no matter how strong, is not enough to protect your stuff.

Of course you may say your stuff is not that important.  Yes it is.  Imagine getting on my machine -- with this account -- you could get to my Google Wallet and transfer money all over the place.  Account information, contact lists, launch remote-controls to other computers, and other such mayhem.  You could adjust my home thermostat. 
Passwords will be lost.



Google 2-Step Authentication

What can you do?  Password complexity is needed, but is ultimately a lost cause.  No matter how good the password, when your credentials are lost by a database breach, it is nearly pointless.  You need another layer of security and with this, you can use a simpler password scheme.

Consider my Gmail and Blogspot account.  I have been using Google's 2-step authentication for several years.  Each time I login, Google sends a text message to my phone (or now with a nifty app).  Then, in a secondary login screen, I type a random numeric code that changes each time. 

This works similarly to the RSA random-number dongles you used to see. 

My login has become nearly impossible to hack. 
Even if they have my account credentials, they can't login. 

In practice, this is easy.  Login to (Gmail), type your credentials.  Three seconds later, type a six-digit numeric code.  And now, with the new Google "Authenticator" app, I don't even have to wait the three seconds.  Assuming my phone is secured, my logins are secured.  Microsoft is now doing a similar process.

What if I loose my cell phone?  Without going into details, Google has a moderately secure, alternate method for logging in. See this article for full details on the 2-step authentication. 

See also this keyliner article:  Using Google Authenticator


Password Recommendations:

With or without 2-step authentication, do these things for better password security:

1. Use a password phrase (two or more words).  Each word should have mixed case, where the first letter is not capital, along with numbers or special characters.  Do not end with a number.

2.  Do not use these schemes:

First-letter-capitalized
Trailing digits
Dictionary words
Replace 1's with !'s, e's with 3's, s's with 5's

3. Use a different password for each site -- but use a scheme to help you remember. 

The reason:  If one password is compromised, you won't loose everything. But this admittedly makes passwords nearly impossible to remember.  Consider this trick, which uses the same password on each site/program, but adds a suffix, making it unique.

For example:
If your normal password were "aB9dogglybarks"

use "aB9dogglybarks hotm" for your hotmail account.
use "aB9dogglybarks goog" for your google account
use "aB9dogglybarks bank" for your banking account

Devise your own scheme, then use it everywhere; make it predictable by you.

If the password were compromised, it would at least slow down automated programs from guessing the other accounts.  Naturally, a human would see through this in a heart beat. 

4.  For dumb sites, where you could care-less if it were hacked, such as registration sites, Q&A forums, etc, use a single/same password (I call this an expendable or junk password), with moderate complexity.  Do not use your password scheme.
 
5.  When available, always use 2-step authentication.

If the 2-step vendor supports an app, use the app instead of SMS text messages (see Google, see Microsoft), because it is faster and easier.


What if your site does not allow passwords of this complexity?  Typically, some sites limit you to 8-character passwords.  Revolt.  Write the admin and insist on the change.  If enough people complain, they will switch.


Conclusions:

Passwords need to have some complexity, but don't go overboard because the very idea of a password is now a flawed design.  Your only protection is some sort of two-factor authentication, which should be used whenever available.  Unfortunately, we may end up with a dozen different styles, requiring a dozen different methods. 


Related Articles:
Gmail Protection Steps
SMS Text Message: Your Gmail account has been hacked
Using Google Authenticator - a Google App
Google Documentation - 2 Step Authentication

Spigen Slim Armor Phone Case - Review

Spigen Slim Slim Armor phone case for the HTC M8 - Review.

After trying several different cases for the HTC One M8, this is my favorite and is recommended.  It is functional, gracefully-made and attractive.


The case is made up of two parts, an interior rubber-like shell (black), with a decorative metal-like outer casing.  The metal (actually a hard plastic, but I thought it was metal for the longest time) is understated and classy, matching the contours of the original phone perfectly and comes in several colors.  I happen to like the gun-metal grey.

 
Ports and Buttons:

The power and volume rockers are molded into inner shell, and oddly, are more solid and work better than the buttons on the original phone.  They protrude more than the original phone -- and this is good because I can now easily tell which side is up just by feel.  Being more prominent and tactile, the buttons are easier to use.

The USB and headphone ports are exposed along the phone's bottom edge, easily accessible.  This is an improvement over a previously-tried Otter-brand "commuter" case.

The case has two narrow strips along the top and bottom edge of the metal that expose the phone's internal antenna, a well-thought feature.

The only drawback to the case is the phone's top-infrared transmitter is covered.  If you intend to use the phone to control your TV and Stereo, this case will not work.  The SIM cards are covered, but the case can be removed in a few seconds and has not been a bother.

Price:

The price is right:  Amazon sells this for $20 -- half the cost of a similar Otter case -- and I believe this case is better and slimmer.

Shameless link to Amazon:
www.Amazon.com/Spigen Slim Armor

The same design is available for other phone models.


Changes:

If I could make any recommendations for this case, it would be the following.  Although the inner-shell is a soft-rubber-like plastic, I wished it were softer.  Dropped phones always land on the corner and it would be nice to have just a little more give.

Secondly, as stunning as the metal accoutrement is, I wished it had a little texture -- perhaps faint grip lines cut into the outside edges of the metal -- just something quiet, right where it bends around the edges of the phone.

Windows 7 Update Hangs and how to Fix

Problem:  Windows Update (Windows 7 Update) hangs.  Shows Downloading xx updates (0KB total, 0% complete).  Windows update hangs with 0% complete.

Symptoms:

• Windows update hangs at the downloading step with no progress.
• Progress bar does not move
• Hangs, even if you wait a long time
• Likely, this is the first update that you have tried to run in a long time; perhaps an old image was restored.

Possible Solution:

1.  Confirm the machine is on the Internet.  Probably the easiest way to test is to launch Google and do a search on anything. Do not skip this check.  Confirm you can actually reach the net.

2.  Wait some period of time (~15 or 20 minutes), giving background processes time to download updates.  Be patient, even if no activity.

3.  Then click the Start Menu, Shutdown

If you see a "Shield" and "Install Updates then shutdown your computer", Windows needs to update the Windows Update program itself and I believe this does not show on the status bar.

4.  Gracefully shutdown and restart the computer.

When the machine begins to shut-down, you will see "Please do not power off or unplug your machine.  Installing update xx of yy.

5.  Re-open Windows Update and attempt again.

If there are no pending updates

Windows Update may appear to hang (showing 0% downloaded), but if you wait (again, 15 or 20 minutes), the update should begin, with percentage changes showing.  This is especially noticeable on large office Service Packs. Be patient.

Without pending updates, a simple reboot has helped in several instances.  I have noticed on some older-imaged machines, multiple reboots are required and after each reboot, Windows Update finds even more updates to apply.


If these steps fail:

Here are some technical items to use:

1.  Open and run the Microsoft Windows Update Troubleshooter

Link: 
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Open-the-Windows-Update-troubleshooter


2.  Restart the Windows Update Services and clear the Update Cache.  This is safe to do at any time.  Follow these steps:

Start a command prompt (DOS prompt) as administrator (other-mouse-click the Command Prompt icon, select Run As Administrator).  Type these commands to reset the Windows update services:

net stop wuauserv
net stop bits
net start wuauserv
net start bits
exit
(then Reboot the computer and attempt the Windows Update again)

3. Consider running the System File Checker if you think your machine was compromised by a virus. 

Start a command prompt (DOS Prompt) as administrator.  Type this command to run the Windows System File Check (which can repair damaged system files):

sfc /scannow
(Type exit, then Reboot the computer when done)

4.  Consider re-installing the Windows Update Agent.  I have not needed this, but here is the Microsoft link.  This is safe to do.:

http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/946928/en-us



Comments:
I see this problem particularly when the workstation has been off the network for a long time or if Windows Update is set to manual and has not run in a long time. 

For example, with a laptop, I restored an image from 2 years ago, after pulling the machine out of moth-balls.  I found Windows Update hung multiple times and required 7 different reboots, as it applied 1.7G of patches and was finally caught-up.

I have seen other articles on the Net, suggesting flushing cache, registry hacks, disk-repairs and scan disks.  So far, that all has been nonsense.  A quiet reboot after waiting has worked for me on several different machines. 

Optimizer Pro Virus Removal; iStart123 Virus Removal

How to: Remove Optimizer Pro; iStart123 Virus Removal


This article has been replaced.  See this improved Keyliner article:
Virus Cleanup Steps


> Historical

My daughter arrived at a website and got a popup, "A new version of Firefox is available.  Update now?".  She clicked yes and got two viruses - Optimizer Pro and iStart123.  If she were running IE or Chrome, the message would change to match that browser.  

Additionally, I suspect, but did not research or prove, but a new Video Plugin was also installed, known as "New Video Player", or "Video Player", or as "VPlay".  This is also a virus

As I had warned her in the past, if you arrive at a website and an unexpected message appears, no matter how legitimate, immediately close your browser; do not click Yes or No or even "X". As soon as she clicked Yes/Install, she knew it was a mistake, but the damage was done.



This article discusses how to remove these two viruses.  The same steps are used for both, with a minor difference for iStart123.  You will find the steps tedious, with some redundancy, but this brings the best results.


1. Pre-Download files.
On a non-infected computer, download the following programs and burn them to a CD (steps on how to burn are not detailed here; if needed, ask a knowledgeable friend to help).

Ideally, burn downloaded files to a CD -- not a pen drive; media should be Read-Only; this keeps some viruses from infecting the downloaded software and this is a reasonable precaution.  If a second PC is not available, the download may or may not work on the infected machine.  Some viruses are able to block downloads and can replace them with their own infected copies.

Files:
A.  Download MalwareBytes: Malwarebytes
Choose the free edition.  Save to the CD.

B.  DownLoad SuperAntiSpyware: superAntiSpyware
Choose the free edition; this is a legitimate program, despite its flaky name.   Save to the CD.


2. Disconnect the infected computer from the Internet.

* Important: Unplug the Cat-5 network cable or press your laptop's function key/other key to disable wireless (many viruses calm-down when not active on the internet)


3.  Install and run the MalwareBytes program.

Even though you downloaded the most recent version, there are database updates that should happen and the program will complain that it can't update (because you disconnected the workstation from the Internet).  This is OK.  Continue with a full system scan.

The scan will take an hour or more, depending on your data and disk.
Allow MalwareBytes to clean up anything it finds.  It will do a good job, but will miss some of the OptimizerPro on the first pass. 


4.  After the scan and cleanup, Reboot. 
If prompted to reboot (you likely will be asked), reboot, but leave the machine *off* the Internet.


5.  Open the Control Panel, "Programs and Features" (Add Remove Programs) and uninstall MalwareBytes (it conflicts with the next step). 

Reboot if prompted. 
Again, stay off the Internet.


6.  Install and launch SuperAntiSpyWare.
I always like to run multiple virus scans, from different (trusted) vendors.  Often, one company will find something the other does not.  In this case, SuperAntiSpyware (as of 2014.08) will find something missed by MalwareBytes.

It too will complain about not being able to update its database.  Ignore and run a full-scan.

When done, at least on my machine, it will find a few additional vestiges of OptimizerPro (and it may find other viruses that were missed by MalwareBytes). 

Allow it to clean all that it finds.


7.  Uninstall SuperAntiSpyWare.

8.  Enable your wireless or Internet connection.  Do not launch any browser sessions.


9.  Re-Install MalwareBytes.

This time, allow it to update its database/signatures. 
Do yet another Full-System Scan.  Yes, I know this is somewhat redundant and I did this out of an abundance of caution.  The previous steps likely killed the virus, but the newest database update may catch more on this (or other) viruses.

10.  After this final scan, I recommend un-installing MalwareBytes for a second time.

(I tend to use this program as a utility and have not allowed it to remain installed).  You should not leave this program and your other, normal anti-virus installed at the same time.  See the closing notes, below.

11.  If your browser's home page was hijacked to "iStart123" (see second illustration, "Quick Start", at the top of this article), continue with these next steps. 

If your browser was not hijacked, you are done and the Optimizer Pro virus should be removed -- Malwarebytes saves the day.



iStart123 Additional Steps

MalwareBytes and SuperAntiSpyware cleaned up the OptimizerPro and the iStart123 virus, but neither program completely cleaned the iStart123 hijack.  Follow these additional steps:

A.  On your Windows 7 or Windows 8 Desktop, locate all browser icons  (if you have IE, Firefox, or Chrome, all three icons will be damaged.

B.  For each desktop *or* taskbar icon, "other-mouse-click" the icon and choose "Properties".  Note the end of the Target field.  After the (.... .exe") name and closing quote, if you find a bunch of "crap" (numbers, letters, punctuation, etc.); this is the hijack.

Remove the appendages, removing all text after the .exe's closing quote.
You will have to do this on every Start Menu, Task Bar, and desktop icon that launches the browser(s).

In Windows 8, some of these icons are hidden (such as on the Start Page).  From a Tile, select "Open File Location".  Then, within that folder, "other-mouse-click" the shortcut and select Properties -- cleaning up from there.  Exact steps not detailed in this article, but these are standard Windows icons and tiles.

C.  Alternately you can do the following -- and in many respects, this is easier than editing each icon.  Fix one icon for each type of program (IE, Firefox, Chrome), as described above (usually on the standard desktop).

D.  Then, fearlessly delete (unpin from Start Menu, Unpin from the Tile Menu) all other browser icons, leaving the one repaired icon.  Then, from the Repaired icon, "other-mouse-click" and choose "Pin to Start" and "Pin to TaskBar" -- rebuilding the icons.

This completes the cleanup for iStart123.


Additional Comments:

My daughter was running MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials - the free virus scanner for Windows).  It clearly failed to detect this virus -- but on the other hand, she did click "Yes" (I approve - UAC approval), allowing the virus to install -- giving it full, administrative access to the computer.

Not recorded in the steps above, a full, MSE after-the-infection-scan failed to detect either of these viruses.  This saddens me.

Once again, MalwareBytes deserves credit for fixing the computer.  And even if you do not leave the program installed, they deserve a donation for a fine product.

Your comments are welcome.

Solution: Excel YYYY Dates show as 1905

Problem: Excel date formatting YYYY shows date as 1905.

Scenario:
For a pivot table, the dates needed to be categorized by Year-Month.  For example, if today's date was 2014.08.03, they needed a date column header displayed as "2014-08".  The trouble was the formulas would display the year as 1905 when clearly the date was 2014.

For example:
Here is a valid date with a formula showing the year and another showing the month.  Both want to be assembled, giving 2014-08.

 where:

• A real date (e.g. =now() or any other date) is in cell A3
   
• Just to show the year and the month as separate entities,
  cell B3 displays the date as a Year using =Year()
  and C3 displays the Month, using =Month()
   
• In the last cell, D3, attempt to assemble a new date (e.g. "2014-08") by using the separate (intermediate) date values "2014" and "08/8", as in "2014" & "-" & "08".... 
  
  or simply point the formula to the year (e.g. =B3 -- '=2014') - and then apply a date format to that last cell, you will get "1905".
   

Important Note: In the illustration above, cell D3 is formatted as "Date".
 
How to build YYYY-MM

For this article, the goal is to build a YYYY-MM date.
If using the intermediate Year and Month columns for the YYYY-MM assembly, it will fail with a 1905 date (see red formula):  

=Text(B3, "YYYY")  or
=Text(B3,"YYYY")&"-"&Text(C3,"MM")

The key: Do not point date calculations to sub-date fields (the red formula).

Use the original (true) date for the assembly (see blue formula).  Format the resulting formula with either General or Text, do not use a Date format. 

=Text(A3, "YYYY") & "-" & Text(A3, "MM")


YYYY-MM Solution:

•  Always point =Text() formulas to real date  (Cell A3);
  Do not point to intermediate cells, such as =Year()
   
• Assemble a YYYY-MM formula like this:
  
  =Text(A3,"YYYY")&"-"&Text(A3,"MM")
  
  where cell A3 is a real date-cell (regardless of how formatted).
   
• Format the YYYY-MM column (D) as "general" or "text"; not as date
   
• In the example above, cells B3 and C3 are not needed for any intermediate work but many people start with this idea and it will lead them astray

YYYY Solution:

If you wanted just the year, as a Text field, use this formula:

=Text(A3,"YYYY")



Alternate: Using a Custom Format Picture Clause:

Alternately, ignoring everything above, format the cell with custom-date format.  This preserves the "date-ness" of the data -- but has the drawback that the entire date, including the day and time survive, even though the 'displayed format' only shows Year-Month:

Click for larger view

where:

• Highlight one or more cells.  Other-mouse-click, choose "Format Cells"
• From the Category, choose "Custom"
• In the "type" field (illustrated above in black highlight), type "YYYY-MM" (no quotes)

In the case of a Pivot table, this may not work for you -- the Pivot will still see all the individual dates and times from the original data and may not group them properly, still seeing the days, not the months.



Why 1905?

Excel stores all dates as a sequence or serial number, which represents the number of days since Jan-1, 1900 or Jan-1, 1905 (Macintosh)  See this Microsoft article for details.  For example, the date used in the examples above has a decimal number "41864.92", where the fraction represents a fractional-part of a day -- e.g. the Time.  That is, 2014 is 114 Years * 365 = 41,000.

Years like 2012, 13, 14, 15, etc., will always be 1905 because the serial number ('2014') is well below the current date's 41,000 number:

In other words, when you convert a cell to =Year(), with a result of "2014", you are saying two-thousand days since 01-01-1900 -- which happens to be sometime in 1905.  The year can vary, depending on an obscure base-date option in Excel and if Macintosh; I do not have details on these, but I would guess 1909.


Other Keyliner Excel Articles:

How to use Excel VLookup
Return First Word, Last Word, SuperTrim
Parsing City State Zip
Writing your own User Defined Functions in Excel

How to Generate a QR Code

How to generate a QR Code

QR Codes (Quick Response) allow a smartphone to scan a code and take them directly to a website, without having to type the URL address.  The code can store other types of text data, including coupons, contact information, phone numbers, etc. These act as a convenience for your users.

http://www.keyliner.blogspot.com

QR Codes only store textual information and most commonly take you to a webaddress, youtube video, or an email.  These are "static" addresses and cannot run programs or scripts - in other words, it is not executable.  But be aware that the site you arrive at may do its own tracking or run scripts -- but this is no different than arriving at any webpage with your browser.

To the right is a QR code generated free by kaywa.com and it takes you to this blog, keyliner.blogspot.com.  To read the code, download any bar-code reader for your smartphone or tablet and you can scan this code now, directly from the screen.  On Android, I like to use "Barcode Scanner" by Zxing Team (available in the App store).  Kaywa also has a code-reading App, which I have not tested.


Steps to Generate a Code:

I have used kaywa.com and VistaPrint (Business Card printing) to generate QR codes.   This document shows kaywa.com.  At the bottom of this article are other references.  Also, Wikipedia has a good article on these types of codes.

1.  Open a browser session to

qrcode.kaywa.com

2.  Choose "URL"  (Static, not dynamic)

3.  Click "Generate"

4.  "Other-mouse-click" the code, choose "Save As"
      Save the image as a .PNG

5.  Test

Use Windows Explorer and find the image.

Double-click to preview.
Scan the app with your smartphone or tablet to confirm the address.

6.  Reprint all of your business cards and marketing literature to include this code.


Note:  The first time I generated the code, it took me to a site "Congratulations: You have won a free prize".  I returned to Kaywa.com and re-generated the code and three others and did not see this problem.  I am unsure why this happened and at first thought Kaywa might be nefarious, but I see no further indications of problems and the site and their product comes recommended by others.


Mobile vs Desktop Sites:

If you are using a QR code to arrive at a URL, choose a URL designed for a mobile app, because only mobile devices will be scanning the code.

For example, arriving at http://www.keyliner.blogspot.com  (this blogging tool), it will automatically route a smart-phone to a site designed for a smaller screen.  But the same address, scanned from a larger tablet, arrives at the desktop site.  Your website may work differently.  For example, the main landing page for a desktop browser might be http://mysite.com, while a mobile device might need to arrive at http://mysite.com/mobile; use the mobile site if not automatic.


Commercial Use:

For a monthly fee, Kaywa.com can generate something they call a "Dynamic" code. With this, the vendor can track your code, how often clicked, etc., and can re-direct the visitor to a different address of your choosing -- all without reprinting the code or marketing literature.  In other words, you could, in August, direct everyone to your August Sales campaign and then in September, change to a different address, with its own tracking.  For commercial ventures, this idea is recommended.

With their other commercial products, you can have the same QR route iphone users to a different site than an Android user - for example, you could route them directly to the App Store, depending on their device.

QR Code Differences:

I returned to VistaPrint to build new business cards and noticed they added a QR Code feature (keyliner reviewed).  I found it interesting that their generated code is different than kaywa's and I do not know why; it may be different versions of the QR standard or different error corrections.  All indications are the two codes go directly to my selected destination and do not pass-through either of these companies.  Here are the two codes:

Related links:
qrcode.kaywa.com (as described this article)
delivr.com/qr-code-generator Untested by keyliner
qurify.com/en Untested by keyliner
VistaPrint Business Cards

Wikipedia article on QR Codes
Structure
Layout

Western Digital My Cloud - Streaming Music

Western Digital My Cloud - Streaming Music.

I bought the Western Digital "My Cloud" drive for backups and found it is a capable and useful device (see this article:  "Western Digital My Cloud Review").  to my surprise, it also acts as an interesting music, video and photo-streaming device.  I can get to my music and photos from all of my internet devices, including my phone and tablet.  This has been entertaining and convinient. 

Streaming Music from the Cloud Drive

has been unexpectedly fun

In the past, I stored all music on a laptop, making the laptop a particularly large MP3 player.  Now I store all of my music on the Western Digital drive and use my phone, tablet or PC to play the content.  This works at my office, in coffee shops, and at home. 

Benefits:

• Listen to your entire music library without a PC
• Listen from your Smart Phone, tablet, laptop, PC, or Internet-aware TV
• Up to 3TB 
• No need to synchronize or download music to each device
• DLNA compliant

Drawbacks:

• You must be on either your local network or on the Internet
• I do not recommend running over a cellular network (expensive data-plan)
   
• The WD "Cloud" app is a primitive music player, only allowing you to pick a folder (think album) and play the music within.  You cannot pick genres or multiple albums simultaneously.  It also does not show album thumbnails, allow you to mark favorites, etc.  However, in practice, this is ok; it is easy enough to pick a folder, but it is weak.  Update: 2014.08 - the latest version supports building a play list.

Unresolved issues:

• Windows Media Player (Windows 8 and probably older versions) are having troubles mounting the remote library.  Although I added the \\SAN\public\Music folders to the list of scanned libraries, it has yet to index all of the albums, for reasons unknown and each time I load the program, it grabs more of them.
• The WD Cloud App for the PC does not play music correctly; it only plays a single-track.  The same program on other devices works well, as described below.  Instead, use Windows Media Player.  Update: 2014.08 - the latest version can now play multiple tracks from a play list, within the app and you no longer have to use Windows Media Player.  However, this is still a relatively simple feature - but workable.
   
• You still have to use a PC to digitize Album/CD's and migrate them to the Streaming Folders.  Details, below.

 Regardless of the drawbacks and issues, it works fairly-well, especially on my Android devices.  Apple devices should work equally well.


Streaming Setup:

Instructions assume a Windows Desktop and Android or apple tablets/phones.  (For general instructions, from the WD System Tray icon, choose Learning Center, How To, "Stream HD Content" or go directly to this WD site:  Stream HD Content)


1.  Get the drive operational (where the Dashboard works and you have installed the software recommended in this Keyliner article: Western Digital Cloud Drive Review.

2.  Launch the Dashboard and enable Media Streaming

From the System Tray's icon, open the "Dashboard" or alternately, open a browser session to http://wdMyCloud  (or as you named your drive.  Mine is http://wolfhouseSan.

a.  From the Dashboard, choose Settings, then from the left-nav, "Media"

Click for Larger View

b.  Turn Media Sharing On

c.  Optional:  Examine the drive's Twonky Services -- especially if you have multiple streaming devices. 

WD is using a service called Twonky for streaming.  Although not listed with the vendor's documentation, open this session in a browser to look at your drive's settings:

http://yourSANname:9000    (http://myWDCloud:9000)

For example:
http://wolfhousesan:9000   or
http://192.168.200.200:9000  (where your IP address will be different)

Confirm this responds.  The default settings should be adequate.


4.  Copy your music Library to the Cloud Drive:

a.  Using Windows Explorer, locate your Music library, typically "This PC/Music"  (or in my case, C:\Data\Music).  Highlight all sub-folders (the albums/artist), select Copy.

b.  In Network (Network Neighborhood), tunnel to your SAN drive:

\\myWDCloud\Public\Shared Music\Uploaded

c.  Paste into the Uploaded folder (ignore the "Mirrored" folder).  See Windows Media Player notes below for other information.

The initial copy will take time.  The DLNA Streaming Service (Twonky) will automatically detect the files and catalog. 


Playing Music

To Play Music from a Tablet or Phone:

a.  From your tablet, install the WD Cloud Application.
b.  Open the App, authenticate (login) to your drive.
c.  Tunnel to the Public\Shared Music\Uploaded folder
d.  Tunnel to an (album) folder
e.  Double-click any (MP3) song in the library; it will start playing


To Play Music from a PC using My Cloud App:

The WD Cloud App behaves similarly to a tablet, as described above, except, as-of this writing, the WD Cloud Application "My Cloud" will play only one track at-a-time from an album folder.  It will not move automatically to the next track, making the feature useless.  -- Update: 2014.08:  This has been fixed and it now plays the entire album or multiple albums against a 'play list'.  Version 1.0.541 or newer.
 

To Play Music from a PC Windows Media Player:

This documentation assumes Windows 8, Windows Media Player 12.  Older versions are similar.  I no longer recommend this step and would rather use the WD My Cloud software.  Regardless, here are the steps.

a.  Launch Windows Media Player

b.  From the top-menu, >Organize, Layout, [x] Show menu bar

c.  Select File, Manage Libraries, Music.  Click "Add".  Tunnel to Network, your SAN, then tunnel to this location:  Public\Shared Music\Uploaded, Selecting the "Uploaded" folder.  For example, mine shows as "\\wolfhouseSAN\Public\Shared Music\Uploaded"

d.  The program will detect the albums and add to its database.  I have had troubles in this area, where Media Player does not see all the albums.  Reloading the program several times, seemed to have fixed the problem.


e.  Once loaded, albums will play from Media Player normally.


To RIP music directly to the SAN (Windows Media Player):

Note:  At my house, my main music machine is a laptop, which is used to RIP music CD's and it copies them to a local drive, local Windows Media Player library.  This is the library I copied to the SAN. You can change the write-location with these steps:

* Launch Media Player and expose the top-menu:  >Organize, Layout, [x] Show Menu Bar
* Select Tools, Options, [RIP Music]
* Change the Rip Music Location, choosing the (Browse, Network) SAN Upload folder

At my house, this is "\\wolfhouseSAN\Public\Shared Music\Uploaded

* Recommended:  Change RIP Settings to
- Format MP3,
- Choose High or Best Quality

However, at my house, I am comfortable in keeping my laptop as the main music Library, but this means manually syncing (uploading) new albums to the SAN drive (literally, copying the folder).  I may re-visit this idea in the future, but right now the laptop travels to places without a network connection and the library would be nice to have.  Besides, this acts as a backup. 

Using Itunes:

I have no current experience with Apple's music player.  The WD Learning Center, or better yet, the downloaded WD Cloud Drive Owner's manual, has more details on this topic.


Conclusions

Even with the shortcomings, I now use my tablet and phone to stream music.  I no longer have to download albums to these devices (unless I am off the grid).  It works well, especially on the local network.  On slower networks, the devices may hesitate while building the cache, as expected, but overall I have been happy.

The Western Digital My Cloud app is a poor program, but it will at least play the music.  I have enjoyed this feature.

Related Articles:
Keyliner: WD Cloud Review