.Net Framework 1.1 Problem Solved

So I encountered an annoying technical problem. I was logging onto Lord of the Rings Online on Zephyr (my desktop computer) earlier this week, and got an error message saying that some .tmp file crashed. I closed the error message and the launcher still started up just fine, so I just got into the game and figured I'd solve the problem later. 

Upon getting into the game, for some reason the textures looked horrible. I went into the graphics options and no matter what setting I changed things to, nothing would change. Just a flash of the screen, and same pixelated appearance. Immediately I pointed the blame at that error message. There's no way I'm playing this game on my high-end awesome computer in anything less than HD textures, so I quit the game to solve the problem.

After turning the game launcher off and on again (the first step to many solutions), I recreated the error message. It appeared to point to Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1. I figured what the heck, that's a quick reinstall fix. I removed .Net Framework in preparation for reinstall it, but as I was reinstalling it it explained that there were known compatibility issues with the program. Wtf, Microsoft? You seriously can't make this easy by just making it compatible? .Net Framework 1.1 is still being used by many programs today. One of them being Lord of the Rings Online. A popular MMORPG with MILLIONS OF PLAYERS.

So .Net Framework seemed to install just fine, but its Service Pack 1 crashed upon install with the same error message I got from the lotro launcher. I think I found the source of the problem, don't you? I tried reinstalling it in compatibility mode for Windows XP. That did nothing, as expected.

After an hour of Googling around while reinstalling lotro as a (failed) experiment, I found many many useless forum posts and solutions that didn't work. Some of which involved deleting registry keys that did not appear to me to be the problem, so I didn't even try them. Incidentally, DO NOT delete registry keys without knowing what they do. My eventual solution worked fine without any alteration of the registry.

So now here we are today, about 4 days later, and I finally worked my way toward finding a solution again. I stumbled upon some Microsoft blog posts that helped me find the following solution.

The solution is to create an msi package via command prompt that will install a streamlined and fully compatible version of .Net Framework 1.1 based on your downloaded installation files. Here are step by step instructions on how to do this:

1. Download .Net Framework 1.1 and .Net Framework 1.1 SP1. Make sure .Net Framework 1.1 is named dotnetfx.exe, and .Net Framework 1.1 SP1 is named dotnetfxsp1.exe.

2. Open your start menu and type cmd. Right-click on cmd.exe and click run as administrator.

3. In the command prompt, type cd.. and press enter. Repeat that until you get to the root C:\> directory.

4. Type MD C:\DotNet and press enter, then type cd DotNet.

5. Now, outside of the command prompt, move the two .Net Framework installation files into the DotNet folder, located on the root of your C drive.

6. Now go back to the command prompt and type 
dotnetfx.exe /c:"msiexec.exe /a netfx.msi TARGETDIR=C:\DotNet"
and press enter.

7. Click okay to install the .Net Framework 1.1 and proceed through the installation as normal. If anything prompts you about compatibility issues, just continue the installation.

8. Once the installation is finished, go back to the command prompt and type
dotnetfxsp1.exe /Xp:C:\DotNet\netfxsp.msp 
and press enter.

9. Wait a few seconds, then type
msiexec.exe /a c:\DotNet\netfx.msi /p c:\DotNet\netfx.msp 
and press enter. If anything pops up, just click "ok" and move on.

10. Close the command prompt and go to the DotNet folder, located on your C drive.

11. Open netfx.msi (the customized compatibility installation file that you just created) and it will install a streamlined version of .Net Framework 1.1 which includes the Service Pack 1.

12. Wait for the installation to finish, then you're done.

Another problem solved. That was such a pain in the butt to have to go through for something that should be compatible in the first place.

Ideas and Passion

I just got to thinking about how many great thoughts - ideas - are out there in the world today, and how few of them are being implemented past the thought stage. How many dreams people have, but they lack the drive, motivation, passion to execute any of their ideas. Due to lack of money, lack of time, there are a number of factors.

I think that if these ideas were all released on a whim and all people were completely free to make their dreams come to life without worrying about having the motivation to go through with it or having enough money, or not being accepted, the world would be an extremely chaotic place, but it would also be extremely interesting. There would be a whole new level of creativity that would spark new ideas in those who hadn't considered their own creativity before.

I believe that if you have an invention idea, a concept idea, something you want to accomplish - a new way of doing things - if it's within your capability to think it up, as long as it doesn't defy the laws of science, it's certainly possible for you to accomplish one way or another.

If you have the passion to push through adversity to make your idea(s) come to life, don't ever let that passion go. When combined with great thoughts, passion has an incredible power to change entire civilizations. 


"Everything great that has ever happened to humanity, since the beginning, has begun as a single thought in someone's mind. And if any one of us is capable of such a great thought, then all of us have the same capacity, capability, because we are all the same." -Yanni

If you feel passionate about something, don't ignore it. Embrace it, cherish it, and nurture it. There's certainly a place for it somewhere in this world, and you were clearly meant to explore it. Find others with the same passion. You will not only become happier as a person for following your dreams and interests, but you will learn much about yourself, and the world, along the way.

Time

Focusing on the past leads to depression.
Focusing on the present leads to narcissism.
Focusing on the future leads to paranoia.
Not focusing on anything leads to stupidity/ignorance.

My conclusion:

It's probably best not to focus on things relating to time. You can think about them and make some preparations based on past experiences, of course, but go with the flow and don't let yourself get stuck thinking about time for too long or you might start focusing on it rather than the action you're planning.

Time is another of those human-generated concepts that causes stress in people's lives. However, though its creation causes much stress and has programmed our minds to not think in ways that disregard it, it is extremely useful for co-operative coordination.

While at work one can find that focusing on the work at hand rather than thinking about how much time they've been at work makes them happier. People say that time flies when you're having fun. Einstein says that time is relative. I say that time is an imaginary device, and its only purpose should be to coordinate teamwork and fun. It should never be used to pressure another person to work faster, as that encourages sloppy work and creates mistakes from their focusing more on how long it's taking them to get the job done. It should not be used to judge anyone's paycheck, as a person should be paid based on the quality of their work, not the amount of time spent on it.

I think something's out of whack, because as people expect things done faster and faster, we lose more and more patience. We also lose appreciation for true craftsmanship, and fewer people are taking the time to do decent work.

As one person does great work and another person slacks off, they are both paid the same due to their hours at work. The slacker might get fired, but that just means the other worker is expected to do both jobs due to the company not paying to hire another slacker. As this happens more and more often, more workers are expected to do more people's jobs within the same time limit.

Remove the concept of time from this entire situation, with the exception of using it as a method of telling people when they should arrive at work and, depending on the type of job, when they should go home. See what happens.

Unfortunately because of the way the concept of time has been burned into our brains, removing time from society in the manner mentioned above would cause chaos and lots of work not getting done. Without time as a motivator, people would feel to free to slack off with a lot of their work.

However, without time as a motivator, we would also see what these people truly want to do. As they slack off, we get to see what they do with their spare time. Without time as a motivator on the job, using it only as a method of getting people to be in the same place at the same time, and if they were paid based on the quality of work, maybe we would see more people in jobs where they find themselves happier. The ability to choose the job by the work rather than the money, being free to take the time to express themselves through their work.

So I'm having trouble concentrating on what I'm typing because of this loud and kind of obnoxious accordion playing going on in this room. So I'll just leave the profound thoughts at that and hope they make sense. In short, I don't like the way time is being used in society, and I don't like how it's making the world impatient. As people become impatient, they become frustrated. Frustration causes anger.

That Yoda quote comes to mind: "fear (of not finishing work on time) leads to hate (of your boss/company), hate leads to pain (from stress or working too fast), pain leads to suffering (loss of job or health issues from work)."

Anyway, these are just thoughts triggered by the first four lines of this post. I hope they were thought-provoking.


Then again, people say ignorance is bliss... Maybe line four isn't such a bad idea in most people's minds. Maybe that's why it seems like so many people are ignorant idiots.

Labels

Before I go on explaining this, I want to make sure you all understand that much of this is not based on actual fact - it is merely speculation and thoughts/ideas from my own mind. That being said, I will talk about it as though it is fact, because in my mind this is what I've come to know and regard as fact. But I like to keep an open mind, so some of these "facts" are subject to change.

I believe that putting labels on things encourages the mind to see the labeled things in a certain way, and makes it difficult to see past the label. When someone cannot see past the label, they see what the label implies and nothing more.

The mind learns in a funny way. We learn in concepts, and those concepts give birth to new pieces of knowledge. It's like a web, where at the very center are the most basic concepts we learned at the youngest points of our lives. By default we compare newly learned concepts and experiences with previously learned ones that are similar because comparing them makes it easier to learn and remember. You aren't really learning something entirely new if you can compare it to something you already know. It's like starting a progress bar that's already at 46%.

That being said, slapping a label on something is similar to this method of learning we have. If we don't totally understand something, we label it and categorize it to make it more familiar. If we discover a new species on Earth with feathers that lays eggs, we compare it to the other species. Obviously if it lays eggs like a chicken, it must be a bird, right?

This works all well and good for many things, but there are some things that should not be given labels. I believe that the label "corporation" can be a bad one, for example. "Corporation" implies a singular object or being, and the very word itself feels mechanical or non-human. The reality is that "corporations" are people who work for a "group" or a "company."

But here we encounter more labels. "Group" and "company" are two labels that can mean the same thing, but also have different sounding meanings. A "group" sounds like there are a number of human beings working toward a cause of some kind, whereas a "company," despite is earlier root meanings of being basically the same as a "group," sounds like a singular entity again. A smaller company is often referred to as a "business." But I think I digress.

Corporations being referred to, and treated as a singular being leads the mind to categorize it in the wrong place. Rather than comprehending that the corporation is made up of hundred or thousands of people who work for a living, paying bills, raising families, each with their own personalities, problems, abilities, and set of friends, we instead identify that the corporation is a single, non-human life form.

When something with the company name branded on it doesn't work effectively, then the company is to blame, right? Is that to say that every single one of the thousands of people working for that corporation did something wrong? When somebody files a law suit against a corporation, are they thinking about taking the money from the corporation, or are they thinking about taking money from the thousands of people who work there?

The people in power who make decisions in these corporations should also be considered. When they make big decisions, are they making those decisions thinking of how it will affect the corporation as a being, or are they making those decisions considering how it will affect the thousands of people working for them?

We go to a chain restaurant. Subway, for example. Let's say you've never been to a Subway. You're on your way to work and order a sandwich for lunch. You find out at lunchtime that the sandwich you got was sub-par (no pun intended). There wasn't enough meat on it, or not enough olives, or something. Now do you blame the company and say that Subway makes bad sandwiches, or do you blame the server? 

It's your first time going, so I bet you blamed the company without even considering that maybe different people behind the counter means different quality sandwiches. All of the people making those sandwiches are human beings, just like the rest of us, with personal backstories just as detailed as ours. It just so happens that this particular person was having a bad day, or just got yelled at by his/her boss for giving the previous person too much meat on their sandwich. Or maybe they were new to the job and you didn't realize it.

The Subway you walked into was given a label: "Subway." And that label made your mind run a comparison check with the other similar concepts you know. I don't know how your mind works, but mine would go like this: 

Subway = brand name.
Brand name = company/corporation.
Company/corporation = non-human entity or small group of rich people.

Now because there wasn't enough meat and/or olives on that sandwich, (if I didn't know to look past the label) I would immediately think that the corporate fatcats were trying to put more money in their pockets by cutting back on the most expensive part of the sandwich, rather than consider that maybe the server was lazy or having a bad day.

Before I move on to the next part, I would like to add that, in my experience, places like Subway do vary greatly in quality based on which branch you visit. I have had awesome servers in one town who would give me extra at no charge, and crappy servers in another town who think when you ask for pickles/olives it means you only want 3 or 4 of them on the entire sandwich. And I was an equally polite and friendly customer to all of them.

So there's one example of how labeling something can be destructive. By sticking to the concept that a label means one thing, you could be making yourself blind to the fact that in reality it is actually something else.

By labeling a person as "gay," you are limiting your comprehension to only what you grew up understanding from that label. For example: If your parents thought being gay was a bad thing, you could grow up associating that particular label with the same negativity. Though that example might not even need a label to be true.

We need to understand or explain things that we aren't familiar with in order to feel comfortable with them, because we're uncomfortable with the unknown. But in some cases, it really is best to simply let something go. Let it remain unknown. Come up with your own brand new concept to explain it in your own head, without the outside interference. Add a new node to the center of your web.


The following is the thought that triggered this rant:

When people ask me about my sexual preference or gender, I don't like to answer with labels like boy, girl, transsexual, transgender, transvestite, straight, gay, bi, or whatever. I just am. I am whatever I am. I be how I feel most comfortable, and slapping a label on it just make things more complicated because it makes me feel like whatever I am has to conform to the available labels. I am me.

Life is less complicated when you just let yourself be who you are. It's learning to stop being someone else that's the hard part.

If you read this all the way through, I thank you for indulging me in my thoughts. It turned out much longer than I intended, and I didn't proof read it to condense its size.

Beating Depressive Thoughts. In Poem!

Emptiness fills my head.

It's almost like I'm dead.

I lay here hours,

trying to sleep,

but all I can do

is lie here in a heap.

Thinking so hard about nothing at all.

Makes it hard to convey a message.

I'm surprised that any of this rhymes at all,

I'm just bored,

Cannot think,

Cannot form proper words,

Cannot work,

Cannot move,

Can't stop using that word.

Everything seems so much harder right now.

The world starts feeling so negative.

My realization of that makes me think

What would happen if I turned it positive?

I've accomplished so much;

I have many skills.

I have a warm house

To prevent outside chills.

I have all my family,

I have some close friends.

All of them love me

Through the odds and the ends.

I live in the woods

Where I feel most at home.

Fresh air all around me,

Wherever I roam.

My life's pretty good

When I put it like that.

I can think again. 

Funny.

How about that?

I Can't Sleep

To sleep or not to sleep... That is the question... Whether 'tis healthier for the mind to suffer the penalties of insufficient sleep, or to take pills against insomnia, and by opposing, end it? 

Ah, but what light through yonder window breaks? It is the sun, out to stay the hand of the moon from granting me rest? Arise Sun, and stimulate me, who is already sick and pale without sleep, that I might remain conscious through the day and end this chain of weariness.

But wait, star, hide your fire! Let not light hinder mine rest; thou shalt not stay the hand of the moon's desire! If chance may have me sleep, why, chance would not have me remain asleep?

To wake, to sleep no more. To wake... To sleep... To sleep, perchance to dream? Aye, there's the rub, for what thoughts may come once I have fallen to unconsciousness must give me pause... But if by a sleep I may end this weariness? 'Tis an action devoutly to be wish'd.

Companionship Thoughts

People say that children don't become lonely for a romantic partner or physically attracted to other people until they start hitting puberty. I am living proof that this is not always the case, as the earliest memory I have of longing for a partner was at approximately the age of 4, and there's no way I was hitting puberty that early in life.

Now whether my longing for a partner has something to do with my parents' divorce I cannot say. It might also have something to do with the chemical imbalance I have in my brain, which would make sense because my father once told me that he was the same way. 

I cannot remember a time where I would have refused having a partner. I actually remember a time before my parents divorced, I was at the house of some friends of my parents, and they had a bunch of kids. I was playing with their daughters in particular, and I have a vague memory of rolling on the floor with one of them in a blanket, and I secretly wanted, very badly, to kiss her, but I was too shy, and we ended up having to leave too soon. Being that this was before my parents divorced, I had to have been younger than 5 years old.

I have always felt as though no matter what age I've been, I have never been however old I was physically. With the exception of when I was 3, I have felt as though some part of me has already lived through many, many lives. I have this feeling like I have had so much experience living out so many lives, but I have no memory of those lives, so I cannot utilize that experience in this one. I feel old and tired. I have had too many lives, and all I want to do with this last one is find love and settle down. I want to pass my memories and experience onto someone else, and share whatever wisdom I might have.

I feel like I've experienced too much. I feel like too many of my previous lives have been lonely. I feel that my need for a special companion starting at such a young age is a sign of this loneliness my soul has been feeling for so many years.

I don't understand the games people play on this subject, toying with other people's emotions for their own short-term personal gain. I don't understand people who don't become attached. I don't understand people who treat their companions badly. I don't understand how some people can betray trust as they do. There is so much hate in the world today. So many people who don't stop and think about other people. So few simple acts of random kindness.

With the combination of how much distrust and hate there is in the world and my depression and isolated early upbringing, it makes it very difficult to find someone. Every time I find someone and it doesn't work out, it shaves more and more off of my resolve to continue trying. But I'm still here trying, as hard as it has become. And along the way I hope that even if I don't achieve my goal of happiness, I might make other people happier, or otherwise make a positive impact on their lives.

[Update from 2017: Since this post I have found many companions, and I have had a massive amount of personal growth. So don't feel sorry for me; I'm doing great now.]