Why do I Disable Windows Defender on Windows 8.1

Begin 

This morning I noticed that my computer is running quite slow. A quick look at the Task Manager I notice the Windows Defender is taking a big share of the resources. I was concerned but do not want to spend time to deal with it and hoping that after some disk scan it will quiet down. Just a quick a note: the CPU was about 25% consumed while the disk is quite high - at times it stay at 100%.

At the evening of the day, I noticed that not much have changed. This really bothered me. Not much of the CPU but the long consumption of the disk for more than 10 hours?

I began Google for ways to stop/disable/uninstall the service. I then learned that you can't really uninstalled the thing - it has been mentioned that it is an integrated part of Windows 8.1 and people take over registry and folders to get rid of it actually find themselves a dead PC. When I did locate few articles about disable the thing, I found that my version of the software do not provide options mentioned in those articles - I suspect that my version of the software must have gone through several upgrades and some of those options must have been removed.

At that point, I was totally frustrated and thinking that 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' - it is not that Microsoft did not mean well. However, when you believe you knows better and do not give user options, there will be times that you miscalculated.

In this case, however, I was fortunately enough to locate the article '3 Ways to Disable Windows Defender on Windows 8/8.1'. The Group Policy method did work and I was able to disable the software.

* A side note. I was trying to work on folder and file permissions in order to stop the software. But failed. The thought? Well, I think it is very interesting in the sense of social behavior. The 'administrator' used to be considered the GOD and is, presumably, given all the power to do things. These days, administrator is no longer trusted and did not, in plain obvious way, given all the power to perform all the things. The administrator these days were guarded against by Microsoft via other layers of security complexity. The registry and the group policy are now the higher layer of security complexity. Without master/tinker with these layer of complexity, administrator's rights are limited.

One big problem with these additional layer of security complexity is that these complexity is not to understand logically - it is a guess and try memorization. It is also subject to change whenever the software update. These settings are totally in the hands of the software. How the software using the registry and group policy value determines if the administrator will have the rights or not. The right of administrator is no longer a given and this added load to administrators' shoulders.

* Question: For the human race, is this approach a step forward?


End

Microsoft OUTLOOK Recurring Event ACCESS VBA code

Microsoft Outlook provides a nice calendar program that allows people to track events. The Outlook, like all other components in the Microsoft Office suite, also provides program interfaces (API) for programmer to extend their use of the program.

In our office, we try to pull these info into our databases. For normal events, the code is straightforward since it is stored in a day by day basis. For recurring events, however, in practical, it can't be stored in a day by day basis since some recurring events don't have an end day. This, therefore, presents a challenge when try to pull in calendar events on a day by day basis. Basically, the program need to go through each recurring event and, based on the pattern of each recurring event, generates the day and time of each occurrences and find out if any of the occurrences fall inside the specific time period of interest.

Below are codes that I devised and I hope it is of value to someone - please provide adequate credit statement if you do adopt and find the code useful.

Few words about the program:

• xCDO is an object that provides access to database.
• PrmtrTyp, Prmtr are just for me to extend code in the future. 1 and "" are normally used.
• BgnDt, and EndDt specify the period of interest.
• xAppntmnt is the Appointment object of Outlook.
• xHC is simply my version of the VBA collection object. It allows to set entries via StItm() function and retrieve value via RdItm() function.
• The handling of yearly recurring events is to be amended.

Public Function DoRecrrngs(aCDO, BgnDt, EndDt, aAppntmnts, Ppl, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
    Dim status, oAppntmnt, oPttrn
    Dim oHC As New HCllctn
   
    For Each oAppntmnt In aAppntmnts
        Set oPttrn = oAppntmnt.GetRecurrencePattern
        If oPttrn.PatternEndDate >= BgnDt Then
            status = oHC.StItm("BgnDt", BgnDt)
            status = oHC.StItm("EndDt", EndDt)
            status = oHC.StItm("IsAllDy", oAppntmnt.AllDayEvent)
            status = oHC.StItm("EvntTtl", oAppntmnt.Subject)
            status = oHC.StItm("EvntDtl", oAppntmnt.Location)
            status = oHC.StItm("Ppl", Ppl)
            status = DoRecrrng(aCDO, oHC, oPttrn, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
        End If
    Next
End Function
Public Function DoRecrrng(aCDO, aHC, aPttrn, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
    Dim status

    Select Case aPttrn.RecurrenceType
        Case 0  ' Daily
            status = DoRecrrng0_(aCDO, aHC, aPttrn, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
        Case 1  ' Weekly
            status = DoRecrrng1_(aCDO, aHC, aPttrn, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
'           status = -1111
        Case 2  ' Monthly (Day of Month)
            status = DoRecrrng2_(aCDO, aHC, aPttrn, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
'           status = -1121
        Case 3  ' MonthNth (weekday of Nth week)
            status = DoRecrrng3_(aCDO, aHC, aPttrn, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
'           status = -1131
        Case 4  ' ??
            status = -1141
        Case 5  ' Yearly (Day of Month)
            status = -1151
        Case 6  ' YearNth (Day of Nth week of Month)
            status = -1161
    End Select
    DoRecrrng = status
End Function

' Daily - assuming aPttrn.PatternEndDate >= BgnDt
Public Function DoRecrrng0_(aCDO, aHC, aPttrn, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
    Dim status, tmpDt, tmpNo, NDay
    Dim BgnDt, EndDt, IsAllDy, StrtTm, EndTm, Ppl, EvntTtl, EvntDtl

    ' Retrieve useful info to local
    BgnDt = aHC.RdItm("BgnDt"): EndDt = aHC.RdItm("EndDt")
    IsAllDy = aHC.RdItm("IsAllDy"): Ppl = aHC.RdItm("Ppl")
    StrtTm = aPttrn.StartTime: EndTm = aPttrn.EndTime
    EvntTtl = strRplc("""", "", aHC.RdItm("EvntTtl")): EvntDtl = strRplc("""", "", aHC.RdItm("EvntDtl"))
    NDay = aPttrn.Interval ' Every N day
    tmpDt = aPttrn.PatternStartDate
    If tmpDt < BgnDt Then
        tmpNo = DateDiff("d", tmpDt, BgnDt)
        tmpNo = tmpNo + NDay - (tmpNo Mod NDay)
        tmpDt = DateAdd("d", tmpNo, tmpDt)
    End If
    DoRecrrng0_ = 0
    Do
        If tmpDt <= EndDt Then
            DoRecrrng0_ = DoRecrrng0_ + 1
            ' save the event to db
            status = Add2EvntTmp(aCDO, IsAllDy, tmpDt + StrtTm, tmpDt + EndTm, _
                Ppl, EvntTtl, EvntDtl)
            tmpDt = DateAdd("d", NDay, tmpDt)
        End If
    Loop Until tmpDt > EndDt
End Function

' Weekly - assuming aPttrn.PatternEndDate > BgnDt
Public Function DoRecrrng1_(aCDO, aHC, aPttrn, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
    Dim status, tmpNo, tmpDt, NWk, WkDyBt, WkDyMsk
    Dim BgnDt, EndDt, IsAllDy, StrtTm, EndTm, Ppl, EvntTtl, EvntDtl

    ' Retrieve useful info to local
    BgnDt = aHC.RdItm("BgnDt"): EndDt = aHC.RdItm("EndDt")
    IsAllDy = aHC.RdItm("IsAllDy"): Ppl = aHC.RdItm("Ppl")
    StrtTm = aPttrn.StartTime: EndTm = aPttrn.EndTime
    EvntTtl = strRplc("""", "", aHC.RdItm("EvntTtl")): EvntDtl = strRplc("""", "", aHC.RdItm("EvntDtl"))
    NWk = aPttrn.Interval ' Every N week
    If NWk = 0 Then NWk = 1 ' Adjust Outlook daily weekday assigned value
    ' Prepare for begin date
    tmpDt = aPttrn.PatternStartDate
    If tmpDt < BgnDt Then
        tmpNo = DateDiff("ww", tmpDt, BgnDt)
        tmpNo = tmpNo + NWk - (tmpNo Mod NWk)
        tmpDt = DateAdd("ww", tmpNo, tmpDt)
        tmpDt = DateAdd("d", 1 - DatePart("w", tmpDt), tmpDt)   ' Adjusted to Sunday
    End If
    ' Prepare weekday detection
    WkDyBt = 2 ^ (DatePart("w", tmpDt) - 1)
    WkDyMsk = aPttrn.DayOfWeekMask
    DoRecrrng1_ = 0
    Do Until tmpDt > EndDt
        If WkDyBt And WkDyMsk Then
            ' save the event to db
            status = Add2EvntTmp(aCDO, IsAllDy, tmpDt + StrtTm, tmpDt + EndTm, _
                Ppl, EvntTtl, EvntDtl)
        End If
        If WkDyBt = 64 Then
            tmpDt = DateAdd("ww", NWk, tmpDt)
            tmpDt = DateAdd("d", 1 - DatePart("w", tmpDt), tmpDt)   ' Adjusted to Sunday
            WkDyBt = 1
        Else
            tmpDt = DateAdd("d", 1, tmpDt)
            WkDyBt = WkDyBt * 2
        End If
    Loop
End Function

' Monthly (day of month) - assuming aPttrn.PatternEndDate > BgnDt
Public Function DoRecrrng2_(aCDO, aHC, aPttrn, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
    Dim status, tmpNo, tmpDt, NMnth, NthDy
    Dim BgnDt, EndDt, IsAllDy, StrtTm, EndTm, Ppl, EvntTtl, EvntDtl

    ' Retrieve useful info to local
    BgnDt = aHC.RdItm("BgnDt"): EndDt = aHC.RdItm("EndDt")
    IsAllDy = aHC.RdItm("IsAllDy"): Ppl = aHC.RdItm("Ppl")
    StrtTm = aPttrn.StartTime: EndTm = aPttrn.EndTime
    EvntTtl = strRplc("""", "", aHC.RdItm("EvntTtl")): EvntDtl = strRplc("""", "", aHC.RdItm("EvntDtl"))
    NMnth = aPttrn.Interval ' Every Nth month
    NthDy = aPttrn.DayOfMonth ' Nth day
    tmpDt = aPttrn.PatternStartDate
    If tmpDt < BgnDt Then
        tmpNo = DateDiff("m", tmpDt, BgnDt)
        tmpNo = tmpNo + NMnth - (tmpNo Mod NMnth)
        tmpDt = DateAdd("m", tmpNo, tmpDt)
    End If
    ' Adjust the date
    tmpDt = DateSerial(Year(tmpDt), Month(tmpDt), NthDy)
    ' Loop until pass EndDt
    DoRecrrng2_ = 0
    Do Until tmpDt > EndDt
        If tmpDt >= BgnDt And tmpDt <= EndDt Then ' Double sure
            DoRecrrng2_ = DoRecrrng2_ + 1
            ' save the event to db
            status = Add2EvntTmp(aCDO, IsAllDy, tmpDt + StrtTm, tmpDt + EndTm, _
                Ppl, EvntTtl, EvntDtl)
        End If
        tmpDt = DateAdd("m", NMnth, tmpDt)
        tmpDt = DateSerial(Year(tmpDt), Month(tmpDt), NthDy)
    Loop
End Function

' MonthNth (Nth weekday) - assuming aPttrn.PatternEndDate > BgnDt
Public Function DoRecrrng3_(aCDO, aHC, aPttrn, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
    Dim status, tmpNo, tmpDt, NMnth, NthWkDy, BtNoArry(), tmpFlg
    Dim BgnDt, EndDt, IsAllDy, StrtTm, EndTm, Ppl, EvntTtl, EvntDtl

    ' Retrieve useful info to local
    BgnDt = aHC.RdItm("BgnDt"): EndDt = aHC.RdItm("EndDt")
    IsAllDy = aHC.RdItm("IsAllDy"): Ppl = aHC.RdItm("Ppl")
    StrtTm = aPttrn.StartTime: EndTm = aPttrn.EndTime
    EvntTtl = strRplc("""", "", aHC.RdItm("EvntTtl")): EvntDtl = strRplc("""", "", aHC.RdItm("EvntDtl"))
    NMnth = aPttrn.Interval ' Every Nth month
    NthWkDy = aPttrn.Instance
    tmpDt = aPttrn.PatternStartDate
    ' To the month just before BgnDt
    If tmpDt < BgnDt Then
        tmpNo = Year(BgnDt) * 12 + Month(BgnDt) - Year(tmpDt) * 12 - Month(tmpDt)
        tmpNo = tmpNo + NMnth - (tmpNo Mod NMnth)
        tmpDt = DateAdd("m", tmpNo, tmpDt)
    End If
    ' Get WkDy - MonthNth can't have multiple week day!
    tmpFlg = Lng2BtNoArry(aPttrn.DayOfWeekMask, BtNoArry, 1, "")
'   If tmpNo > 1 Then   ' weekday or weekend day
'       tmpFlg = tmpNo
'       DoRecrrng3_ = -1111 ' not handled for now
'       DoRecrrng3_ = DoRecrrng3x_(aCDO, aHC, aPttrn, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
'        Exit Function
'   End If
    tmpNo = BtNoArry(1) ' Only one can be selected
    ' Adjust the date
    If tmpFlg = 2 Or tmpFlg = 5 Then
        tmpDt = NthWrkWkndDy2Dt(NthWkDy, tmpFlg, Month(tmpDt), Year(tmpDt), 1, "")
    Else
        tmpDt = NthWkDy2Dt(NthWkDy, tmpNo, Month(tmpDt), Year(tmpDt), 1, "")
    End If
    ' Loop until pass EndDt
    DoRecrrng3_ = 0
    Do Until tmpDt > EndDt
        If tmpDt >= BgnDt And tmpDt <= EndDt Then ' Double sure
            DoRecrrng3_ = DoRecrrng3_ + 1
            ' save the event to db
            status = Add2EvntTmp(aCDO, IsAllDy, tmpDt + StrtTm, tmpDt + EndTm, _
                Ppl, EvntTtl, EvntDtl)
        End If
        tmpDt = DateAdd("m", NMnth, tmpDt)
        If tmpFlg = 2 Or tmpFlg = 5 Then ' Adjust the date
            tmpDt = NthWrkWkndDy2Dt(NthWkDy, tmpFlg, Month(tmpDt), Year(tmpDt), 1, "")
        Else
            tmpDt = NthWkDy2Dt(NthWkDy, tmpNo, Month(tmpDt), Year(tmpDt), 1, "")
        End If
    Loop
End Function

' Give the nth workday or weekend day and return the date
'   Typ: 2(weekend day) 5(work day) other(error)
Public Function NthWrkWkndDy2Dt(aNth, aTyp, aMnth, aYr, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
    Dim tmpDt

    NthWrkWkndDy2Dt = Null
    If aNth < 5 Then
        tmpDt = DateSerial(aYr, aMnth, 1)
        Cnt = 0
        Do Until Cnt = aNth
            WkDy = DatePart("w", tmpDt)
            If aTyp = 2 And (WkDy = 1 Or WkDy = 7) Then
                Cnt = Cnt + 1
            ElseIf aTyp = 5 And WkDy > 1 And WkDy < 7 Then
                Cnt = Cnt + 1
            End If
            NthWrkWkndDy2Dt = tmpDt
            tmpDt = DateAdd("d", 1, tmpDt)
        Loop
    ElseIf aNth = 5 Then
        tmpDt = DateSerial(aYr, aMnth, LstDyAMnth(aYr, aMnth, 1, ""))
        Cnt = 0
        Do Until Cnt > 0
            WkDy = DatePart("w", tmpDt)
            If aTyp = 2 And (WkDy = 1 Or WkDy = 7) Then
                Cnt = 1
            ElseIf aTyp = 5 And WkDy > 1 And WkDy < 7 Then
                Cnt = 1
            End If
            NthWrkWkndDy2Dt = tmpDt
            tmpDt = DateAdd("d", -1, tmpDt)
        Loop
    End If
End Function

' Given nth weekday and return the date
' nth(5=last, <1 error="">5=error)
Public Function NthWkDy2Dt(aNth, aDyWk, aMnth, aYr, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
    Dim Dt

    If aNth > 5 Then
        NthWkDy2Dt = Null
        Exit Function
    End If
    ' 1st day of that month
    Dt = DateSerial(aYr, aMnth, 1)
    If aDyWk < Weekday(Dt) Then
        Dt = DateAdd("d", aNth * 7 + aDyWk - Weekday(Dt), Dt)
    Else
        Dt = DateAdd("d", (aNth - 1) * 7 + aDyWk - Weekday(Dt), Dt)
    End If
    If aMnth < Month(Dt) Then
        Dt = DateAdd("d", -7, Dt)
    End If
    NthWkDy2Dt = Dt
End Function

' BtNoArry(0)=number of bits numbers
' BtNoArry(n)=bit number + 1
' PrmtrTyp 0(reserved),
'   1(array of bit numbers where the bit is 1)
'   2(array of bits)
Public Function Lng2BtNoArry(Lng, BtNoArry, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
    Dim Sz, Ndx, NoItm
    Sz = Int(Log(Lng) / Log(2)) + 1
    ReDim BtNoArry(Sz)
    NoItm = 0
    If PrmtrTyp = 1 Then
        For Ndx = 1 To Sz
            If (Lng Mod 2) = 1 Then
                NoItm = NoItm + 1
                BtNoArry(NoItm) = Ndx
                Lng = Lng - 1
            End If
            Lng = Lng / 2
        Next
    Else
        For Ndx = 1 To Sz
            BtNoArry(Ndx) = Lng Mod 2
            Lng = Int(Lng / 2)
        Next
        NoItm = Sz
    End If
    BtNoArry(0) = NoItm
    Lng2BtNoArry = NoItm
End Function

' Save outlook appointment to event table
Public Function Appntmnt2EvntTmp(aCDO, Appntmnt, Ppl, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
    Appntmnt2EvntTmp = Add2EvntTmp(aCDO, _
        Appntmnt.AllDayEvent, _
        Appntmnt.Start, _
        Appntmnt.End, _
        Ppl, _
        strRplc("""", "", Appntmnt.Subject), _
        strRplc("""", "", Appntmnt.Location) _
    )
End Function
' Save parameters to event table
Public Function Add2EvntTmp(aCDO, IsAllDy, TmBgn, TmEnd, Ppl, EvntTtl, EvntDtl)
    sSql = "INSERT INTO EvntTmp(AllDyEvnt, TmBgn,TmEnd,OwnrNm,EvntTtl,EvntDtl) VALUES" _
        & "(" & IsAllDy & ",""" & TmBgn & """,""" & TmEnd & """,""" & Ppl _
        & """,""" & EvntTtl & """,""" & EvntDtl & """);"
    Add2EvntTmp = aCDO.Exct(sSql, 1, "")
End Function

' return the last day of a month
' PrmtrTyp: 0(reserved) 1(implemented)
Public Function LstDyAMnth(Yr, Mnth, PrmtrTyp, Prmtr)
    Select Case Mnth
        Case 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12
            LstDyAMnth = 31
        Case 4, 6, 9, 11
            LstDyAMnth = 30
        Case 2
            LstDyAMnth = DatePart("d", DateAdd("m", 1, DateSerial(Yr, 1, 31)))
        Case Else
            LstDyAMnth = -1111
    End Select
End Function

MS ACCESS 97 2002 upgrade 3264 TableDef error

Error message: "Run-time error '3264': No field defined--cannot append TableDef or Index."

Code at: EnblLnkTbl():CurrentDb().TableDef.Append tdf

When: upgrade my Ipds424.mdb (In ShrScr\ ) to ACCESS 2002.

Resolution: In the -Tool -Reference:
  Replace: 'Microsoft DAO 2.5/3.5 Compatibility Library'
  With: 'Microsoft DAO 3.6 Object Library'