[Solved] Windows 10 problems with PS2 keyboard

[trents]

I hear you, Bill. I find it hard to say "no" to someone wanting to give me an old computer. Somehow it seems intriguing and I always kind of imagine I can soup it up a little and extend it's life a bit. But I'm running out of room in my shop. It's starting to look like Fred Sanford's junk yard on that old 70's sitcom. But I do find that a lot of laptops from the Windows 7 era will run Win 10 pretty well with a memory upgrade and a small SSD. And there seems to always be someone looking for a "not for much" laptop and I get satisfaction out of helping to meet needs for folks who can't afford new. Can't say the same for old desktops. They're getting harder to move.

Does anyone know if Linux still works well with PS2? I've got a stack of PS2 keyboards on my shelf.

 

[Bill_Bright]

But I'm running out of room in my shop.

LOL What about an entire basement? That's what happened to me - with old computers, computer components, CRT monitors, 4:3 LCD monitors, cases, VCRs, TVs, stereo receivers, amps, tuners, preamps, speakers, CPUs, coolers, RAM, cassette players, cell and home phones, reel-to-reels, (even an 8-track player or two). I insisted "I might need it some day!" or "I'm going to do this with that one day!". Those days never came. And even if they did, no doubt I would be disappointed with the performance.

That's why I ended up taking it all to a EPA certified electronics recycling center. They actually paid me $80 for the aluminum and steel, and the precious metals in the processors and old RAM. Sadly, they wanted me to pay them $10 each for 6 CRT monitors I wanted to get rid of. Apparently, because of the OSHA "implosion" precautions and the extensive EPA mandated mercury recovery procedures, it costs them too much to recycle CRT monitors and TVs so I had to bring them back home. But I printed out a ***FREE*** sign, taped it a monitor and started lugging them out to the curb. By the time I was lugging the 3rd one out, some guy was loading the first one into his pickup truck. He grabbed the rest and now I have a nice den and a spare bedroom in the basement!

Oh, another nice thing. While I had already "wiped" all the old hard drives of any data, they also had a nice drive shredder similar to this. So folks didn't need to worry about bad guys getting their data.

 

[trents]

Yes, the technology addiction! We need a 12 step program.

By the way the link you provided for the drive shredder doesn't work. Get this message: "Sorry, this video is no longer available."

 

[Bustos]

The shredder link works for me.

 

[don256us]

I have to amend my original post in here. My new board for my Threadripper has a PS/2 port. Some tech just seems to live on forever.

 

[habbajabba]

Bill bright: "Telemetry is not an issue except for tinfoil hat wearers. Your ISP, Google, Facebook (big time!) and your cell phone carrier (really big time!) are much greater threats to your privacy and security than Microsoft - by a long shot."
You should really speak for yourself. That's just the tip of an iceberg. None of them are threats, it's a simple matter of what you do, not what they do. Personally one of the biggest issues I see is Spectrum's constant nagging to allow them to attach your cellular # to your home's internet use ip address. This is tantamount to an internet ID system that if you accept will essentially create one for you, something which of course they would never speak of. MS has already been using this tactic of asking users to login with their cell #, so, if someone says MS telemetry is less harmful than facebook, they are delusional considering ms os's are on practically every pc ever made. I can honestly say the contents of a hd is way more personal than some garbage you post to facebook. As for google and your carrier, it's nbd to slip a phone into a cellular blocking bag. Poof you're gone.

 

[don256us]

I'm not a "tin hat" wearing kind of guy but I do like the illusion of privacy I get when I turn off the GPS on my phone. I don't use a MS account, always local and I don't have any cloud storage. Now if you want to point out every gap in my "privacy" I assure you that I know and I don't care. There is anonymity in large numbers. Meaning that there is just too much data for anyone to randomly pick me out of the crowd and invade my personal space. On the other hand, if I do something to peek the interest of someone, there is plenty of data for them to comb through.

 

[Bill_Bright]

You should really speak for yourself.

Huh? And then you start speaking for everybody?

I stand by what I said. Microsoft does not know our real names, our street addresses or our billing information - and they are NOT trying to get it. But for sure, our ISPs and cell phone carriers know all that and much more - plus they know everything we do while connected including who we texted with and who we emailed. Microsoft knows none of that.

MS has already been using this tactic of asking users to login with their cell #

Huh? I have never ever been asked to use my cell phone number by MS. I don't even use my email address. I use a user name that does not personally identify me. And Microsoft is just fine with that.

if someone says MS telemetry is less harmful than facebook, they are delusional

OMG! It is clear you have no clue what Microsoft collects, and worse, it seems you are truly clueless about Facebook and the information they collect AND SHARE - information to include images of you, your contacts, and even information other people post about you without your knowledge.

Do you not read and watch the news? Have you not seen Mark Z squirm before Congress because of their failure to secure users data? Have you never heard of Cambridge Analytica?

There is just no comparison. Is Microsoft perfect? Of course not. But they are saints in comparison to Facebook, Google, cell phone carriers, and ISPs.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I do like the illusion of privacy I get when I turn off the GPS on my phone.

I hear you there. I remember freaking out a few years ago when a friend was at Baker's (a grocery store chain in this region that's part of the Kroger Food conglomerate). He and his grandkids were looking at breakfast cereals when suddenly a General Mills cereal coupon appeared on his phone. So the carrier not only knew within a few feet where they were standing, but they knew which aisle of the store they were in! I didn't need a tinfoil hat to be concerned about that.

I understand there's a big difference between security and privacy, and we must try to avoid confusing one with the other. But when ISPs and cell phone apps can use a cell phone's GPS and location services to track our physical location, know where we've been, which direction we are heading, and how fast we are moving, that then blurs the line, and invasion of privacy now becomes a security threat - especially when it comes to our children and grandkids.

So yeah, I keep GPS and location services disabled most of the time and only enable them as necessary.

 

[Alaric]

"Disabling" GPS on your phone only disables the functions your apps use for you. To truly disable the satellite tracking you have to take the battery out. Of course, the NSA is still recording every cell phone transmission in North America, so even sticking a screwdriver through the GPS unit still won't leave you unobserved.

 

[don256us]

"Disabling" GPS on your phone only disables the functions your apps use for you. To truly disable the satellite tracking you have to take the battery out. Of course, the NSA is still recording every cell phone transmission in North America, so even sticking a screwdriver through the GPS unit still won't leave you unobserved.

I don't know about all that but I do know that they can still see the towers I ping and that can get them pretty close. I mean, "they" can see every detail of my life but they ain't gonna always want to see it. Ima still gonna be me.

E.G. They ain't gonna like watching me find a PS/2 device. (Just bringing this back to the OP)

 

[EarthDog]

Ok... windows...

 

[Bill_Bright]

I don't know about all that but I do know that they can still see the towers I ping and that can get them pretty close

Yeah, if you disable GPS, that disables satellite tracking. And if you are in a city neighborhood (versus out in the boonies), your phone is likely pinging more than one tower and that greatly narrows down and pinpoints your location through triangulation.

Back to Windows, if you connect to your home network via wireless, you might freak out at how closely your physical location can be pinpointed. See Where Am I. With my wifi connected notebook, it shows about 200 yards away.

Then check with an Ethernet connected device. Here Windows only knows where you connect to your PoP (point of presence). This is where your ISP connects you to the Internet backbone. In my case, with this Ethernet connected PC going through the same wireless router as the notebook and to the same network, my location is reported to be 10 miles away, in the next town over! Just another reason to use Ethernet when possible.