Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by Colada

Norton Ghost

Colada — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:07:53 +0800

I have some Norton Ghost backups on an old drive that I'd like to open. Unfortunately Norton Ghost is long out of production and I don't have the original software CD/DVD anymore.
Does anyone out there know of a software shop in KL that has a copy? Maybe someplace in LowYat Plaza or Digi Mall?

Astro Programming

Colada — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 14:27:04 +0800

Hi, I have the latest Astro box. When I turn it on every day to watch my News Channel I have to go through this stupid process of 1) Selecting my 'Profile' (the whole family have 'Profiles') 2) Typing in the News Channel number.
When I look at 'editing' my 'Profile' in Settings, all it allows me to do is choose an 'icon' and a Name - not set up a Start Channel, which is what I really want! What's the point of having a 'Profile' when you can't 'Profile' your Start Channel???
Ok, I suppose it lets you pick 'Favourite' channels - but meh! Why does it always 'default' to this Astro advertisement (supposed 'Home Page') instead of starting straight on the News?
Is there some HACK that allows me to set this box up so that when I turn it on it is already at my News Channel?

Malaysian Driving Schools

Colada — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 23:20:33 +0800

OK, I've slagged off Malaysian driving standards before in another thread, and perhaps de Guv heard me (or us) and decided to do something about it.
But man - what they've done is insane. My kid wants to get his driving licence, so he has to (?) do training at a driving school. We did some research online, and I'm gobsmacked at the results.
These driving schools are advertising courses that are 6 to 12 months long (WTF!!) and costing from 1,500RM up to 3,500RM!! What kind of insanity is this? 6 months to learn how to drive a car? You know you can get a Private Pilots License in 6 WEEKS if you want! A Commercial Pilots License can be done in12 Months!
When I did my own driving license I did about 4 weeks of driving school - about 10hrs in total. Who the hell gave these 'schools' this license to print money, off the backs of aspiring road users? Please tell me how to get around this nonsense - and I don't mean bribery, that too stinks in this system of BS.

Car Dumping in KL

Colada — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 13:03:55 +0800

Our Condo is on a residential street in an upmarket area. Six months ago a car was parked on the road in front, near the entrance gate. It hasn't moved since then. A front wheel has been stolen, it is covered in dead leaves, the suspension is collapsing and it is covered in rust. Lots of 'warning' stickers have been plastered on the windscreen. It is obviously an abandoned car.

About a month ago another car appeared, parked right in front of this one. It too is going the same way, never moves, covered in dust and dirt, beginning to rust. Another abandoned car.

I have complained to our building management. Asked them to get them removed. They say 'it's not our fault - it's DBKL'. I've told them to call DBKL every day, keep making damn noise until they take action. But I doubt they'll bother, they are a useless lazy bunch always. They are low class people, and to them this disarray probably seems F I N E.....

IMHO the second car was dumped here because the owner saw the other one and realised - it's F I N E - nobody in that Condo gives a sh*t, so it's safe to dump here.
No doubt this is starting a trend. Probably more will appear in future.

There was an article on Paul Tan dot Org yesterday about the Federal Territory Dept being directed to talk with JPJ on how to deal with these wrecks being abandoned around the city. There's something seriously wrong with the law if the authorities are powerless to act.

Or is it just plain LAZINESS?

Grab drivers are misbehaving!

Colada — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 13:34:02 +0800

I have had two recent occasions where I booked a Grab ride on the App, only to see the car is not moving toward me.
When I enquire from the driver I get either NO answer, OR a one word message like CANNOT.
In both these occasions it so happened I was under time pressure, having a flight to catch (the rides were both to airports, one in KL, one in Penang).
These nasty drivers then go silent - obviously waiting for ME to cancel, so they can keep their own record clean.

In both cases I reported the drivers to Grab.
I received compensatory payments, and promises to punish the drivers.

But this is happening a lot - to my wife also, and friends. Grab know this goes on, but they do nothing to stop it. If I cancel the booking they get off scott free and there is NO WAY to leave any review or complaint against the driver.

Grab needs to put a 'REVIEW DRIVER' button on the App which remains available to be accessed after cancelling a ride. Passengers should be able to register a complaint AND give a critical review of drivers who force a cancellation on a passenger but escape without any redress (unless the passenger makes the effort to write to Grab).

Fix this please!

Driving standards in Malaysia

Colada — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 13:24:49 +0800

The way I see it, driving in Malaysia is stressful and infuriating because of the bad habits and dangerous practices of many Malaysian drivers.
I won't even go into the crazy behaviours of the motorcyclists (like having a whole family on a scooter) but rather I mean the car drivers.
My pet hate is the most simple and common thing they all do - failure to signal, EVER.
It's bad enough when they suddenly pull out of lane in front of you with no signal - such signalling is never done. What's worse is the practice of turning off a main road without signalling. If you happen to be in the side road waiting for a gap in traffic to enter the main road and (without warning) the car you were politely waiting to pass you makes a sudden un-signalled turn into your side road, that is so fricken ANNOYING! That lazy bugger couldn't be bothered to indicate the intention to turn off, which would allow you to exit onto the main road safely. It's just pure laziness and ignorance.
What is wrong with the Malaysian Driving Instruction and Testing system? Why are such drivers released onto the roads? And why don't the police enforce traffic rules?
This kind of practice also creates an 'F U' attitude in the road users minds - the attitude seems to be 'Nobody signals for me, why should I signal for you'?. It's a contagion that spreads across the whole population leading to bad attitudes and carelessness, and avoidable accidents.

Do you signal for other drivers?
If not, why not?

Lets hear other examples . Maybe by raising awareness we can shame the guilty into changing their behaviour.

Smoker in Restaurant

Colada — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 18:02:01 +0800

So we go to a restaurant in Damansara and sit on the covered (sunshade) 'outside' seating.
After a few minutes we notice this old bloke is smoking next to us.

My wife hates cigarette smoke. So she calls over the waiter and asks him "Is smoking allowed here?".
The waiter looks sheepish, and mutters "No 'mam".

"Someone is smoking here, what are you going to do about it" she asks.
The waiter looks down and sidles away.
Nothing in other words. Like I've seen before.

So she raises her voice "Is smoking allowed here!" - so the old bloke can hear.
He carries on smoking.

She looks at me.
The old bloke is now on the phone. But his friend is shifting uncomfortably in his seat. I ask him "Can you ask your friend to put out the cigarette please. It's rude. There are people eating here".
He looks at me and shrugs.

The old bloke finshes his call.
I say "Excuse me, no smoking please".
He shrugs.

"It's rude" I say, "and it's illegal".
He laughs.

"I will call the police" I say.

He finishes his ciggie, puts it out, and calls for the bill (he wasn't eating by the way).

Such a bladdy pain in the butt - why do customers have to deal with this kind of BS? Why don't the RESTAURANTS enforce the law?
The right way to deal with this is to put BIG FINES on restaurants where this behaviour is allowed. There should be a Whatsapp number where the public can snap a photo and upload it to the site - monitored by the authorities.
A fine should then be applied to the place for failing to enforce the law on their premises.
No need for customers to get in fights. Just a word in the waiters ear as a warning to act.

What do you think?

TIME Router changed, big problems

Colada — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 16:38:10 +0800

Hi All, we have been with TIME a few years, on the basic package. I noticed they are offering a good deal to upgrade to the 600mbps package and I decided to take it.
The new package required an upgraded WiFi7 router, which they supply - it's a Huawei Optix HG8145B7N. Our old router was an ancient TP Link Archer 1200, but it was nicely configured for all our network clients.
We have a Smart Home system on the network, plus some Hikvision CCTV and D-Link cams. I fully expected some hiccups in the change over, but felt I could easily resolve them since I know a bit about networking, and I have all the config settings noted.

Anyhow, it seems I was over optimistic. Once the new router was installed (by a TIME techie who didn't hang around long!) we had functioning internet access and WiFi we could log into. The speed test was great, 550mbps over WiFi. But....most of my networked peripherals weren't working. As expected.
I logged into the router to make the necessary config changes.

First off - the Huawei Router uses login IP 192.168.100.1, not the 192.168.0.1 more commonly used, which my old TP Link Archer was set up on. So one of the first things I did was to change that IP to the one I'd been familiar with on the Archer (192.168.0.1). I'm not dead sure if that was necessary, but I wanted to keep as much of the same settings as I could in order to avoid unexpected issues.

The Huawei Router interface is totally different from the Archer. It is 'branded' with TIMEs shocking pink banner logo, and the set up options are not quite as nice as the Archer (for instance, no option to set up a Guest Network). I started digging through the interface looking for the config changes I needed to do.

Having completed the task (I thought) I re-booted and checked my peripherals. They were still offline. Showing error messages as before. Some were accesible on the LAN (the Home network) but anything requiring external access (like Cams) remained unreachable.

The Hikvision Cams are set up with a free DDNS service (no-ip) and I had already entered the DDNS service details in the Huawei router. It could still be a DDNS related issue - maybe.
Alternatively it could be something to do with Porting, which is one of my weak knowledge areas. But the old router doesn't seem to have any Port Forwarding on it - so I have nothing to copy over.

I'm at a loss now. I spent 2 days digging around for a solution to this but I'm getting nowhere. It also doesn't help that the Huawei Router Interface on the TIME version is quite different from that in the Huawei manuals I've found online. When the techie was installing the router I asked him for the (printed) router manual. He handed me the little paper 'safety info' on how not to electrocute yourself, and don't put the device in water etc (lol). No, I said, I mean the MANUAL. I don't have one was his reply.
So it seems TIME have changed the router interface, there's no manual to be found, or they don't want you to have one. I think they clearly don't want people messing with their config.

In the end I gave up and switched back to my old Archer router. Everything works with it. But the speed is only about 100mbps.

This has got to be just some stupid config setting, but what?
Has anyone else run into this same issue? Any advice?

Firefly scam to beware of

Colada — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 21:20:42 +0800

I recently did a KL - Penang round trip with Firefly. I opted to buy their lounge access for each leg. Just to check them out.
The one in Subang was just ok. Basic, but the staff were welcoming.
When I tried to access the one in Penang on the return leg the lady on the access desk refused to let me go in. She said my Boarding Pass was not coded with Lounge Acces.. I showed her the print out of my booking, which clearly showed I had paid for Lounge Access, but still she refused. I asked her to contact some Firefly personnel, which she did, but told me nobody was answering the phone. So I was rebuffed.
When I got home I got one of those 'How did you like your flight' emails. I used it to complain about the lounge problem.
After 2 weeks I just got a reply which I find unbelievable....the email says 'we investigated your complaint, and we actually don't have lounge access in Penang. So sorry. However, we will not refund you.'!!!
So basically, Firefly are selling their passengers in Penang a product they cannot deliver, and refuse to refund the fee when asked. That to me is Fraud. Daylight robbery!
Moral of the story - don't buy lounge access from Firefly - and expect to be given the middle finger if you ask for a refund.

Inverter AC’s, are they really better?

Colada — Fri, 31 May 2024 01:22:48 +0800

My AC guy is recommending an Inverter AC to me. My wife says I should get it rather than regular AC. I asked her what’s the difference with an inverter AC, just to test her. She had no idea of course.
So I researched it and find that only the external unit fan rate is varied/reduced according to the room hitting your desired preset temperature.This doesn’t seem to be a big diff to me. The reduction in electricity consumption can’t be much, and it could take a long time to save the extra cost paid for that type of model.
Anybody out there able to convince me im wrong? Got any costings to prove the extra expense is worth it?

Neighbour and his plumber trying to rip me off

Colada — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 01:02:47 +0800

The neighbour below me reported a ceiling stain/leak to my wife while I was overseas. He told her his plumber would check it out in our apartment. She allowed the neighbours plumber to come in and inspect. He declared it was a broken pipe our bathroom wall which would require hacking to repair, and quoted her 3,000RM to fix it. When she messaged me I told her to stop using that bathroom until I got back and checked out the situation.

When I got home I went with the building manager to visit the neighbours apartment. I saw where their ceiling was stained, there was an access panel there, and on opening where you could see the pipe from our bathroom wash hand basin which comes down through our floor (his ceiling slab) and then turns through 90 degrees to join a main drainpipe in his ceiling space.
The 90 degree bend (elbow joint) had a lot of silicone on it, like someone had done an earlier repair. It was peeling away.

I phone my wife and asked her to run the wash hand basin tap in our unit. Water immediately started leaking from the elbow joint. The building manager then peeled away the rest of the old silicone and what was found was a huge crack in the elbow joint. Water was pouring out of it. The neighbours plumber had not identified this problem and became quite angry when we asked him how he had missed it. I was immediately suspicious he had tried to cheat my wife by quoting her the exorbitant sum of 3,000RM to do this easy repair. I obviously no longer trusted this guy.

The neighbour said he would 'get a quote to get it fixed' and I'd have to pay for it. No problem - that's the law (not that I think it's fair in such circumstances, but that's another matter for discussion).

The pipe running from the broken elbow joint to the main drainpipe is about 2 metres long and was not one piece. It had a join in the middle. This pipe was unsupported along its length. I told the neighbour that he should get the quote to include a complete new one-piece pipe (eliminating the joint in the middle) and also get a pipe support installation included in the quote. I said I would pay as I was concerned that the same kind of problem would occur again later if these two extra things were not done.

I heard nothing from him for a week, then he messaged and told me the repair was done! I asked to see it. What I saw was not good. The elbow joint replacement was ok, but they had not used a single piece pipe as I requested. They just re-used the old two piece pipe. Weirdly the plumber had indeed installed a pipe support in the middle (probably with great difficulty in doing so) but he did not route the pipe through the support! The support was just left dangling beside the old 2 metre long pipe (with an old join in it). I told the neighbour that I was not happy with this repair and asked why he had not told me he was doing this work. He told me he had used his 'plumber friend' (the same cheaty guy) and that he was happy with it - the problem is that if it leaks/breaks again it is me who will have to pay again to get it done again! I have no say in the matter, even though I'm paying. (This is where the law is dumb in my view).

Later that day I got the bill from his plumber. 2,000RM.
All the guy did was cut the plastic pipe from our WHB and remove the cracked elbow joint, then replace it with a new one.
The 'support' he installed was a joke, unused, not worth paying for.

I reckon any decent plumber would do this job for half this price. So he's trying to cheat us again. That's my opinion.

So what would you guys do in this situation?
How do I challenge this bill? I know this is going to cause a row with the neighbour.
Although the law says I have to pay, there must be limits - it can't mean people are forced to write a blank cheque for scammers like this.
Do I need a lawyer? Would DBKL be worth talking to?
Thanks in advance.

Change Astro channel from other room.

Colada — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 00:07:35 +0800

I have a small tv in my kitchen which gets its signal from the Astro box in a bedroom. The Astro signal to the tv is via a cable embedded in the wall. Pretty stable good picture. Until recently I’ve been using a small IR receiver placed above the tv to signal channel changes to the Astro box. The IR sender always had problems because the command was converted to an RF signal and picked up by a twinned RF receiver in the bedroom. The signal was weak and flaky.
I’d like to replace it with a better solution. Anybody got any suggestions?

Driving to Singapore

Colada — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 14:48:57 +0800

I'm planning a road trip to Singapore and I'm looking for the latest info on the process for crossing the border.
I have already applied for, and had my Vehicle Entry Pass approved. I haven't collected it yet, it's in Johor, so I have to go get it en route to Singapore.
My main concern is - will it be there when I go to pick it up, and how long do I have to queue typically to collect it?
Can anyone who has done this lately describe the procedures?

How long until the property market crash?

Colada — Sun, 16 Jan 2022 16:42:30 +0800

"Across China, tens of millions of square feet of unfinished apartment buildings -- the legacy of a real estate boom gone awry in 2021 -- are derailing countless dreams of owning a home.
In some economically weaker cities, the slump has been so sharp that at least two dozen local authorities have restricted minimum prices. A property industry association in Zhangjiajie, a relatively small city in mountainous central China, warned developers in late November not to push prices “off the cliff.” Home sales in northern China are likely to trail the more affluent south, Nomura Holdings Inc. economists say."
Bloomberg News

The China property market is 'falling off a cliff'. Huge debt has built a massive bubble and it is now rapidly deflating. When China sneezes the whole of SE Asia catches a cold. No pun intended!

Meanwhile in the US;

"JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon told analysts on Friday that the Fed could lift its benchmark interest rate as many as seven times to fight rising inflation, although he didn’t specify how quickly that might happen. The current prediction of JPMorgan’s economics team is that the Fed will start lifting its overnight target in March and increase it on a quarterly basis after that, a view that has been echoed by a number of major banks such as Deutsche Bank AG and Morgan Stanley."
Jamie Dimon Takes High View of Fed Hikes: ‘It Could Be Six or Seven’

With a property market crash under way in China and the US about to hike interests rates we are facing two strong headwinds in the global property market. Raising US interest rates will mean a stronger USD, and outflows from other currencies, which will be contained by mirroring the US rate hikes. So Bank Negara Malaysia will have to hike too. This will be tough on borrowers. Mortgage rates could rise fast. Money will get tighter, and the property market will suffer. And don't forget what higher US interest rates will do to the Stock Markets.
With numerous such headwinds just around the corner (starting in March) things are looking quite scary for global asset prices.

So how do you think the Malaysian property market will fare? And what about the Ringgit rate? I see trouble ahead!

Penang Property Agent Practices

Colada — Sat, 15 Jan 2022 20:25:34 +0800

Hi All - I'm new to the Penang property market and I'm interested in a property there. After I made an offer on it the agent informed me that it is 'standard practice' in Penang that the buyer pays one third of the agents fee!
I'm rather surprised at this. It is not the practice in KL, where I bought my current home several years ago. I'm not sure if the agent is telling the truth - and they left it a bit late in the day to inform me of this.
My other main issue with it is - what do I get for paying the agent? the agents job is to SELL the property (for the OWNER) and to GET THE BEST PRICE. Neither of those functions benefit me - and indeed may work against my interests. I do not expect an agent to get me a lower price when buying, and if I am the seller I certainly do not want the agent being confused about who they are working for, and who they are helping. As the OWNER I want the agent working for me 100%! This whole idea frankly stinks to me.
Is it a scam?

Searching for MSI Motherboard - looking a stockist

Colada — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 14:17:08 +0800

Hi Guys,
I'm starting a Gaming PC build with my son. We've done a load of research on the spec, and the top recommended Motherboard is the MSI MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM4. It's available on NewEgg, but they've currently stopped shipping to Malaysia.

Do any of you know where we can buy one in country?
Yes, we have visited the MSI website, and tried calling some of their shops, but often getting no answer/dead number.
We need to find a shop that actually stocks the item.
We are in KL.

Anybody out there able to help?
Here's the PCPartpicker link;
MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk

Printer won't connect to TIME Router

Colada — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 13:09:08 +0800

We had UniFi in our home for the last few years, but switched to TIME ten days ago. They supplied a TP-Link Archer 1200 Router. I anticipated problems switching the system over in a house that has Smart Home features, networked CCTVs and DVR systems, plus a couple of WiFi extenders. But in fact (with a little help from our original Smart Home installer) it all went smoothly.

With one BIG exception...

We had a Canon MG3100 printer on the WiFi network, running great.
But now it's refusing to print.

I've spent a week at this problem. Removed and reinstalled printer drivers several times. Rebooting the Router. Checking various combinations of printer settings. Reading all I could find on printer installation problem pages.
Nothing worked.

The printer does work - if you connect it to your laptop by USB cable. Prints and Scans as normal.
I had a flash of inspiration and tried connecting the USB cable to the USB Port at back of the Router. The USB logo light lit up on the router, flashed a few times, then went steady green. Great!
Test printed a page.....Nothing. Still dead.

I went into the Router Config page again. There's a menu item for 'USB'. Clicking that gives a sub menu labelled 'Print Server'. Click on that and you get a page with a software toggle to switch On/Off the Print Server. It was OFF.
Eureka! I clicked to switch it ON. No joy. The toggle remains steadfastly OFF.
Underneath is a label which says 'Printer Name'. Its blank. I reckon it should read Canon MG3100. Why doesn't it?
Is the Router not sensing/identifying the Printer?
The Printer is installed on my laptop, and I can see it under 'Devices' and 'Printer Properties'.
So why is the Router not seeing it?
Why can I not select ON the Print Server?
Does this matter?

Has anyone out there had similiar trouble with a TP-Link Router printing on a network printer?
Is there some hidden checkbox I just need to tick to fire it all up?

By the way the printer is currently on the Virtual USB Port.
I've tried LPT Ports, COMM Ports, every Port in the option list - all with same result.

Any ideas folks?

Insuring a new car in Malaysia

Colada — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 11:49:11 +0800

Hi All,
I'm buying a new car and the dealer (who I do not trust) is telling me that in the first year I MUST buy the Insurance his dealership/manufacturer provides (it's a Mercedes). I find it hard to believe - yet again - that consumer law in Malaysia allows this. It is blatant CARTELISM.
Can you guys pass your knowledge on this to me - do I really have to buy the Dealers Insurance Policy, or am I being scammed again?

Need Wood Floor advice

Colada — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 14:51:06 +0800

Hi All. Last September we had a termite infestation in a bedroom. This was treated by a professional pest control company and the infestation is gone.
Unfortunately the little boogers undermined a good part of the nice wood floor in the bedroom and it had to be ripped out to get at them. The area is about 6ft by 4ft. Now that the insects are gone we want to patch up the floor. The original wood is Tamarind, and was purchased from a local supplier by our architect (the floor was part of a complete house restoration project). We contacted the architect and he informed us the original supplier has gone out of business.
He put us in touch with a new wood floor installer and that guy took the measurements and went off to price the wood.
He later told us the particular plank size we have is not available - the size is 50mm X 9mm X 600mm (Tamarind). Apparently he can only find it in 45mm planks!
I'd rather not have to re-do the whole floor, but I also don't like the idea of inserting planks of the wrong size into the patch.

Can anybody out there tell me where I might find this plank in the correct (50mm) width?
Many thanks!

Mercedes Dealer cheating me

Colada — Wed, 17 Jan 2018 16:04:46 +0800

Back in November I promised the wife a new Merc 250GLC for Christmas. Went to my nearest Mercedes dealership and put a 3,000RM deposit on a car. The salesman told us the delivery date would be probably February or March and he'd inform us in the new year.
The receipt listed the sale price of the car.

A few days ago I called into the dealer and asked if he knew the delivery date yet. He said maybe February, but 'by the way, the price increased on January 1st by 4,000RM'.
I told him that's interesting, but nothing to do with me as I've paid my deposit and have a receipt stating the original price. He insisted I'd have to pay 4K extra. I told him I would not. He rang 'his boss' and came back to say the price was 4K more and I either pay it or they'd refund my deposit.
I told him I don't want the deposit - I want the car - at the AGREED price, or I'd see my Lawyer.
They still refused to accept - so now I'm seeing the Lawyer.

Just want to get your opinions on this.
Is it LEGAL in Malaysia to alter the price of goods after a DEPOSIT has been accepted? I cannot believe the law actually permits this!
I'm seeing the Lawyer later today.