Windows 10 Troubleshooting: Task Host is stopping background tasks

My windows button (the one between CTRL and ALT on the bottom left side of the keyboard) was not working. Neither did clicking on the windows button at the bottom left corner of the screen. When I tried to use CTRL-R to run stull like msconfig, it wouldn't work either.

Tried to reboot by using CTRL-ALT-DEL. Was getting this error when shutting down. One of the tasks preventing shutdown was...

Task Host is stopping background tasks
\Microsoft\Windows\Plug and Play\Device Install
Reboot Required

I restarted anyway and did some research and found a working solution on this site by Hebbe C.

Regedit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WpnUserService
Double click on the value (DWORD): "Start"
Change the "Data" to 4 then OK.
Reboot

It works! Start button is functional again. CTRL-R is also functional. Data's original value was "2" for my system. (0x00000002 to be exact but when you double click it, the value is 2) . Thanks Hebbe C.

LTO Car Registration Renewal 2018

It has been three years since our car was registered for us by the selling company. Now, I had to renew the car's registration. Note that the amounts I share here are for a SEDAN. I checked the LTO Website for the registration renewal requirements which are as follows.

• Photocopy of Certificate of Registration (CR) and Official Receipt of payment (OR)
• Appropriate Insurance Certificate of Cover (COC) or CTPL
• Duly accomplished and approved Motor Vehicle Inspection Report (MVIR)
• Certificate of Emission Compliance (CEC)
• Plate Verification is needed before the emission center can conduct testing if you still don't have a license plate
• Taxpayer’s Identification Number

You can only get the MVIR once you are at LTO, East Avenue. And the initial assessor will only give you one if you have the OR/CR, CTPL and CEC.

We got our CEC from RLD Auto Sources Emission Testing Center. Testing was done in roughly 10 minutes. But before we could even have our vehicle tested, they asked us to get our PLATE VERIFICATION from the district office where our car was first registered. This was at the NCR District Office along G. Araneta Avenue. So instead of just 10 minutes, it took us an addition hour just to get this verification because our vehicle still has no license plate until now. This has something to do with COA and a TRO. So, on our PLATE VERIFICATION form, it says FOR PLATE ALLOCATION - NO PLATE AVAILABLE. There was no payment needed for this form.

After getting the PLATE VERIFICATION, and returning to the emission testing center, our vehicle was tested. They attached a smoke emission measuring device to the car's exhaust. The technician revved the motor several times and took a picture of the rear end of the car. I then had to pay 450 pesos.

Next stop was the LTO at East Avenue. The registration requirements was checked by an assessor. He then told me that the Insurance Certificate of Cover I brought with me, the one issued by Standard Insurance, was not appropriate since it did not have the CTPL term under the items covered. I asked him if VTPL-BI and VTPL-PD counted as CTPL. He said that CTPL was for pedestrians who might get hit by an accident. VTPL was for Bodily Injury and PD was for Personal Damage. (But I thought TPL meant Third Party Liability?) Not wanting to prolong our debate, I decided to purchase a CTPL from Milestone Guaranty and Assurance Corp. whose stall was conveniently located a few feet away from the assessor. They charged me 1,250 pesos for the CTPL. Later on, I would call up Standard Insurance and inquire if CTPL was not part of my insurance coverage. They confirmed that it wasn't. But I could have it added the next time I renewed our insurance with them for an additional 610 pesos. For more info, you can read on this article. (What pisses me off is that I thought a Comprehensive Insurance would include CTPL aside from the other things it covers. Apparently, not.)

After buying the CTPL, I was awarded the MVIR along with a technician who would stencil the chassis number and engine number of our vehicle on the form. After he did this, I had to give the documents to window F to be evaluated. And then, I had to wait at window L, the cashier's window, and I had to pay 1930 pesos for the registration renewal. I was then supposed to claim the stickers and plates from window M. But since no stickers and plates were available, I was advised to check back with the LTO at some other future time to claim these.

CEC      450
CTPL    1,250
LTO fee 1,930
----------------------------------
Total Amount Spent    3,630

And that was my LTO registration renewal experiance for 2018. I hope it helps you out.

Adding a Larger DDR4 Memory Stick

My existing desktop has two memory slots. The memory in the existing slot was a 4 GB Hyper X DDR4 with a frequency of 2400 MHz. I asked the PC salesperson if it was alright to add an 8 GB memory module with the same specs. He said it would be alright as long as the frequencies matched. So I purchased an 8 GB Hyper X DDR4 module with a frequency of 2400 MHz.

When I got home, I simply plugged in the new memory module in the second slot. No Video. The computer would not even reach BIOS. But it was running. And there weren't any weird noises or beep codes. I decided to re-seat the new memory module, hoping things would change. Still no video.

I took out the 4 GB module and replaced it with the new 8 GB memory module. Finally, a message to go into BIOS since the existing memory has changed. BIOS showed that the memory module size was indeed 8 GB. Saved the changes and exited BIOS.

Shut the PC down and decided to add the 4 GB module at the secondary slot. A new message stating that the existing memory has changed again showed up on the screen. BIOS was now showing 12 GB of total memory.

Morale of the story. When adding a larger memory module of the same frequency, make sure the larger module is placed in the primary memory slot on the mother board.

Addendum: It seems like systems running Windows 10 need about 8 GB as minimum memory to run decently. Browsers - be it Firefox or Chrome - need about 4 GB memory, and if that is the minimum amount of memory you have on your PC, then it is subject to a lot of slow downs.

Everlasting God (We Set Our Hope) Guitar Chords

Here's my attempt at the praise and worship song, Everlasting God. Hope you are blessed by it.

STANZA
G
The Lord is my light and salvation
Bm                 F#m
Whom shall I fear, whom shall I be afraid
(Repeat)

REFRAIN
                G
I will wait for you
                Bm   F#m
I will wait for you, yeah
(Repeat)

CHORUS
Em     D      Bm            A     Em             D               A 
I will remain confident in this "I will see the goodness of the Lord"
Em     D      Bm            A     Em             D               A 
I will remain confident in this "I will see the goodness of the Lord (Jesus)"
(Repeat)

Repeat STANZA
Repeat REFRAIN
Repeat CHORUS

BRIDGE
D
We will see Your glory come (Oh yes God)
D
We will see Your glory come (Yes God, we believe it)
D
We will see Your glory come (In our city, in our families)
D
We will see Your glory come (Yes God, we believe it)

CHORUS 2
D
We set our hope on You
D
We set our hope on Your love
D                                                 Bm
We set our hope on the One who is the Everlasting God
G
You are the Everlasting God
G
You are the Everlasting
(Repeat three more times)

EXHORTATION (use CHORUS 2 chord pattern)
Yeah
Jesus, we give You the glory tonight
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Oh we celebrate unto you oh God
Oh Lord in our city, we believe you for a miracle
Cmon we set our hope

Repeat CHORUS 2

Repeat CHORUS
I will remain confident in this "I will see the goodness of the Lord" (In our city, God)
I will remain confident in this "I will see the goodness of the Lord" (In our church, God)
I will remain confident in this "I will see the goodness of the Lord" (In our families)
I will remain confident in this "I will see the goodness of the Lord" (Cmon, declare it tonight)

Is Almazan Worth It?

Now that Raymond Almazan is doing a Calvin Abueva trading maneuver, let's see what might happen. Just like what happened with Terrence Romeo and Calvin Abueva, I doubt that a team can force a player to stay on with the team if he no longer wants to. So a trade might be best for both player and team.

If I had to name the top 5 best centers in the PBA right now, I would say Jun Mar Fajardo, Poy Erram, Japeth Aguilar, Greg Slaughter, and maybe Ian Sanggalang. Raymond Almazan isn't even in that top 5 list.

I tried looking at his stats during the 2018 Philippine Cup. He averaged 9 points, 6.33 rebounds and 1.78 blocks per game. That doesn't even come close to Jun Mar Fajardo's 22.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game or Poy Erram's 14.18 points, 13.82 rebounds and 3 blocks per game. So getting Almazan on one's team isn't as good as getting a Fajardo or an Erram. But some teams could sure use the shot blocking.

So, which PBA teams lack a legitimate center. The following teams come to mind.
1. TNT Katropa
2. Meralco Bolts
3. Columbian Dyip
4. Northport Batang Pier
5. Phoenix Fuel Masters
6. Alaska Aces

Let's try to analyze the potential trades for each of these teams.

TNT Katropa has been lacking a decent center for a long time now. Kelly Williams has been forced to play this spot even though he is better at the power forward position. The departure or Ranidel de Ocampo and Moala Tautua has turned this team into a shooting dependent team. And once your shooters are having an off-night, there's no one to rebound and get second chance opportunities. I'm not saying that Almazan is famous for getting second chance opportunities, but he might help improve TNT's rebounding. TNT might have to shed one of their premier guards for an Almazan trade. But I'm not sure if Rain or Shine would want another guard. They would probably want a center or power forward. And Kelly Williams might not be on the table despite his age.

Even though the Meralco Bolts have Dillinger, Hodge and De Ocampo, they could still use someone like Almazan at the center position. One of those three though might be up for trade.

The Columbian Dyip might want to trade Jackson Corpuz for Almazan. They would end up getting the roughly the same numbers, but a player who is taller.

Despite having Tautua, I think Northport still needs a decent center. I would actually go for a Tautua Almazan trade.

With the addition of Abueva, the Phoenix fuel masters just need a center and point guard to complete their core five. Phelps is doing a great job at the center position which is the reason why Phoenix is a contender during this Governor's Cup conference. But once he is gone during the Philippine Cup, then Phoenix might become a middle tier team. So if there was any reason for them to acquire Almazan, it is in preparation for the future. I would trade Intal or Eriobu for Almazan.

Alaska still has Sonny Thoss. And they might have an up and coming star in Magat. But until that time comes, they will need a center like Almazan to help Vic Manuel down low. Trade Thoss, Racal or Baclao for Almazan.

The other PBA teams could still benefit with the addition of Almazan. For example, Black Water could trade Raba Al-hussaini for Almazan and become an even better team. And a reunion with coach Yeng Guiao is possible at NLEX although I don't know who they would trade for Almazan. Maybe Marcelo. Magnolia, too, could use another center to help Sanggalang. Would they trade Pingris for Almazan? Would Rain or Shine be willing to wait for Pingris to recover?

Teams like San Miguel or Ginebra would probably have a hard time inserting Almazan in the rotation even if they could acquire him.

MVP teams probably have the best chance of getting Almazan. And with no potential premier centers in the 2019 PBA draft, getting Raymond Almazan could be the best move before 2019 even begins.

SMB Loses to Ginebra Despite Absence of Slaughter & Aguilar

Ginebra is now considered the top San Miguel Corporation team in the PBA. The Gin Kings proved their mastery over the San Miguel Beermen last night. Their Commissioner's Cup win was no fluke. And to add insult to injury, they won without their twin towers, Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter who were both injured.

While the Beermen might say they had no Jun Mar Fajardo and Marcio Lassiter, they were still expected to win the match since they had a healthy Alex Cabagnot, Chris Ross, Arwind Santos and Christian Stanhardinger to support their import AZ Reid. But their import seems to be nursing an injury, too. And it might be time for SMB to replace Reid while it is still early in the Governor's Cup Conference. Reid might have been great in the past, but he won't be able to match up against the likes of Justin Brownlee, Eugene Phelps or Henry Walker - imports in teams currently dominating this conference. And don't discount TNT with a Markus Blakely.

Reid was shooting blanks from beyond the arc. He was hardly a post up threat. And his defense against Brownlee was nothing special. An import should be able to cancel out the opposing team's import at the very least. This can be done by matching or exceeding point production, or shutting down the opposing import's offense.

The Beermen might have offensive night outbursts like their game against Columbian, but their offense has not been consistent. So, if I were to get a replacement import, it has to be someone who can pick up the offensive slack, if the locals are stuttering. Without Fajardo, the Beermen have no go to guy if their shooters are missing their shots. A potential bright spot was Chris Ross, who tried to score with a lot of drives to the basket. But a scoring Ross means less facilitation. I would rather have a facilitating Ross who makes sure that the other SMB players are getting the ball, than an offensive minded Ross.

SMB's coaching staff should also remind Standhardinger and Santos to defend better. I miss the Arwind blocks. And I think Standhardinger could become a great defender if he decides to focus on this. He could be the key to defending against imports. Another potential defender could be Kelly Nabong. He should drop his offense and focus on being the best defender on the team, if not in the league. Learn from Dennis Rodman, who despite being small, defended the likes of Shaq really well. MGR could join the defensive party too. SMB should be able to come up with a defensive play against Brownlee, Phelps, and Walker, in case it ends up matching against these teams if ever it reaches the quarter finals. Otherwise, SMB might be taking an early vacation in this conference.

Weak Imports Against Justin Brownlee Might Guarantee Ginebra 2018 Governor's Cup Defense

Coach Tim Cone understands the power of the spoken word. He always makes pronouncements early in a conference and his insights usually result in a positive outcome. Take his pronouncements about Greg Slaughter being the best defense against the PBA's reigning MVP Jun Mar Fajardo. While he did this early in the year, and it didn't happen during the Philippine Cup, Ginebra was able to bag the Commissioner's Cup. Having the media play on the facts that Slaughter beat Fajardo when they were in college and that Fajardo and Slaughter have never faced each other in a finals series placed doubt in Fajardo's mind and was used to Ginebra's advantage. Never mind the fact that Fajardo has been the MVP for the past four years. And never mind the fact that Fajardo has faced taller competition in the international arena and bigger and stronger imports like Onuaku and Smith. Suddenly, Fajardo doubted his ability to dominate the paint because of this masterful tactic. So, if San Miguel wants to dominate again, Fajardo has to be mentally tough.

And San Miguel, as a team, should remove the idea of being the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in the PBA. You shouldn't talk about that until you've retired as a team. Lebron shouldn't be in the conversation until he has retired like Michael Jordan. And neither should the current SMB Core, until they are finally done. They still have a lot of future accomplishments as long as they keep healthy and as long as they improve their bench. And many years from now, when that time finally comes, then we can compare this SMB team with the Alaska of the 90's, or Star Hotshots or other PBA teams who have achieved a grandslam. As a fan, having a grandslam would still be one of the benchmarks to be included in the discussion for a GOAT Team.

Now, with the recent article of SPIN on the 2018 Governor's Cup imports, I wonder if any team really wants to beat Ginebra, knowing that they've had the best Governor's Cup import for the past two years. Durham is still there, but we've already seen that Meralco doesn't stand a chance against Ginebra, and more so now that Ginebra has gained confidence against SMB. Arizona Reid was an import who left San Miguel in recent memory. Why would you give this guy another chance at redemption? We know how that story will end since we've just seen it in the recently concluded Commisioner's Cup.

What SMB needs is an import that can do it all just like Brownlee. One who is a three-point threat and can slash to the basket.  And more important than this skill set is that  preferably, this import has beaten Justin Brownlee numerous times in the past. An import that has the mental edge over Brownlee and will cause Brownlee to doubt his ability to lead Ginebra to a title defense. If teams can find that import, then they will have the edge over Ginebra in a potential finals match up. And when the leader of the team doubts himself, then the team begins to doubt their ability, too. And if that happens, Ginebra will no longer be the Governor's Cup champions.