iPhone photos show up as unplayable Videos when backed up to Google Photos

It's been a few years since I've posted anything. Today I decided to start posting answers to problems I have had. This is one I could find no reference to in a goole search.

I just got a new iPhone, and took some photos. I was replacing a Samsung Galaxy Note 4, which was started to crap out on me. It was a great phone, and not I don't prefer Apple over Android. I like them both.

I used Goole Photos, because they give you UNLIMITED storage!  If you let them compress the photo. The compassion clarity loss is not noticeable unless you are a professional photographer.  They also allow short videos for free!

Here is the link to Google Photos for the iPhone.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-photos-free-photo-video/id962194608?mt=8

Quote from google drive:

Space used depends on your storage setting and which product you use
Items uploaded via Google Drive count against your storage quota, regardless of size.
Items uploaded via Google Photos:
Don't use quota if they're stored in "High quality."
Do use quota if they're stored in "Original quality."

I use this instead of Apple's iCloud, since I only get 5GB free, and it fills up quickly. I have about a thousand photos on goole photos, and I am currently at 111mb of my 15gb, for free.

Well, the problem I found:
The photos from the iPhone show as unplayable videos in Google Photos.

Well, i searched google a few minutes and found nothing. I went into my photo app on the phone, and edited the photos, and i got a message stating they were LIVE photos. Editing them made them regular jpegs.  Then I remembered Apple touting their new "Live" photos, which is their proprietary term for a gif. By proprietary, I mean they will not open in google photos, and they still have the jpg extension.

Once I edited them, they worked fine with Google photos. I opened my camera app, and saw in very tiny icon in the top middle. If it is yellow it is taking a LIVE photo {A gif}. Touch the icon and it will turn white, and pictures will then be a regular jpeg.  Here is a screenshot of the icon:

I don't know how they expect someone to intuitively know that turns on and off the live function!


Well, problem solved and money saved.


I had one of the less technically inclined people at work tell me the other day,

"I got to buy me some more cloud, i don't have room for my photos on my phone!"

"What? Let me see your phone."

Well, he was really confused by the terminology used for various methods of storage.
He had a few gigabytes of memory left on his phone. I think he was paying Verizon to backup his photos! I met a few people who pay 400 to 500 dollars a month for a cellphone, due to a lack of technical knowledge.

Thats not to say they are not smart people, they are simple being taken advantage of by unscrupulous  companies.

I spent a few minutes explaining it to him, hopefully he took advantage of google photos.

Security Programs

Here is a list of the Security programs I am currently using on all my Windows computers. My main theme in my program choices are:

1 - It must Work

2 - I Prefer it be Free, or low cost

3 - It cannot Bog down, or overload my computer's Ram or Processor

The List: {Click on each item to go to the publishers download site}

1 - Zone Alarm
Firewall, Free for Home use. They Do have a more feature rich pay version
2 - Avast Antivirus
Free for Home use. They Do have a more feature rich pay version
3 - Spybot search and destroy
Freeware, but they do ask for donations
4 - Firefox
FREE, use instead of internet explorer. An Absolute must have
5 - No Script {Add -on for firefox}
An Absolute must have
6 - Adblock Plus {Add -on for firefox}
An Absolute must have
7 - WOT {Add -on for firefox}
Warns you of dangerous sites

The key provision with using these programs is to make sure you use the automatic updates on all of them. I have not been infected on any of my computers since using the above combination.
I will go into the settings to use on each one in a later post.

antivirus 360 scam

I spent all day Saturday trying to figure out the problem with a friends computer. It's a family computer that he lets everyone use, so it is prone to get viruses. Apparently someone had clicked on a link to the "anti virus 360" malware while using internet explorer.

Here is a link to www.bleepingcomputer.com that covers it in detail. http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/malware-removal/remove-antivirus-360

I Used the malwarebytes anti-malware to remove it availible here http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

The lesson in this is Use Firefox with Noscript, Adblock plus, WOT, and you will probably avoid this. he had antivirus and a firewall running, but that does you no good when someone starts hitting yes to every popup that comes along.

Symantec Software Virtualization Solution

I'm Trying out "Altiris Software Virtualization Solution (SVS)" [now owned by symntec]. It lets you isolate installation of software into managed units called Virtual Software Packages (VSP's). You can prevent dll and registry coruption by using this. I just started using it yesterday, and will post my progress.

Here is the Link to Download it: http://www.altiris.com/Download/svsPersonal.aspx

It's fairly easy to use so far, after installing you just start the program, select file, create new layer, and follow the on screen directions. Read the the pdf file that comes with it before you use it.

Supposedly it also installs the program into a special read only layer {Fancy name for their folders} of the hard drive.

I've posted a pic of the programs main screen showing what I am running, and the bold programs are the active ones.

p.s. It is free for personal use, with some limitations

Computer Tip's

I'll post my computer tip's Here, and I'll try to follow K.I.S.S. {Keep it simple stupid}. I've been working with computer's in various forms since 1979. I don't work on them exclusively, But i have worked on them in a wide range of settings, {Industrial, Military, at Home, Schools} Currently I have ASUS EEE PC's, Compaq, Homebuilt, and Dell. And numerous PocketPC's {Yes I am a nerd}