Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing

March 5

Sound Editing

Let's say i have two .wav sound files; they are exactly the same, except that one of them has one more instrument on it than the other one. Is it possible, with a wave editor or any software, to do a substraction between the two files, in order to extract the additional instrument? Thanks!! -- Max —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 195.190.170.143 (talk) 03:45, 5 March 2007 (UTC).

Yeah, a program I used to use called gold wave could use a tool called inverse on the wav with the missing instrument, then you paste mix with the full wav and I'm pretty sure that's the same as subtracting. Never tried it that directly tho, the two wavs would have to be sample identical for it to work well. Vespine 03:55, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, that is a normal capability. Note that actually doing this is much more difficult than it might seem. 1) Use the "Invert filter" on one of the tracks. 2) Adjust the timing relationship exactly. This might be complicated by independent speed variations due to playback, editing, compression, companding, etc., etc. Unless they were both recorded at the same time and went through the same sort of processing. 3) Adjust the gain of one to exactly match the other. 4) Then play them mixed together. You'll probably have to repeat 2 and 3 several times, if not dozens. —EncMstr 04:00, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Desktop settings on vista

i can not seem to figure out how to stretch or center a desktop backround picture with the vista OS. I can not find the option on the display menu like i was able to with XP. Is there a new way to do it now.--logger 04:23, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

right-click the desktop -> Personalize (or Control Panel -> Personalization) -> Desktop Background --Spoon! 08:27, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Oh thats how it goes. Thanks for the info it works.--logger 09:09, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Need a Bot (or something)

I need a Bot (or something) to detect and undo a certain specific kind of vandalism on the article for Florida. A certain vandal (or vandals) with changing IP addresses keep vandalizing the page using one specific inappropriate word. S/he comes back every couple of days to re-vandalize the page with the same word: "penis". I can't think of any reason that this word should ever appear in the article, so I think it should be automatically blocked/reverted. Can this be done, and if yes, can someone add it to the Florida article? Semi-protection has been tried several times, and the vandal just waits for the SP to be removed and then continues vandalizing in the same way, but always using the same word. --Britcom 05:14, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe you should report at Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism, though of course you should do the customary warnings and stuff. Splintercellguy 06:24, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Possibly, report to WP:ANI, and we may be able to slap a longish block on the user. If vandalism is obvious, we do have bots to spot it, though I doubt that "penis" is a revert word, and this sort of thing can't be set article by article. The best thing is to carry on reverting, warning and reporting. Martinp23 21:23, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Fire Fox Seach hot keys???

Whenever I type ` or \ sometimes the seach at the bottom pops up. Then on another sessions this will never happen. Then it comes back again. Can't find any option for it and I am very confused to how I am enabling/disabling it.--Dacium 05:27, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Look for "Find As You Type Link" and "Find As You Type Text" at this site (or click Help→Help Contents and search for "Keyboard Shortcuts" and then look for the same phrases. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 09:40, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

FTP

I have no problem accessing FTP sites from the command line in Windows XP and did not have any problems previously accessing FTP sites using Internet Explorer but now since about six weeks ago no matter what I try all I get from IE when I try to access an FTP site is an IE screen message that says: "...IE can not display the webpage." What is going on and how can I restore FTP access under IE? Nocternal 07:40, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

The only thing I can think of is maybe proxy settings under the connections tab of the internet options? Usually the settings should just be automatic but you may need to look up your ISP to make sure. Failing that, reinstalling IE wouldn't hurt and isn't really that hard. Vespine 03:38, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Umm, reinstalling IE will only reinstall the shortcuts. --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 06:24, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

iPod and Vista

Hi I got a new SONY laptop with windows vista preloaded into it, and since I cant gain access to my music files is there a way if I can take the songs out of my iPod and put them into my laptop? Thanks. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 219.78.44.150 (talk) 09:05, 5 March 2007 (UTC).

yeah, if you open My Computer (or whatever its called in Vista now...) and open up your iPod, then go to tools, folder options then show hidden files and folders. All your music is in the folder called iPod control then music. If you do a ctrl + F for all music files on your iPod it will(should) show them all. They'll all have odd four letter file names though, but iTunes will open with them with all the right names and artwork etc. Jackacon 22:36, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

SNMP OIDs of HP printers

We are trying to develop a simple SNMP application which will query the HP printers in our network about the status of paper, toner etc and display it on screen. Can anyone help me with the list of MIB object IDs for HP (HP 4300 series) printers (like which OID gets changed when the toner goes low, which OID changes when the tray runs out of paper etc)? I downloaded the MIBs from the HP site but it does not give what I want. (for example, it does not tell me which OID to look for, to find the status of paper in tray 1, or which OID gets changed when the paper is jammed) -- WikiCheng | Talk 10:11, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Amps

I was wondering, is there any possible way to plug a guitar amp into a TV? I don't know whether TVs have a plug-in big enough for the chord required but it'd be nice...Jk31213 16:23, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

It is possible, but first got to ask, why do you want to? --Kiltman67 16:47, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

I'd like to plug the amp in because they're better than speakers. Amps are BUILT to withstand noise. Speakers are just for volume generally. Don't assume, by the way, that i'll have a guitar plugged into it. I just want the amp only. Think about it, you could increase bass, treble all in knobs!! And the chord would be normal for wut u would normally plug into a guitar, only a tv. I cant believe no one's ever thought of this before!!!Jk31213 19:37, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Ahhh, so you want to plug the TV into the amp. I thought you wanted to plug the amp into your TV and use the TV as a poweramp. It is all technically possible but the one problem you may find is that your TV may not have an audio output. I know I've just bought a new LCD TV and, while it has a multitude of connections, it lacks an audio output. There's no guarantee you'll be satisfied with the sound quality anyway, while I suppose it would be nice to have the kind of control over the tone that an amp would give you, bare in mind that guitar amps are designed with guitars in mind and there's a big difference between the tone of a guitar and the vast array of sounds that come out of your TV. The better option might be to get a proper sound system, or at least run the audio through a Hi Fi. --Kiltman67 20:00, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

That's exploiting it a bit isn't it? but anyway the plug for a guitar amp should just be the same as a 6.5mm mono headphone cord so you'd just need to get a cord running from your tv headphone out into the amp, with maybe a few size adaptors and stuff. If your tv doesn't have headphone out you should be able to do through a vcr, with an AV to headphone adaptor.

Mix Lord 00:34, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

If the guitar amp is has line level inputs, then you could run a cord from RCA outs on the TV, or even headphone out. I haven't messed around with too many guitar amps, i'd keep the volume and gain down and adjust everything gradually. By the way, stereophonic sound and flat response from 40 Hz (or so) to 20 khz is best.172.131.169.29 12:38, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

MSN

I signed my brother up for an MSN account on my laptop, to get it done quickly. I then decided to start using MSN myself again, and signed him out and me in. The problem now is that every time I start up my laptop, or select the MSN icon, it automatically signs me in as him, meaning I have to sign out (hoping that none of his friends are online and spotting me!) and sign back in. I've tried deleting my cookies, I never selected to automatically sign in, nothing I've tried has stopped it automatically signing his account in. It doesn't even ask for his password, and I can't find a setting to make it! What to do?

Oh, I'm running a very basic version of MSN,(4.7.3001) the one that came with my copy of Windows XP. I'm running XP on a laptop. I don't know what else would be useful. Please help! Thanks.

Skittle 17:16, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Lazy me suggests an update to the latest MSN Messenger. Splintercellguy 20:00, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Try removing the Passport details from your Windows account — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 20:44, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Fantastic! Thanks Matt, that was exactly it. Personally, if I were writing software I'd have a 'don't sign me in automatically' option in the usual MSN box, but what do I know? Thanks again. You're a star. Skittle 00:11, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Pleasure :) You're completely right, it's a really convoluted way of doing something that should be really simple. It's extra-annoying that it decides to blindly sign in with whatever credentials it has stored. Ho hum. You might want to check out Windows Live Messenger, the newest version of MSN Messenger. Much nicer, IMO (and prettier, too). — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 00:22, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

My problem with the prettier MSN is that it doesn't make such a clear colour distinction between signed in/signed out, which I like so I can quickly determine whether it's worth staying signed in or not. I don't really use the newer functions, and it's annoying to download the new version every time I have to wipe my harddrive (stupid viruses). Plus, the newer stuff tends to try to do more when you first sign in, opening more stuff which I have to close. I like simple :-) Thanks though. Skittle 21:47, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Compatible video formats?

I always try to put compatible formats for video on my PSP.I tried a compatible format on my PSP and when it is on my PSP, it always counts the compatible format as Corruptible Data. Will someone help? LongGoneVista 18:06, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

Which formats are you using? And how are you doing it? How were the files created? Mix Lord 00:29, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Couldn't use their blasted Flash site to find the specs, but I've seen MPEG-4 files marked as "PSP compatable", so I guess it's compatible with at least some parts of the MPEG-4 specifications. The wikipedia article suggests (without giving sources) that it is also compatible with the H.263 codec. I'd suggest an MPEG container, with MP4, MP3 or mpga as the audio codec, and then try H.263 and MPEG-4 as the video codecs. You can convert between different video formats using File, Wizard on VLC media player. --h2g2bob

Audio Extracting Software Feature Not Listed

I've very good at ripping music onto my computer, but some music is out of my reach, because it is impossible to find a way to silence other background noises while recording the music. I've researched Google many times, and have found many Audio Software products, but none of them list information about features that allow a user to rip music without sound FX; thus I've hesitated to purchase them. What I NEED is an Audio Software that can provide some way to turn off specific audio material, (such as speech, sound FX, narrating, etc.), and record the music only. Since some Video Games, and most DVDs don't have audio options, the audio software must be able to rip/extract pure music by simply reading the DVD or Video Game Disc. If somebody could provide [and guarantee] me information about software that can do this, it would make my life! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 160.32.2.1 (talk) 19:00, 5 March 2007 (UTC).

I don't know of any software, but suggest turning off the sound effects then recording the music coming out of the speakers (or better yet, use an audio output jack as input to your recording device). If you can't turn the sound effects off, perhaps there is a place in the game you can stand where no sound effects occur (a store where you buy upgrades, for example). StuRat 22:50, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

I have played around with audio production for a few years and am pretty sure what you are after does not exist. A human voice for example is multi harmonic and can span frequencies between 85Hz and 5000Hz which also just happens to be where a lot of musical instruments also happen to reside, it is impossible for a piece of software to differentiate between a human voice and an instrument, especially since the human voice is frequently used as an instrument. There are some tricks which are used to separate vocals out of music but they are usually dependant on the fact that voices are usually mixed perfectly in the centre of a track while instruments are mixed slightly to the sides, but I doubt that is the case in video games. It may work with DVDs, dialogue usually only comes out of the centre speaker so you can probably extract the music by excluding the centre track, sound effects thought may be a different matter. This would require you to rip audio channels separately. These are techniques which software would not do automatically for you, you would need to learn how to do it. Vespine 23:34, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

The voice cancellers, i think, use the fact that the vocals are often monoaural and the instruments have phase differences (not just level) between the channels. So you bypass the low bass, bypass the high treble, and apply some cancellation on the middle band. Then sum the 3 bands. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.131.169.29 (talk) 12:48, 7 March 2007 (UTC).

A good open-source audio program is audacity it has a tool that lets you remove any noise that is under a certin number of Decibels (such as static), along with a bunch of other stuff. I found it on sourceforge.com. Foil Fencer --)----------- 19:35, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Unicode in Microsoft Word, OpenOffice.org

How do you use Unicode in Microsoft Word and OpenOffice.org? - Patricknoddy^{TALK (reply here)|HISTORY} 21:58, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

You might be interested in Alt codes. --TotoBaggins 02:34, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Bash

How do I, in Bash and using cat and date, do the following:

Read stdin and write it to a file whose name is the output from date?

Even better, how do I do this but also have the name of the file have some text (e.g. "Please read: ") stuck before or after the date?

Thanks —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 87.194.21.177 (talk) 22:02, 5 March 2007 (UTC).

OK, I actually just figured this out - am doing:

cat > "Please read: `date`"

So another question: how do I do the same thing but have the output from date plus an extra newline at the top of the file? I can do it now by doing:

date > "Please read: `date`" && cat >> Ple*

But that's cheating - referring back to the file using *. How should I be doing this?

Thanks. --87.194.21.177 22:34, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

How about

(date && cat) > "Please read: `date`"

-- Spoon! 23:24, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

You can give also date a format (see man date) that will make it nicer-looking and easier to do shell-scripting on without having to monkey with spaces and such. A style like the one below has the advantage that an alphanumeric sort is also a chronological sort. --TotoBaggins 02:26, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

$ date +Please-read-%Y.%m.%d-%H.%M.%S
Please-read-2007.03.05-21.23.16

Thanks guys. Sorry to split hairs, but does

(date && cat) > "Please read: `date`"

in fact run date twice? So I could in theory get a file called WHATEVERTIME whose firstline is WHATEVERTIME+SOMEVERYSMALLTIME? How do I get round this? Thanks again. --87.194.21.177 09:02, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, it runs it twice. You want

now=`date`  # or use bash's nicer $(date) syntax
{ echo $now; cat } > "Please read: $now"

(If using braces doesn't work, change them to parentheses. I believe they'll work and be slightly more efficient.) Does that help? --Tardis 14:10, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks to everyone that replied. I now have it doing exactly what I want. Thanks again. --87.194.21.177 08:24, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

March 6

Microsoft Word 2007 [Trial]

A pop-up comes up every time I open "Microsoft Word 2007 [Trial]". It reads, "Please run Setup then click Repair." Does anyone know where "Microsoft Word" Setup is or how to fix this problem? 68.193.147.179 00:52, 6 March 2007 (UTC)If

Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs -> Then find Office 2007 and select "Change". If you're in Vista it won't be called Add or Remove Programs it'll be called Programs and Features. --froth^T 01:11, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I tried that but, it doesn't work, do you know anything else to do? 68.192.10.128 21:51, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Winzip

please privide me a brief definition of winzip.what can i do with it and how i can operate it—202.70.64.41 02:31, 6 March 2007 (UTC)rameshbista2003.

Did you read winzip? --TotoBaggins 02:37, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

It's really easy. You can open a zip archive, see its contents, and extract them -- just what you'd expect. (I think it has a bunch of other features, too, but I've never used them.) Was there some particular aspect you were having problems with, or wondering about? —Steve Summit (talk) 03:15, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

WinZip allows you to open or create .zip files. Zip files contain other files and folders. It groups them together and makes them smaller (compresses them), which makes them handy for transfering files between different computers. You can then extract them - using WinZip - to get the original files back. I prefer FilZip, which does exactly the same as WinZip. --h2g2bob 07:43, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I like 7zip; its pretty fast, and has vastly better compression than any other program of similar speed except WinRAR, which isn't free and still is often worse than 7zip. 7zip also has very fast decompression when using LZMA. Of course if you want really good compression you have to use PAQ8K ;) —Dark•Shikari^[T] 19:13, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Playstation 1 games on Playstation 2

I just got some PS1 games and tried them on my PS2. They work fine except the games don't seem to recognize that there is a memory card in the slot. Is there a way overcome this so I can save games? ike9898 02:32, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately, looking at google, you can't. See this forum thread. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 03:11, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

As the thread says, you can use a memory card; it just has to be a PS1 memory card (they fit in the same slot). I have two cards of each kind for exactly this reason. --Tardis 14:05, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

you also can't use the PS1 cards with more than the standard 15 blocks for some reason... I had one I bought from Game that just went haywire. Jackacon 22:29, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Old DOS game

I remember an old DOS space-combat game I used to play when I was younger. All I remember was that there were a bunch of weapons (i believe they were unlocked throughout the missions), one of them was Photon Torpedoes (and it wasn't a star trek game, I think you pressed 3 or 5 to use them), and the final mission had you fly inside a giant core ship with barely-get-the-ship-through openings (it wasn't like the Death Star II, it was completely open but had small openings). I thought it was something called Space Quest or something but that's a completely different game. It may have had roman numerals. It came in a software pack I got, maybe around 1995-1999 (thinking around '96, cause my first FPS was Chex Quest :) )Anyone know what game I'm talking about, and the name? -Wooty Woot? contribs 03:34, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Is it a vertical/horizontal scroller, or 3D? It'd help narrow it down. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 06:53, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

3d. You were in the "cockpit". -Wooty Woot? contribs 08:04, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

It wasn't Wing Commander or Descent, was it? --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 08:23, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Nope. I think my best bet at this point is to find any space sim with a level described like the one I did, and go from there. I have a feeling it's not very well-known, and that's why I can't find it. EDIT: I'm not sure, but I think it might have had wingman support, and on the last mission you had to blow up the core of the giant station as well. -Wooty Woot? contribs 09:23, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Did the level you describe involve having to move the spacecraft vertically up and down to get through the openings? And were the openings all in a straight line? I have a faint recollection of a game similar to that on the Amstrad CPC 464, but unfortunately don't know the name of it. However, if it was available on the 464, it should be easier to find by a process of elimiatation by going through a list on a site like this and seeing if any of those ring any bells. Johnnykimble 11:11, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe the openings were in a straight line (weren't haphazardly placed), but of course they were all the way around the ball-shaped structure. Think of a chain link/chainmail sphere. -Wooty Woot? contribs 21:20, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Shadows and rounded corners using CSS

Can someone explain to me how to put rounded corners around div tags using css? I'd like to get something that looks like this:

Thanks in advance ^^ Mango Sango 03:44, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe it's just images. It´s in the CSS3 draft and firefox supports it (using -moz extensions) but neither of which are standard at the moment. --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:50, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

It's done with images indeed. -- mattb @ 2007-03-06T04:06Z

How do you align the images though? Do you you a position;relative and then set the parent to the main column? Mango Sango 17:23, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Why not look at the source? — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 17:49, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

DHT

Asked this awhile ago but didn't get a good answer. When you're downloading from the bittorrent DHT network with a compliant client (say utorrent) on a fresh install of the client, how does it find the very first node? Supposedly if you know the address of one node you can route to any other node in the network, but how does it find that very first node? Is there an uber-populated DHT node run by the bittorrent people that everyone running utorrent connects to at least once to populate their own hash tables? Doesn't that defeat the decentralization? --froth^T 06:30, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I've always wondered about that too. Maybe trackers count as uber-populated DHT nodes, but then you're still right, it defeats decentralization for the most part. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 06:47, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe DHT nodes are discovered via peers and seeds discovered via tracker, or via DHT information in the torrent file. Splintercellguy 07:53, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Newly installed clients have no node table saved and do indeed get initial information from the torrent file. See the protocol draft sections "BitTorrent Protocol Extension" and "Torrent File Extensions". Note that you don't necessarily need to have the address of a node with peer information for the torrent you're interested in, you merely need to know the address of a node with a populated routing table. In my experience maintaining tracker software, DHT is a kludge and a generally evil thing. Then again, so is the rest of the ill-defined BitTorrent "protocol". -- mattb @ 2007-03-06T15:13Z

Ill-defined maybe, but clients and trackers seem to do a good job compromising on a specific protocol. Thanks guys this is definately a satisfactory answer --froth^T 17:37, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Try writing a tracker that attempts to keep precise track of byte transfer statistics. You'll find just how fun a a loosely-defined protocol can be. -- mattb @ 2007-03-06T21:35Z

Well aren't piece negotiations and "byte transfers" supposed to be P2P anyway? The tracker doesn't really need to know what's going on between peers --froth^T 20:59, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Dual Display on iMacs

Can the new iMacs handles dual display? With extended desktop, not mirroring? THanks, --Fadders 07:48, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes all current iMacs support dual extended display (not mirroring). In fact you can make old iMacs support dual monitor spanning with an Applescript like Screen Spanning Doctor. --24.249.108.133 21:27, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Digital Image Resolution

I cannot work out why an image downloaded from a digital camera will have a resolution of 300dpi when examined under "properties" on the desktop of a PC, yet, when opened with Adobe Photoshop, the image resolution sets it at 72dpi. If the image resolution in Photoshop is lifted to 300dpi, the picture is huge and unworkable. Why and how does this happen? What does it mean? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Giaccirillo (talk • contribs) 08:55, 6 March 2007 (UTC).

It sounds to me like the image is just too large at that resolution (too many pixels) for that version of Adobe Photoshop to handle properly on your computer, so it lowers the resolution to something it can handle. They should really pop up a message when they do something like that (perhaps they did once a long time ago, and you picked "Don't show me this message again"). StuRat 14:26, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I have a feeling that photoshop ignored the 300dpi (if it's there at all) and reverted to 72dpi for internal purposes. Note that these numbers mean nothing when it comes to viewing or working with the image, only when printing it on paper, for which you typically have a set size in mind. At that point any previous DPI information is scrapped anyway as the image is mapped to the printout. Typical --66.195.232.121 16:33, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

DPI can be a very misleading setting -- in the end pure pixel dimensions are all that really counts. DPI is used for printing and sometimes for displaying. My guess is that your camera does not properly indicate that the files should be 300 dpi so Photoshop is just assuming they are 72 dpi. But if the pixel dimensions are the same then there is no difference in the file itself spare the resolution setting. --140.247.251.81 17:21, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

ASP on Apache

I have been running MS Personal Web Server with ASP and connection to a MS Access database. Here is an example of the code:

default.asp
<html>
<body>
<%
dim ansl
set ansl = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
ansl.ConnectionString = "DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DBQ=" & Server.MapPath("bokrec.mdb")
ansl.Open
dim databas
set databas = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
databas.Open "Sorterabok",ansl
do while not databas.EOF
Response.Write databas("Titel")
Response.Write databas("Genre")
databas.MoveNext
Loop
databas.Close
set databas = Nothing
ansl.Close
set ansl = Nothing
%>
</body>
</html>

add.asp
<!-- #include virtual=/adovbs.inc -->
<%
dim ansl
set ansl = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
ansl.ConnectionString = "DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DBQ=" & Server.MapPath("bokrec.mdb")
ansl.Open
dim databas
set databas = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
databas.Open "Bokrecensioner",ansl,,adLockOptimistic,adCmdTable
databas.AddNew
databas("titel") = Request.Form("titel")
databas("genre") = Request.Form("genre")
databas.Update
databas.Close
set databas = Nothing
ansl.Close
set ansl = Nothing
Response.Redirect "default.asp"
%>

Can I switch to Apache? Jacob Lundberg 13:21, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't think so — at least not easily. ASP is not something Apache will natively understand, so you'd at least have to install some third-party software to interpret it. Even then you'd have to make sure that said software could properly instantiate database objects, which seems slim. If you had something like this then you could probably do it easily, but that presumes both the ability to install things onto the server and also some money for the software. Sounds like an expensive hassle to me.

Now, it would not be too hard to re-write your code in PHP and to try and use Access via and ODBC connection (though I've never tried it -- it would be easier to just import your Access data into a MySQL database in my opinion). But as for just dropping your code into an Apache framework, it would be pretty tough, unless someone out there knows something I don't. --140.247.251.81 17:30, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Trivial. Easy. Use the Apache::ASP module --froth^T 17:34, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Did you read their FAQ? They don't support VBScript (which he uses) and their database support is quite minimal (ODBC with Perl, certainly not ADODB). --140.247.251.81 17:37, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

So the real problem is that there is nothing free that interprets VBScript for ASP on Apache. Searching the Internet, I came across ModVB, which does that, but is in alpha development and has not released any files. --Spoon! 21:32, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

It seems that I will have to learn how to write PHP and use MySQL. Thanks anyway, everybody! Jacob Lundberg 18:22, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Computerised control

What ways are there of computerised control for other computer systems? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 195.97.199.237 (talk) 14:46, 6 March 2007 (UTC).

I don't think you have expressed this question well enough for us to be able to tell what you are really looking for. Have you seen our articles about Computer-aided manufacturing? or maybe CNC? They might have something to do with the information you are looking for. If not, try to reword your question and give it another shot. Vespine 02:32, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Long-term laptop care

I just replaced a laptop after only 2.5 years of service and I was quite unhappy with how quickly it ran into hardware problems (I have been using the same desktop for almost a decade now). My thought is that there must have been something I was doing with it that caused it to have a very rough and short life. I've Googled around for "laptop care" instructions and all of them are obvious and useless (don't spill things on it, don't drop things on it). Are there any other strategies to promote longevity in a laptop? Cases that reduce their ability to be bumped around in transit? Better ways to carry it or set it down to avoid anything getting loose or coming into any strain? I'd like this one to last a bit longer -- any way to encourage that? (Obviously buying an extended warranty will be useful, too.) --140.247.251.81 17:43, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

To tell you the truth, I don't think it's worth doing much more then the obvious. Don't knock it around and get a good laptop carry bag, one with a metal frame, not a completely soft one. Apart from that, I think it is important realise and understand what a laptop is and why it fails like it does. I work in IT and the most common fault I see with laptops is hard disk failure, so I can't stress enough: back up important data! It's almost inevitable that you will lose data at some stage if you don't back up. The second most important thing is, like you mentioned, extended warranty! With all computers, it is quite common for something to fail at some stage, but in a laptop, unlike a desktop, if any one single component fails it usually means replacing the entire main board because it is so tightly integrated to everything in the system, which makes any repairs usually very expensive. Vespine 21:28, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Did it feel hot after you used it ? If so, this heat may have shortened it's life. Some strategies to cool it off are:

1) Point a fan at it when one is available, and leave it on until after the computer has cooled.

2) Place it on a stand so air can circulate under it, or alternatively place it on a thermally conductive surface, like metal.

3) Remove the battery when plugged in and using the computer. Then, after the computer cools down, replace the battery and allow it to charge. This will allow air to circulate into the battery compartment and will also avoid combining the heat from charging the battery with the heat from the computer itself. Beware, however, that this method will mean you have no battery backup in case of a power failure, so be sure you have an uninterruptable power supply.

4) Set the power management settings to shut down the computer quickly when not used.

Also, don't allow people to smoke around the computer, as the tar from smoke can gum up the components. If you need to use the laptop in particularly harsh environments, you might also consider a rugged laptop: [1]. StuRat 13:33, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Good PHP user management system

I'm looking for a good PHP/MySQL user management system that is 1. free, and 2. works pretty well and will not be a bear to integrate with any existing code. I'm going to be setting up a user-editable database and would like to be able to do things like create new accounts, let people edit their accounts, and give people varieties of permissions, and it occurred to me that rather than re-invent the wheel here there should be easy systems already put together for this. Googling "PHP user management" or "PHP user login" came up with a few results; does anyone have experience with any of them? I'd prefer not to have to experiment with 10 of them if there is one which is known to be good and relatively easy to use.... Thanks! --140.247.251.81 17:46, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

This sort of thing is likely to be very application-specific (permissions to what? what can the users modify about their accounts?). I'm inclined to believe you'd be better off writing what you need yourself. -- mattb @ 2007-03-06T21:30Z

I find that highly unlikely. All you would need is a set of classes that would let you retrieve the permissions settings and then the application itself could figure out what to do with it. It would be much easier to modify existing code in this respects (if it were well written and modular) than it would be to write an entire user system from scratch (which also would involve all sorts of messing with cookies and passwords and etc.) --24.147.86.187 01:14, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

You're overestimating how much code goes into a PHP "user system with cookies and passwords", but others are welcome to comment. I still think you'll be best off writing the solution that fits your site best. Otherwise, I would look for some kind of pre-fab ACL system (if anyone has bothered to write such a thing). -- mattb @ 2007-03-07T01:34Z

There are many pre-fab systems available, as I wrote above, I was asking if anyone had any experience with them to distinguish between them. And in my own experience getting a decent user system set up correctly has been more hassle than I'd like it to be at this stage of the project. --24.147.86.187 13:50, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Making a good user management backend is a one day project- one of those prefab things for which developers practically have the entire code memorized. It's really not that big of a deal, do it yourself --froth^T 20:49, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

djvu

I just downloaded a library of files with the extension .djvu. I want to open them but don't know how! I have Roxio Deja Vu installed on my computer, but I have no idea how to open the files with that. Can somebody help? [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 21:41, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

A quick googling suggests Roxio Deja Vu is unrelated; appears to be backup software? The little DjVu viewing I do I use WinDjView; google for it or there is a link at DjVu. There's also MacDjView if the Mac in your name means that Mac :-) Weregerbil 10:24, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Printing in Internet Explorer 7.0

In Internet Explorer 7.0 [Running on WinXPHome], there is a zoom button on the top of the screen (it says: "Shrink to Fit, 100%, 95%, etc...). Is there a way after zooming in to 150% to move to a different spot on the page to print? 68.192.10.128 21:50, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

Can you be more specific? Are you wanting to print out a section of a zoomed in page in IE? If that's the case, the print command with just print out the whole page. However, if you hit Alt+Print Screen while using IE with a zoomed in page it will copy the image of your web browser into the windows clipboard. From there you can paste the image into a simple image editing utility, like paint, and print it out. —Mitaphane _?|! 05:05, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Would 'Print selection' accomplish what you want? Anchoress 05:30, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

When I click "Shrink to Fit" and change it to "150%", it automatically enlarges the top-left corner; is there a way to change the are you want to enlarge? 68.193.147.179 20:28, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

You mean something like rasterbate? --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 21:50, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

No, when I click zoom in to 150%, it automatically prints the top-left corner. Is there a way to change the area that I want to print (ex: the center of the page). 68.193.147.179 21:48, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia

Do you know how Wikipedia's web page dynamically scales as you widen your browser? Most sites have a static size. thank you.

JakeV —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.198.77.150 (talk) 22:23, 6 March 2007 (UTC).

If by static size you mean these sites which force the whole content in a small 800 pixel column (while your browser window is twice as wide, leaving a huge amount of white space), Wikipedia doesn't have to do anything; the default on the web is to dynamically scale, and you have to add special instructions to prevent it. Why these sites restrict the content width is a mistery. --cesarb 22:58, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

For effect. And, previously, people typically only had screen widths between 800 and 1280 so it wasn't really a big deal to force it to be 800 pixels. On the other hand, quite a lot of pages look really bad when stretched to 100%, say, on monitors at resolutions 1600x1200 - unless it has a lot of content, i.e. Wikipedia. But yeah, Wikipedia uses percentages for scaling - as it should always be unless you are forcing sizes for images and stuff. x42bn6 Talk 23:19, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

In other words, Wikipedia demonstrates proper web design. Most web pages are designed by print media people who stay awake at nights worrying about the specific height of the letter "i" in the logo text on the top of the page. Images, also, should be set using percentages or em-height. If you absolutely have to have an image take up half the screen, set it to 50% and let it take up half the screen. Don't force me to look at an itsy-bitsy little page scrunched up in the upper left corner of my browser. --Kainaw ^(talk) 00:04, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Also, before CSS was popular, you made fixed sized layouts. I had to when I used to work as a web designer. Maybe the habit for some people stayed. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 05:35, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Couldn't you use percentage as the width of a table block before CSS? --antilived^{T | C | G} 07:17, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes. Images have always had percent widths/heights. Tables always had percent widths. Never has HTML required fix-width layouts. The practice of doing fix-width layouts came from ignorance of HTML. The main reason that it bothers me so much is because I am tasked with dealing with print media idiots all the time who will never ever understand the concept of percentage-based layout. I wish that a requirement for being a web designer is that you can never, under any circumstances, ever have had any experience in print media. --Kainaw ^(talk) 13:08, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

March 7

How do I insert the image I have uploaded

Do I have to have my account for a certain number of days before I can use the image I uploaded?

The articl went through with no problem, but I am having trouble getting my uploaded image in the article. Help —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Blakoutmagazine (talk • contribs) 01:54, 7 March 2007 (UTC).

• Generally it's not a great idea to write an article about yourself or your friends, acquaintances, etc, see WP:NOTABILITY.--VectorPotential^Talk 01:58, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

• Supposing that you were writing about a notable subject, all you'd have to do is replace [[Image:Example.jpg]] with [[Image:Soulfood3.jpg]] as I've demonstrated above by correcting your defunct media link--VectorPotential^Talk 02:00, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Editor tools on Wikipedia and different than the ones on Mediawiki?

I would like to know where I can get the extra tools I see in the editing toolbar. I have searched high and low for some sore tof extension but to no avail.

Please advise.

--Eccentric67 10:28, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

XP registry monitor

I have installed XP newly on my system. Is there any good free tool (tried and tested by you guys) available which runs in the background and lets me know if an application tries to modify the registry? -- WikiCheng | Talk 12:09, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

I believe Spybot - Search & Destroy has this feature. I use it in Windows 98 SE, where it appears to have a problem with the fonts on the pop-up panel that warns of a registry change, but otherwise works. I can't attest to how it runs under Windows XP. StuRat 13:21, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

I am not sure if Spybot looks for changes in the registry -- WikiCheng | Talk 14:18, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

It does, and prompts you if you want to allow each. If you don't answer yes in a few seconds, it assumes the answer is no and blocks them. StuRat 14:42, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

You might also want to checkout RegMon from SysInternals (whose utilities are now available direct from Microsoft), although I don't think this runs in the background Johnnykimble 19:55, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, RegMon is an excellent program ("tried and tested" by me) and seems to be what you want, although it's supposedly been superceded by process monitor. Never used process monitor though --froth^T 20:56, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Imagine RegMon and FileMon plus the greatest process monitor in history for any OS in a lightweight application. That's Process Monitor. I refuse to use a windows machine without it. I can't believe some people are still using the default windows one :) Oskar 23:33, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Well I don't need regmon and filemon every time I want to see my processes o_O --froth^t 05:35, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

I'll try Spybot. Thanks for your help! -- WikiCheng | Talk 07:25, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I have installed Spybot. As a test, I made some changes in the registry (manually). Spybot didn't alert me. Does it alert only when a software makes the changes? -- WikiCheng | Talk 11:59, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

That may be, and it also may have settings to turn the feature on or off. StuRat 12:26, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

GMake

I have a project I'm trying to build from source for which the instructions say to use the command 'gmake ...'. At the command line of my Mac, it says that it doesn't understand 'gmake'. First of all, when I search Google, I only get hits for GNUMake

1. Are gmake and GNU Make the same thing?

Then, when looking for the program, I can only find links to the source code

2. Are there any compiled versions of gmake/GNU Make for macs? Or is building it from source easy to do?

Thanks for any help! -Mary

Googling for gmake mac brings up this, which says:

"Eventually you'll encounter build instructions that include the gmake command. As delivered, OS X doesn't support gmake. But it's the same thing as make, which is supported in the Developer Tools. Here are the steps to make the link for gmake:

which make
cd /usr/bin
sudo ln -s make gmake
exit

As always, your mileage may vary, but not by much. Once done, any build scripts that include the gmake command will run the command just fine. I include this here because it fits in perfectly with the living mystery novel one lives when attempting to build stuff on OS X, or any other unix operating system for that matter. Applications assume that certain things are installed, including gmake. It's a reasonable expectation, but someone has to hunt down those things, and that person will be you."

— Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 16:25, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Ok, thanks! -Mary —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.96.110.73 (talk) 20:23, 7 March 2007 (UTC).

The GNU people put extensions in everything, and then people use them thinking that they're portable standard features. People do not know how to write portable code/files. Mac OS X is a BSD system and Linux is a GNU system, and they sadly have different make programs. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.49.242.20 (talk) 08:11, 8 March 2007 (UTC).

Page Cannot Be Displayed

I have a Dell laptop , and for the past week I havent been able to connect to the net through it . It says wireless network connected but no numbers next to the WINS server ( if that has any thing to do with it ) . I've connected it to a wire and it still gives the same error page . I have a Dell desktop and its working fine with the same network .. Oh , when open Explorer I get a page saying : page cannot be displayed ...etc. I dont get the window that asks for user name and password .. any ideas how to solve this at home ? Thanks 212.138.113.25 20:24, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Your router is incorrectly set up. -Wooty Woot? contribs 02:14, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

ok .... so how can I fix that ? 212.138.113.25 02:42, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Make sure the software is installed if there was any, and the computer is in one of the branch ports and the hole that is separate from the rest has a wire coming out of it going into your modem? If your router is set up correctly, try using another plug out of the say, five. Sometimes if you get a cheap one, one of 'em doesn't work. [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 17:01, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

March 8

Windows XP - Windows Explorer

Windows XP Operating System.

  Windows Explorer - What, if anything, can I do to fix this problem?

Windows Explorer fails to run for more than an instance, even when re-instated using the ctrl-alt-delete box (Run Command). I've tried restoring Windows' settings back to a previously working date/configuration, attempted to De-bug Windows, and I have yet to use the Windows Restore Disk (because there are files I'd like to keep and have as of yet, not had the chance to back up.)

Is there anything else I can attempt before using the Restore Disk?

216.229.196.31 01:08, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

J.Williams

What error do you get when you try to run a second instance ? StuRat 03:34, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I think the OP means "an instant in time" rather then a second instance. You could get a hold of a live distro and use it to back up the data off the hard disk... Vespine 03:39, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Could be. Hey, 216.229.196.31, did you mean the program only runs for an instant or that you can only run one instance at a time ? StuRat 08:33, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Tiscali/AppleMac/Safari

Is any reader using the combination of System X on an AppleMac G4, Safari browser, and using Tiscali co.uk as ISP? If so, are you having trouble with using their new 'Mail' system and have you managed to solve it, if so I would be grateful for your help please.

My difficulty is that I only get the headers when I click on 'New' mail and have to click on 'Print' or 'Forward' to be able to read the body of the message. Furthermore I am unable to compose a new email since I am only presented with the 'To' and 'BCC' lines on the page; nothing else. "Resetting" Safari makes no difference, I do have "Private Browsing" ticked, would that make any difference?

Tiscali seen unable or unwilling to help and the only reply I get relates to PC's and not Macs and they don't seem to care. I am reluctant to telephone the help line as, with all great respect to the Indian call centre, I have grave doubts that they would understand or be willing to help.--88.110.207.121 01:12, 8 March 2007 (UTC) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 88.110.207.121 (talk) 01:09, 8 March 2007 (UTC).

When I turn on private browsing it always seems to log me off GMail. [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 18:12, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Tool to get visual basic code from exe?

I complied my Visual basic6.0 code with native compilation rather p-code compilation. I got native code with the help of vb decompiler,

Now i want to get Visual basic code i had written. Is there any third party tool that will give me VB code. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Avneet83 (talk • contribs) 03:11, 8 March 2007 (UTC).

I believe not. Decompilers are still in their infancy, and source recovery is something which people pay lots of money for, I believe? Splintercellguy 03:16, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

It's not possible. You can decompile the code and get it in assembly, but it is impossible to restore compiled code into VB. I mean, you could look at the assembly code and then reconstruct a VB program that does the same thing, but would defeat the point in this case :) Oskar 23:31, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Best Note-Taking Program

Is there a note-taking program (ex Microsoft's OneNote) that can include internal hyperlinks. Like maybe I could creat a table of contents and I could just click on a term and go to it. Or on a date list, if I clicked an event next to a date, it would go to wherever I linked that date to in my notes? That'd be really nice. Also, in general, which one of the several notetaking programs is generally considered the best? Regardless of price. Thanks, Sasha

Have you considered personal wiki software? That would let you hyperlink (easily) to your web pages and wiki pages. I haven't found a free note taking solution yet.172.161.102.213 08:15, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Any suggestions for that? On Mac OS X preferably. I'd like just an offline wikicode complier for me to work in. Notetaking for Mac OS X, your options are these (taken as the best, I mean): CodePoetry]'s Notae, Circus Ponies' Notebook 2.0, The OMNI Group's OmniOutliner (which comes pre-installed), Phil Dow's Journaler, and Snippet Monkey, just off the top of my head. [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 18:11, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. What do you mean by personal wiki software and what would anybody suggest for a pc?

avchd

hi I am student of computer science. i am going to give seminar on 'Advanced video codec high defination' topic. i have searched power point presentation(ppt) on this topic but i didn't get so much material on this topic.please tell me some links on ppt and more information about this subject.

You should probably do research on the subject and create a power point presentation from that. Else, it'd be plagiarism. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 06:55, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Take a look at our article on H.264/MPEG-4 AVC --froth^T 09:00, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Go to a library and read journals and books. Believe it or not, everything is not on the web yet. And please learn to spell definition before writing a paper on it.172.161.102.213 09:04, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

The nice thing about computers is that basically everything about computers is written on computers. I don't see why he should have to go to a library to learn about an emerging technology that's likely not in the library --froth^T 19:07, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Vista Anytime-ish Upgrade

I have a valid Home Premium installation on my laptop right now. I also have a valid full copy of Ultimate. I'd like to unlock the Ultimate features without reinstalling the whole OS. Is this possible? Will it let me "upgrade" from Home Premium to Ultimate like I upgraded from XP Home to Vista Home Premium, and if so will it just unlock things or will it recopy all the windows files? --froth^T 09:43, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Help my vista notebook defective

I just bought a Vista notebook but when I shutdown the machine, the screen does blank but the notebook remained powered on for a very very long time before it turns the power off. I took this defective notebook back to the dealer and got a replacement.

But the replacement is also defective. It also refuses to poweroff when I shut it down. I was told the manufacturer makes good notebook but so far all the two notebooks are both defective. Does anyone else suffers from this type of problem? 220.239.111.36 11:23, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

They probably just do a virus scan or something else that takes a long time when you power them down. StuRat 12:24, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Tsotsi Piracy.

I have to look up Piracy for a computer project but I cant find anything The questions I have to answer is as follows:

The effect of illegal distribution of DVD’s of Tsotsi and Mama Jack in the south African context

The long term effect of the distribution of DVD’s on the film and music industry

the impact of the use of computers on the environment (also keep the distruction of pirated cd’s and DVD’s in mind

Need an answer as soon as possible

196.25.255.250 11:25, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Google up things like piracy dvd "mama jack" tsotsi and you will find things (I found a lot of stuff). You can also look up copyright infringement on Wikipedia itself. x42bn6 Talk 11:44, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I also highly recommend FreeCulture and STEALTHISFILM for a pro-piracy look. [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 18:04, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Financial Calculations in excel

Not sure if this is the right place for this sort of question.

How would one use excel to break repayments on a loan into interest and repayment portions? I need a profile with separate columns for interest and principle portions of each cashflow.

That's easy. Say you owe $200 and the interest is 17% per year (or 1.416% per month). If you only pay $2.83 per month ($200 * 1.416/100 )then the amount you owe will remain $200 forever. If you pay $3 per month then $2.83 goes into the interest and $0.17 goes into the principle (because $3 = $2.83 + $0.17). So all you need to do is to work out the interest only monthly payment amount (ie. $REMAINING_LOAN * 1.416% = $REMAINING_LOAN * 1.416/100 ). 220.239.111.36 12:28, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I'd also try using the IPMT() and PPMT() functions. --RobI 13:31, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

why dont microsoft do a free antivrus?

why do i have to use avast? or is microsft funding them or something?? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 91.105.98.171 (talk) 13:49, 8 March 2007 (UTC).

I imagine if Microsoft started including antivirus software with Windows there would be an uproar from the big AV companies. Anti-trust allegations would abound, big legal messes would ensue. It's probably wisest for Microsoft not to try and invade the market for AV software (I know, it seems counter-intuitive since MS would seem to be in the best position to maintain AV software for their OS). -- mattb @ 2007-03-08T15:18Z

If Microsoft wants to prevent viruses, they should make their OS secure, not full of security holes. For example, the default behavior should be to prompt the user to confirm any registry change, but it's not. StuRat 16:27, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Remember what happened how Microsoft included Internet Explorer caused a lawsuit with Netscape etc that led to Microsoft being a monopoly or whatever? It'd be the same thing if Microsoft included a good firewall or a good antivirus etc along with their OS. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 16:44, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

This has already happened. Quite aside from including a "free antivirus" (a dorky idea in any case; see elsethread), Microsoft tried to lock down the OS so that programs couldn't muck with it -- which is of course a splendid idea. The antivirus companies called foul, because their programs have to muck around with the OS to install themselves and intercept suspicious system calls which might be virus signatures.

I'm no fan of Microsoft, but it is a truly sad state of affairs when they can't make their OS more secure, because it would put the antivirus vendors out of business. (And make no mistake about it, until the situation changes such that there's no market for third-party add-on "antivirus" solutions, Windows will not be adequately secure.) —Steve Summit (talk) 01:21, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't think there would be any antitrust problems- Microsoft already includes a firewall and spyware protection. I think it's more a matter of not having the resources or the inclination to include antivirus that there's no av. There are much better ways to nail MS on antitrust than with including extra features in its own product. --froth^T 20:47, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Prompting the user in such situations is a bad idea. First, most people don't read the content of confirmation dialog boxes; they just want to dismiss them.[2] Second, how can a non-technical user user know whether a registry change should be allowed or not?[3] --cesarb 17:25, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I think a non-technical user would not really bother with installing such an application in the first place; any person who is at least semi-aware of what malicious software is able to do, and who at least is cautious enough to have installed a registry change monitor will be interested and will read what is being told him. Probably. --Ouro (blah blah) 21:10, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

StuRat's comment, first sentence - concur entirely. --Ouro (blah blah) 16:45, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

What should happen is the user can mess up their home directory as much as they want, but they shouldn't be able to mess with system-wide files. To do that users need to be taught to make regular backups. --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 10:17, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Well... I agree that most users need to be locked out of root (but for the love of God don't give microsoft the reins) so they don't mess up their system, but if you know what you're doing you're unlikely to mess things up --froth^T 19:04, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Best OS for a laptop

Greetings, fellow virtual librarians. From time to time I am pondering about finally getting a notebook of some sort (formfactor not decided yet), in recent times quite strongly. Specs, make, model undecided yet, that's not the point, however. One thing that I'm sure of - if it's going to have an Intel chip, I do not want Windows, as there's too much trouble with XP, Vista is not an option (specs, usability, point), and 98 or 2000 are becoming old. Here's the question - do any of you have experience with other OSs (Linux distros, KDE, whatever) in terms of which one would be best suitable for a notebook. If it helps - it will primarily be used for document editing, maybe some graphics, probably a bit of internet, e-mail, maybe a divx movie or two, definitely data storage (like downloading photos from a digital camera on the go). Any input is welcome, and have a good day y'all! --Ouro (blah blah) 16:52, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Ubuntu (or Kubuntu, Xubuntu) works very well with many laptops. However, not all laptops have even decent Linux suppport; my current laptop doesn't even go into suspend or hibernate mode properly. You'll want to check to see what type of support the laptop has. I think I recall that Thinkpads, for instance, work well. Windows has its benefits (mostly hardware support, software support) and I'm not particularly sure of what 'trouble' you expect to have with it. However, if it works with your laptop, Linux should be fine for the tasks you've mentioned. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:07, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

By trouble I mostly meant resource hunger, security holes and a certain degree of instability. Ubuntu, you say? I will take a look at it. I know Windows has its benefits (am still a 98SE user), but so do other OSes. --Ouro (blah blah) 17:15, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah. If resource hunger is a huge issue, Xubuntu is probably a good choice, as it uses the lighter Xfce environment. To be honest, XP doesn't have noticeable stability issues (usually), and security is okay if you stay up to date, don't run strange executables and don't touch IE (things you should do with any OS). I personally prefer the way that Linux distros do some things; the greater configurability, use of package managers/downloaders rather than hunting around the web for things, heavy usage of the CLI, etc. Every OS has its use. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:25, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Acer and IBM/Lenovo make laptops that are good with linux. But I agree with crustacean- XP has grown into a very robust OS and you will not have problems with xp --froth^T 17:55, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I suggest Mac OS X 10.5, unless you're the sort of person that prefers Windows, or can deal with Linux. Linux just didn't have enough of the right kind of programs for me to use, and wasn't so user-friendly. But I am a total Machead. [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 18:01, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Actually, MacDavis, the issue is still open - and I'd love to get a Mac. My good friend has a notebook from Apple (I think it's an Ibook) and he's very satisfied with it. If I will have a choice, I will definitely consider it. I absolutely do not need to have Windows (I use 98SE primarily because I have not got the time to switch over to a Linux-based system now, although I am getting a second workstation this year and it's probably going to be running on Fedora Core). As for XP, my eXPerience with it is basically that it's not as reliable as I need my OS to be. Not touching IE is absolutely true in any and all cases, agreed :) --Ouro (blah blah) 18:13, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Not reliable? XP never crashed once for the 6 months I had it on my laptop before upgrading to Vista. --froth^T 19:35, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

My family yells "MAAAACCCCC!! The computer's broken!!" A few times a day... [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 16:50, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps you're just a pro user; my father is able to crash anything and everything, and he's got XP installed on his machine.

Well yes of course you have to use it intelligently. No OS is idiot proof (no offense to your father) nor should it try to be. It's a sad state of affairs for the 90% of people that aren't even power users, yet alone people who really know what they're doing. Running linux without root is the most idiot proof system IMO but XP isn't bad at all if you know what you're doing --froth^T 20:44, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

No offence taken. My father, on the one side, is the ever-curious who has to install everything and dabble around (he's been through many things, right now he's 'learning' Flash), on the other hand he calls on me when there's something sensitive to do (he runs some spyware search engine and always needs to consult me before pushing the 'delete' button when it comes to files). Don't know how to classify him. I guess sometimes my father is the proverbial better idiot when it comes to computers. --Ouro (blah blah) 20:59, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Okay, has anyone any more suggestions on the subject or is the topic over and we're about to have the usual short and witty comments that foreshadow the death of a question on the refdesk? --Ouro (blah blah) 20:30, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Ooh, nicely short and witty! --froth^T 20:44, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

And have a nice afternoon (checked where you're from, was about to write good night ;) ). --Ouro (blah blah) 20:59, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I just want to note that having recently bought a MacBook I am immensely pleased. They have greatly improved them over the iBooks of just a few years ago which were already pretty good. And they have Intel chips now, as you no doubt know, and there are already tools available to help you dual-boot (into Windows, but no doubt there are hacks to boot into linux as well). --24.147.86.187 03:03, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

MacBooks are extremely good. I love how they come with pretty much everything you need preinstalled. Of course, depending on who you are you want specific things, but for the general public, and many who are in themselves computer virii then, it has everything. I'm getting a big beautiful black' one at the end of summer. Anyway, I would have to say since you don't have to get windows because of what work you do, then I would say getamac! They are all around much better. Compatibility as a problem is fairly nonexistent. Definitely buy or steal iWork and Microsoft Office for Mac. [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 16:50, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Disagree. It's personal opinion, if it's definite; Macs are not necessarily much better. I spec'd/bought a very nice non-Mac laptop for lower price than I could buy an equivalent Macbook. It's got firewire, a DVD burner, an ExpressCard slot, SD/MMC reader, other miscellaneous things, a decent mobile GPU, and the CPU matched up with the current Macbook Pro of the time. And it was some $400 or more cheaper, as well as being nice and small, and having better battery life. What you get with a Mac over a similarly spec'd non-Mac is a nice looking laptop with OSX. OSX offers eyecandy, some very slick included applications, and a UNIX-like base (with some added security, and a lot of extra security through pure obscurity). Whether a user needs that stuff is, again, personal preference. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:21, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

And why pirate an office suite? What's wrong with OpenOffice.org? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:21, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Well my problem with macs is idealogical- the fact that you do need "hacks" to run linux on your own computer shows that there's something seriously wrong going on. I like having total control of my computer inside and outside, and knowing what my computer is doing. OS X abstracts everything so far out that there's no hint of what's actually going on, and opening the sealed areas of the computer case voids the warranty so it's impossible to get inside. And crustacean, if one has no qualms about pirating, why use second-best OpenOffice when you have the world's premier office suite at your fingertips? OpenOffice is doing very admirable work but my love for FOSS isn't enough to have me using an inferior product- MS Office is undoubtedly a very good package. --froth^T 19:00, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

If the user has no qualms about piracy, then by all means. I'm not certain if Mac Office is quite as good as Windows Office, but it's still probably nice. Personally I haven't found anything I'd need MS Office for, though I'm not an office 'power user', and I don't use the database stuff. I'm probably fairly representative of the majority of MS Office users in that regard, though; OpenOffice would serve many people just fine. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 19:11, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Appreciate all your input, guys. It's gonna be a tad tougher now, though, choosing between a Mac and a PC, as you've raised some issues. However, it's still some time before I'm getting the system. Big thanks and cheers from Poland! --Ouro (blah blah) 20:55, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Automatically forwarding email

Is there any way to automatically forward emails sent to one account (Yahoo mail) to another address (Gmail)? I've switched email addresses, but I still want to receive any emails sent to my own account without having to check it. Thanks. GhostPirate 19:38, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes this sounds like something you should be able to set up from the mail client. Sorry i've never actually used Yahoo mail so I don't know exactly how to do it but it will most likely be called a "Forwarding rule" or something similar. I'm sure there are help files where you would be able to find the process. Vespine 21:29, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Gmail just recently came out with the service. Here's a link to the info page [[4]]. It says your other email must have POP3 enabled to use the service. FruitMart07 22:50, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

From the looks of it, Yahoo! Mail doesn't allow you to set up forwarding or POP3 access without a paid account. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 09:42, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

The POP3 service doesn't work for me. It says only a limited number of Gmailers (taken at random) can use it, as a beta test in a beta test. But wait, did Gmail come out of beta? Gmail also asks you when you make an account if you want to copy over all of your old mail. [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 16:36, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Many ISPs have partnered with Yahoo and let you link your Yahoo account to your ISP email account. I don't like the idea in general, but it does give your Yahoo account "premium" abilities, such as forwarding your email to another account indefinitely. Check your ISP's website for how to link the two. —Dentarthurdent TC 19:34, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

SUSE/ndiswrapper Wireless Networking Issue

I followed a guide to setting up ndiswrapper (http://nextgen.no-ip.org/~andrew/linux/ndiswrapper/ndiswrapperinfo10-32bit.php). After completing the guide, I checked the

[code] modprobe ndiswrapper [/code]

which returned no errors and

[code] lsmod |grep ndiswrapper [/code]

which gave me some numbers which I surmise is normal.

I opened Konquerer and tried to access the internet but "the host was unknown". I tried rebooting and got the same issue.

I note that:

When I boot WinXP, the green LED next to my antenae lights up early in the booting process. When booting Suse, the light is always off. Is the absense of power to the LED a useful indication of something?

The card appears in the list of hardware attached to the PC (please forgive that I don't recall the module I used to gain this information - these modules and programs are still new to me).

During the network setup sequence, the "Firewall zone" is set to "No zone. All traffic blocked" but no mention of this is made in the guide I was following, so I left it was it was.

Based on WinXP Device Manager: my "device instance id" is 1ABB&DEV_1FAA - this seems concordant with the idea that my card is listed as number 21 on http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/mediawi...ndex.php/List#M

I am trying to connect to an open wireless network. By virtue of WinXP, I know that there are two open networks in my vicinity. One is close enough to be detected but not connected-to. How do I determine to which, if any, network my Suse 10.2 is trying to connect?

I also note that the 'network manager' icon on the kickerbar lists no networks detected. Although my signal is weak in WinXP, it is there, and it is usable. Still, the whole fact that the green LED is not lit probably means that there is no power to the card. --Seans Potato Business 20:22, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

DVD audio out of sync

Hello, When I burn video files onto DVDs or VCD, the video starts off fine, but after some time, the audio and video go out of sync. It works fine on my computer, but when I burn it on a DVD this problem occurs. I use Nero by the way. What can I do to fix this? Thanks --(Aytakin) | Talk 21:42, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm really taking a guess here but this may be something to do with NTSC to PAL (or vice versa) conversions. I remember reading that some UK Babylon 5 DVDs had audio out of sync and it was because of the differences in frame rate between the two systems.--Kiltman67 21:55, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I agree with Kiltman67 - does it work fine on your computer _as a DVD_ or just as .avi or whatever movie files you have there? If it works as a DVD itself it probably is a problem with your standalone player. If it works as regular files then there is a problem with the conversion to MPEG2 and AC3 for DVD so you should try to check there. Aetherfukz 14:39, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Accessing java classes via a web interface

I'm interested in any generic application which would allow me to click on a web page hyperlink and execute a java class on the machine serving the website, as well as receive the return value (even if it takes a few minutes to come back) as well as pass values (inline is fine, i.e. http://domain.tld?arg1=val1&arg2=val2). Does anyone know of such a thing? 80.187.208.47 22:04, 8 March 2007 (UTC)Wael

I believe JavaScript can interact with Java applets, but not the actual classes installed on the computer. For one thing, that could well be a security risk. So I guess if you embed the class into an applet and tinker with JavaScript. x42bn6 Talk 22:08, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

It certainly is a security risk, I know applets can get close to doing what I want, but they can't cross that last mile. I think JSP may be able to do it, my main concern is a extensible piece of code that can just run a "java javaprogram.class" command on the host and take a return value (including one that requires waiting).

80.187.208.47 22:15, 8 March 2007 (UTC)Wael

Java servlets? It doesn't sound like Wael was talking about client-side JVM invocation. -- mattb @ 2007-03-08T22:17Z

So I am familiar with coding C/C++ in a purely local manner, no client server technologies - essentially, I just need to be able to invoke a java class via the web and exposing the input parameters for the function via the web as well. I'm sure this must be possible. I recognize that generally speaking this is a security problem, but I'm looking to deploy this in a purely intranet environment and I'll be integrating the whole thing through LDAP, so security shouldn't be an issue.

80.187.208.47 22:44, 8 March 2007 (UTC)Wael

Yes, servlets will get you there. Start reading some of the resources on that page. JSP can also do what you want. -- mattb @ 2007-03-08T23:02Z

How about Java Web Start?

Welrifai 00:33, 9 March 2007 (UTC)Wael

Zoom in IE 7

When I click zoom in to 150% in Internet Explorer 7, it automatically prints the top-left corner. Is there a way to change the area that I want to print (ex: the center of the page). 68.193.147.179 22:06, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

syncning a flash drive

any one know of a free program that allows me to sync my usb files with files on my pc without having to copy and paste every time?--Colsmeghead 22:14, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Give Microsoft SyncToy a shot. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 23:21, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Try using a "briefcase." ;) DebateKid 03:21, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I've had several bad experiences with briefcases. I can recommend rsync (and particularly the minimalist cwRsync package for windows) - although rsync is typically used for copying files over a network, it also does a great job of replicating one local filestructure to another. If you need two-way synchronisation (that is, if you want to be able to change files on the usb device and have those changes copied back to the PC, and vice versa) then you'd need a two-way syncher - Unison (file synchronizer) is highly regarded, although I have no personal experience with it. Darryl Revok 13:21, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

I should mention that one-way synchronisation (like rsync) will work unattended, but a two-way synchroniser (which will inevitably run into conflicts, where you've changed the same file, differently, in both stores) will need some input from you to resolve conflicts (either during the synch session or later as part of a conflict-resolution activity). Darryl Revok 13:22, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Laptop LCD broken

I recently broke my laptop's LCD - a pair of headphones I used had a knob volume control setting on the cord and somehow it got caught. On bootup, the top is blank and the entire middle of the screen is random pixels. I'm thinking this is just physical damage, but the rest of the monitor that still works has inverted color. Could the inverter board be broken as well? I didn't do anything that might damage it, but still, seems a little weird. -Wooty Woot? contribs 22:31, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

The screen is broken, you have to get a new screen or new laptop. What's the problem? --froth^T 00:02, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm wondering if the inverter board might be broken as well, or if this is typical of simply LCD damage. -Wooty Woot? contribs 00:19, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

In the damage to the LCD screen, you probably broke the proper connection to "ground" for the screen. So, there's no telling what colors you'll get as the voltages will all be off. --Kainaw ^(talk) 02:41, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

So will popping in a new one, hooking up the power and video input cables work? Or are you saying there's a problem with those connections farther down by the inverter or down to the video output? Are the connections you're talking about internal to the LCD, and the damages simply wrecked those when it was damaged? If so, I'm happy all I have to pay for is a new screen. :) -Wooty Woot? contribs 03:30, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't quite get how did you get your problem. How did the volume control on your headphone break your LCD? --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:56, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

It was stuck between the laptop screen and the keyboard when i closed it. Somehow it found a space to stick in between. When I went to use it yesterday, i noticed it was stuck. I gave it a little more pressure and it popped open. -Wooty Woot? contribs 05:12, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Quite possibly you have loosened the connection to your LCD. Try disassemble that part (if it's out of warranty) and push in all the elastic pcb back into the socket. --antilived^{T | C | G} 05:50, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Already ordered a new LCD - the connection looked fine when I disassembled the top and disconnected the LCD. I'm still under warranty (probably not anymore, though, haha), but I didn't think they'd cover accidental damage like this anyway. The inverter board looks OK externally, and so do the cables. -Wooty Woot? contribs 05:59, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

The glass that makes up the LCD has a criss-cross matrix of transparent electrodes. Each (sub-)pixel on your screen represents a place on the grid where the horizontal and vertical electrodes cross. These electrodes are driven from the edges of the LCD. When you break the glass, you usually disconnect all the electrodes that cross the (now) gap in the glass. That means that all the pixels above or below the break are disconnected from their driving circuitry and will stay "stuck" at clear or dark.

The backlight inverter is usually at the bottom edge of the screen; there's no special reason why it would have been damaged by your accident. Heck, even the backlight CCFLs are probably okay, but the new LCD assembly will likely contain a new backlight assembly (CCFLs and the diffuser) as well.

Atlant 11:49, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! I took it apart, popped in a new LCD, and it works great! -Wooty Woot? contribs 19:51, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

yeah there is no such thing as an 'inverter board' it would have just been another damage connection in the screen causing weird inversion like colours.

March 9

Video Wallpaper

Are there any programs (free) available with no strings attached (spyware, virus etc.) that can play videos as the wallpaper?

VLC media player does it. There's an advanced option, under Video -> Output modules -> DirectX in the preferences. Overlay mode has to be enabled ("Overlay video output" in the Video section, and DirectX must be chosen in the Output modules). -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 03:08, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Of course, DirectX is PC only. But then again, so are spyware and viruses! --24.249.108.133 00:30, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

crossposting from Help Desk -- IPA font question

Hello. When I look at Wikipedia articles, most of the text is easy to read, in a nice-size Arial font. But IPA pronunciations are not so clear. They show up in a very light serif font, and some of the strokes are so thin that they disappear. Is there any way to change the way IPA text is displayed? (I realize I asked this same question on the Help Desk before, but it was about nine months ago and there was never a response. I'm hoping maybe new people are looking at this now that didn't see the archives.) — Michael J 20:59, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry to hear about your question not being answered, we receiv many questions here and occasionally we do lose track of one or two. Do you mean then pronounciaton for a place when it is different font style and some letters are bakcwards. As far as I know there is no way to change this, however their could be but as far as I'm aware there isn't. However I could be wrong so keep checking back here within the next 24 hours and another editor may know how to or beable to give you further advice. Regards - Tellyaddict 21:07, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Maybe if I show you a little screen-shot of what I see (from the article on Hawaii):

As you see, the IPAs are hard to read on my screen. — Michael J 21:39, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't know how to answer this and I know some very knowledgable people frequent this reference desk, so I'm crossposting here. I'll let the user know, so replies here are fine. — coelacan — 03:45, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Looks like bad hinting with bad anti-aliasing to me, try turning off cleartype to see if it's better, and use an alternative font. --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:55, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

How are those things done? I'm not aware of any place on Wikipedia that lets me choose my font. — Michael J 08:03, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Turning off cleartype can be found in display properties (can't tell you more information, haven't used Windows for a while), and if yo use firefox, you can force it to use a font in Preferences/Content/Fonts & Colours/Advanced/ and uncheck the "Allow pages to choose their own fonts..." option. Then you can select the font you want in the same window, although I am not quite sure where does IPA belongs... --antilived^{T | C | G} 08:14, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Display properties (right click on the desktop, then select properties from the pop-up menu), and go to the Effects tab (I think), and take a look there. This would also be my first diagnosis, that it's an antialiasing problem with the font. Tell us if it helps. --Ouro (blah blah) 11:49, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

You can choose your font on MediaWiki by using a user stylesheet. The selector in this case is .IPA (from {{IPA}}). If you are using MSIE, you could also try using another browser; since MSIE is the only modern browser which is unable to automatically choose an alternate font when a character is not found in the current font, Wikipedia uses a hack to force MSIE (and only MSIE) to use a different font for IPA. --cesarb 17:07, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

css selectors

/* Don't display some stuff on the
user page */
body.page-Main_Page #lastmod,
body.page-Main_Page #siteSub,
body.page-Main_Page #contentSub,
body.page-Main_Page h1.firstHeading {
   display: none !important;
  }

1. What is the syntax for specifying the selector for a particular page, in the various namespaces?
2. And more importantly, where is this documented?
3. Also, I can't find any documentation on the body.page selector, nor any of the selectors of the set that it belongs to. Please point me to them if you know.

In my monobook.css, the above syntax works for pages in the main namespace, but doesn't work on my user page, for instance. (I swapped out "Main_Page" with "User_The_Transhumanist_(AWB)", but nothing happened. And yes, I cleared the cache). I also tried a colon after "User". Nuthin'. The Transhumanist (AWB) 04:48, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Check the page's generated HTML; the class MediaWiki generates for that page is page-User_The_Transhumanist_AWB. --cesarb 17:10, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Out of curiousity...

...does a screensaver count as a program, and make a button appear on the taskbar (which, paradoxically, the user cannot see because of the screensaver)? Sometimes when I move the mouse to turn the screensaver off, I catch a faint flicker of something on the taskbar, which looks like a program button disapppearing. Battle Ape 08:05, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, a screensaver is a program. It might make "a button on the taskbar" because it creates a new fullscreen window to draw on. --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 10:19, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Screensavers are executables, with scr or exe extensions --froth^T 18:54, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

IIRC you can, in fact, change any (or nearly any?) executable from a .exe to a .scr extension and plop it into your Windows or Windows\System32 directories and use them as screensavers. However, unless they're designed for it, they won't quit when you move your mouse. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 18:59, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Virus? Trojan? Malware?

I opened a setup.exe, and it obviously was a piece of malware, because it did nothing. When I boot up my PC, it will click (the click sound when you browse folders in explorer) and what seem to be IE windows open for a split second then disappear. This causes the current window I am using to lose focus. This is mildly annoying. After about 5 minutes of this, it will freeze whatever window I have focused, and try to copy a load of files to somewhere, it looks like every file it hits the cancel button, then selects NO on the "are you sure you want to cancel" window, then copies the next file and repeats. Then after about 20 seconds it asks for a disk to be enetered for a certain file. Of course I hit cancel at this point, and it stops. The window I am using is now frozen and must be closed through task manager. After this file transfer behavior, it seems to not do much more. But I left my PC on overnight, and when I woke up there was a guy talking about some product, and a very high pitch (like it's sped up) audio playing too. I couldn't see anything untoward in my task manager. I have tried running hijakthis, ad-aware, and mcafee virus scan. The only thing that was picked up was a trojan by mcafee, but removing this didn't solve the problem, when I virus scan the trojan is back. I've done this both in normal boot and safe mode. Does anyone have any idea what this malicious code is? Searches on google for the symptoms come up with nothing. Capuchin 11:26, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

No, but you could go to forums with your Hijackthis log and they should be able to solve it. I quite like [5] for these issues. x42bn6 Talk 11:48, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I did put it through a Hijakthis Parser, and nothing obvious came out of it. Capuchin 11:49, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

You need to run HijackThis, ask it for a log file, and submit it to the forum x42bn6 suggests. Or submit it here. Neil (not Proto ►) 12:43, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I will do, I am at work at the moment, I'll post in on the board and post a link to the thread here leter on today, I don't want to fill up the reference desk with my log. Capuchin 13:40, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Posted thread on the suggested forums here: [6] Capuchin 16:44, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I gave it a once-through and I don't see anything (except SecuROM but that's ok if you're fine with it). Are you sure the setup.exe was malware? It could just need a good compatability mode run. Try scanning it with AVG or Avast or some other free av --froth^T 18:51, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

It's definately opening ie windows, most of them to ad pages. I think maybe the file copying that i described was a thing doe by one of these websites. It opens a huge number over about 5 minutes, then stops for about a day. then starts again. very weird. However I dont think it's trying to take over the computer. Capuchin 17:15, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Try checking your windows Scheduled Tasks --froth^T 18:11, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

I would guess the trojan that keeps coming back is the problem. What is it's name ? Try doing a google search for that name and see if there are any solutions documented out there. StuRat 23:29, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

All these problems? Why don't you use Linux or Mac OS X? --24.249.108.133 00:41, 15 March 2007 (UTC)--24.249.108.133 00:41, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

I have 4,000 pdf files on my computer. How do I manage them?

The 4,000 pdf files have a number of subjects (some multiple subjects) so a simple hierarchical directory tree isn't suitable (some would need to be in multiple branches). I would like to write long (ie paragraph) descriptions of each file. Searching isn't that important, just browsing a list of lists then browsing a list of files with paragraphs attached is enough.

The best idea so far is a html page where I just write a paragraph of notes with a link to the pdf file. So apart from this, is there a freeware Windows program that can help me out? Thanks. Mjm1964 11:28, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Writing 4000 paragraphs is a lot of work. Have you considered google desktop? --Seans Potato Business 12:20, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I have the same problem, but with several hundred. I categorize them and give them all the best name I can without reading them all, and I also use Yep.. [Mαc Δαvιs] X (How's my driving?) ❖ 16:31, 9 March 2007 (UTC

Check out Smart Folders in Mac OS X. You can build virtual directories that live update according to search criteria like file size, date created, etc. --24.249.108.133 17:47, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I've never seen a good tool that allowed for EASY and PRACTICAL categorizations of PDFs (I have thousands as well). I've thought about writing one for a long time but it is hard work. Sigh. Maybe someone here will come up with one. Things like Google Desktop, etc., are nice for finding SPECIFIC things IN the files or specific files but not useful for large scale categorization by topic at all. Ditto with Smart Folders -- they don't let you do anything based on the CONTENT of the files in any meaningful sense (sorting by size is almost useless for such things). Usually in such cases I end up making custom little database systems to keep track of them but this isn't very practical nor is it generalizable. --140.247.252.156 18:29, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

You could create a primitive database with a link to the file and then build on this to allow for tags/descriptions/creation date/source etc. This way you could run queries against your thousands of PDFs to locate 'specific' ones quite easily. The setup would take time but ultimately if you have links to the file the acutal location of the file is less relevant, what would become more relevant would be ensuring the file deosn't move once you add the 'file pointer' to the Access DB. I use something similar to this to track procedure-documents in my office. ny156uk 23:37, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

It is terribly time consuming to create such databases from scratch, even if you know what you are doing. And most people don't. --24.147.86.187 00:10, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm a Unix weenie, so my approach would be to grab the text out of the PDFs, and then just grep for things I'm interested in. The setup would be like:

cd MyPdfCollection

for file in *.pdf; do
    pdf2txt $file $file.txt
done

and then if I'm interested in the ones that contain information on, say, Venezuelan beaver cheese, I'd do:

grep -li "beaver cheese" *.txt

and hopefully get some results which would tell me which PDFs to read:

FamousCheesesOfTheWorld.pdf.txt
ThingsThatMightNotExist.pdf.txt
FoodsTastierThanCaerphilly.pdf.txt
FreshOut.pdf.txt

Just using the usual Unix text tools is a lot more flexible than any customized solution. --TotoBaggins 14:37, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

[7] has just released a beta version of something that looks really good. It's not freeware and it's for macs so I haven't tried it out but I wish I could! Aaadddaaammm 22:08, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

An application for this sort of thing is what I expected to see in Vista (in fact, it was the only thing I wanted to see in Vista), but as the release date approached it was clear it wasn't going to make it. Microsoft have been at it for over a decade and the project was originally code named 'Cairo'. Its current form is WinFS. This is a file system that is based around metadata, which is precisely what you need. Hopefully this will make it into the next version of Windows, although that's probably wishful thinking... Johnnykimble 19:22, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Serial Key

Suppose I get a software with my laptop which is already installed. and I want to check its CD-key. Where do I go t check what my produts CD-Key is? Do I have to edit the registry for this?

It depends on the software. Some of them show them in plain sight in the registry. Some of them show only hash values in the registry, or hide them. Some of them provide another means of seeing keys without poking around in the registry. And there are utilities for some software that lets you see the keys easily when the software doesn't provide a means to do so. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 17:32, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Magic jellybean keyfinder will do the job for XP and Office. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 149.135.83.72 (talk) 06:08, 10 March 2007 (UTC).

Just save your .nfo files :D --froth^T 18:11, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

I tried to install the software on vista. It got installed and it started working but suddenly it showed some error and only the vista serial key was shown and not the office 2007 serial key that I actually wanted. What do I do?

A request...

I'm trying to make Wikipedia's most effective tools as easy to understand and as useful as possible. Please take a look at it and let me know on its talk page how I can improve it. And if there's an especially useful tool that I've missed, please let me know! Thank you. The Transhumanist   17:28, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Transporting RAM

I need to transport some RAM (not very far, just on foot, more or less) but I don't have any of those static-free pouches they usually sell you it in. Is there a worthwhile substitute? Does it matter much? --140.247.252.156 18:26, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I doubt that you'll ruin it by carrying it a short distance, but by all means if you have a static-free pouch then use it. And whatever you do, don't touch copper --froth^T 18:46, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't have a static-free pouch, as I said. --24.147.86.187 00:08, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes well I'm urging you to find one if at all possible because that's the ideal solution. --froth^T 18:08, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Anything which prevents static buildup or averts a static differential across any component or lead will help. The anti-static bags have a coating which conducts electricity, so anything consistently conductive would work. How about wrapping it in clean aluminum foil? Even a small paper bag would offer some protection. —EncMstr 19:06, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

(edit conflict) We seem to be missing an article on antistatic bag. I'd put it on a small conductive metal box; any static charge will migrate to the outside of the box, leaving its inside free of static. --cesarb 19:08, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! --24.147.86.187 00:08, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Just don't use fibre or plastic. The simpliest way is to simply wrap it in paper.--155.144.251.120 04:20, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

History of the computer interpreter

When was the first computer interpreter designed and who designed it? Does it predate the computer compiler?

Computer programming in the punch card era? Not 100% sure that's the first, but it gives you a start for your homework if nothing else. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 03:32, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Backing up a music library to DVDs

My father wants to back his entire music library (~40 GiBs) to DVDs. Problem is, you can't just copy the folder because it is to big. Is there a good way to "segment" the folder into 4 GiB chunks so that it would be easy to do this? Oskar 22:45, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

The big trouble is actually getting it back again in a couple of years. I would try to 'naturally' break it up into directories that are the right size, such as by musician, date, etc. --Zeizmic 23:00, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

iTunes will do this for you. Just click burn disc and follow the on screen directions.--Ryan 03:58, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

March 10

Installing Windows Vista

I am trying to install windows Vista on my computer. I currently have windows xp professional and i am installing the acadeimc upgrade edition of Vista homee premium on to a second partition on my hard drive. I have tried to install multiple times except it crashes in the "completing windows installation" phase. I have tried to use Microsoft's tech support for a week now, but they have been unable to get it to work. Here is a list of the error messages that have been produced (there is not always a error message)

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
BAD_POOL_CALLER
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

System specs:

• Radeon x1950 pro
• 2gb ddr2 ram
• samsung sp2504c hard disk
• abit kn9s motherboard
• amd x2 4200+ processor

If amyone could help it would be greatly appreaciated Thepalm 00:21, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

If you have any nonstandard components, like external hard drives, an unusual video card, network card, etc. remove those (and replace the video card with a vanilla version). It looks like a little-used device driver has a problem. —EncMstr 00:29, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

I removed everything from the computer - the microsoft texh support guy even made me unplug my headphones. I have no other graphics card that supports dx9.0 so i dont think swapping the graphics card is an option. Do you know what specifc driver may be having a problem and howto install these during the vista install process? Thepalm 00:53, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Several, slightly unrelated questions to hopefully stumble on the solution: Does XP still boot? Is the Vista install disc bootable, and does it boot okay? Was there any trouble setting up XP (a few years ago)? Was it necessary to install anything special for XP to work? —EncMstr 01:08, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

In my personal experience, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL often points to bad memory, stuck CPU fan, or other similar problems. Did you try to run memtest86+ for a while to see if it finds any errors? --cesarb 01:13, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Wtf is IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL meant to mean? Interrupt ReQuest *what* is not less than or equal to *what*? Better start up the kernel debugger. Oh no. "The kernel is protected by your shiny TPM chip. Get lost." --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 02:14, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

In answer to suggestions above: Windows XP does still run normally and has done so since it was installed normally in December last year without any problems. As far as im aware, the cpu fan does is not stuck. I ran memtest86+ which showed no errors. Thepalm 03:29, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Interrupt request level. Numbers can be less than or equal to each other. IRQL_... usually means driver issues.

GDB

I just discovered about GDB today, and it looks pretty cool. How does is work if you don't have the source code to a program (my computer runs Mac OS X, latest version.) And when I pause the program, how do i continue it? Thanks in advance!--Ryan 02:03, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

All programs can be disassembled and debugged. --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 02:14, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

It still works, except you don't get line numbers and sourcecode references.

OS

Is there someway of getting the following OS onto one computer?

1. Windows XP 2. Windows Vista 3. Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger"

Thanks! 68.193.147.179 02:36, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes. You want to triple-boot the OSes which should be installed on 3 partitions. Look around at OSx86 websites for complete instructions. Splintercellguy 03:05, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Or get a Mac and Boot Camp --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:05, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

...or Parallels — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 03:10, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Or make up your mind. Har har har! − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 07:26, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

TFTs on iMacs

Is there anything special about the TFT on an iMac? Is it any differnt to the actual screens in standalone TFTs by other manufactureres? Many thanks, --Fadders 10:02, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

ADSL modem Connection troubleshooting

I have an ADSL modem. The problem with it is that it connects only when required.When I switch on the modem, its supposed to connect to the server. But this happens rarely. I often have to disconnect the telephone line and connect it back when the modem is on for it to connect.Is there any remedy to this problem?Or is it just bad service or some reg settings? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.92.240.161 (talk) 11:31, 10 March 2007 (UTC).

Knowing the specific ADSL modem in question would help. I am undecided without further information, though I am leaning on the modem. Splintercellguy 13:18, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

XILINIX from Mentor graphics

Is there any freeware or alternative to XILINIX from Mentor Graphics that enables us to do virtual hardware simulation?59.92.240.161

I've never used any of these, but google results show these and these and [8] these just to name a few. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 17:50, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

ADSL modem to comp DUAL Connection

My ADSL modem has two ports, one USB and the other ethernet. So is it possible to connect another laptop/comp through the ethernet while my present comp is connected through USB and share my connection between the two computers?59.92.240.161

Without knowing what specific ADSL modem, I would have to guess a weak no. Better to invest in a hub or switch. Splintercellguy 13:16, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Best to invest in a router --froth^T 18:07, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

BLUE ray reliability

I have heard that Blu-Ray discs are not so reliable with regards to scratches as they have such high density data packed that a single scratch could render a track useless, which is not so the case with DVD or Cd's.Is this somewhat true??59.92.240.161

On one hand, a smaller scratch could indeed cause data loss (for a movie, the player might skip a bit on playback or show errors in the picture, or in extreme cases refuse to play at all.) On the other hand, disk manufacturers are aware of the potential problem and have worked hard to make the disks scratch resistant. See the section Hard-coating technology in the article on Blu-ray Discs. DVDs and CDs aren't immune to scratches either. Weregerbil 13:27, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

internet phobia.

how come when i go onto mozilla firefox a giant phalus apears onscreen? please get back to me its begining to get to me. your friend xxx

I expect someone's changed your homepage. Click the 'Tools' menu at the top of the screen and click 'Options' at the bottom of the menu. Make sure you're on the 'Main' page (it'll show you at the top of the window that pops up) and change the 'Home Page' text box to http://www.google.com/ or whatever website you want. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 12:58, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

I would suggest setting your homepage to http://en.wikipedia.org, but whatever =P --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 17:43, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Or http://www.google.com/firefox?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official! --froth^T 18:06, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Which is in fact what clicking on "restore default" sets it to. --cesarb 19:59, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Would you prefer that a normal sized phallus appears whenever you go online ? That might be a bit less intimidating. :-) StuRat 23:14, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

C++ on Vista

Greetings,

I would like an IDE and compiler to learn how to program in C++ on Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit, on a 64-bit system). Please suggest free software, though my birthday is coming up soon, so do not hesitate to mention commercial software if it is worth it.

God bless you,

82.249.51.241 14:43, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Check out Visual C++ Express Edition. It should provide all you need as a beginner. And it's free. Johnnykimble 15:14, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Yep, visual studio is the best "hobby" compiler out there for windows, and Microsoft tries darn hard to get it into peoples hands for free. --froth^T 18:05, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Check out Comparison of integrated development environments#C/C++ --Spoon! 23:01, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

IE 7.0 Homepage

I have set my home page in IE 7.0 to a blank page. But everytime I close to browser and re-open it, it opens: http://runonce.msn.com/runonce2.aspx "Customize your settings". The page never finishes loading and it says "Error on page" and all i see is a blank blue page. Is there anyway I can fix this so that it open a blank page eevrytime I clsoe and open the browser again? Thanks. Jamesino 16:19, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Hmm. You might try setting your homepage to "about:", which should come up blank. --24.147.86.187 18:11, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Windows Vista Transformation

What Exactly is a transformation pack? Are transformation packs usually good? Can they be safely installed without reducing the comps speed? Where do I get the best windows vista transformation pack for now? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.95.191.49 (talk) 16:41, 10 March 2007 (UTC).

How do i upload a picture?

A vista transformation pack is a theme for windows XP to make it look like windows Vista. This is usually done with the skinning program WindowBlinds- which has a lot of memory overhead so I would never use it. The very best vista theme IMO is the original theme by KoL but Microsoft went crazy over it and sent all sorts of DMCA takedown notices so now it's awful tricky to find. The name is VistaXP v2 by KoL (v3 is only for windowblinds) if you want to find it yourself, or you can email me and I'll send you the msstyles version (v2). This will run natively and take up just as much memory as the normal XP skin, but you have to patch one of your windows DLLs to get the theme applet to accept unsigned themes- I have the patcher too but if you want to look for it it's "UXTheme Multi-Patcher (Neowin Edition) 4.0" although you could just find a pre-patched uxtheme.dll without actually patching yours. Good luck --froth^T 18:03, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

I tried to find the software and its patch but couldnt. Please mail it over to me. My email id is (hidden).

Do not rather leave your e-mail here, as the pages are widely indexed and likely to be noticed by things you wouldn't come to like. Anyway, the patcher Froth spoke about is here. --Ouro (blah blah) 08:31, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Win Vista, Win XP

How can get just Windows XP and Windows Vista on to one computer? 68.193.147.179 16:48, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Just install xp and then install vista and tell vista during the installation to keep your XP partition. This isn't supposed to be possible with an Upgrade version (although it is) so it'll be easier if you have the full version of vista. --froth^T 18:04, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Can I get a pre-installed Vista Computer then, install, Windows XP? 68.193.147.179 02:19, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

You can certainly try it. They use the same bootloader, NTLDR, so it shouldn't be an issue. But in previous versions of windows, you had to install the newer OS second because the older one couldn't recognize the newer one as Windows kin --froth^t 07:40, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, you can dual-boot Vista and XP. Splintercellguy 03:35, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Belkin Wireless router problem

I have a Belkin Wireless router hooked up to the Road Runner (my ISP) through one of their modems. The router is a wireless G 2.4Ghz 802.11g model F5D7230-4. For the past week, maybe once a day or maybe once ever other day, the router would completely blank out, the modem light would blink green, and the wired connection to one computer would be orange (and that computer would say a network cable has been unplugged). The Power light would turn off, wireless would stop blinking and internet would turn off. Then, if I unplugged the router for 10 seconds or less, then plugged it back in, it would start working in a few seconds. I wouldn't bother with the minor inconvenience of this except in the last 10 minutes it happened 5 times, and losing a connection randomly, frequently, is a little to much to simply shrug off. The lights on the modem stay constant as they are when the lights on the router go out, so I have very little reason to believe it's the modem. Does anyone know what may be causing it, and a good solution to fix it? Thanks for your help. Chris M. 19:25, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like a connector problem with the power. Does the connector feel secure? Is the wall-wart making a good connection in the outlet? —EncMstr 22:56, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Changing monitor resolution in the Windows XP taskbar

I used to have a program, ages ago, that would quickly let you change the monitor resolution in Windows XP by means of a little icon on the taskbar. I thought it was on of the Microsoft PowerTools but I don't see it in the current set of PowerTools. Any idea what this was? I remember it being fairly official, something by Microsoft, maybe a setting on the Display control panel, but I don't see anything related to that now. --24.147.86.187 19:32, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Here's how you do it in Windows 98 (I never understood why it isn't on by default):

Start + Settings + Control Panel + Display + Settings Tab + Advanced button

Check "Show settings icon on task bar" then pick "OK".

Of course, they've probably changed it, for no apparent reason, in Windows XP. StuRat 23:06, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, maybe that is what I was remembering. It doesn't exist in Win XP so far as I can see, which is very irritating!! But thanks for the response; googling that phrase I found that the old one was called "QuickRes" and searching around there is a free program called "Quickres Light" which apparently duplicates the original functionality. --24.147.86.187 14:55, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Partitioning

I currently run Windows XP Home, and I am trying to install Gentoo Linux. However, the current partition, used by Windows XP, only leaves 7 megabytes of unused space on my hard drive. I have tried GParted and Partition Logic, but GParted encountered an error during resizing of the partition and Partition Logic encountered an error during booting. Can anyone give me the name of a good partition utility that could help me here? Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 21:08, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

ntfsprogs (utilized by Parted) seems to have issues making very large changes to NTFS partitions. Try resizing it in smaller increments. It might work, might not. You might also try running CHKDSK before doing the resize. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 23:05, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Also, it says that it's not necessary but you might try defragmenting first. And if you value your computer at all, don't run partition magic ever again! *shudder* --froth^t 07:39, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Before performing touchy partitioning shuffling perhaps consider backing up your data? --Ouro (blah blah) 08:26, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Eek! Spyware!

Can someone help me get rid of the crap that's suddenly on my computer? There's some horrible rogue anti-spyware program called SpyDawn on my computer, and every time I remove it, it just reinstalls itself. It seems to be connected to another evil program called MediaCodec. I downloaded, registered and ran Spyware Doctor, and after removing a bunch of crap, it told me my computer is clean, but I still get popups every ten seconds from two items in my system tray telling me that my computer's infected, and clicking on the balloons just takes me to a SpyDawn webpage.

Frustrated, I downloaded another anti-spyware program that I thought was free, but after scanning my computer and finding a bunch of malware that Spyware Doctor had missed, it wants me to pay $40 to register. Is there not a free, safe anti-spyware program that will get rid of this shit? -GTBacchus^(talk) 22:14, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Ad-aware Personal Edition, Spybot S&D, and HijackThis are what I use. Make sure not to get lookalike malware. Splintercellguy 22:30, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

However, a limitation is that those programs generally only remove the program on disk. If the program is currently running, it will just save a copy of itself after you finish using your anti-spyware product. Next time, do a reboot first, then use the task manager (CONTROL-ALT-DELETE) to kill everything but Explorer. Now you can run your anti-spyware programs and have more hope of them working. There likely are also registry entries that need to be removed, but a good anti-spyware program should do that for you, too. StuRat 22:58, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Or just get into safe mode and do it there. --antilived^{T | C | G} 02:40, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

My favorite method is booting into safe mode, then running Spyware Doctor, Ad-Aware, Spybot, and Webroot, then rebooting. A cocktail of antimalware is usually necessary for the really nasty or obscure stuff --froth^t 07:37, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

www.amaena.com

I keep getting boxes pop up advising me that I need to download software to protect my computer from viruses etc or requesting that I install a disc-cleaner because I have files of an adult nature. If I follow the instructions then my Norton Security advises me to block the action. Are these links bogus and if so how do I stop them from coming up?82.16.101.160 22:44, 10 March 2007 (UTC)rob

Yes, don't ever download something because a pop-up tells you to do so. You now likely have malware on your computer. Try using either AdAware or Spybot to remove the baddies. You may also want to get a pop-up blocker. StuRat 22:48, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

March 11

Windows 98 SE with NTFS disk partition

I just put a drive with an NTFS partition into an old computer running Win 98 SE. Its started behaving badly and will not now run as a server. any suggestions? It says there is no network. Am I doing something wrong?--SlipperyHippo 01:56, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

98 doesn't read NTFS drives, is not for servers and basically you shouldn't be doing what you're trying to do. --antilived^{T | C | G} 02:40, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Windows isn't a very good server platform, and Windows 98 is a terrible server platform. Also NTFS is only readable by the NT family (not 95, 98, or ME) --froth^t 07:32, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Voice Software

Is there any software that I can say a sentence and it will type it onto the computer? 68.193.147.179 04:23, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking? --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 04:36, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Vista has this built in. After a lot of voice training it does get pretty good --froth^t 07:30, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Be warned --Ouro (blah blah) 08:24, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Query regarding Sun Certification(SCJA)

Type:-Computer Prgoramming

Respected,

I want to give SCJP exam.I have never given SCJA exam.Is it neccessary to give SCJA exam before SCJP.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jyotishejawal (talk • contribs) 06:58, 11 March 2007 (UTC).

Proxy

how can we enter to a filterd site217.219.78.129 12:35, 11 March 2007 (UTC)uniqoehidden

copyright question witha bit of html

i am a member of a band , we actually wrote and made a few songs on our own we decided to write the songs on to DVD's and sell them but the problem was that those who bought the dvds shared the music with thier friends and we ended up making a huge lose about indian Rupees 3000 . i want to know if there is any software that can allow a cd to be played only in one computer and the contents of the cd shouldnt be allowed to be modified or copied by another computer ,does a software like that exist is it free because unless it is free we cant afford it since taking loans is out of the question because our liabilities are more than our assets .

i would like to design a website for the band but i have no clue of html ,can someone help me learn html and where i can get acess to free books on html in the web.

thank youAuldlangesyne 15:14, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Hello. To answer your first question: there is actually no way to allow playing a specific CD only on one machine (as this could sometimes prove detrimental to the end user, as when he would have two machines in two rooms he could only play the CD on one of them; among other things that is). There is also no unbreakable copy protection scheme for CDs. As for HTML, there's a basic course over at Wikiversity, with links, try that one, it looks okay. Cheers, Ouro (blah blah) 16:19, 11 March 2007 (UTC)