Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 December 19

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December 19

Why Can't I Connect to WiFi?

I have recently purchased a Dell Studio 1555 laptop with an Intel Core 2 processor and a Dell Wireless 1397 802.11b/g Half Mini Card.

The router at my school is a b/g router and the one I have at home is an a/b/g router.

My laptop can not detect the signals from either school or home. I have made sure that the wireless adapter card is set to b/g mode, but it can not find any networks when I try to connect.

An older laptop, with a Centrino integration of a Core duo and an Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 ABG card and my iPod touch both can connect the network at my school and at home.

Is my network card in my new computer at fault? If so, is it possible for me to switch the network adapter card on my 2 laptops seeing as I plan to get rid of my old laptop anyways?

EDIT: I should also mention that my old laptop, which CAN connect to a network, is Windows Vista, while my new one is Windows 7. Both computers connect just fine with an ethernet cable.

Thanks. 99.240.195.66 (talk) 02:57, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Are the routers set to broadcast their identity? If not, you will need to tell your new laptop about them, and their passwords. Dbfirs 09:53, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Basic point: make sure the wireless card is on by pressing the wireless button (on F2; by default Dell's are shipped with the function keys accessed by pressing the Fn button at the same time). This should toggle your wireless card on/off. If this doesn't work, I suggest contacting Dell. -- Flyguy649 ^talk 15:54, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Free Cell stats

I'd like to copy my Free Cell stats from one computer (Win 98) to another (Win XP). I've found the Free Cell executable, but where is the data file containing my stats ? StuRat (talk) 03:20, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Your stats are in the registry. Open task manager and click File -> New Task (Run...) -> type in regedit or regedt32 -> press enter. Find: HKEY_CU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\FreeCell. Once you've found the file select it and click File -> Export. I hope this helps. (I don't currently have a W98 machine running and I can't quite remember if it has changed or not) JW..[ T..C ] 05:07, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. Your answer was close enough that I was able to find it. The Task Manager under Windows 98 doesn't do anything besides killing tasks and shutting down, but I was able to do a file find on "regedit.exe", and run it from there. The path was a bit different than the one you gave (at the top): \HKEY_USERS\DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\FreeCell. Still, I never would have found it without your help. Thanks, again ! StuRat (talk) 21:44, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Resolved

StuRat (talk) 21:44, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Splitting an Ethernet connection

I have a single Ethernet 10/100 line feeding to one computer (Win 98). I would like to split this line to run to both this computer and an adjacent Win XP computer. What piece of equipment do I need to do this effectively ? I'd prefer if both would have internet access simultaneously, but would also settle for a switch which would allow me to use one at a time. StuRat (talk) 03:29, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

If the Ethernet cable comes from a router or a modem with a built-in router, you can use an Ethernet switch or hub to provide internet to both computers at the same time.

However, if the Ethernet cable comes from a modem without a built-in router and you attempt to use an Ethernet switch or hub, then your ISP will likely only allow one computer to get the internet and block the other one. In that case, you will need a router to share the internet with both computers. To prevent the router from being blocked, you might need to do one of the following: Release the IP address from the original computer; Change the router's WAN MAC address to match the original computer's MAC address; Or call your ISP so they can erase any MAC address registration they have on your account. --Bavi H (talk) 04:54, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

It does come from a router. So, what's the diff between using a hub or switch, in this case ? StuRat (talk) 15:58, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

See Network switch#Layer-1 hubs versus higher-layer switches & [1]. Nowadays there's no price different so there's little reason you'll want a hub except perhaps in a few select instances and in fact I'm not even sure if it's easy to find them at least for the limited port kind (e.g. 4 ports, 8 ports) Nil Einne (talk) 00:42, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Sound fails on XP

My XP computer has gone silent. When I try to play any of the XP sample sounds, like the "Critical Stop", I get the error "Windows cannot play the %SystemRoot%\media\Windows XP Critical Stop.wav file. The file may be damaged or may use an unrecognized compression format. To resolve this problem, replace the file or use Add/Remove Programs in Control panel to install Audio Compression." It seems unlikely that all of my sound files simultaneously became corrupted, so that would mean something is wrong with the audio decompression program, right ? StuRat (talk) 03:44, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

It's either a weird system/codec problem or a virus. I would have done a system restore (under accessories/system tools) immediately. Sandman30s (talk) 15:24, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, but my last system restore point is too old. Any other ideas ? StuRat (talk) 15:55, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Netgear switcher has limited/local only conectivity

I just came home for Christmas with the intention to spend some quality time editing Wikipedia on fast internet ...and it turns out my wifi has died while I was away :( Or rather it says that the conection is "local only" on my laptop, "limited" when I plug in network wire and on my cell phone it says something about gateway not having been found. I have had similar problems with public networks, where signal is weak, so I thought that maybe it will go away, but it doesn't. I don't even remember how I instaled the switcher, I know there was some kind of software, witch probably was instaled on my mom's pc, where I can't find it, probably because something happened to it while I was away and she has reinstaled Xp or something (however, that shouldn't be the cause, because I was home afterwards and everything was fine). I tried unplugging modem and the switcher, didn't help. I also tried using wire I used before we bought wireless - as I said no luck. The switcher displays orange light on the Internet indicator, instead of green, I don't remember what it means, but there is a label on the switcher saying something like green=100mbps amber=10mbps, so I decided my ISP has reduced Internet speed and decided to wait and see, if it doesn't come alive later on, but nothing has happaned yet. I tried google, but it seems no one knows and it is preceived as Vista problem, which would be relevant to my laptop, but doesn't explain how come my simbian cell phone has no conection. So I decided to try here, any ideas ? ~~Xil (talk) 08:47, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

You're referring to a "Netgear Switcher". Can you tell us exactly what this is - model number and what it connects to? --Phil Holmes (talk) 16:37, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

First of all, I have solved the problem, wish I knew how and what happened :) It turned out it actually is a router, not switch. I don't see how it helps, given how many switches/routers are out there (in mentioned Netgear, in case someone knows what these lights mean), but [2], the setup is basic modem to router wire (and another wire to mom's pc). I found its box and setup CD, and after a day spent playing with it and several wires, I eliminated possibility that there could be any damage to modem or any wire, and it probably wasn't router either, because I found my old wired ethernet switch and that also didn't work. In the end it just started working (might be that I setup wired connection to my laptop while diagnosing wireless just before it happened, but I don't know - doesn't explain why it works on my phone too and running diagnostics almost never has solved anything). So unless someone feels like explaining this (which I would find interesting, also I am wondering what's the deal with "local only") - thanks for trying to help, but there's no need anymore ~~Xil (talk) 18:49, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

The "local only" means the computer can detect the connection to the the router, but can't get to the internet. (If you have multiple computers connected to the router, then they can communicate "locally", but won't get the internet.) --Bavi H (talk) 19:25, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I figured that much, but how come it can't connect to the Internet ? I guess weak signal is to blame with public wifi, but at home where it is strong... ~~Xil (talk) 03:00, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

It sounds as if it was a problem with the wired connection to your internet provider, somewhere on that side of your router. Could there have been a loose cable (or bad connection)? Could your internet provider have switched off your connection because of lack of use (not very probable)? I assume that your WiFi is only on the computer side of your router. I regularly get this problem, but that's because my internet connection is via long-range microwave, though the current heavy snow doesn't seem to be affecting it (yet). Dbfirs 09:46, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Diffrence between PAL and NTSC

what is difference between pal ctv and ntsc ctv 10:21, 19 December 2009 (UTC)~? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.178.50.32 (talk)

I'm not sure what ctv is, but the difrence is that PAL is standard in Europe, while NTSC in Northen America, in practice there is some difference in how many lines there are on tv screen. PAL is supposedly better. If you are not asking about TV, then it usually means region of distribution (Europe or North America) 95.68.124.133 (talk) 11:31, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

You could look at the PAL and NTSC articles. 84.13.56.95 (talk) 16:02, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Windows messenger emoticons

When I'm writing in messenger, when I type the words 'yes' or 'great' it throws up some stupid emoticons. I can't work out how to switch them off, any help appreciated.91.109.225.220 (talk) 11:02, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

click on the emoticon icon, the selection box will pop up, click show all. Find the ones that have the offending words under them, select them and click modify on the right. Change the keyboard shortcut to whatever--Jac16888^Talk 11:39, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Hard drive size discrepancy

If I view the properties of the C: drive on my pc (vista) it says that I've used 167Gb of my disk space. However if I go into the C: drive, select everything (including hidden files) and view properties it says I've only used 126gb. This isn't unique to my pc since my XP laptop has the same thing, c: properties says I've used 6.7gb whereas selecting everything says 4.65gb. I wouldn't think anything of it if the numbers weren't so big, but 40gb's being used by nothing is a lot. Any idea why this is, which figure is correct and how to sort it out? . Thanks--86.177.17.61 (talk) 13:04, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

The easiest way to figure out "what's being used and where" is to use a hard drive visualization tool. WinDirStat makes that pretty easy. It should give you something concrete about how the space is really being used. --Mr.98 (talk) 14:24, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

See Hard disk drive#Capacity measurements and note the discussion on overhead. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 14:40, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Also, it would help to know the total size of the drive, to know if 40GB is a lot for overhead or not. Superficially it seems like quite a lot -- around 25% of your used space is pretty huge, too much for just overhead alone. But if it is a 1TB drive, then that sounds about right (a totally full 1TB should have maybe 90GB in overhead, using the estimates from that article). --Mr.98 (talk) 18:37, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Its 320gb officially, so around 290gb. I tried WinDirStat, it nearly agrees with the second figure of 126gb used, its says 130.1 --86.177.17.61 (talk) 18:55, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Hmm, well, 12.5% for overhead seems like quite a lot to me, superficially. I wonder if defragmentation/compaction would help—it might just not be using the space very efficiently for some reason. --Mr.98 (talk) 01:45, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, but that won't make any difference at all. Defragmenting a hard disk merely re-orders the data on the disk, it doesn't change how much space is being allocated. ZX81 ^talk 04:23, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

What file system format are you using? (Go to My Computer, right-click C: and properties). It sounds like you possibly have FAT32 which means you probably have a 32Kb cluster size. This means that all files stored on the disk are rounded up to the nearest 32Kb. So for example a 1Kb file takes up 32Kb and a 33Kb file takes up 64Kb. This might not sound like a lot on it's own, but if you have a few hundred thousand files on the disk (hidden, system or just normal) then it'll all add up. The only way around this is to use NTFS (4Kb clusters) or smaller FAT32 partitions. If you're not using FAT32 though then you can just ignore this whole section then. ZX81 ^talk 04:29, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Another thought (on a different line of thinking), you said you have hidden files on, but do you have "show system files" on as well? Apologies if you meant that as well, but I felt best just to clarify. System files would include the Pagefile (which is likely between 0.5 and 1.5 times the amount of RAM you have) and the Hibernation file (which is exactly the same size as your RAM). On my system (with 6Gb of RAM) those two system files alone consume 10Gb of disk space. ZX81 ^talk 04:34, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Two things: Have a look at our article on cluster size. You may have MANY small files (very common with certain software such as MATLAB or Guitar Pro) each taking up partial clusters. When you do the right-click --> properties it reports the summated size of each file (your 126GB), with a figure in brackets which shows the actual space taken by these files in whole clusters (is this figure close to 167GB?). Second thing to check is if you are showing your hidden files. (Tools --> Folder Options --> "Show Hidden files and folders" and "Hide protected operating system files". Tick and untick respectively, however note that they are there for your own protection.) Then check whether the "missing" 41GB is contained in hidden files in your root directory. Zunaid 04:47, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Its NTFS file format, the numers I quoted include all hidden and system files. To make things easier, this image shows both properties boxes,[3]. Also, out of curiousity, anyone who has a pc, try the same thing please, since the same thing happens on my laptop.--86.177.17.61 (talk) 10:36, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Two more ideas: your "System Volume Information" folder (a red-link, but here you go) contains (I seem to recall) your Restore points and is generally unopenable by any user. I don't think your "select all...properties" method will crawl this folder for files, whereas your total drive space report will include its size in the figures. Whether the system restore points can actually come to 41GB I wonder...you must have 100's of restore points in there going back to when you first installed Windows. Second thought is to chkdsk your drive, perhaps your File Allocation Table is corrupted and miss reporting the free and used space on your drive. Zunaid 18:27, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

The system restore points are in a seperate drive for vista - and it has a max size of 10gbs. Things are even stranger now, I'm on a different computer, also vista, but a laptop, and figured I would check it. The numbers are pretty shocking, i've uploaded them to flickr again, please take a look. [4]. This is a fairly new laptop, and its users are not big computer users - its mainly used for internet browsing, so the lower figure seems much more likely. Whats going on? Thanks--90.204.111.213 (talk) 00:44, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

One last thing I can think of...most laptop manufacturers ship their machines with a recovery partition which allows you to re-install the operating system. PERHAPS in this case they've instead put it on the C: drive in some sort of very hidden and encrypted folder such that the OS cannot read the contents (nor get the file size), the same way they did with System Volume Information. Try Googling around for hidden or encrypted files that cannot be found by Windows Explorer. Last resort is to physically remove the drive and plug it into another (preferably Linux) PC using those USB hard drive brackets, and to check the size reported in a different OS again using the "select all folders" method vs the "disk properties" method. Also, have you tried WinDirStat, SequoiaView, FolderSize or any of the other applications in this line? What do they report? Have any of them been able to trace where your missing space has gone to? Zunaid 11:42, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I tried WinDirStat on my desktop, it reported I was using the lower amount. Considering I've now tried this on 3 different computers, I'm starting to think this is not just my problem, has anyone else tried it, see what their figures are.--90.211.103.123 (talk) 17:51, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

I've never had a problem like this before on multiple computers with multiple different versions of Windows and different installs. Are you absolutely certain that

• 1) There's nothing in the "System Volume Information" aka System Restore. Note that I'm pretty sure there is no way you can make system restore use a different drive. You can turn off system restore for drive C and only use it for drive D which means only changes to drive D are monitored & limits the usefulness of system restore if drive C is your system drive since you won't be able to restore to a good working config but if you want to do that, that's up to you. While system restore is I think usually fairly good at keeping to the quotas you probably should make sure it's really using what it says it is.
• 2) You're showing Hidden files and directores; AND System Files aka Protected Operating Sysem files
• 3) You don't have some sort of malware using lots of disk space
• 4) You're using a user with access to all files and directories in the computer. If you have multiple users for example, each user may not have access to the other user's files & directories no matter whether they are admins (if they are admins you can of course take control and grant access). It may be wise to enter into every main directory and important subdirectories like each user and make sure you have access. There are a few you shouldn't have to worry about e.g. "Documents and Settings" and "Default User" inside "Users" ("Users"\"Default User" on Vista/7 (since they are just junction points) but if in doubt, find out what it is and why you can't access it. Note that if you can't see a "Documents and Settings" in Vista or 7, you've almost definitely screwed up and are not showing hidden and/or system files/directories.
• 5) You're accounting for the recycle bin. If you're following the above you should be but if in doubt, check. If you have nothing useful in it, maybe just delete the whole recycle bin and I mean delete it i.e. delete the directory not empty it.

BTW, have you tried running the cleanup utility and enabling the cleanup of system files (it's an option in the cleanup utility unless you turned off UAC I guess) and seeing how much space it says it can free? You don't have to actually clean up anything just see how much space it says it can free.

Nil Einne (talk) 00:35, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Importing emails into Outlook Express

On my old computer I used to use Outlook Express. On my new computer I have Outlook Express 6, and I have copied all the Outlook Express email files from the old computer to the new computer. How do I get Outlook Express to use these files? I cannot find any option in the OE menus that allows this. I would prefer not to set OE as my default email program, I just want to look something up in the old emails. Both computers are XP. Thanks 84.13.56.95 (talk) 15:59, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

If you click Tools.. Options.. Maintenance tab, and then the "Store Folder" button, and navigate to where you have copied the files, then close and restart OE, it should read the old files. --Phil Holmes (talk) 16:35, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, that works. 89.243.188.42 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:44, 19 December 2009 (UTC).

Chinese handwriting recognition in XP

Dear Wikipedians:

Windows XP seems to come with Chinese handwriting recognition built-in. However, in Control Panel the only option I saw for Chinese handwriting recognition is the Drawing Pad. And when I open the Drawing Pad under Microsoft Word XP it does not seem to recognize my handwritten Chinese (in fact the drawing pad does not seem to do anything).

For English there is the "Write Anywhere" option which does indeed recognize handwritings, but only for the Latin alphabet.

How do I get XP to recognize my Chinese handwriting?

Thanks for all your help.

70.31.157.50 (talk) 17:41, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

My text highlighting has gone wacky

I am suddenly getting problems when trying to highlight text. For example: 1) I position the cursor just in front of the first letter of a word. I press the mouse button, and suddenly the word and space to the left is highlighted - not what I want. 2) After positioning the cursor and pressing the mouse button, when I drag it to the right very often either the left-hand end of the highlighting moves as well, or the right-hand end of the highlighting stops part way. 3) After highlighting text, when I right click and choose "Copy" from the menu, suddenly the highlighting jumps to another word that I had not highlighted. 4) To write something I position the cursor by moving it with the mouse and clicking it, and suddenly the word prior to where the cursor is is highlighted - aagain not what I want. What can I do to stop all this please? Thanks 89.243.188.42 (talk) 19:45, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

First thing to make sure is that none of your keyboard's "modifier keys" are depressed. Tap both of the ctrl, alt, shift, and any other modifier keys on your keyboard, repeatedly, to make sure they are off; and try again. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:05, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, a sticking Ctrl may have been the problem. 92.29.50.52 (talk) 23:19, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Support

Why does everyone favor Suse support then Ubuntu Support. Know that I'm still an newbie to open source/linux/Ubuntu. Anyway, I found that Ubuntu has good support. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jessicaabruno (talk • contribs) 19:52, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Certain versions of SUSE are commercial - so customers can purchase support packages. For example, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop is targeted at business customers who can afford to pay for extra support. Nimur (talk) 20:07, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Okay--Jessica A Bruno 21:15, 19 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jessicaabruno (talk • contribs)

sidenote: Canonical and others offer commercial support for ubuntu, especially for the lts releases --194.197.235.240 (talk) 21:45, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Buying a new wireless network adapter card

The network adapter card in my new (2 weeks old) laptop, a Dell 1397 b/g, is very weak and doesn't do a good job of detecting signals even compared to my 3 year old laptop. If I buy a new wireless card, will the signal detection be better? In other words, is the wireless card responsible for detecting signals or is the laptop itself, by means of antennas or something, responsible for detecting the signals? 99.240.194.22 (talk) 21:07, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

All wireless receivers need an antenna; for a normal 802.11 receiving environment, that antenna doesn't have to be large (and so you mostly don't see it). For one built into a laptop, this antenna is typically wired inside the top of the frame of the screen. I've never found laptop receivers to be unsatisfactory, including those in Dells - so before you spend money, experiment a bit with moving the laptop around (away from sources of interference like electrical equipment, and from large metal objects like filing cabinets). You can always get a PCMCIA/PCARD adapter, or a usb based one - these too have small internal adapters, that you can barely see. For a genuinely difficult environment, some cards have the option of a larger external antenna. Even then, in circumstances like that, I've typically used a USB receiver with a longer USB cable (so I can dangle the little receiver off a wardrobe or something, where it gets a better signal). So, in short, there's no reason why a laptop should be particularly worse than an external card, and I'd want to reject the hypothesis that it is mispositioned, or defective, before spending money on a replacement. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:42, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

By Wireless card, I meant an internal one - so I would remove the one I have currently and replace it with a new one. Is this possible?

In further investigating the problem, I found that if I move my new laptop within an inch of my router, the computer begins to detect a very faint signal from the router, but is still unable to connect to it. Previously, I was about 10 feet away from the router. Again, neither my old laptop or iPod touch displays this odd behaviour. As a result, I'm fairly certain that my new laptop's card is is very weak in detecting signals. Will this be remedied by buying a new internal network adapter card? 99.240.194.22 (talk) 01:20, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

A (non-)working range of one inch is simply not acceptable for any Wifi card (perhaps they forgot to connect the antenna?). I suggest you to get it fixed under warranty instead of paying more money to fix it. --antilived^{T | C | G} 02:13, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Is that one of the possible reasons for the poor signals? That they forgot to connect the antenna? If so, could I do this myself by opening up the laptop? I called Dell Support, but they insisted that it was a software problem and told me I have to purchase a software warranty plan before they could help me. But I have installed all the relevant and newest drivers. 99.240.194.22 (talk) 02:37, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

It is certainly a possible cause. Yes you can usually fix it yourself by opening up your laptop and look for something like this. On my Vostro 1320 it is under the hard drive and quite easy to get access to but as you didn't specify what model is yours I can't say the same for yours. If you can find the service manual for your laptop (or post the model here and we can find it for you) it'd be a lot easier. In the photo I linked there are two silver circular things near the top right. That's the antenna connector. If it is not connected to anything then you definitely have a problem. --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:13, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

UK/Ireland counties

Does anyone know of a piece of software that will convert a grid reference (any type - converters for these exist) to a (list of) counties that the grid reference lies within. The software would probably have to be open source - this relates to someones plant to mass upload and categorise images from geograph.org.uk onto commons. Thanks.Shortfatlad (talk) 21:53, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

You should probably talk to the maintainers of the GeoHack MediaWiki extension. I know it can take an OS grid reference and generate the town and county (as it does, for example, in the infobox in Great Broughton, North Yorkshire). It doesn't (or we don't let it) generate the administrative unit beneath that (Great Broughton, for example, is inside Hambleton). User:Egil is the original author of that extension, although as it's open source you can probably just read the source yourself. I don't know about the Republic. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:32, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. That's enough information for me for now.Shortfatlad (talk) 00:46, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Resolved

WinTV

I have a WinTV nova-t USB stick. I downloaded WinTV 7 and it installed the drivers for my device fine, but when it came to the actual WinTV 7 application it said I needed a cd to continue. I do not have a cd. So this means I can't actually watch anything. So my question is, are there any free, open source alternatives etc to WinTV 7? Thanks for the help —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 22:40, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

My experience with Hauppage's own application has been very poor indeed; it genuinely feels like a (bad) demo for the hardware, rather than an attempt at a finished application. You may have better luck with media centre applications like MediaPortal and XBMC. I got the former working okay with a Nova (but without the Freeview EPG info it wasn't that useful). Loath though I am to admit it, Windows Media Center (at least in Windows 7) is entirely excellent; it recognised and works with the Nova fine, gets the Freeview EPG info (and gets it right) with essentially no setup on my part, and really is every bit the polished useful application that Hauppage's isn't. Some more options, and their respective features, are compared at comparison of PVR software packages. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 22:50, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

I had no idea Windows could do that, thanks. The only problem I have is it records everything in ".wtv" format which I can't convert or play or do anything with in other programs :( —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.88.54 (talk) 23:37, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Windows 7 (I don't think Vista) will convert unprotected WTV to DVR-MS format (you just right-click on the recorded WTV file and pick the "convert to DVR-MS" option). With the file moved to Linux, DVR-MS plays fine for me in VLC and Mplayer (but not in totem-gstreamer or xine) and there are more options for converting it (because it's an older format). -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 00:29, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

You can also convert the DVR-MS to WMV with Windows Live Movie Maker. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 10:05, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

DScaler supports some WinTV devices, you might give it a try. APL (talk) 00:01, 20 December 2009 (UTC)