Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing: Difference between revisions
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Anybody have any guesses? --[[User:Mr.98|Mr.98]] ([[User talk:Mr.98|talk]]) 12:58, 8 February 2011 (UTC) |
Anybody have any guesses? --[[User:Mr.98|Mr.98]] ([[User talk:Mr.98|talk]]) 12:58, 8 February 2011 (UTC) |
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== Ubuntu, showing thing bigger, how to disable == |
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I am on a Ubuntu PC right now, and everything looks much bigger than normal. It seems like something for people with disabilities. How do you disable it? Hint: re-boot doesn't work... [[Special:Contributions/212.169.191.85|212.169.191.85]] ([[User talk:212.169.191.85|talk]]) 13:05, 8 February 2011 (UTC) |
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Revision as of 13:05, 8 February 2011
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February 3
fapemaia malware
I foolishly clicked on www.fapemaia.pt/sun.php, which must be a virus. I can't find information on it in the McAfee or Symantec virus libraries. How can I get information on this in order to deal with it? Thanks. --Halcatalyst (talk) 05:19, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- That URL redirects (HTTP 302) to http://{denzialex,dzikketu,oygmuntua}.com/?cid=3s01, apparently choosing the server at random. This looks very dodgy. Unfortunately, I can't connect to any of the three servers (connection timed out), so I can't learn any more than that. What symptoms are you seeing? You could run HijackThis and post the log here and we could take a look. There may be better forums for that sort of thing, though. -- BenRG (talk) 09:06, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- Symptoms: On the click there was a brief flurry of activity and then the website for a Canadian pharmacy offering Viagra came up. Then, nothing much, though now the browser is running slow. HijackThis: I downloaded and ran it. The first time it halted on the Hosts file, saying (I think) that it couldn't get in, but that I could by using the RUN command or (easier, with Vista) using Run as Administrator. I clicked OK and the program terminated. Then I tried again using Run as Administrator, so I have two log files. Can I uoload one of thm here for analysis, or is there a better way? Thanks again. --Halcatalyst (talk) 00:35, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- Only the second log using Run as Administrator is useful. You can paste it between the two "collapse" lines below, but no guarantees that I/we will spot anything. If browser slowness is the only symptom then you may not actually have any malware. (What browser do you use?) -- BenRG (talk) 11:16, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- The file is pasted below. My browser is Firefox 3.6. --Halcatalyst (talk) 15:00, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- Only the second log using Run as Administrator is useful. You can paste it between the two "collapse" lines below, but no guarantees that I/we will spot anything. If browser slowness is the only symptom then you may not actually have any malware. (What browser do you use?) -- BenRG (talk) 11:16, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- Symptoms: On the click there was a brief flurry of activity and then the website for a Canadian pharmacy offering Viagra came up. Then, nothing much, though now the browser is running slow. HijackThis: I downloaded and ran it. The first time it halted on the Hosts file, saying (I think) that it couldn't get in, but that I could by using the RUN command or (easier, with Vista) using Run as Administrator. I clicked OK and the program terminated. Then I tried again using Run as Administrator, so I have two log files. Can I uoload one of thm here for analysis, or is there a better way? Thanks again. --Halcatalyst (talk) 00:35, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
HijackThis log
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Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.4 Running processes: R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.stjohnmv.org/ -- |
Possible Spam in Subject Line
Hello. How can I remove the [Possible spam detected by WebShield] header from the subject line of emails sent to my Hotmail address? Thanks in advance. --Mayfare (talk) 06:52, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- That could be caused by a variety of anti-virus/anti-spam products, either running on your computer or on the network that the email passes through before it gets to you. If it's in the subject line, that suggests it may be added before the email arrives in your inbox. Are you able to isolate it to emails with certain addresses/content or is it happening randomly or to all mail? --Kateshortforbob talk 11:25, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
The header is added to my email sent from my volunteering institution. I often reply to these emails and want to eliminate the chance of forgetting to remove the spam header before sending. --Mayfare (talk) 15:29, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
What does Winlock.exe (malware) do?
An anti-virus scanner recently found this malware on my computer. I have looked it up on Google, but all I get is the same text repeated at many different sites saying it's malware.
What exactly does Winlock.exe do? What exactly does it do that's malicious? Thanks 92.15.14.91 (talk) 16:11, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
PC Upgrade question
Perhaps someone can give a few quick pointers to this question. We have a Windows 7 PC in production area which is used pretty much only to deal with one MS Access database (there's a person assigned to the computer who's responsibility is to run a variety of queries in response to different situations). By Access standards, the database is rather large (with the biggest table containing ~150,000 records, with a dozen or so auxiliary tables 5,000-15,000 records each, plus a good number of small lookup tables), and the queries are quite convoluted as well. It takes about 60 seconds to run one of the most used queries, and since it needs to be run a bazillion times during the course of the day, it really adds up.
The PC is a 2.66 GHz quad-core with 12 gigs of RAM and an SSD for the hard drive. We would like to upgrade (or replace) the hardware so the same query takes no more than 10-15 seconds to run (5 would be ideal). There is no way to switch to a different OS, software, or a database product, but there is plenty of flexibility with hardware (as long as it remains a PC). Any suggestions as to what kind of upgrade should be sufficient to reach that goal? Money is not a big concern but of course we would like to avoid spending more than needed.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); February 3, 2011; 16:53 (UTC)
- My experience with Access (this is Access 2003) is that it gains almost nothing from extra memory or more CPUs. It appears to run its queries in a single thread, so multi-core CPUs do not help (I run a quad core with 6 Gigs and never see it use more than a few 10s of megs of memory and 25% CPU). My only suggestion would be to get the fastest single CPU that you can find and use that. (Note that this comes from using it with larger tables of a few million records, but probably less complex relationships). --Phil Holmes (talk) 17:20, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- I suspected as much :( I wish we could do away with Access, but that's not my decision to make. By the way, this database runs in Access 2007, but I assume it (or Access 2010 for that matter) does not use multiple cores either, right?—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); February 3, 2011; 17:35 (UTC)
- (ec) That sounds like a beefy database server already. It's not quite "internet-class" in that it's a little less RAM than you might find on an enterprise database server, and the CPU isn't "top of the line for 2011," but it's still pretty darned powerful. I suspect your biggest database bottleneck is, as always, disk access; (though at 12 GB of RAM you could be caching almost everything in RAM already...
Here is how to check your Access configuration and set up the size of the RAM cacheWrong link, see below. (Make the cache size a few gigabytes, since your machine is dedicated to only this task...). If your data is actually larger than you can meaningfully fit in RAM, it's time to strobe the file back-end across multiple hard-disk drives (or SSDs, in your case). You can do this by setting up a RAID array or by configuring Access's data backend to strobe across regular file-systems. But I would really suggest you get a database expert to take a look at your actual system - if your data tables are pathological (i.e., not tuned for easy access to the kinds of queries you are running), then all the hardware in the world won't make the performance any better. You may need a database "reorganization" for performance-tuning. Nimur (talk) 17:20, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- Actually, the PC already uses an SSD, but the idea of putting in multiple SSDs in a RAID may be something to consider. Thanks for that. The database itself is actually pretty well-organized—I'm sure there are areas to improve, but it's not your typical hodge-podge of data from random sources :) Efficiency-wise it's probably as efficient as it can get, given the environment. It's also not on any network for security reasons; everything is locally stored and processed.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); February 3, 2011; 17:35 (UTC)
- Definitely. But let me re-emphasize - Access may not be currently configured to make the most of your RAM. Check the size of Access' RAM cache size and make sure it's huge (say, 8 GB or 10 GB), so that you are actually taking advantage of your 12 GB available. Nimur (talk) 18:35, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- Thanks, but are you sure it's the right link? It seems to talk about the olden days, 486s, VB 3.0, and other such antiquities. Is that tip still relevant today?—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); February 3, 2011; 18:38 (UTC)
- Argh, I used a bad link, my error (too many tabs open!) The earlier link was irrelevant. Here's Performance Tips to Speed Up Your Access 2007 Database, hang on while I navigate through my page-history to find what I was actually looking for. Sorry. Nimur (talk) 18:41, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- Is Win7 32 or 64-bit? ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 19:23, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- It's 64-bit (otherwise it would be pointless to have 12 Gb of RAM :))—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); February 3, 2011; 22:00 (UTC)
- Or if you where just idly curious, or thought your windows 7 is only 32 bits and wondered about the 12Gb. Windows 7 comes in both 32 bit and 64 bit variants. Taemyr (talk) 22:39, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- Doesn't Office 2007 only come in a 32-bit edition though? (I didn't think it was until 2010 that there was a 64-bit option). So as such, can a 32-bit application actually take advantage of all that RAM since a 32-bit operating system would have been limited to 4Gb? (I don't know the answer as I've never tested this, I'm just throwing the question out there). When you look at the process in task manager, how much memory is it actually using? ZX81 talk 23:03, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- Hmm, good point. I don't believe there is a 64-bit version of Office 2007 (although I think there is a 64-bit version of Office 2010). I'll add this to a list of things to consider for the next software upgrade cycle; thanks for the idea!—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); February 4, 2011; 15:37 (UTC)
- I use the 64-bit version of Microsoft Office 2007 Professional Edition on my workstation. Rocketshiporion♫ 20:00, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- Sorry, but although you might be using a 64-bit operating system, you're using 32-bit Office 2007. Since posting my original answer I checked further and I can confirm there was no 64-bit version of Office 2007 and it wasn't until Office 2010 that this option was introduced (Microsoft link here). ZX81 talk 21:00, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- What SSD are you using? There are large differences in performances for different models.
- It's OCZ Vertex 2. I use the exact same model at home myself, and am yet to complain about performance :)—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); February 4, 2011; 15:37 (UTC)
- What SSD are you using? There are large differences in performances for different models.
Windows Vista Broke!
Hi, i have WinVista Premium x64, and it broke the other night. I have limited knowledge of the output of the BSOD, but it seems there are errors with storport.sys. (getting "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL").... I did the research and there are a myriad of possible causes it seems. I have ruled out memory or other hardware being an issue because the Operating System broke while the PC was running, without any recent change to hardware/drivers. Additionally, i am able to successfully boot from an Ubuntu Live CD.
I can view my NTFS disks from Ubuntu, but i am semi novice with Linux in general... Knowing that i can see my files from windows, is there a way i can just get "good copies" of these files and write over them, or use some sort of repair program from Ubuntu?
Looking for specific suggestions/downloads if possible. Thanks!
137.81.47.223 (talk) 18:16, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- I think the Ubuntu live CD comes with a memory test utility (memtest86). I'd run that. Memory can fail while the computer is running. If it fails, try removing one of your memory modules. Is this a desktop? If it passes the test, boot from a Vista DVD and re-install Windows.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 19:05, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- You can use the Vista Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool. What heppens if you boot into safe mode? ---— Gadget850 (Ed) talk 19:41, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Its not memory, i forced my BIOS to do a slow boot, thus making it check memory, and it passed. Besides, wouldnt the Ubuntu live CD fail if there was a memory issue? I did try removing some memory chips and all that, didnt fix the issue. Also, safe mode fails to load as well, i either BSOD or i get "Safe-Mode" in each corner of the screen, with a mouse cursor but no taskbar or start menu showing up. It is a desktop.
I would reinstall windows, but i dont want to lose any info on the hard drive, like installed programs. Wont reinstalling force me to format,, thus losing that data?
I would like options that dont involve formatting, if possible. :)
137.81.47.223 (talk) 20:03, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- BIOS memory tests generally aren't very great. Use the memtest one as provided by Ubuntu - it may take overnight, but will shake out an slightly dodgy locations. CS Miller (talk) 20:51, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- Csmiller is correct; memtest86 is much more thorough than any BIOS memory test. From your description, though, it sounds to me that it's more likely that some file that Vista requires has become corrupted, hence your booting every other time (my guess) into safe mode. Personally I would run memtest86 in order to eliminate that possibility, then I would reinstall Windows; here is a Microsoft page that discusses a couple of ways of reinstalling Vista; and no, it doesn't require you to format your hard disk. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:44, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- No, re-installing Windows does not format the hard drive (unless you specifically tell the installer to reformat). You will retain all your old files, but any third-party programs you had installed will not work, anymore. For example, if you used Firefox, you would need to download that again and re-install it. But any pictures, for example, would still be on the hard drive, although I think Windows installer puts them in a folder titled Windows.old in the root of the drive.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 21:48, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- You can do a repair install of Vista by booting a Vista install disc and selecting "repair"; it might solve the problem and you won't even have to reinstall applications. Your computer manufacturer's system restore disc will erase everything, though. Vista's repair install is probably the only remedy that has much hope of working short of a full reinstall.
- I think the most common cause of DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL is a buggy driver. Drivers are supposed to call certain kernel functions only at certain IRQ levels, and if they screw up then you get this bluescreen. You can't be sure that the driver mentioned on the bluescreen is the culprit, since not every bit of code in the kernel sanity-checks the IRQ level all the time.
- As CS Miller said, BIOS memory tests are almost useless; you should use memtest86 (available as a Ubuntu boot option) or Microsoft's memory tester (available as a Vista boot option, I think, though I've never used it). Different operating systems put important data in different places, and a dodgy memory chip might cause a failure in Vista but not Ubuntu. But if you systematically tried booting with each memory module absent and the problem continued, then it's probably not the memory. -- BenRG (talk) 22:13, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
I am now on my Ubuntu liveboot CD, but i dont see a memory checker on here. There is "System Testing" under system > admin menu, but it only does sound checks etc.... how can i test my memory with ubuntu from the live boot CD? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.81.116.186 (talk) 22:33, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- If you have a system > admin menu you have gone to far. It's on the first menu you get, the one where you choose if you want to install ubuntu or run without installing. Taemyr (talk) 22:35, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
- It is this screen, for Ubuntu-10.04 LTS, which is the previous revision (I don't have a 10.10 [latest] disc). It will be overlaid with the language selection menu, just select English (the default). CS Miller (talk) 22:56, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
10.10 does not have that option at this screen, only install and try... i searched folder "FileSystem" but i cant find the executable because i dont know linux extensions. Can someone give directions to access console and run it from there? or someone here know more about what 10.10 liveboot cd looks like?
137.81.116.186 (talk) 03:41, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- Alternatively, you could just download and burn a memtest86 boot disc from the memtest86 home page. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:46, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- To ask the obvious question, have you tried pushing F6 for other options? Nil Einne (talk) 18:16, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- Well after downloading the Ubuntu 10.10 32 bit desktop liveCD I found that the text GRUB menu is no longer shown, instead Ubuntu boots and then you are shown a graphical menu with the 'install' and 'try' options. (Hint: it would have been helpful if you'd made this clear since I'm sure I wasn't the only person who thought you did get the text GRUB menu but only install and try.) Anyway after some searching I found [2] which says this has been the case since 10.04 or possibly earlier but when you see the keyboard and accessibility? symbol shown before Ubuntu boots up you push spacebar and get the text Grub menu again which does of course show the memtest option. Testing on my 10.10 live CD confirms this still works. Nil Einne (talk) 22:11, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
Geometers SketchPad 5 and chaos method of Sierpinski Triangle
Hi, I am just learning Geometers SketchPad through a class I am taking, and it seems to be very useful software. However, i was wondering if the custom tool creator could be used to script in sierpinski's triangle using the chaos method:
1) Select a point inside a defined triangle as a "base point". 2) Randomly select one of the vertices of the main triangle. 3) find the mid-point between the selected triangle vertex and your "base. 4) Draw this mid-point and allow it to become the new "base". 5) Repeat Steps 2-4 as many times as desired.
I asked my instructor how to script this, and she said that the script editor is new to GS 5, and that she knew very little about it.
I have version 5.03 running on Windows XP Professional, if this is of any importance to the features available to me. Is what im asking possible? I would love to be able to define 3 points and just let the script run, perhaps with a predefined parameter which will tell the script how many iterations to go through!
137.81.47.223 (talk) 18:27, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
February 4
Facebook Wall
How do I show my facebook wall first instead of my info when my friends look at my page? --112.213.223.137 (talk) 03:19, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- As far as I know this happens by default with the recent Facebook update, so shouldn't be an issue if you've updated (which, AFAIK, has now been done automatically by FB for all users). You have to click through to get to the Info page. --jjron (talk) 13:21, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
Not having the e-mail I send wind up in other people's spam folders
I've used Yahoo Mail for nearly a decade. One of the problems lately has been e-mail I send winding up in other people's spam folders. Even an e-mail I sent to myself wound up in my own spam folder. Even e-mails from actual Yahoo employees are sometimes marked as spam in by inbox. But what I'm concerned about is not false positives from the spam filter on my own account, but rather e-mail messages I send to others being falsely labeled as spam by their e-mail programs.
I'm wondering if this would be less likely to happen if I were to use Gmail instead of Yahoo Mail. I don't know -- perhaps there's a history of spammers using Yahoo Mail accounts, and that's led to legitimate messages from yahoo.com addresses getting labeled as spam sometimes. Would my e-mail be less likely to wind up in other people's spam folders if I switch to Gmail? -- 174.116.177.235 (talk) 03:38, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- I have limited knowledge of what is causing your problem im afraid, i have never used yahoo. However, i can tell you as a GMail user that GMail has a wonderful spam filter. I have only once or twice ever seen spam in my inbox, and i dont recall ever seeing an important message being "false positive" and sent to spam. I would suspect GMail would serve you well, but i encourage you to see feedback from others as well. Good luck. :)
- note: you could always give the GMail account a try, and if you dont like it delete it? :)
- First, you should take a close look at the subject line of any e-mails you send. Avoid exclamation marks, quotation marks, all-capital letters, and dollar signs. Second, avoid using large fonts in the body of your message. Also avoid marketing words, like offer, join, vacation, or phrases like please read, or don't delete. Put yourself in a spammer's shoes and think about what she would put in an e-mail. Then, do the opposite. Also avoid sending e-mails to too many recipients at the same time, particularly recipients in the same domain.
- As for switching providers, no, it won't matter. Gmail is definitely a better service than Yahoo! Mail, but mostly because it offers free POP3 access, a 25 MB attachment limit, and less-annoying ads. All e-mail providers have blacklists of spammer domains, but they couldn't possibly get away with blacklisting a major provider like Yahoo! In other words, your domain (or IP address) is either completely blocked from the system or it isn't. If it is blocked, your message will never even reach their spam folder.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 05:17, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- On your last point, that's not the whole story . Anti-spam filters like postini or spamassassin do a heuristics check for various criteria that may mark a message as spam. They usually won't classify something as spam just because the sender's name is "fgltzngsy" or the message is written in all caps, but if the sender's name is a random string of letters AND the message is written in all caps AND there's a dodgy link in there, the message will pass some threshold set by the administrator and will be classified as spam. It is certainly possible (and often happens) to set "is the mail sent from a domain often used by spammers?" as one of the criteria to be checked for. So getting back to the question, yes, changing your email provider may be a solution although a good portion of the spam my filters catch is sent from gmail addresses -- Ferkelparade π 11:29, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- It's also possible that your email address has been 'hijacked' by a spammer, thus causing your address to be blacklisted. If that was the case there's probably little you can do but create a new account. --jjron (talk) 13:24, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
my laptop doesn't like me anymore
When it is connected, it doesn't load the battery, but it only draws energy from it (not from the charger). When it is disconnected, it loads the battery. So, my only way of using it is loading the battery when it's off and then using the battery load. What's wrong? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.0.97.55 (talk) 10:20, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- I don't know what is wrong, but perhaps you could try removing the battery and connecting it to the charger; it should work off the charger power when no battery is present 82.43.92.41 (talk) 10:45, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- Actually not. It does not work only with the charger power. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.0.97.55 (talk) 10:48, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
I have similar problem, and it was because of malfunctioning power supply. (It also might be because of damaged mainboard in laptop). -Yyy (talk) 11:23, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- It makes sense to believe that the power supply could be the source of the problem. If the polarity is reversed (positive what should be negative, and the other way round) the loading of the battery won't be a problem, but the mainboard will not start with the wrong polarity. When you turn the laptop on, the laptop tries to work with the power supply, but it doesn't accept wrong polarity, so it switches to the battery. When it's off, the battery can load without any problem. Quest09 (talk) 16:47, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
Free HTTP proxy with full request/response logging
Once in a while I need to check the raw HTTP requests and responses exchanged by a number of programs. An HTTP proxy would be a good tool for collecting samples of message exchanges if it can record the requests and responses in full. Is there free software that will do the job? It doesn't need to do anything beyond being in the middle of a client and a server, and save the exchanges for checking. A simple and lightweight tool would be better than a powerful but complicated one. It would be ideal if the tool is available for both Windows and Linux platforms, but it would be OK if it's not. Many thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.114.146.27 (talk) 10:37, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- There are lots. If you're mostly wanting to examine headers of web pages you view in browsers, use the Firebug plug-in for Firefox. It's so awesome it's indescribable. 71.141.88.54 (talk) 12:01, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- Fiddler (software) is good for this sort of thing, though I think it's for Windows only. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 12:24, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- I agree with the above posts that you may just need a Firefox plugin. I have used Live HTTP Headers add-on to log HTTP headers.
- If you're sure you want a full proxy server, use Squid. Squid (software) is probably the most widely-used, most versatile proxy server. It works on almost all platforms, and can run as a local service. It is also free software. Squid can log anything and everything; it can also be used to inject or delete HTTP headers and other data from the communication stream for testing/debugging purposes. Read this this Squid Cache Wiki page on logging for an overview; here are more specific technical documents on customizing the log to store whatever header information you want. Between the Squid wiki and the Squid manual, you should find everything, but feel free to come back if you need help. Nimur (talk) 15:38, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
Last value query
I would like some ideas for queries to solve this problem: You have two tables. Users contains a user_id field and a last_login_date field. Login contains a user_id field so you can match up all of the logins for each user. It also has a date field. The goal is to write a single query that places the last login.date into users.last_login_date per user. I feel this is a reasonable exam question, but I'm hesitant that since I already know one possible answer, I'm falsely assuming it is reasonable. -- kainaw™ 13:27, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- If I understand the question correctly, then
update users set last_login_date = (select max(date) from logins where logins.user_id = users.user_id)should do it. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 14:34, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- Correct, but no matter how many times you explain to students that the result of a query can be used as a value for an update, they resist trying it. Further, using a reference to the outer query (users.user_id) in an inner query also meets strong resistance. So, I wonder if there are creative methods using join. I usually get
update users join logins on users.user_id=logins.user_id set users.last_login_date=max(logins.date)which does not work in any of the SQL engines we use. -- kainaw™ 14:44, 4 February 2011 (UTC)- I'm not at work so can't check it at the moment, but I think the syntax to update using a join would be something like
update users set last_login_date = max(date) from logins inner join users on users.user_id=logins.user_id. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 16:04, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- I'm not at work so can't check it at the moment, but I think the syntax to update using a join would be something like
- Correct, but no matter how many times you explain to students that the result of a query can be used as a value for an update, they resist trying it. Further, using a reference to the outer query (users.user_id) in an inner query also meets strong resistance. So, I wonder if there are creative methods using join. I usually get
Mount Override
Hi,
when you create a mount or symlink in linux / unix, for example you create a symlink from /etc/blah/blahblah to /etc/passwd
so whenever you type in /etc/passwd what you really get is /etc/blah/blahblah
how does this actually get stored in the file system? How does the file system decide from giving you the absolute path (the actual /etc/passwd) and the symlink / mount you created?
Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Legolas52 (talk • contribs) 15:12, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- The article symbolic link describes methods of storing the link. In *nix, it is most likely stored in the inode, assuming you are using a standard *nix filesystem. -- kainaw™ 15:39, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
DVI cable for my comp monitor
I just got a new computer and I noticed that the monitor was originally using a normal VGA cord, but connected to my PC with a VGA to DVI adapter. I figured the image quality would improve if I got a DVI cable, and I'm using it now, but everything looks exactly the same. Am I missing something here? Is there something else I need to do to improve quality? I'm running at 1366x768 which seems to be the max. It won't go any higher with either the VGA or DVA cord. ScienceApe (talk) 23:09, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
- If the quality of the VGA RAMDAC on your graphics card is good (meaning that its noise level is very low and the frequency signal generator is accurate), and if the copper cable has no significant integrity defects or serious electromagnetic interference, and if your monitor doesn't garble the analog signal as it converts it to control signals for the LCD panel, there's no reason why VGA should be poor quality. It may even be "bit-exact" with a digital representation, out to the individual RGB levels that your LCD panel can actually display. Nimur (talk) 23:29, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
February 5
Code Obfuscation in C++
ResolvedI was recently practicing code obfuscation in C++ and was writing an obfuscated "Hello world" prgram. However, instead of outputting "Hello world." my program outputs "H << ello world." except with << as the single character meaning much less than (ASCII 0xAE). The code is as follows. Please let me know what's going on. Thanks! Ζρς ιβ' ¡hábleme! 00:09, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main(){int vvvq = 0x316,qqvvq;int qvq = 0x39a;char __________[0xc];
int vvq = 0x7a;int vqv=0x327;int vqqvq;char ______________=0xa,__=0x65,____=0x6f,
______= 0x72,___=0x6c,________=0x2e,_______=0x64,_=0x48,_________=0x20,_____=0x77;
int vqvq=vqv^vqv;int qqv=0x1b;vqqvq=0xd;vvvq=(vvvq^vqv)>>5;int q=vqvq;
__________[(vvvq^vqv)>>5]=__;__________[2]=___;__________[3]=___;__________[10]=_______;
__________[7]=____;__________[vqqvq-1]=______________;__________[8]=______;
__________[4]=____;__________[5]=_________;__________[9]=___;
__________[vqv^vqv]=_;__________[6]=_____;__________[0xb]=________;
while(q<vqqvq) {cout << __________[q];q += vvvq;}cin.get();return 0x0;}
- Isn't it obvious? You never initialized __________[1] to (char) 'e' in any way. Uninitialized array elements have unspecified values in C++. Perhaps you meant __________[(vvvq^vqv)>>9]=__; - your left-shift by a value of 5 assigns the value 'e' to an out-of-bounds array element (which is dangerous and unproductive). Nimur (talk) 00:15, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- What Nimur meant to write was, "Vfa'g vg boivbhf? Lbh arire vavgvnyvmrq <gg>__________[1]</gg> gb <gg>(pune) 'r'</gg> va nal jnl. Havavgvnyvmrq neenl ryrzragf unir hafcrpvsvrq inyhrf va P++. Creuncf lbh zrnag <gg>__________[(iiid^idi)>>9]=__;</gg> - lbhe yrsg-fuvsg ol n inyhr bs 5 nffvtaf gur inyhr 'r' gb na bhg-bs-obhaqf neenl ryrzrag (juvpu vf qnatrebhf naq hacebqhpgvir).". Comet Tuttle (talk) 00:40, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- Thanks Nimur. I'm not sure how I missed that bitshift, but I was looking at different aspects of the program. It never occurred to me to check that. Ζρς ιβ' ¡hábleme! 00:46, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- You're practicing code obfuscation in C++? This is no way to learn how to obfuscate. You need to start with some other, simpler language and learn how to really obfuscate before moving to a language with a lot of cheap obfuscation tools. Paul (Stansifer) 00:58, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- It wasn't really that obfuscated. Cosmetic things, like missing line-breaks, were fixed in one click in my IDE; the control flow is actually trivial: declaration of numerous constants with silly names; creation of a stack array, assignment of characters into the array elements, in no particular order; and then a "for-loop" that writes the array out to console. With a debugger, you can probe the values of the variables and the array at runtime to see what is amiss. The obfuscated C++ code I have to work with on a daily basis is far more challenging, and most of it accesses proprietary hardware whose values and statuses can't be read out. Nimur (talk) 01:06, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- The article International Obfuscated C Code Contest should give a few pointers at how to improve the code. Unfortunately that contest is now finished but it is well worth looking at some of the code that has been entered over the years. Dmcq (talk) 13:20, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- By the way you might also like the 'opposite' contest, the Underhanded C Contest. Dmcq (talk) 13:29, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- Your code isn't strictly portable, because it assumes that the underlying character set is ASCII or something similar. In fairness, most of the IOCCC entries also does this. In addition to the techniques used there, C++ adds a couple of features that are (ab)useful for obfuscation, such as recursive instantiation. Regards, #include <iostream>
template<int n,int i=(0140325160>>(n+n+n))&7>struct S:S<n-1>{template<class c>S(c&s):S<n-1>(s){s<<(i["yeltpcd"]);}};template<>struct S<0>{S(std::ostream&){}};S<8>s((std::cout));int main(){} (talk) 14:53, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
Shrink an ntfsclone image file to restore to a smaller partition
I'm installing Ubuntu alongside Windows 7 on my laptop. Resizing the NTFS partition and adding an ext4 partition wasn't an option in this case, because the hard drive already had 4 partitions and all of them were primary. I made the mistake of not resizing my NTFS partition before I used ntfsclone --save-image to copy it to my slow external hard drive. Now I need to copy the contents of the image back to a smaller NTFS partition. What I'm doing at the moment is using ntfsclone --restore-image to create a mountable version of the image file; I figure that if ntfsresize doesn't work on the mountable image, I can always just mount it and copy the files.
The problem is that because the mountable image has to go on the same external hard drive as the unmountable one, the process is taking way too long. Is there a way to directly resize the image file instead? NeonMerlin 00:28, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
Images and videos are invisible
On my home computer, a old Dell machine running some version of MS Windows, probably about 20% of youtube videos are invisible to me---I just see a black screen where the video should be---although I can see them on other machines. In Wikipedia's article titled trigonometric functions, I can see the image whose caption begins with "The sine, tangent, and secant functions of an angle constructed geometrically in terms of a unit circle." but I can't see the one below it. I can see its caption. On all other machines I can see it. Same for various other images in Wikipedia articles; I haven't kept a list. Now I look at this page on facebook, and see a blank space where, with a machine in a library, I saw things I could click on and hear song excerpts. There's also a blog where I posted a comment more than a year ago, where I can't reload the page (but can on other machines) and see only the page as it existed when I posted there.
What's going on? Michael Hardy (talk) 04:13, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- Sounds like maybe you need a new graphics driver or a new graphics device (or just a new computer). ¦ Reisio (talk) 10:51, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- By why would things that I formerly could see be invisible? If images or videos require a graphics device that I don't have, then I would think I wouldn't have been able to see them earlier. Michael Hardy (talk) 17:30, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- It's possible that the sources that you are trying to reach have not remained static, although you have. Companies providing content try to keep their systems as up to date as possible, even though that may mean abandoning some users along the way. For example, I have an old version of Internet Explorer still working on my old PC, but many commercial and govt websites don't bother to support its features; some just outright say "update your browser." You may need to update your drivers to keep up with everyone else.--Romantic Mollusk (talk) 18:22, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- Beyond that, I would suggest telling us 'what browser', 'what OS', 'have you updated Flash recently', 'are the other computers where you don't get the problem operate on the same network/off the same router' etc would probably help. Nil Einne (talk) 02:10, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
The browser is firefox; the OS is some version of MS Windows; I just downloaded a new version of adobe flash. The problem persists. I've also had the same problem with internet explorer and google chrome. Would "flash" have an effect on the illustrations in Wikipedia's trigonometric functions article? Why would this problem afflict one of two illustrations in that article that I created with the same software and the same time and uploaded at the same time, and have no effect on the other one? Michael Hardy (talk) 03:54, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Windows Aero does not work even when I select it
ResolvedThe problem is I try select a Aero theme. It will let me, but the effects (transparency, peek, and window shadows etc) will not work. Alt+Tab brings up only 2D and the Orb+Tab 3D preview does not work. Only I can change the background. At the personalization screen, when I try to change the Window colour, It takes me to the Window Colour and Appearance window, not the window to change the transparency. I tried to run the troubleshoot but it couldn't detect anything wrong. Please help! (I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate)General Rommel (talk) 06:24, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- There are possible causes I can think of: (1) your computer's graphics card (if it has one) is not powerful enough for Windows Aero; or (2) your graphics card is powerful enough, but you don't have the right drivers installed. What kind of graphics card do you have? To check, go to the Start Menu, right-click on Computer, select Manage, then Device Manager → Display Adapter. Also, right click on Computer in the Start Menu and select Properties, then, click on the Windows Experience Index. You need at least a 3.0 in the graphics section to use Aero. If you have a good graphics card, then I would recommend visiting your manufacturer's web site and downloading the latest drivers for your graphics card.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 07:36, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- In addition to the above recommendations, I also recommend that you run this automated troubleshooting tool: [3].--Best Dog Ever (talk) 08:59, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- My drivers were suddenly out of date, despite when pressing update driver in the device dialog box it coudn't find a suitable update. Now it works with a new catalyst version. Thanks! (now how do you put the resolved dialog box?) General Rommel (talk) 09:45, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- You add {{resolved}} to display the Resolved box.CS Miller (talk) 12:41, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- Thanks! General Rommel (talk) 00:08, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Editions
ResolvedHello.
I'm trying to find out what the technical differences between the three editions of Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2008 R2, the three editions being Standard, Enterprise and Workgroup. I've tried asking at the Microsoft TechNet Forums, but I'm usually told that "as Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 is an OEM product, please check with your hardware vendor for details and specifications." The hardware vendor isn't of course interested in answering questions to someone who doesn't intend to buy anything from them - I've tried HP, IBM and Dell.
Thanks to all RefDesk volunteers. Rocketshiporion♫ 11:28, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- Thank you, 118.96.155.180, that was just the information which I was looking for! Rocketshiporion♫ 15:12, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Clash of the antivirus programs
I have F-Secure as my main program, but installed and ran Antivir when an F-Secure scan showed I'd been infected. Antivir detected two other nasties (but not the one F-Secure found). I read that antivirus programs can interfere with each other, so my question is, if I deactivate Antivir Guard, is that enough? It's Windows Vista. Clarityfiend (talk) 12:00, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- Update: the two problems Antivir detected (and quarantined) were apparently from F-Secure's database, so it appears I've screwed that up. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:18, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Office 2007
Hello. I lost my Office 2007 CD but have the serial key recorded on my email. Where can I download the software if I need to reinstall it? Thanks in advance. --Mayfare (talk) 15:56, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- It seems that Microsoft does not supply a copy. I'd advise on you to email Microsoft Support about it, and they may help you get 2007 running and activated. If you want to try a different tack,you can try downloading a trial version and entering your product code ( If you don't have a product code you will need to request one through Microsoft for a product key with your serial number) General Rommel (talk) 00:18, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Lightweight browser for Windows
Can anyone recommend a graphical freeware (i.e. doesn't have to be opensource) lightweight browser for Windows 7? Other then being graphical (i.e. no Lynx) I don't really need much. Something like Dillo will work fine. In particular Flash etc support isn't needed. I'm already using Chrome for other stuff but I'm looking for something else. K-meleon seems to a common recommendation and perhaps it's a decent browser but I found it incredibly frustrating so gave up on it. In case you're wondering, unless I'm missing something there's no way to disable third party plugins without either using another plugin (which I couldn't seem to get to work) or some complicated setup work even though it seems the browser must be aware they're there to use them (after all they're shown in about:plugins). I'm just as mystified why they recommend Flashblock (which I'm sure is great if you want Flash on some sites but seems pointless when you don't want Flash at all and the browser could simply not call it). Cheers Nil Einne (talk) 17:48, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
- Are you talking about Firefox in the last part? I went to Tools -> addons and under the plugins tab disabled "shockwave flash" and then tested on youtube and the videos don't play. 82.43.92.41 (talk) 00:28, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- No I'm referring to K-meleon, you're right it's easy to disable plugins in Firefox as well as Chrome and even IE which is why I'm even more mystefied by the absence of any such feature in K-meleon. I've actually decided to use K-meleon with Flashblock (which is built in) which works okay and doesn't have the problem Chrome was giving me although I'm still mystified why it's so hard to disable 3rd party plugins in K-meleon and would still be intersted in any suggestions. Nil Einne (talk) 02:06, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- How about Internet Explorer shells? They are quite lightweight, as they don't need to supply their own rendering components. Many of them also support disabling scripting, ActiveX, plugins (like Flash), BHOs (toolbars and extensions), etc. 118.96.155.180 (talk) 09:10, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
computer updates
Is it possible to delete an update that has not yet been installed on my computer? You see, every time I try to turn it off, it comes up saying it is installing updates, but then it just does nothing, spending sometimes hours pretending to load just the first one, before I get bored and switch it off. I worry that something will go wrong if I keep turning it off like that, so how to I get that particular update gone?
148.197.121.205 (talk) 21:03, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
Noone? I guess it is impossible, then. Might have to take it to the mechanics instead. 148.197.121.205 (talk) 18:24, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- I'm not an expert, but I think it is sometimes possible. You need to tell the experts here what operating system or software is running the hanging update. Most software will allow you to view update history, and Windows will sometimes allow you to undo updates (e.g. in Vista: Start -> Windows update -> View update history or "Installed updates" under "See also"). Dbfirs 23:26, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
February 6
Is there any way to do these two tasks in Microsoft Word using the mouse instead of the keyboard?
I used to do everything in Microsoft Word just by holding down the mouse button or copying and pasting. I recently found out about mouse and keyboard shortcuts that take less time and are easier on the hands. I was wondering about two shortcuts that I found for the keyboard:
1) selecting text from the cursor to the beginning of the paragraph (Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow)
This first one might be difficult to see, so I will use this paragraph as an example: Foghorns are a navigation aid for mariners. In foggy conditions, when visual navigation aids such as lighthouses are obscured by the weather, foghorns provide an audible warning of rocks, headlands, or other dangers to shipping. The first automated steam-powered foghorn was invented by Robert Foulis, a Scotsman who emigrated to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The first model was installed on Partridge Island in 1859, replacing the less effective bell and cannon which had been formerly used as warnings to ships in fog.
If the cursor is placed at the word “shipping,” for instance, and I press Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow, a portion of the paragraph (from the word “shipping” to the beginning of the paragraph) is selected like this (represented by boldface):
Foghorns are a navigation aid for mariners. In foggy conditions, when visual navigation aids such as lighthouses are obscured by the weather, foghorns provide an audible warning of rocks, headlands, or other dangers to shipping. The first automated steam-powered foghorn was invented by Robert Foulis, a Scotsman who emigrated to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The first model was installed on Partridge Island in 1859, replacing the less effective bell and cannon which had been formerly used as warnings to ships in fog.
2) selecting the whole document except the last paragraph (Ctrl+A and then hold down Ctrl and Shift+Up)
Are there any shortcuts for the mouse (besides just dragging) that will accomplish the same things? I have tried to look for mouse shortcuts in online computer tutorials, but I can find only ones for the keyboard.174.131.43.140 (talk) 03:28, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- The only mouse shortcuts I know offhand are that clicking in the left margin selects a line, and double-clicking selects a paragraph, and possibly triple-click selects the whole document. (I don't know if this is still true in Word 2007/2010.) Word's online help should have a section on "mouse shortcuts" or similar. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 12:03, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- FWIW I never touch the mouse while I'm doing any word processing. It's worth learning all the common shortcuts, creating more shortcuts as necessary, and customizing the silly 3-key shortcuts so that they are all 2-key shortcuts.--Shantavira|feed me 15:05, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
I was wondering, since I know how to select the whole document, is there any way to simply deselect the last paragraph? Is it possible to deselect text using the mouse?174.131.58.121 (talk) 00:00, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
free poker online with real players but no real money?
is there an online poker system (texas hold'em) that includes no payment of any kind from players, it's completely "fake" (just points)? Thanks... 109.128.155.164 (talk) 13:36, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- Googling "free online poker" returns lots of results, including sites such as games.com, Poker Stars, and Free Poker.[4] Try one of them. --Colapeninsula (talk) 13:05, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Normally, all online poker sites offer you the possibility of playing with play money. 80.58.205.34 (talk) 18:01, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
macros application in excel
how can i learn macros application in excel? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.225.96.217 (talk) 14:12, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- Excel macros are programmed in VBScript. There are many tutorials, guides, books, and examples on the internet. Personally I find the best approach is to just dive in with a specific problem: what do you want the macro to do? Once you know that, you can start to figure out what you need to know to do that, and will learn a bit about how the macros work in general. Personally I find VB scripting for Office products to be very idiosyncratic: they are not very "orderly," like a "regular" programming language, and you end up having to learn a lot of specific ways to do very specific tasks. In other words, it is very hard to get a "general" idea of how they work, because so many of the functions and classes are specific to the particular application (e.g. Excel, or Word).
- One "easy" way to learn how to do something in Excel macros is to "record" yourself doing it manually and then look at the code generated. It's often not the most ideal way to do whatever it is you want, but it can serve as a basis for further modification, generalization, hacking, etc. Sorry this is so vague: I'm not sure there's an obvious answer. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:13, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- Actually Visual Basic for Applications, not VBScript. Similar but not identical. (Though VBScript can be used, for example in web applications or command-line scripts) to drive Excel via the Component Object Model interface.) Apart from that Mr 98's advice is good: recording macros is a good way to find your way around the object model, but beyond that it depends what you want to do, and the original question is so vague that it's difficult to give advice. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 19:58, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- Indeed, VBA! Not exactly the same thing as VBS, but pretty similar. True, true. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:21, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- Actually Visual Basic for Applications, not VBScript. Similar but not identical. (Though VBScript can be used, for example in web applications or command-line scripts) to drive Excel via the Component Object Model interface.) Apart from that Mr 98's advice is good: recording macros is a good way to find your way around the object model, but beyond that it depends what you want to do, and the original question is so vague that it's difficult to give advice. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 19:58, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
usb
Random question; if you plugged a usb flash drive into this and then plugged that into this, then into a computers usb port, would the flash drive be accessible? 82.43.92.41 (talk) 15:20, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- No. Those are connectors for mice. Why?--Best Dog Ever (talk) 18:05, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- Let's not dismiss it so quickly. USB has four wires. If (if!) those two connectors just pass the four wires in a 1:1 mapping it could well work. As to why, it probably has no practical value other than satisfying general curiosity, but curiosity is reason enough. 88.112.59.31 (talk) 18:35, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
how much does a short optical audio cable cost?
both my thx certified computer speakers (5.1) and lcd tv have an optical audio connection (the tv is out, obviously, the control center's for the thx sound system is in). I don't have a cable for it -- how much should I expect to pay? 109.128.155.164 (talk) 18:31, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- Between £5 and £25, depending on length and how much shopping around you do. I'd grab 1.5m from my local store for £10.99 (US, $17.77). (I'm sure there are cheaper online, but meh) Chzz ► 12:19, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
IP address
Hello. I recently switched my router to a newer one. I noticed that even though my IP used to be fairly static, it changed just when I changed my router. It even looks different - before it began with 24 but now it begins with 72. Is this just a coincidence, or did my changing the router have something to do with it? Thanks. 72.128.95.0 (talk) 19:10, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- It can easily be related to changing the router. Your ISP's router sees your router's MAC address. Then the ISP's router uses DHCP to give your router an IP address. I find that usually my ISP gives me the same IP address month after month - their router has an algorithm: prefer to give the same IP address to the same MAC address. They aren't required to do that, but why not, that's the easy thing to do.
- When you get a new router it will have a different MAC address, and the ISP's router randomly assigns you a new IP address - there is no history of what IP address preferentially belongs to that MAC address. That you got a totally different first byte of the address is just luck of the draw; your ISP has been assigned a pool of IP addresses and what you get is what their router software pulls out of the pool. 88.112.59.31 (talk) 20:30, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Audio backmasking software
Hi. What is a free and relatively small (low KB or MB) software available online for download that can take a recorded audio file and reverse it to produce sound in reverse such as is the case given reverse speech? Thanks. ~AH1(TCU) 19:46, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
- I'm not sure about its size, but Audacity is useful for manipulating audio files. KyuubiSeal (talk) 22:25, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
February 7
Cannot access printer
I have a network set up in my home and I can see the other computers on my network. I have a main computer connected directly to my router and printer and two computers wirelessly connected. Unfortunately I can't use or even detect the printer from the two wirelessly connected computers, despite having enabled printer sharing and 'private network' on all the computers. Might this be related to my computers all running different versions of Windows? (one is a netbook with Windows 7, another is an old XP, and my main computer is a Vista). If not, what is causing this problem? Thanks. 72.128.95.0 (talk) 03:37, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- The fact of different versions of Windows shouldn't be the problem. You didn't mention whether computers B and C could see computer A at all (for file sharing, for example). What I would do first is to first double-check whether you have Windows Firewall (or some other firewall) running on any of the computers, especially on the main computer, disable it if so, and test again. If that didn't work, I would get computers B and C connected to the router via Ethernet cables rather than wirelessly, and see if I could then see the printer from B and C. What type of router do you have? Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:46, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Check that whatever network you have set up has the same network name. Different versions of Windows use different default names for their networks. Exxolon (talk) 20:27, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Interoperability, between operating systems, of GIF and PDF files on FAT32 flash drives
ResolvedI think I remember reading, on the packing of a USB flash drive with a FAT32 file system, that this storage medium could be used both in Windows, MacOS and Linux.
Do I remember correctly?
If so, then If I were to buy three (identical) of those flash drives and save a pair of GIF and PDF files (found on the internet) from Windows to one of them, from MacOS to the other and from Linux to the third.
Would those three flash drives and their files be usable by the two other operating systems?
Would the content of the three USB flash drives somehow be different from each other?
--Seren-dipper (talk) 04:23, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- They should all be usable; FAT32 should be completely compatible. The only difference in the content of the drives, I believe, is that Mac in particular will save resource forks on the drive as well, which will be invisible for the Mac users but show up as funny little filenames with periods in front of them for the others. --Mr.98 (talk) 12:02, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Thank you! :-)
--Seren-dipper (talk) 23:41, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Thank you! :-)
When will WiFi overtake wired ethernet in terms of speed?
If we were to regress the development and advances of WiFi and wired high-speed internet, when, if ever, will WiFi surpass wired ethernet in terms of bandwidth and speed? Acceptable (talk) 04:51, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- You're discounting a critical metric: range. Over a five or six foot distance, in ideal conditions, wireless 802.11n yields about 600 Mbits/s; consumer-grade ethernet goes up to about 1000 Mbits/s; so for purposes of comparison, wired- and wireless are almost equal in speed. But that same wireless protocol won't work over a 100 foot distance; let alone a 1 km distance. For those ranges, there's no contest: hands down, a wired connection (ethernet, fibre-optic, or some other long-range wired signal like modulated UHF on a coaxial cable) is a clear winner for signal integrity and bandwidth. Throw in the shared-channel problem that is inherent to wireless, and it becomes evident why our current internet uses wired connection for the last mile. Nimur (talk) 05:15, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- It never will. I've never heard of an 802.11n connection going over 140 mbps outside of a lab, first off. Second, there are already 10 gbps ethernet cables out there. (See Category 7 and Category 6a.) In Japan, you can get a 1 gbps fiber-optic connection for your home, and I foresee Verizon offering something like that in the near future on the east coast of the U.S. I foresee us replacing all our twisted-pair cable with fiber optics, which has a theoretical maximum speed in excess of several terabits per second, and is more reliable. I also predict that it will become cheaper than ethernet cable once a certain economy of scale is achieved.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 06:04, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Agreed. I am replying over WiFi + a six-mile microwave link, and the speed is very unreliable. Fibre to the premises is the only reliable modern option for fast broadband. Dbfirs 10:27, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Never, regardless of metrics considered. Even if you considered using beams of light to transmit information, a dedicated wire for transmitting that light would almost certainly perform better. ¦ Reisio (talk) 10:36, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- I wouldn't say "never", because who knows what we'll invent. But sure; +50 years or something. Some form of satellite hook-ups might be a long-term improvement, à la William Gibson. Chzz ► 12:26, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Even if you used satellites, if you could use wires between them (I'm not saying this would make sense :p just theoretically) they'd almost certainly yield better performance. I don't think anyone is questioning the convenience of wireless. ¦ Reisio (talk) 02:30, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
- I would say definitely "never" as there are fundameltal physical limitations to the information density of modulated radio waves in free space that do not apply to varios "cable" based communications systems. Optical fibre is inherently (by the fundamental laws of physics) capable of carry much more information than any radio frequency signal. Roger (talk) 12:35, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- While largely agreeing with the above answers i.e. cable will always be capable of providing more bandwidth a more relevant point which is not really what the OP asked is whether whether ever have enough bandwidth via wireless that you don't need cable. My belief is probably not for some purposes but it does seem to be the cases that wireless is increasingly becoming enough for a number of uses. In terms of the satellite thing, it may work for some things but particularly if we're talking about geostationary satellites given the latency issues may or may not be the best bet for real time communication. For example it seems a flawed way to communicate with someone 50 km away. Nil Einne (talk) 04:41, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Will a basic dongle be OK?
Have installed a new D-link router supplied by Virgin Media and although a newish Macbook can find it without any difficulty, two desktop computers don't seem to be able to. I.e. when refreshing the list of wireless networks available the new network that I gave a name to doesn't appear. I set it up with WPA security, would ideally like to use the more secure options, but main priority is to get it running. I'm guessing that this is because the dongles being used are rather old? I confirmed with Virgin that it is an N-router, and have found Belkin F6D4050ed Wireless N150 USB Adapter at Argos for £17.99. Should that do the trick? Should I be paying more for the dongles? Or less? Wireless connections are to run within the house, up to about 10m. Thanks very much for any help. Itsmejudith (talk) 14:43, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- What type of dongles do you have? 802.11 B, G . . . ? Is your router configured to work with all of the wireless formats? Are you sure you are broadcasting the SSID? There are many places in the configuration of both the router and your desktops that might be affecting your network, more details are always useful. --LarryMac | Talk 15:03, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Depending on how old they are, they may not even support WPA. Some of mine don't.--Phil Holmes (talk) 15:38, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- I haven't retained any info about the old ones, so they probably aren't coping with the WPA if Phil says that is a common problem. I was going to replace them with the Argos one mentioned above, just buying one, will see if it works, then if it does will buy another. Itsmejudith (talk) 16:37, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Depending on how old they are, they may not even support WPA. Some of mine don't.--Phil Holmes (talk) 15:38, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
troubleshooting with start up errors in computers,laptops etc..
we know that upon restarting the system(computer),the program counter is reset.most of the problems are solved.But sometimes if the system fails in terminating properly due any problem such as improper shutting down,power failure etc.,then there will a start up error which fails the system in stating up the next time. why does this happen and why cant restating the system fails in solving this problem?? is there any option to solve this? please suggest. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Girishkakalwar (talk • contribs) 15:42, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Usually if a computer won't restart properly, it is because an important file on the hard disk has been damaged. Usually the problem can be solved by fixing the file system, but it is impossible to give a general method for doing that. If you give more information such as what operating system you are using and exactly what error messages you are seeing, it might be possible to give a more useful answer. Looie496 (talk) 19:05, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Can't Install Visual Studio
Ok so I'm trying to install Visual Studio 2010 on Windows 7, but the problem is it insists on being installed to the C: drive. My C: partition is very small (25 GB total, with only about 1.3 GB free). Even if I try to change Visual Studio's install destination to E: it still says it requires 2.2 GB free space on C: So, anything I can do, besides get a new computer with a bigger C: drive? Digger3000 (talk) 15:53, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- This page suggests that (most of) the space on C: is only needed during the installation itself and is released afterwards, so if you could temporarily find a gig or so on C: (e.g. delete some temporary files) you might be able to do it. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 19:00, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- My history with development tools is that you should accept whatever the installer suggests as the default directory and even the hard disk letter. Personally I would enlarge that C: drive's partition and install into the default directory. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:25, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Run something like crap cleaner to remove unnecessary files — Preceding unsigned comment added by General Rommel (talk • contribs) 06:44, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Why would someone want an iPod touch?
If you can have an iPhone? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.58.205.34 (talk) 17:58, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- I have an iPod touch, and enjoy it for many uses. The cost of iPhone ownership over a few years' time is quite large. SemanticMantis (talk) 18:39, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- Why would anyone need any of both? Android or Symbian phones are much cheaper and provide you the same capacity. Quest09 (talk) 18:42, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- The iPod Touch is way less expensive. It's about one-third the price of an iPhone. You could buy three iPod Touches instead of a single iPhone, if you wanted. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:24, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- And why would anyone want three iPod Touch? Quest09 (talk) 23:56, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- For a Beowulf cluster, no doubt. --Tardis (talk) 00:05, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
- I think you're somewhat missing the point of the comment. In any case there are reasons why you may want to buy 3 iPod Touches, e.g. if you have a family. Nil Einne (talk) 04:35, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
- And why would anyone want three iPod Touch? Quest09 (talk) 23:56, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
- I have an iPhone which was a hand-me-down (my in-laws have AT&T and gave it to me when they upgraded) which I use for everything else except the phone portion. I have Verizon as a carrier. I use it all the time as an iPod, play some games, check my email, check Facebook, listen to NPR while cooking, etc. It's a lot lighter and smaller than my laptop. For quick reference of all those things, it's handy. So yeah, I can see why someone would buy an iPod Touch but not an iPhone. Dismas|(talk) 02:14, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
- You should just jailbreak and unlock it (you have the legal right), and use it as your phone as well, so you can be cooler. 109.128.127.87 (talk) 09:01, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
- (you have the legal right): That depends on what country you live in. -- Q Chris (talk) 09:23, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
- You should just jailbreak and unlock it (you have the legal right), and use it as your phone as well, so you can be cooler. 109.128.127.87 (talk) 09:01, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
- Other than cost, as covered above, one problem with convergence devices is that you share the same battery for multiple jobs. In my case, my phone might run low on power because I've been accessing the web or watching videos. One option, therefore, is to get a rugged phone with good battery life just to be a phone, and an iPod to manage non-phone things, so it won't matter so much if you flatten the battery. - Bilby (talk) 09:28, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
February 8
IPv6 for XP
After reading the recent Lifehacker article on the switch to IPv6, I checked to see if my computer supported it. As far as I can tell, it doesn't. (ipconfig only shows an IPv4 address). So, I tried googling for an answer. I found a site saying, put "netsh interface ipv6 install" into command prompt, then lots of other things. http://ipv6int.net/systems/windows_xp-ipv6.html One, how safe is that, two, what else would I need to do for ensure compatibility with IPv6? KyuubiSeal (talk) 01:51, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
This seems to be all to allow compatibility with IPv6. However, I don't understand what you mean about the safety. Can you explain? General Rommel (talk) 06:12, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Scam, spam, or wrong number?
So I've gotten three text messages over the past few days that I've found puzzling.
The first said that the IRS had accepted my federal tax return.
The second and third said that they had rejected it.
All said that for more information I should go to efile.taxact.com.
Now I have not, in fact, filed my federal tax return yet. Nor do I file them through taxact.com anyway — I use a completely different website (turbotax).
So what's going on here? Taxact seems to be a legit website. On the other hand, it's a text message, maybe there's some way that they've obfuscated the URL that I can't tell on my phone, and if I clicked through (which I won't do since I don't have a digital plan anyway), it would go to some kind of phishing site.
Or maybe it is just very crude spam. Or maybe someone else put my phone number in as theirs. Or maybe their system is bugging out.
Anybody have any guesses? --Mr.98 (talk) 12:58, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Ubuntu, showing thing bigger, how to disable
I am on a Ubuntu PC right now, and everything looks much bigger than normal. It seems like something for people with disabilities. How do you disable it? Hint: re-boot doesn't work... 212.169.191.85 (talk) 13:05, 8 February 2011 (UTC)