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August 28

Boot-up Problems

Recently, my cooling fan has gone to its max speed when I have been attempting to turn on my computer, and then it fails to boot. Does anyone happen to know what might be causing this? It seems to be a hardware issue and not a software one. I am really frightened because if this computer dies, I won't be able to get another one. --Demonesque 02:18, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What do you mean by "fails to boot"? Does it even get to the POST (that is, the nice happy screen when the computer first starts and does memory tests, etc.) Does it make any beeping sounds? -- Consumed Crustacean | Talk | 08:04, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I own a Dell laptop and when I updated/flashed my BIOS, the fans ran extremely fast at startup, then it booted with the new BIOS. Though this is just speculation, there could be something wrong with your BIOS, which is not good at all. --Russoc4 11:56, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't get anything on my monitor. It just remains black. I don't get any screens.

If it is my BIOS, what can I do about it? --Demonesque 20:30, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I seriously doubt it's your BIOS, though it's mildly possible. More likely, it's a motherboard or CPU issue. The power supply might almost be ruled out because it's getting as far as it is, though it's still possible. The best way to diagnose this would be switching the power supply with another computer's, and if that fails then going through each of the other components. If you don't have spare parts laying around, or don't know how to take a computer apart (not too difficult), then you may be out of luck :/.

Other possibilities: try dusting the thing (compressed air), especially around the fans. Try taking the RAM and cards out, and then putting them back in securely. Look at the capacitors on the motherboard (they stick out); if they're leaky or bulgy, it's no good. -- Consumed Crustacean | Talk | 21:55, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I did open it up when the problem first occurred, since it seemed, as I said, to be a hardware issue and not a software one. The thing is, though, that I have no clue about the hardware side of computers. I was just looking to see if there was an obvious cause like a melted processor or capacitors. It is a bit dusty in there but I ran out of compressed air a while back. However, there isn't much dust.

I have had someone else suggest that my power supply might be faulty when my hard drives fried about a year ago. I would have no idea how to remove and replace it, though, nor do I have another computer to switch parts with. As I said, if this computer goes, I'm out of luck and will have to buy a really, really cheap and crappy one. My current system has 1022 Ram, 3.60 GHz and about 230 Gigs of useable hard drive space, so it would be the end of the world for me to lose it. --Demonesque 01:44, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Internet Cafes

How can I get access to a precise business plan for operating an Internet cafe in a resource-poor community of Africa? Richard Bugembe

That is a business question, not a computer question. However, there is no such thing as a generic business plan. You have to go to the area, estimate every single cost you will have for the first three years, estimate every single profit you will have in the first three years, and if your estimated profits exceed your costs, you have a business plan. For most people, getting a loan on their plan fails because they just make up the numbers and have nothing to back their estimates. So, you have to actually do work by running surveys, asking neighboring businesses about their expenses, getting quotes on construction, design, services... You cannot just steal someone elses plan and hope it works for you. --Kainaw ^(talk) 12:30, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I can't see how an Internet cafe could be profitable in a resource-poor community in Africa (which means poor area, I assume). Only wealthy areas in Africa could support such a business. Now, if you want to set up a charity which provides Internet access to the poor in Africa, that might very well be possible. The greatest expense seems to be hiring personnel to run the place. Somebody experimented with another concept in a poor area of India, where they just left a computer on in a community center and the kids seemed to learn how to use it on their own, eventually, and then taught others. StuRat 03:54, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

C programing

"Write a program in which we find a temperature from celcius into Ferenhight at the run time in C programing language? so that we enter the temperature in celcius and after processing it give us in Ferenhight"--82.148.119.152 16:42, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No. However, I will point out for your benefit that the fractions involved in the conversion should not be written as (for instance) (3/7) in the code, because that will evaluate to 0 in C. Use a type conversion, or write your numeric literals as floating-point. I'd also recommend looking up Celsius (note spelling) for assistance with the math. --Tardis 17:31, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'll write the program if you pass on the grade to me. --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:37, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That seems fair. Even so, ethics require that the instructor be informed. Would it be acceptable to give a partial program in Scheme?

(define C2F (lambda (C) (let ((r 1.8) (e -40.0)) (+ e (* r (- C e))))))

(Correctness not guaranteed!) Or would that be giving away too much? ;-) --KSmrq^T 22:27, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

°F = °C × 1.8 + 32

There you go! Now just write it in C. Ohanian 22:25, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

And while you're at it, if you're using a command line interface, you'll need to access some functions in the C standard library to get the input and print the output. The functions that deal with input and output are in a header file called "stdio.h". Good luck! --Robert Merkel 22:59, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Trusted paths outside of Windows

Oddly enough, to my knowledge Windows is the only OS that provides a reasonable trusted path for user password input (the famous "Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to begin."). Why aren't such things implemented on common varieties of Unix, or on the Mac? (Or if they are, what are they?) Some things come close, like the common Ctrl-Alt-Backspace that kills many X servers, and the almost-always-present menubar in Mac OS X, but none of them appear to actually be unforgeable. I recently had the idea that a graphical login screen could display some sort of shared secret (e.g., the contents of a file only the user can write and only root can read) to a user (as some websites do as an anti-phishing measure), but there's no way I can see to prevent Mallet from attempting to login as Alice, grabbing her secret (even if it's dynamic), and then displaying that to her with the fake login screen. Is there some way to salvage the idea? --Tardis 17:49, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

See secure attention key. It is available in Linux, just not packaged with normal distributions. --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:36, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Computing/IT

Would you consider dropping the 'IT' part from the header? It would make it easier to archive/transclude, since the subpage would be the same as the title--71.247.243.173 18:57, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

btw, when I say 'you' I pretty much mean any CS desk regulars who might have a preference for one particular title--71.247.243.173 18:58, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

*Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/Computing/2006 August 7

vs

*Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/Computing/IT/2006 August 7

The output from the new template, would create an un-needed subpage, or even worse, will simply confuse people, and cause the next day headers to simply red link, if the tagging isn't done consistently--71.247.243.173 19:07, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Or, you can use Computing&IT. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:31, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The point is not to get rid of the subpage, rather to make the subpage: computing have the same name as the desk: computing/IT. Making it Computing&IT is only helpful if you want to move this page to Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing&IT--71.247.243.173 19:47, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If we go back to the old system, we have to go back to the old template, that needed 5 separate inputs to create each transclusion header. The new version only needs 2 unique inputs in order to work, but it requires that {{{Type}}}="computing"=archive name--71.247.243.173 19:53, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Basically, the transclusion process is unnecessarily involved. I'm trying to streamline it, to make people more able to volunteer to do the work, since we still don't have a bot. One of the changes, requires that CS desk transclusion use the word Computing by itself, as a title, since it shares a variable with the line that generates a link to archives from the day before. This desk is unique in that respect, since it is the only desk to have a title that is different from it's pagename--71.247.243.173 20:12, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Bad, invincible, double-redirect-fixing bots

Have bots been written to resolve double redirects? Do I no longer need to fix these? --Username132 (talk) 21:50, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You seem to have already found the place for this sort of question: the Help desk is your best bet. — QuantumEleven 05:50, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

They havn't answered it though... I recon the people that frequent this desk are more likely to be suitably informed regarding the bot operations on Wikipedia. I just don't want to waste time fixing things that will be fixed by a machine. --Username132 (talk) 11:17, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

After some searching, the answer is yes - bots do exist to perfom this operation. We need do it ourselves no more. Wikipedia_talk:Computer_help_desk/double_redirect_study - should I edit the double redirect help page accordingly? --Username132 (talk) 11:24, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

VGA and DVI: connecting a monitor to a PC

After reading through the respective articles (DVI and VGA connector) I have one unanswered question which I hope you wizards of the computing ref desk could help me with: If I understood correctly, the DVI connector carries both analog and digital signals (although compared with the 15-pin VGA connector the I²C signal seems to be missing). Could I connect a monitor with a VGA connector to a PC with a DVI output (using an adapter of some sort)? It seems like this ought to work since the same signals are present. Obviously the digital signals in the DVI connector would go to waste. Would it work as well as on a computer with a VGA output (I am thinking particularly of the 'missing' I²C analog signal in the DVI connector)? Thanks muchly in advance! — QuantumEleven 22:19, 28 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It does work. Many video cards, including all of the ones which I own, come with a simple adapter that does this. You can likely pick them up at a local electronics store for a small price. From what I've seen with my own eyes, and from what I've heard others say, there is no quality degredation in DVI->VGA compared to simply VGA. -- Consumed Crustacean | Talk | 04:52, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks muchly! It seems that the video card (with only DVI output) already includes one of these adapters, so all is well. Cheers! — QuantumEleven 11:44, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

August 29

Robot Eye

Is there a manufacture that actually sells a robotic vision software and hardware? I have searched the internet with no results. Thanks67.122.136.53 04:35, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Internet speed record breakthroughs?

Hello All!

I'm looking for a list of internet speed breakthroughs. I see all the time on DSLreports about scientists and reasearchers experimenting on new methods to improve the throughtput of the internet. Similar example (e.g. land speed record). Wikipedia has a list for devices, but not records.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_device_bandwidths

Thank You,

--65.6.11.50 06:05, 29 August 2006 (UTC) Admiral.ross[reply]

The maximum bandwidth is the maximum bandwidth. You cannot exceed it. Yes - you can overclock two computer network cards and exceed bandwidth - but that is not the internet. That is a weirdo with two overclocked network cards. When they claim to exceed the top speeds, they are actually compressing the data (like a zip file), sending the zip file, and then decompressing it. They did not exceed the bandwidth of the line. They did this: take 100MB of data, compress it to 50MB, send 50MB over the line, decompress it back to 100MB - then claim you doubled the throughput. No - you didn't double the throughput. You just sent a compressed file. --Kainaw ^(talk) 15:48, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

here an example:

New Internet speed record set (This was news posted a while ago, 2003-10-15 16:31:09 to be exact.) Two major scientific research centres said on Wednesday they had set a new world speed record for sending data across the Internet, equivalent to transferring a full-length DVD film in seven seconds. The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, CERN, said the feat, doubling the previous top speed, was achieved in a nearly 30-minute transmission over 7,000 kms of network between Geneva and a partner body in California.

Internet Speed Record Smashed 840 gigabytes sent 10K miles in 27 minutes (This was news posted a while ago, 2004-06-21 10:36:28 to be exact.) Sprint claims they've broken the internet speed record by sending 840 gigabytes worth of data 10,157 miles (From San Jose, California to Sweden) in 27 minutes. Just for reference, 840 gigabytes is roughly the data equivalent of 150 full length DVD's. The Sprint and Swedish National Research and Education Network (SUNET) team's record now sits at 69,073 Terabit meters per second (distance x transfer speed). According to PC" rel=nofollow>www.pcpro.co.uk/news/news_story.···9178">PC Pro, the data was sent via the SprintLink and GigaSunet IP backbones while other traffic was using the network.

65.6.11.50 16:54, 29 August 2006 (UTC) Admiral.ross[reply]

So if I had a truck full of DVDs (say... a million) and drove it across the planet, that would count as a data-transfer speed record too? :) CptJoker 12:12, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You'd have to drive down a T3 line. Regardless, the questioner apparently doesn't understand the concept of compressed data. These "records" have nothing to do with data transfer speeds. It is all about how much you can compress the data. --Kainaw ^(talk) 12:19, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

No, the questioner seems to be talking about the Internet Land Speed Record. It has nothing to do with compression at all. --cesarb 04:04, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

WHAT DO I OPEN WITH???

Hi, I've just downloaded a music file with the extenxion called sap, what program do I open it with? Thanks Jon

try VLC media player, it plays almost anything. Jon513 12:30, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

accessing a UK-only site

Hello, I tried to visit a website but it said that access to that site was prohibited to non-UK users (I'm not in the UK). Presumably I would need to have a UK IP address to visit the site, so I would need to use a proxy server. I've looked at some lists of public proxies, but can't seem to find one in the UK. Any advice as to how I might visit the site, short of finding a UK-based proxy? Many thanks. --Richardrj ^talk ^email 09:54, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What's the site? I'll describe it to you in tantalising detail! (only kidding) Assuming I won't go to prison for exporting official secrets, I could put the HTML on a talk page or something. Or do you need to visit the site in person to order something? Rentwa 12:56, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

'Thanks for the offer, but don't worry about it - it's far too embarrassing. No, not porn or anything like that, it was just something very cheesy in the entertainment field. And I found a UK proxy anyway :-) --Richardrj ^talk ^email 13:30, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Finding my ip address

How do you find out what your ip address is? thanks --86.143.183.34 10:08, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

assuming your using Windows. Click on Start, Click on Run. In the Dos Box type: Ipconfig and then hit the enterkey. Your ipaddress address will be displaced along with you Subnet and Gateway.

However, if you're behind a router (generally, if you're on some form of broadband), that won't show you your public (i.e. useful to the world) address. To find that, I use whatismyip.com — Lomn | Talk 15:35, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Although, they sold their domain name a while back, and the new owners packed the sight full of advertising. You might be better off with the method you already know, type ~~~~ and hit 'preview' (: --VectorPotential^{71.247.243.173} 15:38, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There's also hostip.info. --cesarb 04:00, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Does anyone else find it strangely amusing that his question was signed with his IP address the moment he saved the question? --Silvaran 20:42, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. :) Dysprosia 02:42, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

set of objective type questions relating to computer system, processing, language.

Hello sir,

This is HITESH JAIN and I'm looking for set of objective type questions relating to the computer system, processing , language frquently used abbrevations etc. with answers.

You can mail in this regard to my e-mail (email address redacted) as soon as possible.Its really urgent.

Thanks!

So you want a quiz with answers ? Why do I think you're a teacher too lazy to write your own test ? :-) StuRat 13:46, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Game boy Advanced Game.

If I could only buy two gameboy advanced games what should they be with regards to:

The most graphically advanced 2D game. The "killer title" or "Must have" game.

Thanks.

This is a pretty subjective question and I'm not quite sure what you are asking in any case. If you are asking which of those two options are better, I would go with the "must have"/"killer title" game. Why? Because those have generally proven themselves in the market as being good games on the whole. The most graphically advanced may not be — it might be pretty, but be a very lousy game. If you are asking what game should you buy, I was personally quite fond of Golden Sun when I had a GBA for a short while. I'm not a big RPG fan but I thought it was fun, had good graphics, simple gameplay with a lot of potential depth, and had lots of puzzle-solving which was quite enjoyable. --Fastfission 15:32, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Metroid Zero Mission, and... I dunno. But that's my favourite. - Rainwarrior 15:52, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

my kingdom for a transclusion bot

Can anyone here come up with a good way to create semi-automatic transclusions? I realize the current process is a bit involved, so it might not be possible. But ideally what I'd want, is a bit of java that I could stick in my monobook, and be able to open one of the reference desk, and click on a button, let's call it, the "easy button" and have it set up the transclusion for me, rather than doing it by hand. Consider this a challenge (:--VectorPotential^{71.247.243.173} 15:51, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wait, what's the difference between what you want to do and subst? (Or... do I not know what a transclusion is?) - Rainwarrior 15:53, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It's the opposite, each day, old questions are supposed to be added to a new page, then linked to the origional, before eventually being archived. The problem is that it's supposed to be done by bot, only we don't have one. The process relies heavily on a some what obtuse template, which is a real PITA to use manually, and was clearly designed with a bot in mind. And, if you want to see how big a mess the template is, there's a long discussion on the talk page for the reference desk--VectorPotential^{71.247.243.173} 15:57, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Just for reference purposes, this is an example transclusion, if I were to use subst, it would add the content of the transclusion to this page--VectorPotential^{71.247.243.173} 16:01, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

And for those wondering what he's talking about, the code for the above is:

:::Just for reference purposes, {{User:VectorPotential/example transclusion}}, if I were to use
 subst, it would add the content of the transclusion to this page--
 VectorPotential^{71.247.243.173} 16:01, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

—D a niel (‽) 17:26, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

language

"what is the main difference between C and C++ (write in points)? all the input output in C are also or the same in C++"--82.148.120.147 16:30, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It's undefined; you can't modify a variable and use its value at another place without an intervening sequence point. EdC 17:11, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

   "what about the program C99 etc, is it a  type or version or what?"

"what is the standard version of Language C and C++"

What are you quoting? - Rainwarrior 17:28, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Bridgehead Server

Could somebody please explain in easy to understand english what a Bridgehead Server is with regards to Windows 2003.

From here: "The bridgehead server is the server that manages the connections between the local routing group and one or more remote routing groups. For example, suppose that a routing group consisted of ten Exchange Servers with 100,000 users. Any mail from any of those users that was destined for a remote routing group would have to pass through the designated bridgehead server to reach the remote routing group. Likewise, inbound mail from other routing groups would also pass through the bridgehead server, and would then be distributed by the local bridgehead to the appropriate server." digfarenough (talk) 22:08, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

DVD Drive

How do you find out what kind of DVD drive you have on your computer?--Taida 20:12, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

On Windows, click Start, Control Panel, then System. Click Device Manager. The name of your DVD drive should be listed under "DVD/CD-ROM drives", although it may not be entirely accurate. Sum0 22:11, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to find out for sure... read the documentation for you PC... or remove your drive and examine it for labeling.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 14:37, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Persistent error with Subversion over tunneled webdav connection

I have this problem with Subversion that only happens when I tunnel over SSH using port forwarding. I have a machine behind the firewall running the usual WebDAV Subversion module in apache 2. I port forward localhost:8008 to port 80 on this server when I SSH in to the firewall. When I do an svn update, and about 40-50 files (or more) have been changed, part way through I get this:

svn: REPORT request failed on '/svn/dev/!svn/vcc/default'
svn: REPORT of '/svn/dev/!svn/vcc/default': Could not read response body: connection was closed by server. (http://localhost:8008)

Of course, I can simply do a second update and it continues where it left off (usually successfully). I NEVER get this when my laptop is on the same LAN, doing a direct connection to the repository (Still WebDAV). Ordinarily I'd report this to the Subversion lists, but it seems more like something to do with tunnelling than Subversion itself. Any ideas? --Silvaran 20:37, 29 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

PAL Format

OK... so I have an American laptop that's a Gateway and has a Multi-format double layer DVD+RW/CD-RW drive... so will this play PAL formats? I'm so confused and not the smartest computer person in the world. Thanks!

~Cathy~

So I found out exactly what my drive is: HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4082N... whatever that is.

~Cathy~

Yes it will. Go to Device manager (right click "My Computer" icon. Click properties. Then Click on the hard ware tab. then click on the device manager button. Expand the DVD/CD rom devices catergory. Then Right click on you DVD drive and click properties. In the new window that opens click on the DVD Regions tab. In the country list select your country and click ok. Close all the open windows and play as many PAL DVDs as you want.

Thanks!

~Cathy~

Note that PAL is a way of encoding video and DVD region code is an artificially imposed limit on where a given disk may be played. If you bought a European (region 2) disk and want to play it on your American laptop, you have to change the region code of your DVD drive, as was described above. Note that you can only change this code a limited number of times (usually 5), so be careful about changing it too often. — QuantumEleven 11:42, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Better yet, search the web for a region-free firmware for you PC. Then you can play any movie anywhere (although it voids your warranty).--Frenchman113 on wheels! 14:38, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Or, alternatively, install VLC media player - it's free, and it'll play DVDs from all regions without having to install region-free firmware. VLC is our standard answer on the reference desk to pretty much all DVD region problems. --Robert Merkel 22:20, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Region-free software makes no difference if your DVD drive bans discs that have a region-mismatch. RPC-1 patching is the better solution.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 16:27, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Appending a .rar or a .zip to a .jpg or a .gif

I've heard of people doing this and actually seen the results, but am unable to find out how to do it. I've looked in google and wikipedia but no luck. Any help woukd be appreciated 137.112.141.191 02:47, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Er, appending two files is trivial, but often useless — the result is rarely a valid example of either of the file types from which it was made. However, it might work in your case if an image reader ignored trailing garbage. Under Windows, use copy file1+file2 newfile (you can have more than two files with +s between them if you like). Under any POSIX environment, do cat file2 >> file1 (or, if you don't want to lose the unappended file, use cp first). Of course, later you'd want to separate the files; in POSIX again, you can use cut, but I don't know how to do that in Windows immediately. Hope this helps. --Tardis 15:19, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think the user is talking about cat'ing them together. There are utilities that can be used to actually append one file to another while keeping the host file working perfectly normally (though at a bloated size). It probably does something to the header or something tricky. I don't have any links, but some Googling would probably turn a few up. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 15:24, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You're making your explanation harder than needed. cat was meant to conCATenate in the first place, so just "cat file1 file2 >file3" and file3 will be the concatenation of file1 and file2. No need to backup any files, because the source ones aren't written to.-- Roc Vallès^Talk|Hist - 15:29, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Er, yeah — that's easier, certainly. I just thought "append" → >> in one jump. Appending stdout is more general, but obviously for regular files that's what you want. Thanks for the emphaziation. --Tardis 20:06, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe he wants to append .rar to the filename, ie. archive it. For that he would need a program like WinZip or WinRAR. Or maybe he wants to use steganography to hide a .rar file in (not append) a picture. Shinhan 05:44, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

August 30

Boot-up Problems (Continued)

A couple of days ago I mentioned I was having boot-up problems. I finally got a message which might further explain what the problem is.

"Alert! PCI Express Card is running in x1 mode."

Any information on what is wrong and how I might be able to fix it would be greatly appreciated. --Demonesque 07:48, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have SLI/Crossfire? --Proficient 03:57, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

hidden file

In windows XP, when you view some pictures in the thumbnail view, windows creates a hidden file. What is the extension of this hidden file? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.174.162.131 (talk • contribs)

Thank you

The file is thumbs.db. See also Computing#IDE_channel where this question was asked before.-gadfium 08:35, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

PC Beep error

My pc has a strange "Siren" sound and wont POST. Its not RAM and its not the GFX card. There is also nothing on the screen. (infact no signal from the gfx card) Its a P4 Mobo with a socket 478 CPU.

I recon the mobo is dead. Whats your opinion?

I don't remember the brand but I built several PCs with motherboards that eventually failed with a siren. It turned out to be the CPU overheating and replacing the fan fixed the problem in every case.

It could be the graphics card, the cpu, the power supply, or even a fan. I seriously doubt there's a siren in the computer. It is just the beep that normally makes a quick "beep beep", but now going "beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...." right? I've been able to do that with just a broken keyboard too. --Kainaw ^(talk) 12:22, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

PC normally makes one kind of beep to tell you all hardware is OK (and proceeds to post screen), and other kinds of beep to tell you of serious hardware problems (and blank screen).

My Asus mobo handbook came with descriptions of various noises and meanings, but most don't.

My PC recently did this, in the end I unplugged everything (disks, RAM, PCI, power) except cpu and plugged it all back in and luckily it works OK now. If this doesn't work I'd assume mobo is dead. Rentwa 14:23, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Numeric Keypad Inverter

In Windows, is there a way to tell the computer that the numeric keypad is upside down (like a telephone). In other words, when I hit 7 on the numeric keypad, I want it to think I hit 1. When I hit 1, I want it to think I hit 7. Then, the numbers will be in the same order as my telephone - even though the actual print on the keys will not change until I pull off the keys and move them around. --Kainaw ^(talk) 14:40, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It's ofcourse possible but I doubt there is anything short of reprogramming the driver which will do it. I googled it and did some research, and found nothing. Not very helpful, I guess Oskar 14:49, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've found two programs of interest. This seems like a nice simple program to do it, and this comes from Microsoft itself. I havn't tested either program myself, but they seem to be exactly what you want. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 15:16, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I passed the MS tool along. Now, if I can just hack my phone to be like my keyboard... --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:08, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That is a good idea! —Bromskloss 19:49, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

HOW

How i come to know that the programing language that i use, is the C or C++?which things are differ--86.62.212.112 16:38, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Main difference is classes, but there are a number of things. See C and C++ Oskar 16:53, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

processor

i want to know what is a dual core processor and what is the advantages of using it. i want to also know what is meaning of duo and solo.

A dual core processor is essentially a processor that contains two core processors. The advantage? Well, there are many, but basically the computer can be made faster because you can run things in parallel. For details, see Multi-core (computing). Oskar 17:46, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The terms "Duo" and "Solo" are Intel terms to describe the features of their processors (or CPUs). Duo, as the name suggests, means it is dual-core, and solo, is single. At the moment, Intel has just released their new Core 2 Duo line for notebooks, and several weeks ago released it for desktops. AMD's line of dual-core processors is known as the X2. There are numberous advantages to having a dual-core processor, but it largely depends on what you plan to use your computer for. This is due to the fact that most programs are not designed natively for more than one processor, and as a result will not use the other processor. So unless you use two CPU intensive programs at once, such as video encoding or editing high-resolution photos, you will not notice much individual application speed increases (unless of course, it is designed for one or more processors, also known as being multi-threaded). However, because Windows is capable of using more than one CPU at once effectively, you will notice it being much more responsive, even if you are doing simple things such as web-browsing and editing documents. Also, coupled with the dropping prices, I would recommend to get a dual core processor. Ronaldh 13:09, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Internet Security

I am looking at buying a new laptop and am wondering if Internet security is necessary, I can get Norton for about €40 but a friend tells me that its not worth getting as there is no treats to home users and that all the talk about Viruses, hackers, etc... is just scaremongering by software providers to make profits. He also said that if I really want it there are equally good free ones available on the net. is he right or should i definitely get the normal security? Ken 19:16, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It's definitely worth using security software - my PC was recently infected with some sort of trojan/spyware, and I hadn't done anything stupid like opening attachments on unsolicited email - my firewall picked it up and my anti-virus zapped it.

If you want to save money there are various free versions available online, also Norton came bundled on my PC driver disk. Many ISPs also offer protection, but whatever you do don't go unprotected! Rentwa 21:15, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Virus talk is not scaremongering—an unprotected Windows machine will get viruses very quickly (hackers are mostly an issue in connection with viruses—many of the viruses one can get will turn your computer into a "slave" machine for a hacker; if you don't get viruses, you probably won't have a hacker problem). You should definitely get a virus scanner and a firewall if you are using a Windows machine. However you can indeed get free versions of these. I think my Windows XP setup uses the native XP firewall (which seems to work fine), and AVG Anti-Virus, which is free and works great. --Fastfission 23:48, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Not just virii. I had a severe problem with spyware that made my PC virtually unusable until I ran four different spyware remover programs to get rid of all of it. User:Zoe|(talk) 01:57, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Avoid Norton at all costs. There are far better alternatives, including the free stuff. A router is terrific network security, AVG (or Avast!, or Anti-vir) is a good free scanner, and Microsoft AntiSpyware / Ad-aware / Spybot are all good at treating and preventing spyware. The best form of prevention is to be careful with what you run, and either use a browser other than IE or use IE on decently high security settings and simply don't agree to every ActiveX pop-up. Also, be absolutely certain that you have Windows patched up; this is incredibly important if you're connected without a router (which I do not advise). -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 07:30, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

And personally, I only have AVG running actively on the computer, with spyware apps unloaded but installed. I usually disable AVG too, unless I think I need it. I use a router, caution, and Firefox ;) -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 07:30, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Internet security is very important... There are plenty of people in the world who will be able to tell you how viruses wiped their hard drive clean, how spyware made their computer extremely, impossibly slow, and how phishing attacks allowed hackers to steal people's credit card details and other sensitive data, resulting in severe financial loss. Security software makers do say it's important and that's because it is. I agree with Consumed Crustacean in that AVG is a good free virus scanner (the free version is at http://free.grisoft.com). Use Microsoft AntiSpyware, Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE Personal, and Spybot - Search and Destroy - three spyware removers are better than one. Update your computer - a completely new standard Windows XP installation can be taken over in minutes. Use an internet browser other than Internet Explorer - Mozilla Firefox and Opera (browser) are two fine examples. And finally - use common sense. Don't open anything that doesn't look trustworthy. Good luck. Harryboyles 13:49, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

SVG file format

I've taken a look at the relevant article and want to know if I understand correctly, that the SVG file format allows an image to be opened and have its components shifted around again, kinda like layers saved in Paint Shop Pro's native file format..? --Username132 (talk) 19:35, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't really get why you are specifically referring to the SVG file format when, to me, your question seems to concern vector graphics in general. —Bromskloss 19:52, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I suggest you also read the vector graphics and raster graphics articles. --N·Blue^talk 19:53, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

People with little experience post questions here. If you know more than they do, instead of criticizing their ignorance, help them out. As for this question, there are two possibilities. The SVG format uses plain text with XML syntax to describe graphical objects. If the file says to draw a ellipse and a line segment, then while editing the description (perhaps with a WYSIWYG editor like Inkscape) it is indeed possible to slide, turn, and scale the objects either separately or together, and to change properties like stroke thickness and color. When viewing the file as part of a web page, no such manipulation is possible unless it has been programmed into the image. Note that an SVG image can contain a raster image, such as a PNG, that itself cannot be broken into parts. Also, SVG provides for "filter effects", which involve image processing on the rendered graphical objects. --KSmrq^T 01:06, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. Try Inkscape's tutorials. Help → Tutorials → Inkscape: Basic. It's wonderfully interactive, in a new kind of way. --Kjoonlee 07:01, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Programming Languages

What would be the best programming language for general use? --Yanwen 22:07, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Let me answer by with another question: what is the best car for general use? Lots of people come up with different answers based on their general use. Similarly, programmers come up with different answers for the projects they do.

If you're asking because you want to start to learn programming and you want to pick a language, they are all, in large part, the same. The ones that are really different are generally not taught outside university settings, and the features that make the ones you are likely to learn different aren't really all that obvious until you try and build very large programs. The standard answer to "what language should I learn first" on here seems to be Python or possibly Java, with Python favoured because of its cleanness and simplicity for beginners (but don't get us wrong, it's not a toy language, it's used by real programmers for real projects), or Java (because of its relatively clean design and wide industrial use). --Robert Merkel 22:18, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I guess I should rephrase this. What type of language(programming paradigm) should I use if I were to program small applications/programs for personal use? --Yanwen 22:34, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I forgot to say that, yes, I am going to try to learn a programming language.(I'm not taking a course, I'm teaching myself.) I don't mind if it's hard to learn or isn't simple, because I've had a decent amount of experience with programming before. --Yanwen 23:04, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Windows, Linux, or Mac? --Robert Merkel 23:38, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Windows --Yanwen 00:20, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

But I'll be adding Unix/Linux soon. --Yanwen 19:06, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What kind of applications? Will a command-line interface suffice or do you need GUI apps? Will there be any major CPU usage, or is great efficiency not critical? Do you want to be able to draw on a broad community of programmers working in the same language, with solutions they have found available in code repositories? Since you have already learned programming, what language(s) did you learn? Would you prefer a similar language or something new and rather different? --KSmrq^T 01:20, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I want to make GUI apps. There won't be major CPU usage. The languages I have learned so far are Logo and TI-BASIC, both which seemed kind of easy. I was thinking about trying object-oriented programming but I haven't decided yet. --Yanwen 18:39, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Do you want to write programs that work in the command prompt window, or do you want to create your own windows? Also, do you want your program to obtain information from any web sites? Do you want the program to obtain information from databases, if so, which one? --Gerry Ashton 01:12, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

FOr Windows, GUI applications, compatible with a background in Logo and TI-BASIC, I'd recommmend starting with Visual Basic 2005 Express and pick one of the starter kits. The VB 2005 Express download is here. VB isn't particularly object oriented, so I'd recommend Visual C++ or C# (same download source) if you're serious about OO programming. Note that Microsoft is not the only source of tools. You can probably just as easily go with Eclipse and learn Java. Borland's C++ Builder is another option. Any of these should be a good start. -- Fuzzyeric 04:04, 6 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Upgrading Windows

Hi,

Sorry that a similar question was asked earlier, but I have a slightly different question. I have an IBM Thinkpad (laptop) that is running Windows 98. I want to upgrade it to XP, but my CD drive doesn't burn CDs, the laptop doesn't recognize any of my flash drives, and my internet connection is not working on it. So essentially, I can't back up my files. If I install XP, will I lose all my files, or will they still be there in XP? Thanks, --potatoman7134

Always back up your files before upgrading an operating system, regardless of whether the files are supposed to be untouched or not. The chances of something not working are simply too great. --Robert Merkel 23:41, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I don't suggest upgrading. I have a similar IBM ThinkPad, and have decided to leave it "as is". I have a new computer I will use for new stuff, and the laptop will just be used as an archive. BTW, does your laptop even meet the minimum system requirements for Windows XP ? StuRat 23:55, 30 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have a VERY old laptop. I put a large drive in it. Put Linux on it (no GUI, just the shell). Then added NFS and Samba. My wife and I use it as a fileserver. That doesn't require a fast CPU or a lot of memory. The good thing is that it has a built-in 8-hour battery to protect at power outage and it is very small so I can grab it if a hurricane is coming. I've often thought of taking it completely apart and mounting it on the back of a picture frame. Then, I can hang the picture on the wall and nobody will know it is actually my fileserver. --Kainaw ^(talk) 00:54, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I probably won't upgrade then. The laptop does meet the requirements for XP, but I don't think I'll upgrade. Thanks for the help! --potatoman7134

Still, to answer your question, you could try booting off a live CD and then seeing that could get the flash drives to work that way. you could then copy the files from your harddrive to flash. Jon513 12:21, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Direct cable connection? Copy over the network? Laplink? Stack of floppies? Null modem? (Some of these options overlap.) -- Fuzzyeric 04:09, 6 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

August 31

Apps wont open, CPU running very slowly, other things

Today out of nowhere, things started falling apart. Firefox or AIM don't open (they just display the hourglass mouse for a few seconds, which then goes away and no windows open). AdAware stops responding after a certain amount of time, Spybot Search & Destroy scans extremely slowly. Also, my task manager has no menu bar at the top or tabs to go to the Performance, Processes, etc. Disk Cleanup just sits at "Scanning: compress old files" forever.

My harddrives were just wiped 2 weeks ago and I really don't have a lot on the computer. I'm using XP with SP2 and the firewall up. I use SoulSeek occasionally but I don't have it up when I'm not downloading something. I just got DSL last night. Seems like my CPU usage is way up. Can I run AdAware or Spybot Search & Destroy in safe mode?

Any recommendations or suggestions or anything would be much appreciated. Thanks for your time. NIRVANA2764 01:22, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It sounds like the DSL you just got last night is the problem. I suggest you do the following:

1) Reboot the computer.

2) Use the Task Manager (CONTROL-ALT-DELETE) to kill all processes other than Explorer (that's Windows). (Under Windows 98, that's all you need to run Windows, but on another O/S you may need other processes running.)

3) If your computer will not respond, uninstall DSL, and see if that doesn't solve the problem.

4) If your computer still won't respond, try "Safe Mode", then repeat from step 2.

StuRat 01:32, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Everything ran fine for a few hours this morning though. I'll give that a shot. NIRVANA2764 01:39, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You could try running windows in safe mode when you boot up. By the way, wiping your hard drive should be a last resort. Have you tried defragmenting your harddrives? - Mgm|^(talk) 11:12, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've identified the problem (sort of). Whenever I try to open an application such as AOL Instant Messenger or Firefox, my CPU usage instantly hits 100% and stays there until I shut down. I'm defragging right now. I press F8 to try to get into safe mode but instead I get a boot menu so I'm not completely sure how to get into safe mode at this point. NIRVANA2764 13:20, 31 August 2006 (UTC) Just defragged. By the way, Spybot S&D keeps saying it's blocking downloads of "/MediaPlex" and "/Advertising" which are both known threats. This leads me to believe I have some sort of spyware/malware/trojan/virus, etc. NIRVANA2764 13:53, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Doesn't the boot menu have a "boot in safe mode" option ? I'm skeptical that a defrag will complete with the computer in that state. StuRat 13:38, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Okay. Found something. Went to Start > Run > "msconfig". Clicked the Startup tab. Tell me if any of these look suspicious:

File:Nirvana2764startupwindow.JPG

NIRVANA2764 14:08, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'd untick wormexe, rtlfindval and utsgmon. A google search makes it seem like thwey definitely are trojan, and the name of wormexe is enough to disable it anyway?

Well, it was getting pretty out of hand so I downloaded every anti-spyware/anti-virus program I could possibly find, ran everything in safe mode, to no avail. Finally I just had my friend (who is leet) come over and we wiped my drives. She's workin' fine now! I appreciate the help, everyone! NIRVANA2764 19:23, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Which Graphic Card????

Hi, I need some suggestions for choosing my graphic card, my motherboard is an AMD GA-K8VM800M. My second question is should I choose AGP NVIDIA chipst or AGP ATI RADEON chipset, are these two any differnt? THANKS Jon.

It really depends on what you plan to do with your computer. If you don't want to play games or do video editing, etc., then many motherboards, including your current one already have a graphics card built-in which should be fine for word processing, web-surfing, etc. However, it's next to useless for playing 3D games.

There's not a lot of difference between ATI cards and NVIDIA cards, it's really just a brand and these days it doesn't matter much which one you go for. However, there's a lot of difference between the cheapest cards and the most expensive ones. If you play a lot of games, but you aren't too serious about having the absolute best graphics, then the NVIDIA Geforce 6600 GT is great value for money. Make sure you get the AGP version rather than the PCI-Express version. Sum0 12:10, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm going to assume you want a graphics card to play games with (if you don't, see Som0's answer above). Som0 is also right, there is no intrinsic difference between nVidia and ATI, they both make a wide range of graphics cards with different capabilities and prices (a bit like Intel and AMD for CPUs).

Ask yourself the following questions: how much money do you want to spend? Graphics cards go anywhere from $50 to $500 or more. If you want a graphics card to play games, look at some of the requirements of your favourite games, how much graphics memory do they need? Don't forget to plan ahead a little, are there any games coming out in the near future that you want to be able to play? If so, take that into account.

Browse around the internet and in stores in your area to get an idea of what kind of cards are available in your budget range. Take the time to familiarise yourself with the terminology used - graphics cards are complex beasts, and you want to have at least a basic grasp of what factors are important in a card (it's not just the amount of memory!). Then go online and read up on reviews of your favourite cards - I can recommend Tom's Hardware Guide for a good first stop, after that, start googling a bit. You're trying to find a graphics card that meets your needs and that you can afford. Good hunting! — QuantumEleven 12:37, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

slow printing from Acrobat reader

when i print any document from MS-world or any other software it is good to print .But it is not printing from Acrobat reader why it so.It takes a long time to print from Acrobat while my PC and printer(HP 1320n) are new and working fine.

Check the files sizes. Sometimes pdf files are enormous! Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 12:25, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Simply put, the printer has a computer on it. It needs to process the data in the PDF file and print it. Sometimes simple PDFs can be processed quickly, otherwise they may take longer if the PDF is more complex. Dysprosia 12:49, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

On Apple computers it takes almost forever, if at all, to print a document from Adobe reader. You need to open in in Preview, and print it from there. If you don't know how to do that just go to Applications, open preview, File>Open, find the document and click open.Mac Davis (talk)

Most versions of Acrobat Reader have an option to render the entire printed page as an image. This can be used to correct font problems in some document/printer combinations, but it results in an enormous print job that may print very slowly. If you are using Acrobat Reader 7.0, try choosing File>Print>Advanced to see whether "Print as Image" is selected. dpotter 19:51, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I frequently try to print .pdf files from state of California sites, and they all invariably come out as unreadable masses of nonsense characters. I keep adobe reader current, and have no problems with any other sites (except for one or two), but this is consistant with the California government sites. Presumably if this were a problem with everybody, the state would fix it, but it seems to be only me. Any ideas? User:Zoe|(talk) 02:29, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This has happened to me as well, ALL documents i tried, all of which would print OK from other's PCs, would take ungodly amounts of time for mine. It wasnt due to the printer at all, since the job never left my PC (to go to the network printer) until adobe was finished doing whatever it does. After a while i just got an alternate pdf reader (ghostview) and the same docs printed fine. I recently switched back to adobe reader with the newest version and printing is normal. Short answer, try the latest version. Long answer, adobe reader is a bloated piece of crap, why not use a Free tool that does a better job. --Jmeden2000 18:41, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Can not connect to some SSL sites

Hi,

My friend has recently installed ADSL at their house (we are in Australia by the way). Before then, she had dialup. She has also set-up a network, with a router, modem and several computers. The problem is, although she can go on sites like Google, when she tries logging in on sites like Hotmail or Ebay, it fails, with a "page cannot be displayed message in Internet Explorer", this happens will nearly all secure sites. It is interesting to note however, that she can access our school's Outlook Web Access service which is SSL. I am very good with computers and networks, and have tried many things, with no avail, such as clearing the HOSTS file, and DNS, clearing SSL State, temporary internet files and cookies, etc. I have not had the chance to go out to her house and have a look at it, which will make it much more easier, as I have only given her instructions over the phone which has been very difficult! Her router is a D-Link 624 and modem is from Open-networks, and ISP is iPrimus. I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions or ideas to how to resolve this problem. I think it may have to do with something in the modem or router regarding ports (443 in particular).

Thanks, Ronald Ronaldh 12:58, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

She could try disabling her firewall (either a software firewall or one on the router). Also, check the router's port forwarding - it should be forwarding port 443 (which it really ought to do by default, that's lousy setup by either the ISP or your friend). You can often access the router interface through a web browser, check the instructions that came with it. — QuantumEleven 16:07, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Merging colours and detail

Suppose we have two images of the same subject — one of high resolution and one with good colours. What would be a good way to merge the information of the two into a single image with the best of two worlds? —Bromskloss 14:15, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You could digitally alter the colour in Photoshop or a similar program. By the looks of it that's what happened with the picture already. Harryboyles 14:25, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

OK, but is there a well defined algorithm to do this – to essentially take the detail from one and the colour from the other? —Bromskloss 08:57, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Sure. Convert to HSV, then take value from the detailed image and saturation+value from the colour image. EdC 13:24, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Identifying ISP while traveling

When traveling, it is often possible to receive email, but not possible to send email without knowing the ISP mail server at that location. Is there a way to identify an ISP mail server through the internet connection?

Ed Leventhal

You have to contact the ISP. There is no standard. For a while, mail.someisp.com, smtp.someisp.com, and pop3.someisp.com were all being used. But, spammers use that knowledge to look for open mail servers. So, they are usually given weird names now. --Kainaw ^(talk) 15:18, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Also, note that some ISP have SMTP (mail sending) servers that require you to log in (to fight spam). You won't be able to use those. You could always use a webmail account to send e-mail while travelling (using, if necessary, a Reply-To header so that replies go back to the address you want them to). — QuantumEleven 16:04, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If your home ISP makes you log in to their SMTP server, you might be able to use that one even when away from home. That works fine for me. —Bromskloss 11:35, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

iTunes

So I have about 10 gigs of songs stored on my computer, but every so often enormous chunks of data disappear from my library. For example: I used to have 100 Beatles songs, but in the blink of an eye it went down to 40, and I haven't the slightest idea why. This has happened twice to me, and I'm not sure if it occured randomly or when I transferred all of the files onto an external hard drive. On the first occasion, I was able to relocate the songs using the search feature, but now I am having no luck. Anyone know what is going on? AdamBiswanger1 15:37, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

A virus or worm? Are you sure you haven't deleted the songs? The default for iTunes on Windows is to not copy the song to the iTunes library, just index the location of the file. If that is the case, that you deleted the original copy of the song go into Preferencess (options I think on Windows) and check the copy songs to library one. — [Mac Davis] (talk) (Desk|Help me improve)

As User_talk:Mac_Davis mentioned, the song titles in iTunes are only a shortcut to the address location of the file on your computer, if you move or rename your music, or the folder that its in, when you click to play the song in iTunes it will look for the song in location it was when you first played it. If you move your songs you have to clear them from iTunes and then reopen them from their new name or location.

Downloading Wikipedia

I'm having some trouble trying to download the wikipedia database. I'm trying to download the text version of the latest articles. I don't know what program i need in order to download the material, or what program i need to setup a usable version of wikipedia offline after i get the material downloaded. I tried to download the text version of the articles at this link: [1] but it only downloaded a 2kb file which my computer didn't recognize and wasn't able to look up. Is this the right file for text only?, and if so, how do i download it.

[2]

Can anyone expand on how to download Wikipedia here: [3]

-thanks

It's considerably more complicated than that. The file you downloaded was an XML file (compressed with the bzip2 algorithm) which is a list of all the current pages. The files for download at http://download.wikimedia.org/enwiki/latest/ are the MetaWiki dumps, they are only readable if you install the MediaWiki software on your computer. This is not easy or trivial - you are essentially setting up your own webserver to run a Wiki on. None of this is really a good way to 'read Wikipedia offline' (which I presume is what you're trying to do). Unfortunately, there is currently no good way of doing this - your best bet right now is the Wikipedia CD selection. — QuantumEleven 07:11, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I had read a Make DIY magazine article from august 2005 that gave step-by-step instructions on how to make a portable encyclopedia using wikipedia and something like a palm pilot. The article is in depth on how to modify the electronic device,(how to add more memory, what software you need to tranfer files from your computer, etc), but it just glosses over how to download wikipedia, basically saying "then i downloaded wikipedia". The article had mentioned MySQL, and Apache but didn't give any details about them. From the wikipedia database download page it mentioned that SQL would no longer be supported, I went to Apache where they have tons of programs and code available to download but i have no idea what any of it does, or what specific program i need. Would MediaWiki work for something like that?

Hi, you might like to try downloading Webaroo (www.webaroo.com)...its currently in beta at the moment, but I use it and it works great. It enables you to download your own chosen websites, as well as their "web packs" to your computer for offline viewing. They have a Wikipedia webpack, which contains all of Wikipedia's articles, which is about 4.5GB. Also, they update the webpacks every so often, so newer articles will be added if you run a cntent update from Webaroo. You can browse the downloaded webpages using Internet Explorer. Ronaldh 09:46, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Tracking Internet activity on OSX 10.4.7

I want to track Internet traffic on my computer. I'm running mac OSX 10.4.7, typically running Firefox 1.5.06. I am using Live HTTP Headers to help monitor header traffic from my browser, but I'm especially interested in seeing the network traffic that tools like Google Toolbar send/receive when I browse. For example, when I surf to a site, and Google Toolbar displays the estimated PageRank. How can I see the messages sent/received to Google in order to deliver that data? Thanks Not a dog 20:34, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wireshark. EdC 13:21, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

RAM

I was thinking of updating my ram, but i got a few questions first, first on windows Xp is there anyway to see whethere i've got 2 ram chips installed or one i can check what the total is (but without opening my computer up) also as i cant seem to find what my clock rate for ram is does it matter if i have 2 chips with different clcok rates? and my computer was built by a friend so i have no documentation and he's moved to austraila--Colsmeghead 20:54, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I know, you have to open up the cover to be sure how many memory boards you have. There are likely one or two memory boards, each with it's memory being a power of 2 Mb, however, so if your total isn't a power of two, you likely have two memory boards, according to this chart:

  24Mb =   16Mb +   8Mb
  40Mb =   32Mb +   8Mb
  48Mb =   32Mb +  16Mb
  72Mb =   64Mb +   8Mb
  80Mb =   64Mb +  16Mb
  96Mb =   64Mb +  32Mb
 136Mb =  128Mb +   8Mb
 144Mb =  128Mb +  16Mb
 160Mb =  128Mb +  32Mb
 192Mb =  128Mb +  64Mb
 264Mb =  256Mb +   8Mb
 272Mb =  256Mb +  16Mb
 288Mb =  256Mb +  32Mb
 320Mb =  256Mb +  64Mb
 384Mb =  256Mb + 128Mb
 520Mb =  512Mb +   8Mb
 528Mb =  512Mb +  16Mb
 544Mb =  512Mb +  32Mb
 576Mb =  512Mb +  64Mb
 640Mb =  512Mb + 128Mb
 768Mb =  512Mb + 256Mb
1032Mb = 1024Mb +   8Mb
1040Mb = 1024Mb +  16Mb
1056Mb = 1024Mb +  32Mb
1088Mb = 1024Mb +  64Mb
1152Mb = 1024Mb + 128Mb
1280Mb = 1024Mb + 256Mb
1536Mb = 1024Mb + 512Mb

However, if your total memory is a power of 2Mb, that could mean one or two boards:

  32Mb =   16Mb +   16Mb
  64Mb =   32Mb +   32Mb
 128Mb =   64Mb +   64Mb
 256Mb =  128Mb +  128Mb
 512Mb =  256Mb +  256Mb
1024Mb =  512Mb +  512Mb
2048Mb = 1024Mb + 1024Mb

StuRat 23:24, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It gets more complicated than that. If you've got a cheap graphics card, it's sharing the computer's main memory, and the memory won't be reported by Windows (so, for example, if the card is borrowing 16MB and you've got 512, Windows will report your computer as having 496MB). As for speeds, as long as the new memory is of the same type as the old memory (SDRAM, RDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, etc.) and is at least as fast as the old memory, you'll be fine. --Carnildo 05:53, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

But it's a waste to buy memory faster than your old memory - your RAM will still run at the speed of the slower memory. Unless you plan to replace your old memory in the near future. For certainty, I always suggest you open the computer up, so you know for sure how much memory you have and what kind it is. — QuantumEleven 07:04, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Only if you can find the slower memory for less than the faster stuff. I agree that if your computer takes PC2100, it's a waste to spend extra for PC4800. But PC2700 is more common than PC2100, so you're likely to find it cheaper. Similarly, if your computer takes SDRAM, you're going to wind up buying PC133, because they simply don't make PC100 any more. --Carnildo 20:19, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

*NIX for older Mac?

I've got a beige G3 minitower. It's currently running MacOS 9, and I want to install a free *nix operating system to turn it into a fileserver. What would be the easiest OS to install on it, using either BootX or the firmware to boot from? I've tried Gentoo Linux (booted, but couldn't find the hard drives), NetBSD (wouldn't boot), and Ubuntu (wouldn't boot) without success. --Serie 22:19, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Mac OS X is based on Unix under the hood, and early versions run on beige G3 Macs. FreeBSD has close ties to OS X, but only supports USB, not ADB. I'm not surprised NetBSD won't boot easily, but as documented here it should boot. --KSmrq^T 02:18, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried Yellow Dog Linux? Seems a specialised ppc distro might be what you want. EdC 13:12, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Is there anyway to use mediawiki variables to do something like {{CURRENTDATE}}+1 or -1, to generate the date before or after a given date?--71.247.243.173 23:05, 31 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Today is 30 April 2025, and tomorrow is 1 May 2025. Yesterday was 29 April 2025. See m:ParserFunctions.-gadfium 01:06, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, you have literally helped reduce Template:Reference desk navigation from, this:

{{subst:Reference desk navigation
|previous = Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/Science/2006_October_1
|date1 = October_1
|next = Wikipedia:Reference desk archive/Science/2006_October_3
|date2 = October_3
|type = Science
}}

to this:

{{subst:Reference desk navigation|2|October|Science}}

--VectorPotential^{71.247.243.173} 02:19, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

September 1

Free source C++

Does anybody know of any free source builder/compiler software for download? All I would need is something to take a .cpp file (like these) and build/compile it into a .exe. Appreciate it, —Akrabbim^talk 02:21, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There are several free C++ compilers. Our article includes a link to [4] which looks like it may be of help to you.-gadfium 03:59, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The most used free C++ compiler is gcc. It's ment for GNU/Linux, so if you are using Windows, use it's Windows port MinGW.

Thanks, appreciate it. —Akrabbim^talk 14:54, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Prolonged use of the 30-day trial

Is there anyway to use the Adobe Photoshop CS2 30-day trial, donwlaoded from www.adobe.com, for longer than 30 days? Un-install then re-install? (sorry, I posted this in the Miscellaneous section, because I didn't see the Computing section). Jamesino 04:18, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The easiest way is to set your system clock back a few weeks. Un-installing and reinstalling won't do it. (Of course, if you like the program so much, you could, you know, buy it...) — QuantumEleven 07:01, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That works still?? After you make sure Photoshop can not access the internet, by downloading Zonealarm, and prohibiting Photoshop, you could download a keygen, choose to register by phone, then... um... not use the keygen. — [Mac Davis] (talk) (Desk|Help me improve)

I've never heard of setting the clock back, but the information as to whether your trial version is used up could be hidden somewhere in the registry or even in Application Data. I don't recommend going looking for it, though, unless you can find out exactly where it is. I suggest a free altervative to Photoshop, know by many here as the GIMP. It's just as useful, but it's completely free and open source. --Russoc4 19:07, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Adobe have recently started offering a service where one can "buy" said software. Sum0 20:48, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

desktop themes for Windows 2000 Professional

I got a computer, it was used Windows 2000, problem is, the desktop theme is soooo drab..the corners are square if you know what I mean in comparison to Windows XP, is there a way I can download a theme, and can someone tell me how to install it. It doesn't have to be fancy just it has to look like the default Windows XP theme minus the background. Thanks in advance 66.177.207.173 07:30, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Windowblinds is about it. A shareware version is available, and it's pretty functional besides the annoying buy-me box when you start it (ie. upon starting/logging into Windows). Skins can be found on Wincustomize. Note that you need the old version (4.6) on Windows 2k, which is linked to as "Windowblinds Classic" on the top of the downloads page. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 08:51, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Harddrive lifespan?

I often leave my computer on all day, but I'm wondering if my harddrives will live longer if I turn on the option of having them shut down after a certain amount of time. I'm paranoid that if they spin for about 14 hours straight, they're just going to die out real soon. I don't have very good cooling/ventillation in my case either, so they do tend to get pretty hot in a short amount of time. Does turning them off make them last longer? NIRVANA2764 12:56, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Opinions vary: [5]. Many seem to be saying if you are away from the computer a longish time (12-24 hours) turn it off. Moving parts wear out when they are in use but also if you cycle them on/off excessively, especially if they also heat and cool in the process. Weregerbil 13:28, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I mostly hear the same thing: If a drive is left on all the time, it will run OK being left on all the time, but will fail quickly if you start turning it on/off a lot. If a drive is shut down every day, it will run OK being shut down OK, but will fail quickly if you leave it on for a long time. The rule of thumb boils down to "If the drive is working OK, expect it to continue working OK under the same conditions." Personally, I wonder why some people never ever turn off their computer. One person tried to argue that he didn't have the time to waste waiting for his computer to turn on. The funny thing was that he wasted a good 30 minutes from the time he sat down at his desk to the time he started working. So, his argument made very little sense. --Kainaw ^(talk) 19:00, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

People who are overattached like to anthropomorphize their computer by leaving it on all the time, it probably makes them feel better when they call it names... but don't get me started --Jmeden2000 20:57, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I always leave my computer on because Im always downloading something (no, Im not gonna say what :P) if Im not working on it and with only 128k downloading anything takes a lot of time. So, Im not just idling my computer whole day, that would be stupid. Shinhan 10:34, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

AOE 2

Hello, Wikipedia. I have the popular computer game Age of Empires 2 (not yet installed). Every time I try to put the disk in the computer, nothing happens. No window pops up, asking me if I want to install it. Nothing happens. I would really appreciate some help. Partisan 5 16:07, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think you can do start-> run...I'm not sure exacly what you have to type in though, i think it would be somewhere in the instruction book.Paragon12321 17:05, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Or open 'My Computer', and click on the CD icon (if this just shows you files that are on the disk, right-click the icon and select 'Autoplay'). —Daniel (‽) 17:11, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That was a fun game man. Never could get multiplayer to work. Also, never look up the cheat codes because you won't be able to stop yourself from using them. — [Mac Davis] (talk) (Desk|Help me improve)

You probably have AutoPlay (the feature in Windows which automatically starts playing the CD when you put it in the drive) disabled. It's not a major handicap (as Dbmag9 said, just open My Computer and run it from there) if it's turned off. Howeer, if you really want AutoPlay back, follow these instructions: http://www.real-knowledge.com/autoplay.htm. Hope this helps, and enjoy AoE 2! — QuantumEleven 07:11, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Free Slideshow Creator

Does anyone have a suggestion for a free slideshow creator, preferably one similar to MS powerpoint?Paragon12321 17:05, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pencil and paper! — [Mac Davis] (talk) (Desk|Help me improve)

I guess think reflex answer for many of us would be OpenOffice.org Impress. Well, that's actually my only answer. But, as Mac Davis suggested, pencil and paper isn't bad. Or mabye printer and transparencies. —Bromskloss 18:49, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, I forgot my favourite – chalk and blackboard. Not always satisfying your needs of course. —Bromskloss 08:13, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Firewall issues

I'm running a WinXP box and I need a good Free and Open Source firewall (no, I will NOT switch to linux). Somehow, knowing that people have access to the source for my firewall and have reviewed it makes me feel safer. It needs to support IP and port filtering, network-based intrusion detection, host-based intrusion detection, and application-based intrusion detection.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 21:17, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Edit - I meant... Intrusion-Prevention, sorry.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 21:27, 1 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

virtual directories

hello im having a small problem. i have webhosting/domain name with dreamhost.com. lets call it example.com. i also have an IIS webserver set up at my house, which hosts my 300gig media hard drive and is password protected at http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xx/m/ . the directory is password protected. i have created a new directory called www.exampled.com/media/ . i would like it so that when i click on www.example.com/media/ appears that im still ont hat site but imr eally browsing my harddrive. so i could do something like www.example.com/media/mp3/jsdfjsdf.mp3 BUT id really be working off my own computer. i have been successful in doing a straight redirect using .htaccess, but i would like it to appear im still at example.com/media and not my ip adress. i know my ip address will still be easy to see but just want it a little cleaner. thanks and i hope you understand what i mean:> Modesty84 02:07, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have wanted to do the same several times. It sounds like what you would need is a proxy. There is a proxy module for Apache. Of course, since you're not running example.com yourself, you can just hope that dreamhost has that module activated. Btw, a user visiting example.com would not see the address xxx.xxx.xxx.xx. —Bromskloss 08:22, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

could someone else try to answer my question i dont think the person who replied quite understood what i meant. i can clarify more if anyone would liek to help me Modesty84 01:50, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

September 2

Missing functionality in Microsoft Works 8.0 Database application?

I have recently upgraded from MS Works 4.5a to version 8.0. I have extensive files that I had set up in the Works database application in the older version with which I printed envelopes and mailing labels. In the older version, I only had to click on the Tools menu item and the dropdown menu included 12 items, two of which were "Envelopes" and "Labels". From there, it was quite simple to select a database file, filter the file if desired, and print the envelopes or labels. With MS Works 8.0 Database, the Tools menu item only includes eight items in the menu -- "Envelopes" and "Labels" are no longer choices. I have been unable to find a way to print envelopes or labels with the Works 8.0 database application. Am I missing something or has this functionality been removed from the 8.0 version? Thanks, --Gary

I'm not familiar with Microsoft Works, but more recent versions of Microsoft Office hide less common menu functions. If this is the case with Works, there should be a little arrow at the bottom of the menu which will display the remaining items. It's possible to turn off this behaviour, ask again if you want advice on how to do so.-gadfium 02:59, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

YouTube

How does YouTube manage to maintain their services without advertising or premium charges? Isn't bandwidth and storage space expensive, especially for videos? --Russoc4 05:25, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Eventually, ad serving. Interesting article on this topic here. $1 Million USD per month for bandwidth, and that was reported back in April 2006. 1001001 07:34, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Interesting. Thanks. --Russoc4 15:35, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I can't possibly imagine that YouTube is bringing in 1millionUSD in revenue every month. They easily have the ability to get that much, why don't they offer some kind of paid content, additional paid services, video advertisments or even ads before the most popular videos? Benbread 18:08, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

All possible extensions of websites

Hi,

I would like to know all the possible website extensions available over the internet. By this I mean extensions like .com, .org, .edu

Do more extensions prevail over the internet. If yes which ones - Can you list all of them.

Thank You.

Pashmeen Mistry — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.118.29.201 (talk • contribs)

List of Internet top-level domains. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 08:25, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Can Nero allow you choose the sampling frequency when you rip?

Please respond on my talk page: user:100110100. Thanks!:-D68.148.165.213 10:27, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Audio or video ? StuRat 10:48, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Troubling Audio playback with high CPU Usages

Hi guys....I'm using Windows XP SP2.Mine is Celeron 2 GHz(128Kb L2),128 MB Geforce MX 4000,384 MB RAM.I also have Windows 2000 installed in primary.Though this sounds like an old fashioned,slow computer,I could still play NFS Underground ,Vice City with Max graphic Settings at decent playable frame rate.Now the problem is Audio.It slows and plays with interruption like it's tempo reduced whenever the CPU usage goes high above 80 or 90%.For example,when the game <SAN ANDREAS> loads,the sound played at the loading screens plays with stress and intercepted..Once loaded,the game plays in interruption with game Audio and hence frequently stops.When the CPU is below 90 %,this problem never persists...This also suits for desktop applications.When I play my MP3s,it plays fine but when I put a CDROM and copy the content,the music plays slow with it's tempo reduced or sometimes it gets intercepted until the content is copied.This problem persists again whenever the CPU usage touches 100%.I tried cleaning reg,Defrag HDD,checked the discs for err,closing taskbar applications,background prog but no changes.This is my 4th time that I'm encountering this problem.so far,I've been formatting the OS Drive alone and re-installing all software.That has been the only way I could find so far.But with time,and more software I install,this problem crops up.At first I encountered this problem when I was trying to play songs while burning discs using nero..This problem never has cropped up in WINDOWS 2000 or WINDOWS 98 after all....There must a solution that you guys could come up with....Help me out here....I'll thank you in advance!!

I think you're just hitting the limits of that computer, when you try to run XP on it with CPU intensive apps like SAN ADREAS. I'd upgrade the hardware, go back to an earlier O/S, or learn to live with it. StuRat 10:53, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think you need to upgrade your RAM so your computer has more room to work with. At least 512MB and your pc will thank you.

Mac os

What games are available on mac os now and whats coming to it soon? and if i install bootcamp will i be able to install normal games on it?

thanks--81.157.200.22 11:54, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This page seems to have a list. I'm not sure what you mean by "normal" games with Bootcamp, but you should be able to run any game that Windows can run so long as you meet the minimum requirements (as Bootcamp is made for installing said OS to a Mac). -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 14:48, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Does wikipedia teach people how to be advertisers?

It just occurs to me, with all the monobooks, and popups, anyone who comes away from all this reasonably familiar with this sort of java, could very easily adapt it to popup based adverts for other websites. Discuss--71.247.243.173 13:23, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Javascript, not Java. And no, it's not necessarily pertinent to advertising, unless you think that's all Javascript is useful for. By that same logic you could say that English classes in non-English countries are training terrorists of the U.S. hating variety; I mean, it's easier to get into Canada or the States if you know English, right? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 14:43, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In other words... Javascript is a tool like any other tool. How you use it is up to you. --Kainaw ^(talk) 14:46, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The popups are all over the place on the Internet. http://sciam.com http://torrentreactor.to http://newscientist.com — [Mac Davis] (talk) (Desk|Help me improve)

Multiple posting

I am a Mediator in the mediation cabal. A case I am handling has MANY different users involved. Is there anyway I can post a 'Notice of Mediation' for all those people all at the same time; instead of posting on each and every person's talk page? Thanks! Wiki eZach| talk 16:49, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Use a bot. —Daniel (‽) 18:19, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

User:Jdorje/Tracks

I would like help uploading the trackmap application as shown at User:Jdorje/Tracks. Where do you input the commands "Download the program by running the following command:

svn co svn://svn.gna.org/svn/tropicalcyclone/trunk/tracks
svn co svn://svn.gna.org/svn/tropicalcyclone/trunk/tracks-data

Next, go to the tracks directory and compile it by running

./autogen.sh && make

" Can anyone explain? Hello32020 18:42, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What operating system do you have? The instructions are Linux-centric, and it might work on a BSD as well. You need the packages that are listed as well. If you're using Windows, it might work with Cygwin. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 18:49, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have windows. I'll upload that. Hello32020 18:53, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It doesn't completly change the user interface, does it? Can you turn it off? Hello32020 18:54, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

September 3

C++ functions

Hello! I have three questions:

First of all, I'd like to know if I'm allowed to ask someone to write a C++ function for me, provided it's reasonably short, of course!
If the answer to the first question is yes, then could somebody write me a function that counts how many lines a file has? (I imagine you would have to count the newline characters, '\n' )
If the answer to the first question is no, then could anyone tell me where I might find a function that counts the lines of text in a given file? (like in stdlib.h, for example)

--Thor Waldsen 01:27, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

hi i dont know too much but basically the gist is, you call a filereader function and open the file or whatever (i dont know if youre a student or what but your book should explain this, or just check a website for opening text files in c++), and then im sure thers some sort of function that gets the next line, and some function that sees if it has a next function... so something in a psuedo codejava would be:

int n = 0;

blah = open file(file.txt);

while(blah.hasNext())

{

n++;

blah.Next();

}

return n;

good luck Modesty84 01:44, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

here is a text file reading program. you just need to swap out the while statement to something like what i wrote above. http://www.fredosaurus.com/notes-cpp/io/readtextfile.html Modesty84 01:48, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'll look into it. Thanks a lot!! --Thor Waldsen 02:04, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Look for the source for the wc Unix utility, it must count lines, characters, words; other implementations may add extra things. This will be in C, you could try porting it to C++ if you're knowledgeable in both languages. Dysprosia 02:09, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect that that may be a little too elaborate for our friend's current state of knowledge about C++. wc, simple though it is, contains extra functionality of little interest. I think he needs to read up on the "iostream" library, as well as while loops in C++. --Robert Merkel 02:23, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If using an fstream you can just getline (counting each time) until end of file (eof). - Rainwarrior 04:33, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Real Player for Mac

How can I create a playlist and maintain a library in Real Player for Mac? I have the latest version.--202.161.131.76 02:31, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

PROCESSOR

Hi, I have an AMD GA-K8VM800M motherboard with an AMD Athlon64 2800+ 1.8GHZ (Socket 754). I'm thinking of upgrading the processor with an AMD Sempron 3300+. I would like to know how fast and how this pro. will perform as a media/gaming PC. I would like to know your opinions. Can u recommend any other processor that will perform well with this m/b for gaming/media? THANKS JON.

what game(s) and what kind of video card and ram do you have? dont know mucha bout that processor but seems like anythin could be a upgrade. Modesty84 07:49, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Various navigational issues.

I am using an IBM T30 laptop with WinXP pro. The trackpad broke a while back and is disabled. My first inclination is to suspect hardware problems with the trackpoint. Anyhow, mouse clicking does not work, but mouse movement (via trackpoint) does work. The keyboard seems to work, but the top menubars in programs, when selected via alt+option, don't open. I tried tabbing over to the start menu to fiddle with the control panel but, though I was able to navigate to the options in the control panel, attempting to open the options themselves with the enter key failed to work. Any guesses as to what is wrong?

--128.113.107.52 07:48, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

does the enter key work in other situations? Modesty84 07:51, 3 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]