Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2010 August 29

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August 29

Dissolving Exclamation Point

In the Finder Window on my Mac there is a different icon than there has been in the past next to my External Drive on the side under devices. Last week it was a partially dissolved exclamation point and now it is an almost completely dissolved exclamation point with a red octagon as a background. While this does worry me, the drive it self is working fine, able to save, copy, compress, and paste files with the same ease as in the past. Can anyone give me some insight? Thanks! schyler (talk) 01:08, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Dynamic low disk space warning, maybe? ¦ Reisio (talk) 02:23, 3 September 2010 (UTC)

Getting windows key from an old HD

My previous computer went kaput, and I removed the HD and put it in an external case, which can be connected to my new computer via USB. Before I delete Windows, what is the easist free way to retrieve the windows keys etc from it, just in case I need to use them again? The software available from Nirsoft apparantly requires using command lines, the Magical Jelly Bean Finder has no option to choose another drive and its website is not working for me. Thanks 92.15.13.10 (talk) 13:01, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

I've found that the Nirsoft software can do this with its GUI, not just command lines. 92.29.127.133 (talk) 16:50, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Magical Jelly Bean Finder is the site, and it also currently hawks recover-keys.com, a paid solution. (I notice the latter has a "Try it free" link, but I haven't tried that.) Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:22, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

I downloaded the Magical Jelly Bean thing, and you cannot get it to choose another drive. 92.15.1.224 (talk) 19:01, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Did you try the poorly-named "Load Hive" menu item? The FAQ seems to say that's how you do it. For me, the "Load Hive" menu option does bring up a dialog box asking me to choose the Windows directory to suck the keys out of, and it lets me choose different drives. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:20, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

I've already done it with the free Nirsoft software above. 92.15.9.145 (talk) 13:52, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

IRC help

last night I downloaded an IRC connection program for the first time, Chatzilla, and was trying to explore how to do basic things like just chatting. Anyway, I actually got into a chat room and it was working, but the name I was logged in under, automatically, was the name I assigned to my computer, which contains parts of my real name. I want to choose a different login name and not have my real name displayed. How do I change my displayed identity? thanks in advance.--141.155.148.156 (talk) 14:13, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

I have a second question. I just logged in to Quakenet and went to join channel and the IRC browser found 56,000+ channels. Then I went to the search box and typed in something so I could find the channel and now its "filtering" the channels to find the ones matching my search but it's doing this for 56,000 channels so it's taking forever. Is there a better way, or a way for me to tell it to only go through a lower number?--141.155.148.156 (talk) 14:22, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

List of Internet Relay Chat commands lists the generally available commands. I think the one you're looking for, for your first question, is the NICK command. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 14:53, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks that works. However, it doesn't solve my issue. Once I join a chat room, I then change my name and have a new chat name. However, as far as I can tell when I do that displayed for everyone is the change from the old to the new. In other words, everyone sees my real name, and then they see something like "john doe has changed his name and is now logged in as jake doe". I was hoping to find a way to log in originally under a different name than the one assigned to my computer.--141.155.148.156 (talk) 15:12, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

That's specific to your client, not IRC as a whole. In Chatzilla, open the preferences dialogue, select the General tab, and under "Identification" there will be a space saying "Nickname". Fill that in. You may need to do this once for each network you connect to (the network list is on the left of the window). Welcome to IRC, it's an amazing place. Marnanel (talk) 15:16, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

The answer to your second question is the /rlist command, which you follow by the string you're looking for, e.g. /rlist wombat to find all channels with "wombat" in their name. (If you just list all the channels and there are 56000 of them, it won't only take ages, it may get you kicked because it looks to the server as though you're flooding.) In general, I find it's better to find the name of the channel you're looking for through other means (such as the web) and then just go there, rather than connecting to a server in the hope of finding an interesting channel. But that's just from personal experience. Marnanel (talk) 15:21, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Roadrunner

Hi. I'm currently using DSL right now but I'm about to switch to roadrunner. I would like to have a dynamic Roadrunner IP (the modem is already installed). With DSL my IP changes every time I turn the modem off (or every 24 hours, which ever is shorter) My Roadrunner IP, however, doesn't appear to change when I turn it off for a few minutes. How do I know if it can be changed, and how do I do it? 68.248.229.115 (talk) 15:20, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Allocating your IP address is the business of the ISP, and how Roadrunner do it may not be the same way anyone else does it. It may well be remembering your MAC address and reassigning the same IP to it. (I think I would go crazy if my ISP was in the habit of changing my IP address every twenty-four hours. How the blazes are you supposed to keep a connection open?) Marnanel (talk) 15:32, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Cheap software

This website is offering Microsoft Office 2010 Professional for £97 UK. This seems like a very good bargain, but is there likely to be a catch? --rossb (talk) 17:10, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

[Sentence redacted after a previous comment was removed.] Anyway, as to the original poster's question, yes, it's suspicious, as that site is for downloads, and Microsoft's own UK download page lists Professional for £429.99. I can't think of any way a legitimate download site would list the same product for so much less. Even if it were the "upgrade" edition, requiring you to own a previous edition of Office, the Amazon UK price of the old 2007 upgrade is currently £199.99. I'll wager my money on "pirated copy". Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:13, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

I would be suspicious; if it's too good to be true, it probably is. Searching for their domain name in Google shows almost nothing. The site claims to be a Microsoft web site (in the footer) but is almost certainly not; among other things, the WHOIS information for their domain name is cloaked by "Domains by Proxy". If you buy counterfeit software, you put yourself at risk for malware, and Microsoft may disable the counterfeit software at any time through software activation and updates. You could also get hit by hefty fines, especially if you are a business and you get audited by the BSA, for example. Buy software only from reputable resellers (legitimate local stores, not from eBay, etc.). According to their web site, the official Microsoft web site for download sales of their software is http://store.microsoft.com/. PleaseStand ^(talk) 19:22, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

It's really impossible to know what they're doing without seeing the licence information they send you. So, speaking in general (no reflection on these guys, of whom I have no knowledge) I've heard of several things being done. (I wrote a lengthy post here, listing seven ways I could think of, but on reading it back it's rather too close to me telling someone how to manufacture a dodgy Windows licence, rather than how to avoid inadvertently buying one). Using these methods (which aren't all that dark and secret, but still...) someone could give you an entirely kosher original MS Office disk (or download) and a licence code (particularly a digital one) that is indeed a valid MS licence that will pass Activation, and that you could continue to use the software, quite possibly forever. But all these (bar perhaps one that's particularly perverse, but might just sneak under the wire) fundamentally break the licence conditions. Such software might well work for a few years and then stop (or stop being updated) and probably wouldn't survive a corporate licence review. Or, as others have noted above, it may be downright pirated. I can't think of a way (but maybe I'm not imaginative enough) to produce a licence free and clear for that price point. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 20:11, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Or to put it another way: if you bought this, you're paying for pirated software. There are two things wrong with that approach. One is that it is pirated software. The other is that you are paying for it! If you are going to get pirated software, you might as well just pirate it yourself, for free. If you aren't willing to do that, paying for it doesn't make it any better. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:02, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Advocacy of alternatives to MS Office collapsed

The OP could remove all fears of buying pirated software and save a lot of money as well by downloading the roughly equivalent and free Open Office instead. I'm saddened that this same comment was deleted above - vandalism and a breech of etiquette. 92.29.119.94 (talk) 11:52, 30 August 2010 (UTC) Or indeed NeoOffice, for the same attractively low price of zero -- though its authors would appreciate a token payment. -- Hoary (talk) 14:43, 30 August 2010 (UTC) I've collapsed this advocacy because it's not what the original poster is after. I also have a big problem with the claim that OpenOffice is "roughly equivalent" to Microsoft Office; this statement could only be made by someone who has never tried using OpenOffice's version of PowerPoint after having used the real thing, and who has never used Excel with its PivotTables and then had to make do with OpenOffice Calc. But, as I wrote, this is a derailing of the thread, hence my collapsing. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:28, 30 August 2010 (UTC) I'm disapointed that Comet Tuttle deletes, insults, or otherwise changes responses that they disagree with. Not the direction Wikipedia should go in. I have deleted MS Office from my computer and just use OpenOffice exclusively. While I've never had any reason to use the OO version of pivot tables or PowerPoint, I've never had any problems using OO. 92.29.122.206 (talk) 09:49, 1 September 2010 (UTC) And I think we've long established that saying "go open source!" when it is not appropriate to do so (e.g. when the question is not about alternatives to pay software) is considered to be non-productive and potentially even trolling. ("Get Linux!" is not a constructive response to a request for help with a specific Windows problem, for example. "Get OpenOffice!" is not a constructive response to a question about the price of a given software package on a given website.) If someone wants to know whether OpenOffice is a good replacement for MS Office, by all means, advocate its pros and cons all you want; just don't inject such advocacy into threads that are not germane. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:04, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

iPad and editing Wikipedia

Does anyone know of an iPad app designed for editing Wikipedia? Editing articles in Safari on the iPad sucks, mainly because the on-screen iPad keyboard lacks arrow keys, and to type a [, ], {, or }, you have to hit two buttons to get to the "symbols" keyboard, then the symbol you want, then another button to get back to the regular keyboard. There are several Wikipedia-article-reading apps, but none I have found for editing — I have been hoping someone has been able to either (a) modify the on-screen iPad keyboard, or (b) write an app that has its own on-screen keyboard for this purpose. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:58, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

With a little HTML and JS know-how you could make your own JS drop-in or custom Wikipedia theme/set with its own fancy keyboard. A standalone (non-web app) would obviously be better, but I wouldn't personally consider it worth the effort for a proprietary OS (unless you'd like to make some cash, and then it could prove quite a good idea). ¦ Reisio (talk) 03:53, 3 September 2010 (UTC)

Internet (part 2)

I asked this question a while ago about why switching an ethernet cable from a cable modem between two computers caused the internet to go down for up to 5 hours before coming back. I finally resolved the issue with my ISP VirginMedia, and they said because I don't have a router (I refuse to use it because of wireless signals, and there's no option to turn them off) the "host table" on their DHCP server had reached it's maximum allowed allocation of ip address. They cleared the "host table" and the problem is gone, however this presents a question. Since I'm still not using a router between the computer and the cable modem, will this problem likely occur again? It's taken almost 2 years since the installation date of the cable modem for the problem to manifest, but I'm fearful it might happen again. Is this a common problem? Are VirginMedia being stingy with the ip addresses, like they are with everything else (bandwidth, upload speed, download caps etc) or is this a common thing ISPs do? 82.44.55.25 (talk) 18:29, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Side question, could you mention what brand and model number of router you have? It bothers me that any wireless router would lack a feature to turn off the wireless radio entirely, and I feel compelled to investigate. Comet Tuttle (talk) 19:21, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

The wireless router they supplied is a "Netgear WGR614-9VGUKS", however it appears to have been modified by the ISP and rebranded with their own config page, which lacks any options to turn to wireless part off. 82.44.55.25 (talk) 20:08, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Here is Netgear's firmware download page for the wgr614-9 router - just an idea, but if Virgin's "hacked" config page allows an upgrade, maybe you'll be able to de-neuter the router thusly. Can't hurt to try if you are not using the router anyway, yes? Comet Tuttle (talk) 05:32, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

I followed the instructions but there's no option to upgrade in the routers config page. I don't really want a router anyway, I'm happy switching the cable. I just need to know if it will run out of ip addresses again 82.44.55.25 (talk) 10:57, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Frontpage dying

I am having problems installing Frontpage 98 on a vista system. It doesn't let my webpages remain where I want them. What is the best current alternative to FP for editing html? Kittybrewster ☎ 21:25, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

I use the NetBeans IDE for developing web pages. Worth a try. Mo ainm~Talk 21:30, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

I don't want to develop anything. Just edit html pages. Kittybrewster ☎ 22:25, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

If all you want to do is edit, then the ultimate HTML editor is Notepad. It is free and already installed on your system. 124.214.131.55 (talk) 22:32, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

If you want something with a few more features than notepad for raw HTML editing (e.g. regular expression support and syntax highlighting), but still lightweight and easy to use try Notepad++ or check out the comparison of text editors. If you want WYSIWYG check out the comparison of HTML editors if you haven't already.

FrontPage has been replaced by Expression Web. That's what I use. It's light years ahead of FrontPage, in my opinion.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 02:40, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Kompozer is pretty good, and free 82.44.55.25 (talk) 11:29, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Old computer upstairs wants Internet

Dear Wikipedians:

i have an old computer upstairs with only an RJ-45 port for Internet connectivity. I have an extra TRENDnet router. I am wondering if there is anyway for me to configure my TRENDnet router to wirelessly login to my Cisco router downstairs so that my old computer upstairs could access the Internet.

I have attached a diagram that I have drawn myself to illustrate what I would like.

Thanks.

L33th4x0r (talk) 21:29, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

The behaviour you want is for the TRENDnet to run as a "bridge" rather than a router. Some routers have that capability, many don't. If yours doesn't (you'd need to check its config screen and manuals) you may be able to install the OpenWRT replacement firmware on it (not, I fear, for the technically nervous), which does have a bridge mode. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 21:34, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

If that doesn't work, there are plenty of USB wireless internet adapters, or adapter cards you can insert in the case (if it is a desktop computer) or in a PC card slot (if it is a laptop). Astronaut (talk) 00:22, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks alot! Finlay's bridge solution is exactly what I am looking for. Thanks also to Astronaut for your contribution. L33th4x0r (talk) 00:42, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Resolved

google web accelerator

I remember using google web accelerator a few years ago, but it seems to have been discontinued now. Are there any other free alternatives? I don't want Opera turbo because I don't use Opera (unless opera turbo can somehow be used on firefox, ie and other browsers / programs) 82.44.55.25 (talk) 21:31, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

All of the accelerators that actually do something useful and safe are served by your internet service provider. You run a program on your computer that converts web requests to accelerated requests. On the ISP side, the data is compressed (like a zip file) and sent to you. Your program uncompresses (unzips) the data. Because less data is transferred, it takes less time to transfer the data. This is good if your computer isn't overworked with the uncompression. It is limited to your ISP because there is no such thing as a universal accelerated web request. How Google did it was a matter of rerouting all web requests to Google. They acted as the ISP and (surprise surprise) kept a log of every web request everyone made even if they weren't using Google's search functions. So... knowing how it would work, there are people who are more than willing to offer the same service. They will act as your ISP and keep track of all your web traffic - especially all the traffic you expect to be private. I wouldn't trust them myself. -- kainaw™ 00:58, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the background info. So what are these other services you mentioned that offer a similar service to google web accelerator? 82.44.55.25 (talk) 10:52, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

See Web accelerator. There are some respectable ones listed there. Just don't expect a huge increase in speed. The increase is small and limited to specific types of data. -- kainaw™ 12:07, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Factory Reset

My Dell is running very slowly these days. It takes a long time to do things, or freezes altogether. I'll click on something and it won't do it for a while, or it does it and then the sound comes along 10 seconds later. I defragmented my hard drive, but that didn't work. I bought an external hard drive to free up ROM, but that didn't work. The laptop isn't quite three years old, and it was quite high-spec when I bought it. I was thinking about doing a Dell Factory Reset. It will revert the software to what is was once I bought it. Would that help to fix the problem? Would the laptop run like it did when it was new? Any other suggestions? — Fly by Night (talk) 21:51, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Few suggestions: 1: Add more RAM, you are using the page file too much it seems. 2: Check for viruses and malware. 3: There could be too much background programs running, disable some of them from starting up automatically in msconfig. 4: A better way to defragment would be to download Defraggler and running it. It is much faster than Windows built in drefag program. However I do believe it's lack of RAM, judging from your description Sir Stupidity (talk) 22:36, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

I agree with Sir Stupidity; the original poster's symptoms are totally typical of an insufficient-RAM situation. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:09, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the comments! I have 2 GB of RAM, which is enough for what I use it for. I guess there must be programs running in the background clogging things up, i.e. using up all of my precious RAM. I can't really get extra RAM: it's a laptop and it's notoriously difficult and expensive to get extra RAM. If I do a factory reset then I'd get rid of any useless programs running in the background, right? Would my laptop run like it did when it was new? Is there another procedure, like a formatting that I could do, or does a Dell Factory Reset include a format of my hard drive? — Fly by Night (talk) 06:49, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Well I'm not sure. I wouldn't use those recovery disks, because I don't know how to use it! However, when you first started using your laptop, do you think it was fast? And are you using Vista? Sir Stupidity (talk) 07:25, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Every PC I've ever had has slowed down over a couple of years, only to miraculously speed back up again when I've reinstalled Windows and all my other programs. However, I really would not use the recovery disk which will send your PC back to how it was with all the bloatware pre-installed by Dell; instead, reinstall Windows from scratch. The advantage is you get to pick exacly which options to install, which Dell bloatware you get to install, and review which programs you actually use; and at the same time you remove any viruses/spyware that could have accumulated on your PC. However, reinstalling is a big step and requires some preparation: Backup everything including your emails, contacts list, anything you have downloaded and paid for, etc. Locate the installation disks/URLs for programs you use and any associated license keys. Locate the Windows installation disk (which has been supplied with every Dell I've ever bought). Finally, this will take some time, so set aside the whole day. Astronaut (talk) 09:52, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

For the record, after not having purchased a Dell for years, I bought a Dell this year and had to pay extra for the Windows installation disc. Comet Tuttle (talk) 13:25, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

You will also need to backup everything. Assuming all you store on your computer are some programs, songs and movies with a fair bit of pictures, what you will need is a large External hard drive to accommodate your files, back it up (This can take quite some time) locate your program installation disks and if a program you want is not there you should copy the program folder under C:\ (usually)Program Files. Make sure you take everything because reinstalling your computer will wipe your disk space, so you will not be able to retrieve things you may suddenly want again.Sir Stupidity (talk) 11:07, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

I did the factory reset. All I had to do was hit F8 while it was booting up. I backed up all of my files to an external hard drive. It worked really well. It doesn't stall or freeze any more. It's as good as new. I wouldn't have liked to have tried a manual re-installation. I tried that once a few years ago and it all went horribly wrong. Thanks to everyone for all of their help! — Fly by Night (talk) 19:36, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Lavabit

What happened to Lavabit, a permanent bug ?  Jon Ascton  (talk) 22:30, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Our article Lavabit doesn't mention any problems. What is the problem you are observing? Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:07, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Hey, we have a page on that ! Never knew (in fact never even searched Wikipedia for that - didn't knew Lavabit's that important.)Well, it's rejecting my password everytime. (Win XP and Outlook Express 6). Thanks Tuttle  Jon Ascton  (talk) 01:43, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Are you sure you entered the right password? Is it possible someone hacked your account? Have you tried logging in to your account via the website? If none of this helps and it's only beena few hours I would just wait. Sometimes problems happen Nil Einne (talk) 09:19, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

Hacking ? Do you think that's practical ? You are scaring me. What should I do now ? Lavabit people seem to be dead

There is no reason to assume there is a problem with Lavabit because you are failing to login. You may have started using the wrong username. You may be using the wrong password. Someone else could have logged into your account and changed your password. There are many issues that have nothing to do with Lavabit having a problem. -- kainaw™ 15:20, 31 August 2010 (UTC)

This is out of question that I changed my password or usename. You don't put password in Outlook everytime you use it. Is there any history of a bug in Outlook Express that changes people's password ?  Jon Ascton  (talk) 17:18, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Has anyother person who uses Lavabit met this problem ?  Jon Ascton  (talk) 18:22, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Can you login using Lavabit's webmail? If so, it's probably an issue with outlook express - double check your configuration settings. If the webmail rejects your password also, then you don't really have any options except to keep guessing different passwords, since Lavabit admins can't reset your password. Indeterminate (talk) 16:42, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

Computer does not recognize DVDs

I wanted to play a DVD in my computer, but when I stuck the disk into the computer drive, I waited over ten minutes for the computer to find and recognize that I just put in a DVD. When we went to the My Computer section, I found out that the DVD drive was empty, with no idea that a DVD disk is in it. We want to know what is wrong here? And help us on how I should fix the problem? 64.75.158.199 (talk) 23:48, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Are you sure it's actually a DVD drive and not just a CD drive? 82.44.55.25 (talk) 00:08, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Go to Device Manager and see whether it's a DVD drive or not. Right click computer, then Manage.Sir Stupidity (talk) 00:55, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

It might be the disc itself and not the drive, though. Check whether the disc is not scratched or damaged in any other way (i. e. it might have been lying in direct sunlight or close to a heat source for a while). Check whether it is supposed to be full. Maybe it is of a type not recognised by your drive? Finally, use a second source: insert a different DVD into the drive, and/or insert your initial DVD into another DVD drive, and see what happens. Cheers, Ouro (blah blah) 05:58, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Nope, everything is undamaged. The computer doesn't seem to recognize any DVD that I put into any drive. It easily recognizes game and software disks, though. I don't know if rebooting my computer would work, would it? By the way, what happened to my last question, the one that was about Trackmania? 64.75.158.193 (talk) 10:39, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

As I suggested, do you actually have a DVD drive? Go to Device Manager by right clicking Computer, then selecting ManageSir Stupidity (talk) 11:01, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

DVD and other optical drives are notoriously unreliable; they are mass produced and tend to degrade over time. Try that DVD in another drive and see it's your drive or the DVD that is the problem. Regarding Trackmania: if you haven't received a reply, it's because we don't know or haven't seen a similar problem before. Specific games questions are better directed to online forums that specialize in those games. Try contacting Trackmania support if they don't have a forum. Sandman30s (talk) 11:13, 30 August 2010 (UTC)