Computing desk
< November 23	<< Oct \| November \| Dec >>	November 25 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

November 24

Bypassing Australian Blocking Programs

Hiya all. I was reading the question that The Ayatollah asked, about bypassing a blocked website. I tried it out on our school computers and it doesnt work. Does anyone know how to bypass the blocking program used by the Australian Education Queensland? They use some sort of SecureComputing software. I would really appreciate it if someone knew. Cheers. Lenadi 00:01, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You can try anonymous proxy server, mind you if the IT department know what they are doing that will be blocked as well. Do this at your own risk, don't think your activities will go unnoticed or that your usage isn't easily tracked. Even if you use an anonymous proxy to by pass a block it would be a simple matter for the admins to go through logs of what you have been looking at, using a anonymous proxy to by pass a block will get you into more trouble then viewing a prohibited site. Vespine 00:40, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You could try using the Tor network or the myriad number of free proxy sites. Of course, do so at your own risk. Splintercellguy 09:51, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Never tried this, but couldn't you just boot in Safe Mode with Networking? That would prevent the software from starting. --Wo o ty Woot? contribs 10:01, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That would depend on whether the software is installed on the local computer, on the local server or further upstream. Harryboyles 12:33, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You're right - the blocking software for these things is not even in the school. It's centralised in the education departments in most places, or hosted at the ISP who get it from the Ed Dept. This is the case in Victoria, and Queensland is undoubtedly the same. And as Vespine said, you'll get in more trouble for using these anonymous proxies than most other things. --jjron 13:15, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Probably the best way to get around such filters is using a cache site that isn't filtered, such as Google. The main limitation is that caches are read-only, you won't be able to interact with the site. Droud 15:39, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yea, it really does depend if the filter is server-side or local. Either way, I'd find a proxy IP address (search Google for: Fresh Proxies) and the "port" number. When you have these two numbers, get a copy of Portable Firefox (http://www.portableapps.com), put it on a flash drive (if possible) and configure Firefox to use this proxy. (Look around in Tools -> Options -> Connections). If you don't have a flash drive, I recommend using https://flyproxy.com (always seems to work at my school). Another option is to boot the computer via a LiveCD (if the filtering is local) into something like Knoppix. This is a last resort, however, and wont work with server side blocking. It also might require some BIOS modfication (so don't worry about it if you don't know what you're doing). Finally, Google Cache work well, too, but some schools block this as well. - I WISH I KNEW THE CODE TO PUT MY NAME HERE AUTOMATICALLY.

It's ~~~~. My suggestion is to not tell anybody about the specific proxy that you use, or at least not people with big mouths. You'll be astounded at how quickly the site will be blocked if you tell other people. If you are the only user, you're pretty much safe. Grab a list at home off Google of free proxies and remember them for school. X [Mac Davis] (DESK|How's my driving?) 21:39, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

DVD Drive

Hi. I bought an Acer Aspire in February and it has always had problems reading DVDs, but I think it's only those with DVD-video. Now it won't even read them and when I put a disc in it makes a spinning noise and then doesn't read the disc. Is this a hardware or software problem, and does anyone have any suggestions about how I can fix it? The warranty is voided because the seal on the side is broken.Mix Lord 01:50, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm pretty sure it's a hardware problem, most likely a defective drive. Hmm... I'm not sure how to fix it, but try bringing it to a professional. Or if you don't mind spending the money, I'd buy a new DVD drive.--Res2216firestar 03:42, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

New DVD+/-RW drives can be had for $40 at online retailers. If you're looking for a fix instead, you can try lubricating the positioning tracks inside the drive as described here. Droud 15:44, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

why do google and valueclick send only cheque and not thru paypal

We are starting a website in which we must pay bloggers who enter their articles and get paid. I just want to know is it possible for us to pay by paypal? Or should we do it only by cheque? Is there any government rules that say these kinds of payments must be done only thru checque? I assume we must collect tax number. Cant we collect tax number and at the same time do it by paypal?

From the spelling of cheque we have narrowed your location down to 'not the USA'. Help us narrow it down further. --12:41, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

PayPal offers many pay-out services that you can integrate into your website called [Mass Pay]. I'm fairly sure this works across country boundaries, but you should definitely consult a tax professional in your area to determine any tax liabilities. Droud 15:47, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

IDE SATA

Is there any difference between the two? as I guess my motherboard has only IDE ports and i want to buy a new hard drive.

Yes, AT Attachment (IDE) is different from Serial ATA. If you're unsure about your motherboard, you can always look inside your computer. The articles include photos of the relevant cables used, and they're very different. --Kjoonlee 09:51, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

See also Serial ATA#Backward compatibility; you might be able to buy a SATA HDD and use it with an old motherboard. --Kjoonlee 09:53, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Web-based IRC client?

Do you know any web-based clients, where I can just go to the website and connect to IRC, without having to download anything?

The PJIRC Java client comes to mind. Splintercellguy 09:48, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

And http://webchat.xs4all.nl/. –mysid ☎ 13:24, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Another (java based) http://www.jwirc.com/chat.html - Guest who doesen't know the code to sign their name/IP

16-way system

Hello, what is 16-way computer system? I can't find it on the wiki anywhere. Thanks 130.119.248.12 09:11, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In the context of large enterprise computer systems (like Suns or NUMA-Qs) it (generally) means "16 processors". -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 13:41, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

pci express 16

Hi, I've just purchased an XFX GeForce 7300LE graphics card which is PCI express 16. My Motherboard has PCI express 4. can I put the card in the board? will it work?

thanks for any advice. Spiggy 13:06, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

No, an x16 PCI Express card will not fit into an x4 slot. Fitting an x4 card into an x16 slot would be possible, however, and would work correctly. See PCI express#Physical Layer for more. –mysid ☎ 13:31, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

ok thanks. I was on the phone to Asrock (mobo people) when your reply came in. They seem to think that the card will fit on the slot and will just run a little bit slower than a 16 card. Any thoughts anyone? spiggy 13:56, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

It depends on the physical size of the PCI slot on your motherboard. If it's physically an x16 slot but just running at the speed of x4, the card will fit into it and run slower. –mysid ☎ 14:02, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Optical disc authoring 2

I know this is unusual, but this question will never be answered unless I move it down here, so... Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 17:14, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I'm releasing an album soon (independently), and I was wondering if anybody here knew the best options for CD-Rs, that is, the best brands, the best software for writing, the best software for reading. Many thanks. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 03:27, 22 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What kind of run are you looking at? If you want more then 50 you are definitely better off looking at having it pressed. Get a few local music magazines and you should find heaps of places advertising that master and press CDs. This used to be quite expensive but these days prices are very reasonable and places have deals, like package artwork, sleeve printing and the like. You'll get pro looking results and trust me, there are things you would rather be doing then manually burning 100 CDs, even if you get a 'system' going. Vespine 22:00, 22 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Well, regardless, I'd still like to know for mastering at least the first few. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 18:16, 23 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pretty much any old software should work fine for reading and writing (i.e. iTunes). As for the CDs themselves, for audio CDs it shouldn't matter too much what brands you use if they are standard CD-Rs. I don't think there is any real advantage to trying to get the highest quality anything for this — the odds are even the low quality stuff will work fine for your purpose, which I imagine is just making a bunch of CDs to give away or sell. --140.247.240.219 19:45, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I probably should have said this: Yeah, I'm going for quality on this one. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 21:59, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

There do seem to be some brands that generate fewer complaint on usenet groups: Mitsui, Kodak, Taiyo Yuden, TDK, Pioneer Ricoh, HP, Philips, Sony, Yamaha, Fuji and the higher quality Verbatim. Quite a few "fundi" have told me that recording at slower speeds (16x or less) gives better general compatibility between players, but I do not know the statistics for this. I do not think that there is any proven "best software" for burning the disks, it seems to be more a matter of the recorder capability. As for "best software for reading", the software would be not under your control, that is up you the customer's equipment. The Media Science site may interest you. Seejyb 23:48, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

By software for reading I meant for ripping tracks onto a hard drive from an optical disc. But thanks for the tips, I heard good things about Verbatim. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 14:55, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The above point (Seejyb's) is incorrect in implying that all the software for writing is about the same. "Professional" mastering software lets you select the gap between tracks, on a track-by-track basis: so there could be a 2 second silent gap after tracks 1, 2, 3, and 4; but tracks 5, 6, and 7 all run together with no audio gap. It also lets you include "index" points within a redbook track, probably an overly technical and useless point; but my point is that all software isn't the same. There are probably other differences from the basic consumer-level CD writing software that gets bundled when you buy a CD-R drive. If you just need to burn your tracks with the same gap between them, then Seejyb is probably right and the burning software isn't very important. Sorry that I can't name any software, though; my knowledge is dated by 10 years. Tempshill 06:53, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, that's what I was wondering about; what would be the most feature-y. Someoneinmyheadbutit'snotme 14:55, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, I assumed you were asking about the physical burning, having done the recording, mixing and all before on your harddrive. If all you need is to make a compilation for yourself, from different CDs, with a proper gap between tracks, then something like CDBurner XP should be adequate. Anything adding fading, varying gaps and video would mean commercial software. As an independent releaser of an album, you have hopefully sorted out all the copyright issues. Seejyb 17:17, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Bill Gates in the years 1975-80

I am trying to find information on Bill Gates and his mother Mary Maxwell Gates from his early years of 1975 to 1980, and in specific, how his mother was instrumental in him becoming a millionaire in those years. I have searched seriously for information and today my local library is closed. I am going to my school library on tomorrow, but I would like some information as soon as someone can answer my question. In particular, did he borrow money from his mother and reinvest it, or did she give him money or did he earn money to start his business?

Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

Signed Nina

Have you tried looking at our article Bill Gates and some of the external links at the bottom of the article first? Harryboyles 02:58, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Running multiple operating systems

Say I wanted Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux on my Macintosh—is it possible without a Live CD? Because that would be the best thing ever. X [Mac Davis] (DESK|How's my driving?) 21:35, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If you have an Intel Mac, try installing GRUB. I don't know how because I don't have a Mac, though. --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 05:34, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

GRUB won't work on EFI interface. Yao Ziyuan

With the right patches, you could unDRM OS X and run these three on a generic PC. I've also heard that Vista doesn't like being dual-booted, so you might want to backup if you're planning on trying that.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 16:20, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dc620

In attempting to empty the recycle bin on my Windows XP computer, I get an error message saying it can't delete Dc620 because it is being used. No applications are running except Windows Explorer, which allows me access to empty the recycle bin.

Anybody know what's going on?

What is Dc620 and what programs use it? How do I stop the program(s) so as to be able to empty the recycle bin?

Thanks, --Halcatalyst 23:57, 24 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Boot into safe mode (I believe it's F8 at startup), then delete it. --Wo o ty Woot? contribs 00:23, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

When I searched for *dc620*.* (not in safe mode), I found nothing of that name, but the doggie turned up archive.pst in the recycle bin. Two copies actually. "Properties" told me the origin of the two files was CD burning.
(A couple of months ago I tried to copy the Outlook .pst files to a CD as a backup, since they weren't getting backed up in my routine "My Documents" backup. Recently, I bought an external hard drive and now just back up all of C: to it.)
These two files are causing the error message; it pops up when I try to delete them individually. I can't delete them, and so I can't empty the recycle bin. Is there anything I can undo? Like try to copy the two files to a CD? I have no idea how they got into the recycle bin. --Halcatalyst 05:30, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In the recycle bin, files are actually stored as weird file names such as Dc*. So, try what Wooty said. Or, you can open a DOS prompt, cd to C:\RECYCLER, and there should be several folders in there. Find out what your SID (not going to explain) is and delete the folder which is named using your SID. For example, if my SID is S-1234-1234-1234, delete C:\RECYCLER\S-1234-1234-1234. A little complicated though. --wj32 ^{talk | contribs} 05:33, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

This is weird, and I would proceed cautiously, in case the file actually is being used, e.g. if the .pst file that is now in use actually resides in the recycle bin (unlikely, but something strange is going on here). I would suggest that you open the recycle bin, and delete files (or groups of files) individually, until you are left with the file causing the problem. You will then be able to see the name that the file used to have, and by right-clicking it you will also see the name of its parent folder (unfortunately not the whole path). Knowing what file is or was, you will be able to make an intelligent decision. One decision might be to restore the file (after having made note of its name and parent folder). It should then disappear from the recycle bin. Afterwards, you should locate it, examine it, and decide wether you want to keep it or delete it again. If you want to delete a file completely, i.e. without sending it to the recycle bin, you can mark the file, and then type shift-delete. --Norwegian Blue^talk 12:44, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I manually deleted recycle bin files and ended up with thesse 7, which all produced different error messages, saying it couldn't delete a certrain Dc* file:

Dc620 archive.pst (copy 1) date deleted: Sept-Oct; date modified: today
Dc623 archive.pst (copy 2) date deleted: Sept-Oct; date modified: today
Dc621 mailbox.pab (copy 1) date deleted: Sept-Oct; date modified: today
Dc709 mailbox.pab (copy 2) date deleted: Sept-Oct; date modified: today
Dc624 outlook.pst (copy 1) date deleted: Sept-Oct; date modified: today
Dc625 outlook.pst (copy 2) date deleted: Sept-Oct; date modified: today
Dc710 outlook.pst (copy 3) date deleted: Sept-Oct; date modified: today

So what does date modified this date (today) mean?

The original location for all was C:\Documents and Settings\Hal\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\CD Burning. This folder is empty.

The normal storage place for the Outlook files is C:\Documents and Settings\Hal\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. This folder contains one copy each of archive.pst, mailbox.pab, and outlook.pst, each with today's date. There is in addition a binary file called extend.dat dated 2006-11-18. Readable text in this file is "Google Desk Top" and "msspc32.dll". Outlook is curently working fine, nor have I had any problems with it.

I tried to restore the seven files to the empty folder but got the same error messages.

Yes, this is weird! --Halcatalyst 14:45, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

At this point, I would suggest that you follow the advice of wooty and wj32, and try deleting the files after booting into safe mode. --Norwegian Blue^talk 19:20, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]