Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2006 August 19

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Changing Hard Drives

I've just got a new computer and finding it time consuming transferring 100gb plus from my old one across my wireless network. Would it be safe to install the hard drives from my old machine into my new ones and copy it across that way or do I risk causing damage to the contents? --Kiltman67 01:40, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Edit: It might be relevant but both machines are running Windows XP. ---Kiltman67 02:40, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

In principle, this is quite straightforward, particularly if the old machine is reasonably recent. At worst, you might have to change the jumper settings on the drive to make it work, unless the old drive was something really exotic.

In fact, you may choose to keep the old drive in your new machine permanently as extra/backup storage. --Robert Merkel 04:43, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

There is one danger to the drives, though, static electricity sparks. Be sure you are grounded when touching the drive. If the computer case is grounded, just touch the case when you remove the drive. StuRat 05:55, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

It is as safe as any operation inside your computer case will be. Take care with the components, ground yourself before playing with things, and you should be fine. You might want to look up those particular drives' master/slave settings before trying to fiddle with them, because that's usually where I would get something confused (which would be frustrating but not fatal). --Fastfission 16:20, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

I think you misunderstood me, Fast, the danger of static electricity is to the data on the hard drive, not to the person. There is also a danger to the person, but that comes from the wall outlet, not static. Just be sure to unplug both computers to deal with that danger. StuRat 23:03, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

What

What are those phones that go like "Press 1 to leave a message", "Press 2 to order a product", "Press 3 to get personal assistance" called and is there an article? 71.30.197.252 01:52, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

It's an Interactive voice response system.-gadfium 04:01, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Actually, more like a phone tree since it uses key presses, not voice recongition. Wizrdwarts (T|C|E) 20:31, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

We don't seem to have an article on phone tree, and while I did look for this term when trying to answer the question, to me a phone tree is something that activist organisations of the days before email used to have. You'd get a phone call advising you of something the membership needed to be told urgently, and then you'd have a list of half a dozen people to pass it on to. If you couldn't contact someone, I presume you were supposed to ring their list as well. The more sophisticated systems included some redundancy, so if someone didn't pass on the message as they were supposed to, everyone still got contacted. The downside of the redundancy was that some of the people you'd ring already had heard the message. Is there a different name for this than phone tree?-gadfium 05:11, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Woah. There is a name for it. ;) --Proficient 22:52, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

gadfium, that's my understanding of a phone tree too. Anchoress 05:18, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

JavaScript / Flash Player

Hi, I just recently installed Windows XP SP2 and I can't load videos in YouTube because "... JavaScript might be turned off or and old version of flash player". How might I turn on Javascript? Thanks!

Which browser do you use? You need to turn on the Javescript option on your broswer. Go to Tools, Options and search around there until you find an option to turn it on. Check back if it doesn't work. Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 09:01, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

what lcd monitor?

Which company lcd monitor is best? What can I buy?

Try Froogle. —Keenan Pepper 10:12, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Samsung is solid. --Proficient 22:53, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Intel Core Duo

Hi I would like to buy a new laptop, and the details of the laptops says "Intel Core Duo...1.66 GHz", since there are 2 CPUs, does that make a 3.32 GHz processor laptop? Thanks!

No, it doesn't. It essentially means that two processors were fused together, and the speed of the entire combination is 1.66 GHz. You still have only one CPU. Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 09:57, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Think of a CPU as a cart hauling rocks. We'd like to move rocks as quickly as possible, but it's hard to make the cart go faster. If we instead use two carts, we may obtain a similar effect to doubling the speed.

A dual core processor chip, roughly speaking, corresponds to having two carts. Ideally that would make it able to handle twice as many instructions as a single core chip, in the same period of time, even though the "wheels" (the clock rate) turn no faster. In practice, it rarely works out quite that well. Consider moving a single cart-load of rocks; having two carts doesn't get the rocks to their destination any faster. And there are other problems, such as the carts sometimes interfering with each other.

Incidentally, even a single core chip routinely uses various kinds of "multiple cart" tricks internally, such as splitting a single instruction stream into pieces that can be processed simultaneously (if we're lucky).

Bottom line, the dual core chip will sometimes be noticeably faster than a single core chip with the same clock rate, but not always. Usually the software must adapt to take full advantage of the parallelism. And it would be quite wrong to say the clock rate has been doubled. --KSmrq^T 11:46, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Each chip is running at 1.66 Ghz. Not that all Ghz are fullt utilized as a single core that would be 3.32 Ghz. --Proficient 22:54, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

PCI simple communication controller problem.

I just got my computer back from the service guy who had loaded a new version of windows Xp (SP2) in it. It worked fine for 5 minutes and after I had to restart it, the Volume symbol in the taskbar near the clock didnt show up. When I try to play a song it tells me that theres some problem with the Audio Drivers. After I restarted it again, it said it found new hardware. Some PCI simple communications controller. I made it search for the drivers, but it couldn't find them. I couldn't find them in the CD that comes with the motherboard. When I go to the device manager and select the properties of the PCI coontroller, it tells me that the drivers are missing. I cant even connect to the internet through that computer now. When I try to connect, nothing happens. (No window comes up or anything). So, now, do I need to reload windows? That'll be a cumbersome task as I dont have the CD's and stuff. And that service guy takes atleast 3 days to reply to my call. So, What do I do? Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 09:54, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

What brand are you using? I had similar problems before and since I'm using IBM, I could download the driver in another PC, burn it to a CD and add it using the "Add Hardware" function in "Control Panel".

My computer has an Asus motherboard(dont know the spefications) and an AMD 2400+ processor. Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 10:53, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

You should go to ASUS's website and find the driver for your specific PC. Try that yourself first.

LiveUpdate malfunctioning under Norton 2006

Hello, I have recently downloaded a new copy of Norton Internet Security 2006. I turned it off briefly while trying to troubleshoot a problem with my connection (which was fixed) but stupidly forgot to turn it back on. My system was infected with a worm whose name I forget (all I remember is that it specifically targets executable files). I ran a full System Scan which claimed to have remove all the infection. When I then attempted to use LiveUpdate, I received the following:

LU1815: LiveUpdate could not access a file
LiveUpdate could not read or write a file it needed because you do
not have sufficient access rights on this computer. It is
recommended that only users with Power User or Administrator
rights run LiveUpdate.

My computer has only one account which is a system administrator type (I am runnning XP Home). I visited Symantec's link [1] but encountered the following:

We cannot run the AutoFix Tool on your computer without ActiveX controls. The AutoFix Tool requires ActiveX controls. If ActiveX files cannot be installed or are not allowed to run on your computer, the AutoFix Tool will not work.

Check the top of this window under the address bar to see if there is a yellow bar with a message on it.

Choose the situation below that best describes what you see.

1. I see a message that says, "This site might require the following ActiveX control..." Click the yellow bar with the message and then click Install ActiveX control. When a small box appears, click Install.

1. I see a message that says, "Your security settings do not allow Web sites to use ActiveX controls..." At the menu bar above, click Tools > click Internet Options. On the Security tab, click Default Level, then OK.

1. I do not see a yellow or blue bar with a message A firewall may be blocking the ActiveX controls. Set up your firewall to allow ActiveX controls to run. If you have Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall, click here for steps on how to do this.

None of these apply to me. I am at a loss. How might I run LiveUpdate? --Alexs letterbox 11:23, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Two suggestions: If you really want to use LiveUpdate you will need to access the page with a browser that supports ActiveX, the obvious solution being to use Internet Explorer with ActiveX enabled. The second suggestion is to run screaming from any security firm that requires you to use ActiveX, because IE in general and ActiveX in particular are well known to be major security risks. Try AVG Anti-Virus for a free alternative, or Kaspersky for a commercial product, just to name two possibilities. --KSmrq^T 02:50, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

I have no choice as to the software I am using (It is a work computer). I am using IE6 and ActiveX is enabled.

Two more suggestions: A security setting in IE, or in a firewall, may be interfering. And if someone at work is requiring you to use certain software, then your company should provide support, as should Symantec [2] (the makers of the software). --KSmrq^T 07:50, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

openCanvas Networking

I have openCanvas (the free version) and I've been trying to network with a friend, but we can't figure out how it works. Can anybody help us? Thanks :)

Freeware to animate a series of .png images

I would like to animate the series of .png images from http://www.appc46.dsl.pipex.com/Nationwide.html for my own personal use.

Could anyone suggest the most suitable easy to use no-cost animation program please?

I would like to see each image for about a quarter of a second before moving on to the next. It would be nice to 'dissolve' from one frame to the next, and to be able to show the year and quarter, but both those are icing on the cake.

Thanks very much.

Gimp can animate.--Amanaplanacanalpanama 23:22, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Just a note: Most people don't realize Gimp can make animated GIFs and PNGs. When you save a GIF or PNG with multiple layers, it will ask if you want to combine all the layers into one image or treat each one as a frame in an animation. --Kainaw ^(talk) 23:45, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Viruses in .mp3 files

Can a virus be contained within an mp3 that actually plays? I'm asking because my mom has an awful trojan, one of the ones that uninstalls the antivirus and shuts down the router etc, and she's worried maybe I sent it to her in a music file. The music file plays for both of us, it's not inordinately large, and I'm not infected (but that's not causative, because I'm running NT4.0 and I think I miss a lot of infections because of that). We both have antivirus progs, firewalls, adaware etc, mine hasn't detected anything and hers, as stated, was uninstalled. :shivers:. The malware also causes IE to shut down whenever she types 'virus' in google. And BTW I know there are lots of folks who are dying to suggest she or we move to Firefox etc, but please, just answers to the questions for now, thanks. :-) Anchoress 18:36, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

I guess in theory you would write one which would embed in an mp3, but it would have to do something like contain values that would cause a buffer overflow or other naughtiness in the playing application. As you couldn't be sure which mp3 player someone uses, or the OS it's running under the chances of it working would be very very slim. F-Secure, an anti-virus program manufacturer has a page dismissing mp3 viruses as hoxes. So no, I don't think an mp3 could be to blame. --Blowdart 19:35, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the info. Anchoress 21:48, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Just a note though, many of the programs which allow people to download mp3s also have malware in them and can facilitate virus infection. --Fastfission 16:17, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Yeah I've already got that covered on my PC. I've never gotten a virus from a download but I know my mum just installed some P2P software, don't know what, maybe that was it. But she does a lot of stuff on juvie download sites, with fonts and skins and stuff, I think it's more likely she got it that way. Anchoress 01:19, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

• I would indeed say that's more likely. Side note: I use IE and Firefox together. :) They work very well together. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:42, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Problems watching DVD

hi im a newbie and i finally figured out how to download a movie from the site. now the problem is i burned the movie and i can not watch it on my dvd player. It works fine on the computer, what am i missing or is there a step i have forgotten. also what is the average time it takes to download a movie, it seemed to have taken me like about 3 hours or so

please help!!!!!

THANKS

I've had similar problems, I just presumed that early DVD players are unable to play DVD±R. --Kiltman67 23:13, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

It seems what you're doing is illegal. --Proficient 22:55, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

I'll assume for the moment this is a video you can legally download. If the file you have ends in .avi, .mkv, .mov, .mp4, you need to convert it to a format that your DVD player recognizes. The easiest thing to do if this is the case is get something like VLC or Media Player Classic and watch it on your computer. Transfinite 17:10, 29 August 2006 (UTC)