Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 October 9

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October 9

Shipping

If I ship my PC, do I need to do anything special to prepare it? Clarityfiend (talk) 04:14, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

A heap of bubble wrap. I shipped my PC from the Australia to the Philippines and it had dents all over it and needed a repair on arrival after the long trip. It may also be worth removing the important components (like the graphics card if it is a good one) and wrap them up separately just to be sure. Shipping companies tend to ignore ‘fragile’ stickers. 203.202.144.223 (talk) 06:43, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Only if it's a really impressive heap. I recently recieved a computer with an inch of bubble wrap around it, which wasn't enough: one corner of the case had been dented in transit. I recommend taping styrofoam blocks to the corners and edges, to imitate the way computer companies package things. --Carnildo (talk) 19:59, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Heh, with all the computers I had transfer I always had them in the styrofoam blocks, I just don't trust the alternative of it getting trashed by shipping. For monitors I throw a peice of cardbord infront of the LCD too for at least the illusion it does something. pretty much though it's just "Wrap it in bubble wrap or use styrofoam blocks if you can get them." Forai (talk) 22:07, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Personally I'd take the hard drive out and just carry it with me on my person. No sense is risking losing all your data at once if your computer gets redirected to Dubai on accident. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 23:17, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

I strongly agree - take the hard-drive out and hand-carry it. Everything else in the machine can easily be repaired or replaced in the event of a disaster - but if the drive gets trashed (and it's by far the most sensitive component to being dropped or jolted) then you've got a major problem with reinstalling everything. Obviously you should back everything up onto CD's or DVD's too (even a hand-carried drive can get damaged). But even with a decent backup - the hassle of getting everything back how you like it makes looking after the hard drive very important. If possible, put it into one of those silver/grey plastic bags and then wrap the bag in bubble-wrap. As for the rest of the computer - I'd probably remove any internal cards (eg the graphics card if you have a separate one) and treat those the same way - silver/metallised plastic bag - then bubble-wrap. Don't forget to wrap your keyboard - the keys tend to suffer during shipping and can pop-out and get lost. SteveBaker (talk) 13:37, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

In addition to the above, if you have a very large CPU heatsink consider removing it. With enough jostling they can yank the CPU right off the motherboard in a very destructive way. This is especially true if you've got some sort of super-duper giant aftermarket heatsink designed for overclocking or fanless operation. APL (talk) 17:40, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

I actually did that once, yanking my whole heatsink and CPU out without releasing it from the socket, and it's fine to this day (turns out my thermal paste had turned into a glue-like substance). Having a big block of loose metal tumbling around your case though, is definitely no good. --antilived^{T | C | G} 05:04, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

New file system on Windows

Say I have a disk with a custom file-system on it - something that Windows does not support as of now. Could someone guide me on how I can go about creating a driver to make windows understand, and access this new file system?--Seraphiel (talk) 08:21, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

You need the IFS Kit. It used to cost money and it looks from that page like it still does, but I was under the impression that it's now available for free, so look around. The NTFSD mailing list, run by OSR, is a useful resource. I think there's only one book on the subject. Sorry for the quick reply but I have limited time... -- BenRG (talk) 17:04, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

The other alternative is to just access the partition directly and write your own user-mode driver and GUI... --wj32 ^t/c 22:57, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, BenRG and Wj32. Those look like good starting points. I've managed to get my hands on the book, and have joined the mailing list too. I'll go through them and post back if I have further queries. Thanks again.--Seraphiel (talk) 07:35, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Help installing LinuxMCE

Has anyone here successfully installed a full LinuxMCE system in their home? We are thinking of doing an installation at my friend's house; his is the guinea pig for what will hopefully be many more. I've browsed the LinuxMCE Wiki but it is simply information overload. What I'd REALLY like is for someone who has already done it to give some guidance as to which components to buy, particularly when it comes to the security cameras and controllers for them. I thought I'd try the Refdesk first before hitting the LinuxMCE forums, please don't shoot me :P Zunaid 14:01, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

global village

We know right now that the globe is now turning to be a global village with the use of computers everywhere. At first it wasnt so. My question why is it now important to learn computing and not just the fundamentals but to go into details to learn oracle, systems administration and engineering etc. Emmanuel —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.210.28.223 (talk) 14:11, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

It isn't important to know those things. That is specialization relevant only to a small number of occupational fields. Having good knowledge of computers and a basic understanding of how they work/operate is a good thing. I've never seen anyone suggest Oracle knowledge etc. is important to the general public. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 14:39, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

There are huge benefits to be had from learning some basic computer stuff - like scripting/programming and basic systems admin. Even if you wind up in a career that doesn't demand those things - it's amazing how many day-to-day office tasks can be helped out by being able to write a simple script - or by understanding how to fix simple technical matters yourself rather than having to run to the IT department (or paying a bunch of bozo's like "The Geek Squad" or the Microsoft help desk) every time you have a minor problem. Computers are here to stay - and they are getting into every corner of our lives - not being "computer literate" in the age of computers is going to be as bad as not being "literate" in the age of printing. SteveBaker (talk) 13:30, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

graphic cards

is it possible for graphic cards to display 1920x1080 pixels on a 46" sony hdtv used as a monitor? actually wut ishould be asking is are there any graphic cards out there displaying that many pixels when set on the settings tab when u right click?Jwking (talk) 16:23, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

The settings tab should display the resolutions compatible with your monitor if you have installed the appropriate drivers. As long as your graphic card has enough video memory, you should be able to use large resolutions. --wj32 ^t/c 22:53, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Actaully a few graphics cards that have a HDMI output connector on the card, have a Native resolution of 1920x1080. To get a graphic card who's programmable clip clock is fast enought to do that resolution requries a peice of software called Power~ something. I cant remember. My EVGA PCIx16 nVidia 7600 is the only card I have that can do it. I have a Toshiba Libretto U105 at work, that has the 64Mb of VRam ( shared memory ), but its pixel clock is not fast enough. ( Damn old Intel internal video chip ). Use the " Dell Ultrasharp UXGA 17" Screen" driver (.inf file ) to tell your video card, what monitor you have ) ( You can see this thread: [1] ) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.185.0.29 (talk) 06:31, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, what? A Voodoo 3 3000 could do 2046x1536 at 60Hz. You don't need HDMI out either; you can get a simple adapter to go from DVI to HDMI, and some TVs take VGA as input. You can do component video out too, depending on the video card. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:37, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

And: The software you're likely thinking of is Powerstrip; that will let you get resolutions that are not displayed as an option by the driver, but it's usually not necessary for 1920x1080. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:46, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Damn! Thanks Crusty, Thats the software exactly. What is your definition of Usually? I have never seen a video card, except a nVidia 8800GT that didnt need it.

And, 1920x1080 is 1Mpixel, so you need at least 32MB to do a 24-bit still picture. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.185.0.29 (talk) 08:58, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

My definition of 'usually' is "> 50% of the time". Unless there's something wrong with the card's detection of the TV, I haven't seen any that require using powerstrip for that resolution. 1080p is an HDTV resolution, it's pretty common. Also, your calculation looks wrong: (1920*1080 pixels) * (24 bits / pixel) * (1 megabyte / 8388608 bits) = 5.93 megabytes. -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 13:48, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Most modern graphics cards should be able to get to that resolution - but are you sure your TV can handle it? By default the graphics card is going to produce 1080p (progressive scan) - but many (even quite high end) TV sets can only do 720p or 1080i (interlaced) which is not quite the same thing. Most of them will accept those higher resolution images - but down-sample them to the resolution they actually can manage. That looks OK with TV programs and movies - but when you do that with images from a computer, you get a picture that looks pretty terrible - and running your graphics at the actual resolution that the TV can manage without tricks will produce better results. SteveBaker (talk) 13:24, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

.net Framework

Is there any good reason why I would need to have .net v2 and v3 installed on my computer at the same time, or does v3 being the latest issue provide the full functionality of previous versions ? I just note that v2 and v3 are installed side by side on my machine rather than v3 having overwritten v2. The size of the latest updates is also an issue if I have to download for both versions.--196.207.47.60 (talk) 16:36, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Probabbly there is no good reason, but I think you need to keep both to be able to run files that require one or another. Hey, it's Microsoft software, don't try to understand it... SF007 (talk) 19:59, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

.NET Framework 3.0 is based on 2.0 and adds support for WPF, Windows Workflow Foundation, and Windows Communication Foundation. When you install 3.0, it installs 2.0, plus those features. .NET Framework 3.5 is similar (this is from the download page for 3.5):

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 contains many new features building incrementally upon .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0, and includes .NET Framework 2.0 service pack 1 and .NET Framework 3.0 service pack 1.

--wj32 ^t/c 22:50, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

It's quite common for different major versions of shared libraries to be binary-incompatible, meaning that you have to have at least one instance of each major version installed if you want to support all the applications that use that library. I'm not sure this is true of .NET but I think it is. -- BenRG (talk) 21:25, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

CR-RW problems

Hi everybody. My brother recently downloaded some files for me and burned them to a CD-R. I have a CDRW drive, but for some reason when I open the drive, it says there is nothing on the disk (0 objects). If I look at the disk properties, it says there is 250mb of data on the disk. I have never before had any problems reading any disks on my Sony CRX100E CDRW drive. Any ideas what the problem is? I have WIndows 98, if that info is at all important. --AtTheAbyss (talk) 18:13, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

IsoBuster is a good program to recover/check data on CDs/DVDs, it will let you see all the "tacks" on the CD, and the files in them... you can try it (I think a trial verion is available) SF007 (talk) 19:56, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Are you opening the CD with Windows Explorer or with some other program (I'm amazed at the number of users who have no idea what WE is and try to read stuff by browsing from Excel or something...)? It's been a long time since I used 98, but it may have had the option to not show certain file types (mostly internal-type files like DLLs, etc.); if the files your brother put on the CD are of the type WE doesn't think you should see, the window will be empty but the disc still show as having memory used up on it. I believe the options for that are under Tools - Options in WE. If that doesn't help, it may help us if we know what kind of files you're expecting to see. Matt Deres (talk) 20:42, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes I'm using windows explorer. He put a patch for one of my games and a mod for another on the disk. I'm assuming they'd appear as zip or intall shield/setup launchers, but I'm not totally sure. I'll try to get ahold of him to check. I've been able to use disks with the exact same specs, so I know for sure that it's not a case of a disk being to advanced for my drive. --136.247.76.236 (talk) 22:01, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Whew. Do you have any indications that the disc is not being read correctly (light flashing or not coming on at all, weird sounds of the disc being spun up faster and faster)? If so, the disc could simply be mis-burnt. It happens. Did you check to see if Windows was hiding the files on you? I believe the check for that is under Tools - Options (or Folder Options, something like that). Somewhere there'll be an option to show or hide hidden files (at least I think so; as I said, it's been ages since '98 for me) - make sure Windows is showing you everything. Also, ask your friend if he left the disc "open" or closed. I've heard some drives can't read discs left open by a different drive. To be honest, it sounds to me like the disc is simply toast. I've been burning discs for about a decade now, back when the fast model was a 4-2-24, and they are notoriously unreliable. BurnProof tech has helped a lot, but it's still a leap of faith, especially for burning simple files (as opposed to ISOs and other images). Spend $10 on a flash drive and never worry about it again. Matt Deres (talk) 00:33, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Well, I took the disk to my old man's house, and I was able to read it on his computer. I burned the files to another disk, which I am able to read on my computer. I installed the mod, but when I try to install the patch, I come up with this: "Could not initialize installation. File size expected= 121137572, size returned= 121139200. The parameter is incorrect." Any ideas? Thanks. --AtTheAbyss (talk) 17:56, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Writing CDs and DVDs on a MacBook

Out of nowhere, my MacBook has problems writing to and recognizing blank CDs and DVDs. The drive itself seems to have no problems reading CDs or DVDs, including writable and rewritable CDs and +/- DVDs that already have data written to them.

However, if I insert a blank CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, or DVD+R/RW, the drive spins the disk up and down a couple of times, then ejects the disk, not recognizing it anywhere.

It seems as, all of a sudden, the drive itself does not recognize that it is a burner. Toast 8 reports (as it always did) that the drive has burning capability.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. --Renwique (talk) 19:56, 9 October 2008 (UTC)