Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2006 July 28

universal disk format
Hello, How can I get a univesal disk format to play on mac os x Thank you for your hrlp


 * Do you mean Sony's Universal Media Disk ? If so, you have no chance, as Sony refuses to produce standalone drives or allow others to do so. Anyway, the format is inferior to DVD, so use that instead. Robmods 11:17, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

No, the disk is not a sony disk. the disk has a pal version on one side and ntsc on the other side. Under the"get info" menu it just says univesal disk format. Thanks for your time and help.
 * Universal Disk Format is just a part of making regular DVDs. --Kjoonlee 14:46, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

For some reason my drive is not recognizing it. It shows up on my desktop, but both quicktime and wmp say its is an invalid format. Thanks again


 * If it is just a normal DVD, open up Applications, and open DVD player. If it doesn't open it automatically tell it to, or press the control button and click on the DVD, select open with, then Choose... Browse to DVD player after that. and click Choose. I think that is how you do it, my Apple isn't going to ship here until tomorrow. Goodluck

DVD
There is a specific scene from the movie "Kangaroo Jack" in which i need to put on a power point presentation for an english oral i have. My first question is can i get this scene and secondly if i can, can i put it on powerpoint and thirdly, how?

Thank you


 * You need to buy/rent the DVD, and play it on your computer. When the scene in question comes up (I presume you're talking about a still picture from a scene), you need to pause the playback and capture the screen. See the documentation of your DVD software for details - try right-clicking and look through the menus. This will either put the screenshot on your disk as an image file (which you can then insert into your PowerPoint presentation), or on the clipboard, in which case you need to open an image editor and Paste it into a new image, save it, and proceed like above. &mdash; QuantumEleven 11:50, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


 * If you do not know how to do it, the (highly complicated, difficult to install, and difficult to use) free hack software will be of little use to you. You to purchase a program that rips DVDs to either avi or mpeg video so you can include that in your presentation.  Note that practically any program that lets you rip/copy/view a movie is deemed illegal by the entertainment industry.  Oh - I just remembered - you can get many of the programs free from porn sites if you want your computer heavily infested with trojans and viruses. --Kainaw (talk) 12:51, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Kainaw is right - inserting a short video clip from a longer movie into a PowerPoint presentation is very difficult. May I suggest instead that you take the DVD with you for your English oral, and play the scene in question directly off the DVD? Since you're making a PowerPoint presentation I can assume you'll have access to a computer, hopefully one with a DVD drive and some DVD software (make sure to check in advance). Trust me, doing this will save you a lot of hassle. &mdash; QuantumEleven 12:55, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

The problem is though is that i need to play two scenes from two different movies, what should i do? I have Windows Movie maker, if that helps? but when ever i insert the DVD into the computer it plays the movie straight away and when i open up the DVD in C:// it doesn't open up a movie but a bunch of other things
 * You could play the DVD on your computer, and while it is playing, grab the scene you want using a great little program called Bulent's Screen Recorder. Then save it to an .avi file, and insert in your presentation.  But the picture quality probably won't be that great.  I agree with QuantumEleven, your best bet is to play the scene directly off of a DVD rather than trying to embed it into Powerpoint. --Richardrj 13:03, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Does bulent screen recorder have sound?
 * Yes - read the website I linked to :) --Richardrj 13:27, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

i have downloaded the program and it was working but now it sn't at all, ever time i open up the software it says Error Code 4: - could not find a Wave_In line mixer! (it has an exclimation mark at the end of the message)
 * Sorry, can't help you. I've never had that error message.  Check the website for possible troubleshooting hints.  Was there any help that came with the download? --Richardrj 13:56, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Maybe you can try this...,try downloading some software like"DVDTOAVI" and convert it to "avi or mpg and just edit your resultant clips with "Windows Movie Maker".All said to go then.......Tip:Try Google search with revised keywords for such software....If this sucks..take this,Download "VOBBLANKER".It's for free and you can commonly get it from most download support sites.Check in google.Once done...,place the dvd and run the software and browse the input for the "Video_TS".Once done....,now you can split your Whole DVD to single cells from PGVs easily...Exatcly by keeping the required cell alone gives you exatcly the part you need....You can use VCD Cutter tool for editing ".Vob" files if you have MPEG2 codecs properly installed in your PC.If this doesn't work then download a "DVD Cutter" and check out crack sites for converting to full ver as Kainaw mentioned.But beware of virus ....Problem solved!!

Portable X Server for Windows?
Moved here from the science reference desk.

Where I am, I have access to a Unix machine, but the lab where I have local access is sometimes closed. I also have access to several labs, but they run Windows and have no local data store, so I have to carry my data around on a portable hard drive. I have tried Cygwin, but it fails when I change computers. Are there any X servers that I can download and install on my hard drive without having to have administrative access on the computers I use? --Zemylat 15:50, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Can you boot from a CD? If so there's a project out there that's focused on that specifically, but you could boot any livecd you like and get an X server. If you can't boot from CD can you boot from your HD? If you can't do that I don't have another idea atm. - Taxman Talk 18:22, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
 * The CD-linux you are referring to is most likely Knoppix. --Kainaw (talk) 19:09, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
 * No, I'm aware of knoppix, Ubuntu, Freesbie, and many otehr live CD's. What I didn't explain very clearly is there is a project that autoruns from the CD while you're running Windows and runs an X server so that you don't have to install any software or even be able to boot come to think of it. I was just forgetting some of the details because it's been a while. XLiveCD is what I was thinking of. Here's the website. Maybe that will work for you, Zemyla. - Taxman Talk 21:45, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Not X, but you could try VNC.EricR 19:33, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

how to open a "rar file"
Hi! I'd like to know how to open a "rar file"


 * If you are using Windows, you can ask your favorite search engine for a program like Winrar or Winace, both of which can uncompress rar files, though there are many others that can do the same. Digfarenough 20:16, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Pick one. Both IZArc and WinRAR are popular choices. --KSmrqT 20:35, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

You can download "Winrar" and just try it for someday.It can be used to open ".rar" compressed file formats...Try for some other free tool in Google Search


 * Winrar. --Proficient 20:33, 29 July 2006 (UTC)


 * 7-Zip. Free & open source. - mako 08:30, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

Help w/ DVD Rip for ipod!
OK, so I bought an imported music DVD from the UK and I've been trying to rip it so I can listen to it on my ipod while traveling. I can't get it to play in the DVD players so I've been using VLC media player (which I found out about through wikipedia:)). And I even got it to rip to my hard drive in perfect condition but when I convert it again it's crap (I ripped it w/ Super, which is a great free converter by the way)!  And I can't put it directly into my ipod or in iTunes library 'cause it's some weird type of file... it even says it's a 'file' when I look under type.  I have no idea what that is!

I've tried converting the DVD and the weird 'file' type w/ a few other programs like Xilsoft, Videora, and PQ DVD... they all don't work that great or convert badly. And some only convert the first chapter of it and not the rest...

Please help!

~Cathy~
 * It is a movie you're talking about right? That "file" may just be a specific type of file with the extension not written.  You could try renaming it and adding a ".wmv", ".mpg", or any other video format file extension and see if that works. — Mets 501  (talk) 21:37, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
 * wouldnt the dvd be from the wrong DVD region code?

Drawbacks of RISC??
I've been looking to track some of the disadvantages or drawbacks of RISC architectures compared to CISC but yet couildn't find....Does anybody could give any disadvantages that technicians curretnly are facing with RISC based designs?...Not to mention it's Addressing mode instruction usage please..


 * One drawback is an immediate consequence of the definition: it takes more RISC instructions to achieve the same result as a smaller number of CISC instructions. That can have an impact on memory — including disk, main, and cache — and on bus bandwidth needs. Some have argued that the main benefit of RISC designs stems from having large banks of registers, though there is really more to it than that. For example, RISC performance may be more strongly coupled to the quality of the compiler. Recommended reading is Hennessy and Patterson, Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 4/e (ISBN 978-0-12-370490-0), or 3/e (ISBN 978-1-55860-596-1). Have you tried the obvious, namely read the RISC article and its links? If not, do. --KSmrqT 22:30, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


 * The article RISC includes drawbacks, descriptions, comparisons, and examples of use. Wow!  Wikipedia is an encyclopedia too!? --Kainaw (talk) 22:33, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Thank you.It was a good piece of satisfaction though you've mentioned that RISC designs take more instructions than CISC designs for obtaining same result.But since RISC's priliminary advantage is that it takes less in number of total instructions than CISC in performing operations like I\O,logical....Ops(SIMS).That means a single instruction can mean more than just one operation is the key word here which I'm streesing...Altogethor the SSE tech brings multiple data streams processed with single instruction....And ofcourse you're pretty right that the RISC design's efficiency is always relied on the Compiler built for it...and thanks about the reference guys...

Undo window resize in Internet Explorer for Windows 98
I resized a window so I could have a text and a translation site in windows next to each other. Now, if I click a link and choose, 'open in new window' the link is opened in the resized window and if I resize it's not permanent. How did I make it permanent to begin with and how do I let right-clicked links open in full windows again? Google isn't helpful, probably the wrong query I'm using. - Mgm|(talk) 21:54, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
 * That is Window's helpful "remember your window size" trick. I am not sure if there is a quicker way to fix it, but I usually just open the window, set it to the correct size and close it. Open the window again, resize it and close it. Open the window again... etc. Eventually, the very helpful software will get the message that this is the size you want your windows to be and remember it (until the next time it wants to be helpful anyway). Hopefully someone else will know of a trick that will work more quickly and reliably. Road Wizard 22:14, 28 July 2006 (UTC)
 * That's a crappy feature to say the least. It remembers pretty much any resize I ever did, but when I try to resize to full-screen the stupid feature never kicks in. Figures... (Don't tell me to use another browser, I do, but sometimes I just can't avoid IE.) - Mgm|(talk) 22:33, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


 * It seems straightforward to me with IE 6.0 on Windows XP. (I think this is an IE function, not Windows.) The size is dependent on the size setting of the window you new-window-right-click the link from (call it the source window).  If you have the source window maximized (full screen), then you can't see the size setting, so hit Restore for the source window, adjust the size, then maximize again (if you want).  That size should be the newly-created-window's size for new-window-right-click from the source window. -R. S. Shaw 00:25, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Keyboard woes
I have a keyboard that the computer doesn't reconize it's not in the hardware profiles and I can't find it when I try to install new hardware. I dropped it the other day so that might be the problem but I thought I post here to see if anyone else has any ideas before I go buy a new keyboard. If it matters any I'm running XP with SP1. Whispering 22:41, 28 July 2006 (UTC)


 * A keyboard is a very simple piece of equipment. You might open it and see if there's a loose wire. Take care how you open it, though, so the parts don't fall out before you've seen where they were. DirkvdM 04:10, 29 July 2006 (UTC)


 * If it was dropped, it might also be a cracked solder. --cesarb 16:21, 29 July 2006 (UTC)


 * If you dropped it, then that's probably why. Did you have problems before? --Proficient 20:35, 29 July 2006 (UTC)