Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2006 September 17

=September 17=

iPod and iTunes questions
I'm as pretty much a computer illiterate as someone with a computer can be, so please bear that in mind as you answer these questions. It all relates to buying a new iPod, unloading the old one, and backing up iTunes.


 * 1) I've put a lot of work into my iTunes library, including album art and lyrics. What is the easiest way to back this up so I won't lose all of my work?  I'm willing to spend a little more money for the sake of simplicity.  I have the ability to write DVDs and CDs, but I'll get an external hard drive if that is better.
 * 2) If iTunes 7.0 is downloaded as an upgrade, will all I've added (lyrics especially) be saved? I'm currently using iTunes 6.05.20.
 * 3) Will someone else be able to use my old 20 GB iPod if I sell it to them? Obviously they would want to completely reset it.

--Joelmills 03:50, 17 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Depends on how much you have. If it's less than 4 GB, then you could easily use a dvd, but if it's more, you should probably invest in an external drive. They're very simple to use, just plug them in and copy over the files.
 * Couldn't say for sure, but I'm fairly certain it will.
 * Absolutely
 * Hope it helps Oskar 04:23, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Well, I'm at about 13.3 GB now. If I save to DVD, will that also save the lyrics and artwork? --Joelmills 07:09, 17 September 2006 (UTC)
 * [after edit conflict] iPod 7 apparently has some backup routines to help automate backing up your music, though I'm not sure if that just makes a copy on your computer, or automatically copies your data to a CD or DVD. Regardless, I've backed up my entire music collection at least once (the only time I did a full backup it took me over 100 CD-Rs) and that's a good temporary solution (i.e. less than 10 years) though it's relatively easy to damage CDs if you're not careful. It's a lot easier to just take care of your computer and make sure that nothing bad happens to your harddrive.
 * About backing up your files to DVD, it depends on how you do it. If you just copy a huge folder encompassing every song you have, chances are that all the information, lyrics, pictures, will be copied as well. iPod 7 might have an option to backup "music only" but I'd be willing to bet "copy all" is a default option. Why don't you take some time to look at the mp3 format and other popular music file types to familiarize yourself with the way these things work. It'll save you worries in the future! freshofftheufo  ΓΛĿЌ  07:18, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * You can do a little experiment: copy one song and change the name of the file and move it somewhere else on your hard-drive. Then import it into iTunes, and check if all the meta-data is intact (that is, if the new file contains all the lyrics and things, you will know that the information is stored in the file, and you can safely backup by simply copying the files). Tell us how it goes.
 * As for the back-up thing: 13.3 GB would take 4 DVDs which isn't very much. Make the call yourself, it would most likely work fine.Oskar 07:49, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Why Does My Flash Drive Keep Disconnecting?
Every once in a while, I'll be on a computer - any computer - and I'll suddenly hear that noise that comes up when I take out my flash drive. All of my Portable Gaim icons disappear, and sure enough, that "Safely Remove Hardware" button on the toolbar isn't there anymore and the light on my flash drive is off. I physically remove it and put it back in, and I hear the noise that comes up when I put it back in, and everything is fine again. This has happened at least once on every computer with which I've used the flash drive, a Cruzer Mini 512MB, and it's recently become a problem when my Portable Firefox tries to update itself. It takes so long when it tries that the drive inevitably disconnects at some point, and then I end up having to reinstall Firefox. (I know I could turn off the automatic updates, but I'd rather just fix the flash drive problem.) --Maxamegalon2000 04:52, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I've had this problem, too. Can you wiggle the flash drive while in the USB port ?  If so, the weight of the flash drive can cause it to "droop" in the USB port, and break contact.  Use a short USB to USB (male to female/female to male) extension cable to relieve the tension on the plug, laying the flash drive flat on a surface.  This worked great for me.  I suggest leaving the extension cable plugged into the computer, and only unplug and replug things into that cable.  This will have the advantage of preventing your computer's USB port from going bad from repeated plugging and unplugging. StuRat 06:19, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * The flash drive I used at school stuck out of the front of the computer, which was right in front of my crotch and I used to smash it by accident all the time with my knees. The chip board inside repeatedly fractured (I've been through a couple of them actually, little cheap ones for documents) and I suspect you're having the same problem. What StuRat suggests should work fine, and I think I'll look into an M/F adaptor myself. freshofftheufo  ΓΛĿЌ  07:02, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * LOL @ "M/F adapter", are you rather upset ? :-) StuRat 07:15, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * As a matter of fact, yes! And I won't tolerate their blatant heightism anymore! freshofftheufo  ΓΛĿЌ  07:19, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * That could be it - the drive seems to wiggle vertically and horizontally, so I'll look into the cable. Thanx! --Maxamegalon2000 01:30, 18 September 2006 (UTC)


 * You're quite welcome. StuRat 05:04, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

VOB to M4V
Does anyone know of a free (gratis is fine) converter that can convert VOB to M4V (an iPod compatible M4V), and can either pan and scan, or at least recognise when it's meant to be 16:9 (and output as such). I have one now but it doesn't recognise when the file is 16:9 even though all the players do, so when it outputs the M4V, it's been stretched to 4:3. So does anyone know of one that can recognise it properly (and pan and scan, but at least recognise it)? - Рэд  хот  12:37, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * MagicDVDripper, which isn't free but which has a free (and apparently fully-functional) trial, claims to do this. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 13:06, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Thanks. I'll try it. It's actually a 5-use limit but maybe I'll buy it if it's good (unless I can find something free with similar functionality) - Рэд  хот  13:11, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't quite understand you said "...it doesn't recognise when the file is 16:9...". My understanding is that you want a video converter app that offers different values of aspect ratio like 4:3, 16:9, 12:5, etc., then i suggest you try MediaCoder which is a free app enabling you to convert VOB to M4V container format. Plus, if the VOB you are gonna convert contains some encryption stuff, it will be not that easy, you can go to DVD0101.Com for more help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by JonesLee123 (talk • contribs) 08:39, 8 April 2016 (UTC)

science and technology
countries talk about inter continental missiles having ranges say up to some thousands of km .But when you can launch satellites in to space you can also drop nukes anywhere on the earth. please clarify this.


 * Satellites are harder to protect than nuclear weapons in deep silos. A satellite containing a little bit of TNT and some iron filings / ball bearings could disable lots of other satellites at the flick of a switch. An accurate .22 rifle in space could do it more selectively, and much cheaper than Star Wars. Rentwa 13:30, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * If you really mean "if we can put satellites up, why don't we use the rockets that launch satellites to fire nuclear weapons?" then the answer is we do, and the US and USSR's space programmes were built on their ICBM programmes - Sputnik 1 was launched on a R-7 Semyorka rocket, the world's first ICBM, and indeed the modern Dnipro launch vehicle is a modified SS-18 missile. Now if you're asking "why don't we put nuclear bombs in space premptively, so we can quickly deorbit them onto our enemies, with much less warning?", that's perfectly possible, but it's prohibited by a number of treaties (see ) - the reason being that the signatories didn't really like the idea of holding knifes quite that close to oneanother's throats (and the big guys all had SLBMs, which are quite sufficient for sneaky attacks and less accident prone that spaceships). -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 13:43, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Any country which can move a reasonably large satellite into orbit can also generally convert that missile into an ICBM, pretty much. --Fastfission 13:47, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * We're so accustomed to orbital rockets that we've forgotten how difficult it is to build them. Launching a payload into a stable orbit, or an unstable orbit that ends at a predetermined target on the surface, is no small feat of engineering.  Furthermore, those countries that have built these rockets guard the technology closely, so any country that wants to build its own rockets has to either develop it independently or try to steal the secret.  North Korea, for instance, is probably trying to do both right now. --Smack (talk) 17:09, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Password-protected data
I want to be able to write down all of the passwords that I use in a special file protected with a "master" password. I'm using Windows XP Home, and I have Office 2000 and WordPerfect Office 11. Is there a way to do this? --Smack (talk) 17:09, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Use Password Safe, it does what you want, only better. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 17:11, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree with Finlay McWalter. Also, Password Safe is free. --Gerry Ashton 20:03, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Sweet! Thanks. --Smack (talk) 00:48, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Alternative to Apple AirTunes
I was thinking of buying an apple AirTunes to be able to play my iTunes library in the kitchen. However, it is a bit pricey at $129. Is there any good alternative doesn't cost as much that does the same thing (ie play music over wifi). Also, is there a unit which integrates this and a radio (so you can use one machine to listen to itunes an the radio) Oskar 17:11, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * These devices come under a number of names, often "network music players". Two popular models are the Roku Soundbridge M1000, and the SlimDevices Squeezebox, but I don't know how cheap they will be in your market. I've also heard good things about the Magic Box IMP Wi-Fi radio. All three devices feature internet radio, but I don't think they have FM radios. The Roku SoundBridge Radio has FM/AM though. As I said, I don't know if these devices will be any cheaper, but hopefully they should be a starting point. (I was going to get a wifi music player but settled for plugging my MP3 player into my hifi, which is much cheaper, just not as cool!) Sum0 21:39, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Linux system backup
After an update a while ago Suse wouldn't start anymore. I haven't managed to fix the problem yet, so I thought about making a fresh installation. But I want to keep the old one on dvd, just in case. Does it make sense to make a system-backup this way? I used to do that with Win98 - just make a copy (using another installation) and when it gets screwed up, just copy it back again. Worked fine. But will it work for Linux? Also, when I tried this, it turned out many files were inaccessible, especially under /dev and /etc, but also loads more. So my questions are: Thanks. DirkvdM 18:35, 17 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Will this trick work with Linux the way it did with Win98? (in case I get a good one up and running again)
 * Does it matter that I put it on dvd in stead of on hd?
 * Is the inaccesibility an indication of the problem?
 * How might I use the backup to get the newly installed system the way the old one was, most notably concerning installed programs (software-installation is one of the major problems with Linux, so I don't want to go through that again)


 * You wouldn't really use  (the unix equivalent of  ) to backup linux (and equally that wouldn't work for a modern Windows install either).  Not least because what appears to be files under /dev aren't really conventional files (in the sense that you mean), ditto for /proc, and probably a few other places.  To make a full system backup you'd typically   your partition to backing store (having safely unmounted it first), which will take an exact image of the drive, bit for bit. Absent another hard drive to marshall that into DVD sized chunks prior to making ISOs, I've no idea how you'd really do that with DVDs as the backup medium.  But really this isn't a sensible, or necessary, way to backup a unix system.  Practically you'd just back up the files you really need to save (just the stuff you personally actually made), and surely that'd be a sensible DVDs worth or two, and you'd trust to the success of a reinstall to get you a fresh system.  Every revision of each major Linux distribution gets easier to install with each iteration.  On the other hand, one continual hazard about most unix (including linux, but apparently not MacOSX, about which I know little) is the way a single program's install is spread over a regrettably wide collection of locations - so backing up an individual application install meaningfully is essentially impossible. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 19:16, 17 September 2006 (UTC)


 * What I would do is back up my home partition and get copies of all the packages of the programs I used to install the system. That way, you can make a fresh reinstall, and your personal files and programs will be easy to restore. If I'm not mistaken, most programs put configuration data in your home partition, so this shouldn't be a problem.
 * I don't use Linux, so I don't know if this applies, but you may be able to reinstall things but tell the installer not to touch your home partition; you may still need to get copies of the packages though if the Linux install wipes /usr instead of overwriting it. Dysprosia 02:06, 18 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I do basically the same as Dysprosia except I back up to CD (allowing for major cock ups on reinstall) and I keep a paper note of all the steps I take during the install to make it simpler each time (there are so many options for the KDE desktop). Rentwa 12:47, 20 September 2006 (UTC)