Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 March 3

=March 3=

Exact (clone) CD Copies
I have two computers which I wish to install and run a game on. Both are my computers. The game is The Sims 2 Seasons I need to make an exact duplicate of the Sims 2 CD, using a program that will make a functional disk. I tried "Clone CD" and it did not work. Does anyone know of any programs that will completely allow me to make a duplicate, that will be exactly the same as the original disk? Zylstra555 21:27, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Do you have a mac or a windows computer?--Ryan 02:34, 4 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm assuming Windows. Alcohol 120% is another tool, though I'm not sure why CloneCD wouldn't work. You do know that even with 1:1 many drives have a hard time reading the bad sectors characteristic of SafeDisc? Might need DAEMON Tools too. Splintercellguy 05:34, 4 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I am using Windows. I will try Alcohol 120%. I am not sure I understand the second part of your answer, but if you mean that the disk may have issues, its a brand new disk. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.112.144.247 (talk) 08:10, 4 March 2007 (UTC).


 * I'm assuming that Sims 2 uses SafeDisc. Now, the way that SafeDisc works is that it creates a block of "bad sectors" on the CD. When someone tries to copy the disc and burn, those sectors aren't "bad" anymore, and SafeDisc fails the disc. Splintercellguy 21:32, 4 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I know what this user is trying to do and it won't work. You need to seperate copies and CD keys to play multiplayer.--Dacium 05:24, 5 March 2007 (UTC)


 * You could also use Alcohol to make a virtual disk on one computer and eliminate the need for (complicated) duplication of the original CD. Of course, you can not play multiplayer with both computers if you have only 1 serial number. Shinhan 18:33, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Test
What do I need to do with my CSS to make the FA star show up in Classic? --hydnjo talk 01:50, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
 * You may think the computing desk has failed your test, but (after half an hour of searching - I know nothing about these things) here it is: add the following (note this produces the star at the very top right of the screen, at least on my browser, which may not be where you want it):

div.topicon { position:absolute; z-index:100; top:10px; display: block !important; } Algebraist 21:00, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Reset C: Drive on Dell Dimension 4600?
Is there a way to Reset C: Drive on Dell Dimension 4600? 68.193.147.179 03:24, 3 March 2007 (UTC)


 * No need to post your question twice, I will answer it. Splintercellguy 03:38, 3 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I f I drop files into D: Drive will that save it? 68.193.147.179 03:44, 3 March 2007 (UT
 * Back up all data onto a CD or DVD(s), then follow these instructions. - Wo o  ty   Woot?   contribs  22:01, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

IBM Thinkpads
What is so good about IBM Thinkpads? Are they mroe reliable, more sturdy? 64.230.85.203 03:26, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I have had the same one for 3 years. Mine never broke down, but my friend's did.  He said that the service was excellent, and it was fixed quickly (same day).
 * What about performance wise? For example, for graphics, web design? 64.230.85.203 03:49, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Web design you just need the most basic, internet ready computer, and graphics unless you are doing huge ones (like 4000+px per side), you don't need anything special other than more ram than average. --antilivedT 05:55, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
 * This is purely anecdotal, but a friend of mine who repairs notebooks has always said that the Thinkpad T series have some of the best construction. Another insight he once offered that has proved valuable to me; no matter what brand of laptop you are after, always buy the "business" line rather than the "home" model.  The former is almost always of higher build quality than the latter and will prove to be more durable.  As for performance, as long as you're not aiming to play serious videogames on your laptop (please don't get this notion into your head; you'll have to sacrifice a lot in terms of portability, durability, battery life, and cash), Intel's current generation mobile platform will serve most purposes well.  My last two laptops have been Thinkpads and have reliably and almost exclusively served my PC needs. -- mattb


 * They are well designed. The keyboards are excellent. There are small features that make life easier (eg, keyboard light, hard disk accellerometers, fingerprint readers), plus other design considerations to add to durability. As to gaming, I use an ATI-enabled ThinkPad and it handles quite fine -- if you're after graphics performance on Windows look for one with an ATI chipset inside (I believe all the Thinkpads have either Intel graphics or ATI discrete chipsets), though this will cost you in battery life. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.49.242.20 (talk • contribs) 14:21, 3 March 2007


 * I have a thinkpad T60 and I will never buy anything that's not ThinkPad again. It is far and away the highest quality product of all laptops. It's perfect. And mattb, I can play every game that's out right now with my Radeon x1400 and I still get fine battery life. --69.175.17.5 00:28, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

my briefcase
I will be very grateful to you if you explain how to use "my briefcase" to update files? I tried. But It sayes the files are orphans. pl. help me thank you124.43.243.237 11:19, 3 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Careful what you do with that thing, or you could mess things up. After creating a briefcase on the portable storage medium of your choosing (e.g. a floppy disk, a CD-RW or thumb drive), you drag the files you want in the briefcase, onto the briefcase icon and then release the mouse button. This creates copies of the files onto the storage medium, in this virtual briefcase. Now, after editing a file, either the copy in the briefcase, or the original on your computer, you can update the other version provided that it hasn't also been edited. If you edit both files, the briefcase wont dare to overwrite either because if it did, the changes to one of those would be lost. If you go and move the original files on the computer, to a different location on your harddrive(s), this confuses the briefcase, and the files in it are left "orphaned", separated from their orginals. If you delete the orginal on your harddrive, the briefcase, when updated, will also delete the copy, so if that's not what you want, do be careful! --Seans Potato Business 06:54, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

PSU prblems
I recently burned a PSU and it took out my motherboard as well.

I then bought a new motherboard, took out the graphics card, ram, hdd etc (so just left the cpu and cpu fan) but the new PSU burnt within 30 seconds. What could be causing the problem? THe CPU is a core2duo and the PSU was an ez-cool 400W, could a faulty CPU do this or is it possible that the PSU I received was faulty?


 * It could be that your PSU is not powerful enough for all the hardware you put on it, it could be that your PSU is defective, or it could be that your _power_ is unclean (too high voltage, too low voltage, frequency out of spec, or several other problems). I'd check the incoming power first; are you using a UPS? --cesarb 14:49, 3 March 2007 (UTC)


 * 30 seconds is very quick! That sounds like a pretty dire problem.  The first things I'd check for would be (1) some kind of wiring problem causing a short circuit between the power supply and (or on) the motherboard, and (2) the 120/240V input voltage switch on the power supply, if it has one. —Steve Summit (talk) 15:24, 3 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Plug nothign into the PSU except a harddrive. Short the green wire to any black wires (on the plug that normally goes into the motherboard). Tthis is the power on button. This is the way to check if the PSU is broken or not. When you get a new PSU do this. Something in your case must be shorting power somewhere this would mean its likly either a visiable spark that you should see or it should get really hot. It would take many amps to blow the PSU.--Dacium 05:18, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

BBC Micro
In my Physics Text book, there is some code to run on a BBC Micro to make the qwerty keyboard into a mucsical keyboard. Is there any software I can down load to run this simple code in XP? MHDIV ɪŋglɪʃnɜː(r)d  ( Suggestion? | wanna chat? ) 13:59, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Have a dig around in the Google results for BBC Micro emulator — Matt Eason (Talk &#149; Contribs) 14:08, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Name change
Under Windows XP how do you change a username name from "Stupid Teachers Aide" to "John Stern" without deleting the offending user's account and then replacing it with a new one? Nocternal 14:29, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Control Panel -> User Accounts -> "pick an account to change" -> the name of the user -> Change My Name -> Type in new name -> press enter. Josh Holloway  14:58, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Okay this worked to change the username, Now is there anyway to change the "Stupid Teachers Aide" folder name found as c:\Documents and Settings\Stupid Teachers Aide\...? After several popups that say it will no longer be shared after it is renamed a popup occurs that says the name can not be changed because it is a system folder in use by Windows. Nocternal 15:19, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
 * You need to log in as a different (admin) user to the one whose folder you're renaming. See . — Matt Eason (Talk &#149; Contribs) 17:23, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Okay this worked but first I had to create a new admistrator account and then reboot and log on to it instead of just switching users. Thanks. Nocternal 18:05, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Red Alert ore fields
Dear Wikipedians:

While playing Red Alert and Red Alert 2 I noticed a corkscrew like structure in the middle of ore fields. It looks old and crummy and kind of run-down. The corkscrew drills into the ground every once in a while and some gold-dust puffs up. So it seems that these corkscrews have something to do with the ores. I wonder what the corkscrew is. Also I never see these corkscrew structures in the middle of the more precious gem fields.

70.50.141.29 18:40, 3 March 2007 (UTC)
 * As I see it, the corkscrew it like a drill which brings precious ore from deep below the ground. The ore it produces spawns to the side of it, for your miners to collect. The more precious ore is ore that is naturally on the surface. Unlike the normal yellow/gold ore, this doesn't respawn as it's collected by ore miners. Once it's gone, it's gone. The fact that the corkscrews (drills) are "crummy and kind of run-down" is merely because the graphics aren't amazing, nothing else. Josh Holloway  19:50, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Thank you very much, I understand now. So for yellow/gold ore without a corkscrew in the middle, they're also gone when the miner harvests all of it? 70.50.141.29 20:35, 3 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah. The corkscrews are pretty much like the tiberium blossom trees in the other C&C games. Tiberium can spawn more tiberium on its own though, ore can't (because it's just a bunch of rocks). -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 21:05, 3 March 2007 (UTC)