Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 January 10

= January 10 =

Legend of the Lost Video Card.
So here it is: I have a really old computer, and in it is a SR9 8MB video card. Recently I had some trouble, and my computer restarted in Safe Mode. When I was looking through the properties trying to figure out how to use it in normal mode w/o turning it off, I found something saying my comp had an ELSA ERAZOR III 32mb video card. Since running my comp in normal mode, I haven't been able to find anything about the ERAZOR. Anyone have any ideas what's going on? Thanks. --AtTheAbyss (talk) 01:31, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * When you're in safe mode the computer loads as few drivers and devices as possible, except for the minimum necessary to display information and accept input, so features such as video drivers, audio and networking are disabled, but why a completely new video card would show up is a mystery, especially if you do not have a ELSA Erazor. Have you tried running safe mode again to see if it shows up? Depending of your OS see here for how. I really can't think why this would happen unless you have both SR9 and ELSA Erazor in your computer but in normal mode ELSA Erazor is masquerading under another name. SN0WKITT3N  13:02, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Fuck. Well, I restarted my comp in safe mode. When I checked the device manager, a THIRD video card appeared, this time a SR9 Pro with 16MB of memory. Once again, in normal mode I can only find the SR9 8mb.--AtTheAbyss(I forgot to sign)

have I screwed my harddrive?
I just ordered a brand-spankin-new hardrive (IDE, 250gb) because my old one was tiny, and had WinXP on it. I have one of those "slim" cases that only has room for 1 HDD at a time, so I had to keep the case open and plug my old one into the master and the new one into slave. I was going to just boot up Windows normally and try to copy the entire old HDD onto the new one. The trouble is, it doesn't boot. At all. Neither one of them. So I unplugged the new one, so now it has just the old one in the master slot, but it still doesn't work. The new one didn't come with an OS on it, so I didn't try it.

Booting from a CD still works. I tried the 3 different Linux LiveCD's that I have, and they all worked. So I tried plugging my old HDD (which supposedly still has Win on it) into where my CD drive was. It worked... kinda. It didn't go into the "network boot" mode that it usually does, but it didn't technically "boot." It just had a bunch of random dots of color spread out on the screen.

So I tried installing DamnsmallLinux onto my new one, and it just had some standard error message ("folder not accessible" or something similar). So I might've messed that one up too... What's wrong and what can I do? Thanks a bunch. (btw I'm posting this on my emergency LiveCD of DamnSmallLinux) flaminglawyerc 03:45, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * The problem could be related to the fact that you haven't yet formatted the new drive. What I would do is connect up the new IDE HDD and pop in a Windows XP install disc to put XP on it. You'll have to set the HDD to master, obviously. Then, I would connect the old HDD to the PC via a IDE-USB converter and copy your data files over. Or, if you don't have the converting cable (aside from purchasing one), you could pop that HDD into another PC and put the data on a flash drive (assuming you have one of suitable size). Useight (talk) 05:43, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * You can get a 16GB flash drive for as little as $19.99 and you can get that converter cable for $24.99. Useight (talk) 05:46, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * First, I am unclear what your hardware situation is. You only have one IDE controller in your computer? That's why you can only use two IDE drives at a time?
 * Second, so when you have your CD drive and old hard drive plugged in, and boot from a LiveCD, do you see your old hard drive? If so can you see its partitions? If so can you mount the partitions? If so can you see the data still on there? If you can still get your data, then it is not really "screwed up", and we can start over and just worry about how to copy your data and booting and other stuff. --Spoon! (talk) 05:47, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * If you buy a disk it will normally have a jumper setting saying it is a master. You can set it to being a slave or to cable select. Do you have cable select on both drives and the selection determined by the cable or do you have master and slave set on the drives? Or have you used tow ables to different plugs on the board in which case both drives should be master and the other cable is the secondary IDE channel. When you tried putting your old drive back in did you make certain the setting was as before and it was all plugged in as before? Plus check you have the connections the right way up and there are no bent pins. Dmcq (talk) 11:02, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * (after edit conflict)
 * @useeight: If the DamnsmallLinux installer (which I haved tried) is anything like other linux installers, it will format a new disk for you, so that's not the problem here.
 * @flaminglawyer: When connecting the two disks, did you connect them via two separate cables to two connectors on the motherboard, or did you connect them to a single connector on the motherboard using two connectors on the same cable? Have you checked the jumper settings of the disks? You wrote, "I was going to just boot up Windows normally and try to copy the entire old HDD onto the new one". Even if the PC had booted, I doubt that that approach would had worked. If the disks are Seagate disks, Seagate has a tool that I've used successfully several times when migrating to larger disks. If you have a third USB drive, you might have tried Partimage, and written an image of your first disk on the usb-disk, then switched fixed hard-disks and copied the image to the new disk. (I've done that successfully too, with ntfs partitions, even though it says the ntfs support is experimental). You wrote, "So I unplugged the new one, so now it has just the old one in the master slot, but it still doesn't work.". Just to be absolutely clear that we don't misunderstand: are you saying that you have restored your computer to exactly the same state as it was before you started, every cable and connector the same place as they were originally, no change in jumper settings or BIOS, and it still doesn't boot? If so, please follow Spoon's advice, and check that you can see the disk and folders. If it turns out that you cannot mount your old disk when booting from a linux live cd, did you apply force when connecting the cable? Check if you have bent some of the tiny pins on the connectors on the motherboard or hard disk. And finally, when reporting error messages, it's important that you write down the exact wording. "Some standard error message 'folder not accessible' or something similar" simply isn't good enough. Googling error messages is an excellent source of information, but we need the exact wording.--NorwegianBluetalk 11:52, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * You can't just copy the files across using Windows. You need to Ghost the disc instead.121.72.172.186 (talk) 11:41, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

WAP versus 'Mobile Friendly'
For a company initiative, we are looking at making our site accessible and rendered favorably with mobile devices. I am not a technical person, rather a business product guy. What is the difference between WAP and 'mobile friendly' sites and or access?76.232.120.138 (talk) 04:24, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * WAP in this case stands for the Wireless Application Protocol, a standard for Internet access on mobile devices. When it was produced back in 1998, such devices were fairly simple, and originally WAP sites had to be built using a special markup language called Wireless Markup Language instead of the normal HTML. The "WAP site" for mobile devices might back onto the same database as the normal website, but the code to display it would be almost completely separate.
 * Nowadays, however, the mobile web is increasingly geared to powerful smartphones like the Apple iPhone which can generally access ordinary websites and render them as best they can. A "mobile friendly" website is therefore one which uses suitable mechanisms to give such devices pages with simplified layout and user interfaces appropriate for use on those devices, while continuing to serve pages geared for desktop PCs. - IMSoP (talk) 18:25, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

protection dvd media
what is the way protection unauthority coping dvd media? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Asokapriyantha (talk • contribs) 06:45, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * It's difficult to say what you're asking for exactly but does DVD Consumer Rights help? If not, please clarify. Thanks, Zain Ebrahim (talk) 12:40, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Assuming you mean to decrypt and circumvent DVD copy protection, use DVD Shrink or AnyDVD. SN0WKITT3N  13:03, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

What was wrong?
Python 3.0 (r30:67507, Dec 3 2008, 20:14:27) [MSC v.1500 32 bit (Intel)] on win 32 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>> print 1 File " ", line 1 print 1 ^ SyntaxError: invalid syntax >>> print 1 + 1 File " ", line 1 print 1 + 1 ^ SyntaxError: invalid syntax >>>

It's my first hour learning Python. I am using How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python as my self-study textbook. What was wrong with my syntax? Do I need to set the output to the monitor before doing anything? Do I need to study Visual Basic because Python is not for me? :) -- Toytoy (talk) 12:32, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I noticed that you're using Python 3.0. In this new, non-backward-compatible version,  is now a function, not a keyword. (In earlier versions,   is a statement that starts with the keyword  . It's not a function call.) You'll need to write something like

print(1)
 * instead, just like the way you'd invoke any other functions. --98.114.98.136 (talk) 13:51, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

>>> 59/60 0.98333333333333328 >>> print (59/60) 0.983333333333 >>> 3/5 0.59999999999999998 >>> print (3/5) 0.6

I have to say this language is weird. -- Toytoy (talk) 15:19, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I think in your first example, the value of 59/60 is displayed at a precision that reflects the precision of the underlying binary representation. In your second example, the  function converts the value to a string of characters for output using some default formatting specification. I don't use Python 3.0, but I think the old   operator is still available. If you try

print("%0.17f" % (59/60))
 * you should get the same displayed value as in your first example. --98.114.98.136 (talk) 16:34, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

MS Paint gone missing
This is kind of weird. Running XP on my laptop. Went to paste something into paint so I could save it as the right sort of image to upload elsewhere, couldn't find paint. MS Paint is no longer listed anywhere on my computer. It isn't in the list of programmes. WTH might have happened? I haven't used it in a while, so it could have vanished any time in the last month or so. Haven't really installed anything in that time except generic updates and the Crayon Physics demo. Ideas? 79.66.109.89 (talk) 18:34, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Go to Start -> Run (or hold down and ) and type  . If it still is missing:
 * Go to Add/Remove Programs, click Add/Remove Windows Components (in the left-hand grey bar).
 * The Windows Components Wizard will come up. If Accessories and Games is ticked, select it, select Details..., then do the same thing for Accessories in the window that comes up. If it isn't, tick it, click Next, and go to Step 4.
 * Tick Paint (it should be unticked), then hit OK until you get back to the main Windows Components Wizard screen. Click Next on that screen.
 * Insert the Windows CD, wait for install. Xenon54 18:43, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Excellent, except for step 4.... I've had this computer a couple of years now and couldn't tell you where the windows CD is. I know, not sensible. Thanks though. Fantastico! So why on Earth had it vanished from all lists of programmes? It simply wasn't an option anywhere. 79.66.109.89 (talk) 19:20, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * There are prebably lots of ways it that paint could have disappeared from your start menu but the only one i can think of is if you right clicked on the shortcut in start menu and choose delete in the menu that comes up. Xor  24  talk to me  18:08, 11 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Hmmm, but I'm pretty sure I didn't do that. And it isn't just gone from the start menu; it isn't given as an option for opening files with, etc. 79.66.109.89 (talk) 03:43, 12 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Go to Tools -> Folder Options and click on the File Types tab. You can set certain file extensions (.jpeg, .gif, .png, etc) to open using MSPaint. In my computer, mspaint.exe is in C:/WINDOWS/system32 (that is, WindowsXP).Livewireo (talk) 16:35, 12 January 2009 (UTC)


 * If mspaint.exe is in C:/WINDOWS/system32 which it should be. Then you should right click the file and choose crate shortcut then drag this shortcut to your start menu and presto.  Now if mspaint.exe isn't in C:/WINDOWS/system32 then you might have a virus.  FYI it might not be your C drive that's just the default. Xor  24   talk to me  23:25, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Simulating a slow Internet connection
Say you're developing a website and you want to know what the responsiveness is like when accessed through a dial-up line. What would be a simple way to simulating a slow Internet connection? --98.114.98.136 (talk) 18:55, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Download something via FTP software and limit the maximum connection speed so that you are left with just a little window? Actually, I have no idea. --Ouro (blah blah) 19:25, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * trickle 87.114.7.226 (talk) 20:14, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Or you could run a lot of network things at once (I.E. Limewire). That outta do it.  Rgood erm  ote    04:15, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Setup an HTTP proxy server that you can configure to be slow, e.g. this one claims to do what you want. 87.194.198.122 (talk) 16:36, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Linking rollover image in HTML
I have created a (working) rollover image using the following code: I did not write the code myself - Macromedia Fireworks created it for me. I have 2 problems: I am a HTML n00b, but I would like to get this working, so please use terms a 4-year-old can understand. Thanks for your help! Den dodge  Talk Contribs 20:21, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * 1) I cannot duplicate the code - if I do, only the 'up' state is displayed - mouseover does not change anything
 * 2) I cannot seem to link it using the normal link code.
 * I fixed the linking problem, but it cannot seem to coexist with another image next to it - the mouseover simply won't work. Den dodge  Talk Contribs 20:54, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Really, that code is so messy and hard to modify (not really meant for a human to modify it) that you should just scrap it and get some easier code out there. There are a billion "image rollover" code samples available via Google, most are much easier to read and modify than that. Messing with machine-generated code is just not worth it. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 21:51, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Is


 * better? It creates an underscore after the image, and has the same problem with not rolling over when other images exist nearby, but is a lot tidier.  Can you work with that? Den dodge  Talk Contribs 22:35, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Have you made sure that you're calling  when your page loads? Have you made sure you're even copying the JS code into your new pages? --wj32 t/c 22:34, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm copying the code above and nothing else. It works when in a block of its own, but nowhere else. Den dodge  Talk Contribs 22:37, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Firstly, please don't insert comments before a more recent comment and then respond, referring to that. Secondly, don't use the  attribute (it's deprecated in XHTML 1.0 and invalid in XHTML 1.1); the proper way is to use the   attribute while using   in your JavaScript code. Thirdly, I don't understand what you mean by "it works when in a block of its own". --wj32 t/c 00:34, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
 * And for the underline problem, you can use CSS or the  attribute to set   on the link. --wj32 t/c 00:33, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
 * And... don't use UPPERCASE for anything in HTML. Your  tag also needs to be closed -   --wj32 t/c 00:38, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

SMART: imminent disk failure warning
For the last couple of months I have been getting a "failure to read hard drive" error every time I turned on the laptop. After 5 to 10 to retries the computer would load or operate correctly. However today I got a smart disk error at startup telling me that a hard drive failure is imminent and that I must immediately backup my data. Should I take this error seriously? What the best thing to do in this situation? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.16.131 (talk) 20:47, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * First, YES, you should take this error seriously. It appears that your hard drive is failing.  You should backup any information you wish to save, items such as all files in "My Documents, My Pictures, Music, My Favorites, and perhaps Desktop.  You don't mention which operating system you are using.  Options are writing these files to a CD/DVD, copying to a floppy disk, thumb drive / flash drive, or an external usb drive.  If you experience problems in the copy operation, you may want to look at booting from an OS on CD/DVD, and attempting to copy that way.  ERD, BartPE, Knoppix, etc.  Best of luck, and I hope you're able to get yourself a new HD (or computer) soon.  Ched (talk) 21:15, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I am using windows XP. I was thinking of copying my whole hard drive to another one, like I did on my pc, but this is a laptop (compaq presario v2000) and I am not sure that it can hold 2 hard drives at once for copying to work.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.16.131 (talk) 21:30, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * The laptop almost surely can't hold two at one time. Your best option is to remove the drive and put it into an external enclosure and access it from there. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 21:41, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * How do I make sure that a laptop hard drive is compatible with my laptop? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.16.131 (talk) 23:06, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * There should be a tag on your old HD, you'll most likely want a 2.5", (I'm not familiar with any laptops that use a 3.5") - the other criteria will be either IDE or SATA. Two different connection types.  (IDE may also be EIDE or PATA) .. Ched (talk) 23:11, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * What I would usually do (not just when my drive is failing, but also as a "poor man's" backup) is to just copy via SCP/SFTP/rsync the hard drive contents (or parts thereof that have important stuff) over the network to my Linux box where I have spare hard drive space. That way I don't need to mess with hardware at all. If you have trouble booting to the hard drive directly you can always use a LiveCD to do the above. --164.67.207.217 (talk) 23:34, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Also, for curiosity, you can run smartmontools and see which SMART attribute is failing. --164.67.207.217 (talk) 23:34, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

I ran the utility and it said that the the hard drive will crash in less than 24 hours. However it looks like only the Reallocated Sector Count attribute is failing. From reading the attributes this does not look serious.

Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME         FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate    0x000b   093 079 062    Pre-fail  Always       -       131108 2 Throughput_Performance 0x0005   100   100   040    Pre-fail  Offline      -       0 3 Spin_Up_Time           0x0007   125   099   033    Pre-fail  Always       -       1 4 Start_Stop_Count       0x0012   097 097 000    Old_age   Always       -       5282 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct  0x0033   005   005   005    Pre-fail  Always   FAILING_NOW 221973984 7 Seek_Error_Rate        0x000b   100   100   067    Pre-fail  Always       -       0 8 Seek_Time_Performance  0x0005   100   100   040    Pre-fail  Offline      -       0 9 Power_On_Hours         0x0012   044 044 000    Old_age   Always       -       24643 10 Spin_Retry_Count       0x0013   100   100   060    Pre-fail  Always       -       0 12 Power_Cycle_Count      0x0032   099 099 000    Old_age   Always       -       1660 191 G-Sense_Error_Rate     0x000a   100   091   000    Old_age   Always       -       1 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032  099 099 000    Old_age   Always       -       391 193 Load_Cycle_Count       0x0012   001   001   000    Old_age   Always       -       1121340 194 Temperature_Celsius    0x0002   117   079   000    Old_age   Always       -       47 (Lifetime Min/Max 15/69) 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032  001   001   000    Old_age   Always       -       3801 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0022   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       256 198 Offline_Uncorrectable  0x0008   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count   0x000a   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.16.131 (talk) 00:19, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Holy shit, I hope that doesn't mean that 221 million sectors have failed. --169.232.233.129 (talk) 01:15, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
 * after 1 hour the Reallocated_Sector_Ct increased to 222039521, anyone know at what level the drive will actually die? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.16.131 (talk) 01:59, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Just wait a while longer and it might overflow, and then it won't be reported as failing anymore. =) Out of curiosity, do you know what drive model you have? Some drives might have known bugs that causes false warnings about this kind of stuff. But then, you should probably be on the safe side and at least backup your data. --71.106.183.17 (talk) 03:56, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Mailto feature in macromedia flash8.
Can we use the mailto feature and add the subject and body of the letter which is given by user in the input text box in the screen?MiB rocks (talk) 23:25, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, although I would call a script written in another language (e.g., PHP) from the SWF file using LoadVars. That way, the user doesn't have to go through that extra step and the server mails it for them. But if I had to use mailto, I'd just store the text values of the text boxes into variables and then concatenate them onto the end of the URL (e.g., var recipient = txtName.text;).--K;;m5m k;;m5m (talk) 11:57, 11 January 2009 (UTC)


 * . This can be applied even outside Flash, but requires the user to have an offline e-mail client like Eudora or Outlook Express, not a webmail like Yahoo Mail or Hotmail. Admiral Norton (talk) 12:10, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Intel Core 2 Duo Compatibility?
Hi. I'm wanting to upgrade to an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. I know that my motherboard has an LGA775 socket, since I have a Pentium D now, which uses the same socket. But I've heard that even though they have the same socket, the Core 2 Duo might not be compatible with my motherboard. And, short of buying one and trying it, I can't figure out how to determine whether or not it is. I've looked at my motherboard and I can't find a model number or anything. So how can I figure out what type of motherboard I have, and then if that type supports the Core 2 Duo? Digger3000 (talk) 23:26, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * On closer inspection of the motherboard I found this: "RC410-M REV:1.1" But I searched that and I still can't determine if it's compatible with the Core 2 Duo. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Digger3000 (talk • contribs) 01:54, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, you've got the right socket, but you must also consider the CPU's nm architecture. The Core 2 Duo is 65nm, so you'll need a 65nm compatible motherboard. Personally, though, I'd recommend getting the Core i7 920 instead (but you'd have to get a new mobo for that). Useight (talk) 03:01, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Hollywood's graphical best software
Which is the hollywood's widely used graphical software? —Preceding unsigned comment added by MiB rocks (talk • contribs) 23:34, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Category? Image editing, video editing, 3D modelling? --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 00:35, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

For 3D modelling - probably Maya is the most popular. For paint they tend to have their own tools - some use a varient of GIMP called "CinePaint" which is OpenSourced, some use Photoshop. CinePaint is also used for compositing. There are an awful lot of custom tools that are written specifically for a certain movie and which may never get used again - and some of the more obscure tools can rise to extremes of popularity for a short time until something else comes along - it's pretty hard to track what's trendy on any given day! SteveBaker (talk) 01:16, 11 January 2009 (UTC)


 * It depends. There are photo-manipulation programs like Photoshop -- no one uses the GIMP. There are also illustration programs (like Illustrator and Freehand, Illustrator being more popular). There are compositing programs like Autodesk's Combustion (AfterEffects sucks) and Apple's Shake. There are also video editing programs (like Avid, which is the best and most popular), and modeling programs as was mentioned above.--K;;m5m k;;m5m (talk) 12:37, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
 * "no one uses the GIMP." - can you prove that statement? The reference desk isn't for hardcore opinions. Anyway, what kind of graphical software are you looking for? For compositing, there's Apple's Shake. --wj32 t/c 23:01, 11 January 2009 (UTC)


 * It's true - movie companies generally need high-dynamic-range graphics (more than 8 bits per color component) and GIMP didn't provide that feature until fairly recently - so they almost certainly don't use GIMP. HOWEVER: That fact is a severe distortion of the truth.  Several years ago, three or four movie companies formed a consortium to 'fork' the GIMP code and add the needed features for their industry.  Initially, that package was called "FilmGIMP" - because they intended to roll in new features from the mainstream GIMP package as needed - with the idea of eventually merging the two packages together again.   However, the GIMP developer community is a nasty, hostile place...those guys are a VERY tough crowd...make any suggestion that they didn't come up with themselves and they'll flame you to oblivion!   The prospects for achieving that merge got less and less likely - and eventually, the FilmGIMP guys decided to give up on ever merging back into the mainstream GIMP...at that point, they renamed it "CinePaint" to avoid confusion.  However, any GIMP user will instantly recognise CinePaint for what it is.  CinePaint has been used in a bunch of films - including (IIRC) at least a couple of the Harry Potter series.  FWIW, GIMP is also used quite often in the computer games business - although perhaps not as much as Photoshop. SteveBaker (talk) 01:33, 12 January 2009 (UTC)