Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 May 1

= May 1 =

Ripping Blu-Ray on Puppy Linux
How can I rip a Blu-Ray disk on Puppy Linux ? I asked this before, for Ubuntu, here:. StuRat (talk) 04:23, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

Dial-up in Ubuntu 9.04
How do I establish a dial-up connection in Ubuntu 9.04? This is my only way to access the Internet where I live, and I'm annoyed they dropped support for it in 8.10... Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.138.21.132 (talk) 08:53, 1 May 2009 (UTC)
 * You might want to try this on the [Ubuntu Forum]. I don't know for sure but usually when things disappear they can be added back in via the "Add Software" or package manager. It seems likely that dial-up is now seen as a niche requirement and not installed by default. -- Q Chris (talk) 14:57, 1 May 2009 (UTC)
 * The thing is, I can only get on the Internet via dial-up, so I can't download the necessary packages... 144.138.21.117 (talk) 07:38, 2 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Get someone else to download the packages (or do it on the computer you are using now) and put them on a CD or memory stick. Of course you will need to find out which packages first though. You can load packages from media with package manager.-- Q Chris (talk) 15:49, 2 May 2009 (UTC)
 * So if I try to download GnomePPP, look at the address it is trying to get the package from, and go the that address on the Windows system I am using now, might that work? 144.138.21.157 (talk) 05:45, 3 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I think it would, I think that just doing a google search for the full ".deb" package name will probably find it. Of course you may find that when you try to install the downloaded files it may tell you that other dependencies are missing which you will have to install either from your media or by downloading again if this also isn't included. -- Q Chris (talk) 19:50, 4 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that worked :) Thanks! 144.138.21.235 (talk) 21:54, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

DVD/GOOGLE CHROME
I have a movie on a DVD-RW disk i place into the laptop i here the action of the CD Drive but nothing happens when i go to my computor the drive is not there any ideas as its the only movie i have and i am working abroad? Secondly my browser is google chrome every 20 mins or so the web page freezes and comes up with kill web page message were i have to reopen the browser very annoying when you are in the middle of something on the web is there a fault with google chrome or with the network or even my laptop>>>>????Chromagnum (talk) 11:57, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * One thing to check on the DVD is that it's properly inserted into the drive. Sometimes they are off-center a bit.  I even have occasionally put them in upside down when working in the dark. StuRat (talk) 12:44, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * If, as you say, it's indeed a CD drive you are inserting the DVD-RW disc into, the reason it won't work is that CD drives cannot read DVD discs.
 * As for the browser freeze, I can say with confidence that it's not the network. Whether the problem is with Google Chrome, your operating system or something else, I couldn't begin to guess with the information at hand. I would recommend that you reinstall Chrome and see if that fixes the problem; if not, I would install another browser, such as Firefox, and see if that works better. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 13:28, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Two thoughts, first check the drive is actually a DVD drive. Secondly, how old is the laptop? Older DVD drives often have trouble reading RW media because they are not sensitive enough to detect the dye layer used in them 8I.24.07.715 talk 13:57, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

Thanks; The DVD issue i resolved by a reboot it then picked up the DVD but it still doesnt see it if you enter a diffrent one you have to reboot each time but i have a work around so all good; Chrome re-installed no diffrence have supicion it is the network dropping out briefly killing the page thanks peopleChromagnum (talk) 06:04, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

Hard disk failure and data recovery
I've been reading a lot of late about the two topics, and I've two questions that are, I'm sure, quite silly to someone who has any real knowledge of the recovery process; I hope you will pardon my ignorance, and I thank you in advance for satisfying my curiosity. First, where there is no physical damage to the magnetic recording media (most crucially no head crash) and where data are not directly compromised (as, e.g., upon infection with a virus), why can't one (in a clean room, and following the same standards under which a drive is originally put together) remove the platters, etc., from the dead drive and swap them into a new, working drive, which can be used normally? Second, several of the sites linked as references in data recovery describe a process in which one alerts the recoverer to the file types he/she wants recovered (simple recoveries, for instance, it seems, usually comprise the various file formats under which are stored documents, photos, music, and e-mails), and one gets the sense that in the recovery process the recoverer does not actually see a complete list of the files on the dead hard drive but only those files for the extension of which he/she searches, which isn't consistent with recovery stories (like this one) I've read. So, does the recoverer see all recoverable files upon his/her accessing the drive, or can he/she only search for the file types the recovery of which the user desires? Thanks, and apologies for the length; not only am I not quite tech-saavy, but neither, although I've been in the States for a bit, am I a native speaker. 68.76.144.42 (talk) 18:08, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I am not sure about your actual question, but I must say, if you hadn't said that you weren't a native English speaker, I would never have thought it. Congratulations!  Genius 101  Guestbook 21:01, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I imagine the method you described would work, but it might actually be easier to do the reverse. That is, instead of moving the platters to another hard disk of the exact same type, just replace those components of the drive which have failed (the motor, for example).  I would think this would be rather expensive, though, unless you can ship it to China to have people earning pennies an hour do it. StuRat (talk) 22:02, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * The process of removing or replacing parts from new harddrives into old ones or old harddrives into new ones is used as little as possible, because this is less efficient (see:). It is much easier to use a forensic bridge. This ensures that you can use the disk without writing any data to it.
 * For the second question, programs designed for less technical users like "photo recoverers" come up with graphical lists of files of specific extensions. However, serious forensics tools are usually command-line based, such as fls. This guide is easy to understand. More and a book on this. If you want to run the programs for yourself try The Sleuth Kit or Autopsy Browser. Halfway through this Hak5 episode, they Michael Gerling does a demonstration of file recovery. Mac Davis (talk) 18:03, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

A computer that restarts when told to turn off
Whenever I tell my computer to turn off, it restarts instead. I have Windows XP SP 3. I have an ASUS M2N (zip file with overview and spec pdf) motherboard. Originally I thought the problem was caused by XP sending the wrong signal. I did a complete wipe of all of my hard drives and did a fresh install of XP. And it still restarts when I tell it to shut down. Any suggestions? If you need more info about my computer, please ask.--Rockfang (talk) 19:59, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * The obvious workaround is to plug the computer into a power strip with a switch and turn the computer off there. (First shut it down the normal way, then, when it restarts, kill the power.)  You can use this method until you find a permanent solution. StuRat (talk) 21:53, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Recently my Mac's directory got corrupted, apparently because (or at least when) I switched off the power strip during boot. I'm just sayin'. —Tamfang (talk) 01:25, 8 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Could be a bios setting --h2g2bob (talk)
 * Specifically, some bios have options that will restart the computer if it bluescreens or crashes. Sometimes, this can restart the computer upon shutdown. Try looking for this setting, and making sure it is disabled Dougofborg(talk) 14:30, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

320 GB HDD; 140 GB (D:, named "DATA") is seperated from 144 GB (C:, named "ACER"), merge them together
I have an Acer Aspire AS6920-6968. It has a 320 GB HDD, however this is split up: 144 GB is my C: drive, while 140 GB is my D: drive. I want to reformat my laptop and combine these two partitions together. How would I go about doing this? My laptop has Windows Vista Home Premium by the way.--Pass1019 (talk) 20:43, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * on the windows install disk there should be a partition editor. delete the two partitions during setup and format the unpartitioned space —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.54.169 (talk) 20:46, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * The thing is I don't have an install disc, I had to use Acer's program, eRecovery, to create a backup DVD that will put everything on it in order to reformat. So I'm not really sure what to do. Would this work?--Pass1019 (talk) 20:50, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Is your operating system installed on the drive you want to merge? I'm not sure you'll be able to do it like that. For software, check out PartitionMagic (search google for cracked version if you don't want to pay) or the free program GParted which you can download and put on a Live CD. Again, I don't know how much success you'll have trying to merge a partition with an operating system installed —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.44.54.169 (talk) 20:55, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure PartitionMagic works with Vista. I could be mistaken though.--Rockfang (talk) 20:58, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * There's nothing on the D: drive (140 GB), its empty. It's called "data" so I think its just to be used for storage, but I want all my space on one partition. My C: drive (144 GB) has all my stuff on it.--Pass1019 (talk) 21:03, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * In that case you should be able to delete the D partition then expand the C partition to take up the entire drive. StuRat (talk) 21:44, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * May we ask why you want one huge partition ? That's not generally the recommended way to do things, as it eliminates the flexibility you get from multiple partitions.  For example, if you want to install something you're unsure of, putting it in the D drive would make it easier to get rid of it if you decide you don't want it.  Also, you could put another operating system on the D partition to test it out. StuRat (talk) 21:44, 1 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Because I just want all my space in one area. Anyway I figured it out, it was really simple. I went to "Computer Management" and then deleted D: and then extended C:. Now C: has 284 GB! Easy. Like I said, there was nothing on D: anyway, it was practically there just for storage.--Pass1019 (talk) 21:51, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

WARNING: Latest Developer Beta of Google Chrome will not load Wikipedia Properly
The latest Developer Channel Beta of Google Chrome (2.0.177.1) does not load Wikipedia properly most of the time. I urge you to switch back to the beta channel if you are on the developer channel. If you already have the latest version, uninstall and reinstall chrome, or hold out for an update to fix this. Problems include not loading pages, problems with gadgets like Twinkle, and improper rendering of formats. I have notified them about this, but I imagine that there are other bugs ahead in line.--Unionhawk Talk 21:11, 1 May 2009 (UTC)
 * FWIW I'm not seeing any of these problems (Vista SP1) — Matt Eason (Talk &#149; Contribs) 02:52, 2 May 2009 (UTC)
 * How can this, honestly, be just me? I'll uninstall/reinstall, but, how can this be just me?--Unionhawk Talk 04:02, 2 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm really not trying to be as unhelpful as this will sound, but if something is in beta then it's going to have unexpected results sometimes which might be why your configuration does one thing and it works on someone elses. ZX81  talk  05:17, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

Microsoft Excel question
I have a column of formulas, and they all are a function of a different column. This I know how to do. However, I want to include a value from just a single cell, that would be common to every cell in the column. For example, A1=B1+C1. When I drag down the column, all the values get incremented (i.e. A2=B2+C2, A3=B3+C3, etc.). However, I only want one of the values to be incremented, and the other to stay constant (i.e. A2=B2+A1, A3=B3+C1, etc). How do I do this? I haven't been able to find the answer anywhere else. I suppose if I could describe what I'm trying to do in less than a paragraph, I would be able to perform a more effective search, but I haven't been successful. Does anyone have an idea of how to do this? &mdash;Akrabbimtalk 21:38, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * If you want something to stay constant you put a dollar sign in front of it. So to have the column stay constant use $A2, if you want the row, use A$2, if you want them both, use $A$2. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 21:50, 1 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Pressing F4 steps round the options on the current cell reference. -- SGBailey (talk) 22:20, 1 May 2009 (UTC)