Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2012 March 30

= March 30 =

Registry?
I was sent a weird exe file, it was a kind of a creepy pasta, and it says you can play once and only once.. Well I knew that it has to do something with the register.. So.. I played the exe.. when it was over I replayed it, it didn't played liek the first time.. so I cleaned the registry with ccleaner, played it again.. and no luck.. Well.. I don't really like having unuseful keys on my registry.. so.. how can i remove it? 190.84.182.165 (talk) 00:59, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Try Regedit. You might need to google (or whater your favorite is) to search for info about the program and see if something will identify which key you need to modify/remove.  Also, you really shouldn't run wierd exe files, that's how malware and viruses spread.  RudolfRed (talk) 01:15, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
 * The executable file is not famous. I don't even know if I can give you like for download. though I was excpecting if there was any program that tells you what files the executable is reading, editing, deleting etc. Well there is process explorer but when you open the exe, it goes full screen and locks mouse.... so... 190.84.182.165 (talk) 01:28, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Can you copy the same exe to a different computer where you've never played the file? If it doesn't work there, it's possible the exe just breaks it self after playing once. Vespine (talk) 03:44, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes... actually I played from a zip file (It unzips it into the %temp% folder) so I can get as many copies as I want (Unless the exe file is extremely smart and actually changes the zip file where it originated, (i doubt that), And I can download the original copy from internet... (The conclusion is... that it doesn't self-edit) It changes something on my pc, maybe on a very creepy folder, or registry....)190.84.182.165 (talk) 04:32, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Now I see that the program never prompts UAC, editing registry always prompts UAC... So the registry is probably clean. Now I have to check all my hard drive... for any "strange" file.. 190.84.182.165 (talk) 10:43, 30 March 2012 (UTC)


 * If you were going about this in a systematic way, you'd run it in a virtual environment (e.g. VirtualBox) which you could just re-image after every run. Searching your harddrive for a random, purposefully hidden file is going to be pretty fruitless if you ask me. Your hard drive has a lot of files. --Mr.98 (talk) 13:33, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
 * You are right, then I guess I'm going to have to decompile and just search the bunch of opcodes. 190.84.182.165 (talk) 00:51, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * You imply you know enough to decompile and use opcodes to find out what is going on, yet you were daft enough to run a "weird exe file"? Unbelievable!!!  If the exe file is more than a couple of kb, you are going to have a very hard time finding out anything.  It has probably done some unknown thing to your PC and your best bet is to delete it immedately, sweep your PC for virsues and malware, and promise not to run random stuff you downloaded from the internet again.  Such programs are very, very likely to be malware.  Astronaut (talk) 12:57, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Lol, It's not gonna be easy to reverse an exe file is it? No, I currently don't know how to read them, thought I'm starting to learn assembly, so I will just give it a try.., yup I got the disassembler here.. bunch of instructions. I just wanted to know if there was a program that just tells you what files are being read, edited, deleted, created. 190.84.182.165 (talk) 21:00, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Process Monitor from Sysinternals will do this for you. Good luck with that. 31.185.44.119 (talk) 15:54, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

Can't write to DVD in Windows XP
I'm in Windows XP and trying to create a backup on a DVD. I get "Unable to create new folder" and "file system error 16389". Tried Microsoft fix it Center and Astroburn lite to no avail. I was able to do it just using Norton backup before but don't have that any more. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.77.185.58 (talk) 14:45, 30 March 2012 (UTC)


 * It's a problem with Windows XP not offering native support for writable DVDs.  Here's the solution: .StuRat (talk) 15:18, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

I went to that site and didn't find anything even remotely related to my problem. Can you think of something else? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.77.196.167 (talk) 21:21, 30 March 2012 (UTC)


 * I don't understand. That says the problem is that Windows XP lacks native support for writing to a DVD, and suggest either writing to a CD, or using a product which includes it's own support for writing to a DVD.  Did you try either of those suggestions ?  (It might be necessary to first write the backup to a partition on the hard drive, and then use a product like Nero to copy it to DVD.)  Norton backup apparently has the ability to write to DVDs in Windows XP.  Another option is to put your backups on USB flash drives.  (This isn't good if you want to keep dozens of backups though, as they are more expensive than blank DVDs.)  StuRat (talk) 03:29, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

That's a good idea. I happen to have a blank USB flash drive. I'll go try that and let you know how it turns out.


 * OK, please do. StuRat (talk) 00:15, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

Prevent applications from changing cursor
Hiya,

My mate's been having trouble with his computer, and i'm trying to fix it but am very confused lol, and thought you lovely, lovely people may be able to help me. Basically every time he opens a full screen game the game's cursor is offset from where the click happens: everything else works perfectly fine and i think its probably just Dell weirdness combined with Vista weirdness, but i'm stumped. Best solution i can think of is preventing the cursor from being changed from the default, as I'm pretty sure its the cursor itself that is the problem, though i am very open to suggestions lol. so yeah, is there a way in Vista to prevent programs from changing the cursor?

Thanks much, Dan Hartas (talk) 18:02, 30 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Does this happen with all full-screen games, or just specific ones? If it's only specific ones, you might be able to find a better answer by searching for other people with the same problem with those games. 151.163.2.8 (talk) 18:15, 30 March 2012 (UTC)


 * It's certainly more than a few, pretty sure it's all of them, and I've looked through all that sort of stuff lol, nothing that worked Dan Hartas (talk) 18:33, 30 March 2012 (UTC)


 * One workaround I can think of is to leave it in windows mode, and adjust the monitor settings so the window frame edges slide off the top, bottom, and sides of the screen. This will hopefully look like full screen mode, but without the cursor problem.  StuRat (talk) 20:15, 30 March 2012 (UTC)


 * This search reveals there are other people with the same problem. If you add a specific game name to the search, it will find a more specific answer.  Astronaut (talk) 12:43, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

so, how do I really turn the cookies back on?
I was told by one site I was on that I needed to enable cookies, and was given a set of instructions to do so, which changed nothing and the site still refused to work, however, on getting bored of all the little pop up messages asking about these cookie things, I reset to the default settings again, and since then it seems they have been permenantly disabled. Sites no longer record any information about what I have done on them, in particular links I have been to stay the same colour as they were before, and now I can't access my emails either. I have tried every set of settings I can in the cookie options page, and none of them make the slightest bit of difference. I was told by my email page that I have to turn them on, so I go, exactly as it instrusts, to the control panel, open up the internet options, go to advanced, and check the allow boxes on both sides. Nothing. I tested it with the session cookies option both on and off, neither made the slightest bit of difference.

So, what do I really do to get this fixed? is there a box I can check or a button to push that actually makes a difference?

Oh, and if it helps, I'm running windows 7 on IE9 here.

148.197.81.179 (talk) 18:42, 30 March 2012 (UTC)


 * I don't use IE9, but here are some things that come to mind: Have you tried clearing your internet cache? Do you have javascript enabled? (Some sites try to set cookies with javascript.) Are you at home or at work? (At work, you might be going through some kind of proxy that's messing things up.) 130.76.64.109 (talk) 19:57, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

OK, so where's this internet cache and javascript to be found? 148.197.81.179 (talk) 20:05, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
 * You should be able to clear your cache and enable/disable javascript through your browser's options. I'm not familiar with IE9, but on IE8, go to Internet Options under the Tools menu to clear your cache (it bundles it all together with "Browsing history", but it includes the cache/temporary files). You can also disable/enable javascript from there, on the Security tab. 151.163.2.8 (talk) 20:31, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

Fixed now, downloaded google chrome (which doesn't recognise google as a word, silly spellchecker) and it's all gone back to how it should be, thanks to smraedis and yunas for the ideas. (yep, wikipedia was beaten by a bunch of furries, even with a substantial head start. guess I know where to go for computer help now) 148.197.81.179 (talk) 22:51, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
 * You may not understand that Internet Explorer uses the Trident Rendering engine, and from what has been seen, it does follow different standards so some pages will work with Gecko (Mozilla) and Webkit (Safari, Chromium), and some will work with Trident... 190.84.182.165 (talk) 01:27, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


 * I'm surprised the only answers you got so far were from people who don't use Internet Explorer. Downloading a different browser is a pretty extreme step just to turn cookies on.  On IE9, click on the gear on the top right and choose "Internet options".  On the General tab, there is a "Browsing history" section with a "Delete..." button.  On the "Privacy" tab, there is a slider to contriol the blocking of cookies.  There are many other setting that might also affect IE9's ability to record cookies.  Take a look at the other tabs for other options and if all else fails click the "Reset..." button at the bottom of the "Advanced" tab.  Astronaut (talk) 12:39, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

I did already try a whole bunch of other settings changes as I went, changing the browser is the only thing that has worked, and I'm assured it has a lot of other advantages as well, without losing any of the benefits of IE9, this is something I've been putting off for a while anyway, it took something like this to give me the incentive to ask, what alternative would be best for me. 148.197.81.179 (talk) 09:09, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

Download helper for Firefox that's customizable by filetype
I'm looking for a download helper or utility for Firefox that would let me customize it by filetype. For example, if I download an mp3 file, it would default to putting it in my Music folder; if it was a jpg, it would go to my Pictures folder; and so on. Does anyone know of anything out there with that functionality? 24.247.162.139 (talk) 22:20, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
 * I should mention that the ability to customize settings based on where the file is coming from would be nice too. 24.247.162.139 (talk) 22:26, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
 * http://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/201/addon-201-latest.xpi 190.84.182.165 (talk) 00:50, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


 * I have no idea what that link is and no intention of clicking on it. Here is Download Sort and Automatic Save Folder. Those are links that explain what they are rather than a link to something that is going to try and install. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 07:27, 1 April 2012 (UTC)
 * I just noticed that 190.84.182.165 is the same IP that ran an unknown exe file they found on the Internet. I've fixed the link so that it can't be clicked on. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 07:31, 1 April 2012 (UTC)
 * For the historical record, the link posted by the IP is the install link for DownThemAll, a multipurpose Firefox download experience improver. It's effective but rather complex; CBW's links are much lighter weight. (It's not malicious, though, and actually very popular.) - Jarry1250 [Deliberation needed] 10:51, 3 April 2012 (UTC)