Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2017 April 4

= April 4 =

Flicker test damage monitor
Possibly stupid question. Stumbled upon this by accident (Google: "monitor flicker test"), ran it for 10-15 seconds until I figured what the hell was going on and closed it. This doesn't damage monitors (LCD, 144hz), right? Not noticing anything different so far. http://www.testufo.com/#test=flicker Matt714 (talk) 02:40, 4 April 2017 (UTC)
 * EPILEPSY WARNING*


 * Unless you are using a Commodore PET or TRS-80 Model III, no. See Killer poke. I have heard rumors of this happening with some early CGA or VGA monitors, but could not find any evidence. If anyone finds such evidence, let me know so I can update the Killer poke page. --Guy Macon (talk) 03:03, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

.bat
A file I recall extracting once that ended with the entitled file type identification. Could you direct me to the software downloading site please?

Note: Its a zip type thing/software/file type...

116.58.200.178 (talk) 09:31, 4 April 2017 (UTC)


 * A file with a .bat extension is a simple text file that can be opened with almost any word processing package or text file editor (e.g. Microsoft_Notepad). It is known as a Batch_file. It is not compressed (zipped). Please explain further because your question is unclear. 196.213.35.146 (talk) 09:53, 4 April 2017 (UTC)
 * The bat file was extracted from a zip file. Sleigh (talk) 10:14, 4 April 2017 (UTC)


 * It can be very dangerous to run a bat file extracted from a zip file unless you know exactly where it has come from. I do this regularly, but I usually inspect the contents with a text editor to see what the batch file is going to do before I actually run it.  There are many safe software downloading sites, but also many unsafe ones.  We have no way to find out which site was used.    D b f i r s   11:12, 4 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Batch files are just a series of commands. If you are comfortable with the Windows command line, you should be able to tell pretty quickly what the file does; if not, I wouldn't run it unless you trust where it came from.OldTimeNESter (talk) 15:05, 8 April 2017 (UTC)


 * If you're unfamiliar with BAT files, take care when following the Dbfirs' advice! It's true you should always make sure you know what the .bat file contains and you understand what it is going to do with your computer, because they are programs. And as such, the Open command from a pop-up menu in the .bat file context means Run or Execute, not 'show me the contents'. If you want to see the text inside a file, make sure you use Edit command instead, which invokes the Notepad app. You can also use 'Open with Notepad++' command or similar, if your text editor has installed its handler in the po-up menu. You can also open your favourite text editor first, then drag-and-drop the file into the editor's window. Or use the pop-up menu 'Send to' command (if your editor has installed its handler there). --CiaPan (talk) 11:32, 4 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Thanks for clarifying that.   D b f i r s   14:27, 4 April 2017 (UTC)


 * If you're asking which site you downloaded a zip file with a batch file from, we have no way of knowing since batch files in zip files are not uncommon. If you're asking what you need to run the batch file, on Windows you shouldn't need anything. (You may need to extract all the contents of the zip file before running it. It can also be helpful to run it from a command prompt. Also if the batch file relies on some external software that isn't provided, you will need this software and it will need to be wherever the batch file expects it.) Inspecting the file is good general advice but whatever your question is, I get the feeling you asking it here means you're not going to get anything useful from inspecting the file. Ideally you shouldn't run the file, on the other hand if you regularly run binaries without inspecting the source code, running a batch file isn't really riskier. (Okay batch files aren't generally signed but that's only an issue in limited circumstances. Also a batch file which does del /q /s /f /. probably isn't going to be picked up by any anti malware but there's a slight chance a normal executable which does something similar will be if it's common enough.) The question is whether your normal due diligence before running an executable is sufficient which sadly it often is not for a lot of people. Nil Einne (talk) 12:51, 5 April 2017 (UTC)