Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2013 August 21

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August 21

updating Firefox

how do i do that? thank you, 70.114.248.114 (talk) 03:39, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

Help -> About Firefox -> Check for updates. WegianWarrior (talk) 04:03, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

Sometimes, this will even happen automatically (though it may be a feature of newer releases (if you're still on FF8), and may have to be enabled in some sort of settings...) when you start a session, providing there are updates available. --.Yellow1996.^(ЬMИED¡) 16:37, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

itunes

i just heard you can buy movies from itunes now. i was wondering as to the price and formats. thanks, 70.114.248.114 (talk) 06:51, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

See Itunes#Movies. For more information visit the iTunes store.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 07:08, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

I wanna boot my PC (in more ways than one)

My HP PC got as far as letting me log in and showing me the desktop before getting stuck. Ctrl-alt-del only made the screen go black, and pushing the manual power button didn't do anything, so I turned off the power. When I turned the power on again, a little green light on the back of the PC started flashing, accompanied by an ominous beat from the speakers. Hitting the power button doesn't do anything. Any ideas? Clarityfiend (talk) 22:24, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

By ominous beats, was it the repetitive POST codes? --Wirbelwind(ヴィルヴェルヴィント) 23:57, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

I found this, so I'm going to try what it suggests. Clarityfiend (talk) 00:36, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Regarding "hitting the power button", most PCs will force a shutdown if you hold the power button down for 5 seconds or so. Just hitting it sends a polite request for a shutdown, which gets ignored when it's locked up, but holding it down cuts the power directly, so it has no option to refuse to comply. StuRat (talk) 07:29, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Some PCs also have a hard reset (or, rather, "turn off") switch at the back. Just flip it and the computer should turn off; though this should only really be used as a last restort. --.Yellow1996.^(ЬMИED¡) 17:56, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

As a very rough analogy, consider a locked up computer as being like someone who won't shut up. Shutting down is like asking them to be quiet, it won't always work, but if it does, it won't do any harm. Holding the power button down is like shoving something in their mouth, it will get them quiet, but there's a small risk of choking and doing permanent damage. Turning off at the mains is like pushing them out of the window. They're going to shup up, but the risk of damage is a lot greater. The ominous speaker noises are probably a pattern of short and long beeps, try and write down the pattern if you can, and consult the manual for your motherboard online if you can to work out what the problem is. MChesterMC (talk) 08:37, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

This is an excellent analogy that has me rolling Jdphenix (talk) 22:21, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

I am maybe wrong but what about virus which flash bios chip? 2A02:8422:1191:6E00:56E6:FCFF:FEDB:2BBA (talk) 13:15, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

The problem is not the shutting down, but the (re)starting up. The recommendations in the link I found didn't work, so I'm going to try a different power source next. The beats are just regularly spaced. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:24, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Yup, just a bad power supply. Clarityfiend (talk) 04:27, 23 August 2013 (UTC)