Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 May 30

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May 30

iTunes Downloads

Can I quit iTunes and turn my PC off when I've paused an iTunes download, and still resume it later when I turn the computer back on? Thanks. RedStateV 00:12, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Yes, as long as you are using iTunes 7.0 or newer. --24.249.108.133 21:45, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Downloader Virus

I have a Trojan Horse virus referenced as a "Downloader Virus," which downloads other viruses. Since Norton was having difficulty deleting the actual file, I did so manually, and my computer seems to still be infected with viruses which Norton can not pick out. Aside from formatting my computer, what are my options? Cameron 00:48, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Install linux. Leave XP partition to rot. -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 01:45, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Might want to try a different virus scanner. For example, AVG is free. Or use McAfee. If AVG (or whichever other) finds it, scan your computer in safe mode so it can delete it. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 02:00, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Try downloading a copy of Antivir from here. Once you have it installed, disconnect yourself from the Internet and then run it. Have a friend or relative download installers for you of Firefox, Spybot S&D, and AdAware and burn them to a CD. Install those from CD. Promise you will never run Microsoft Internet Explorer ever again. --LarryMac | Talk 02:03, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

telephone dialer in c

 can any one help me with a idea that how to interface c/c++ with the phone dialer.

Sameerdubey.sbp{9:18}

I'm not sure anyone will be able to guess what you are trying to do here. c/c++ is a programming language, I'm guessing that by "phone dialler" you mean a piece of software that interfaces a modem and can dial a number. So are you trying to write a phone dialler program in c? or a modem control program? I don't think either of those are things that someone could teach you easily in a 'help desk' kind of format. Vespine 04:05, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

okay if it is not possible with c... then ...help me out with visual basic... that could interact with phone dialer Reveal.mystery

Check out this article at MSDN on TAPI connections. What you're trying to do is use the Win32 TAPI (Telephony Application Programming Interface). Be careful when doing further searches on this, as most hits will land you information on Windows Mobile and Windows CE Smartphone software. -wizzard2k ^(C•T•D) 07:36, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

It's kinda funny, in linux I remember all I would have to do is cat some characters into the modem device file (of course, those characters would be very specific into the modem. I don't remember doing anything from there, though. Root⁴(one) 14:58, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

PS3 Update Trouble

Hi,

Every time I try and update my PS3 via System Update/Internet it comes up with an error message: 8002f994.

Can someone point out what is wrong with it or point me to a website where I can download the update on to a memory stick. I am an English PS3 user.

Searching around suggests that this forum thread seem to work. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 08:28, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Japanese letters in e-mail

I am on AOL. I am prepared to type a letter to Shueisha in Japanese, but when I put Japanese letters in the letter fields in the window. they appear as all question marks. Would the letter appear to Shueisha as Japanese letters when sent to them?

Maybe, it would be worth a shot. It is possible that the email window on your end can not translate the code for the font you are using, similar to seeing little boxes on a windows system, but that doesn't mean the code is not still there behind the question marks, depending on the client they are using, they may just see the letters, or they may have to paste it into a different program. But I suppose there is a chance that the unrecognise code will be wiped in transmission, I think there is a better chance it will work, but unless someone has actually tried it may be hard to guess. Vespine 03:56, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Second video card, just for desktop apps (XP)

Let say i want to add a new video card so that I can have an additional display. Assuming I don't want to do play 3D games on this display or anything fancy like that, what sort of a card do I need to do the job? Will a $15 standard PCI do it? or is there a reason to buy something a little more fancy? --Alecmconroy 12:46, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Standard $15 PCI should do it, sure. There's no reason I can think of that would give you a noticeable drop in performance adding a second card for a second display used only for 2D. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:49, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Umm, except, I'm not sure you can run an AGP and a PCI card at the same time. I'm pretty sure this has been asked before and I think the answer was that the pipes are parallel or something, you can't use both at the same time, display properties will only let you select between AGP and PCI, not both. Vespine 03:57, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't know if it'll work with all motherboards and for all combinations of cards, but there is no fundamental problem using AGP and PCI video cards together. I personally used a Nvidia Geforce 4 with an old S3 ViRGE (there's an article on everything...) PCI card for a time before I got a new AGP card supporting two displays. --Dapeteばか 11:10, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Windows Development

I am about to initiate a major Windows application development project, and am not quite sure on which language to choose. Undoubtedly, I am most used to program in Borland Delphi, but does the language have any future? Generally, I am not sure about the future of native Win32 applications: perhaps the Microsoft.NET framework will make these applications as obsolete as Windows 3.1 applications were made by Windows 95? Perhaps C# is a better choice? Also, how significantly would the application performance increase if I would choose C++ or C# instead of Delphi? --81.231.187.228 13:23, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Your questions come down to the abilities of the compiler. The compiler turns the code you write (regardless of the language) into the code the computer will run. The "obsolete" issue you mention had to do with dumping the old windows framework for a new one. So, the old programs had to be rewritten to use the new framework. The .NET framework is supposed to be stable. So, you can write for it and your program is supposed to compile and run for all future versions of Windows. Keep in mind, the paperclip guy was supposed to be a stable addition to the framework that would always be there to give hints to the user. So, I suggest C++ or C#. --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:58, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Remember C++ is unmanaged code (much like Delphi) while the dot.net languages are managed code, requiring garbage collection overhead, etc, like Java. Managed and unmanaged languages and systems each have their own advantages. I doubt unmanaged code is going away anytime soon. BTW, a good question to ask is how much is Vista written in Microsoft.Net? I'm not certain much of it is. Root⁴(one) 14:49, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Forcing older software to run in higher resolutions.

A lot of older games (Deus Ex, Worms Armageddon, Unreal Tournament, Fallout 2 etc) don't run in my LCDs' native resolutions (1280x1024 or 1680x1050). Is there any way to force old software to run in an unusually high resolution? Froglars the frog 13:24, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

The general procedure ist this: The program queries the display driver for a list of available screen modes. It shows the user a subset of these modes that it supports. The user chooses one of them. Unless you start hacking the display driver of the program, you will not get any other screen mode. It might not be that hard as it sounds right now, because "hacking" the program might be as simple as modifying some list of modes or so. Hacking the display driver means, that the display switches to another mode than the selected one. I am not aware of any driver that would allow this, but it would not be hard to do in principle.

Some programs allow you to force resolutions on the command line (see the manual). Also, you can run them in windowed mode so the screen resolution doesn't matter. Maximize the window and it is almost like running in full-screen mode. --Kainaw ^(talk) 16:49, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Don't games have a upper limit ton the resolution based on their code rather then any driver or screen issue? If the textures and models are only coded to run at 1024x768 or whatever it is then you can't squeeze more resolution out of it. Vespine 03:49, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

That type of limit doesn't typically affect 3D games (polygons are polygons), and some 2D games can be forced to anyways (namely RTSs, which results in more stuff being shown onscreen at once). -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 06:02, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't know about the others, but Worms Armageddon allows you to choose the screen resolution in its Options menu. --saxsux 22:10, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Programming for Mac OS X.

Could anyone tell me any source code editors or ,ide's that are made for Mac?

The programmign language can be any.

C C++ java wtv....

I need the answer! Thanks!

Xcode? — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 15:02, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

If you have any experience with Visual Basic, RealBasic is a pretty nice Mac counterpart. --140.247.240.56 17:25, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Eclipse is an OK one that is free. Recury 19:52, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Xcode, and Quartz Composer are nice. [Mac Δαvιs] ❖ 22:37, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Skype voice calls

Hi - I have wireless router with me. I am going to by skype integrated phone of linksys. I am also going to buy skype out and skype in. I am going to connect all togather soon. Will it be possible to shut down my computer and make use of skype phone as normal phone (although connected to the high speed internet via router) to make and receive calls. I think it is possible. Can someone acknowledge pls ?

Vishal 65.161.188.11 16:15, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

If you're buying a wireless phone like this [1], then you do not need a computer to connect to Skype, only wireless internet access. (In short, yes.) -wizzard2k ^(C•T•D) 07:09, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Keyboard switching

How can i make the keyboard at school (Mac), act as a windows keyboard, and be able to switch languages?

Note: I don't have administrative access

24.39.182.101 16:29, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

In Mac OS X, you should be able to go to the Apple menu, select "System Preferences", click the "International" icon, and then the "Input Menu" tab. From there you should be able to select the languages you want to input. It is of course possible for the administration to prevent you from doing this, but if they have, you should complain. — The Storm Surfer 00:27, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Computer configuration

Which motherboard should i choose with Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 1.8 GHZ?

Might get a better response on a tech website with dedicated motherboard forums such as AnandTech --GTPoompt 17:48, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Choose a motherboard that fits your needs. You know what chip you need. What is your memory requirement? Do you need onboard IDE or SCSI? Do you need onboard AGP? 2X? 4X? 8X? Do you need onboard network adapter? That's just the starting questions. --Kainaw ^(talk) 18:51, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Firefox's British English dictionary

Does anyone else use this extension, and does it work for you? It installed with no apparent problems (latest build, 1.19), but I still get underlines for British spellings in the edit window. Seems a bit pointless. Adrian M. H. 20:20, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Yep, it works fine for me. The 'color' attributes in your sig are being underlined, for example ;) I'm using 1.19 on Firefox 2.0.0.3, WinXP Pro. — Matt Eason ^{(Talk • Contribs)} 20:36, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Same combination here, but it refuses to work as expected, flagging up colour instead of color. Adrian M. H. 21:21, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

British Dictionary 1.19 is not compatible with Firefox 2.0.0.3, according to the documentation. Perhaps that is the reason it is not working.--TrogWoolley 09:34, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I haven't seen any documentation for it, but I'll take you at your word. It's a pity that no one thought to make it clear in this list. Adrian M. H. 22:18, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps you have to switch the spell-checker's dictionary from the default to British? — The Storm Surfer 00:29, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Unpartitioning a Hard Disk in Windows

I need to "unpartition" a hard disk, and I am wondering how to do it. Here is my situation: I have a computer running Windows. It has two hard drives. #1 has two partitions, one of which is my boot partition. #2 has only one partition. I want to redo things so that #1 has only one partition, and it is my boot partition. There is no data on #1 that I need to keep, and I realize I probably need to re-install Windows. Now, what do I do? --Tugbug 21:42, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

To modify (merge or resize) a boot partition, either change its size during a re-installation or use partitioning software, such as Partition Magic (if it is still around). Adrian M. H. 22:05, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Just a word of advice with Partition Magic. Back up your data before using it! I had it crash on me in the middle of re-partitioning and there goes your data! Sandman30s 07:44, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Google "System Rescue Disk", and use QTParted/Gparted from that -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 22:08, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

If you don't mind re-installing, and you don't have data on the partition, then you don't have to resize. Just run fdisk (or whatever) and delete your partitions and create a new one, then re-install. -- Diletante 14:21, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

The Day They Updated Google and Broke It

Is Google broken? I think they were updating the search capabilities or something. Anyway, my recent searches now have felt funny - some kind of repetition bug and the search engine's not organizing the searches quite right. Time to dump GOOG stock?!!?!?!?! (Tell your grandkids that you heard it first from an anon poster on Wikipedia reference desk!!!) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.110.179.243 (talk • contribs)

That's an interesting thought. I'll have to keep an eye out for that - not noticed anything as of yet. JoshHolloway 23:35, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

I wonder when people are going to realize Google is always in beta -- Phoeba Wright^OBJECTION! 23:44, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't notice anything either, and I use it alot. The only thing I noticed is the layout. --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 23:45, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

I changed my home page to http://www.google.bs/ , because the Bahamas is the closest country other than the US with an English Google. —Keenan Pepper 23:50, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

I've noticed for some time now that occaisionally when visiting a non-US google home such as google.com.au, it gives you two radio buttons such as "Search: [ ]The Web [ ] Australia only" - and trying to select a different radio button - which used to be very easy - is now very difficult. I don't know what could have caused it. Maybe it's just my system being slow Rfwoolf 12:36, 31 May 2007 (UTC)