Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2011 April 14

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April 14

Latex Problem

I'm having a lot of problems with latex. I post this a day ago on math desk and received an answer, but it didnt solve my problem. I'm using windows xp so I downloaded the following version on http://www.tug.org/protext/ from the link "download the self-extracting protext.exe file". I installed every package (it's 1.66gb and somehow took more than an hour to install). Now I had a latex file that I created on a Linux OS using a different version of latex, but for the windows version (exe called TeXworks) I could only create a pdf using the pdfLaTeX+MakeIndex+BibTeX option at the top of the screen; options such as pdfTeX and pdfLaTeX and XeTeX and XeLaTeX give errors. Furthermore, the "pdf" I created using pdfLaTeX+MakeIndex+BibTeX isn't really a pdf file; it's not opened in adobe pdf and there's no save option. It's opened in TeXworks, but looks like pdf files on the inside. I tried reading the "help" but I have no idea what they're on about. Can someone tell me in layman words how to use the windows version? Does the windows version read the linux version properly? Thanks in advance. There's a lot less options in the windows version than the linux version. Money is tight (talk) 03:41, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

It's hard to know what's going on based on the information you've provided. TeXworks is not a version of LaTeX. It's a third-party GUI frontend for LaTeX that happens to be included in the proTeXt distribution. The LaTeX command-line utilities are the same on all platforms, and you can use them if you prefer. If you used a different GUI frontend on Linux and you prefer that one, you could check whether it's available for Windows.

I can't make any sense of "it's not opened in adobe pdf and there's no save option. It's opened in TeXworks, but looks like pdf files on the inside." What does "it's not opened" mean? "There's no save option" in what program? TeXworks? Adobe Reader? What "looks like pdf files on the inside"? -- BenRG (talk) 05:12, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Sorry for not being clear. Where do I get latex (and not TeXworks) for windows? I remember the one I used on Linux was something called Kyle. When I said it's not opened in adobe pdf, I meant when I click the circular green button on top left of the page it gives what looks like a pdf file (so the text font is very different from word or wikipedia or normal web site fonts, it's the same as pdf fonts), but the program that opened it is called TeXworks as well, not Adobe Reader (which is the real pdf program). I can't save my file either, because there's no save option under the "File" tab of the TeXworks that creates the pdf-looking file, so it's kind of useless since I'm trying to create pdf documents using latex. I used linux at my school and my home PC only has windows xp. Money is tight (talk) 08:11, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Okay, I see what you mean. I haven't used TeXworks, but probably it saved the PDF file in the same directory as the source tex file, then opened it to show you how it came out. You don't have to save it. (If you want the PDF to go somewhere else, there is probably a way to configure TeXworks to do that.)

You have LaTeX for Windows; proTeXt is a LaTeX distribution that includes the Windows version of LaTeX along with TeXworks and a bunch of other utilities.

If you can't get the hang of TeXworks, Kile is available for Windows. -- BenRG (talk) 08:53, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, it's working. Is it ok if I delete TeXworks now? Is Kile dependent on TeXworks in any way? Money is tight (talk) 05:19, 16 April 2011 (UTC)

Basically, you need three pieces of software to make and view latex documents. You need some kind of text editor to create the .tex files (TeXworks and Kile are examples of this). You need a latex distribution to turn these into ps/pdf/whatever files (MiKTeX is, I think, the standard one for Windows) - TeXworks/Kile can't build the pdfs themselves; they call latex behind-the-scenes. Finally, you need some kind of software to view the ps/pdf/whatever files (Adobe Reader, Ghostscript, etc.). Protext appears to include all three of these (TeXworks, MiKTeX, and Ghostscript, among other things). I have no idea whether it is possible to uninstall individual parts of protext. If you get rid of the whole thing, I imagine you will still have some kind of pdf viewer on your machine, and Kile should still work, though it won't be able to compile latex documents without MiKTeX or an equivalent. If you do end up reinstalling MiKTeX, I think there is an option to only install the main packages - you can set it up to download new ones as and when you need them - you will probably never use most of the ones you have installed. 81.98.38.48 (talk) 15:03, 17 April 2011 (UTC)

Embedded System

I want to know that what is Modeling and Characterization of Embedded Computation System? Please give me a solution of this.

See our article Embedded system, and if you have any further questions, come on back and ask a new question. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:58, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

User missing on windows 7

I had some malware on my windows 7 machine, so I rebooted and booted up from with windows xp (I multiboot), removed it with windows security essentials and then booted back with windows 7 but now I have a big problem... When I go to my hard drive, then users, it does not show my username, it just shows "public." Also, none of my icons and folders are on my desktop except for firefox. Any idea on how to fix this? I used my usual password to log into windows 7 and there is only one account setup. When I go into user accounts, it shows I am logged in as the administrator so I am not sure why all my documents and everything else are missing. Any ideas on how to fix it or access the files? Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Zipzster00 (talk • contribs) 07:16, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

I suppose the first possibility I'd consider is whether the malware had actually deleted the account and its folders. I would restore from a recent backup, and if there were none, I would do a sanity-check on how much disk space is reported to be free — if your hard disk is now 80% free space and you're pretty sure it used to be 20% free, then mass deletion may have been the problem. I'd run SpaceMonger or some other "disk visualization" utility to help here. I would then probably find some undelete software and see whether it can find any of the files you're missing. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:57, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Is there anything that can be done using I movie that simply cannot be done using Movie Maker ?

Is there anything that can be done using I movie'11 (and a MacBook) that simply cannot be done using Windows Live Movie Maker 2011(windows 7 and a pc)? I mean anything at all?--Gammalflamma (talk) 14:32, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

I'd be surprised if they both don't have one or two features the other hasn't, but also if they didn't both have the bulk of features most casual video editors would want. ¦ Reisio (talk) 20:06, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Since one is a Microsoft product and the other Apple, it wouldn't surprise me if it's difficult or impossible to export to .mov container file format in Windows Movie Maker. In fact from my search I'm not even sure how well it can import .mov files. I don't know if it supports any import/export plugins so it may be possible to add support. Of course it may also support MPEG-4 Part 14 which is fairly similar being based on the Quicktime container format. Nil Einne (talk) 16:15, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Deformation of WP pages in Google Chrome

Why does it happen in my GC browser? Other pages are as they should be. Thanks for help. --Omidinist (talk) 15:29, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

I would start off with making sure Chrome is up-to-date (Spanner menu -> About Google Chrome), and then disabling all the extensions and seeing whether that helps (Spanner menu -> Tools -> Extensions). If it does, re-enable extensions one by one and find the culprit. If it doesn't work, try clearing your browsing data (Ctrl+Shift+Del). If that still doesn't work, try navigating to "about:flags" (without the quotes) and enabling GPU Accelerated compositing (it goes without saying to be careful in here). 110.175.208.144 (talk) 08:23, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

BT Broadband

I am thinking of leaving dreadful TalkTalk and moving to BT Broadband. Has anyone had a good or bad experience with BT they might care to share please?85.211.160.104 (talk) 15:59, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Bad. I won't go into all the gory details, but they seem remarkably incompetent when it comes to simple things like communication - with themselves. What should have been a simple transfer from a 'Home Hub' to a 'Business Hub' setup resulted in both systems being cut off, and multiple billing. Their excuse? That these were dealt with by different departments that were 'like different companies' and didn't exchange information. Basically they have managed to combine the pig-headed bureaucratic stubbornness of the old pre-privatised BT with a new-found contempt for customers if they get in the way of short-term profits. AndyTheGrump (talk) 16:58, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

I'm with BT too. Honestly, I'm not happy with it. The bandwidth is unimpressive for the price outside of major population centres. The 'Unlimited' package actually has 100GB/month limit (you get throttled to 2Mb/s for a month once you exceed it, rather than being cut off altogether). Nowadays, 100GB is actually quite strict, as modern services like iplayer/4od, Steam and XBL/PSN will burn through that pretty quickly. The complimentary BT Home Hub is incredibly unreliable; dropping all network connections for no apparent reason pretty much every day is par for the course. Similarly to AndyTheGrump's story, a relative of mine uses a BT business subscription. Once, it failed because of a fault in the telephone exchange. It took about a month to get BT to just come out and replace the failed part in the exchange (business subscribers are supposed to be back up and running within 3 days, if memory serves), because the different sections of BT just don't seem able to communicate with each other. CaptainVindaloo ^{t c e} 17:29, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

EDIT: Memory doesn't serve. The outage was actually 6 weeks, when business customers are supposed to be back up within 24 hours. CaptainVindaloo ^{t c e} 19:19, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

The trouble is that a failure of the local loop, the distribution frame, the DSLAM, the trunk connection, and sometimes the BRAS is that the equipment is owned and operated (in the great majority of ADSL installs in the UK) by Openreach and BT Wholesale, regardless of who your ISP is. So that failure in the exchange (which was probably a DTE linecard in the DSLAM, or the whole DSLAM) would knock out everyone who shared that equipment, regardless of which ISP they thought they had. So unless you get Virgin Cable (or an expensive business leased-line install, usually on a business park or large office building) then much of your internet connection is in BT's hands, like it or not. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 23:44, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

I have VirginMedia fiber optic broadband and I'd say it has been acceptable but not brilliant. Over 2 years I've had it there's been a total of ~30 hours down time spread over various incidents. There's no monthly limits or anything like that at all, but they do reduce the speed during busy times —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.77 (talk) 00:58, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for all these terrifying stories, they almost, but only almost, make me want to stay with TalkTalk, (shudder). But has any one anything good to say about any UK based ISP please?85.211.216.144 (talk) 07:12, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

It seems that people just don't like their broadband service. In Australia, it's near impossible to get any decent broadband unless you go for business offerings. I would say that most ISP's have dodgy broadband services.General Rommel (talk) 07:59, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Original Research again, but the two people I know with BT have had nothing but trouble. (And some of their helpline call centres are in India.) I'm with Virgin, and they have been pretty good, although it took them six months to figure out that a long term problem was down to a faulty BT connection just down the road, but they did refund the cost of all my helpline calls.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 09:31, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Be Unlimited has been pretty good for me. Have been with them for a couple of years; they're not perfect, but much better than the (indescribably awful) AOL. Be is owned by Telefonica (O2), but I understand they have a certain amount of autonomy from the parent company. Their call centre was pretty good on the only occasion I've had to contact them, I haven't seen any throttling or significant speed problems, and the router they supplied has uptime of about 11 months. The only note of caution is that their customer base has expanded significantly over the past few years, and with other companies large increases in customer numbers has sometimes led to decreases in quality/customer service, although I haven't seen any evidence of this. It is a bit pricey, however. I would highly recommend the guides and forums at http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ when choosing an ISP - lots of information about various ISPs, and staff from various companies visit the forums. --Kateshortforbob _talk 09:59, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

I'm an ex-BT employee, so you may find me biased, but I'm quite happy with BT broadband. There are currently 2 ISPs whose customer service is well rated in independent surveys - Be and O2. But I think you'll find the rest are much of a much-ness, albeit TalkTalk may be worse - they had specific problems with billing/customer service over their merger. A comment for Finlay. If it's a local-loop-unbundled service, then the only BT bit will be the copper line. This will terminate on an ISPs own DSLAM and thence to its own network/BRAS, etc - so there will be no dependence on BT to fix faults with these services. They are rare in rural UK, but common in cities - it's typically why you can't get cheap broadband out in the sticks.--Phil Holmes (talk) 10:15, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

I've been with Plusnet for quite some years and have little to complain about. They boast of being based on solid Yorkshire values and of having a Yorkshire based call centre; though I'm now a little worried to see the article says they were bought by BT in 2007. Astronaut (talk) 13:48, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Worm: folders become .exe

I've got an Archos MP3 tablet and two USB sticks, all of which have become infected with some nasty worm or virus which has completely hidden the folders on the devices, replacing them with identically-named 'exe' files (eg. Songs.exe Albums.exe Essays.exe) If I run antivirus software, and I've tried several, the exe-s are wiped as being harmful, but the original files refuse to show up, and their contents can only be revealed by typing the exact path, from memory, in the address bar (ie. F:\Photos\Birthday)
Any advice? ╟─TreasuryTag►Speaker─╢ 18:12, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

[1] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.89.77 (talk • contribs)

Perhaps you could quote the part of that page which answers my specific problem re. absent folders? ╟─TreasuryTag►Counsellor of State─╢ 20:02, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

The fact the contents can be revealed is great. It presumably means the files have merely been marked as invisible. First, I would back up that infected hard disk. Then, assuming a previous backup before the infection isn't recent enough and you have to salvage data from this hard disk, I would run anti-malware software to try to eradicate the malware. Then I would tell Windows that you want to be able to see invisible files in Windows Explorer. You don't mention what version of Windows you have, but on Windows 7 it's Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View (the tab) and then turn on the option "Show hidden files, folders, and drives". See if your folders are present but invisible. If so, just right-click each such folder and choose "Properties", then uncheck the "Hidden" checkbox. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:34, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

It's absolutely backed up, I can assure you! The hidden-folders thing doesn't work, sadly. I have Windows 7 and Windows XP on separate laptops, and since these are all USB devices I can choose which system to use. I also have a Linux boot-disc if that could be of any use. ╟─TreasuryTag►inspectorate─╢ 08:15, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Darn. I'd boot off the Linux disc and take a look and see what the directories look like. I am surprised you are able to use pathnames to get at the directories in Windows Explorer without the directories being visible in Windows Explorer. Comet Tuttle (talk) 18:04, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

They looked more or less like what could be expected; a list of folders, followed by a list of 'exe' files with precisely the same names as the folders, Linux presumably not being fooled into displaying the 'exe's rather than the real thing.
I think I've solved the problem by backing up all my data via Ubuntu, basically writing off the USB sticks and formatting the MP3 player :( Bizarre and sad, but there we go... Just hope to God my main computer's not been infected. ╟─TreasuryTag►Not-content─╢ 19:31, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Formating Harddrive

I installed a Windows 7 on laptop. Now I want to completely remove it. But when I try to format it thru Windows Explorer or Command Prompt I find I am unable to do it. What shall I do ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.253.131.98 (talk) 18:37, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

You can't format the hard drive which Windows is running from while running Windows. Do you have an install disk for another OS you are trying to install, or even just the Windows 7 install disk itself? Most install disks will give you the option to reformat or repartition the hard drive during the install process. If you want to completely destroy all data on the hard drive so that it is not recoverable, try DBAN 82.43.89.77 (talk) 19:58, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

DBAN is overkill.

• If you want to remove Windows 7 and install another OS, then just install the other OS — during installation the Windows 7 install will almost certainly be destroyed (or you'll at least be given the option).
• If you want to remove Windows 7 and leave an empty disk, you can boot virtually any OS install disk and reformat the drive
• If you want to be paranoid, you can grab any Linux live OS and use dd to overwrite it with zeros (current thinking is that doing this more than once, or with random data, is a complete waste of time).

¦ Reisio (talk) 20:12, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Fake RPG

Please see Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous#Fake RPG. I thought 'misc' was a better fit than the computing helpdesk, but I wanted to alert here, too, because I think it likely that users here might have answers. Cheers,  Chzz  ►  20:38, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Display more sites in Internet Explorer

I recently moved to IE9 from IE8. With IE8, clicking on the down arrow beside the address bar would pop up a list of the most recent 10 or so sites I'd typed in. With IE9, it only shows the most recent 5. The history and favorites sections have little down arrows to expand how many of those you can see, but I don't see a way to expand that top list. Do I have to fiddle something in the registry, or is there an obvious solution I'm not seeing? 50.92.126.63 (talk) 21:10, 14 April 2011 (UTC)