Tech Geek Thread Do-Over

[Josh S]

Josh S,

A Google search revealed the following set of instructions (http://thundercloud.net/infoave/answers/external-hard-drives-ntfs.htm). Instead of simply right clicking on the drive, the website suggests you use Computer Management via right-clicking on My Computer.

Such a simple task shouldn't require any third-party crapware, but Windows never stops surprising me.

That's for changing from Fat32 to NTFS. I'm trying to convert from NTFS to Fat32. Apparently Microsoft doesn't want me to do it. I hate Microsoft so much.

[Spike-X]

Just out of curiosity, why are you wanting to change it?

[Serik]

Yeah that's a good question. I apologize for not searching for the appropriate steps, it's just that I'm so used to people moving from Fat32 --> NTFS

[Josh S]

I need to back up all the stuff on my PS3 so I can install Linux, but PS3 only recognizes Fat32 drives.

And there's no need to apologize, Serik. I appreciate that you tried to help.

[macul]

Have you tried FORMAT from the command line?

[Typo Lad]

Josh,

Download Gpart.

[Josh S]

Have you tried FORMAT from the command line?

I'm not clear on how to do that, but I may end up having to try that.

Josh,

Download Gpart.

Everything says it's an ISO and I have no discs. I appreciate the help, though.

I talked to a guy I work with who's put Linux on his PS3 and he said he'll help me get this stuff straightened out when I get to work.

[macul]

Josh, from the command line type "format /?".

C:\>format /?
Formats a disk for use with Windows.

FORMAT volume [/FS:file-system] [/V:label] [/Q] [/A:size] [/C] [/X]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/F:size]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:sectors]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q]
FORMAT volume [/Q]

volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
mount point, or volume name.
/FS:filesystem Specifies the type of the file system (FAT, FAT32, or NTFS).
/V:label Specifies the volume label.
/Q Performs a quick format.
/C NTFS only: Files created on the new volume will be compressed
by default.
/X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary. All opened
handles to the volume would no longer be valid.
/A:size Overrides the default allocation unit size. Default settings
are strongly recommended for general use.
NTFS supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K.
FAT supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K,
(128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).
FAT32 supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K,
(128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).

Note that the FAT and FAT32 files systems impose the
following restrictions on the number of clusters on a volume:

FAT: Number of clusters <= 65526
FAT32: 65526 < Number of clusters < 4177918

Format will immediately stop processing if it decides that
the above requirements cannot be met using the specified
cluster size.

NTFS compression is not supported for allocation unit sizes
above 4096.

/F:size Specifies the size of the floppy disk to format (1.44)
/T:tracks Specifies the number of tracks per disk side.
/N:sectors Specifies the number of sectors per track.

[Typo Lad]

Weird, I found a non ISO version.

[macul]

josh, are you trying to retain the data? Or are you trying to completely wipe out the disk? If you need to retain, then don't use the format command. As far as I know, there isn't a native NTFS - > FAT32 converter. You'll probably go 3rd party as typo man (haven't you graduated from "lad" yet??) has suggested.

[Josh S]

Josh, from the command line type "format /?".

C:\>format /?
Formats a disk for use with Windows.

FORMAT volume [/FS:file-system] [/V:label] [/Q] [/A:size] [/C] [/X]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/F:size]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q] [/T:tracks /N:sectors]
FORMAT volume [/V:label] [/Q]
FORMAT volume [/Q]

volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
mount point, or volume name.
/FS:filesystem Specifies the type of the file system (FAT, FAT32, or NTFS).
/V:label Specifies the volume label.
/Q Performs a quick format.
/C NTFS only: Files created on the new volume will be compressed
by default.
/X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary. All opened
handles to the volume would no longer be valid.
/A:size Overrides the default allocation unit size. Default settings
are strongly recommended for general use.
NTFS supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K.
FAT supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K,
(128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).
FAT32 supports 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16K, 32K, 64K,
(128K, 256K for sector size > 512 bytes).

Note that the FAT and FAT32 files systems impose the
following restrictions on the number of clusters on a volume:

FAT: Number of clusters <= 65526
FAT32: 65526 < Number of clusters < 4177918

Format will immediately stop processing if it decides that
the above requirements cannot be met using the specified
cluster size.

NTFS compression is not supported for allocation unit sizes
above 4096.

/F:size Specifies the size of the floppy disk to format (1.44)
/T:tracks Specifies the number of tracks per disk side.
/N:sectors Specifies the number of sectors per track.

Holy bananas! I'm gonna spend all day at work figuring out what that means.

Weird, I found a non ISO version.

Then I shall continue my search.

[Typo Lad]

Josh,

Try CompuApops SwissKnife, then.

[jessecuster3]

Everything says it's an ISO and I have no discs. I appreciate the help, though.


Daemon Tools (http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/announcements.php)

you will never need to burn ISO's or any other format.

[macul]

If you are trying to wipe a disk and put a FAT32 filesystem on it the command would probably be:

format driveletter /fs:fat32

[Josh S]

Josh,

Try CompuApops SwissKnife, then.

Awesome! It took me less than two minutes to find that, install it and get my drive formatted. You, sir, are an exceptional human being.

Daemon Tools (http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/announcements.php)

you will never need to burn ISO's or any other format.

I'll look into that later tonight.

If you are trying to wipe a disk and put a FAT32 filesystem on it the command would probably be:

format driveletter /fs:fat32

Luckily, I didn't have to resort to that. I am going to save that stuff you posted and play with it after I'm done with my PS3 stuff.

[Typo Lad]

Awesome! It took me less than two minutes to find that, install it and get my drive formatted. You, sir, are an exceptional human being.

I should have thought of that first. It's not always the best with external drives, but damn is it ever fast.

[thespianphryne]

Okay, Excel users help me out here.

I'm calculating taxes for a few people. Excel very nicely adds up all the taxes for me and then I ask it to deduct the taxes from the gross for the sum of the pay cheque. Except for some reason it miscalculates the final result by one cent in some columns and I'm unable to figure out why. Check it out:
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/phryneateleusis/CBR/excelprob.jpg

Column 1: wrong result by 1 cent
Column 2: correct result
Column 3: correct result
Column 4: wrong by one cent

This is really bugging me.


-Das

[SOGG]

Okay, Excel users help me out here.

I'm calculating taxes for a few people. Excel very nicely adds up all the taxes for me and then I ask it to deduct the taxes from the gross for the sum of the pay cheque. Except for some reason it miscalculates the final result by one cent in some columns and I'm unable to figure out why. Check it out:
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m262/phryneateleusis/CBR/excelprob.jpg

Column 1: wrong result by 1 cent
Column 2: correct result
Column 3: correct result
Column 4: wrong by one cent

This is really bugging me.


-Das

That's a rounding thing. Highlight the column, right click-> format cells -> currency.

[thespianphryne]

That's a rounding thing. Highlight the column, right click-> format cells -> currency.

I re-confirmed it, and it does not fix the problem. Any ideas?

Also, rounding to what? How is .77 rounder than .83

[gary bolt]

For the past few days my computer has been replacing my preferred email program with with another one and I want it to stop. I take a lot of digital photos and with my old Outlook Express I can email images by clicking on thumbnails. The good part is that I get a prompt asking me if I want to make the pictures smaller. This is a very convenient way to send images that aren't huge. Microsoft Office Outlook is bullying in and trying to replace my older Outlook but I don't like it because it doesn't have the option of making images smaller. How do I make the computer stop bullying me into using the newer version? So far I've tried to use "system restore" to an earlier date and it fixes the problem for the rest of the day but when I turn my computer on the next day my preferred old outlook has been replaced again.

[Typo Lad]

Go into internet preferences and set it there

[Matt Algren]

I re-confirmed it, and it does not fix the problem. Any ideas?

Also, rounding to what? How is .77 rounder than .83
Are you subtracting a percentage of the gross or a specific non-calculated dollar amount? It's possible that it's rounding at a different place than you're expecting.

Are you sure you don't have it set to manually recalculate? Hit F9 to force a recalculation.

You might try highlighting and copying the entire sheet, then going to a new sheet and Edit >> Paste Special >> select Values. That'll strip any odd formatting.

[SOGG]

I re-confirmed it, and it does not fix the problem. Any ideas?

Also, rounding to what? How is .77 rounder than .83

hnh. Lemme plug those numbers in and see if I get the same issues. Gimme a bit.

[thespianphryne]

Are you subtracting a percentage of the gross or a specific non-calculated dollar amount? It's possible that it's rounding at a different place than you're expecting.

Are you sure you don't have it set to manually recalculate? Hit F9 to force a recalculation.

You might try highlighting and copying the entire sheet, then going to a new sheet and Edit >> Paste Special >> select Values. That'll strip any odd formatting.

Thank you, thank you, everyone. It was the percentage calculations fucking me up. All I needed to do was go into Preferences> Calculation >Workbook options: Precision as displayed


-Das

[SOGG]

Thank you, thank you, everyone. It was the percentage calculations fucking me up. All I needed to do was go into Preferences> Calculation >Workbook options: Precision as displayed


-Das

Drat. And i just figured it out too. Although it's great that your problem is fixed.

[gary bolt]

Go into internet preferences and set it there

Thanks Typo. It worked swimmingly.

[thespianphryne]

hnh. Lemme plug those numbers in and see if I get the same issues. Gimme a bit.

Thanks for going to all the trouble. I stumbled across the solution and it's cool now.

-Das

[Winslow]

I have a ton of avi files (it's not pron ya pervs).

But it's taking up a ton of storage memory (about 12 GB).

Any suggestions for cheap and easily accessible memory systems I can burn this stuff to? I don't have a DVD burner.

[jessecuster3]

I have a ton of avi files (it's not pron ya pervs).

But it's taking up a ton of storage memory (about 12 GB).

Any suggestions for cheap and easily accessible memory systems I can burn this stuff to? I don't have a DVD burner.

How cheap are you talking, because you could get an external DVd burner for around $50. Alternatively, you could get a hard drive for anywhere between $30 and $50 and then spend $6 or so on an USB Enclosure.

[Jeff Brady]

I have a ton of avi files (it's not pron ya pervs).

But it's taking up a ton of storage memory (about 12 GB).

Any suggestions for cheap and easily accessible memory systems I can burn this stuff to? I don't have a DVD burner.

Depending on their size, you could just use the CD burner.

Don't have one? Get one. They're extremely cheap. I've seen DVD burners for $40.

[Winslow]

How cheap are you talking, because you could get an external DVd burner for around $50. Alternatively, you could get a hard drive for anywhere between $30 and $50 and then spend $6 or so on an USB Enclosure.

Depending on their size, you could just use the CD burner.

Don't have one? Get one. They're extremely cheap. I've seen DVD burners for $40.

I had no idea DVD burners and hard drives are so cheap.

Where can a buy a USB DVD burner of hard drive?

[Matt Algren]

Matt's Excel tip of the day. Part one in a series of one.

CTRL+; to insert today's date.

[jessecuster3]

I had no idea DVD burners and hard drives are so cheap.

Where can a buy a USB DVD burner of hard drive?

If you are comfortable putting an internal one in, you can find a internal Dual Layer(meaning 8.4 GB instead of 4.2) for $30, here (http://3btech.net/sash18xdolad.html).


If you would rather hook it up via USB, you can get an external one for around $50, here. (http://www.gearxs.com/gearxs/product_info.php?products_id=8541)


When it comes to any computer stuff I always go to Pricewatch (http://www.pricewatch.com/), or New Egg (http://www.newegg.com/).

[roguespirit]

Hey Guys can anyone suggest a cheap but user friendly video editor for me?

[Typo Lad]

Hey Guys can anyone suggest a cheap but user friendly video editor for me?
Mac, PC, Linux, or other?

[roguespirit]

Mac, PC, Linux, or other?

PC...I'm using windows XP on my desktop and vista (hate it) on my laptop

[Typo Lad]

PC...I'm using windows XP on my desktop and vista (hate it) on my laptop
Vista is craaaaap.

No idea now.

[Matt Algren]

Vista is craaaaap.

No idea now.
Why so?

I could do without all the neato-keen widgets and stuff, and it's a ridiculous memory hog, but otherwise it hasn't been too bad at Mom and Dad's.

[Typo Lad]

The memory issues are what end users I know are having issues from. I just got paid $150 to downgrade someone.

Wait no, I take it back. I love Vista.

[roguespirit]

Why so?

I could do without all the neato-keen widgets and stuff, and it's a ridiculous memory hog, but otherwise it hasn't been too bad at Mom and Dad's.

It slows down a system seriously. I know so many people that have downgraded their OS

[thespianphryne]

Help me Mac heads.

I have damaged my font folder and now I can't get my machine to start.

Don't ask how. flu+drugs=bad decisions


-Das

[Mac Danny]

Help me Mac heads.

I have damaged my font folder and now I can't get my machine to start.

Don't ask how. flu+drugs=bad decisions


-Das

Ok, I think I've had this before, you need to boot in safe mode and delete a preference file.

I looked around people recommend this.

try running this script in terminal it seems to be a font related issue.

rm -rf /Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS
ln -s /private/tmp /Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS


I have also had a similar issue where i had to boot in safe mode and delete the following file.

/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

[LtMarvel]

Microsoft has a free video editor to download.

Vista runs better than XP; all you have to do is disable all those animated help thingees...

[thespianphryne]

Ok, I think I've had this before, you need to boot in safe mode and delete a preference file.

I looked around people recommend this.

try running this script in terminal it seems to be a font related issue.

rm -rf /Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS
ln -s /private/tmp /Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS


I have also had a similar issue where i had to boot in safe mode and delete the following file.

/Users/username/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

Thanks Mac. I ditched it until the morning when I will have had some rest.


-Das

[roguespirit]

Microsoft has a free video editor to download.

Vista runs better than XP; all you have to do is disable all those animated help thingees...

oh ok..where do I do that?

[Typo Lad]

Thanks Mac. I ditched it until the morning when I will have had some rest.


-Das
If you're feeling up to swinging by my office, I could take a look.

[thespianphryne]

Before I did anything drastic like re-start from a system disk, I brought another working Mac into the network and connected to mine, dragged the font files from the operating machine into my machine and re-started. Voila! All systems go.

Back to work. Well maybe. Stanley Tucci's here and he gives a good class. Maybe I'll go watch that instead.


-Das

[jessecuster3]

Help! So I just unplugged all of my stuff and went to replug everything back in and now the HDD in the USB enclosure is not being recognized. I have confirmed that the hub is working correctly because my IPod is recognized fine. The USB enclosure is on the same hub.


Any idea what it will take to get the USB Enclosure working?

[Alex L]

Help! So I just unplugged all of my stuff and went to replug everything back in and now the HDD in the USB enclosure is not being recognized. I have confirmed that the hub is working correctly because my IPod is recognized fine. The USB enclosure is on the same hub.


Any idea what it will take to get the USB Enclosure working?

Try a different port?
(This assumes that you had the HDD installed previously -- if this is a new drive, even in an already-working enclosure, could be a whole bunch of different gaffes.)

[jessecuster3]

Try a different port?
(This assumes that you had the HDD installed previously -- if this is a new drive, even in an already-working enclosure, could be a whole bunch of different gaffes.)

Its an already working drive and enclosure. I have tried it in multiple ports.

[Typo Lad]

Oops. Wrong dang thread

[Alex L]

Sorry... no idea what could be causing it, then.

[roguespirit]

Hey guys can anyone help me with or point me in the direction of a site that can help me get rid of a backdoor.win32.rbot.jrr trojan

please

[jessecuster3]

So, I cheated and put the HD into my pc and then copied it to another drive and now I don't even need the enclosure.

[thespianphryne]

Hey guys can anyone help me with or point me in the direction of a site that can help me get rid of a backdoor.win32.rbot.jrr trojan

please

Turn off System Restore Point. Restart in Safe Mode. Delete the file and then restart normally.


-Das

[thespianphryne]

Has anybody here tried using the Firefox 3 beta 5? I'm hearing that it's pretty stable, not so much of system hog and is pretty cool overall. I can use the portable version for my Windows PC at hone. But I was wondering if it's worth it switching to the beta 5 at work.


-Das

[Tadhg Adams]

Has anybody here tried using the Firefox 3 beta 5? I'm hearing that it's pretty stable, not so much of system hog and is pretty cool overall. I can use the portable version for my Windows PC at hone. But I was wondering if it's worth it switching to the beta 5 at work.


-Das

Is your computer at work a Mac? I've been having issues with FF3b5 and Flash hogging the CPU.

[thespianphryne]

Is your computer at work a Mac? I've been having issues with FF3b5 and Flash hogging the CPU.

Yeah, work computer is a Mac.

So, I shouldn't, then?

-Das

[Tadhg Adams]

Yeah, work computer is a Mac.

So, I shouldn't, then?

-Das

I wouldn't if you have to deal with anything heavily flash based. Hulu ends up sputtering and my machine becomes unresponsive.

[thespianphryne]

I wouldn't if you have to deal with anything heavily flash based. Hulu ends up sputtering and my machine becomes unresponsive.

My present version does that already as I've discovered. I was hoping the new version would fix that.

-Das

[macul]

Vista might be the worst piece of crap OS I've ever used. I've been evaluating it for a few weeks at work. It is pure crap. There are next to no redeeming qualities. Tasks that used to whiz by in XP take substantially longer in Vista. Even the simple process of copying a file. MS really took a step backwards with this OS.

[Tadhg Adams]

Vista might be the worst piece of crap OS I've ever used. I've been evaluating it for a few weeks at work. It is pure crap. There are next to no redeeming qualities. Tasks that used to whiz by in XP take substantially longer in Vista. Even the simple process of copying a file. MS really took a step backwards with this OS.

I'd actually disagree that it's a step backwards. Besides some of the initial bugs, I'd say the largest problem with Vista is the same one XP had. It's too new. It's trying to leverage newer technologies before the Appspace is ready for it. There are definite UI issues though, especially in regard to UAC. The fact that Vista has a working privilege-escalation system that allows you to actually run the machine as a standard user is really nice. The default GP settings aren't good, but properly setting those makes the machine much more usable from the enduser perspective while still allowing proper security for the machine. And from a IT standpoint, there's lots of improvements, most notably the untying the system from the HAL allowing you to create an image and deploy it to differing hardware configurations. The activation scheme sucks on the volume level though, getting rid of VLK makes me a sad panda but being able to mix MAK and their new Key Management Server is at least an attempt to still allow flexibility in Enterprise deployments. I can definitely see why people think that it's worse, but I also remember the same being said for XP vs 2000. I think once Vista and the environment around it matures, it'll be a very nice operating system.

Plus Vista is one-step closer to a completely resolution-independent interface which a major plus in my book.

[Serik]

I'm finally getting around to reorganizing my hard drive and digitalizing a bunch of paperwork. In addition to finally creating a home Linux server, I'm also decking out my 4 GB USB thumbdrive with various essential files and apps. My list so far:

Portable Firefox (web)
Portable Thunderbird (email)
TrueCrypt (to encrypt the drive)
KeePass file for password storage (this should be compatible with the Linux versions, correct?)
Abiword (lightweight word processing)

Have any suggestions for what else I should include on there? And has anyone used Putty over a thumbdrive to establish a secure SSH connection? I'd hate to browse the internet or check my email on a public terminal without SSH.

[Ben Morgan]

Has anybody here tried using the Firefox 3 beta 5? I'm hearing that it's pretty stable, not so much of system hog and is pretty cool overall. I can use the portable version for my Windows PC at hone. But I was wondering if it's worth it switching to the beta 5 at work.


-DasI tried it for a day, it was pretty cool.

[gary bolt]

I'm considering getting a new laptop and I'm turned off by the fact that everything comes loaded with VISTA. I've heard bad things about it and I'd rather get a new computer with XP. So I've I've been shopping around and I'm drawn more and more to the MacBook. Right now Morna and I have two XP computers on a home network. If I get a Mac will networking be complicated? What about all my software? I have several photo-related things that are tailored to Windows. Will I have to purchase them all over again or can I somehow adapt them to Mac?

[thespianphryne]

I'm considering getting a new laptop and I'm turned off by the fact that everything comes loaded with VISTA. I've heard bad things about it and I'd rather get a new computer with XP. So I've I've been shopping around and I'm drawn more and more to the MacBook. Right now Morna and I have two XP computers on a home network. If I get a Mac will networking be complicated? What about all my software? I have several photo-related things that are tailored to Windows. Will I have to purchase them all over again or can I somehow adapt them to Mac?

Networking really won't be a problem. There is Boot Camp for Leopard (http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bootcamp.html) that will allow you to run XP on your Mac, so that should take care of that.


-Das

[SOGG]

So I've I've been shopping around and I'm drawn more and more to the MacBook. <snipped for space>

This is sort of tangential to your question. However, I bought a macbook 4 months ago after quite a bit of deliberation(should be somewhere on this thread). There's one thing that I didn't really count on and is very disappointing as far as Apple goes since Apple is usually top notch at designing things. The bottom plastic housing is very poorly designed. It has the normal round Apple edges but the bit where the edge of the lower case meets the keyboard housing is very sharp. Now I've not cut myself yet, and this never happens when I have my laptop at a table and am able to type properly. But since we've gotten nicer weather lately, I was able to do things like stop on the trail on the way home and write a little bit. The edges are... damn sharp and very uncomfortable.

Please note that I do wushu as a hobby and sometimes get nicked by springsteel swords during practice. And yeah, it's still uncomfortable.

[Slappy san]

I'm considering getting a new laptop and I'm turned off by the fact that everything comes loaded with VISTA. I've heard bad things about it and I'd rather get a new computer with XP. So I've I've been shopping around and I'm drawn more and more to the MacBook. Right now Morna and I have two XP computers on a home network. If I get a Mac will networking be complicated? What about all my software? I have several photo-related things that are tailored to Windows. Will I have to purchase them all over again or can I somehow adapt them to Mac?

The Vista issues are overblown. I bought one with Vista even before SP1. I have no issues now that SP1 fixed my internal webcam issue.

[gary bolt]

Networking really won't be a problem. There is Boot Camp for Leopard (http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bootcamp.html) that will allow you to run XP on your Mac, so that should take care of that.


-Das

I just learned that I can they will install XP at the store where I've been looking at Macs.

This is sort of tangential to your question. However, I bought a macbook 4 months ago after quite a bit of deliberation(should be somewhere on this thread). There's one thing that I didn't really count on and is very disappointing as far as Apple goes since Apple is usually top notch at designing things. The bottom plastic housing is very poorly designed. It has the normal round Apple edges but the bit where the edge of the lower case meets the keyboard housing is very sharp. Now I've not cut myself yet, and this never happens when I have my laptop at a table and am able to type properly. But since we've gotten nicer weather lately, I was able to do things like stop on the trail on the way home and write a little bit. The edges are... damn sharp and very uncomfortable.

Please note that I do wushu as a hobby and sometimes get nicked by springsteel swords during practice. And yeah, it's still uncomfortable.

Be careful out there SOGG.

The Vista issues are overblown. I bought one with Vista even before SP1. I have no issues now that SP1 fixed my internal webcam issue.

That's good to know. I am very tempted by the MacBook but it sure is pricey.

[SOGG]

I just learned that I can they will install XP at the store where I've been looking at Macs.


If they do it for free, then sure. Otherwise, it's pretty easy to do it yourself. (It comes with a manual explaining how to do it.


That's good to know. I am very tempted by the MacBook but it sure is pricey.

The priciness of Macs (at least as far as laptops go) is mostly because of an unfair base. Simply put -- Apple will generally not put out a machine with cheap parts. For example, the Macbook -- Apple's entry level laptop -- has enough horsepower to use the aero gui of Vista. However, the Macbook is quite often compared to laptops that cannot. You then get an incorrect idea that a Macbook is the most expensive product in its class. (I actually showed on this thread that it's the cheapest notebook in its class)

But, and this is huge, the whole sharp edge thing is really pissing me off, so if you've got an extra few hundred, I'd go for the Macbook Pro.

I'm looking at this now from a software level. When Apple issues updates, they rarely affect daemons, when ms does, they often do. Thus, on a long enough timeline (and you'll get to that if you plan on not buying a new notebook every other year) you'll find your Vista machine get noticeably slower, while your Leopard will be purring along.

[Slappy san]

.
That's good to know. I am very tempted by the MacBook but it sure is pricey.

Yeah I know. I too have considered Macs but the price premium never seemed worth it to me.

I'll probably be picking up a DV2800t or DV3000t soon. I'm trying to be patient and wait for the latter.

[Serik]

Go for the Macbook. You can run OS X, Windows, hell even Linux distros if you want.

My four-year-old iBook looks purty and everything, but the real reason to own a Mac is for OS X -- by far the best consumer operating system out there. At first I regretted the purchase, but now that I've finally got everything set up, it runs like a tank. Haven't had to restart in months.

Unless you frequently need Windows-only apps and don't want to use Bootcamp, go for the Mac.

[Serik]

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/0/3/2/0325e6f22a84a21f03c160283512874e.jpg

GUYS WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY COMPUTER!?!

[thespianphryne]

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/0/3/2/0325e6f22a84a21f03c160283512874e.jpg

GUYS WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY COMPUTER!?!

You're using IE?


-Das

[thespianphryne]

erm...Just in case you were being serious about that: looks like a browser hijack. Check these links to see if they're useful to you:-

http://www.computing.net/answers/security/search-bar-hijack/12163.html

http://www.tutorials-win.com/IE6/removing-Search-284095/

Also check out HijackThis (http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis).


-Das

[Serik]

Nah, it was in a joke email I got, but I'm wondering whether or not that was real :biggrin:

Pre-Firefox, my IE got hijacked by a malicious tracking toolbar. Had to nuke the whole HD to fix it.

[Tadhg Adams]

The priciness of Macs (at least as far as laptops go) is mostly because of an unfair base. Simply put -- Apple will generally not put out a machine with cheap parts. For example, the Macbook -- Apple's entry level laptop -- has enough horsepower to use the aero gui of Vista. However, the Macbook is quite often compared to laptops that cannot. You then get an incorrect idea that a Macbook is the most expensive product in its class. (I actually showed on this thread that it's the cheapest notebook in its class)

No. The Macbook is a pricy laptop. Dell and HP both put out laptops that out-spec the base Macbook and cost 200-400 less. Even if you want to stay in the same size class, 13.3" LCD, Dell still comes out cheaper and better specced. The fact that Apple ships a laptop with a mother-loving combo drive is a joke; the fact that laptop costs over 1000.00 is beyond ridiculous.

[Tadhg Adams]

So anyone seen the problem with Leopard where the built-in Firewall decides to block DHCP requests? It's happening on my main laptop(Not my iMac or MBP though) and is really starting to piss me off. I change networks and I have to turn off the Firewall to get a DHCP address. I've trashed the Firewall prefs, reset the network adapters. manually allowed the ports in IPFW and still nothing. Oh and My apple guy said it was my imagination.

[Josh S]

I've got a super stupid question, especially sense it seems like most people here use Linux or a Mac. I'm running Windows XP Pro on my laptop and I want to delete everything I don't need to free up space for iTunes. I know I could re-install, but I don't know where the disc is and I don't want to go through the trouble of re-installing stuff I want to keep. Is there somewhere I can see a list of what files and programs I shouldn't delete?

[Spike-X]

Do you mean to make space for the program itself, or to store the files you're ripping from CD?

If it's the latter, you might wanna look into getting a removable HD, or even installing a second drive in the computer itself; it's not hard to do, or you could always get your local computer store to do it.

[StoneGold]

I am having wireless network issues. Issues which can easily be solved by spending $40, but I want to see if I can continue doing this on the cheap.

Previously, my network has been wired. I have no portable wireless devices, and my computer has been close enough to the TV that there have been no issues running cable along the wall. Now, they are a little too far apart, and it is much cheaper to make the computer wireless than the Xbox 360, so I bought a wireless receiver for the PC.

I got a wireless receiver previously in order to update my Wii's firmware. I got it for free from Fonera. It works fairly well, except it doesn't have any wired ports in it. So I've been having it run from a port in my wired router, and it works fine.

The issue now is that since I am trying to run the PC through it, the combination of running it through two routers is playing havoc with my port forwarding. I can't send music or videos to the Xbox, I can't play Steam, I can't do... other, naughtier under the DMCA things to full efficiency. I believe it's because I'm having trouble figuring out the proper IP address to enter into both router's firewall exceptions. Anyone got any hints?

[Josh S]

Do you mean to make space for the program itself, or to store the files you're ripping from CD?

If it's the latter, you might wanna look into getting a removable HD, or even installing a second drive in the computer itself; it's not hard to do, or you could always get your local computer store to do it.

I'm doing it for music. I've got an external drive, but that doesn't help. I've got about 25GB of music I want to put on my iPod. I need at least that much space on my computer's hard drive in order to get it all on my iPod, right?

Let's say I only have 10GB of drive space. If I put the 10GB in iTunes and transfer it to my iPod then move that back to my external and put the other 10GB in iTunes when I sync it's going to delete the 10GB that are already there since they aren't checked in the sync list. Right?

[LtMarvel]

Maxtor OneTouch III Mini 80GB External Hard Drive - USB 2.0
The Maxtor OneTouch III Mini Edition also gives you one of the most feature-rich portables available.

$49.99

[Alex L]

I'm doing it for music. I've got an external drive, but that doesn't help. I've got about 25GB of music I want to put on my iPod. I need at least that much space on my computer's hard drive in order to get it all on my iPod, right?

Let's say I only have 10GB of drive space. If I put the 10GB in iTunes and transfer it to my iPod then move that back to my external and put the other 10GB in iTunes when I sync it's going to delete the 10GB that are already there since they aren't checked in the sync list. Right?

Don't set your iPod to sync with iTunes.

http://www.zolved.com/synapse/view_content/5698/How_to_delete_songs_from_iTunes_but_not_from_your_ iPod_

[Spike-X]

I'm doing it for music. I've got an external drive, but that doesn't help. I've got about 25GB of music I want to put on my iPod. I need at least that much space on my computer's hard drive in order to get it all on my iPod, right?

Let's say I only have 10GB of drive space. If I put the 10GB in iTunes and transfer it to my iPod then move that back to my external and put the other 10GB in iTunes when I sync it's going to delete the 10GB that are already there since they aren't checked in the sync list. Right?
You need to have it on a hard drive, sure. Just tell iTunes to store all the music it rips on your external HD.

[thespianphryne]

The laser printer in the office (HP Laserjet 6P) just died today after 11 years of hard-knock use. The fuser assembly has gone kaput and even though it looks like an easy fix, repairing it will cost only a little less than buying one of the new laser printers in the market. Also, I don't think I can put it back together as neatly as it used to be. I've repaired it on two other occasions and bits are falling out/apart.

So, anyone here know what fun can be had with the various parts of the printer? Any ideas, what to do with
the laser unit
the fuser assembly (what's left of it)
mirrors
servos

Let's hear it or see links to some sick Make or Instructables entry.


-Das

[mattx110]

Anyone know where to get a usb cable with the little side of the ieee 1284. Stupid old printer won't play nice with stupid new computer. There's no 1284 plug on the computer.

An 8-pin to usb might work too. So far, all i've got is the wrong cable from amazon.com.

stupid hewlett packard.

[Typo Lad]

You mean a USB mini cable? Any computer store.

[mattx110]

You mean a USB mini cable? Any computer store.
You sure? I can't find it anywhere! All these new printers use USB or USB 2!

[Typo Lad]

Sure. I used to seem 'em everywhere. Ask at the counter.

And USB2 on a printer is such a huge waste...

[LtMarvel]

You can even get them at Wal*Mart/Target/whatnot. They are everywhere.

[Josh S]

You need to have it on a hard drive, sure. Just tell iTunes to store all the music it rips on your external HD.

I had no idea I could do that. That's outstanding. Thanks.

You sure? I can't find it anywhere! All these new printers use USB or USB 2!

You might want to check in the video game section. The PSP uses a mini USB.

[mattx110]

Sure. I used to seem 'em everywhere. Ask at the counter.

And USB2 on a printer is such a huge waste...

You can even get them at Wal*Mart/Target/whatnot. They are everywhere.


You might want to check in the video game section. The PSP uses a mini USB.
oo... clever.

Thanks guys, I'll go back to the store armed with this knowledge! And if that doesn't work, try to find another store.

[macul]

So we've a fair share of Linux advocates to which to bounce this question: Our shop is pure Microsoft. We run a 2003 domain, Exchange 2007, Citrix Presentation Server on Windows, IIS, file sharing, print sharing, et cetera. We had a single Slackware server running our Helpdesk software (Apache and MySQL), but that has been decommissioned.

How would you introduce Linux in to this environment? I will NOT use Linux as a desktop OS for any of my users. That just isn't feasible in the least. I also must deal with technicians who can't write a simple batch file much less deal with the Linux command line. Those are my challenges. Where can I fit Linux in? File and print sharing seems to be the obvious choice. Perhaps Apache for our public and private web sites.

[Spike-X]

I will NOT use Linux as a desktop OS for any of my users. That just isn't feasible in the least.

Why is that?

Sorry I can't help you with the rest; I don't have a clue about any of that stuff.

[macul]

Why is that?

Sorry I can't help you with the rest; I don't have a clue about any of that stuff.

You must pander to the lowest common denominator with users and technicians. Most users struggle with anyone beyond clicking Start -> Programs and most technicians don't know where to start if there isn't a GUI staring them in the face. Not to mention that our applications won't run in Linux.

[Spike-X]

Users I can understand; there are some people who truly shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a computer. You'd think you could expect a bit more from a technician, though.

[macul]

Users I can understand; there are some people who truly shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a computer. You'd think you could expect a bit more from a technician, though.

I used to think that too until I moved in to the position of having to be responsible for them. You then realize that most have zero initiative and are really nothing more than GUI button pushers. If the option(s) aren't staring them in the face they are lost, more often than not.

[Josh S]

You then realize that most have zero initiative and are really nothing more than GUI button pushers. If the option(s) aren't staring them in the face they are lost, more often than not.


I'm a technician and that's pretty spot on.


Oh, and does anyone know of a good, free program that will allow me to get video from a DVD to my iPod. I'm running Windows XP.

[Spike-X]

You'll need a couple - DVD Decrypter (or DVD shrink), and Videora iPod Converter.

More details here. (http://www.ilounge.com/)

[MacQuarrie]

Shopping time.

We've been having a lot of issues with dropped connections on our system at home (DSL), so I thought I might replace the aging wireless router with a new one. Went to the store today and bought the one on sale, a D-Link DIR-615 Wireless-N router. The box says it's compatible with Macintosh.

I open the box and there's a sticker over the ports that says "Run CD First!" So I grab teh CD. On the sleeve it says "Mac users please see the documentation found in the: "\docs|" folder."

Ha ha, big joke. There's nothing in the docs folder but the manual, and the only place it mentions Macintosh is on the cover page. A search of the D-Link site provides absolutely no information whatsoever about installing or configuring on a Mac.

Well, screw that. The thing's going back to the store in the morning. But my question for you is:

What wireless router (besides the Apple Airport) actually has a functional installation method for the Mac? My bride will be connecting with an IBM laptop, my daughters will use an HP desktop machine (wired via Ethernet) and an Apple iBook, and I use an iMac desktop system.

Thanks for your advice.

[Typo Lad]

Jim,

That router will work fine. It's plug and play. Seriously. Hook it up, open airport, connect, browse to the router IP, log in, and set up security.

It's really that easy.

[Josh S]

I've got an HP desktop that I got from my dad's office a few months ago I'm trying to get it to connect to the internet but having no luck.

I took the Ethernet cable from the back of my PS3 and plugged it into the Ethernet port on the back of the desktop. It says it's connected but when I open the browser (IE) and try to go to any site it says it can't connect. I've tried rebooting the computer and still nothing. I know the cable's good because I can connect to the internet on my PS3 and I know it worked at my dad's office.

The computer was used on a network at my dad's office and all the settings would still be the same. Beside the little icon that shows the cable is connected is an identical icon that says "Network 7" isn't connected.

Is there some setting I need to change since the computer was on a network but isn't anymore?

[LtMarvel]

Vista or the one before?

Because Vista can autodetect and find any flaws you have (like having the puter set for the old network and the current network).

[Josh S]

Sorry.

It's running Windows XP.

[LtMarvel]

DSL? Cable modem?

[Josh S]

DSL

It's the new (here, at least) U-Verse thing from AT&T where it's a DSL modem, but the cable signal is routed through it too.

[LtMarvel]

I accidently set up a 2nd network on my Vista machine, and I had to merge them to get internet.

Check network settings. If the old network is still there, you may have to remove it.

[MacQuarrie]

Jim,

That router will work fine. It's plug and play. Seriously. Hook it up, open airport, connect, browse to the router IP, log in, and set up security.

It's really that easy.

It's a matter of principle. If the box says it supports Mac, I expect to find some sort of instructions for setting it up.

I took it back and bought a Best Buy store brand one that was $5 less expensive and seems to work just fine.

[Typo Lad]

Josh,

Check the IP settings.

Jim,

Eh. Okay.

[thespianphryne]

iBook G4 running OS X 10.3.9
Installed a new user account this morning.
Shut down the computer for transport.
Won't restart.
Start up stalls at at the blue screen with white window with the shiny apple graphic where the text says "Mac OS X"; there's a blue progress bar underneath that stalls right before completion.

I booted in single user mode and ran fsck. Disk was modified.
Re-ran fsck disk ok
Won't reboot
Tried to boot in safe mode. Won't reboot.

HELP!


-Das

[thespianphryne]

breaking the rules.

bumpety bump.



-Das

[Typo Lad]

Das-

If you don't get help by Sunday, bring it.

thaty said, can you boot in target mode?

(Boot T)

[thespianphryne]

Das-

If you don't get help by Sunday, bring it.

thaty said, can you boot in target mode?

(Boot T)

If I do boot T what I get is a bouncing fire wire image. If that's all that's supposed to happen then yes, I can do target mode.

Das

[Gilda Dent]

Two questions for the computer people:

Question the first: We had planned to set things up in a two disk system, with an 80gb HD for the operating system and a second larger one, 640gb, for data. We had started planning to use a 500gb drive for the data, the 640gb one was only $10 more, so we figured, hey, ten bucks for an extra 140gb.

The advantage of this system, or so I read, is that it makes upgrading or reinstalling one's operating system much easier because your data files are all hanging out over on the other drive, and it may speed things up because the OS is the only thing hanging out on the smaller drive, so the drive doesn't have to look around among game files and so on for the OS stuff it needs.

Is any of this accurate, or should we just save the $40 and put everthing on the one big drive?

Question deux:

How should we back up the system?

We'll have a dual layer DVD burner in the system as our only optical drive.

So far we've got it narrowed down to this, in order from cheapest to most expensive in terms up upfront hardware cost:

1. Use DVDs. Bought in bulk, blank DVDs cost about a quarter each, or about $.50 each for the Lightscribe ones or DVD-RW. 4.7gb for $.25 is pretty cost efficient. This method would also be slow and cumbersome, requiring an entire spindle of 50 disks to backup a 250gb hard drive.

Extra cost: None. We already have the drive.

Media cost: About $15 for a spindle of 50 DVD+R; $25 for 100.

2a. Get two of the big hard drives (the 640gb one is only about $50 more than the 80gb one) instead of the method we were planning, put the operating system and data files on one drive and the backup to the other one periodically.

2b. Get two of the big drives and set them up in RAID 1, which writes everything to both drives. If one fails, everything is still there on the other one.

Extra cost (for a or b): About $50.

3. Add a third internal drive and backup both the OS drive and the data drive to it.

Extra cost: About $80

4. Get an external drive, and periodically plug it in for backup purposes. I really like the WD Mybook drives. This would be somewhat more expensive than the extra internal drive solution, but allows for portability and to have it set aside in the off chance the whole system gets fried.

Extra cost: About $130

[Spike-X]

re: Question the first -

That's the way I do it, and it's worked out pretty well so far.

re: Question deux -

I'm slack as hell when it comes to backing stuff up, but for that much data, 2b seems to be the way to go.

So the way I'm reading that is, you'll still have your 80Gb boot drive and your 640 Gb data drive, plus an extra 640 Gb data drive in a RAID array with the first 640 Gb drive?

[Gilda Dent]

re: Question the first -

That's the way I do it, and it's worked out pretty well so far.

re: Question deux -

I'm slack as hell when it comes to backing stuff up, but for that much data, 2b seems to be the way to go.

So the way I'm reading that is, you'll still have your 80Gb boot drive and your 640 Gb data drive, plus an extra 640 Gb data drive in a RAID array with the first 640 Gb drive?

Thank you.

2b was replacing the 80gb boot drive with a second 640gb drive and running them in RAID 1 with the OS and data all on the first drive. Well, on both, just in case of drive failure.

Keeping the 80gb boot drive and adding a second data drive for backup was option 3, but without the RAID array. The idea was that we'd have drive C: (80gb, OS), D: (640gb, Data), E: (640gb, use backup utility to backup drives C and D to drive E). We were thinking of doing it this way to provide backup for both drives, and just in case one of us accidentally does something funky with the OS, like editing out something vital in the registry, we'd have a previous save configuration too use.

We're using such a big data drive not necessarily because we need it, but because once we started poking around on Newegg, we found that that's the sweet spot for size/price. A 320gb drive is $65, 640bg (same model, only difference is size) is $90. We looked at that and thought that with that small a price difference, we may as well go for the larger one.

[Spike-X]

2b was replacing the 80gb boot drive with a second 640gb drive and running them in RAID 1 with the OS and data all on the first drive. Well, on both, just in case of drive failure.

That seems like the simplest solution. I would further suggest partitioning your drive(s), with the OS/apps on one partition (20Gb should be more than enough), and your data on another. There's also a way to put the Documents And Settings folder on a partition other than C:/ as well, I believe, but I couldn't tell you how to do that. This would be handy so that when you have to reinstall Windows and all your programs, you'll still have the settings for everything you used previously.

We're using such a big data drive not necessarily because we need it, but because once we started poking around on Newegg, we found that that's the sweet spot for size/price. A 320gb drive is $65, 640bg (same model, only difference is size) is $90. We looked at that and thought that with that small a price difference, we may as well go for the larger one.

Good plan. You can never have too much storage space.

[Spike-X]

You could also install Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntulinux.org/) (or another flavour of Linux) for day-to-day web surfing and general use, and save the Windows partition for gaming. This would eliminate the risk of viruses, spyware, etc while you're browsing the web, checking email, and like that.

[Gilda Dent]

I know what partitioning is, I think. This formats the hard drive so that the OS sees it as more than one drive, is this correct? Obviously I've never done this.

Doing that would make the RAID 1 solution the easiest. I don't know how to partition a drive, but I'm guessing it isn't all that difficult to do.

I'd need to install the Ubuntu in a different partition from Windows, probably the main partition with the games and data files, this is what I'm guessing.

I do use Firefox with Kaspersky Internet Security right now, so I think I'm protected, and was planning to do the same with the new computer (either Kaspersky or possibly Norton 360 which has internet security plus a few other features).

Is it Windows that's the culprit for viruses and malware? I thought the main problem with internet security was exploits aimed and IE and, to a lesser extent, Office. I have to use Office because work documents have to be submitted in Word/Excel/Powerpoint (depending on the document).

Sorry for all the questions. I could ask Emily, but she gets cranky after too many questions and just does things herself because it's faster than teaching me how to do it, and I tend to just let her because . . . well it's easier. Also, this a project for me and the kids, and we want to do it ourselves without screwing it up completely.

Do you know anything about memory? Our motherboard supports either DDR2 800 with 4-4-4-12 timing or DDR2 1000/1066 with 5-5-5-15 timing. I was told on a hardware forum to go with the slower memory/faster timing and I'd get better performance and save money.

[Spike-X]

I know what partitioning is, I think. This formats the hard drive so that the OS sees it as more than one drive, is this correct?

Exactly. It's easy to do - Windows even has a built-in partitioner these days.

I'd need to install the Ubuntu in a different partition from Windows, probably the main partition with the games and data files, this is what I'm guessing.

Yes to a different partition, but it would need to be on its own separate partition(s) again, not mixed in with data and stuff. I'd be happy to talk you through it in greater detail if you decide to go ahead with it.

I do use Firefox with Kaspersky Internet Security right now, so I think I'm protected, and was planning to do the same with the new computer (either Kaspersky or possibly Norton 360 which has internet security plus a few other features).

I'd recommend against using any Norton products - they're overrated, unreliable, and slow your computer down too much. When I used Windows I was happy with AVG anti-virus.

Is it Windows that's the culprit for viruses and malware? I thought the main problem with internet security was exploits aimed and IE and, to a lesser extent, Office.

It's Windows in general, and vulnerabilities in Windows-based software in particular. Linux is built differently, to simplify things, which makes it a lot more secure against unwanted intruders of all kinds.

I have to use Office because work documents have to be submitted in Word/Excel/Powerpoint (depending on the document).

Ubuntu comes with OpenOffice preinstalled, and this can save documents in those formats if required.

Sorry for all the questions.

No worries. Asking questions is how you learn, and I'm always happy to help somebody who wants to learn how to do things themselves.

Also, this a project for me and the kids, and we want to do it ourselves without screwing it up completely.

Sure, and that's totally do-able.

Do you know anything about memory? Our motherboard supports either DDR2 800 with 4-4-4-12 timing or DDR2 1000/1066 with 5-5-5-15 timing. I was told on a hardware forum to go with the slower memory/faster timing and I'd get better performance and save money.

BlairH would be the go-to guy for that.

[Gilda Dent]

Exactly. It's easy to do - Windows even has a built-in partitioner these days.

Yes to a different partition, but it would need to be on its own separate partition(s) again, not mixed in with data and stuff. I'd be happy to talk you through it in greater detail if you decide to go ahead with it.

Cool. You can do this after the computer is up and running, right? You don't have to do it before or during installation of the OS.

I'd recommend against using any Norton products - they're overrated, unreliable, and slow your computer down too much. When I used Windows I was happy with AVG anti-virus.

Thanks. A bunch of people have recommended it. It appears to be considerably less expensive for the full Internet Security suite than Kaspersky also. Emily uses the Kaspersky for her computer, and it comes with a license for three computers, so I've always just used one of the extras from that.

It's Windows in general, and vulnerabilities in Windows-based software in particular. Linux is built differently, to simplify things, which makes it a lot more secure against unwanted intruders of all kinds.

But . . . I like Windows and I fear change.

Seriously, I'll think about it.

Ubuntu comes with OpenOffice preinstalled, and this can save documents in those formats if required.

Cool. The guys at the computer hardware site suggested the same thing. I'll try it out on this computer and see if the files are fully compatible.

This I know how to do. Open MS Office document, check to see if it looks the same as in MS Office. Choose "save as", give it a new name and save it. Use MS Office to open the document.

Basically the same as testing a translation algorithm; translate from A-B-A. The closer the copy is to the original, the better the algorithm.

No worries. Asking questions is how you learn, and I'm always happy to help somebody who wants to learn how to do things themselves.

Sure, and that's totally do-able.

I know most of the stuff. I've swapped hard drives, installed memory, installed a sound card, changed out a video card. Building from scratch is new, but I think I have most of the skills in place.

Also, I've read several tutorials and watched a video series, so I think I know what to do and what order to do it.

BlairH would be the go-to guy for that.

OK. Thanks for all the help.

[Spike-X]

Cool. You can do this after the computer is up and running, right? You don't have to do it before or during installation of the OS.

Yes,you can. They way I'd do it is, when you install Windows from scratch, it asks you to create a partition to install it onto. Make that partition about 20Gb or so. The rest of the HD will be unpartitioned free space, to do with as you like later.

I like Windows and I fear change.

I used to like Windows too, until I started using Ubuntu.

Seriously, I'll think about it.

Cool. No pressure - you're the one who'll be using it, and you need to be happy with what you're using.

I know most of the stuff. I've swapped hard drives, installed memory, installed a sound card, changed out a video card. Building from scratch is new, but I think I have most of the skills in place.

If you can do all that, you can do this.

Thanks for all the help.

You're very welcome.

[Gilda Dent]

Yes,you can. They way I'd do it is, when you install Windows from scratch, it asks you to create a partition to install it onto. Make that partition about 20Gb or so. The rest of the HD will be unpartitioned free space, to do with as you like later.

And then when it's time to start putting files into the rest of it, you'd have to have Windows create a new partition, or two new partitions, one for Ubuntu and one for the data files?

That's a question; I'm just guessing there.

Cool. No pressure - you're the one who'll be using it, and you need to be happy with what you're using.

If you can do all that, you can do this.

I'm pretty sure the only parts I've never done are mounting the motherboard, connecting it to the case hardware, installing an aftermarket CPU cooler, and installing the OS from scratch. And the partitioning thing.

You've been very helpful. The guys at Tom's Hardware forums got bored with me after the second set of questions I asked them.

[Spike-X]

And then when it's time to start putting files into the rest of it, you'd have to have Windows create a new partition, or two new partitions, one for Ubuntu and one for the data files?

Here's how I'd do it - once you've installed Windows, create a new partition that will take up all but, say, the last 20Gb of your HD. This will be your data partition, which you can then share between OSes. Then, on that free space, you can install Ubuntu, which itself will need three partitions - root, home and swap.

Root should be about 10Gb, swap no more than 2, and the rest for /home. This is where all your various program settings and documents will live - it's like the Ubuntu version of the Documents and Settings folder.

If you're wanting the files you create in Ubuntu to be read by Windows, you'll need to store them in your data partition, rather than the /home folder.

[Gilda Dent]

Here's how I'd do it - once you've installed Windows, create a new partition that will take up all but, say, the last 20Gb of your HD. This will be your data partition, which you can then share between OSes. Then, on that free space, you can install Ubuntu, which itself will need three partitions - root, home and swap.

Root should be about 10Gb, swap no more than 2, and the rest for /home. This is where all your various program settings and documents will live - it's like the Ubuntu version of the Documents and Settings folder.

If you're wanting the files you create in Ubuntu to be read by Windows, you'll need to store them in your data partition, rather than the /home folder.

One last question. I hope. Does the Ubuntu partition up its part of the hard drive when you install it, or do you have to do that ahead of time?

Ok, two questions. When things are partitioned, what are they going to look like when I look at My Computer (or whatever Vista calls it)?

OK, three. With two operating systems, how would I switch from one to the other?

Again, thanks, and I hope I'm not being too annoying.

[Typo Lad]

If I do boot T what I get is a bouncing fire wire image. If that's all that's supposed to happen then yes, I can do target mode.

Das
That's a very good sign.

[Spike-X]

One last question. I hope. Does the Ubuntu partition up its part of the hard drive when you install it, or do you have to do that ahead of time?

It can do it automatically, or you can do it manually. If you want to set a separate /home partition, I think you have to do it manually. Either way, it will be done on install - you just have to have the necessary free space.

Ok, two questions. When things are partitioned, what are they going to look like when I look at My Computer (or whatever Vista calls it)?

Vista will recognise its own partition and the shared data partition, but it won't be able to see the Ubuntu partitions, as they'll be formatted with the ext3 filesystem, which isn't natively compatible with Windows.

OK, three. With two operating systems, how would I switch from one to the other?

Restart the computer. When Ubuntu is installed, it also installs the Grub bootloader, which lets you select which OS you want to boot into at startup. This is why you have to install Windows first; if you install it second, it will wipe the bootloader and install its own, which will only boot into Windows, because of course Bill Knows Best.

Again, thanks, and I hope I'm not being too annoying.

Not at all.

[Gilda Dent]

Thank you. That all makes sense.

[MacQuarrie]

Old meets new-ish...

I have an iMac running OS X 10.4.11, and I managed to get hands on an old HP OfficeJet R40xi all in one printer/scanner/faxx/etc.

I got an HP-to-USB adapter cable, found some drivers and can get apparently get the printer to work, but I can't find any information about getting the scanner to function.

I suppse I could boot up in my Windows partition to scan, but I'd rather do it in Mac mode. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[MacQuarrie]

Hurm. The midnight server hiccup prevented my post from appearing....

EDIT: Oh. There it is.

[Gilda Dent]

OK, I'm back with a new question. If I set up a Linux partition for general web surfing and computing tasks to avoid the internet security problems that come with using Windows online, do I still need an internet security program for protection, or is that part of things just part of the package?

Also, I downloaded the manual for my motherboard to check things out, and found something interesting. It comes with a special internet utility on board called Express Gate, which is apparently a compact version of Linux combined with web surfing and media playing applications that runs directly from a chip on the motherboard, bypassing the OS altogether. It's also advertised as being much faster (5 seconds from power on). It boots to a screen that asks if you want to go online or load the OS, then after a timer, goes ahead and loads the OS.

If it works the way it should, it sounds as if it would provide most of the same protections as the Linux partition. Of course, that could be hype, so I'm not sure. I think I'll check it out once we get things up and running and see.

[Spike-X]

OK, I'm back with a new question. If I set up a Linux partition for general web surfing and computing tasks to avoid the internet security problems that come with using Windows online, do I still need an internet security program for protection, or is that part of things just part of the package?

Ubuntu comes with a built-in firewall. There is anti-virus software available, but you have more chance of getting struck by lightning as you're riding on the space shuttle after having won the lottery.

Also, I downloaded the manual for my motherboard to check things out, and found something interesting. It comes with a special internet utility on board called Express Gate, which is apparently a compact version of Linux combined with web surfing and media playing applications that runs directly from a chip on the motherboard, bypassing the OS altogether. It's also advertised as being much faster (5 seconds from power on). It boots to a screen that asks if you want to go online or load the OS, then after a timer, goes ahead and loads the OS.

If it works the way it should, it sounds as if it would provide most of the same protections as the Linux partition. Of course, that could be hype, so I'm not sure. I think I'll check it out once we get things up and running and see.

Oh, you've got one of those? Cool!!

[Typo Lad]

Old meets new-ish...

I have an iMac running OS X 10.4.11, and I managed to get hands on an old HP OfficeJet R40xi all in one printer/scanner/faxx/etc.

I got an HP-to-USB adapter cable, found some drivers and can get apparently get the printer to work, but I can't find any information about getting the scanner to function.

I suppse I could boot up in my Windows partition to scan, but I'd rather do it in Mac mode. Any suggestions?

Thanks.
HPs been playing silly buggers with scanner drivers. My almost new HP scanner won't work under 10.5, for example.

[MacQuarrie]

HPs been playing silly buggers with scanner drivers. My almost new HP scanner won't work under 10.5, for example.
sigh.

I was using this scanner on an old PC that I had to part with. Guess I have to go buy a scanner for my Mac now.

The floor is open for recommendations.

[Gilda Dent]

Ubuntu comes with a built-in firewall. There is anti-virus software available, but you have more chance of getting struck by lightning as you're riding on the space shuttle after having won the lottery.

Thank you.

I hate to keep asking this, as I don't want to come off sounding dense, but couldn't there could still be viruses or malware in the files that we'd download?

For example, I'm surfing the net with Ubuntu, come upon a nice Half-Life mod that I think looks cool, and download it to the data portion of the disc (or the data disc). The fellow who set up the mod, however, included a nasty thing in it (virus, worm, keylogger, whatever). I then fire up Windows to run Half-Life with my new mod.

I now have the nasty infecting Windows, correct?

I know, I'm paranoid about this stuff. It comes with the anxiety and OCD stuff.

Oh, you've got one of those? Cool!!

Any new mid-level and up Asus motherboard comes with it standard. We wanted a board with two PCI-e 2.0 slots capable of running Crossfiire so that we could add a second videocard sometime in the future so we can add a second card down the road, and you have to get at least a mid-level board to be able to do that.

Typo: We just got my mom a new stove for her mother-in-law suite, and we're reading through the instructions that come with it, and it comes with what Maytag calls, I kid you not, Sabbath mode. This amuses me no end, using religion as a marketing tool for kitchen appliances.

[Typo Lad]

Maytag's Sabbath mode is more than a marketing gimmic. It is, in fact, certified by one of the world's largest Kosher Certifiers. it basically turn the oven into a warmingg drawer that doesn't go past a certain temp. There are other loophholes.

Suzanna just picked out a Maytag for us, and it does indeed have Sabbath mode.

[Spike-X]

Thank you.

I hate to keep asking this, as I don't want to come off sounding dense, but couldn't there could still be viruses or malware in the files that we'd download?

For example, I'm surfing the net with Ubuntu, come upon a nice Half-Life mod that I think looks cool, and download it to the data portion of the disc (or the data disc). The fellow who set up the mod, however, included a nasty thing in it (virus, worm, keylogger, whatever). I then fire up Windows to run Half-Life with my new mod.

I now have the nasty infecting Windows, correct?

Oh, I see what you mean now.

Yes, that could indeed happen. You'd still need to virus-scan anything like that before you do anything with it in Windows.

And don't worry, a bit of paranoia regarding this kind of thing is good. Better to be too careful (within reason) than not careful enough.

[jessecuster3]

Spike, do you have a little bell that goes off anytime someone asks a Linux question?

[Spike-X]

Yes.

sudo apt-get install linux-query-alert

[jessecuster3]

Yes.

sudo apt-get install linux-query-alert

Ha! Nice one.

[Gilda Dent]

Maytag's Sabbath mode is more than a marketing gimmic. It is, in fact, certified by one of the world's largest Kosher Certifiers. it basically turn the oven into a warmingg drawer that doesn't go past a certain temp. There are other loophholes.

Suzanna just picked out a Maytag for us, and it does indeed have Sabbath mode.

Well, that's pretty cool then. If you got the same model we did, it's a very nice range and a very good price for the feature set.

Would using a delay timer--set at noon to start cooking at six--be within the rules?

[Typo Lad]

The issue is also one of temperature, not merely ignition. You cna't heat solid foods past "Yad soledet bo" - the point where you (most people) pull your hand away.

[Gilda Dent]

The issue is also one of temperature, not merely ignition. You cna't heat solid foods past "Yad soledet bo" - the point where you (most people) pull your hand away.

Ah OK. Thanks.

[Typo Lad]

And now I'm reading the manual to the fridge and finding a lot of potential Shabbat issues. Biggest one being that the temperature control comes on whenever you open the door.

Thanks Gilda. I honestly wouldn't have thought to check.

[howyadoin]

HPs been playing silly buggers with scanner drivers. My almost new HP scanner won't work under 10.5, for example.Ditto my Epson Perfection 1250. I downloaded and installed the scanning software from the Epson site, and it won't even launch.

Granted, my scanner's a few years old, but it still worked pretty well prior to the new iMac.

[Gilda Dent]

And now I'm reading the manual to the fridge and finding a lot of potential Shabbat issues. Biggest one being that the temperature control comes on whenever you open the door.

Thanks Gilda. I honestly wouldn't have thought to check.

Yes but . . . these go up to eleven.

[jessecuster3]

Yes.

sudo apt-get install linux-query-alert


http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/sandwich.png

[Spike-X]

Sudo - it's like the Simon Says of the command line.

[Gilda Dent]

Today was order day!

We paid the extra three bucks for rush processing. It appears half our order will be coming from Tennessee, and half from California.

[Typo Lad]

Ditto my Epson Perfection 1250. I downloaded and installed the scanning software from the Epson site, and it won't even launch.

Granted, my scanner's a few years old, but it still worked pretty well prior to the new iMac.

It's annoying as hell. This stuff isn't cheap, and there's no real reason to not support it. Hell, just give us basic TWAIN functionality.

Tech fact: TWAIN actually stands for "Technology Without an Interesting Name".

Yes but . . . these go up to eleven.

Heh.

Got the fridge and stove. They're glorious. The fridge is MASSIVE and means changing around how we were going to design the kitchen.

I think it's neat that even my fridge and stove have computers in them.

Today was order day!

We paid the extra three bucks for rush processing. It appears half our order will be coming from Tennessee, and half from California.

That's... efficient.

Wait no.

Sudo - it's like the Simon Says of the command line.

That's actually quite good. That your own?

[Gilda Dent]

Heh.

I've been waiting for an opportunity to use that ever since I saw the numbering system on the dials for the surface heating elements.

This was actually a factor is getting the Maytag rather than the GE.

Got the fridge and stove. They're glorious. The fridge is MASSIVE and means changing around how we were going to design the kitchen.

I think it's neat that even my fridge and stove have computers in them.

Isn't it? Our Fridge (a Samsung) has an LCD TV with an internet connection. I've got it set up to keep weather information displayed. Sometimes I worry that someone will hack my fridge and cause to do something nefarious like explode and kill us all or turn the temperature up to 40 degrees so that things aren't quite at their optimum temperature.

That's... efficient.

Wait no.

Yeah, but it's OK. I didn't even realize Newegg had a facility in Tennessee. That stuff will probably be here Monday, and the California shipment not until Thursday.

The cost of our monitor went down $20 the day we ordered, which was nice.

[Typo Lad]

I've been waiting for an opportunity to use that ever since I saw the numbering system on the dials for the surface heating elements.

This was actually a factor is getting the Maytag rather than the GE.

Now I need to check my Maytag.

Isn't it? Our Fridge (a Samsung) has an LCD TV with an internet connection. I've got it set up to keep weather information displayed.

Okay, that's much posher than mine.

Sometimes I worry that someone will hack my fridge and cause to do something nefarious like explode and kill us all or turn the temperature up to 40 degrees so that things aren't quite at their optimum temperature.

I, for one, welcome our sentient appliance overlords.

The cost of our monitor went down $20 the day we ordered, which was nice.

Always nice. I once mail-ordered a USB PCMCIA card for an older laptop, and got a USB2 card. When I called, they said "Eh, just keep it."

This was back when machines were just starting to ship with plain old USB as a standard.

[howyadoin]

It's annoying as hell. This stuff isn't cheap, and there's no real reason to not support it.Well, they claim that they do support it. Which is even more annoying.

http://www.epson.ca/cgi-bin/ceStore/support/SupportLeopardDetails.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=14548#stage1

[Gilda Dent]

Now I need to check my Maytag.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y59/GirlyGeek/Ovenknobs.jpg

If Low is 1, and Medium is 6, then High must be . . .

Okay, that's much posher than mine.

When we were having the house built--or actually it was about half done when we bought it and customized it to our preferences--Emily told me to pick whatever kitchen options I wanted, and don't worry about the price. The highest priced options all combined would have added the price of a new car--a pretty nice one--to the cost of the house.

The Samsung kitchen was actually the mid-high option. The high end option would have doubled the cost.

I, for one, welcome our sentient appliance overlords.

Well done.

[G. Wayne]

How complicated is ftp image hosting for someone that's never done it before?

[mattx110]

How complicated is ftp image hosting for someone that's never done it before?
If comic artists and editors can figure it out, I'm sure you could.

I'll let someone else be more helpful, becuase I'm a wuss with a deviantart account.

[G. Wayne]

I've been told I can use a company's site to do so. I've been given a 9 digit link, and a login and password. And to say this isn't what I thought it was is a bit of an understatement.

[Spike-X]

Sudo - it's like the Simon Says of the command line.


That's actually quite good. That your own?

It is, and thank you.

I once mail-ordered a USB PCMCIA card for an older laptop, and got a USB2 card. When I called, they said "Eh, just keep it."

This was back when machines were just starting to ship with plain old USB as a standard.

Score!

[Gilda Dent]

Mission accomplished.

We got everything plugged in flipped the switch on the power supply, pressed the power button . . . and nothing happened.

So after double checking everything, we tried the other setting on the power supply and pressed the power button. This was the problem. We had the on/off settings reversed. The circle with the line is "off" and the line by itself is "on".

The power and reset buttons worked, the BIOS recognized the DVD drive, but not the hard drive, and told us that an intruder had infiltrated our case.

Best of all, the CPU heatsink didn't interfere with the side case fan. It appears to have a bout a quarter inch of clearance between the fan blades and the tips of the heat pipes.

We went into the BIOS and changed the DVD drive to the primary boot device, popped in the Windows setup disc, and a looong time later, we had Windows Vista up and running. It looked like crap, though. Windows wasn't recognizing the videocard. We popped in the driver disc and loaded the drivers, and success, we could now set the resolution at the appropriate level.

The system memory had been detected at the wrong speed, so I went in and fixed that manually, and it's functioning fine.

The huge blue LED fan on the clear side got to be annoying quickly, so we switched it so that it's on the left side of the desk and there's a nice blank piece of black steel there.

By the way, when working in a cramped case--this thing is quite large, but things did get cramped inside--it's a good idea to have a 10-year-old Asian girl with teeny-tiny hands and wrists to plug in the cables. This came in especially handy when plugging the PCI-E cables into the power card.

I loaded up Express Gate and tried it and hated it, and unloaded it promptly. We downloaded Windows updates, updated the video card drivers, checked the MB BIOS version and found that the one we got was only two months old and neither of the updates since then were things we needed, so we kept what we had.

We'd gotten a new keyboard, a Microsoft Wave, and after using it for about 30 seconds I decided I hated it, uplugged it, and plugged in the same generic keyboard that came with my Compaq three computers ago. The Wave goes back to Target tomorrow. We got it there because Newegg had ridiculous shipping prices for theirs and just in case I didn't like it. The natural hand position is fine, but the keys are mushy and it's hard to press the space bar, which doesn't stick up very far above the front lip of the keyboard, and I kept hitting the edge of the keyboard instead of the spacebar.

They have a low end basic Logitech board; I'm going to try that one instead.

We still haven't found out how to change the case fan speeds, and the power on indicator light isn't working, but those are minor problems at present. The motherboard has several places to plug in a case fan controller, but the fans themselves don't have leads to plug into them. They're all up and running, and they're barely audible, and the case and CPU temperatures are nice and cool, but being who I am, I can't help but be annoyed that I don't know what I did wrong there.

I was a bit confused when I looked at the system specs in Windows and saw that our hard drive was 596gb rather than 640, as it says on the drive, but a little research revealed the problem. Western Digital likes to fudge a little with their hard drive space ratings. When it says 640 gb, that means 640 billion bytes. A gigabyte is actually roughly 1.073 billion bytes (2^30), so when Windows reads that, it sees it as 596 gb. A small annoyance.

A bigger one is that Windows user security thing that asks permission to start every single program you try to open.

I do like how Vista automatically sticks a game icon in a preconfigured games menu and like the look and feel of Vista quite a bit. It takes a huge chunk of memory--about one gb at idle, but that's OK, we have puh-lenty of system memory. System resources at idle are generally under 5%, which is fine with me.

Molly got to be the first one to play some games after some rock-paper-scissors, and she used our new, high-powered gaming system to play a couple of games included with Vista that would run on my phone.

I'm going to ignore the power light thing for now. I can see whether it's on by the blue LED fans that come on when the computer is turned on.

It's my turn to use it to play something. I'm too tired to play.

[Spike-X]

It looked like crap, though. Windows wasn't recognizing the videocard. We popped in the driver disc and loaded the drivers, and success, we could now set the resolution at the appropriate level.

Ubuntu detects your monitor size and sets itself at the appropriate resolution automagically. Just sayin'!

I was a bit confused when I looked at the system specs in Windows and saw that our hard drive was 596gb rather than 640, as it says on the drive, but a little research revealed the problem. Western Digital likes to fudge a little with their hard drive space ratings. When it says 640 gb, that means 640 billion bytes. A gigabyte is actually roughly 1.073 billion bytes (2^30), so when Windows reads that, it sees it as 596 gb. A small annoyance.

It's not just WD who do that - it's all HD manufacturers.

A bigger one is that Windows user security thing that asks permission to start every single program you try to open.

Ubuntu doesn't do that! Man, I can see that getting annoying real quick.

It takes a huge chunk of memory--about one gb at idle...

At IDLE?!?!?! I have 1 Gb in this computer, and I don't think Ubuntu has come close to maxing that out, and that's actually doing stuff!



Anyway, sounds like you got the important stuff right, so congratulations on building a working computer!

[Typo Lad]

Now you need to make it a tri-boot Windows/Ubuntu/X86 box :)

[jessecuster3]

Ubuntu detects your monitor size and sets itself at the appropriate resolution automagically. Just sayin'!


This is untrue. Remember the hassle we went through getting it to acknowledge the resolution I wanted?


If not, I have the PMs.

[Spike-X]

This is untrue. Remember the hassle we went through getting it to acknowledge the resolution I wanted?


If not, I have the PMs.
I think that was two versions ago. It's much improved now.

[Alex L]

A bigger one is that Windows user security thing that asks permission to start every single program you try to open.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/disable-user-account-control-uac-the-easy-way-on-windows-vista/

[Josh S]

Linux/iTunes question

I remember someone here, possibly Spike X, mentioning a program like iTunes for Linux. Now I know I can't download music using it because it's not iTunes, but will I have to convert all my music to a new format or will it recognize the iTunes format? Also, if I do have to convert, does that mean I can't use music I bought through iTunes?

Oh, and what is the program called?

[Spike-X]

If it was me, there's a program called AmaroK that runs on Ubuntu Linux. It's a database-based program, like iTunes.

No, you can't use it to download from the iTunes store.

Yes, you can play AAC (m4a) files with it (once the appropriate codecs are installed) - songs you've ripped from CDs using iTunes, for instance - but not protected files (m4p) purchased through the iTunes store.

It also plays regular MP3s (again, once the appropriate codecs are installed), and other formats such as Ogg Vorbis and Flac, which iTunes turns its nose up at.

[mattx110]

I've been told I can use a company's site to do so. I've been given a 9 digit link, and a login and password. And to say this isn't what I thought it was is a bit of an understatement.
Hope you figured it out by now. It's pretty damn easy actually. :-)

Just put in the ftp ip, name, passwod into the client program, umm, I use filezilla because that's what they had at work, and it's just like windows explorer to upload, download and go from folder to folder.

[Gilda Dent]

Ubuntu detects your monitor size and sets itself at the appropriate resolution automagically. Just sayin'!

You're an Ubuntu evangelist, aren't you?

For some reason, that sounds like an African tribe of Baptists.

Completely off topic, but I once attended services at a Southern Baptist church in the Philippines.

It's not just WD who do that - it's all HD manufacturers.

Ah. I saw that when I was doing further research. I still think it's deceptive, but there's not a whole lot that can be done when everyone does it.

Nonetheless, I maintain that a gigabyte is 1.073 billion bytes, not 1 billion. Also, the 21st century began January 1, 2001, not 2000, and Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

Ubuntu doesn't do that! Man, I can see that getting annoying real quick.

I turned it off. The site Alex links to above (Thanks, Alex!) says it makes Windows less safe, but I've already installed AVG, so I'm not concerned. AVG does the same thing the first time you open a new program, but there's that magical little checkbox that says "save as permanent rule", which means it only asks once, then ignores that program entirely.

At IDLE?!?!?! I have 1 Gb in this computer, and I don't think Ubuntu has come close to maxing that out, and that's actually doing stuff!

1-1.2 gb. We have 8gb, so that amounts to 12-15%, though, so as I said, not a problem. I know 8gb is overkill, but we had $300 left in our budget after getting just what we wanted, and 2gb memory kits are nice and cheap, so we filled the extra two slots.

Anyway, sounds like you got the important stuff right, so congratulations on building a working computer!

Thanks.

Linux/iTunes question

I remember someone here, possibly Spike X, mentioning a program like iTunes for Linux. Now I know I can't download music using it because it's not iTunes, but will I have to convert all my music to a new format or will it recognize the iTunes format? Also, if I do have to convert, does that mean I can't use music I bought through iTunes?

Oh, and what is the program called?

If it was me, there's a program called AmaroK that runs on Ubuntu Linux. It's a database-based program, like iTunes.

No, you can't use it to download from the iTunes store.

Yes, you can play AAC (m4a) files with it (once the appropriate codecs are installed) - songs you've ripped from CDs using iTunes, for instance - but not protected files (m4p) purchased through the iTunes store.

It also plays regular MP3s (again, once the appropriate codecs are installed), and other formats such as Ogg Vorbis and Flac, which iTunes turns its nose up at.

You can remove the DRM from iTunes downloads in several ways. The easiest is to burn the songs to an audio CD, then import the songs from the CD using the media player to convert the tracks to MP3. There are a couple of commercial programs you can get that will use your harddrive as a virtual CD burner and convert your entire iTunes library.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/disable-user-account-control-uac-the-easy-way-on-windows-vista/

Thank you. It is off.

[Spike-X]

You're an Ubuntu evangelist, aren't you?

A little, yeah.

For some reason, that sounds like an African tribe of Baptists.

It is actually an African word.

Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'Humanity to others', or 'I am what I am because of who we all are'.

the 21st century began January 1, 2001, not 2000

Of course it did! Anyone who believes otherwise is a fool and a Communist!

I know 8gb is overkill, but we had $300 left in our budget after getting just what we wanted, and 2gb memory kits are nice a cheap, so we filled the extra two slots.

Might as well. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

You can remove the DRM from iTunes downloads in several ways. The easiest is to burn the songs to an audio CD, then import the songs from the CD using the media player to convert the tracks to MP3.

Yes, but then they sound like arse, because you're double-compressing the tracks. It's like making a tape of a tape.

[Josh S]

If it was me, there's a program called AmaroK that runs on Ubuntu Linux. It's a database-based program, like iTunes.

No, you can't use it to download from the iTunes store.

Yes, you can play AAC (m4a) files with it (once the appropriate codecs are installed) - songs you've ripped from CDs using iTunes, for instance - but not protected files (m4p) purchased through the iTunes store.

It also plays regular MP3s (again, once the appropriate codecs are installed), and other formats such as Ogg Vorbis and Flac, which iTunes turns its nose up at.

One last question. I've read about people who move music from their iPod to their computer so that when they want to add music from a different computer they don't loose what's already on their iPod. If I do that will Amarok let me move the music I bought on iTunes back onto my iPod? In other words, does it just not play the files or can it not transfer them either?

[Spike-X]

I don't know the answer to that, sorry.


Stuff like this is why I rant against DRM so much. It shouldn't have to be this hard to get full fair use out of the music you pay good money for.

[Gilda Dent]

A little, yeah.

I am using the Open Office you suggested. I like the idea of free, open-source software. My favorite 4X game is FreeOrion. It's better than any commercial version of Master of Orion. When I need an X-Com fix, I use the free, opensource version.

Of course it did! Anyone who believes otherwise is a fool and a Communist!

Stephen Jay Gould, Warren Ellis, and Sam Seaborn disagree with us, though their position seems to be that it's a matter of popular perception being so powerful that it takes precedence over the technically correct position, that it's an issue of language, which changes to accommodate usage over time.

They are wrong. The 20th century ended Dec. 31, 2000. The 21st century and 3rd millennium began Jan. 1, 2001. This is a math issue.

Yes, I'm citing a fictional character. I was torn between Sam Seaborn and Jenny Sparks.

Sam Seaborn: But the common sensibility, towards Steven Jay Gould...
Toby Ziegler: Stephen Jay Gould needs to look at a calendar.
Sam Seaborn: Gould says this is a largely unresolvable issue.
Toby Ziegler: Yes, it's tough to resolve. You have to look at a calendar.

Personally, I blame Aloysius Lilius. If you're going to reform the calendar and start from the birth of Christ, why not change the numbering to start with year 0?

While I'm in full-bore math illiteracy rant mode, whole numbers begin with 0, not 1; "x times more" is not the same as "x times as much"; the inverse of "x times bigger" is not "x times smaller".

Might as well. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

Yep. Also, this way we were able to get identical sticks of memory all from the same manufacturer. This may not be necessary, but it does ensure compatibility.

Yes, but then they sound like arse, because you're double-compressing the tracks. It's like making a tape of a tape.

Good point. I can't hear the difference, though. I have significant hearing loss above 5khz and partial hearing loss below that. I lose fine details in music and sometimes lyrics in certain forms of rock and rap music. We have the computer set up as a media center feeding into our HT system, and I can't hear any difference between the same song played from a YouTube video, iTunes, and a CD through our system.

---------------

Question: The setup disc didn't give me the option of partitioning the hard disc during installation. Windows asked where I wanted it installed, I pointed at our main hard disc, and it did whatever formatting was needed automatically.

Is it too late to set up an Ubuntu partition, were I inclined to do that? We have about 500gb (500 real gigabytes, not 500 advertising gigabytes) of empty space, so I think there may still be some room.

[Spike-X]

I am using the Open Office you suggested. I like the idea of free, open-source software.

That's the way!

Sam Seaborn: But the common sensibility, towards Steven Jay Gould...
Toby Ziegler: Stephen Jay Gould needs to look at a calendar.
Sam Seaborn: Gould says this is a largely unresolvable issue.
Toby Ziegler: Yes, it's tough to resolve. You have to look at a calendar.

I've always been more of a Toby than a Sam.

Good point. I can't hear the difference, though. I have significant hearing loss above 5khz and partial hearing loss below that. I lose fine details in music and sometimes lyrics in certain forms of rock and rap music. We have the computer set up as a media center feeding into our HT system, and I can't hear any difference between the same song played from a YouTube video, iTunes, and a CD through our system.

Fair enough.

Question: The setup disc didn't give me the option of partitioning the hard disc during installation. Windows asked where I wanted it installed, I pointed at our main h