Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 August 19

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August 19

The moment of truth: Windows Vista

After many questions regarding Windows Vista, it's time to install! There are just a few things that I need to go over before installation. Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor pointed out some problems, but I'm not sure how to resolve them. It said I needed a new driver for "Realtek High Definition Audio," but I had trouble getting one from the link provided. The task list also said that before upgrading, I needed to uninstall "DVD-RAM Driver," "Bluetooth Stack for Windows by Toshiba," and "TOSHIBA ConfigFree." For one, these names don't exactly stick out in "Add or Remove Programs" in the Control Panel. Secondly, how am I supposed to uninstall the DVD-RAM Driver before I install Vista? Third, if I do a clean install, then why does it matter to uninstall programs? Won't they just be wiped out by the installation process? Also, a quick re-briefing of what I need to back up...all documents, make sure I've got the programs I need on hand...anything else? And one final thing...my license for Microsoft Office 2007 still has two installations left on it. Is there any way I can reinstall it on my computer after upgrading, while not re-using the license? It seems like an awful waste, a $110 devaluation...thanks for all the help!--The Ninth Bright Shiner 03:55, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

That's the reason why many people hate Windows Vista, such as those guys from BadVista.org. I could have sticked to Linux if only they had more hardware support. Blake Gripling 04:01, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

The upgrade advisor is going to tell you to remove stuff because it is an upgrade advisor. If you wipe everything and install (using a non-upgrade version of Vista), you might be OK, but you might need those drivers to have functionality on your machine. The DVD-RAM driver is OK to temporarily remove as that only deals with the DVD-RAM flavour of DVDs -- Vista is a DVD-ROM. Your Office 2007 license should be fine as you aren't changing machines, you're changing your version of Windows. If the authorization process gives you trouble, Microsoft will gladly help out as you're not contravening the license (afaik).

Interesting...I bought the upgrade version, which means I can still do a clean install, right? And if I temporarily remove the DVD-RAM driver, then how would I re-add it? Where would I find a compatible DVD-RAM driver? This is such a big change that my computer knowledge is scarce to none here. Thanks again.--The Ninth Bright Shiner 16:37, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Me personally would advise against upgrading for now. It's not obvious that you can perform a clean install from upgrade media but there are guides to doing so here: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp Splintercellguy 21:58, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Wow. Personally, I think that's technologically hilarious. I've been waiting months to get my hands on Vista (even after it came out)...will that "double installation" really work? I always get the feeling that when I try stuff like that, I'll press a wrong button, end up with an unusable computer, and have the feds at my door.--The Ninth Bright Shiner 22:32, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes it will really work, and it's horrifying to hear that you're afraid of experimenting with your computer because that's the impetus for all technological advancement! :( --froth^t 23:46, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, the thing is, it's the only good computer I have. The despicable desktop is too weak, old, and junky to do much, and if I screw up, how do I get another laptop? Even an astronomical allowance couldn't afford it. I've never had the opportunity to muddle around inside a computer (well, only once), so it's new and risky territory for me. Well, thanks all! I really appreciate all the help! Hasta la Vista, XP!--The Ninth Bright Shiner 04:24, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

DO NOT FORGET to save your emails and email address book!!!! I make this mistake EVERY time I do a clean install of XP. Also, make sure to save any docs and things cluttering up your desktop. Not all your files are conveniently located in "My Documents". Zunaid©® 13:04, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Darn! And I was just about to begin installation. Um...I don't know how to save e-mail messages. That's why all of my old e-mails are on the old computer. How do I save e-mails and whatnot?--The Ninth Bright Shiner 18:00, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

What sort of Email do you use? If it's web-based, you're fine, if it's Thunderbird or Outlook, check Google with something like "Mozilla Thunderbird backup" or "Outlook backup", etc. Also, when I reinstall Windows (even if it's a clean install), I uninstall every program I've installed on it to remove all the icons, folders, etc. that are reinstallable. Anything left over that isn't a system file is probably something that should be saved that I forgot. 68.39.174.238 23:19, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Flagging Youtube users

I've been pissed off at those spammers at Youtube, that post comments linking to porn sites. I've flagged several users before, but I lost the URL for reporting unwanted users. Any suggestions? Blake Gripling 03:58, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

There are links which say "(spam)" next to every comment posted, and a "flag as inappropriate" link next to every video. --h2g2bob (talk) 14:56, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

No, I'm talking about the URL for reporting rouge users to YT for investigation... Blake Gripling 00:15, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Apparently, there's a YouTube video about it.  ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpWPArKAuyg Instructions are available also by clicking (more) on the description. But I'll take the plunge and suggest the URL is http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/request.py?contact_type=policy&submit=Continue - does that help? x42bn6 Talk Mess 10:58, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Accessing Wikipedia

hi, i'm not quite sure where i should post this query, and i thought 'computing' may be a suitable category... basically, i love wikipedia but my school has blocked it for some unfathomable reason, so here is my question: are there any other ways (like other websites) through which i might gain access to wikipedia (the encyclopedia and the reference desk)? n i don't mean hacking the system... thanks in advance!

Mm, you could try a proxy, but keep in mind Wikipedia's policy on blocking editing privileges of open proxies. If you're not planning to edit, any random Internet proxy should do it. Splintercellguy 05:35, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Cell access is via http://wapedia.mobi. Some web browsers (like Opera) are able to render the WML pages. --Mdwyer 05:41, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Try getting in contact with the IT admin at your school. I did that a few months ago after Wikipedia was blocked at my school and it turned out it was entirely accidental.Mix Lord 07:09, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Look at proxy.org, for a list of them. Mathmo ^Talk 02:48, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Oh, and also a lot of sites are just copying stuff straight off wikipedia. Use google to find them (do a search for what is already in wikipedia). Mathmo ^Talk 02:49, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Here's an easy way of getting around blocked sites: search for it on google, if you know where to find it, and then click on the cached version. Works for text just fine. 68.231.151.161 04:47, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Answers.com: gives you wikipedia page along with other sources - Headphoneguy

response time

What's a reasonable response time on an lcd screen for playing counterstrike? what would be the upper limit that good gamers would consider playing with?

If you don't get an answer here, try asking at the PC Gamer podcast [1] --h2g2bob (talk) 14:49, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Just off the top of my head, I think that a lot of LCD screens used to pose a problem for gamers because of their response times. But now most modern ones that you will buy new should be fine for gaming with. Around about 5 or 8 milliseconds I think should sound around about right. Mathmo ^Talk 02:51, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

ATRAC3 Plus

Hi. I am planning on converting some of my MP3 files into the ATRAC3 plus format, for use on my PSP. However, whenever I try to do it in SonicStage, it comes up with a message saying that it cannot proceed, as file playback is in progress. However, even when there are no tracks playing and it is the only media app that is open, it still has the same message. Does anyone know of how to fix this problem, or if there is an open source alternative to SonicStage out there? Thanks Mix Lord 07:19, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

MP3 player won't use USB port

I have a Samsung YP-U1 MP3 player that I used to connect to a USB CardBus host controller on my laptop but now if no longer connects. I formatted the player but it still does not connect. The controller easily handles my other USB-related devices and flash drives but not the MP3 player. What do I do? --Blue387 08:05, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

One common problem with USB devices is that they "sag" in the USB port, causing either an intermittent connection or no connection. If this is the case, you need a USB extension cable so the MP3 player can sit flat on the table instead of hanging from the USB port. StuRat 10:14, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Adding Image Overlays Remotely in Google Earth.

I want to make a game that would be displayed on google earth via a downloadable kmz file. I will be collaborating with a friend who knows the C programming language. What we need to be able to do is find a way to make image overlays, and adjust the following properties from a remote program:

1) the actual image being overlayed
2) the manual location of the image (eg: 4°0'0" N 6°0'0" W being a corner)
3) the alpha setting

We surmise that there are two ways to do this:

1) DDE - I guess we dont know if google earth is capable of responding to DDE.
2) Web Updates - It seems other users have been able to creat things like markers that indicate the locations of all airplanes in flight in the united states live.... i dont know how this is done, but thats another option i suppose.

Does anyone have an idea how we should do this or any other methods that may be available? Thank you very much for your time!

172.165.22.98 08:12, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, you can do this, and it's actually pretty easy. Instead of an image overlay, you want to add a "Network Link". Basically, a Network Link is just the URL of a server somewhere which Google Earth will query. The server returns some KML (via HTTP, natch), and Google Earth displays it as usual. Google Earth transmits the corner coordinates of the user's current display along with the HTTP request, so the server knows where the user is looking.

I've used this feature to dynamically display placemarks, but as far as I know, there's no reason why a network link couldn't serve up image overlays, too. —Steve Summit (talk) 13:15, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Can two or more people register a domain name?

I am wanting to know if two or more people can choose to have a domain name registered in their names, thus they would all have shared legal ownership of it. Currently the only way I suspect it can be done is through creating a shell company that everybody has equal shares in, and then that company registers the domain name. This is far too much legal stuff that I'd want to bother with however, so is possible to simply register the domain name in multiple people's names? Thanks. 202.89.38.70 08:55, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Could one person own it and offer the other a contract outlining rights and responsibilities? --h2g2bob (talk) 14:45, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

This would mean the original person would still hold the ownership, and in a sense the use of the domain would be "leased" (for free) to the second person? Hmmm.... could look at that option, but is not at all what I'm trying to determine if it is possible. I want I want to have ideally is shared legal ownership between two (or more) people. But from everything I have read the impression I have got is that a domain name can only be registered in one person's name? 202.53.199.75 21:12, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

I think only one person can be listed in WHOIS records, but I'd suggest asking some domain name registrars for advice on this. Terms and conditions vary between the different domains and different registrars, so it might be worth asking a few different registrars. --h2g2bob (talk) 01:00, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I too believe there is only the one person listed as the registrant on the WHOIS records. Been looking at many registrars' FAQs and their Terms & Conditions, all seeming to say the same thing in only referring to one registrant. Mathmo ^Talk 01:28, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Diablo II crashes when starting game

I don't know what's going on, but lately my Diablo II has been crashing at startup, generating the following error message:

Assertion failure Location : C:\D2\Source\D2Direct3D\Src\d3dTextureCache.cpp, line #82 Expression : tCache->nMaxNumItems

First of all, can someone explain what that "location" even is? I don't have a directory C:\D2, and I've tried searching for the file "d3dTextureCache.cpp" but with no avail. The thing is that it used to work, so I don't know what's going on. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the game. And I'm not running a cracked version of the game; even when I download the trial version from the blizzard website, and install it, I still get the exact same error. So I'm assuming that .cpp file, independent of the game, is corrupted or something. How do I fix it? I'm no C++ programmer, so can someone tell me how to fix it? Or is there something else I am missing? Thanks.--Funnyguy555 11:07, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Never mind: lol. --Funnyguy555 11:08, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

But I'm still curious: what's with the "location"? --Funnyguy555 11:24, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

d3dTextureCache.cpp is one of the source files for the game. Once the source files have been compiled to an executable, they're not normally needed, so they're not provided to the customer (except, of course, in open source projects).

An assertion is a debugging tool used by programmers. An assertion records an assumption that has been made, such as that a certain resource is available, or that a certain pointer is non-null, or that some other necessary condition is known to hold. If, somehow, the assumption is false, the assertion is violated, and this is a "can't happen" error. When an assertion is violated, a message (such as you have seen) is printed, and the program shuts down.

In a C or C++ program, an assertion looks like this:

assert(p != NULL);

This is basically just a shortcut for what could have been written as:

if(p == NULL)

{

fprintf(stderr, "Assertion failed\n");

abort();

}

Wise programmers know that "can't happen" errors sometimes do happen. Usually, catching them with an assertion is better than just letting the program continue, because the result of a program trying to continue when its assumptions have been violated like this is usually a segmentation violation and/or a core dump or a general protection fault or a blue screen of death.

As I mentioned, assertions are primarily thought of as debugging tools. It's a matter of some debate whether assertions should be left enabled in the released, production versions of programs. As you've seen, failed assertions can be bewildering to end users, almost as bewildering as GPF's and BSOD's. Theoretically, once a program has been thoroughly tested and debugged, it will in fact be the case that none of its "can't happen" errors can happen. Traditionally, therefore, assertions were usually removed from production versions. However, the more complex a program gets, the more likely it is that it will have obscure bugs which weren't caught during development and are lurking there for an unsuspecting end user to find. Therefore, some developers choose to leave assertions enabled.

One problem with assertions is when programmers mistakenly use them to catch a "can happen" error. Assertions should only be used to catch conditions which represent fixable logical bugs in the program. An assertion should never be used to test whether a certain file or other resource is available, or whether a user has done something wrong, because it's quite possible that those things might happen. Normally, the absence of a critical resource (and, obviously, every mistake the user can make) should be tested for and diagnosed with a proper user-friendly error message, not a cryptic assertion failure. —Steve Summit (talk) 13:08, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the info =)

By the way it seems to be a hardware issue, something is wrong with my driver. But apparently all other programs run fine. And it works on my other computer, yay =).

Wait but I have a question re your code. Now I'm a Java programmer, but I'm not totally ignorant when it comes to C or C++ code. When you wrote:

In a C or C++ program, an assertion looks like this:

assert(p != NULL);

This is basically just a shortcut for what could have been written as:

if(p == NULL)

{

fprintf(stderr, "Assertion failed\n");

abort();

}

The first part is a method named assert, right? and p is some system resource?--Funnyguy555 14:19, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

P is just a pointer (in java, a "reference") to something. But really this assertion isn't going to help you fix your problem - assertions are only of use to people who have full access to the source code - they're not intended for the ordinary end user. All we can infer from this one (from the name of the C++ source file in which the assertion triggered) is that it just might have something to do with Direct3D, so making sure your D3D install is correct and the video driver is up to date and working. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 15:02, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

In C, assert is actually a macro. (I don't know about C++.) The argument can be any expression to be evaluated as Boolean: p != NULL was just an example. Also, in the example, the fprintf call would better have been written as fprintf(stderr, "Assertion failed at line %d, file %s: %s\n", 82, "TextureCache.cpp", "p != NULL"); -- the point is that the macro causes the correct details to be filled in automatically so the programmer can immediately find the specific call to assert that failed. --Anonymous, August 21, 2007, 23:18 (UTC).

The "C:\D2\[...]" business is because the program source files (.cpp) were located there when they were compiled. If this error were being given to the programmer, they would know where to look. 68.39.174.238 23:24, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Problems with "locked" documents on microsoft word

Ever since I opened this one document on my computer, every single document I try to edit comes up with the message "This modification is not allowed because the document is locked". This happens to every single document! Even when I try to start a new document I can't type anything in it! How do I fix this? --Candy-Panda 11:29, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

You could try uninstalling and reinstalling it, or uninstall it and install OpenOffice. --Seans Potato Business 18:01, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Sounds like you have some sort of template problem, or potentially a virus. Try searching for and deleting the "Normal.dot" file. --24.147.86.187 20:58, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Bittorrent ?

What's the best way to hide your IP address while using bittorrent to legally download, files that aren't illegal or copyrighted?--172.163.113.245 12:01, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Not knowing the full details of how these systems work on an IP level, I understand that your IP address is vital to Bittorrent to be able to work its magic by downloading 'bits' from many users, and anybody seeding/downloading will need to be available to other clients via their IP in order for the system to work efficiently. Could well be wrong though! ny156uk 16:04, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

If other people couldn't see your ip, they couldn't send you data.

It's impossible unless you want to tunnel through tor or something (at extremely slow speed, and high cost to tor servers), and the legality of what youre downloading isn't relevant at all. --froth^t 20:52, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Think of it as asking for something to be mailed to your house, but not telling them where your house is. It's the same sort of thing. The IP address tells the internets where your computer "is" on the network, and without that BitTorrent can't function. In any case, if you are using BT for 100% legal transactions, why worry about it? RIAA, etc., only monitor obviously illegal transactions, I am fairly certain.--24.147.86.187 21:02, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Even if they monitor you, what are they going to do, sue you for making a legal download? They're just a lobby group that tattles on people to the recording companies they represent --froth^t 23:34, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Beginner's class for Senior Citizens

I am a member of a Senior Citizens Club and am planning a computers class for rank beginners. My own literacy level is quite low but am willing to try to instruct other seniors on basic computer skills. Is there a course outline somewhere that I could download? Or a Web site that I can develop my own ourline from? Thank you for any help.

It's nice that you're taking some time to help people with their computer skills! I had a look on google and found:

http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/BC/BeginnersComputing.html

http://www.ocdsb.edu.on.ca/teacher_res/pcbasics/defaulta.htm

The second one is very basic but includes handouts (you needn't print them off, if you can get everyone to read it from a computer screen). --Seans Potato Business 16:36, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

• In my experience in teaching people how to use basic computer skills, it is good at first to stick with "how to do specific tasks", which will help them get a bit more comfortable for how a computer works in general. Things like "How do I send an e-mail?", "How do I seach for a web site whose address I do not know?", "How do I print out a letter?" are good beginners topics. I also recommend giving specific step-by-step instructions (numbered, usually), that are basically "recipes" for doing the above tasks, because most people need to do something a few times on their own before it really "sinks in." AARP appears to have some how-to tutorials that you might think about using—here is one on how to use search engines, for example. --24.147.86.187 21:09, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

I teach computer skills to seniors (one is 99 !), and these are a few problems they've had and how I've dealt with them:

1) Many have some vision loss, so set the screen to the lowest resolution available, such as 640x480, so everything appears large. Also, if possible, use full-screen magnifiers, like ZoomText (that one is quite expensive, though).

2) Many have never touched a computer, but have used a typewriter, so just tell them the computer keyboard is "an electronic typewriter with a few extra keys". For example, explain that the ENTER key is just like the RETURN key on a typewriter and that the SHIFT, CONTROL and ALT keys must be held down when another key is pressed, just like the SHIFT key on a typewriter.

3) Many are afraid that "they will break something". Explain that computers "lock up" all the time, but a reboot almost always gets you right back to where you were.

4) Many have trouble remembering, so you must write down things and have them repeat them many times for them to "sink in".

5) Many have trouble using a mouse (such as those with arthritis), so have them use the keyboard arrow keys whenever possible, such as when scrolling on a page, and enter instead of clicking, as when they need to pick the OK button on a menu.

6) Many have limited energy, so keep the classes short, say under an hour per day. StuRat 09:52, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

In addition to what StuRat said above, it might be a good idea to take the hard drive out of the computers, and have them use a LiveCD from an easy to use linux Distro, such as Ubuntu, so that they can become familiar with things like email, web browsing, office documents, without having to worry about messing up the computer --lucid 09:58, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Oh, and in addition, I'm not sure how good Ubuntu's accessibility features are, since I've never tried them, but they do definitely exist and are worth trying. You might want to try Ubuntu's built in Compiz functionalities, as it has a simple method to be able to zoom in on certain parts of the screen, which could help read things that are hard to see, without sacrificing space --lucid 10:01, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Many years ago, I taught basic computer use to seniors. I quit because I ended up spending hours on end trying to teach "double-click". It went like: "You need to double-click on the little picture here." -click- "Double-click means you need to click twice." -click- "No. Twice." "I did click twice." "No, twice at the same time, like click-click." -click-... ... ... -click- "No. like click-click, not click... .... ... click." -click-... "What were we doing?" "We're trying to open the email program. You need to double-click on that picture." ... -- Kainaw^(what?) 16:04, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, teaching seniors certainly does require a lot of patience. As for the double click problem, you can set the computer to accept a single click, instead, but I don't like that because then they are lost when they go onto another computer that expects a double click. I do, however, set it to accept the slowest double-click possible, and also encourage use of a single click followed by the enter key (once or twice), since that's easier for seniors. StuRat 19:01, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, teaching total newbies, senior citizens in this case, to use a computer does require a lot of patience, since either they're latecomers when it comes to such technology, or some disability such as arthritis keeps them from clicking the mouse like what younger people do. Just like my grandmother for example - I had difficulty at teaching her how to compose a text message on her Nokia 1100 cellphone. OK, no person is too old to try tinkering with a PC. Accessibility features may help, such as Magnifier, and the college that I'm currently attending has a mouse in some of their computers that is equipped with a double-click button, that when you click it, it sends out a double click signal to the computer, thus firing up Grandpa's email program is much easier... Blake Gripling

Protection afforded by DMZ?

The Demilitarized_zone_(computing) article says that the DMZ would be a dead-end for hackers, but if that was the case, wouldn't all companies properly implement a DMZ and you would never hear of customer details etc getting stolen? --Seans Potato Business 16:19, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

The DMZ idea works, no matter what. When you hear of data being stolen, either a DMZ wasnt properly implemented or a security flaw in the internal network was exploited. For example in both the Windows 2000 and Half life 2 code leaks, the exploit occured on the internal network, not on a server in the DMZ. --froth^t 20:51, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Often company details getting stolen or university social security numbers getting stolen, etc., has to do with something far less technological, e.g. someone stupidly putting all of the data onto a laptop and then having the laptop get stolen. Unfortunately security is only as effective as its weakest link. --24.147.86.187 21:19, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

voice recognition / AI

Weird question but; Does there exist somekind of AI program for p.c's. i.e, voice recognition or something. Or a program that you can interact with, and responds logical? I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for myself, so. Any help would be appreciated. -- 84.16.197.184 17:36, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Voice recognition software has existed for some time (speech recognition) but they're still working on artificial intelligence. Opera, the internet browser has speech recognition built in for doing various web-browsing things, but I've never tried it. Take a look at the articles and see what you can find. I know that there are some IM bots that you can talk to, but they're generally pretty useless and repetitive. --Seans Potato Business 17:56, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Speech recognition software doesn't seem "production ready" yet, to me, as it's quite expensive and/or doesn't work well. Specifically, the software needs to be "trained" for your voice, there can't be any other noise in the room, and you need to be careful to pronounce your words well and leave silences between each word. The one place it does work fairly well is when you can only say a small number of very different words, and it picks between those. On the other hand, if you can say any word in the English language, the chances it will get the word right each time are not good. They also have trouble with homonyms, like "to", "two", and "too". You would need a fairly low error rate, say 1% or less, to make it practical. StuRat 09:37, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

There are two different things you speak of. The first, voice recognition, is simply taking sound and converting it into text like this. Then, depending on the implementation (the program that's doing it) it can then understand the text and act appropriately. For example in Microsoft Word it would just type the words you speak and follow certain commands. Now, the second thing you speak about is artificial intelligence. To this date there are computer programs that have been written to appear to be human - see turing test - so in theory it would be possible to write some program that could respond logically to some things you say - the rest if would have to fob off and answer your question with another question, or look up what you say in the dictionary and just tell you the definition - all these are excuses for not understanding what you're talking about. Rfwoolf 14:03, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

monitor connection

I bought a new lcd flatscreen VGA or DVI input. My Radeon video card has both VGA output and DVI output. Right now it's on the analog VGA, and I lack a cable to even try the DVI. Would my high-end games and the DVD's I play on my PC look better using DVI?

no. --froth^t 20:47, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

The difference is pretty minor, unless you have both a high-end graphics card and a high-end LCD panel. The only real advantage is that DVI is a pure digital signal, while VGA is analog. The difference in data integrity is minimal in most cases. -- Kesh 21:09, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

probably won't be a large difference, but it might be there. Using DVI is generally better, as otherwise your video card is making an analog signal for the VGA cable, just to be reconverted to DVI for an LCD, as I understand it. But then, I haven't read up on monitors in awhile, so I forget --lucid

But the video card has dedicated hardware for the VGA connection and so does the monitor, so it's no more taxing on the system. I don't see any benefit in a digital signal- streams interpreted directly by the human senses are where analog equipment shines. --froth^t 23:37, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

If you use sub-pixel rendering for fonts or frequently changes resolutions it's more convenient to use DVI so you don't need to be constantly adjusting it. --antilived^{T | C | G} 08:34, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Displaying 4:3 with a widescreen monitor on an ATI card

I can't seem to find anything in the Catylist control center to run my widescreen monitor in 4:3 for fullscreen apps that are dated and won't accept widescreen resolutions. Can anyone help me out here? --154.20.111.209 22:07, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

I have catalyst set up to center lower resolutions in fullscreen mode- this is so when I run UT2004 (which only supports up to 1280x1024) it doesn't try to stretch it to 1400x1050 (my native resolution) and look terrible because LCD monitors can't scale. Maybe you should just use this option.. I doubt you'll be able to find a 'force 4:3' option. You'll have to live with a tiny screen area for really old apps that only support VGA/XGA, though. Just turn on the Advanced view and take a look through the options, im sure you'll find it --froth^t 23:41, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Browser bookmarks

I just switched from Internet Explorer to Firefox. Is there any way to transfer the bookmarks to the new browser, so I don't have to re-type them all? — Michael J 23:29, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Bookmarks > Organize Bookmarks > File > Import. Also it asked you when you ran it for the first time --froth^t 23:37, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Thank you. (It asked me a lot of things when I first ran it, I guess I must have missed that!) — Michael J 23:43, 19 August 2007 (UTC)