Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2007 August 28

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August 28

default password

I forget my windows password and also linux password.So I want to know what its default password?Iloveugourab 00:21, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

There is none, else compromising a server would be so easy. On Linux, you can always boot to some recovery mode to gain root access. Splintercellguy 00:35, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Boot singleuser. Use the kernel flag "single" to do this, then reset the password. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.78.64.102 (talk) 00:52, August 28, 2007 (UTC)

On some Linux installs the default password for "root" is also "root". (In general, try using the same password as the username.) StuRat 01:41, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

The default password is sometimes "toor" (root backwards) Think outside the box 14:37, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

For Windows XP, boot in safemode to bypass login details and then change relevent passwords in the control panel. JoshHolloway 11:01, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

For Windows, use the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor to change the password. --Spoon! 12:24, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

School Internet Filtering

Okay I fully understand if no-one wants to answer this on moral grounds but I heard this thing on the radio yesterday from this guy saying he bypassed his school Internet filter by changing an option in Google that would allow him to bypass it. I'm really curious as to how this would work. Does anyone know how to do this or how it could possibly be done? Thanks Mix Lord 00:59, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

If you pick the "Advanced" button to the right of the place where you type in the Google search term, it takes you to a page which contains, among other things, the SafeSearch setting. If it has defaulted to "Filter using SafeSearch", simply select "No filtering", instead. If your school uses it's own filtering system, this won't work, however. StuRat 01:37, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Or search for something that's on a banned website and click "Cache". This'll show Google's version of the site. JoshHolloway 11:00, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Note that many institutions with filters will block access to Google's cache, and other similar sites. Lurker (said · done) 13:31, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

My school blocks the google cache (but only of pages it has blocked). OP, if the school has their network set up perfectly then it's impossible to bypass such a filter. If your school lets you connect your own computer or run arbitrary code on their computers (I'd be wary of monitoring software in the latter case though), then just SSH home, or use a proxy set up on your home computer. If you're still in high school this is real easy (just install privoxy and forward tcp 8118 on your router to the appropriate computer, and configure your browser at school to use the proxy server at your home router's external IP).. if you're at college your parents probably don't want you sapping their bandwidth while you're away, so don't steal. Note that if your school already restricts HTTP traffic through a proxy (rather than just the network gateway, which is how it should be done) you'll have to find some other VPN protocol to tunnel through, in which case you'll have to have some additional software at home to recieve the connection- not to mention the ability to run arbitrary code at school like ssh or stunnel with the proxy patch. --froth^t 19:11, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

By the way, I share this because I object on moral grounds to censorship of the internet! And of course I was vague enough to just give you a few leads to figure it out yourself, which is the most important thing anyway :) --froth^t 19:13, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

BoingBoing also keeps a list of some anti-censorship techniques. From the page: "If your employer or corrupt, undemocratic, dictator-based government uses a filtering service ... you can try the following workarounds". --h2g2bob (talk) 21:36, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I can't get through the cached pages or the search option. Apparently it's possible to exploit some fundamental weakness in the filter or something and that it's a problem that would be impossible to fix.Mix Lord 04:11, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

SSH to a server listening on port 80/443? Splintercellguy 04:56, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

seminal paper

how to find the seminal paper of a particular topic? i want to find the seminal paper on 'PID Controller'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 155.69.22.235 (talk) 03:15, August 28, 2007 (UTC)

I can't help you with the PID Controller but usually the easiest way to find a seminal paper (if one really exists) is to trace backwards: find a paper, find the earliest relevant paper it cites, then go to that paper and find the earlier paper it cites, etc. At some point you'll usually find one citation which makes it clear which is seminal; i.e. it'll be the first one in multiple articles and have some sort of tone of "oh yes, we've all read this paper" to the way it is cited. Note though that not all topics have seminal papers — a seminal paper is usually only consider seminal if the paper basically presents a radical new approach/answer, and in many cases discoveries or technologies are quite additive in nature (there is no seminal paper on the light bulb or the automobile, for example; they are technologies which gradually developed from others over time. The closest thing you can get to a seminal paper is a seminal patents, but even those can be misleading in their individual nature). --24.147.86.187 22:38, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Not intended blanking

Hello, I was referred to this page as a possible source of help with my problem. When I use certain computers to edit pages I end up unexpectedly blanking pages. In essence, what happens is that after I hit the 'edit' button, only a portion of the text that is supposed to load on the edit box ends up loading. As a result, if I pay no attention to checking if the entire section loaded and I save my changes I may inadvertently blank the bottom portions of sections. Here is an example. I was told that it could be a virus, but I find this hardly unlikely since it tends to happen from the computers at school which have no administrator privileges and their memory is cleared up every time after use (they are well maintained too.) Do you know how I can keep this from occurring? Thank you, Brusegadi 04:49, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I would speculate that the computer doesn't have enough available memory to load the entire page, and handles this situation badly. It should give an error, but instead appears to load part of the page, but otherwise behave normally. One suggestion is to use section edits whenever possible, instead of full page edits. Another suggestion is to switch to a different browser. StuRat 05:07, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

OK, two possible reasons, neither of which is necessarily applicable to you.

1. About a year ago there was an issue, I think it was with using the Google toolbar in Firefox. If you loaded a page bigger than say 30kb it would cut the bottom off. I think this issue has been resolved, but that may depend on users having updated their software.
2. I have met this problem with pages, especially big pages, being cut off when downloading on a slow connection, such as a modem (especially if multitasking, such as downloading files, opening several pages, etc all at the same time). Now it's possible that your school connections are slow, or prone to times of overload when very large numbers of people are accessing simultaneously, when this could happen. If this is the case, there's no way of stopping it, you must just ensure the pages have loaded properly. The pages will claim to have loaded properly, so you really have to be vigilant. If this does happen, often you have to use <Crtl><F5> to force a reload, as the refresh button in the browser won't do it. --jjron 08:09, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Thank you all. Since the internet connection is fast, and it happens with the two available browsers, I am inclined to believe it has to do with the memory settings the computer has. I always stick to section editing, but it is not fun when you need to remove or add templates at the top of the page. Oh well. Thanks again, Brusegadi 04:15, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

If you want to add to the top of the page, just click any [edit]. Then change the last number of the url (after &section=) to 0. That will load everything before the first section (&section=1). HYENASTE 23:23, 30 August 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hyenaste (talk • contribs)

XML extensions

Hi! I'm a newbie working on xml-based formats in developing applications. From the development point of view, is there a difference if I give it a custom extension, of say .ABCD rather than .XML? Is there a deep difference in the extension used for xml files (so as long as it does not conflict with other registered file types)? Regards —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.78.219.4 (talk) 05:53, August 28, 2007 (UTC)

Extensions are used by most operating systems to guess at a file type. There's no requirement for you to use "proper" extensions. For example, I can have a MS Word document with the extension ".ihateword". I can have a pdf with the extension ".pdfsareevil". Some (old) operating systems limit extensions to 3 characters. Those are rare to find in modern times. So, feel free to use whatever you like. Anyone opening the file will easily see that it is XML and not care what the filename is. -- Kainaw^(what?) 12:13, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Minor add-on: To Kainaw's entirely suitable answer; some applications also use the file extension for various purposes, and failing to use the "proper" extension won't necessarily break anything, but it may give you additional headaches. For example, some Text editors use the file extension to determine what kind of Syntax highlighting to apply to the currently-edited file.

In this instance, you would want to go into the configuration options for your text editor and register the extension "ABCD" (along with xml, xsl, svg, xhtml, ... and so on) so that your application "knows" that abcd is just another type of xml file. dr.ef.tymac 14:49, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

HQ1

Could you please provide for me any information about HQ1 chipsets that Sony produces them also, if you can give me the datasheet for them?

Thank you in advance

Suliman —Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.232.75.208 (talk) 09:26, August 28, 2007 (UTC)

The Forum Game

In every classroom, meeting or forum, whether online or not, there seem to be persons who can not resist the temptation to disrupt to the point that it is to them obviously a game. One rule for dealing with trolls in such situations is "Not to feed the trolls." Are there other rules that administrators, moderators and users who merely wish to contribute and learn can follow to play and win The Forum Game? Clem 11:33, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Ignoring trolls ("do not feed" them) is the best method. Trolls want attention. That is why they are trolls. Ignoring them deprives them of what they want and they go elsewhere. It is hard sometimes. There are many trolls here on Wikipedia. I've got into it with a few of them - which is completely my mistake. I know better. I am learning though. Just last week, I pointed out (on the Science RD) that driving slower gets better gas mileage. A troll piped in and said I was completely wrong - driving slower does not get you where you going as fast as driving faster. He equated my comment to a religious argument. Note: He didn't respond to what I wrote. He responded to something different and threw in an insult. I recognized him as a troll and didn't respond - even though I really wanted to. -- Kainaw^(what?) 12:10, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Why didn't you just answer his legitimate claim about gas mileage? You're both wrong by the way- there's an optimum speed for each vehicle, it's not a general rule about faster or slower --froth^t 19:15, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

As I stated, he did not respond to what I wrote. He responded to something totally different in a highly confrontational and insulting tone. I'm doing my best not to respond to trolls. -- Kainaw^(what?) 19:35, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

One problem is that it's human nature to label anyone as a troll who disagrees with us and won't be convinced of our argument. Thus, giving administrators the mandate to ban trolls results in them banning anyone who disagrees with them. The "ignore the trolls" policy gets around this problem, by simply causing those who disagree to disengage. StuRat 13:37, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I don't think that's quite fair. Most admins don't ban people as trolls unless they are blatantly being disruptive to the editing process. I think the "human nature" bit is really that when many people who show up here don't get what they want, they behave very poorly. --24.147.86.187 15:25, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I've always found them a bit like fleas - once they're there it's difficult to ignore, and obviously they spoil your experience. I've found that over time I've just become immune (mostly) - persevere and you'll just find the problem seems to go away (mostly). I think they like 'fresh' ones - once you've been bitten a few times they must get bored of the taste.87.102.90.8 13:57, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Also why not take a look at slashdot with the moderation turned down to -1 and learn how the masters do it.87.102.90.8 14:20, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Or alternatively - give them the scrap they want - get it out of your system (I recommend this!) if so you might want to take a look at the articles linked from Pejorative. Good luck anyway87.102.90.8 14:20, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

With all of these comments in mind I faced the varmint and after wrestling for almost four days he finally lost interest and disappeared. He might return later but for the next little while he will be licking his wounds instead of inflicting them on me. Glad I posted this question and thanks for the help. Clem 02:36, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

I always thought this comic summed it up well. Personally I think a combination of ignoring the quick drive-by trolls (don't give them an audience, hope they find something better to do) and banning the persistent ones works out as well as one can hope for. --24.147.86.187 15:28, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Programming Language for working with hardware

HI friends...I would like to work with the PC hardware and with external communication devices using PC serial port,USB etc...For that which language wouldbe recommended to learn?...I prefer Visual Basic which can be used to make windows GUI as well as programming to communicate with peripheral devices....Or shall I use C?(can we do those stuff it in C?).I thought C is complicated for these sort of applications.Or is there anything else more specific?...For eg, I want to make interface so that I can copy some data from one medium say, CD drive to a serial EEPROM device or maybe a modem, etc..?..Please help —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.164.249.89 (talk) 11:34, August 28, 2007 (UTC) (I created a separate section for this question. JSBillings 12:01, 28 August 2007 (UTC))

You can use just about any language you like. What you need is a library of functions for working with the serial port or USB port. Since you are learning, I suggest C# or Java. My reasoning is that they are similar to C, Object Oriented, and easier to learn than C. However, there will surely be a slew of radical religious responses claiming that C# and/or Java were designed by Satan to drive all of humanity into the pits of Hell. What you should get from arguments like that is that some people take programming languages way too seriously. It really doesn't matter which one you choose. -- Kainaw^(what?) 12:06, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks a lot...Oh really?..But isn't learning java a tougher job when compared to C?..And I heard many saying that wihout an affluent knowledge in C, one can't be a master in C# or java or any higher languages that are above to C?...Is it true?...Anyway I will start with that... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.164.249.89 (talk) 04:36, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

You can probably learn C in a day. It is a very simple language. However, fully understanding using pointers, memory management, all the necessary library functions, etc. can be complex, that's why languages like Java are popular, since they handle a lot of the complex OS interactions for you. It still doesn't hurt to understand C and how your OS works. -- JSBillings 12:59, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Correct. It is easier to learn Java (or C#) because a lot of things are handled for you. You can put off learning about them while you learn the basics. When you are ready, you can make the jump to C++ (or C if you wish) and try to pick up what you ignored in Java/C#. -- Kainaw^(what?) 13:02, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Transferring data between computers

I have two computers connected by the same router. Is there any way I can share folders and transfer data from one computer to the other through my LAN connection? One of the computers is running Windows Vista, while the other is running Windows XP. Thanks. Acceptable 13:15, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

You can use Windows networking to do it. There are many ways to do this. The easiest is to right-click on a folder on the one that currently has the files. Select "sharing" and share the folder. It may go through a lot of steps to set up file sharing. Now, go to the other computer and look in the Network Neighborhood. You should see the shared folder appear so you can open it and copy the file. Of course, there are many reasons that the folder may not appear. It is best to try this and then, if it doesn't work, come back for the long process of troubleshooting. -- Kainaw^(what?) 13:18, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I have such a system at home (in our case we have Windows 98 and Windows XP computers), and it seems to be almost random whether a particular folder shows up on the network for any given computer on any given day. Rebooting everything, including the router, changes the status of each folder (again randomly), so doing it enough times will eventually make the folder you want appear on the Network Neighborhood for the computer you want. StuRat 13:29, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

If you had a Mac all you'd need to run is a Firewire cable or ethernet cable between the two - with no router. --24.249.108.133 16:46, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

"If you had a Mac..." is not the answer to any Windows problem. Notice that there are no "If you had Linux..." answers here. -- Kainaw^(what?) 17:05, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

If you have a real computer, all you need is a length of ethernet crossover cable, which is specifically designed for file transfer. And I seriously doubt that macs can perform the same feat with standard cat5, you need a crossover cable or its non-ethernet-standards-compliant. --froth^t 19:19, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Macs auto-sense when there when Ethernet is connected to another Mac and automatically reconfigure the port so you can indeed use a standard patch cable as a crossover cable. Pretty neat! Back on topic, have you thought about 802.11n? --24.249.108.133 06:15, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Actually, macs automatically cross the cable. Works very well, my friend and I always use that feature to transfer files. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.195.124.101 (talk) 23:30, August 28, 2007 (UTC)

If I do what Kainaw suggests, where will the folder be stored? Is it stored on the computer with the folder that I right-clicked on? Thanks. Acceptable 17:19, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes - you create a "shared" folder just as you would any other folder. For example, go into "My Documents", make a new folder called "Shared", and then right-click on it. That is the computer the folder is physically on. Then, once you right-click and share it, the other computer should be able to see it. If not, come back and ask for further troubleshooting help. -- Kainaw^(what?) 18:24, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Windows networking is all fine and good but if it's a lot of data, like hundreds of gigabytes, then set up a samba share on the host and connect to it from the other computer. Or use sftp. --froth^t 19:20, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I should have said this before... I use a USB drive myself. -- Kainaw^(what?) 19:31, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Malware on Vista

Hi does any one know how I can remover malware of my computer I am running vista thank you weare2good lol —Preceding unsigned comment added by Weare2good (talk • contribs) 15:48, August 28, 2007 (UTC)

http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php?PHPSESSID=e891ea4176f42a6658ddf7c17b05720a

Contrary to the wikipedia article Ad-Aware this does work with Vista (at least according to their 'badge' on the screen. I don't have vista so cannot vouch for it. ny156uk 18:10, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Thank you but I have spybot but it has not removed eveything so I need something that will remover all spyware ect.Weare2good 18:23, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

No one program seems to remove everything. The combination of Spybot S&D and AdAware seems to get most malware. --LarryMac | Talk 19:02, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Software release date database

I was curious if there are any online resources that track the release dates of major software? (ie: when was Photoshop 2.5 released? Or Windows 98SE? Or Netscape 1.1?) --24.249.108.133 16:31, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Check Wikipedia. For example, the Photoshop page has a link to Adobe Photoshop release history -- Kainaw^(what?) 17:29, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Interchanging desktop and laptop RAM

Can I take apart my old PC and put its RAM into a laptop and vice-versa?Acceptable 17:23, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Under nearly all circumstances, no, you cannot. RAM for desk computers is physically different from laptop ram - so they don't interchange. There are rare exceptions. -- Kainaw^(what?) 17:30, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

I found this out the hard way when upgrading an old desktop of mine. >_< CaptainVindaloo ^{t c e} 18:21, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

The easiest way to check is to use a memory upgrade tool and plug in the values for each system. Crucial.com has one, for example. If they don't match, it won't work. They probably won't match. And note that this isn't something that you can "just try"—in many cases the RAM won't even fit in the same slot and will be in a totally different physical shape. --24.147.86.187 22:30, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

To be specific, most laptops use SODIMMs -- small outline DIMMs, whereas desktops use regular-sized parts. --Mdwyer 23:50, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Wordpress, Markdown and New Lines

Hello,

I'm using markdown to write the posts for my wordpress blogs and I've run into a minor formatting issue. Markdown outputs the text in HTML format like this:

<P>blah blah blah</P>

<P>blah blah blah</P>

<P>blah blah blah</P>

Which I then copy/paste into wordpress.

The problem is that wordpress only leaves one carriage return after each paragraph, which lumps all the text together.

Is there anyway to fix this?

Thanks for your help,

--Grey1618 22:12, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Three possible solutions: 1. adding an extra carriage return? 2. manually adding <br/> after each paragraph? 3. modifying your wordpress style sheets to add more space after every paragraph entity? --24.147.86.187 22:34, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

#3 looks to me like the way to go. What theme are you using? I use Wordpress and haven't seen such a problem. —Tamfang 06:12, 2 September 2007 (UTC)