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

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March 30

BSoD

My computer is display the blue screen of death whenever I try to start it up.

Is it possible to recover any of the data?

yes, probably the easiest way would be if you had a second computer or knew someone that did, you take your disk and plug it into the other computer, then hopefully the other computer will be able to read your disk just like another drive, you should be able to copy files back onto the other computer. This is unless there is a physical problem with your disk which is causing the problems, but it is more likely your problems are other hardware or operating system related. Vespine 01:37, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

The specific BSoD error code would help too. Yes, move the disk. Splintercellguy 03:09, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

You can try booting with a Linux LiveCD and access all your files. --Spoon! 05:07, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Well the most secure thing to do is take out the drive and add it to another machine (as a secondary drive) and then you can easily see what is readible and copy off whatever you need.
But failing that, if the hard drive is experiencing hard drive failure - then perhaps you shouldn't play with it too much until you can get it to another machine to extract the data - I mean don't boot it up a zillion times trying to get it to work - but that said, in some cases you can try booting it up a few times and maybe once or twice you'll get lucky and make it into Windows, at which point you can try burn a CD or copy files from one drive to another. If the cause is NOT hard drive failure, and it's just that your Windows System files have been corrupted, then you can look at try to repair your verion of Windows, which depends on what version you'r running.
I thought I'd add that you don't need a second COMPUTER to extract the data - (if it's the hard drive's fault) - all you'd need is another hard drive on the computer and run an operating system on that (tecnically even MS DOS!) - this might involve setting one drive as the primary and the other as a secondary (this is possible through setting the various jumper pins or via the BIOS - caution is advised!) or via the BIOS you can try tell our PC to boot from the one drive.
Anyways, I hope that gives you some options. Good luck Rfwoolf 12:38, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

this is a long shot, but if you're getting "unmountable boot volume" before windows loads, i recommend you put in your Windows CD (if it's 2000 or XP) and go to the recovery mode, once there, you want to choose to go into the console. you should end up at a prompt like "C:\" or similar where you can type a command. once there, just type "chkdsk" and press enter, wait forever for it to finish, then send "exit". i've done this a few times, including about a month ago. if this IS the problem, and you fix it with these steps, what you have to wonder now is what is causing the problem.. it may be a virus, or may just have resulted from your computer being improperly shut down while the hard drive was active. good luck --64.0.112.75 22:14, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Whoa, dude can you hack into somebody's myspace account?

So. I'm a software pirater but I'm not a hacker. I know more about computers then most people, and the question I get most asked at high schools are "whoa, dude, can you hack into somebody's myspace account?" I say no, and they're disappointed. So, I was wondering, how is it done? Not like I could ruin my reputation by getting too close to the website, but, it must be easy? [Mαc Δαvιs] (How's my driving?) ❖ 04:45, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

I would think a bit of cross-site scripting, social engineering, actual server compromise, or a little bit of all of the above. Splintercellguy 04:54, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Simple. Guess their password. Most people use lame passwords, like the name of their pet or spouse—or their birthday. I don't know whether Myspace requires use of a secure password, but I wouldn't guess they would. More security-conscious sites require passwords being chosen (by the owner) to contain a minimum number of characters and include nonalphabetic characters, perhaps several. More aggressive techniques include password interception, spying, breaking and entering, etc. —EncMstr 04:59, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Actually, thanks to a phishing attack last year,[1] many real myspace passwords were collected and circulated over the internet. While these accounts have now had their passwords changed, it provides an interesting analysis on what passwords are used.[2] The most common is "password1" with 0.22%. In general, the most common password used is "password", but MySpace has for some time required new users to select a password with both numbers and letters.

The phishing method used to gain the passwords involved creating a MySpace profile page which looked exactly like the MySpace login page, but instead of the username and password being sent to myspace, the page sent them to the attacker's website.

A hacker could also attempt to use XSS on a myspace profile, possibly for cookie stealing. Alternatively, if your computer has been compromised, the password could be obtained through a keylogger. --h2g2bob 17:07, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Hmm, lets see. These are the ways I can think of off the top of my head, with links to some related articles:

1. Guessing the password. See dictionary attack
2. Trying to fool the "Forgot your password?" feature on myspace (I have no idea how it works, so it might not be possible).
3. Sniffing the target users traffic (wouldn't work if myspace uses SSL). See packet sniffing.
4. Phishing
5. A man in the middle attack. Set yourself up as a proxy between the target user and myspace and analyze the traffic going between them. Depending on how careful a user is about clicking "This certificate doesn't match this site!" dialog boxes, this could beat SSL.
6. Installing a Keylogger
7. Insidious use of Cross site scripting, for stealing the myspace cookie.
8. Physically accessing someones computer. You could then steal the myspace cookie from their harddrive (assuming myspace set to log in automatically) or logging in using the victims stored password and then changing it. Or something.
9. ...what else...what else... can't think of anything right now, but I'm probably missing tons of ways a clever hacker could do it.

BTW, I'm assuming this is a purely an exercise in intellectual curiosity, and you don't have an nefarious motives :). Probably the easiest way would be to send your friend an email saying "Check out this really neat game!", which included Tetris (or something) plus a keylogger and packet-sniffer that installed itself quietly on your friends computer (I just checked, myspace does not use SSL, so a packet sniffer would be easiest). --Oskar 14:06, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Ohh, and oh yeah, you could try to get access to the Myspace databases too, but that would be insanely hard. --Oskar 14:07, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

To expand on some of Oskar's points. MySpace does use SSL, so packet sniffing won't work. Phishing has worked before and it'll work again. There are periodically studies on how users will give away passwords for chocolate and other freebies. The SSL MitM attack method is described in more detail here. --h2g2bob 21:15, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Image layout software with easy soft shadows etc.?

I've been using Photoshop to layout and make some pages where I have lots of photos and put them together as a stacked effect. However, the laziness of me prompted me to ask here, what else are there that can easily add softshadows etc., that are easily done with layer styles in Photoshop and runs under Linux? I know Xara Xtreme can do it but it's not really cross-platform and GIMP is seriously too slow, taking ages to do anything in an A3 300dpi file. --antilived^{T | C | G} 05:06, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

You've asked for only things that run under Linux - so the leaves out CorelDraw s'far's I know - but Adobe (the folks that make Photoshop) have CS2 - which might be your solution if it runs on Linux. Basically, CS2is like Corel Draw, which (at a stretch) is a kind of hybrid between raster/bitmap editing and vector editing. In other words if Photoshop is good for all your images/rasters/bitmaps things, and Freehand is good at your vectors/shapes/mathematically-calculated, then CS2and CorelDraw offer a bit of a hybrid. What would be great about CS2 though is that it would be fully compatible with your Photoshop (and CorelDraw is kinda, too). Rfwoolf 12:44, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes that's exactly what I've been using, in Windows. Wine support for Photoshop 7 is sketchy the last time I tried it and now I'm using VMWare to virtualise Windows just to run Photoshop. But it's slow for big files and I want to find a Linux-native alternative. --antilived^{T | C | G} 02:56, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

about SIM

Hi, this is a student working on a project related to mobile technology. I want to know the process in a mobile from user dialing a number; start conversation till he ends the call.From where to where and how the data flows in this process. What is the job of SIM in a mobile phone and what it stores.......

And can we access server that stores the call charges of the particular SIM(for STD,LOCAL etc.;) My project is to impose restrictions on the usage of the cell to a particular amount fixed by the owner of the cell(in cases where it is used by some other person). So; for this can we access the server...

Can any one help me..... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Boddeti (talk • contribs) 07:13, 30 March 2007 (UTC).

For SIM cards, did you see Subscriber Identity Module? --Wirbelwindヴィルヴェルヴィント (talk) 07:46, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

And don't forget about gender neutrality!!Mix Lord 23:07, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Downloading mail from Yahoo to Outlook Express

Could anyone tell me the method required to down load mail from my account at yahoo to my inbox in Outlook Express.

Many thanks.

John F.D'Souza

(email redacted) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.130.9.1 (talk) 10:49, 30 March 2007 (UTC).

Hello, Mr. D'Souza; I have removed your email from this entry so that it doesn't get harvested by spammers. There are two ways that I know of to access your Yahoo! mail via Outlook Express. The first is to pay extra to Yahoo! for a "Yahoo! Plus" account. The other is to use a third-party program, such as YPOPs!. There is a walkthrough on setting that up at about.com. --LarryMac 13:43, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

More here at Yahoo! help. --h2g2bob 02:50, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Installing PyXML-0.8.4 on Intel Mac

Hello,

I am trying to install PyXML-0.8.4 on my Intel Mac so I can use some of the more powerful features in Inkscape.

I've downloaded the package, but when I run "Python setup.py install" I get this error message: "error: could not delete '/sw/lib/python2.5/site-packages/_xmlplus/parsers/pyexpat.so': Permission denied"

Any suggestion on what I can do to fix this?

Thank you,

-Grey —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Grey1618 (talk • contribs) 11:01, 30 March 2007 (UTC).

sudo? --antilived^{T | C | G} 12:33, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Wow. Can't believe I forgot Sudo. Mac has spoiled me since my linux days. Well that worked fine, but Inkscape still keeps giving me the error message: "The inkex.py module requires PyXML. Please download the latest version from <http://pyxml.sourceforge.net/>."> Any ideas? --Grey1618 14:05, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Maybe this will help you? --antilived^{T | C | G} 02:53, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Sadly, I've followed those instructions to no avail. --Grey1618 06:40, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Laptop Vs desktop

I use the PC only to read news using bloglines and google reader. At present, I am using a HP PC with a 15 inch LCD screen. A friend said that laptop would be more convienient for reading than a desktop. He said desktops are good only for watching movies and playing games. He suggets a Dell 14 inch wide screen laptop. Should I buy a laptop? Will it be easier for me to read through a 14" widescreen laptop instead of a 15" LCD desktop? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.92.121.159 (talk) 12:52, 30 March 2007 (UTC).

There's almost no reason for normal people to buy a desktop computer any more. Even if you work at a desk, you can always "dock" your laptop and use a full-sized keyboard, mouse, and display with the laptop. The only good arguments I can still see for desktops are massive/multiple massive displays and lower entry cost. (I don't consider gamers "need for speed"/"frame rate envy" a good argument.)

Meanwhile, laptops have the distinct advantage that wherever you go, there you are: you have your usual system, your usual settings, your usual apps, and (most if not all) of your usual files.

Atlant 16:19, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Easier or more convienient? If by easier you mean less strain on your eyes when reading for long periods of time, I don't know. But if your friend did say, and mean, more convienient then they are probably right. A laptop would take up less space and be more portable than a desktop model. Plus if you have a wireless internet connection then there would be the convienience of being able to use the laptop wherever you wanted to within your home (assuming this is for home use). If you're okay with your desktop PC, then by all means continue using it. It's mostly personal preference. Also, you already have the desktop. If you got a laptop to replace something that already works and you're happy with, then that's just a large expense without much of a benefit for you. Dismas|^(talk) 16:23, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

I think the "beauty" of a laptop LCD screen is dependent on the generation of technology and the quality of the OEM display that is purchased. We're a solidly-Mac household, but we recently were commissioned by the relatives to buy a PC-architecture laptop for them, and the Sony Vaio that we ended up with has a gorgeous screen. I'd imagine it's the same OEM unit that Apple is currently fitting to the MacBooks.

Atlant 11:28, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Whether it is easy to read depends entirely on the screens/monitors being used — some laptop screens are atrocious, some are wonderful, ditto with computer monitors. The best laptop screens I've seen so far as the new MacBook ones — very crisp and clean and bright. But these are personal preferences.

As for laptop vs. desktop, for me the main differences are (other than portability, obvious) that a laptop is much more likely to have hardware failures than a desktop if you are carting it around everywhere (it is hard to be gentle with something you are schlepping around constantly), and it is harder to upgrade a laptop (RAM is easy, but you're stuck with the same monitor you buy with it, and getting inside a laptop is a lot harder than getting inside a desktop, so even routine things like replacing a hard drive are tough). --140.247.249.200 19:23, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

A laptop is many times more likely to be lost or stolen than a desktop. For comparable performance and features, a laptop will cost quite a bit more than its desktop counterpart, approaching a factor of two. —EncMstr 19:45, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

I totally agree with this last comment, I would only add, that most upgrades to a laptop are custom, whereas, desktop components are gneric/standardized. Artoftransformation 03:48, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

I agree laptops have their place but I wouldn't completely rule out desktops, further I'd add that laptops are more prone to failure and are more difficult to repair, short of just replacing the whole thing. Vespine 22:59, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

If you don't smash the LCD, or drop the laptop on the floor, or spill your lunch or beverage into it, I see no evidence that laptops are notably less reliable than desktops or mini-towers. But it is, of course, up to each person to determine if they are a klutz.

Atlant 11:32, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Java question related with keyword

java programming language keyword total 52 .. what is the use of goto and const keyword in java. now it's not use but why not drop these keyword... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.17.76.81 (talk) 13:52, 30 March 2007 (UTC).

They are reserved keywords though, as you say, they are unused. I can only speculate as to their inclusion; perhaps they exist in case someone at Sun becomes completely evil and decides that Java should support the goto construct. Someone else might have a better explanation. -- mattb @ 2007-03-30T13:57Z

I think that even though they are unused, they are constantly supported so that older programs can still be compiled? Not sure if goto is depreciated (const is via static final), but as far as I know, Java will always support depreciated stuff. x42bn6 Talk 15:11, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Java has never supported the goto construct as far as I'm aware. -- mattb @ 2007-03-30T15:47Z

According to the Java Language Specification, "The keywords const and goto are reserved, even though they are not currently used. This may allow a Java compiler to produce better error messages if these C++ keywords incorrectly appear." That's pretty much directly from the guy who created the language, so I think it is the best explanation to be found. --LarryMac 16:07, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia sound files

When I click on an .ogg sound file from an article, it brings up Windows Media Player. There I can listen to it multiple times and save it to the WMP libray to listen to it in the future. Is there any way to open the files to iTunes instead and possibly add it to my iPod? Thanks!! Reywas92^Talk 17:18, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

iTunes doesn't support Ogg by default, but there are a number of plugins available. [3] ~ Amalas rawr ^{=^_^=} 17:30, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Grim Fandango installation

Hi, is anyone familiar with the game Grim Fandango and the installation of it? Whenever I click "Install", it gets the hourglass mouse, but then the menu completely disappears and nothing happens. I tried opening My Computer, right-clicking on the icon and clicking Explore. Then I looked through the INSTALL folder, but clicking on various promising-looking things in here didn't do anything. So then I looked through the GRIMDATA folder. There's a file called GRIMFANDANGO. I clicked on that and a screen with a picture came up, with a loading sign in the bottom right. Then the screen went black and I opened Task Manager. I could see that this message had appeared:

res.c (2075): (int)fh > 0&& (int)fh <= MAX_OPEN_FILES

I don't know what this means and Google searches turn up nothing. I had to click OK. When I do this it says that the program encountered an error and needed to close. Does anyone know of any solution to this problem or what the error message means? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Bioarchie1234 20:16, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Reading the little line, it appears that either the app could not open the file it was looking for, or it ran out of file handles (unlikely). Splintercellguy 20:50, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

i have to assume you're using windows XP? the game wasn't designed to be run on XP, and so you have to do some manipulation and trickery to get XP to run it properly. i did a bit of searching, and found some people who had gotten it to work. there's no clear cut instructions, but if you're fairly computer literate, there's some good forums that look like they'll help you figure it out in a quick and easy google search. http://www.google.com/search?q=%22grim+fandango%22+xp --64.0.112.75 22:21, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah there's also a patch that they released for faster computers which you might want to download. I do believe I saw an installer / loader out there that might be just what you're looking for - perhaps googl those terms "Grim Fandango" + "Loader"
or "Grim Fadango" + "Instaler"
or "Grim Fandang" + "patch"
Rfwoolf 11:18, 31 March 2007 (UTC)