Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 June 22

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June 22

Programs launched at start-up in Windows

As I start windows up, many programs are launched automatically. How can I disable them? Is there a list somewhere or should I go through any individual program and turn it off? GoingOnTracks (talk) 00:02, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Windows looks to three locations by default for startup programs:

• The Startup folder in the start menu
• In the Registry: HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run and HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run.

You can go to these locations and delete individual items. This list is useful when determining what to keep. Utilites such as CCleaner and Spybot Search & Destroy also display startup items. Xenon54 00:10, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

MSConfig is the built-in tool to do that. Be careful not to accidentally turn off your antivirus/firewall/etc. --h2g2bob (talk) 16:26, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

As you said you have windows, you might also want to look at sysinternals autoruns. Kushal (talk) 20:49, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Extracting master tracks from Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero (series) contains the master tracks to famous rock songs. Has any work been done into extracting these from the .xen song files? Mac Davis (talk) 01:23, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

They don't actually contain the master tracks, just the guitar (or sometimes, bass) tracks and the rest. Frets on Fire already supports extracting them for in-game use, and you can find the extracted ogg files in the programme directory. --antilived^{T | C | G} 03:45, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Also I'm fairly sure that all of the tracks in GH are masters, at best, of a cover band. They aren't the original recordings. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 04:59, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Not all the tracks are masters, but now that GH has turned out to be a successful franchise, they don't need to supplement their game with covers bands. Antilived, you're probably right about having just the guitar and sometimes bass. GHIII uses the same types of sound files that Bioshock and most video games use, I once found the program and company, and free software that makes the types of files, but now I can't. Starts with an F. Mac Davis (talk) 05:08, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Problem with Windows Explorer

For the last few days I've been having problems with Windows Explorer. Every time I use it to view a folder on my harddrive, it closes itself after a few seconds, and at the same time my desktop icons disappear along with the Taskbar. I have to restart my computer to get them back. I thought it was due to a virus because it happened after I downloaded a keygen for Quicktime Pro from a torrent, but I scanned it three times before I ran it, and I scanned it three times since just to check. I've also run HouseCall online, and Spybot, but the results are always that I have a clean computer. Is Windows Explorer corrupted somehow? How do I get a new copy of it? I'm running XP SP2. Thanks, Matthewedwards (talk • contribs • email) 03:32, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Well you can't "get a new copy of it" without reinstalling it. It sounds like Explorer.exe is crashing. Have you tried booting in safe mode and seeing if it still does it? That's what I would do -- it would help narrow things down a bit. And you could run your virus checker once more while you're in safe mode.--98.217.8.46 (talk) 05:04, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I've now tried to use it in safe mode, but it still works. I haven't done a virus checker in safe mode, though. Where would I go to reinstall explorer.exe? Or do you mean re-install windows? Matthewedwards (talk • contribs • email) 05:34, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I doubt the problem is with explorer.exe itself. Check your error log for details of the crashes: Start —> Control Panel —> Administrative Tools —> Event Viewer. Feel free to post any error messages you find.--Hello. I'm new here, but I'm sure I can help out. (talk) 05:46, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

This also sounds like hard drive malfunction, crashing explorer because it can't read the content of the directory. Try a Linux LiveCD, if it still doesn't work there you should back up your data ASAP. --antilived^{T | C | G} 06:09, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Linux? But I have WinXP.. I tried to do the Admin tools thing, but Explorer crashed when I opened Control Panel! Matthewedwards (talk • contribs • email) 07:35, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

A live CD is a version of a Linux distribution that runs straight from a CD ROM. Running it and making sure you can read data from your hard drive is a way to help figure out if it is a hardware/filesystem problem, or a software problem. It might also be a good way to go about backing up your data if you have trouble doing it from Windows. --Prestidigitator (talk) 07:57, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

You can check for disk errors by opening up a command prompt and typing chkdsk /f. It will ask if you want to run it on the next reboot, and you press Y. It can repair damaged files and folders on your disk. Another useful tool is the System File Checker. To use that, you insert a Windows XP disk and type sfc /SCANNOW at the command line. It will over-write any damaged system files.--Hello. I'm new here, but I'm sure I can help out. (talk) 08:12, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Also, to access the Event Viewer without the Control Panel, hold down your Windows key and r, then type eventvwr.msc. Your Windows key should be between your CTRL and ALT keys and has a Windows logo.--Hello. I'm new here, but I'm sure I can help out. (talk) 02:52, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Ace combat - like games

Hi, i just love this game on my ps2 (belkan wars)... Can anyone here offer some suggestions on similar titles for PC? TIA 124.105.117.161 (talk) 07:52, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

RAR files

'Can you help me i selected a .rar file and I right clicked and went to Select a program for this file than I went to Internet explorer checked the box than i clicked Ok. Later I tried to open it. It opened the net it went to re download again. How do I reset it? I don't have a profile., This once I'm going to put my Email. its Loper324 hot mail dotcom (Please send it in a video response its easier.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.109.145.63 (talk) 08:09, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I hope you don't mind my retitling of your question.

It's rather hard to know just what you mean. (What does "open the net" mean, what "opened the net", what went to download, what did it go to download, what do you want reset?) Anyway, do you have a program for opening RAR files? If not, take a look within the article "RAR". -- Hoary (talk) 10:00, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm a little confused by your question too. If I understand it correctly, the issue is that you've set RAR files to open with Internet Explorer and want to change the default program. Yes/No...? If you already have an appropriate program (as Hoary suggested) installed, it should work anyway, but just in case - open Windows Explorer and right-click on the RAR file. Go to the "Open With" option and click on "Choose Program...". Select your RAR program and check the box for always opening that file type with that program and you should be set. If you don't already have a program for RARs, installing one will set your file types to the correct program. Matt Deres (talk) 11:44, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

(obfuscated email). A list of programs which can read compressed files is at comparison of file archivers - check the table for reading different file formats. I'd recommend the freeware FilZip because it is quite easy to use. --h2g2bob (talk) 16:21, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Personally I won't recommend FilZip since it doesn't apparently support 7zip which is increasingly important. Instead, I would recommend either 7-Zip or IZArc both of which support 7-zip and RAR. You may be interested to read [1] which I find useful in deciding which program to choose (while it only represents one person's opinion, the explainations are IMHO useful) Nil Einne (talk) 19:49, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

ep, .7z compatibility is becoming increasingly important. Kushal (talk) 20:46, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Ogg

I run XP on a PC (also MSIE). I occsionally want to listen/view OGG files. The "help" wikipedia gives on this is hopeless. One link via Media wiki wants you to download a "Cortado" applet but doesn't tell you where to find one. It does tel;l you about downloading Jave, but I've already got Java installed. Another link doesn't mention Cortado but goes on about Windows Media Player which I have installed. The link to illiminible ends up as a redirect, etc, etc. It would be good if someone who understands these things made it all much clearer.

I got it working in the end (on sound), but boy - was it a struggle. -- SGBailey (talk) 10:00, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

In future, you could try downloading it and opening it on Audacity. It opens *.ogg files.78.150.225.157 (talk) 17:47, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

If you already have Java installed just press the big button and it'll magically play in your browser! Don't over-complicate things next time... --antilived^{T | C | G} 20:09, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I have, it didn't. But I can't recall exactly what it said and I've got it installed now. -- SGBailey (talk) 22:40, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

AMS-IX peering

If you check the list of connected parties to the AMS-IX, a rather substantial part of them lists their peering policy as "not public". Why is this? Quite a few of these are 'normal' ISPs, and one of them is SURFnet, an educational network. User:Krator (t c) 11:33, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Fail. User:Krator (t c) 22:40, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

os for programming

Suppose I wish to buy an x86 computer and use it for programming (including variants of lisp, fortran, scripting languages, and assembler/machine code) - does any of the available os's eg microsoft/apple/linux/other represent a better choice? Also consider that I am a 'cheapskate' and may be looking to pay as little as possible for the software..87.102.86.73 (talk) 13:44, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

You're going to get more development tools for less cost (nothing but the cost of burning a CD) with an open source operating system, such as Linux or one of the *BSDs. -- JSBillings 14:02, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

I refused to pay for Windows 98 - so I haven't used Windows for a long time. I haven't heard of many free and good development programs for Windows. In Linux, there are many development tools - all free. However, developing for Windows on Linux can be difficult. So, it really depends on what you are developing for. I don't develop for Windows. Nearly all the work I do is for the web. So, I just use Linux as my OS which seamlessly blends with my BSD and Linux servers. Every server is a mountpoint, so I can easily move files around and edit them as though the whole thing was local to my computer. Since I don't use Windows, I don't know how easy (or possible) it is to have a similar setup. -- kainaw™ 14:08, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

What about apple? also - when for windows is it possible that things designed for XP won't work for vista - or will they always be ok?87.102.86.73 (talk) 12:26, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Apple OS is now based heavily on Unix (which is nearly identical to Linux for users, which is why they are collectively called *nix). What Apple did was take the Unix core and wrap a very Apple-like GUI on top of it. So, when it comes down to it, asking about Apple vs. Linux is really asking about the Apple GUI vs. the popular Linux GUIs (KDE and GNOME) as well as support from Apple vs. support from the *nix community (or Redhat if you buy a license). -- kainaw™ 14:58, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Actually, if you're spending any time in Apple's CLI, it's far inferior to Linux since they don't use the GNU utilities. --Sean 15:10, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Please see the note at the top of the page that tells you that the Reference Desks aren't for rants; while you're not there yet, "far inferior" is pretty far down that unfortunate road.

Atlant (talk) 11:35, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Huh? I love the OS X machines I have at home, and would hardly rant against them, but stating a fact about an area where they compare poorly is no more a rant than stating the fact that video-editing software on Linux is far inferior to what you can get for a Mac. Using Apple's shell is not far removed from using BusyBox, which is quite mystifying to me given Apple's usual focus on user-friendliness. --Sean 14:12, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

On second thought, I acknowledge your desire to avert religious wars and rescind my comments. --Sean 14:22, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you! I really appreciate that you correctly took my point.

Atlant (talk) 20:51, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

What's wrong with Windows? GCC has been ported to it. It also has some really nice WYSIWYG IDEs, like Visual Studio and products from Borland, both of which only run in Windows.--Hello. I'm new here, but I'm sure I can help out. (talk) 23:57, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

PROBLEM

Hellow, We faced a problem here, we are in a school where every class room has about 20 computers and all these computers are equipped with limited internet(no YAHOO OR HOTMAIL, but WORLDCLIENT for sending and receiving emails), All these computers are controlled by a server, 2 days ago we faced a problem ,By some means it happens that when we send or reply a mail inside the school,the email message goes to email addresses of all the students (who were provided email IDs by the server) inside the school even when their email addesses are not included in email direcction, Plz tell me what is this problem, how did it happen and what is its solution. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.220.222.145 (talk) 16:47, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Is "Worldclient" an email client, like Thunderbird or Outlook? I'm sorry that I can't find anything about it whatsoever on Wikipedia, or elsewhere on the internet.78.150.225.157 (talk) 17:45, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

It appears to be a GUI for MDaemon email servers [2] JessicaN10248 17:52, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes it is GUI for MDaemn email servers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.220.222.145 (talk) 01:29, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Does the school (or, more likely, the school board) have a computer technician? I think they might be in the best situation to sort this out. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 01:33, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Firefox 3 always crashing

Is it just for me, or Firefox 3 on Windows Vista is always crashing? everyday, several times a day... WOW it is terrible... I was expecting a stable software, but damn... Does someone has the same problems? SF007 (talk) 23:25, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Nope. Using x64 Vista, no crashes at all (whereas I did notice the occasional one with FF2). Have you tried removing all extensions you have installed? -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 00:08, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I've run into several crashes when trying to organize bookmarks. And often find my mouse lagging on some sites. Other than that, nothing major. --Russoc4 (talk) 00:50, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I haven't even thought of removing the extensions (and I call myself a computer scientist!), anyway, I disabled all the extensions a few hours ago, and since then I have already had about half a dozen (6) crashes! This is really terrible... it just crashes ramdomly, opening regular websites (gmail, wikipedia, hi5...) it was the same thing in beta, but well it was a beta, but now... damn... it's a "pain"... I hope they fix it soon... SF007 (talk) 04:17, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

You ought to try and figure out what sites do it and report it to them. It's not standard behavior. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 15:08, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

I doubt it is the websites problem, it once crashed just with google and en.wikipedia.org! it may not be only Fireox fault... maybe Vista or maybe both... or some other thing.... don't know... SF007 (talk) 17:17, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

are you using add-ons such as firebug or web developer? if yes I would advise you to disable them b/c they cause firefox 3 to crash on certain websites. - 69.150.209.15 (talk) 20:38, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

I've got the same trouble, but only when I download something. Please see this link, which includes a link to a MozillaZine Forum - Talk:Mozilla_Firefox#WARNING:Vista_users_and_Firefox_3 Kathleen.wright5 21:33, 27 June 2008 (UTC)