A thread for boring computer questions.

i'm going to try that. i have been installing packages this morning, and was only mildly frustrated with recieving errors for 2 or 3 failed dependencies. but i just tried to install libz and got errors for like 20 other things! grr

well, i've got my network back but still up against a brick wall with dclib. thanks you guys :)

OK, here's a Windows question:

On my parents' computer (running Windows XP), whenever they start up Word, it tries to install Microsoft Office XP Standard for Students and Teachers. They have Word 2002 installed, it looks like, and they don't know what could have happened that would make it ask for the installation CD-ROM every time. If they hit cancel, it works fine, but it's still annoying and mysterious (like, you know, much of their computer). Any ideas what's going on and how to stop it?

I think that has to do with how office was installed. Like some of the clipart was left on the cdrom so the software prompts for it. moronic eh?

Yeah. But they didn't have that edition of Office (they thought) and it was working fine until a few days ago. Ah well.

Hey there y'all. I'd like to (once again) reveal my stupidity and ask if anyone knows a quick way to delete past searches from Google. I've got a trainee in work using my pc and having a jolly good laugh at all of mine.

I'm beyond mortified, he found 'minimise open pores' (after which he scrutinised said pores and agreed help was required) and 'Karen Carpenter' which he frowned at.

Internet Explorer:

Go to Tools -> Internet Options...
Click on "Content"
Click on the "Autocomplete..." button
Click on "Clear Forms"

Firefox:

Go to Tools -> Options...
Click on "Privacy"
Click on the "Clear" button next to "Saved Form Information"

Bless you my friend.

We've got an Airport Extreme at work, but want to extend the range; it's less a distance problem as a geography one; we need to get around a corner and through about 4 walls to the other part of our offices.

What's the deal with buying a wireless router to extend the range? Would an antenna do just as well? Can anyone recommend a good cheap solution that doesn't need uber-techieness to implement?

Right.

I've just got a new computer. It's the first time I've ever had a Proper New Computer, as opposed to a hand-me-down from someone else. As such, I want to treat her right so she'll look after me in return - chances are, I won't be able to afford another one for a very long time.

So, I'd like your collective recommendations. How can I make my new laptop last for 10 years? What's the first thing I should do? Should I uninstal IE and instal Firefox instead? (I've heard this said in the past) I want to keep her as uncluttered as possible.

What should I avoid? Will slsk cause me problems, of can it be among the first things I install (as well as musicmatch and msn messenger)?

I don't want to hurt my new baby! Best foot forward, and all that...

You can't uninstall IE and you'll need it for things, leave it.

Get Firefox, and MS Antispyware

Make sure you have XP Service Pack 2 and go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and make sure you have all the critical updates.

Get an Antivirus programme and keep it up to date

slsk is fine

musicmatch isn't that great, there are better programmes for ripping and playing mp3a, cdex, winamp, itunes etc.

No computer will last ten years.

I've got McAfee antivirus-antispyware software, so hopefully that'll do the necessary.

I only want musicmatch cos it's what I've used since 2001 so I'm used to its funtionality. What's better than it?

I know, I know, a decade is a daft aim, but you get my drift.

If you want a laptop to last a long time, it doesn't really matter what you install or not on it - if things get fucked up for software reasons you can always do a reinstall. If you want it to last, then just treat it like it's a fragile object - laptops die because of one two many knocks/drinks spilled on them.

like people, then!

thanks for your advice, folks. i shall bear it all in mind when downloading pr0n conducting research.

hmmm. that didn't work very well. what's the html for strikethrough? obviously not k!

strike and /strike

woo!

We used to use icalx.com for calendar sharing on Ical, but it appears to be down, and I'll bet it won't come back. OUr web hosts don't have webDAV servers, and as they're work related, we can't have them publicly available.

It needs to be simple, so getting people to use another app is out of the question. It needs to be cheap, so getting 7 people to get .mac is also out of the question. So...

Anyone know of any free / cheapish webDav server space we could use for hosting 6 calendars?

there's one built into OS X. Otherwise cheack out freshmeat.net.

You mean I can store files there and as it's webDAV enabled, we will be able to use them?

huh?

Freshmeat.net is a directory of software, mainly opensource and may be able to help you.

As for the Mac thing there was a useful article on macdevcenter.com on setting up a homemade .Mac server on your mac which included a WebDav calendar server. Set one of the office Macs to be the WebDAV server.

unfortunately the webdav thing is only easy (and i mean REAL easy) to set up with the server admin tool (oo, tick a box!). maybe there is something for regular clients to set this up. that webdav article was also recently linked on mocosxhints

Bah. No can do as they're all laptops with none always in the office...

I think my email provider (ghoulnet) provides a webdav server as part of the package but I've never used it.

Here's another question:

Is there part of the computer (NOT the monitor) that could cause the brightness and colour of the display to flicker, darken etc? Because I just chucked out my old monitor cos it did this all the time, and now my sparkly new TFT screen is doing it too!! What could be causing it?

Thanks!

Mark, I think your magnetic personality must be responsible.

Your video card could be shot.

That seems a little extreme.

how fast is it flickering?

i had trouble here when i had a desk fan too close to the monitor. anything with an electric motor (next door's washing machine, grrr) in it can cause wobbling like this. bad news if you have a pacemaker. move it (the monitor, not the pacemaker) well away from anything else that's electrical.

check the refresh rate on the monitor as well - too low and you'll notice it (although i don't think this is only an issue with crts)

Is it usual for a 2-disk game to use the second disk as it's starting disk? for instance once you've installed it all and then you click the icon on your desktop, would it be normal for you to need the second disk inserted first?

my mate had installed cossacks 2 and he was getting an error when he put disk 1 in, saying that he "needed to insert the game disk". when we tried the other disk 2 there was no error message at all, just nothing happened (it turns out that he doesn't have enough RAM to run it which rang alarm bells)

It's not a regular flicker - it's just at times, without warning, the display will become darker, or change rapidly for a few seconds then either stay darker or become lighter again. I'm pretty certain it's not outside interference - the nearest thing with a motor in it is the computer fan which is about a metre away.

Monitor cable?

the only other suggestion i have is to check for a loose video cable.. or swap it out if possible. reseat the video card? replace it?

(argh, xpost!)

i have a question too!

my hard drive fried recently, and the guy told me that it could have happened because i was using a program that didn't go with my operating system (i've got osx panther right now). before this happened i figured that if i tried to use anything that wasn't cool my computer would yell at me or not let me use it, but noooooo. i usually check the system requirements, but i have the feeling there's more to it.

so, is there any trick to tell if a program is cool to use or not?

whoever told you that was smoking crack, dodgy software will not fry the hard drive.

Well, yes and no.

dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/sda

couldn't do that without sudo.

can winzip open .sitx files or will my friend have to rename the archive to have .zip extension?

i've run into a problem with fasthosts. i registered a domain name through ukreg, and also bought some webspace, too, through fasthosts (ukreg's hosting partner). it comes with like 200 email addresses. the problem is, it won't allow me to use their SMTP servers unless i'm a fasthosts broadband or dialup customer!!! this is, to me, outrageous. what can i do to send email from my new domain name if they won't let me use their SMTP servers? can i make some kind of arrangement with the people i pay for my home internet access?

hey coz, why doesn't she/you just download stuffit expander?

the YSI was for one of the lawyers at work and I think I'm already pushing his technical know-how by going through YSI never mind through winzip... and nevermind through downloading-then-using stuffit : /

another boring computer question

OK I am trying to set up my PS2 to go online

I have the PS2, the broadband, and the PS2 network adaptor which has an ethernet port and ethernet cable supplied

my current home network is wireless:

internet -> linksys modem -> apple airport

how do I fit my PS2 into that set-up so that I can still route the signal around the house AND play online on the PS2?

the usual config would be:

internet -> modem -> network adapter -> PS2

I think:

I need something so I can connect the PS2 and the airport into the modem

I'm not sure if the modem has more than one ethernet port

I think it doesn't

any ideas?

: /

what I need is another airport, huh?

wow! ideal

I need to split a 13 character string into chunks of 2,3 and 8 characters using PHP.

eg
$Key = "abcdefghijklm";

Needs to magically become
$Key_a = "ab";
$Key_b = "cde";
$Key_c = "fghijklm";

Can I just slice characters off the front and back of the string? If so, how?

Thanks.

Does substr sound right?

Got it.

As you were.

(asking questions you can find out the answer to quite easily C/D)