Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 January 3

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January 3

Video Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 January 3

Al Gore and the internet

I know that Al Gore didn't *really* invent the internet, but what was the real extent of his involvement in its creation? --Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.77.240.141 (talk) 00:03, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

It's discussed in Al Gore's article. -- JSBillings 00:06, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Take of special note this article written by the guys who actually invented the internet (i.e. Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn), who gives Al Gore tons and tons of credit for it. He really deserves praise for his part in the process. He's a big part of the reason why we can do what we're doing right now Belisarius (talk) 04:41, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Note as well Al Gore never said he invented the internet Nil Einne (talk) 09:53, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Also see this article [[1]]. 67.184.14.87 (talk) 15:44, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

We even have an article on Al Gore and information technology. -- Jao (talk) 15:29, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

Maps Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 January 3

Microsoft OS disks and product keys

For a specific version of a Microsoft operating system (eg. Vista Home Premium), are all the disks identical? So, for example, can I borrow a friend's disk and use my product key to reinstall the operating system after a hard disk upgrade? - The scenario I'm thinking of here is I lost my original install disk or I forgot to create a recovery disk before the hard drive broke. Astronaut (talk) 02:17, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Yes, the version it installs is based purely on your product key. --wj32 ^t/c 03:07, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Not necessarily. Only product versions that are identical may be identical, and some OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) (Dell, HP, IBM, etc.) will have their own discs. All of these versions might be different disks. These disks might differ in one of three ways. 1) Different XP/Vista versions (Premium, Professional, Home, Corporate, etc.),; 2) Different service packs (more applicable to XP); 3) Version or vendor specific differences, such as if it came with the computer or was bought retail (some versions of Dell discs will check the bios of the machine to determine if it is the correct type of Dell computer (probably the right series, although i don't know how they split it up)). Product keys will be unique between these factors. LH (talk) 07:13, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Note that some Vista discs have *all* versions (Home, Buisiness, Premium, Basic, etc) on it. The cd key you give it determins which version gets installed.121.72.202.66 (talk) 07:34, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Retail x86 Vista discs allow you to install all versions of x86 Vista, as long as you have a retail key. Same with x64. OEM copies bought from shops (ie just ones that are under an OEM licence, not from the person that made your PC) should also do this, if you have a retail or shop bought OEM key. However OEM copies that come with a computer might not work, and it varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and almost certainly if your key is from your system manufacturer it won't work with anything but the OEM disc for your PC brand. Gunrun (talk) 09:20, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

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Formatting my USB Drive

I have a portable USB jump drive which is 16GB. I want to format it using NTFS but when I plug it into my computer (Windowx XP Professional with SP2) and right-click to format it, I only get the option to format it with FAT32. The reason is that sometimes I want to put some large files on it (like DVD images) and FAT32 is limited to 4GB. So the computer just tells me that there is no space even if the entire drive is empty which is kind of annoying. So the question is how can I force-format my USB drive with NTFS? Does it have something to do with the fact that when I plug in the USB drive, it shows up under "devices with removable storage" with my optical drives instead of "hard disk drives" where my other hard drives show up (even external backup ones)? I tried Norton Partition Magic also but the jump drive doesn't even show up in it. Thanks!-Looking for Wisdom and Insight! (talk) 06:51, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

I'm surprised that windows won't let you format it NTFS; I doubt it's simply because it's removable, because I have formatted removable hard-drives attached as "removable" with NTFS. If you have the expertise, and are able to format the disk from Linux or on a Mac (if you have NTFS tools on your mac) then it should be recognized and work under windows.

Update: Looks as though this website addresses your issue. It appears that you have to designate the drive as "optimized" before it will permit NTFS. In order to do this 1) right click my computer, select Manage, 2) Double click storage, then double click Disk management, 3) right click on your removable drive (make sure it's the right one) and select Properties, 4) Under the policies tab select optimize for performance and click ok, 5) Format as NTFS should now be an option.

I have not tested this personally. LH (talk) 07:20, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Dude, that was awesome. That is exactly what the issue was. The drive was setup optimally for speed as opposed to for performance. This ensured that the data was always written directly on the drive so that I could just remove it without safely removing the drive. As soon as I optimized the drive for performance, NTFS became available and now I can put large files on it. But now I have to be careful to safely remove my drive always. It works! Thanks69.110.132.49 (talk) 07:36, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

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Problems with Firefox

The whole thing seems to have gone totally bad. It won't run as normal. I'm using IE now instead, but I prefer Firefox. I think I'm gonna have to do a uninstall and reinstall of Firefox. I think I was on some porn forum which may have had malware. My firefox's noscript, downloadhelper, etc are all just gone, and it won't load sites properly.--Veritable's Morgans Board (talk) 16:12, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

But in Windows Vista, I don't even know where the Add/Remove programs thing is anymore because I can't find it in the Control Panel. I hate Vista.--Veritable's Morgans Board (talk) 16:13, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Done. Reinstalled it. Scratch that. This question is solved.--Veritable's Morgans Board (talk) 16:47, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

For anyone wondering, the Add Remove section is now called Programs and Features. Gunrun (talk) 09:17, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

And, for anyone wondering there is no reason whatsoever that Microsoft has to make life more difficult by unnecessary name changes such as this. DOR (HK) (talk) 05:45, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

You may find this standard diagnostic useful if you have problems with Firefox in the future. --saxsux (talk) 20:45, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

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Memory card for my phone

Two part question; I would like to get an 8 GB memory card for my phone (LG Dare). The type of memory card, is it called a Micro SDHC? Also, where is the cheapest place online to buy my phones memory card? A few months back someone saved me a lot of money from a website out there for a camera memory card. Thank you in advance. --Endlessdan and his problem 18:58, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

One caution when buying over the web: For low cost items the shipping charges frequently negate any savings. If you buy expensive items or many inexpensive items at once, this may make the shipping free or the shipping charges less significant. However, places with free shipping for everything must charge higher prices to cover that free service. So, be sure to compare the total cost, including the shipping costs and any taxes. StuRat (talk) 19:40, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

I understand. But I know how much it costs in the stores - $35. So I'll be able to compare and contrast.--Endlessdan and his problem 01:50, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

OK, next do a Google search for that model number, maybe with the word "prices" after it, to find cheaper sources on the web. But, as I said, the initial price they report does not include shipping and handling, so you'll need to go most of the way through the purchase process to find that out. Also make sure it's a reputable company you trust before giving them your credit card number (or, better yet, use a system like PayPal). StuRat (talk) 15:15, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

$19.99+ shipped from this vendor, whom I've used several times with no problems. -- Coneslayer (talk) 16:36, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

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iTunes

I have two questions regarding iTunes: 1. Can downloaded iTunes be used on more than one device and 2. can iTunes be played on normal mp3 players? Thanks, --87.114.175.178 (talk) 19:20, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

1. Yes, iTunes music can be put onto as many iPods as you want, but only 5 computers. 2. Not in its native format. iTunes music is in .m4p format (aka a protected m4a, aka an iTunes version of an mp3). mp3 players can't play m4a's, or m4p's. iTunes can convert their songs to AAC (which some mp3 players can play, but not all), or you could use one of the converters online. There are a bunch, this is one example. flaminglawyer^c 21:08, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Almost all m4as already use AAC as their codec. --123.243.7.17 (talk) 00:08, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

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Connecting to the internet on gNewSense

On gNewSense linux how do I set up a connection to the internet (either ethernet or wifi - I only need to be able to connect in one way). Thanks, 82.32.53.160 (talk) 20:42, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

I've just worked it out. 82.32.53.160 (talk) 21:02, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

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Youtube is in a different language...

For some reason YouTube is in a different language on my comp, and I don't know why. I'm not at any alternate YouTube site, it's just regular, www.youtube.com. All of the text is in some foreign language, and I don't know how to fix it. ScienceApe (talk) 22:44, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

It's changed your default language, probably using your IP address. If you can work it out, change it in your preferences. A Gogle webpage translation should do until then. Dendodge Talk^Contribs 22:48, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

At the top of every YouTube page, next to the YouTube logo, there are links to change the country and language. I was getting YouTube in French for a while, until I switched back to English. I read somewhere that Google was misidentifying some blocks of IP addresses in the USA as being in France. --Bavi H (talk) 03:16, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the question and the answers! For a while there I was always being redirected to the UK version of YouTube and I didn't know why since I'm in the US. I'm just going to figure that it was a similar situation to this question. Dismas|^(talk) 07:18, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

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