Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 September 18

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

September 18

Help

How do I clear away the cache of EVERY PAGE THAT I HAVE VISITED on the Internet? Because "Clear History" does not work. And sometimes, when I view pages on Wikipedia under which I am logged in, I still look like I'm logged in next time I use the page even when I'm not logged in. I am taking a Wikibreak and I want my ENTIRE Wikipedia cache cleared away so I don't look like I'm logged in on any page, and I also don't want my account to be hacked (or used abusively by anyone who is likely to abuse it when I'm using the toilet or sleeping over at a friend's house). February 15, 2009 (talk) 06:37, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

This is browser-dependent. On Firefox you want tools/clear private data. Algebraist 11:06, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

To clear the cache in IE click "Delete Files" in the Temporary Internet Files section JessicaThunderbolt 16:05, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Bypass your cache -Abhishek^Talk 17:09, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

The still-logged-in part is "cookies". Saintrain (talk) 17:44, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Try CCleaner. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 18:51, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Security of email password

I want to know how secure those free email accounts (hotmail, google, yahoo) are. Can they be cracked with brute force? Should the user do something wrong to loose his password? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mr.K. (talk • contribs) 09:44, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

My own rule of thumb is that the first three passwords you think of are no good. Here are some suggestions for creating a strong password (including: make them longer; use letters, numbers, and symbols; avoid simple substitution (like zero for the letter O). And of course you can look at the examples in the strong password article here. --- OtherDave (talk)

• Don't get phished. That's how most passwords are snooped. Brute force is much difficult because websites have captchas.

• Don't use easily guessable passwords.

• If possible, don't use public computers, they might be logging your keystrokes. I always carry Linux on a pendrive to use on public computers. -Abhishek^Talk 17:28, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
  • But that's useless against hardware keyloggers. --164.67.154.173 (talk) 22:43, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

• Yeah...-Abhishek^Talk 13:04, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Brute force relies on you using short and common passwords. Using longer passwords that aren't dictionary words helps a lot. If the service supports it, use a pass phrase (a full sentence)—they are by far more secure (even if someone found a hashed table of all of the passwords for the service, they'd have a hard time brute forcing it). Unfortunately many current web services don't let you use pass phrases (Google does, bless them). --98.217.8.46 (talk) 13:41, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Looking for a right-click upload to ftp server

Under XP, I'm looking for a program that will let me right-click to upload to a ftp server. The catch-- I want the file's local folder to determine what remote folder to upload to. So, if I have a folder called c:\htdocs\foobar\, I want all the files in that folder to upload to /public/foobar/ on the remote server.

In essence, I want to do one-way sync on a file-by-file basis, ideally accessible from within Windows Explorer.

Does anyone know of a good tool for such a thing? --Alecmconroy (talk) 10:34, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

That sounds handy. You should be able to do that with a batch file and stick a shortcut in "SendTo". Drawback is that your username and passwd would have to be in the batch file. Saintrain (talk) 17:40, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Use [SendTo FTP] --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 18:49, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Boot Ferrari 4000 from USB?

Can I boot my Acer Ferrari 4000 from a USB flash drive? NeonMerlin 14:45, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

If it has a USB port, you should be able to boot by starting the computer and immediately pressing F8. It will get you to a screen from where you can select the device to boot from. If F8 doesn't work or produces a different result, try other function keys nearby. Admiral Norton ^(talk) 17:34, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

simple OO question

I have a "Car" class that has a "Driver" member. I call theCar.theDriver.Drive() ... how can I see the other members of Car (like speed and position) from within theDriver.Drive()? Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.106.15.180 (talk) 15:55, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

You need to either pass the car in as a parameter to Drive() or have the Driver save a reference to the car as a parameter to his constructor. --Sean 16:10, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

programs at start up

how do i keep programs from automatically running when i restart my computer? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.150.20.248 (talk) 16:08, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

I believe it is msconfig. Go to start/run msconfig, or with vista search for msconfig. and it will let you click the program. Some programs are stubborn, and this method doesn't work. This method works 90% of the time. Sentriclecub (talk) 16:26, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

There's a very similar question above; see #Processes_on_start_up. -- Coneslayer (talk) 13:46, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

HP LaserJet 3500n

Hello. I cannot print to my LAN printer, but my assistant can. We're both connected to it in the same way. I can see the printer, but documents I send there just wait in the queue. Any suggestions would be welcome. 216.49.181.128 (talk) 18:20, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Resolved

Got it. Had to change the name of the port. 216.49.181.128 (talk) 18:45, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.150.20.248 (talk) 03:01, 21 September 2008 (UTC)