Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 January 17

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January 17

Unicode character not showing up properly across computer

Today, I randomly discovered that the following Unicode character is not showing up properly across my computer: ♡. In some locations it is showing up as the open heart icon, but in other places (where I have several other Unicode characters) it shows up as three horizontal lines similar to the symbol for the equivalence relation: ≡ (although it appears with shorter lines). The item appears in the fonts I have installed that appear here, but nowhere else. Is there a way to get this fixed?—Ryūlóng (竜龙) 00:15, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

It sounds like you are describing the geta character. This is displayed when the selected font does not have an appropriate glyph to display. While you may have an appropriate font, for whatever reason it may not be selected in all cases. Can you elaborate more on the cases when it does not display correctly? Bendono (talk) 11:44, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Any good free virus protection? Or, which one to upgrade?

I'm on a tight budget, but have this computer with some old virus protection; Webroot and Trend Micro Antirus, each of which expired about a year ago, and a McAfee Security Center. I was wondering if there were good free anti-virus problems which can also get rid of viruses, or if not, which one would be best to renew? I thikn the McAfee is current. Thanks.209.244.187.155 (talk) 00:16, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Well that can be a loaded question, everyone has their own points of view. You may want to read 2 wiki articles: List of antivirus software, and Anti-Virus. AVG, Avira (sp), and Avast seem to do well in tests for free AV software, I like Nod32, and Norton has made some very good improvements lately. For a comparison of products, you can visit: AV-Comparatives. While it's easy for every editor to provide their favorite solution, it's probably best for you to make a decision based on your own needs, and preferences. All have good points, and all have short-comings. To be honest, you'll probably see that McAfee is struggling at this time for various reasons, but again, it's a choice you should make after some research. I personally like AVG, and NOD32, but my opinion doesn't mean any more than anyone else's either. Best of luck. Ched (talk) 00:48, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Although somewhat off-topic, you might want to consider web browser security as well. -- 74.137.108.115 (talk) 01:29, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

AVG is lightweight and fast. Norton is a resource hog. --98.217.8.46 (talk) 02:41, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Actually, I have AVG on most of my computers (NOD32 on 1), and I agree with the first part. But it appears from all I've read, that Norton has made some very good strides to combat those very resource issues with it's newest 2009 version. Granted, 2006 -2007/8 was a real ahhh... let's use the phrase (less than desirable). I can't say I've tried 2009, but most of the comparisons I've read say it has improved a lot with their latest release. Ched (talk) 07:48, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

windows xp is not updating

windows xp is not updating on my computer.when i ty to open the site "http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate " ,404 error appears. and appear as " The requested URL /microsoftupdate was not found on this server " .what should be the problem .how can i over come this —Preceding unsigned comment added by Khubab (talk • contribs) 00:38, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

The link you posted seems to work fine for me. Can you connect to http://www.microsoft.com ? If so, you can try browsing to "Security & Updates" from there. -- 74.137.108.115 (talk) 01:46, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

I think you have a common issue with some older versions of XP when they're reinstalled. Microsoft has a solution on their knowledge base (try clicking the "help" link when the error comes up), although I can't find the link offhand right now. The solution though is to add the windows update website (the secure one) to your "trusted" list in internet explorers. I don't remember the address for sure, but try adding https://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. LH (talk) 09:57, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

when i want to open "https://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. " i go to the site "http://www.google.com.pk/" similarly, on the site. "http://microsoft.com. " , when i try " "security and upadates " then I go to the site ://www.google.com.pk/. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Khubab (talk • contribs) 23:03, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

What do you see upon accessing http://207.46.18.94/ ? -- 74.137.108.115 (talk) 00:10, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

I see:- Geogle Error

not found

The requested URL /windowsupdate/v6/default.aspx was not found on this server. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Khubab (talk • contribs) 02:54, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Ah ha. Your browser was able to connect to windowsupdate.microsoft.com (207.46.18.94) long enough to be redirected to the full URL, but failed translating the redirect URL. Something is hijacking requests for windowsupdate.microsoft.com and redirecting them to that Google page (which is typical for some computer viruses). Check your hosts file for any malicious entries, and consider downloading an anti-virus. -- 74.137.108.115 (talk) 03:30, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

you could try "netsh winsock reset" (without quotes) at the command prompt. Also if you can get a search to work, there are several winsockreapir winsockrepair tools that should be helpful. Ched (talk) 06:07, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Catch on the video card slot

What's with the catch on the end of the video card slots (AGP/PCIe)? What is its purpose? Anyone have a good suggestion on how to remove the card while holding only its edge to prevent static discharge and at the same time pulling out the catch?121.72.172.186 (talk) 09:45, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Its purpose is to ensure that the card doesn't move and to press it in properly. I don't really have suggestions, but note that there's no reason to get paranoid about static discharges. As long as you ground yourself before touching the components, you're going to be fine. Or if you're worried, you can always get a ground bracelet. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 14:44, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Removing power plugs?

Sometimes the power plug for old style(IDE) hard drives and CD drives are on really tight. Anyone have a good method of removing them without damaging the hardware or hurting themselves? 121.72.172.186 (talk) 09:47, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Rocking back and forth is the method I usually use, although a pair of pliers might work well too. You should unplug the CPU from the wall before attempting any of these too. LH (talk) 09:52, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

My goodness and I thought I was the only one with that problem. Pulling out the IDE cable first helps, as that gives you more 'leverage' to tweak the plug to the left and right (not up and down, that might break something). Pliers works too... with care. Sandman30s (talk) 22:09, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Wiggle gently from side to side whilst pulling. (the plug not yourself)--GreenSpigot (talk) 03:54, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

I sometimes use a pair of flathead screwdrivers. Place one on each side of the plug so that the sides of the screwdriver blades are under the lip of the plug and twist. --Carnildo (talk) 03:41, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

Small fonts

Is there a monospaced font smaller than Ariel? -- Mentisock 14:51, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

I have never heard of the font "Ariel" – you are probably referring to Arial. I do not know what you mean by "smaller", for every (vector) font can be used in any size (at least almost). Perhaps you are looking for a monospaced font that is readable in small sizes (many free fonts are very hard to read already at 10 pt). I would recommend Courier New, Lucida Console, and - above all other - DejaVu Sans Mono which is free and supports a big part of Unicode. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 15:03, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, I meant Arial. :-p Silly typo. And it seems that at an equivalent size courier new would be displayed larger than Arial. Certainly when tested here at least:

testing courier new

-

testing dejavu sans mono

Even though the latter has more letters it's smaller in space than courier new. -- Mentisock 15:18, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

OK, now I understand what you mean. The fact that the letters of two different fonts will have unequal sizes even though they are the same "size" can be a difficulty in many software development situations. (The last time I encountered the problem was only a few weaksweeks ago, when I wrote a text editor with a "Unicode fallback" mechanism.) --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 15:37, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

A few 'weaks' ago eh? There you go, everyone makes typos; no need to point them out when they are obviously typos. Sandman30s (talk) 22:05, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

I am sorry. I do not know English as well as Swedish... --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 23:04, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Besides, it is essential to clarify if the author really meant Ariel. It's possible such a font exists Nil Einne (talk) 03:11, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

There's also Auriol. —Tamfang (talk) 05:46, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

There's a list of monospaced fonts at http://www.lowing.org/fonts/ . From a brief glance at the samples it looks like ProggyTiny or SquareShooter Mono could be smaller than Arial. AJHW (talk) 13:32, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

Backup Tape Missing Index

I've got a backup set, made in Windows Backup. It's on 2 DLT tapes. The second tape, with the saved index, is missing. Is there any way to restore data from the first DLT with no index? When I try the basic restore, it reads to the end of the tape, then asks for the second tape. As that one is missing, all I can do is abort the restore. Any help will be appreciated! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.62.100.108 (talk) 17:36, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Without the index you are not going to be able to run a 'basic' restore. Microsoft provides some instructions for an advanced restore including a catalog (index) rebuild which might work for you. There is also the option of contacting a professional data recovery firm. -- 74.137.108.115 (talk) 03:47, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Ichat log files

Hey, i have some ichat binary log files with the .ichat extension,that a friend sent me, i can barely read them using an hexadecimal editor which is not comfortable at all, what do you suggest to me to read those files knowing that i'm on XP, and it is hard to do mac emulation on PC ... all i want is to convert them to normal raw text files ... thanks in advance. 196.217.40.159 (talk) 18:39, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

I did a little searching and found a few programs that might do what you need. The problem, as I'm sure you've found, is that most of them seem to be written for mac. If, however, you have access to a mac (or your friend would do it) you can export the ichat files to a more portable format with some of these programs. If you're lucky though, you might be able to get one of these to compile under XP or linux. I have not used any of these programs myself, and I can't vouch for their safety or how well they work, but you might want to check them out.

• IMlogconverter - [1] On Sourceforge. Convert between different Instant Messenger chat log formats. Supports reading old-style Gaim and Poisoned logs. Supports writing iChat v3.0+ logs.
• iChatExporter [2] extends functionality in iChat so you can export any real-time or saved chat conversation into a text file
• ichatexporter - A chat file to text exporter for Apple iChat.

I don't know the ichat format well enough to know if this will work, but you can try to stip out all the non printable characters and see if that leaves you with distinguishable text. For instance, using this command from any *nix shell might work: cat ichatfile.ichat | strings > ./ichatfile.txt

LH (talk) 19:56, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

All the programs you gave me, i found them earlier, i revisited them, downloaded them, but there is no way to compile them even on Linux, your command helped me a little, but you don't know who sent what ... anyway i'll try to emulate mac on my pc and execute those programs, and why not reading them directly on ichat ;) thank you very much, your command really helped ... 196.217.32.215 (talk) 12:01, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Resolved

Speaker Problem

What does it mean when I have to pull and tweak the chords that go to my speakers in order to get sound to come out of them?--Elatanatari (talk) 18:41, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

It probably means that the wire strands inside the cables are frayed so that the wire is cut, and when you mess with cable, the ends come into contact with each other again. Typically, this happens when a cable has been bent a lot over time or gets stuck somewhere (jammed between a desk and a wall, for example). Alternatively, but more unlikely, it's also possible that the problem is in the connector on your computer (or CD player, or whatever) or speakers that the cable plugs into -- oxidation, for example, can cause that to occur over time -- and again, when you tweak the cable, you get a contact going. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 18:51, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Or the connector may just be loose. Many are. StuRat (talk) 01:50, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.246.23.58 (talk) 03:13, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Print preview in Chrome

Is there a way to do a print preview in Chrome? DuncanHill (talk) 20:25, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Apparently not... --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 23:02, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

But many (perhaps most) printer drivers offer a print preview feature independent of the software application ordering the printout. This feature can normally be turned on in the printer's settings dialog (in Google, select Print and then Settings). --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 12:31, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

I do not appear to have that. DuncanHill (talk) 13:25, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

It's not a perfect solution, but you can install PDFCreator or something similar to create PDF output for preview. It's not as streamlined or as fast as a built-in preview capability, but at least you can avoid wasting paper on bad printouts. --173.49.15.243 (talk) 18:10, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Oooh, I hadn't thought of that - I do have a pdf printer. Will give it a try. DuncanHill (talk) 03:43, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

Modding an Xbox360

I want to mod my new xbox 360 to play backup/burned games. I've tried to do a little research, but I'm having a difficult time finding any good tutorials. Could someone of knowledge explain it to me, or give me a link to a "noob-proof" tutorial? I've gathered that I'll need to flash the dvd player's optical drive with ixtreme 1.5...but that's about all I know at this time. Thanks for any help and any links! --71.98.10.217 (talk) 22:15, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

I don't know anything about modding a 360, but all I have it say is if you use Xbox Live, I wouldn't advise modding it. Microsoft is known to ban modified consoles. –  LATICS  talk  23:00, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I am aware of the risk of being banned from XBL, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. Plus as long as you stealth burn the games properly Microsoft can't tell the difference. And that wave of banning happened over a year ago, and as far as I can tell there hasn't been another wave of banning like that since then. Anyone else have links to TUTs or good information/advice? Thanks for the help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.117.39.131 (talk) 17:37, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

You are willing to risk banning from XBL in order to run 'backups'? Oh pur-leas...that is *SO* not believable. Be honest - you want to steal software. That's reprehensible and illegal. We're not going to help you do that. SteveBaker (talk) 02:54, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

While still illegal and represensible, the technical term is "infringe copyright", not "steal". And we're not going to help you do that either. -- 74.137.108.115 (talk) 04:36, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

"Bootleg" works too, if "infringe copyright" sounds to stuffy.

In any case, I'm not sure anything that involves soldering new equipment to an existing motherboard can ever be described as "noob-proof". APL (talk) 14:12, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

No - and in fact, the likelyhood of fsck'ing your Xbox due to lack of wicked soldering skillz is the one good part about this. The more idiots who wreck their Xboxen - the fewer of them will be inclined to do illegal things with them in the future. I use the word 'steal' because that's how it seems to me. Most game designers/programmers/artists earn royalties on every copy of the game that's sold. When someone pirates a game that I worked on instead of buying a copy - that is literally money that is gone from my pocket. So it's personal! SteveBaker (talk) 19:48, 19 January 2009 (UTC)