Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 April 5

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April 5

Non-Sun Java VM for Firefox on XP?

I want to run Java applets in Firefox on Windows XP. However, I find Sun's JVM annoying, with its tray icons and continual updates and stuff, is there an alternative I can use? thanks 121.72.192.28 (talk) 03:42, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

I don't know about alternatives but you can disable both the tray icon and updates in Start / Control Panel / Java. The tray icon option is under Advanced / Miscellaneous. 88.112.62.225 (talk) 08:36, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Changing Keyboard Language Settings in one click

How would I go about changing the current language settings to another using a batch, VBScript (or other) file? For instance, let's say that I use the Dvorak keyboard at home, but work has Qwerty by default. I would like a file(s) that would allow me to change the keyboard layout from Qwerty to Dvorak. Normally I'd have to manually go to the Control Panel, go through all the menus, etc... and change the layout from there. I would like something that doesn't even bring up the Control Panel GUI. How can this be accomplished? I'd also need a file to change the layout back to default when I'm done. Preferably I don't want to download any third-party software, and try to avoid .reg files if possible. If not, then please still post them. Thank you!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.153.216.23 (talk) 04:14, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Well, you can do it using keyboard shortcuts. Control panel->Regional+language options->Text services and input languages->Key settings. 121.72.192.28 (talk) 06:18, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

If you could show the indicter of Regional+language options in the notification area in the tool bar on your computer, I think it makes easier to change. Click the locale tab and see the bottom of the page. Oda Mari (talk) 06:50, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Strange virus

Im not sure how i picked this up. It doesnt seem to do any damage, but ive found my computer to have bursts of slow spots, and, get this, it plays Jingle Bells randomly! Someone was really bored, i guess. A google search gives me no information, anyone else heard of this? 71.223.239.195 (talk) 05:34, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Your friend is like 8 months early... try a virus scan first. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.72.192.28 (talk) 06:17, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

If you're using a MS machine, check out your msconfig - might be something in there that's starting up. — Ched : Yes?  © 07:06, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

System diagnostics

What steps can be taken before purchasing a used laptop computer (Windows XP operating system) to check whether it is in good working order? Specifically, are there any free online tools that could check a computer for infections, errors, and other problems? Thanks, –Black Falcon ^(Talk) 06:34, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

I tend to check the physical things first, and have both thumbdrive and CD's with tools. The first one that "I" check is the Aida32 tool (download here). That'll tell you what you're looking at as far as hardware goes. You could also look at UBCD, and UBCD for Windows. Both have a lot of good free tools, you can d/l them individually, or d/l the whole ISO package. I don't worry too much about infections, or other OS things, cause I tend to just reformat and re-install the OS of my choice. If there's any individual item you're curious about, feel free to drop me a note. — Ched : Yes?  © 07:04, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Besides the obvious things you can see check how long the power meter says it'll live when the power cable is taken off for a few minutes and see that the power cable goes on okay. Check it reads a CD okay and any other devices you need. See you have no problems with any of the keyboard keys or the mouse. Dmcq (talk) 12:41, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

silly question about ext2/3 fs in vista

About a year/year and a half ago I bought a computer with Vista and set it up so that it could read my usb external drive which is formatted in ext3. A few days ago I noticed that the drive letter had changed (I think some other usb storage device took priority and shifted the order of the drives or something like that) and I would now like to change the drive letters back, because of a conflict that I've now come across with links to the external drive. The problem is... I've totally forgotten how I set up the drives to be read by vista in the first place, i.e. I don't know what drivers I used, and I can't seem to find any proof of their existence (I use the drive as if it were a normal FAT drive), nor is there anything in my system tray or anything like that. So basically, how can I find out what I'm using to enable vista to read the drive, and what should I then do to change the drive letter (if it's not immediately apparent). Thanks! 210.254.117.186 (talk) 14:34, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

It's probably this driver [1] (which is the most common ext2/3fs driver for windows). I think it usually leaves a program in your start menu, so you might want to reinstall it. It has an option of which drive letter you want to use. Indeterminate (talk) 06:45, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Disk Management should let you change the drive letter, if that's what you really need. (Start -> Run, 'diskmgmt.msc'). Driver-wise, though, IFS? Washii (talk) 02:35, 10 April 2009 (UTC) (Edit: sorry, Installable File System) -- Washii (talk) 02:36, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Meaning of "restore faculty defaults"

What does the above phrase mean? Does it mean it will restore the reigstry or will it wipe the hard drive too ? --DFS454 (talk) 16:59, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

The phrase is "restore factory defaults", not "faculty". It restores whatever the device is to the state it was in when it left the factory. Are you looking at BIOS? It will reset all BIOS settings to the factory settings. It will not touch your registry (or your hard drive) in any way. However, if you had to make some unusual BIOS setting changes to get your harddrive to work, you will need to remake them after resetting the BIOS. -- kainaw™ 17:18, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the response.I briefly read through the BIOS article but still I'm not sure what it is. Will restoring factory defaults just restore the drivers ? --DFS454 (talk) 17:32, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

BIOS will not alter Windows in any way. It is not part of Windows. It is a program built into the motherboard that handles basic hardware operations. It is possible that resetting it may cause a problem if your computer requires an unusual BIOS setting to operate. That is rare. It is possible that resetting it may fix a problem if the problem is caused by an unusual BIOS setting. That is rare since you probably didn't go into BIOS and make changes. If BIOS is continually getting corrupted, the battery on the motherboard is likely dead and needs to be replaced. -- kainaw™ 17:45, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Also see default (computer science). StuRat (talk) 22:09, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Stu is right. The answer depends on where you are seeing "restore factory defaults". -- Fullstop (talk) 00:31, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Some kind of audio/video chopping tool?

Is there some kind of software I can download... where I give it an audio file (mp3, wav, etc) and it will break it into a bunch of x-second clips? I could do it in Audacity or something, but for a 3-minute song it's going to take me a week to put it into 5-second clips. Pretty please, someone tell me how I can do this automatically?

71.74.181.173 (talk) 19:03, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Google for split audio file. The first hit, Slice, looks promising. Check some of the other hits too for something that looks reputable.

Or, if you are not averse to command line tools, I think SoX can split files too, using its "trim" command. May require some scripting, possibly additionally LAME for mp3. 88.112.62.225 (talk) 05:28, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Using visualization as a background

I use Linux with GNOME, KDE and Awesome (if that helps). Is it possible to use the visualization of music players like Amarok/Rhythmbox (or any other, doesn't really matter) appear as the wallpaper? What I'm thinking of is having the visualization actually appearing on your desktop, animated. --BiT (talk) 23:32, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Well, there are some programs [2] available that will draw stuff to the root window (the "wallpaper"), so it's certainly possible. However, the only programs I know of that do it are that one I just linked to and the XScreenSaver modules. The problem is that I think the visualization program has to be specifically written to be able to draw on the root window. If you're a programmer, there are X libraries available for several languages (Python for example [3] ), so you might be able to write a wrapper, but I don't know of any off the top of my head. Indeterminate (talk) 06:31, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

In KDE, you can make pretty much any window full-screen, no border, on all desktops. That will make it look like a background image. -- kainaw™ 12:57, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Except... won't it get screwed up and come to the front if you click on it? won't it not stay to the back? I mean, a full-screen window is not the same thing as a desktop image on most OSes. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 14:16, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

KDE also has a "keep below others" setting. Right-click on the title bar of the window. All the settings are right there. -- kainaw™ 13:15, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Does it hide beneath the icons and plasmas in KDE as well? --BiT (talk) 14:34, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Found this on Freshmeat, never tried it though. APL (talk) 16:18, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Non of this is exactly what I'm looking for, some of it is close but not really what I want. I just think it's an interesting idea to have your wallpaper dance to the beat of your music. --BiT (talk) 02:06, 7 April 2009 (UTC)