Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2009 August 18

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August 18

How to implement password based security in Windows LAN Network ?

I use windows XP and as I click on fellow computer in Network Neighborhood it ask for a username and password !

Where to change these settings about the password on LAN access ??

Plz.... reply........!!

Yugal Jindle —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.173.254.52 (talk) 02:15, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Either goto the shared folder on the computer and right click and choose properties and you set a password their, or goto start->control panel->users and add a new username and password that you can use. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 155.144.40.31 (talk) 02:54, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

HDD Led indicator glowing all time

I use two HDDs.One 160GB Sata and one 40GB IDE type(Master). I use IDE HDD for data Storage only. All OS are in SATA HDD. After a long time use with SATA being the primary boot device,I once removed my IDE HDD out without updating or logging into BIOS. I thought my PC will automatically detect and change the BIOS settings or whatever. But right from that boot, my HDD indicator LED keeps glowing all time. And it never turned off except at standby and power off situations. I didn't know why,but just left it. Now yesterday I again added my IDE Hdd back,And now the LED works fine.Why is this case?.Thanks for your help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.164.62.13 (talk) 05:03, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

It depends on the BIOS if it will completely detect the hard drives or if you need to manually turn them on/off and although I've never heard of this exact problem (usually it refuses to detect any drives if one of them is misconfigured, but this can vary), going into the BIOS and disabling the drive is probably your best answer and it's the only way to see if it fixes it. ZX81 ^talk 14:00, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

How to block youtube ads?

I have been noticing that some youtube videos have google text ads on the bottom of the video. Is there a plug-in for Firefox that automatically gets rid of these ads. They are extremely irritating. :3) 70.171.24.164 (talk) 07:01, 18 August 2009 (UTC)UberKewlHaxor007

Try AdBlock Plus with the Element Hiding Helper. Once it's installed use Ctrl + Shift + K when on the offending page, highlight the part you want to disappear and press Enter. Be sure to preview the page first just in case it makes other page elements also disappear that you may not want. Zunaid 08:34, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

I believe the OP is referring to text ads within the Flash video, which I don't think AdBlock Plus handles. --Sean 13:06, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

If they are actually within the SWF file that plays the video, then no, you won't be able to block them. (Oh well. The price of a gigantic, free website might just be that you have to click off the ad each time.) --98.217.14.211 (talk) 15:44, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Here is a Greasemonkey script that claims to block these video ads. --Sean 16:15, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Demise of online file storage services

Over the past few years, many online file storage sites/ services were Launched and all of them which were launched had failed since all of them have turned themselves into Paid services. What I want to know is - is there any interest in these online storage services from common public? I am asking this because I want to launch my own service like that. If the real reason the existing services shut down was lack of consumer interest, I would not start a service. But if consumers die for such services and ready to give their kingdom for it, I should work out a business plan that somehow will work and start such a service. So please tell me whether consumers are not interested in such services or is it they are interested but not viable. If you say they are not viable, it is my challenge to make them viable. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.96.137.139 (talk) 13:29, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Yours friendly.

The problem was never interest, or use to be made from them, but in figuring out how to pay the bills and make money (where bandwidth is the major cost). Much of the story of the web is the gulf between things that people want and things that people will pay for. Plus there's the problem of micropayments - if someone only wants to host a few files, for which you'd like to charge them only a few cents, you can't economically charge them that, and the bother of setting up an account with payment info is too much for them. So for your service to make money, you need to figure out what people will pay for, and how to collect those payments in a way that's economical both for you and for the customer. Some companies in the space of remote backup, storage for web services (like Amazon S3), and network-smart content delivery (like Akamai) will make money, but they offer a more high-level service - it seems just storing stuff for people is becoming a bulk utility where only big players with low margins will prosper. As a small, agile startup you need a novel idea that solves a real but unmet need; retreading someone else's failed ad-supported file storage idea will just bankrupt you as it mostly has them. -- 87.113.69.234 (talk) 13:46, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Sorry that I can't directly answer your question about demand, but companies like Microsoft and their product of Windows Live SkyDrive are still very much in existance and offer 25Gb for free to anyone that simply gets a Windows Live ID so unfortunately adding to what the above person wrote, you would need something very good to actually make any money since they're giving it away for free already. ZX81 ^talk 13:59, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

For the home user, a number of ISPs now offer 5gb of storage for their own users as part of their contracts and upto 50gb for a small monthly fee, so I would imagine there is still a demand for this type of thing. Nanonic (talk) 14:07, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

The trick is the business plan. How will you make money from it? The problem with the 'net is everyone wants stuff for free (or very cheap), but once you start scaling up these services, they cost quite a bit. Ads by themselves are usually not enough for a full business model. So how will you make money? You need to really have that ironed out if you don't want your thing to go belly up in a month. It is not uncommon for a small startup of any type to cost a couple million in the first year (for people, for machines, for advertisements, etc.). How are you going to make that back? If you can answer that question, then you're fine. If it's a "we'll just try it and then figure out how to make money off it," you're basically gambling. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 15:55, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Why do checkout card readers ask me to confirm my signature before I've provided it?

At supermarkets and other retailers self-service gizmos have me slide my credit card through and then take my signature, to be provided by me with the gizmo's stylus. It also asks me to confirm my signature. What's really strange is that the confirmation field invariably appears *above* the signature field. Why?

A secondary question is why I'm asked at all to confirm my own signature. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Richard Odin Johnson (talk • contribs) 15:21, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

- - - -

Thanks to Tempshill for the response [below]. Here are my answers to Temphill's questions: 1. I live in the U.S. but this is really not pertinent. I cannot presume that *all* retail card readers are configured as described. The fact is that all I have encountered are configured in that manner, and it seems strange. I was just wondering what the rationale might be. 2. Yes, it's an on-screen button. Tempshill has provided a plausible explanation. Assuming this is correct, however, I'm dismayed that sofware providers and/or manufacturers would seem to think nothing of conveying lies to those who use these machines. Why not tell the truth and just ask the user to tap the button when done? Oh well... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Richard Odin Johnson (talk • contribs) 04:33, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

First question: In what country do you live? Systems differ. Second question: By the "confirmation field", do you mean an on-screen button that you tap? If so, in my experience the on-screen button is usually below the signature field. As for the reason for the button's existence, I am not in this industry, but I imagine that the guy who wrote the software would far prefer to have the user tell the program "I am done signing" than write a lot of logic in order to have the software attempt to discern whether the user is done signing. I think that is a more likely reason than any legal or liability requirement. Tempshill (talk) 15:41, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

issues with google searches

I accidentally clicked on a web site that pretended to show a legit spyware warning. It turned out that instead of protecting my computer from spyware, the web site actually added spyware. I ran Microsoft's safety scan, and all of the issues were removed. I also started a scan through McAfee, and no more issues were found.

However, my Google searches are still being redirected to fake sites. For example, I searched "wikipedia" on Google, and I got these results. I clicked on the first result (wikipedia.org), and I got redirected to this website (the link is apparently blacklisted, so here it is unlinked: http://www.couponmountain.com/search.php?searchText=wikipedia). Is there a way to fix this?--Edge3 (talk) 17:16, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

You could try re-installing your web browser, and see if that fixes the problem. Otherwise it may be more embedded than that. —Akrabbim^talk 18:08, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Reinstalling firefox didn't help. Should I reinstall IE as well?--Edge3 (talk) 18:43, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

It sounds like you aren't completely rid of the bad stuff. Try installing and running malwarebytes. Gigs (talk) 18:48, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

I already ran multiple scans. How effective is malwarebytes?--Edge3 (talk) 18:56, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Ok, I've downloaded malwarebytes, and it found 23 additional issues, which is pretty good since my other anti-spyware programs didn't find anything. However, I still have the same problem with the Google searches. Any other suggestions?--Edge3 (talk) 22:32, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

At this point, I'd have to suggest going to a site like Major Geeks and posting about your situation there. The people there specialize in helping users who have compromised computers. --LarryMac | Talk 23:57, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Get Spyware Search & Destroy. In its advanced mode it has a lot of features that help you avoid browser hijacking, HOSTS file manipulation, things like that, which are behind your woes. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 01:09, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

User Identification

The website we run is paying members for reading emails. We need to accept user registrations from public. But we need to see that no one registers twice. What can we do for that? If we do email verification, one person may have 10 email ids and may register with us 10 times. Can we ask for TIN number? Is asking and storing TIN number legal in USA? Is there any other way like IP address recording? Do all Internet connections in USA have Static IP (non-dynamic)? Or what are the other ways? Can we try facebook because facebook allows only one profile per person? I don't know much about facebook. If authentication through facebook is possible, can you say how authentication can be implemented through facebook? Can something be done with credit cards? say, verify credit card numbers with some credit card verification provider? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.92.113.69 (talk) 17:51, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Since you are setting up payments, I would assume that you would need to establish some sort of payroll system, which would require, besides simply email addresses, full names, mailing addresses or direct deposit information, and possibly something like a SSN. I don't know what is required legally, with tax issues, etc., but I would think that with at least some of these bits of information, with some minimal verification to make sure that people are not committing fraud, you could keep track and limit one account per person. —Akrabbim^talk 18:05, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

No-one is going to be stupid enough to type their SSN/TIN into some website for the highly dubious privilege of looking at ads. So the only ones that are added will be stolen ones run by id-thieves looking to outsource "reading" your stuff to automated systems and third-world labour, and so to siphon off all your advertisers money into their bank accounts. Luckily no advertiser will be stupid enough to pay into this scheme - advertisers want to advertise to people with disposable income, not the kind of sad desperates that have to spend time being paid to read stuff, even if you could somehow avoid all the money going to scammers. All those other schemes you describe won't work (even credit cards - real people won't tell you, and once there's money to be made you'll attract scammers with stolen cards). I'm sorry to be so negative, but it's better than you discovering the hard way (when the FBI drag you away and accuse you of running a money-laundering operation, which organised criminals try to do with every internet payment system that doesn't spend great effort preventing that) that this is a daft business model. 87.113.69.234 (talk) 21:33, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Why should a user be prevented from registering twice? Clearly your payment model is flawed if doing the same amount of "reading" through two separate accounts results in higher payment. You should probably investigate better ways to verify that the user is actually reading anything at all; rather than trying to force them to have only one account. If you can ensure that fake accounts are unprofitable, then you won't even need to worry about multiple-accounts-per-person. If you are paying people salary, you should be collecting TIN numbers anyway (and deducting income tax). Nimur (talk) 22:14, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

This is basically not a business model that is going to work out for you. It's been tried before many times -- see AllAdvantage.com for the classic failure. Here's why:

1. You're putting yourself in the position of attracting users who want something for nothing ... but you're expecting them not to sneak around and rip you off.
2. Or, alternately, you're trying to buy something intangible (attention) from the general public when you have no way of actually measuring whether you're receiving what you paid for. You are cheerfully offering to buy a pig in a poke; it would be astonishing if they didn't rip you off.
3. You're expecting online advertisers, who are much more savvy than they were in the '90s, to pay a premium for the attention of people who have nothing better to do with their lives than get paid to read ads. I'm guessing there aren't many reputable businesses interested to do that ... and when you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.
4. As you've noted, you're severely exposed to scammers setting up multiple accounts. What you haven't noted is that they can do this with botnets and clickbots using stolen identities. Malware and online fraud techniques have advanced hugely since the '90s, too. You're handing out free money -- sure, I'll sign up, and so will my ten thousand close friends who happen to have my virus on their computers. Make out the check to Constance Ash, or C. Ash for short.

Why not instead spend your time and effort developing a product or service that its consumers are willing to pay for? Running a highly exposed scheme like this is dangerous and probably a hell of a lot more work than getting a real job making useful things that people want. --FOo (talk) 07:00, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

I'm really confused about this and can't find out much anywhere I tried so please help.

Can someone please tell me (no offence) in plain English and exactly how I can access Nintendo WFC (at home) , for DS but any info regarding the Wii if rather different would be welcomed too, given that my circumstances are the following (please tell me it's possible D: )

My ISP is O2.

(if this makes any difference) I live in ROI.

My connection is via a "Mobile broadband Modem" (just plugs into your PC/laptop without any other wires going into anything else)

Else if I can't do it with what I have is there something I can buy that will let me connect?

Please answer ASAP :) Thanks, PalkiaX50 (talk) 19:54, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

No offence either, but for someone who wants answers in plain English you use an awful lot of jargon. WFC DS ROI XYZ I have no idea what you are talking about195.128.250.16 (talk) 21:45, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Lol, well I only said "in plain English" so that I would avoid being bombarded with technical computer-related jargon I would not understand (btw they are initialisms [the latter two being relatively common at that too] not exactly jargon; jargon is more like rfc, rfd, rfv, etc. ) and it seems to have worked ;) PalkiaX50 (talk) 14:13, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

For your benefit:

Can someone please tell me (no offence) in plain English and exactly how I can access Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (at home), for Nintendo DS but any info regarding the Wii if rather different would be welcomed too, given that my circumstances are the following (please tell me it's possible D: )

My Internet service provider is Telefónica Europe (also known as "O₂").

(if this makes any difference) I live in the Republic of Ireland.

My connection is via a "Mobile broadband Modem" (just plugs into your PC/laptop without any other wires going into anything else)

Else if I can't do it with what I have is there something I can buy that will let me connect?

Please answer 'As Soon As Possible'  :) Thanks, PalkiaX50 (talk) 19:54, 18 August 2009 (UTC

What's a 'PC'? :-P SteveBaker (talk) 02:56, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

See this. Boy, You have been away from home too long, haven't you, Steve? 87.81.230.195 (talk) 07:37, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

It sounds like you need a wifi modem - if your "mobile broadband modem" doesn't have an aerial then it doesn't have wifi. If your computer has wifi that will be suitable too. To check go to "network connections" in the "control panel" on a machine running microsoft windows software. If your machine runs another type of software you will need different instructions so ask if this is the case.

Basically - have you got a device with an aerial that looks like the black thing on this image

Black thing at bottom is aerial - it may be a different colour

If you have one we can proceed, if not, go and buy one.83.100.250.79 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 22:33, 18 August 2009 (UTC).

(edit conflict; guess I was too late :) Sounds to me like you'll need to set up a WiFi-network which the DS can connect to the Internet through. The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector seems like exactly what you're looking for if you can find it or one of the similar third party products, but if not you'll need to set up a wireless router yourself and use your computer as a gateway to the Internet (which can be somewhat complicated if you don't know what you're doing). --aktsu ^(t / c) 22:42, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Tragically that device (N-WiFi-USB-C) has been discontinued since 2007...83.100.250.79 (talk) 23:47, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

This is assuming you are actually connecting to the Internet through a mobile network (e.g. 3G/UMTS) and not an existing WiFi. If you are connecting through a wireless network, you're good to go as the DS and Wii should support it. --aktsu ^(t / c) 22:46, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Ok thanks for the info but since Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector doesn't seem to list any of them (perhaps it should?) could you direct me to one of these "third party alternative products". A website link perhaps? Oh and just to make sure you have figured out what connection I am using (to make sure I have not confused you or anything) It says this in a little "bubble" when I connect to the 'net "HUAWEI3G.O2 IE Open Internet is now connected". And in the window that shows all the stuff like how long the connection has been on for my signal is listed as "UMTS" at the moment, but I have sometimes seen it to be "HSDPA(?)" and "EDGE", possibly "3G" too but if so then not very often. PalkiaX50 (talk) 10:35, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

I assume that you haven't got a WiFi device built in or attatched to your computer then.

I would recommend contacting your ISP (O2) and see if they recommend or supply a wifi router. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.100.250.79 (talk) 12:26, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

Ok I'll try that when I get a chance. :) PalkiaX50 (talk) 14:13, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

If they don't have any recommendations, then there are at least three ways you can add wifi to your computer

• A device that fixes internally to the computer (as shown in the image above)
• A usb connected device
• An ethernet connected device

As far as I know the first method is the most difficult - since you have to unscrew the computer, of the other two I believe the ethernet connected device is the best bet. It would probably replace your mobile broadband modem and maybe cost ~30-40 euro.

It would probably be best to ask for recommendations though, if you need to choose a device. I am not the expert on this subject.83.100.250.79 (talk) 17:57, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

In my opinion you should create an ad-hoc Wi-Fi network form your PC/Mac and connect your Wii or DS to that. This is a very easy option requiring little work. this should enable you to share your dongle's 3G/EDGE connection. All you need is a usb wifi dongle (google it). This page will tell you how to create an ad-hoc network: http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/edtech/presenter/doc/adhoc.html 84.92.105.93 (talk) 11:32, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

do they make more durable laptops today?

My wife has an old Dell laptop (an inspiron 1150 to be exact) that worked great for her needs: after pressing the power button it would come back from hibernation and load the web browser within 30 seconds. But now the thing won't recongnize the power adapter, and won't charge the battery. Now as I see it I have a few options:

• have it repaired, which probably means replacing AC jack, soldering and whatnot - estimate around $100-$150,
• buy a refurbished motherboard for this machine for about $160, in which the AC jack has either been replaced or reinforced,
• buy an equivalent used or refurbished laptop (I'm looking at the Dell D600) for around $250
• buy an equivalent new laptop for $500 (or $350 if I'm willing to switch to Acer or something).

I'm hesitant to fix the current machine as it'll just break again (I did the second option above two years ago), but I'm also hesitant to buy a new laptop if the AC jack is gonna break on it as well. So my question is have they improved the methods they use to construct these things? thanks mislih 22:09, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

It no doubt varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Dell isn't especially known for its rugged, durable manufacture. --98.217.14.211 (talk) 23:14, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

You can buy very durable laptops (e.g. Panasonic Toughbook) but they are outlandishly expensive. There are places that will do flat-rate repairs of stuff like AC jacks (a common repair) in the $100 range. The used laptop route has worked pretty well for me but I'm somewhat of a techie. I've bought a few laptops through craigslist, which gives an opportunity to physically inspect the machine before buying. There are also some good web forums for buying and selling laptops, though I'm hesitant to post urls here. I'd stay away from ebay, if that's what you're thinking. I did buy one ebay laptop but it was from a local seller and I picked up the machine in person and it worked out ok. Finally, there are some very good deals around right now on mid-brand laptops that are reasonably solid. Again I'm hesitant to post urls but you can find them with a bit of surfing. 70.90.174.101 (talk) 02:27, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

If you aren't adverse to getting a Mac, all of them (the notebooks, that is) now sport MagSafe power connectors. These don't tend to break or get damaged unless you really try hard to do so. ···日本穣^? · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe 09:50, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

Youtube video downloads

How can I download all videos by a Youtube user on Linux/Ubuntu? --194.197.235.64 (talk) 22:22, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

http://www.google.com/search?q=download+youtube+ubuntu mislih 22:56, 18 August 2009 (UTC)