Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2010 July 11

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July 11

URL for a specific page in a PDF

Is it possible to link to a specific page in a pdf? I'm doing an article and I'm wondering if it would be better to link to a page... (that would be convenient for DYK checkers as well as readers). Kayau Voting IS evil 01:53, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

You can add #page=4 or whatever to the URL if you want. Not all readers recognize it, I don't think. If you are referencing a specific page, make sure you have it as, [the link], page 5. Better to have it clear and redundant than techie and potentially nonworking. --Mr.98 (talk) 02:41, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

I am using the shortened footnote system, but the really odd thing about the ref is, there is a 'main page' for the ebook, but different sections have a pdf of their own. So I though it would be helpful to link to the pdf in the inline citations. Kayau Voting IS evil 00:44, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Ports

I want to run two instances of the same program on Windows, but unfortunately they both "bind" to the same port, and there are no settings to change that. The only way I've managed to do it so far is to run a virtual machine with the second program in it. But this takes up 150mb of RAM to run the VM which I really can't spare. Is there any other way to force programs to bind to different ports? 82.43.90.93 (talk) 13:21, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

That depends on your prowess and the program. There may be configuration options to the program that are not available via a settings dialogue, e.g. via command line switches or a configuration file. You can also try to make a copy of the binary, hunt out the port number in the code, and replace it with e.g. a hex editor (this is likely non-trivial unless you know the structure of Windows programs quite well). That said, what are you trying to achieve? If the port is hard-coded, clients are likely to try to connect to that port, too. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 13:36, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Another option would be to use a Windows-equivalent of Unix's LD_PRELOAD feature. --Sean 17:20, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

how much more should I ask for to work for the mafia?

so a guy I did casual contracts for has asked me how much I would want for serious involvement, so he can freely share everything I need to do my IT job for him, but the problem is everyone knows he's mafia. so, there is a chance he could go to jail and not pay (I suppose even I could go to jail), all in all how much more should I ask for than my usual rate to cover these risks? (I am not asking for legal advice, just practical economic advice). I was thinking of 2.5x my normal rate but I wonder if there is a more standard recommendation? Thank you. 84.153.234.184 (talk) 18:04, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Guys who work for the Mafia don't get paid well unless they are at the top. You'll not get squat unless you're well committed, and then you're liable to go to jail. Personally I think you should be committed but in another sense. Dmcq (talk) 18:23, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

So this sounds like he wants to reveal illegal activities to you so that you can construct a proper mafia website. That will put you in a position where you are a vulnerability to the organization without actually being a key figure in the organization. generally that will mean:

• broken kneecaps are as likely as a higher salary
• you go to jail if the organization gets busted (as an accessory after/before the fact)
• you get yourself beaten/killed if the organization thinks the police are interested in you

If a life in he mafia is what you want, this would be a good way to enter the system (though you'd have a long way to go to prove yourself). if a life in the mafia is not what you want, then this is not a good idea. Tell your guy you'll do the work at your normal rate, but that you don't want to know about any illegal activities because you'd have to report them to the police. If he really is mafia he'll go bug someone else to do the work. --Ludwigs2 18:36, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

I don't want to be a spoilsport here but it sounds like your ideas of what it would be like to work for the mafia are derived primarily from gangster movies. Do you have any more reputable source for these generalizations? --Mr.98 (talk) 21:02, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

not gangster movies. I have known a few people in organized gangs. They are generally normal people, but as a group they have very distinct ingroup/outgroup boundaries and are unpleasant about things that threaten their livelihoods. How unpleasant they get varies according to how much of a threat they perceive and how much of a violation of group loyalty it entails. --Ludwigs2 01:59, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Just put a price on your life and ask for that. If your life is worth 2.5 times your normal rate, then ask for that. I say this because, eventually, I'm sure you would find some illegal material on their computers, whether you're looking for it or not. Then, you'd have to tell the police or you'd officially be an accomplice. But if you tell the police, then you're a mole, and you could become a target for retalliation. And you can't just play dumb when the cops start asking questions, because you're the IT guy, so you're always sending e-mails and talking on the phone with everyone. So, there's a huge trail of messages that have been intercepted leading back to you. I guess if you're smart, you could just do everything face-to-face, but that'd be pretty hard to do for an IT guy.--Best Dog Ever (talk) 03:58, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Imaging an SSD - Easiest Imaging Software/Process

I'm planning to upgrade to a SSD to be "OS and program files" hard disk in the near future. I was wondering what the easiest (and preferably free) imaging process to transfer my OS and existing data to the new drive would be.

I might just do a clean re-install because that always feels good. But I wanted to keep my options open.NByz (talk) 19:29, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

I think you might need to tell us your OS.... --Stephan Schulz (talk) 19:37, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Ah, I didn't realize that it would matter. I just wanted to do an exact image. Win7 Ultimate 64.NByz (talk) 19:47, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Its being an SSD doesn't matter, for your purposes. We have a comprehensive list at Comparison of disk cloning software. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:04, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. I was hoping someone could provide a recommendation.NByz (talk) 20:10, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

"Easiest" depends on your skillset. If it were me, easiest is dd, as I've found it to be easy and reliable, without my having to learn the vagaries and quirks of gui programs that seek to "help" me. People speak highly of Clonezilla, but I've never used it. -- Finlay McWalter • Talk 20:25, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

I literally only have a minute before I have to run out the door, but I've read that for performance reasons, probably involving TRIM, you're not supposed to clone your HDD onto the SSD, but you're supposed to install everything from scratch. Sorry for lack of detail, I'll look it up tomorrow. Comet Tuttle (talk) 21:36, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Hey thanks for the tip. I'm definitely getting a TRIM SSD. I have dug around a bit and found a few people who say similar things, but no definitive source for the reasoning. I like to re-install my OS every couple of years anyway, and think I may be leaning in that direction. If anyone has a good description of exactly why this might be the case, I'd love to read it.NByz (talk) 00:43, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

I can't imagine why it would be better to reinstall everything, but it is better to write only to used sectors instead of every sector on the drive (the reason, if you don't know it, is explained in the TRIM article). Smart disk cloning software can do this. dd isn't smart, gparted probably is (I'm not sure). Another way to do it is to format the destination drive as NTFS, boot to the Windows recovery console as described here and run robocopy /e /b /efsraw /dcopy:t /copyall x:\ y:\ where x and y are the source and destination drives. This should faithfully copy all of your files with security descriptors, alternate streams, etc. You could probably even clone a running system this way using the Shadow Copy service, but I'm not certain of the details. -- BenRG (talk) 08:52, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

This forum thread discusses how HDDs' partitions are "aligned on cylinder boundaries" and this is not optimal for an SSD; the thread is discussing how one particular piece of disk cloning software may be able to deal with this while backing up an HDD to an SSD. Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:14, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

HDD or SSD partitions can be aligned on 1-MiB (1M) boundaries or not. Alignment on 1M boundaries is better for (all?) SSDs and some newer HDDs. Some partitioning programs align partitions on 1M boundaries, some don't. Acronis TrueImage and XP's bundled partitioning software don't. Vista and Win7's bundled software and popular Linux disk utilities do. If you copy a raw image of the whole drive (rather than copying partition-by-partition), you will copy the alignment of the original drive, which may or may not be 1M-aligned. Copying the whole drive would only work if the two drives were exactly the same size. What the OP should do is partition the destination drive with software that will do the right thing alignmentwise, such as anything that ships with Win7, and copy each partition with software that's smart enough to copy only the clusters that are in use. I think robocopy is the best way to go. gparted will also work if it's smart enough to only copy used clusters. Irritatingly, the manual doesn't say anything about this. A web search turned up a random forum post suggesting that it isn't that smart. The manual also mentions that you would probably need to reset the partition UUID after the copy. I think robocopy is the easiest way since it sidesteps all of these issues. -- BenRG (talk) 19:05, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Sounds like robocopy is the way to go. Thanks yo! NByz (talk) 01:24, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Copy n' Paste

Does a computer store all screen shots and various other copied/cut and pasted texts/photos somewhere so that a log is formed and someone can later access the log to see what, for instance, items have been copied from the computer screen? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.183.76.14 (talk) 19:42, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

If you have Microsoft Office open it has a feature to store your clipboard. In addition, there are programs designed to save it for you. (See FileHippo and SnapFiles). There are also spyware programs that will keep a log of everything (Run a good antimalware like MalwareBytes or PrevX). Otherwise it's stored in RAM and not saved to the disk. --mboverload@ 20:07, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

In general, no. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:54, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

When installing KDE, many people install clipboard (even if they don't know it) and it stores all kinds of stuff you've copied - even stuff you just highlighted. I do not know how long it stores it. I always delete clipboard immediately after installing KDE. -- kainaw™ 11:57, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Restarting iTunes

I'm an iTunes/iPod newbie. Until these dark days, I managed my mp3 player myself and had few complaints; now that I've basically been given an iPod, I find myself bewildered by the combination of extreme user-friendliness and extreme lack of control. There's probably a very basic answer to this I could find if I knew the right term... Anyway, my iTunes lists several files on my computer that are no longer there. It also lists many mp3s twice, with identical file names and locations (which Windows won't even allow). I get the feeling that what I really need to do is to get iTunes to kind of start over and re-scan my HD like it did at start-up and/or force it to double-check all the files it seems to think I have. There doesn't seem to be a "refresh" function, so I'm guessing this must be called something else in Apple-land. I can "show duplicates" and pick them off one by one, but that seems ridiculous. What do I need to do? I'm running ITunes 9 on WinXP. Matt Deres (talk) 22:51, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Under My Music\iTunes RENAME all the iTunes Library files and "Previous iTunes Libraries" to something else. Launch iTunes again. This will reset the library to the default state. --mboverload@ 03:38, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

That did the trick. Thanks for the help! Matt Deres (talk) 02:56, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

.svg 50-state Location Map, DOT errors

(border PROBLEM on all maps, 1 CENTER point is accurate !)...Please help put this notice to the proper "HELP LOCATION". The locator DOTs used in the Geobox, end up in the wrong locations,...see: Talk:Four Corners Monument, Talk:Flaming Gorge Dam, Talk:Dendora Valley, etc. ..I discovered this trying to place the DOT on "USA Arizona location map.svg" for Aravaipa Creek... I was forced to use "Arizona Locator Map.PNG... the problem is also discussed with both maps on Talk:Aravaipa Creek.

The first USER, deflected my comments, and no others want or care to assist in this 50-state PROBLEM,... With adding all GEO coordinates, there must be 100's of articles in various states with this MISS-Located DOT....

Please just REPOST this, instead of telling me where to put this NOTICE. (If you can find ONE individual, administrator, "Map Expert, Geobox Expert", have that person contact ME)..Mmcannis (talk) 23:06, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

The location to place the pushpin is calculated from the edges of the map and the geo-location given in the {{coords}} template. If the map's edges are set to the wrong value or the geo-location is incorrect, the calculation drops the pushpin in the wrong place. I had problems with a pushpin on a map in March 2009. The answers I got to my help desk question were useful and enabled me to fix the problem. See also Talk:Waverly, Tioga County, New York and my own talk archive.

Just one thing: If you do make changes the same way I did, it is worth checking you haven't screwed up other articles that use the same map. Astronaut (talk) 12:06, 12 July 2010 (UTC)