Oh no! More boring computer problems! Oh no!

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I don't see ANY files, because OSX doesn't see any files on the discs, so it makes me either eject it, or ignore it (which doesn't let me access the disc at all). I know the files are on there because they are the same discs that we used to watch Lost at Julia's house.

I suspect that the DVD-Rs were burned in a non-standard format that's only readable on the original PC. I ran into this once with some CD-Rs of mp3s. The way to double-check is to load the discs on a third computer and see what happens.

Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Monday, 26 September 2005 20:23 (twenty years ago)

This is a terrible fucking emergency!

Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Monday, 26 September 2005 22:15 (twenty years ago)

hello
I got myself super win pe http://www.stv.ee/~butax/winpe.htm
via some torrent,
now I have an iso of like 1.63 Gigs

could someone tell me what should I burn on a cd, I want to make a boot disc.

ez does it, Friday, 30 September 2005 19:15 (twenty years ago)

So apparently the torrent I'm dling of the lastest Lost has a sound sync issue and this guy has posted a fix as a small .rar file here:

http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3392849

How do I use this file to fix the avi file?

Alba (Alba), Thursday, 6 October 2005 09:27 (twenty years ago)

I am trying to open an excel file which

it was opened by mistake in word and now it keeps saying '[file name].xls: file format not valid'

is there any way I can either import from word or export to excel

or any other way I can fix this problem and open my spreadsheet?

cozen (Cozen), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 07:36 (twenty years ago)

You've tried opening it from excel rather than just double-clicking, right? You could try saving it in word as a doc (do 'save as...' not 'save') and then open from excel and it might retain the formatting

beanz (beanz), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 07:49 (twenty years ago)

or right click the file > open with

l;kjgds, Tuesday, 11 October 2005 07:51 (twenty years ago)

I'm guessing he's tried that and that the problem is that it's titled an .xls file but is actually a Word file. So maybe try changing the suffix to .doc?

Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 07:54 (twenty years ago)

(I mean, it was originally an Excel file, but someone's opened it and saved it in Word, somehow overwriting the original with a Word version but retaining the file extention .xls, thus confusing Office)

Well, that's all I can think of, anyway.

Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 07:56 (twenty years ago)

tried opening it from excel, and double-clicking

changed suffic to .doc but don't know why:

tried opening again in excel '[file name].doc: file format not valid'

obviously

cozen (Cozen), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 07:57 (twenty years ago)

You tried opening the .doc version from Word too, yes?

In which case, I give up. I've no idea what you've done to your file.

Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 07:59 (twenty years ago)

Well that's me fresh outta ideas
Except - do you have open office or anything like that?

beanz (beanz), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 08:00 (twenty years ago)

can't do it I'm afraid, you'll have to copy & paste

Ste (Fuzzy), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 08:10 (twenty years ago)

copy & paste ugh

thank god it's not my file

it opens in word

both of the files, the .xls and .doc

but copy & paste... : /

oh well thanks for the ride!

cozen (Cozen), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 08:12 (twenty years ago)

is there any website that can be used to track what other websites are linking to particular articles, essays, and other websites?

I want to be able to copy and paste a link into some sort of link search engine and find blog entries, etc. on such

I don't think google can do this can it?

cozen (Cozen), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago)

Oh, I didn't realise you could open it up in Word OK. No wonder you thought my idea was bad.

When you select the spreadsheety table in Word and then try 'Paste Special' in Excel, does it give you a variety of options?

x-post. yes, Google can do this, hang on a sec.

Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 12:32 (twenty years ago)

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=link%3Awww.freakytrigger.co.uk&meta=

for example.

You use the link: operator then the web address you're interested in. I always think Google is a bit stingy on results.

Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 12:33 (twenty years ago)

It'll only offer you to post as text or a Word doc (and some other useless choices)

Ste (Fuzzy), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 12:35 (twenty years ago)

yes that's very stingy : /

thanks for the help with the .xls but we've given up on it

opening it in word originally lost 90% of the original document, so any recovery work was essentially futile by then

cozen (Cozen), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 12:38 (twenty years ago)

The same link: thing works at Yahoo! too, though you have to make sure to add the http:// before the address you're interested in there.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=link%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.freakytrigger.co.uk&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t&fl=0&x=wrt

Far more hits, perhaps because it also finds sites that link to pages deeper into FT than the level you specify too?

Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 12:38 (twenty years ago)

yes the Yahoo one seems to be a lot better, i just tried my own sites on the Google version and it didn't pick up anything at all.

Ste (Fuzzy), Tuesday, 11 October 2005 12:52 (twenty years ago)

hi there, before i give up on slsk for good, i wonder if, havign tried to understand how the magical internet works a bit, i might be able to describe my problem a bit better.

basically, slsk has stopping downloading/uploading anything in my queue. searches dont return anything. this started when i was on cable with NTL. I clicked the test router configuration thing in options, and it told me that the router wasnt configured properly and advised me to go to a port forwading FAQ page.

so, as far i as know, i didnt have a router really, just an external cable modem. anyway, now im on a wi-fi network, and i get the same thing, but again i dont have a router, so what is the problem? as far as i can tell, i have:

a computer (doh)

ambrose (ambrose), Sunday, 16 October 2005 21:26 (twenty years ago)

wtf

should read:
a computer (doh)

ambrose (ambrose), Sunday, 16 October 2005 21:27 (twenty years ago)

!!!!

a computer (doh) < PCI network card < Apple airport base station < Webstar cable modem < hole in the wall to the rest of the magic

so, none of this is a router, right? whats not configured then? someone on one of these weird ghostly tech forums mentioned that the modem should do port forwarding automatically. someone else mentioned that it must be a software related problem, or a firewall or ISP blocking the port. but this is a situation where midway through using 1 ISP it kinda stopped working, then using another (now on telewest) it still doesnt work.

argh i feel so stupid and i know its only to evilly steal music so who gives a fuck but i want to download dj supreme and strike u sure do etc. what is happening? any port in a storm, so any help is welcome! thanx!

ambrose (ambrose), Sunday, 16 October 2005 21:27 (twenty years ago)

apple airport base station is your router, ambrose, and I find it a bugger to configure port forwarding for things like slsk and azureus (used for torrents)... so much so I just gave up...

cozen (Cozen), Sunday, 16 October 2005 21:40 (twenty years ago)

if you go to portforwarding.com (or something like that, just pump the phrase into google) it has a section on configuring your airport... it is pretty simple really but also quite difficult (!!! sorry I know tht's a bit cryptic and useless)

cozen (Cozen), Sunday, 16 October 2005 21:42 (twenty years ago)

thanks cozen

god i am so dumb. 5 year olds understand this shit, and 2 degrees havent equipped me with the knowhow to work this stuff out.

i have to follow the lines along flowcharts etc.

when i read, i mouth the words to myself*


*ok this is only true when reading foreign stuff.

ambrose (ambrose), Sunday, 16 October 2005 22:02 (twenty years ago)

oh yeah i have seen that bit, but that gives instructions for runnning a mac on an airport base station. im running a pc on airport :S

ambrose (ambrose), Sunday, 16 October 2005 22:10 (twenty years ago)

wish I could help you dude but as I say I coudn't even help myself!!

who is the network uh 'admin'? is it someone on a mac? maybe they can access the airport and set it up according to the website

cozen (Cozen), Sunday, 16 October 2005 22:17 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...
Okay so recently I got fed up with computer flakiness and formatted c, which I use for basically everything except storage and a few apps (which're on d), and reinstalled windows. Everything works really smoothly now and most of the flakiness is ironed out, except:

1) If I stay connected to the internet for more than five or so minutes, the whole computer crashes and locks. This occurs even if I just leave the connection sitting there ignored, but not if I'm careful to disconnect before it happens and then reconnect later each time I connect, coming to an aggregrate time of way over five minutes. I've tried it with a different ISP and the same thing happens.

2) If I try and install my soundcard, the computer locks, kaput.

Is there any hope at this point that this is anything other than a hardware problem? And if so what bit do I need to replace?

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Thursday, 3 November 2005 03:12 (twenty years ago)

Oh yeah, this is internet connecting via dial-up with a standardish 56k internal (with an enumerator thingie), plausibly I should have mentioned that.

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Thursday, 3 November 2005 03:21 (twenty years ago)

things never to say to your next-door neighbours, #1 in a series of #1:

"guys, i can connect to your wireless network from my flat. do you want me to set up the security on your router?"

at least, don't say this unless you're willing to spend an hour on a sunday afternoon tooling around helplessly after you manage to FUCK THEIR ROUTER COMPLETELY so nobody can connect to it AT ALL. shit.

luckily i managed to a) fix it and b) make it secure. and c) set up an iBook and a flaky-as-fuck vaio to connect to it. given i know arse all about windows PCs, i consider this a grate triumph.

still. bah, computers, etc.

grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 13 November 2005 18:15 (twenty years ago)

I'm so glad I don't live southside.

Alba (Alba), Sunday, 13 November 2005 18:21 (twenty years ago)

you're in denial, that's all.

next week we're having a bring-your-own-laptop party at syxties. complete with candles.

grimly fiendish (grimlord), Sunday, 13 November 2005 18:26 (twenty years ago)

Right.

So this weekend I'm throwing a party in a pub. I want to plug my laptop into their projector and run a PowerPoint thing we've made, on a loop all evening. So far, so simple - just buy the appropriate lead and all's well, right?

But.

The projector is bolted to the (very high) ceiling and completely non-accessible. And it's permanently plumbed into a VCR on a different floor, with all the relevant leads (just SCART, as far as I can see)actually painted into the fittings, if you see what I mean.

My question:

If I only have access to the end of a SCART lead which is currently plugged into the aforementioned VCR, can I "simply" create a lead which has a monitor plug at one end and a "male" SCART plug at the other?

Or do I absolutely have to somehow access the monitor socket on the projector?

We're fucked without the projection...

HELP!

CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 21 November 2005 09:01 (twenty years ago)

so, to recap.

my laptop has this socket:

http://www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/FBEguide/Computing/Projector/Copy%20of%20laptop_back_close.jpg

so i need lead with a plug that will fit in to that socket at one end, and in to this -

http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/images/923/756.378.jpg

- at the other.

yes, I mean *into* this as opposed to, er, just *being* this - as I said, i have no other way of attaching anything to the projector.

the key quesion here is of compatibility: are laptops SCART compatible, in principle?

CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 21 November 2005 09:09 (twenty years ago)

bump...

CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 21 November 2005 10:09 (twenty years ago)

forlorn bump.

CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 21 November 2005 11:21 (twenty years ago)

Does your laptop also have an s-video out?

tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Monday, 21 November 2005 12:34 (twenty years ago)

no :-( just an rgb.

i'm hoping there's such thing as an rgb-to-scart converter, then i'm sorted.

CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 21 November 2005 12:47 (twenty years ago)

Looks like you are out of luck:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136811&page=1&pp=15
http://www.idiots.org.uk/vga_rgb_scart/

Sorry :(

tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Monday, 21 November 2005 13:04 (twenty years ago)

how to build vga to scart converter:

http://www.nexusuk.org/projects/vga2scart/circuit

One you can buy:

http://www.macwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue/item/STARMK10?speedtrapid=mwfroogle&lead=mwfroogle

Ed (dali), Monday, 21 November 2005 13:09 (twenty years ago)

I know connecting s-video to SCART is straightforward. I mean I've done it myself with a cheap adaptor from Argos of all places.
So is there no such thing as a VGA to s-video convertor?

I've not done any research, so y'know take with grain of salt kind of thing.

xpost

Greig (treefell), Monday, 21 November 2005 13:13 (twenty years ago)

the thing above is also a vga to s-video converter.

Ed (dali), Monday, 21 November 2005 13:21 (twenty years ago)

ok, i'm getting a bit lost in acronyms now!

what's vga?

(i only need this once, for a one-off event, so i'm not splashing out over 50 quid. thanks anyway, ed)

in fact, i've discovered that a simpler solution would be to convert my ppt presentation to vhs, so that's probably what i'll do. but for that, i still need some way to connect my laptop to a vcr! gaaaah.

CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 21 November 2005 13:48 (twenty years ago)

Can anyone recommend good DVD/MPEG-2 to DivX/3ivX transcoding software for Windows?

Ed (dali), Monday, 21 November 2005 19:33 (twenty years ago)

I've got a requirement to do this for work. SMP support would be good. Low cost also good.

Ed (dali), Monday, 21 November 2005 19:44 (twenty years ago)

NEW QUESTION: My Mac clone is languishing at home for want of a systems disk; apparently something got corrupted and needs to be re-written but I haven't hit on the right generation of OS yet. OS 8 was too old and 9.2 too new, so now it's time to experiment -- does anyone in the States have an 8.5, 8.6, 9.0, or 9.1 universal systems disk you wouldn't mind loaning out?

Laurel (Laurel), Monday, 21 November 2005 20:04 (twenty years ago)

bump

Ed (dali), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 15:37 (twenty years ago)


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