Oh no! More boring computer problems! Oh no!

That means it's trying to find a DHCP server, and can't. Giving it a static IP address on the same subnet will work, but if you're trying to use a DHCP server it might cause clashes in the future.

quickie - is there a way in WinXP to minimise all windows with one click, like you can in win98?

I could probably write you a command-line one myself - but you'd have to install Perl on your laptop.

-- Ste

or if you want "like Windows 98" right click on the taskbar, and turn quick launch on. That "show desktop" button will be in there. (or right-click > show desktop, even quicker).

purchase laptop #2 later that day, april 05. intend to get laptop #1 fixed, but PC World cover tell me that due to it being a software problem, it is not their problem. i work out that if i reinstall windows, i get laptop working perhaps, but also lose 4 years of writing on laptop HD which i have cleverly yet to back up on External HD.

april 06, power socket on laptop #2 is seriously unreliable - making a connection is a tricky business of tweaking and twitching, and sometimes it feels like the only way to keep power going/battery juiced is to physically hold cable plug in place. this is not good.

i can get laptop #2 fixed under PC World Cover, if i could find paperwork, but will be without laptop for abt 3 days i guess, which is NOT GOOD (tho i have backed up laptop #2 HD on external HD). a friend has offered to try and get files off laptop #1 and put on external HD, but #1 it is a friend, so i don't want to pressurise them into doing it, and #2, i don't know if its possible. if it did work, i could theoretically 'fix' laptop#1 and operate it while #2 is being fixed.

argh. woe. and it is, of course, all my lazy ass's fault. but is there any way of feeding laptop #2 electricity via some source other than the power cable/socket?

as you may have guessed, i know not much about computers.

Don't PC World do 'while you wait' repairs, or something?

so this does sound do-able, then?

http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php

if it would be safer in some ways, how would I plug it: between the modem and the wireless router?

Yes.

I wonder if my wireless router already give me the same protection.

Yes.

I was thinking something along the lines of

alias ssh="ssh username@remote-machine 'setenv DISPLAY `~/get_vpn_ip.sh`; xterm &'"

...but that doesn't seem to work.

Any ideas?

ssh -X user@host "VARIABLE_THERE=\"$VARIABLE_HERE\" bash -il"

i have a mac. i also have a linksys nslu2, and a lacie external drive. the linksys has formatted the lacie to ext3, and i mount the drive remotely and it appears as a locally connected drive. so, for, all good.

the thing is, i want to be able to do this in the terminal window. but it wont do it. something about an 'unknown or special file system'. what should i do, in the terminal to be able to mount this? (yes, i know i could just do it in finder, but i want to know why this wont work).

is it something to do with hfs and ext3? i dont know much about this, and ive tried to work it out, but i dont really get it

Try running the mount command from the terminal, without any options at all, when the drive is mounted in the Finder. That should just list all mounted drives, and their filesystem types, which should be a clue as to what options you need to pass to the mount command to mount it manually.

//WORKGROUP;music@LACIE/MUSIC on /Volumes/WORKGROUP;LACIE (nodev, nosuid, mounted by charltonlido)

(xpost)

why do you need remote gui appz

However, the bit I'd be expecting that I can't see there is the most important bit: the filesystem type. On the other hand, the UNC-style hostname format makes me think it might be connecting using SMB (the Windows filesharing protocol).

Unless there is some dependency between the programs (like one has to be installed before you can install the other) then I think it's fine to wait and reboot after installing everything.

1) "Jon"
2) Are you a CS department in 1989?

So your point isn't that X11 apps are rubbish - it's that we shouldn't be using GUI apps remotely at all? Why not? You may as well say: why use a GUI at all? You might not have noticed, but running remote GUI apps is one of the fundamental points of X's design.

Unless there is some dependency between the programs (like one has to be installed before you can install the other) then I think it's fine to wait and reboot after installing everything.

Yes, I often do this; it's nearly always fine.

(one thing I hate: installer programs that force a reboot and make it very hard to stop it happening. Logitech, particularly, have a habit of doing this)