Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2008 January 30

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[edit] January 30

[edit] MS power point 2007

I am a beginner with computers, any tips or links how to get started with ms power point 2007 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Abhinav52rr (talk • contribs) 04:58, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Go to Google and do a search for powerpoint 2007 lessons.-- kainaw™ 13:00, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Windows My Music song attributions

In the "My Music" folder on Windows XP, how does one change the band name on a song? Because for some reason one of my songs is listed as by a band it isn't, and it's weird because you can change the names of songs but apparently not the band. Vitriol (talk) 13:36, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

If I recall correctly you right click on the file, click properties, click the second tab, click Advanced and put the band name in the Artist field. TheGreatZorko (talk) 14:11, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Age of Empires 3: Asian Dynasties

When I try to load the game it says the handle is invalid. What does this mean? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.119.61.7 (talk) 14:26, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

You could try re-installing the game. A handle is usually a 'user name'... perhaps it's something to do with that? On the off chance that the game is pirated - it's bound to have bugs etc. in it? ScarianCall me Pat 15:52, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
I didn't see anything that specifically mentions the "invalid handle" error, but this page is the Microsoft's Solution Center for AoE III. --LarryMac | Talk 16:03, 30 January 2008 (UTC)
The "handle" referred to in the error message may be a reference. If so, the error was caused by a scenario where some object was created, a reference was made to it, the original object was deleted, and then the reference was used but was no longer valid. That is, the game is trying to use something that is missing. The original object could be lots of things, so the error message by itself doesn't provide much help as to what went wrong. --Bavi H (talk) 05:59, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Converting a series of JPG pictures to MPEG

Is there a way to have a folder of say dozens of JPG pictures and make a slide show with a stop at each picture of 5 seconds and convert this whole thing into a MPEG video movie? Could this then be uploaded to YouTube (within their limits) to show to others (public or private).--Doug talk 15:30, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

If you have Windows XP (or maybe Vista?), the Windows Movie Maker can do this. --LarryMac | Talk 15:37, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Great! I have a computer that is about a year old using Windows XP. It also has a DVD burner. However I do not see a version of Windows Movie Maker already there. Should I then download Movie Maker 2.0? Is it then an upgrade to Windows XP (free)? How long would it take to download using AOL dial-up? With this new software then could I burn DVD's that could be watched on a regular television DVD player?--Doug talk 16:01, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

According to the Microsoft pages, MovieMaker was included in XP service pack 2. If your computer is only a year old, it should be running SP2. If for some reason you're not on SP2, you really should invest the download time and/or request an update CD from Microsoft. On the computer I'm using right now, WMM shows up on the Start/All Programs list. I am pretty sure you can create DVDs from WMM, but personally, I use other software for that. You might also be interested in Photo Story, which is a free download from Microsoft, specifically made to do slide shows. The download page indicated 13 minutes for 56K dial-up. --LarryMac | Talk 16:13, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Great! Thanks, again!! Found it. It says WMM is version 2.1.4026.0 which probably will do this slide show MPEG thing I want to do - as soon as I learn how to do it. I will also download that Photo Story software, as that also sounds like it will do the trick. On the DVD thing, what software do you use and does it cost much? I will also try to figure out if WMM will do approximately the same thing (with no cost - I'm cheap!). It then looks like I already have this Service Pack 2 installed, doesn't it?--Doug talk 16:29, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, things seem to be working out. I have downloaded Photo Story. Looks like a great program also. I am having pretty good luck in doing exactly what I wanted to do - make slide shows into videos that can be used in You Tube. It looks like it saves the video in WMV format, which is something You Tube accepts. I noticed perhaps Photo Story videos are smaller sizes. Am I right on this assumption or maybe I just haven't played with it long enough to confirm this. Don't see where either program saves in a format acceptable to play in a DVD player for television. What format is this? Do you know if either of these programs will do it? What program do you recommend for this? Can the WMV videos I made be converted then into this format for playing onto a television with a DVD player?--Doug talk 20:12, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

You've gone past my knowlege base, Doug. In answer to your previous question, I've been using a program called Sonic MyDVD for writing DVDs, which I don't do very often. It gets the job done, and works with my TiVo files (damning with faint praise . . . ). This page at Microsoft says that you can get a Sonic "Add-In" for Photo Story that will allow you to create DVDs. This MovieMaker page talks about saving WMM files to DVD, but specifically mentions that you need DVD burning software. Their example uses Roxio MyDVD, which is actually a newer version of the Sonic program I use, since Sonic bought Roxio, or vice-versa or something. Basically, I'd say, just poke around at those Microsoft sites; as much as I hate MS, it looks like there is decent information and some good tutorials scattered around. --LarryMac | Talk 20:40, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Bingo! I have Sonic on my computer and looking it over it looks like I can also make a "video slide show" here also. Actually I believe I can make several in a "Project" since there is 4.7 GB of space per DVD. Those were most useful answers and I do believe I am on my way on these projects. Thanks.--Doug talk 22:08, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] No picture shown from Samsung SyncMaster 913N monitor on nVidia GeForce 8600 GT graphics card

I have two graphics cards in my computer: an nVidia GeForce 6100 nForce 430 built into the motherboard, and an nVidia GeForce 8600 GT on a PCI-E bus. The motherboard has one VGA and one DVI connector, the GeForce 8600 GT has two DVI connectors. My Samsung SyncMaster 913N monitor has only a VGA connector. If I plug the monitor into any of the DVI connectors using a VGA-DVI adapter, I get no picture. If I plug it into the VGA connector, I get a picture from the GeForce 6100 nForce 430. Fedora 8 Linux recognises both graphics cards but only attaches an X screen (number 0) to the GeForce 6100 nForce 430. Why am I not getting a picture from the GeForce 8600 GT? It can't be broken, because otherwise Linux wouldn't have recognised it. Is my monitor incompatible with it? JIP | Talk 19:32, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Might be that the input is DVI-D and only supports a digital signal (see DVI)87.102.33.230 (talk) 07:53, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
I'd very much doubt Nvidia are building graphics cards that only take digital DVI anymore. Have you tried both ports on the graphics card? Have you tried a different monitor? TheGreatZorko (talk) 09:03, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
It's the monitor that would only have dvi-d...87.102.33.230 (talk) 10:05, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
according to the web GeForce 8600 GT has dvi-i meaning it should have vga output.
Looks like your linux has found the cards - but has not turned them (the the GeForce 8600 GT) on...
Ask a linux expert about doing this..87.102.33.230 (talk) 10:17, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
You will need to change a setting in the BIOS which selects where to try finding the graphics card first. It's currently set on the onboard graphics so only the onboard graphics is available, once you switch it to PCI-E your 8600GT should work fine. --antilivedT | C | G 10:28, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

I did find a setting in the BIOS to select the preferred video device. This launched me to one hell of troubles - gdm would only work in single user mode, not in normal mode, and I had no idea how to make it work in normal mode. I even tried to reinstall Fedora 8 Linux (it would have been safe, as all my personal stuff is on a separate partition), but I somehow ended up in a state where the computer would not boot up a Linux kernel, no matter where it was loaded from. I reset my BIOS and now everything is working, even when the monitor is connected to the nVidia GeForce 8600 GT card. Do I need a monitor with a DVI plug instead of a VGA one to take full advantage of the card? JIP | Talk 21:40, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

You shouldn't need to use DVI at all. You're problem is strange to say the least, as linux shouldn't really care what it's outputting to. Have you tried asking you're question on the official forums for your linux distro? TheGreatZorko (talk) 08:51, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

The GeForce 8600 GT card only has DVI connectors, no VGA. I have posted the question to the Fedora Forum but have received no answer. JIP | Talk 15:36, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] MSN Live Messenger

hello,

basically i had live messenger....then removed it form my computer (via control panel > add/remove programs).....but now im trying to get it again....basically i downloaded it from the MS website...and now i need to install it.....BUT when i open 'Windows Live Installer' it says it couldn't install 'Messenger' (although it managed the toolbar).......help!...what can i do to make it live?

--81.79.201.21 (talk) 20:15, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Well, you can always use alternative programs such as Pidgin or Miranda IM. They lack such functions as voice chat, but they're free, open-source and support many protocols (MSN/Live, AIM, ICQ, IRC, Jabber/XMPP/Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, QQ) --grawity talk / PGP 19:48, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

can you see the messenger application on the add/remove programs list? If no, what error message do you get when you try to install Messenger? Kushalt 21:50, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Cash Box

Does anyone use Cash box [1] on a mac os x? I want to try it (and probably start a stub on it too but I wanted to have someone's opinion who is already using it. Kushalt 20:40, 30 January 2008 (UTC)

Oops, no. I have not forgotten that we have WP:NN. I am not sure how notable cash box is. Kushalt 12:16, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia from the MS Office Research task pane?

Hi,

how can I add Wikipedia to the MS Office Research feature so that I can search Wikipedia directly from the Research task pane?

thanks. AJUK Talk!! 20:52, 30 January 2008 (UTC)