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June 5[edit]

Link to a Facebook image[edit]

A friend recently posted this image on my Facebook wall, and I'm going to request that she send OTRS a permissions email. However, I'm not sure about linking: can you who aren't my Facebook friends see the image? And is there any way for people who aren't friends with the uploader to see the description that the uploader gives it? I figure that it's silly to get a permissions email that can't be used by the OTRS agent. Nyttend (talk) 01:16, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I saw the image when I clicked on your link, if that's what you're asking in the first part of your query. Comet Tuttle (talk) 03:24, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

lost office 2007 media, have key - where to download[edit]

I have the key from the original office 2007 media right here (on a cd tray), but I've lost the media. Someone says I can just download it from Microsoft's site and use my original key from the media here. Is that true? What is the exact link, please? Thank you. --86.8.139.65 (talk) 11:14, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

There's a 2007 knowledge base question about ordering replacement Office media here; I can't find anything newer. They do (or did then, at least) charge for the media, but only a pretty modest charge. You can download the install media for just about everything if you are registered as a system builder, software reseller, or developer (because all those programmes supply keys of varying kinds) - but membership of those all (I think all) cost money themselves, and require that you go through various kinds of enrolment to confirm your eligibility. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 13:07, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

considering I have a license (and therefore don't need a crack) could you link me (or suggest the appropriate search to get to) the most reliable Pirate Bay or other torrent for exacly what I'm looking for? (Office 2007, uncracked, for me to use my own legitimate license for). Is this an appropriate way for me to proceed?--86.8.139.65 (talk) 13:37, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

No it's not really: You'd be downloading software from a 3rd party which could be altered from the original to lower the security of your computer if installed. The best way is to get the original media as linked by the poster above. ZX81 ^talk 18:46, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Computing/2011_January_31#Windows_XP_install_media and http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/downloads/default.aspx. Microsoft publishes SHA-1 hashes of its official ISO images. If the SHA-1 hash matches then the image is legitimate, however obtained. IT staff use unofficial DVD-R copies of install media all the time; Microsoft is fine with that as long as the licenses are legitimate. They undoubtedly frown on The Pirate Bay, though. -- BenRG (talk) 19:09, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

How to make sounds from the Windows Command Prompt ?[edit]

I know how to ring the bell, but how do I:

1) Play Windows sounds, like "critical stop" ?

2) Play other sound clips, like MIDI, MP3, etc. ?

This is on Windows XP SP3. Ideally I would like to hear the sounds and not get a pop-up screen with it, but I can accept the pop-up, if I must. StuRat (talk) 17:16, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You could use mplayer which will run on the command line and plays most sound files. For just playing a Windows .wav sound file you use;

START/min c:\windows\system32\sndrec32.exe /play /close c:\windows\media\Windows Critical Stop.wav

This will start sound recorder minimized, play the file, then close the program. You might have to change the file locations as I'm doing this from Windows 7. AvrillirvA (talk) 17:32, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Works good (except the file names all seem to have "XP" inserted in them, just to make any code written break when changing Windows versions, presumably). I don't have "mplayer" on my PC, would "wmplayer" also work ? StuRat (talk) 19:58, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Here's a program that will call MessageBeep for you:

    #include <windows.h>
    #include <stdlib.h>
    int CALLBACK WinMain(HINSTANCE a, HINSTANCE b, LPSTR c, int d) {
        return !MessageBeep(__argc > 1 ? atoi(__argv[1]) : -1);
    }

Compile it with MSVC or MinGW, put it somewhere in your path, and then invoke it with a numeric argument: -1 (or no argument) for a "simple beep", 0 for the default beep, 16 for Critical Stop, 32 for Question, 48 for Exclamation, 64 for Asterisk. This will play the sounds associated with the user's current sound scheme. Playing c:\windows\media\Windows Critical Stop.wav will always play that sound, ignoring the user's choice. Also, it won't work on all versions of Windows because that WAV file is an internal Windows file, not a documented part of the Win32 interface. -- BenRG (talk) 03:55, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks ! StuRat (talk) 05:21, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Windows 95 Media[edit]

Hello Everyone,

I've got most (12 diskettes) of a set of Windows 95 media (which the package says consists of a set of 13 diskettes), but only ten of the diskettes appear to be in working order (one of them has a chipped corner, and another is missing one-half of its casing), and I would like to run Windows 95 in a VM, so my question is - anyone know where I can download a copy of Windows 95? It wouldn't be piracy, as I'm only seeking to replace damaged media, and I wasn't able to get anything from the Microsoft website. The PC on which the software was originally installed has long since been disposed, back in 1998 (if my then-8-year-old memory serves).

Thanks as always. Rocketshiporion ♫ 17:49, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, but there's no legal way to download Windows 95 (or Windows 98/ME for that matter). I just checked and Microsoft don't even offer it as an MSDN download. However, if that computer actually came with Windows 95 then it'd be an OEM licence and as such legally can't be transferred from that computer anyway. The best I can think of would be to try buying it via ebay, I just had a look and there's loads on there, all brand new and less than $10 (CD and disks). ZX81 ^talk 18:44, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The computer didn't come with Windows 95 - it came with a blank 2GB HDD, and the Windows 95 was installed thereafter. Rocketshiporion ♫ 08:48, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

If you have a legitimate license, then the "lost office 2007 media, have key - where to download" above gives details. 92.28.240.238 (talk) 19:37, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

If you are prepared to wait a while, I believe I have an old Windows 95 installation CD, complete with genuine Certificate of Authenticity/Authority, that I could snail-mail to you. Email me if you are interested and I'll try to find it next weekend when I'm in my other apartment. One possible showstopper: it could turn out to be a OEM version, valid only on the original hardware, but I'm not sure so I'll have to check that. Astronaut (talk) 22:11, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'll take you up on that. Rocketshiporion ♫ 08:48, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Replied by email. Astronaut (talk) 10:09, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Firefox 4: open new tabs at end[edit]

Hi, does anyone know of a way I can set new tabs to always open at the end (as in, the far right of the tab bar) rather than to the immediate right of the tab I'm in at the moment? As in, if the following tabs are open Google; Wikipedia; BBC News; Reuters and I open a link from Wikipedia, how do I make the tab open to the right of Reuters, rather than just before BBC News? Thanks! ╟─Treasury Tag►sundries─╢ 19:36, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I think that the Tab Mix Plus and Tree Style Tab add-ons both have this option. -- BenRG (talk) 19:56, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Open about:config and set browser.tabs.insertRelatedAfterCurrent to false. —Tommyjb Talk! (22:49, 5 June 2011)

Aha, that's perfect! Thanks! ╟─Treasury Tag►high seas─╢ 07:27, 6 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

How do you show categories as wiki markup?[edit]

I'd like to display a category as wiki code. Specifically, I want a bulleted list of square bracketed links.

Converting category results to link lists by hand is cumbersome.

I look forward to your reply. The Transhumanist 19:43, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The following is a simple Python program that does this:

python program

#!/usr/bin/python 
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
catname=u'Greek deities'

import time,mwclient # http://pypi.python.org/pypi/mwclient/0.6.5
  
site = mwclient.Site('en.wikipedia.org')

for entry in site.categories[catname]:
    print '*[[%s]]' % entry.page_title

That just prints the immediate members of a category. If you need it to traverse the whole tree of subcategories let me know. -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 20:03, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You really want a page like WP:VP/T or m:Tech for questions like this. This tool can do what you want. --MZMcBride (talk) 20:36, 5 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]