All Issues
24,993 verified issues
How do I make sudo ask for the root password?
When I run as a normal unprivileged user, it asks for my password, not the root password. That's often convenient, but it reduces the amount of information someone would have to have in order to run commands as root. So how can I make ask for the root password instead of the invoking user's passwor…
When to stop using a hard drive? What rules/software apply?
When having a old hard disk - when should you stop using it ? I recently got a new 1 TB hard disk, and am left with 3 old hard drives (320 GB, 250GB, 160 GB). I am now wondering which of them to keep using and for how long. Assuming some of them have bad sectors, and are over 2 years old (the small…
I started getting a weird message "Encrypting file system - Back up your file encryption key"
I started getting a strange message when I start my computer. An icon appears in the system tray, and a popup tells me "Encrypting file system - Back up your file encryption key". I know what EFS is, but I don't use it. To my knowledge, I don't have any encrypted files on my partition. I have searc…
How can I insert a new line in a cmd.exe command?
I'm trying to execute a command on , with a line break or new line as part of the command, like below: But every new line executes the command, instead of continuing the command on the next line. So how can I input a new line character, or create a multi-line command in cmd.exe?
How to get back to an active minibuffer prompt in emacs without the mouse
In emacs, sometimes I will be in the middle of finding a file or switching buffers or doing something in the minibuffer, and I will click somewhere else for some reason. When I go back, the only way to make the minibuffer prompt active again is to click inside the minibuffer, which is annoying beca…
Putty SSH: CTRL+Cursor keys don't work skip to previous/next word
When I am connected to my local Ubuntu dev server with putty (from my Windows 7 box) via SSH, the following key combinations don't work to move the cursor forward and backward on word boundaries: Ctrl+Left Arrow on the cursor pad Ctrl+Right Arrow on the cursor pad The cursor only moves one characte…
Can a power failure or forceful shutdown damage hardware?
Can computer hardware suffer damage from forceful shutdowns (holding the power button for five (5) seconds) or power failures? I believe that normal PC hardware does not suffer from this - after all, it's not much different than what they experience under a standard shutdown. But elsewhere I've rea…
Why are there so many pins on a SATA power connector?
I was just looking at the power connector for a SATA optical drive and noticed that it had fifteen pins! I then marveled at the data connector next to it, which has a measly seven pins. I know that there are only physically three pins needed for the power connection: +12v DC +5v DC Ground Why did t…
Windows 7 intermittently drops wired Internet/LAN connection
In a nutshell, my Windows 7 Ultimate PC intermittently drops its Internet connection. Why? Background: My PC is wired to my ADSL modem/router which is directly connected to the phone line. I also have wireless connectivity turned on within the router for a laptop to connect wirelessly. Every few ho…
Synergy Key Mapping
I'm running a Synergy server on Ubuntu and a Synergy+ client on OSX. The server has a standard windows keyboard with shift, ctrl, windows, and alt keys. My MacBookPro has shift, fn, control, alt/option, and command keys. When I press ctrl-c, ctrl-v, etc., the appropriate copy/paste action doesn't h…
Map one column to x axis second to y axis in excel chart
I'm struggling while trying to plot simple data into a simple chart in Excel (2010 beta). My data is a very simple one: etc. In the chart, I want year to be the X axis and the value to be the Y axis, and have a single line mapping the change in value over years. When I select my data, Excel wants t…
Why is it bad to have open ports?
Here's something that has always baffled me. Why is it bad to have open ports on your computer? Assuming you don't have a virus on your computer or some other program listening to a port that may actually do something why does it matter if a port is open? If some malicious person starts sending pac…
USB sticks and multiple partitions
I've got a USB stick with multiple Partitions on it (FAT32 (active), FAT32, Ext2, but that's another story) and it seems like that my Windows XP can only mount the first partition of the stick. If I try to mount the second one using the volume manager it tells me that I need to make it active and r…
Does built in Windows 7 backup perform differential (incremental) backups?
I have win 7 scheduled to backup every Sunday, it's only looking at one of my drives at the moment and is backing up to an external HDD. It's a 1TB drive so should take quite a while to fill but the amount of time the backup takes makes me think its taking a fresh copy every time. It's now 21:34 an…
Why does hardware get slower with time?
Why does hardware get slower with time? I have been a PC owner since 1990 and every computer I have had in my life became really, really slow after 3-4 years (even with a full system-reinstall). It is the case with Windows PCs. It is also the case with Apple Hardware. Why is this happening? Can thi…
Windows 7 XP Mode - Is it possible to have multiple XP Mode Virtual PCs?
Windows 7's XP Mode virtual PC supports some features that aren't 'stock' with an XP Virtual PC such as a different start-up dialog, no Shutdown button, etc. Possibly the most significant is that applications installed within the XP Mode VM appear within the Windows 7 start-menu. I have a need for …
Does Mac OS X support hibernation?
On Windows, you can hibernate your computer, so that it starts a lot faster while consuming zero energy while "hibernating". I see an option to Sleep on my Mac mini but not hibernate. Does Mac support hibernation? I am on Leopard.
How does one change user's home directory in Ubuntu 9.04?
Does anyone know how I might change my home directory in the shell please?
Can history files be unified in bash?
I routinely run multiple sessions on my Linux desktops and servers. A problem with this is that when I through my command history, I find I issued a command in a different session, and have to detach and re-attach to get that history item. Is it possible to 'force' the differently-updated histories…
Create a symbolic link in the Mac OS X Finder
Is there a way to get the same functionality as the unix command in the Mac OS X Finder (OS 10.5)? I want to be able to create symbolic links while working in Finder windows without opening the Terminal. Note that the command in Finder is not what I want because those aliases cannot be navigated in…