Entries for Loadsgood

Shift key beats CD DRM? :| [Shift key beats CD DRM? :|]

Loadsgood — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:18:17 GMT

I've heard a few rumours about holding down the shift key, while a DRM Protected CD is loading, that supposedly beats the CD's DRM. Well I thought that doing that was to stop Autorun loading the DRM's Player automatically so I could see the files inside but it actually did beat the DRM :|

The first time I loaded the CD into a CD Drive it was on a computer with autoplay/autorun disabled completely, which allowed me to check out the data files inside, finding no music files in it I took it out and that was that.

After researching Anti-DRM techniques I thought I would try to crack it so I could load some of the files on to my MP3 Player. I loaded it on to a computer with Autorun enabled and to stop autorun I held down the shift key, the CD started skipping at regular 2 second intervals so I stopped holding the shift key and I went opened D Drive and to my surprise I found cda files for all 13 Tracks rather than data files. Obviously I ripped them and now they reside on my MP3 Player.

My theory for this is that the CD checks if it is loaded in a computer's CD Drive, if so it shows data files but if not it shows Audio files. Frankly I don't know how it does this but I know that data files can't play in normal CD Players, or at least not in the ones I've loaded this CD into.

Instructions: Switch autorun/autoplay on for the Optical Drive you are going to load the CD into (by default autorun/autoplay is on so if you haven't maually turned it off, you should be fine). Load the DRM enabled CD into that Optical Drive. When it starts making a whirring noise hold down the shift key, if it starts skipping this is a good sign. After a short while of it skipping you can let go of the shift key, you can now open the drive you loaded the CD into and you should find cda files that you can rip using your favourite ripping program.

EDIT: The CD I did this on was Coldplay's X&Y.

Does anyone else have strange DRM experiences like this one?
Loadsgood.

in reply to Shift key beats CD DRM? :|

32-bit or 64-bit? [32-bit or 64-bit?]

Loadsgood — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 03:35:49 GMT

Ok, I'm trying to determine which direction I should go on for a PC.

Basically I want a computer that I can upgrade and have with me in working order for the next ten years. But I don't want anything to do with DRM, I heard Intel supported DRM, so I'm going with AMD (unless they also support DRM, in which case I'm stuffed) and I've had the least problems with NVidia, than I've had with ATi so I'm going with them. I like cutting snippets of songs, game sounds and the like, and I feel that going in a musical direction along with developing would be a whole lot of fun, so no integrated sound for me. I also want to watch/record digital (High Definition is a no no for now) TV shows on my computer so I'll need something for that to.

The main question overall is should I go with 32-bit or 64-bit? 32-bit has been around for ages and is compatible with nearly everything, but what is 64-bit's stand in the computer world? I am yet to see a single x64 coded program (besides Windows x64 of course), and I'm wondering if it is compatible with today's hardware and it's upgradability (if I want a 10 year old computer I will definitely have to upgrade every now and then).

Since I don't know how much I'm going to get for my laptops, and how much I'm going to be able to save, I don't really know what my budget is. If I get a second hand PC now, is it easy to upgrade it piece by piece? I'm pretty much a n00b in the area of PC hardware and all I've done is read a "How to build a PC" book that was made 2 years ago. So any suggestions on how the market is going and how I can watch the market for PCs and their insides is going to help me a lot on my quest to get a PC.

Oh, and what are the advantages of an x64 over an x86? Bragging rights?
Loadsgood.

in reply to 32-bit or 64-bit?

A disk read error occurred [A disk read error occurred]

Loadsgood — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 01:50:36 GMT

I have a Sony VAIO PCG-FR700 laptop (Detailed here). I was downloading a file and had it scheduled to shutdown ( shutdown.exe -s -f ) a couple of hours after the download was finished. I expected it to be shut down but found it to be on since the gree light was on (obviously indicating the laptop is on) so I opened the screen and found it to be completely black. I moved the mouse via the touchpad which should've changed the screen from black to the desktop, but it didn't respond. I pressed the power button, and it automatically came up with the Sony logo then when I expected the Windows logo, the computer gave me about five seconds of a blank screen with only a cursor. Then this message comes up:

A disk read error occurred
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

That's as verbose as it gets. Restarting just gives me the exact same routine. I can access the BIOS but AFAIK there is nothing there that can help me.

Is there anything I can do? At least getting some files off the harddrive is ok with me but I would prefer to use it like normal again.

PS: I had my laptop using the Power Scheme 'Always On' (with the Windows default settings) and it was plugged in. What Windows does is turn off the monitor after 20 minutes if the laptop is plugged in. I have had previous problems with getting the monitor back to normal after using the power schemes so this might have something to do with it.

Could I possibly remove the harddrive and put it in any other laptop? The problem might be an overheated component and not the harddrives fault...
Loadsgood.

in reply to A disk read error occurred

Don't like the Profile page? How's this one looking? [Don't like the Profile page? How's this one looking?]

Loadsgood — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 13:35:46 GMT

Some parts of the Profile page aren't up to scratch and the old profile is looking better inch by inch:

Where's the Replies section? I used the Replies section to find out which of my replies as been replied to so that I can catch up with where I am in the scheme of C9 after having not been around for a while.
The Storage tab of false advertisement. When I saw that tab I thought that a dream had come true, that I could store files on C9. But I was wrong. Unless you are expanding the horizons of the Storage tab (you must admit to that here if it is true) you should rename it to settle the confusion.
No sunglasses? What's the point of having the "Watch this thread" feature if we can't share with others what we are watching? Please enable us to see what others are watching via a section on the main Profile page or a tab.

Ah, but when all had seemed to be lost Loadsgood comes and lends a hand. Going back in time he finds

Not to mention all the bugs in the Wiki (detailed list

Well I've gotten myself into a confused spin,
Loadsgood.

in reply to Define Hacker n.

Opera's 10th birthday. Ad-less Opera for free today only! [Opera's 10th birthday. Ad-less Opera for free today only!]

Loadsgood — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 06:38:36 GMT

I haven't really used any other browsers than IE, I've briefly used Opera before but was really put off by the ads. But now that Opera has turned 10 (in years since it was released the first time, not in versions) the developers of Opera are giving it away for free! I know Opera already is free (with ads) but they are giving away Opera for free (wthout ads!). I myself find it hard to go past something free, and Opera is no different.

All you have to do is go to this page today and enter in your email and you'll get all the registration numbers for the Opera browser (all the different OS's it comes on). Which is pretty good, you don't even have to put in a real email, it just brings up a page with the reg numbers on it. Opera without the ads is really good, hopefully the C9Team fix the problems that the C9 site has with the Opera browser.

Hurry up this is a special 10th anniversary giveaway for today only!
Loadsgood!

in reply to Opera's 10th birthday. Ad-less Opera for free today only!

Path of destruction? :| [Path of destruction? :|]

Loadsgood — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 23:39:42 GMT

It seems either the admins have ****ed up big time or the C9 forums are being hacked. The Channel9 India forums are gone, threads from the PDC are now stuck in the coffehouse there is no more DevDiv forum...

Someone wake my up and tell me I as dreaming,
Loadsgood.

in reply to Path of destruction? :|

The perfect video transcription? [The perfect video transcription?]

Loadsgood — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 00:39:53 GMT

Video transcriptions have been on a few threads lately so I thought I would help out those who wanted them and make some. But there are two parts of me that are fighting each other, one says I should do the transcriptions with the ahs, ums, and the pauses/stuff ups because it is genuine. But the other part says that I should make transcriptions that make for a better reading experience without any of the ums and pauses.

So I wanted to know, which is better, having a partially hard time reading/understanding what the speaker was saying because of the ums and ahs just to have a genuine experience. Or having a better reading experience without any ums or ahs, but knowing that it isn't an exact copy of what they said?

Vote 1# Original pure experience! Vote 1# Better reading experience!
Loadsgood.

in reply to The perfect video transcription?

Test, ignore me [Test, ignore me]

Loadsgood — Fri, 19 Aug 2005 02:54:03 GMT

Another test, has nothing to do with the Sandbox forum test.

EDIT: Damn, it didn't work :@ Delete me.

Activly testing C9,
Loadsgood.

in reply to Test, ignore me

HTTPS problems :( [HTTPS problems :(]

Loadsgood — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 05:51:07 GMT

Ok, on a WinXP with IE6 machine .Net 1.1 and every non-beta patch in the book, anytime I go to a website with the https:// protocol all I get is a 404. I know this is my problem and not the web's because it only happens on this one machine, and it happens on multiple websites. Also logging into MSN Messenger doesn't work on this machine because it is done through https.

Ok so I have come done to a few reasons, here they go:

      * It is because I have MSN Messenger 7.5 installed (highly unlikely).
      * It is because I installed IE7b1 then uninstalled it (unlikely, fyi I uninstalled it because of the locked address bar, but have since installed it on another machine).
      * It is because I used the Belarc Advisor tool to assess my computer's security and I accidently locked all LUA (Limited User Account) accounts out of reading an important reg key or a program (likely because I have this problem on a machine where my user is an LUA).

Well that's all I can think of, I would've automatically done a System Restore in a situation like this, but since I just recently deleted all system restore points except for the most recent to save hard drive space, I can't. If anyone can help in someway that would be grand.

Oh, and reinstalling Windows is not a solution :) I won't do it on this machine.
Loadsgood.

in reply to HTTPS problems :(

Why are pictures always rectangular? [Why are pictures always rectangular?]

Loadsgood — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 02:32:41 GMT

I find it wierd that picture are always rectangular... Always. I know I can make an image look a different shape by making it have a transparent background, or colouring its background the same colour as the web page I would be using it on. But I have yet to see a picture-editing program that allows me to change the shape, of the box that the blank picture is in.
Or when I change the resolution of one side of the picture, it changes the other side as well, what the hell?

Who decided that those are the rules? That all pictures are square unless a transparent background is used and that when you change the resolution of one side of the rectangular picture, it changes the size of the other side as well.

Why are we restricted?
Loadsgood.

in reply to Why are pictures always rectangular?

Bypassage complete [Bypassage complete]

Loadsgood — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 08:57:51 GMT

If you are reading this then I bypassed the C9 Sandbox filter that would usually force people to upload a zip file to make a new thread.

Testing ,
Loadsgood.

in reply to Bypassage complete

Microsoft goes patent crazy with smileys :@ [Microsoft goes patent crazy with smileys :@]

Loadsgood — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 07:15:26 GMT

ZDNet UK wrote:

A software patent filed by Microsoft in the US has been described as 'very dangerous'

Various organisations have criticised Microsoft for attempting to patent the creation of custom emoticons.

The patent, which was published by the US patent office on Thursday, covers selecting pixels to create an emoticon image, assigning a character sequence to these pixels and reconstructing the emoticon after transmission.

Mark Taylor, the executive director of the Open Source Consortium, said on Friday said this is such a basic concept that he would not have been surprised to see it posted as a fictional patent on a technology site.

Wow Microsoft have gone very overboard with patents... Again!

Stop the madness,
Loadsgood.

in reply to Microsoft goes patent crazy with smileys :@

Exclusive: Microsoft product leaks its source [Exclusive: Microsoft product leaks its source]

Loadsgood — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 07:10:28 GMT

Microsoft program, TweakMCE (Windows Media Centre version of TweakUI) is a .NET program, that, when 'accidently' (*cough cough*) opened by Visual Studio (most editions) shows you its source code. This is great for developers wanting to know how to code for Media Centre in .NET, or just a small look into the way of the Microsoftian coder. Don't we all love .NET and it not hiding the source? :D

'Accidently' email me if you need help installing TweakMCE on a machine that isn't Windows Media Centre.

Hmmmm, leaked Microsoft source code *drools*
Loadsgood.

in reply to Exclusive: Microsoft product leaks its source

Testing [Testing]

Loadsgood — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 10:23:40 GMT

Cross posting, cross posting.
Testing testing, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3.

EDIT: Woohoo go me. File adding restriction bypassed.

Spam bombardment via cross posting.
Loadsgood.

in reply to Testing

Errors installing FC4... [Errors installing FC4...]

Loadsgood — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 12:54:52 GMT

I tried to install FC4 and automatically recieved this error (after choosing all the options and the "installing packages" just started):

Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "/usr/lib/anaconda/gui.py", line 1137, in handleRenderCallback
      self.currentWindow.render.Callback()
   File "/usr/lib/anaconda/progress_gui.py", line 244, in renderCallback
      self.intf.lcw.nextClicked()
   File "/usr/lib/anaconda/gui.py", line 873, in nextClicked
      self.dispatch.gotoNext()
   File "/usr/lib/anaconda/dispatch.py", line 174, in gotoNext
      self.moveStep()
   File "/usr/lib/anaconda/dispatch.py", line 242, in moveStep
      rc = apply(func, self.bindArgs(args))
   File "/usr/lib/anaconda/packages.py", line 579, turnOnFileSystems
      diskset.savePartitions()
   File "/usr/lib/anaconda/partedUtils.py", line 726, in savePartitions
      disk.commit()
error: Error: Errorinforming kernel about modifications to partition /dev/hda2 - Device or resource busy. This means Linux won't know about any changes you made to /dev/hda2 until you reboot - so you shouldn't mount it or use it in anyway before rebooting.

It also told me to report this on the bug reporting place for FC4 then I clicked ok and the screen went black and filled with all this random technical text and the last line said system reading to reboot. So I Ctrl + Alt + Del and then the screen went completely black so I pressed the power button on my computer and then pressed it again. I then went through the install again choosing the exact same options I chose before and then I tried my whip at installing the 'packages' again and that's where I'm at now. No errors so far and it looks to be one eigth through the Installing of packages bar so it looks like a late night for me, lucky this is not my main computer or else I'd be pooping my pants...
Anyway Beer (or any Linux Pro) can you explain to me what went wrong? Why the fluzzle it didn't want to work until I rebooted?

Fedora is ok so far, or at least, its installer is :)
Loadsgood.

in reply to Errors installing FC4...

Guest account, is it worth it? [Guest account, is it worth it?]

Loadsgood — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 00:35:10 GMT

I've gone security crazy. I've put a password onto the guest account and activated it. I want to know your opinions could I become really secure and only run the computer under the guest account? (With an admin account on the side too) is the guest account ready for secure usage? I noticed that it won't allow me (while in the guest account) to create an internet connection, although if one was there I might be able to access the internet... Does anyone know of a policy that enables me to allow accounts onto the internet via a certain connection or allow creation of an internet account?

Oh and does anyone know the exact place where I can set users to not be able to access the Task Manager?

Am I full of questions or what?
Loadsgood.

in reply to Guest account, is it worth it?

CAB creator? [CAB creator?]

Loadsgood — Thu, 09 Jun 2005 03:51:10 GMT

Hey guys, do any of you know a program to create/edit CAB files? I'd like to use them to save space in my programs, so I thought I'd ask my fellow 9ers :)

Join the club now!
Loadsgood.

in reply to CAB creator?

Best memory [card] ever? [Best memory [card] ever?]

Loadsgood — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 03:17:44 GMT

I need some more memory, or 'I' myself don't need it, but my computer does. I currently am chugging along at 256mb but context menus seem to load slower these days and everything seems to wants to down the ante.

Would it help if I added a 256mb to my total on this here WinXP Pro SP2, mobile AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (clocked at 1.53 GHz) Vaio laptop? But more to the point, I need help in the details of my 256mb stick, like wtf is DDR? why are there numerals after it? What brand memory do you guys trust to actually work? How do I find out the brand that's in this 3 year old baby? I seriously need help on the breakdown of the memory card details. I'd like to not be at the hands of the salesman and be able to control and evaluate the best price out there you know?

EDIT: For a more detailed look at my laptop click here. Only difference between the original laptop and mine is that I removed all of that old software, installed XP Pro on it and morphed C and D drive partitions in to just one C partition.

It would help my laptop to live again.
Loadsgood.

in reply to Best memory [card] ever?

Does locking Windows lock everything? [Does locking Windows lock everything?]

Loadsgood — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 07:04:28 GMT

I just set my computer to lock when I exit the screensaver and I was wondering, if I have my computer in locked mode does it lock all processes running or just lock the user from accessing those processes? Would it be a security risk if the processes were still running in the background? Can a process induce locking the user out of Windows and run its own evil process while the user was gone? Just a few questions jumping around in my head.

Processed vegetables.
Loadsgood.

in reply to Does locking Windows lock everything?

For the MS Word 2003 pros out there... [For the MS Word 2003 pros out there...]

Loadsgood — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 10:39:56 GMT

How do I put a 3D border around a paragraph in a page? Is there an interactive solutions where I can click and drag, and resize the border? Also, could I print multiple paragraphs using the same styled border but not grouped together, using seperate borders?

Hope that made sense, more details given if needed.
Loadsgood.

in reply to For the MS Word 2003 pros out there...

Windows Security Qs [Windows Security Qs]

Loadsgood — Tue, 24 May 2005 10:55:18 GMT

Maybe I'm missing something but could I stop text from being shown in IE where loading urls are shown? Maybe even stopping people from changing the style of my scroll bar?
In Outlook, is there a way to set that all incoming messages most come in plain text form rather than HTML?
Windows is annoying as well. I try and set my account to limited from admin but it won't do it becuase there isn't another account with admin rights, but there is, "Administrator" is the other user, but because it doesn't show up on the User Accounts part of the control panel.
Last but not least, I use the Windows 2000 style login UI but each time I log out and come back to the login window it has the last used username there, can I make it so that when I come to the login page it has a blank login form rather than one with my username in it?

Just some security queries,
Loadsgood.

in reply to Windows Security Qs

Which firewall is secure and useable? [Which firewall is secure and useable?]

Loadsgood — Thu, 12 May 2005 02:34:07 GMT

I need some 9ers help here. I want a firewall that secures me and is useable, preferably without bugs in it. I use ZoneAlarm Pro, it's good except it causes IE to not be able to tell me the size of any files I download, nor be able to see any pictures that you guys post in the forums :'(
I used to use Norton Internet Security '05 but that just takes up too much resources. What firewalls do you guys use and how has your experiences been with them?

Maybe one that networks eaily too.
Loadsgood.

in reply to Which firewall is secure and useable?

Outlook strikes back! [Outlook strikes back!]

Loadsgood — Mon, 09 May 2005 08:25:19 GMT

Ok, so Outlook hates me. That's not my fault. Is it?

Is Outlook the enemy againest all users, or just me?

Well here's my problem. I haven't been recieveing any email (once again) in Outlook, besides that sent from myself. Plus, I can send email. My Outlook version is 2003 I don't have any virii or spyware/adware. So I don't know what to do manickernel helped me before, but that seems to have been a temporary measurement.

How do you people know so much about Outlook anyway? Maybe there is a course or something titled "How to defeat Outlook, the beast from Microsoft." that would enable me to control this thing and tell it when I want to recieve mail and where to put it.

Maybe I should just jump over to Thunderbird... [Threat supposed to scare Microsoft into wanting to help me]
Loadsgood.

in reply to Outlook strikes back!