Computer Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread II

[Lemon Merchant]

MP3Gain

 

[warpus]

Is there a tool that will alter the computer volume depending on how "loud" the audio file you are playing is?

Different audio files sound like they have different volumes. This is mostly dependant on quality, but not solely. If the primary determinant of the volume you play music at is not to disturb your neighbours, this can cause problems. It seems it should be possible for your music player to analyse the music it is playing, and alter the volume accordingly. Is there such a tool?

"Normalizing" is the term that describes what you're after, I believe. You seem to already have a great suggestion, but this might help you search for more alternatives

 

[Samson]

I have to admit, I was hoping that there was something that would work at runtime, and perhaps only later in the evening once people go to bed.

It seems that MP3Gain is mp3 only. I think a big part of the loudness is the file bit rate, and the loudest ones are in flac format.

I shall have a bit of a google with Normalizing.

 

[Zelig]

If you're looking to deal with just music files, ReplayGain is the standard there. If you want to do it system-wide, Windows has "Loudness Equalization" under sound device properties.

 

[Samson]

If you're looking to deal with just music files, ReplayGain is the standard there. If you want to do it system-wide, Windows has "Loudness Equalization" under sound device properties.

Thanks. Loudness Equalization is perfect, I can just select that later at night when it matters.

 

[Brian Boru]

it should be possible for your music player to analyse the music it is playing, and alter the volume accordingly

Check out this page, it's a simple process to normalize sound across your entire system. As the page says, most media applications include some sort of “loudness equalization” or “volume normalization” feature, so you should be able to do it on an app-by-app basis too—I'd be surprised if VLC or PotPlayer don't have such.
https://pureinfotech.com/normalize-sound-volume-windows-10/

 

[J-man]

I'm thinking of switching my password manager, currently using Keepass. Anyone got any experience with 1password.

 

[Zelig]

1Password is top-notch. I moved my entire office to it after looking at all the available options. I use keepass personally as well, may switch to 1Password at some point.

 

[J-man]

Last week I upgrade my PC with new RAM I bought. I think now is a good time to do a complete clean reinstall of windows. I've made a checklist, I don't want to accidently delete files/data I want to keep and other problems (like product keys).
Could you guys help me andlook at my checklist and tell me if I missed something or even answer questions?

Spoiler list :

- Get the right reinstall media (installation thumbdrive or create bootable USB drive).1)
- Check if windows file history backs up all the folders I want and ignores the folders I don't want, list the config.
- Back up save games of games that probably have cloud saves but of which I'm not sure (do not use file history, avoid cloud sync conflicts).
- Make list of installed programs from windows AND chocolatey. (DONE)
- Export favorites and list extensions from Chrome (probably gonna move to Firefox).
- Make a list of game mods (only KSP and SimCity).
- List the Conda enviroments I have and the installed packages and versions (enviroment files). 2)
- Check the downloads folder and the recycle bin for important files (not included in backup), delete others.
- system backup.
- Check for reinstall office / windows (product keys / deautherize?). 1)
- Check ssd health and pre download some usefull software and device drivers. 3)
- Reinstall ubuntu (version) or use windows ssl. 4)
- Play around with and mess up conda, for fun.

1) I have the windows install media and the product key but there are multiple way to reinstall windows and my copy of windows and office are tied my microsoft account, making this confusing which way is the most convenient. I don't want to having to buy a new product key!

2) Conda is a package manager for Python (other languages too). Pip is the default one and more popular but I find Conda more user friendly, although it's not as fast in updating packages as pip.

3) I know which software I want, forgot the name but it's easy to find.

4) Currently have Ubuntu dual boot. Heard some bad things about the latest Ubuntu version. It's going to be the latest LTS or no dual boot at all (can install windows SSL).

Thanks!

Edit: removed QUOTE tags and replaced it with SPOILER tags.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

@J-man I would make a complete image of the boot drive onto a spinner or something, if I were you. That way, if something does go wrong you can clone the drive and start over. Also, having a cloned drive means that those files that you ALWAYS forget to make a copy of won't be deleted during install and you'll be able to get them back. I always forget something and curse myself for it. That's why I started cloning my drive before re-install.

Just remember to remove the cloned drive before starting the reinstall procedure or it might get corrupted. Good luck.

 

[J-man]

@J-man I would make a complete image of the boot drive onto a spinner or something, if I were you. That way, if something does go wrong you can clone the drive and start over. Also, having a cloned drive means that those files that you ALWAYS forget to make a copy of won't be deleted during install and you'll be able to get them back. I always forget something and curse myself for it. That's why I started cloning my drive before re-install.

Just remember to remove the cloned drive before starting the reinstall procedure or it might get corrupted. Good luck.

Thanks, I was thinking of making an image back up but cloning is a good idea. I have an unused external hard drive lying around, perhaps I can use that as it has a higher capacity than the SSD. Note that I have windows installed on the SSD (it's my C: drive) but I moved my user folder (with documents etc) to the HDD. I really like having windows on the SSD, it start's up really fast but the documents folder doesn't need to be there.

 

[Samson]

Does anyone have recomendations for hardware/software for turning a linux computer into a PVR for broadcast digital TV? Here appears to be a write-up, and it uses some cheap kit, but I wondered if anyone here has any experience?

 

[J-man]

Why are some apps in the microsoft store labeled as ' unofficial'? Like notepad++. Any change of downloading old versions of perhaps even malware?

 

[Zelig]

Why are some apps in the microsoft store labeled as ' unofficial'? Like notepad++. Any change of downloading old versions of perhaps even malware?

Because it's not from the team behind Notepad++. I wouldn't recommend any such apps from the MS Store. You could use Ninite for Notepad++, but last I checked it doesn't install/update the 64-bit version, so if you want an app/package manager to deal with the 64-bit version, Chocolatey is your best option.

 

[Michkov]

Notepad++ comes with an auto update check build in, just grab it from the official site and set to annoy you everytime you start it.

 

[J-man]

Because it's not from the team behind Notepad++. I wouldn't recommend any such apps from the MS Store. You could use Ninite for Notepad++, but last I checked it doesn't install/update the 64-bit version, so if you want an app/package manager to deal with the 64-bit version, Chocolatey is your best option.

I'm currently using chocolatey for notepad++ (and others), I was thinking of ditching chocolatey in favor of the microsoft store but now that doesn't sound like that good idea.

 

[Cutlass]

I'm having major PC malfunctions where it constantly jumps between normal and



Any ideas? Is this PC dead? Is is a virus?

 

[Michkov]

Try a different keyboard and looks like the view you get by pressing WIN+tab. Pressing the keys again gets you back to the normal view.

 

[r16]

using an Android tablet . Mainly for CFC , a blog or two . And the Artstation site from which ı download pictures , collecting things to kill time . ı pay attention to clear browsing history if that's the word because my old tablet had limited space for that and would automatically delete the adresses ı would like to keep for easy access . New one repeatedly asks that Artstation seems important for you , would like to keep it ... and ı always reject . Fat finger syndrome happens at last ! When ı delete browsing history Artstation stuff remains there . On a good day ı might open upto 100 tabs of it , all of them now needing manual deletion ... Any way to bring Artstation back as a thing to be easily deleted ?

 

[AmazonQueen]

Having trouble with my internet connection.
Steam, Spotify and Discord don't think I'm connected to the internet. Everything else I use is OK including email, roll20 and Zoom. This only started on Tuesday.