Computer Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread II

OK, guess I did miss something.

Why is it, that when you shrink blurry photos, they become less blurry?

 

Less 'gaps' between the pixels and it's easier for your eyes to look at it. I'm sure there's a technical term for it, but I don't know it.

You could probably google photo resolution and find a bunch of stuff on it.

 

OK, this might be silly:

So for the recording from sound card thing. I'm having trouble finding an appropiate cable. But I had another idea.

Connect my computer (both video and audio) to the TV (which isn't really that heavy so I can move it). Connect TV to the DVD recorder. Use the DVD recorder to record screen activity.

Has anybody tried it? Or maybe I can skip the TV part and connect it directly?

I googled it, got mostly DVD burners, found this which doesn't seem to be what I want. I do know its possible to connect computer to TV though, because I actually did it to the downstairs neighbor's laptop.

Also this, he or she says to "transfer some things on computer", but I want to get a capture of the screen and the audio.

 

The main problem is although I can capture the image, there's no sound. Because I have no stereo mix/wave out, even with the disabled devices trick.

 

LOL, why does this old computer book I have say that Linux is a version of Unix?

It also mentions backing up data onto tape cartridges. It's old.

 

Linux is derived from Unix. But that goes back a long ways.

 

I know it's derived, but it said that Linux was a "freeware version of Unix"

EDIT: Googled that exact phrase just for kicks and got several things from around the same time the book copyright date says.

 

Sounds accurate enough. More accurate than say, "alternative to Windows"

 

Linux is 'Unix-like', but the two are based on different kernels. The composition of the two OS' are fairly similar though, with a bunch of components interacting with their respective kernels.

Linux wasnt actually meant to replace or supercede Unix. Torvalds created it as a replacement for MINIX, which in turn was a minimalistic Unix-like kernel. Read the wiki on history of Linux, there's quite a bit of interesting stuff.

 

The fuse blew, and when I started my computer back up, I had to do another emergency repair due to a broken bootloader. Caused by the sudden power loss or something else? (I did updates a few days ago.)

Also, how come the updates never seem to stop? I install a bunch, and a bunch more come up. So I install THAT bunch, and even more come up.

 

Edit: Never mind, just a misunderstanding

 

I want to intentionally infect a computer with a virus, spyware, malware, whatever, to see what it does and learn how to more effectively clean them up. I'm already pretty good at it, but I can do better.

So how do I go about finding a virus, spyware, malware, whatever, and storing it safely (like on a cd or something) and letting it lose on a system? I have a couple dozen computers at work that I can use for this, and I can probably get a secure network at work too. Secure as in a VLAN that only has access to the internet and not our internal network.

And I really don't want to spend a lot of time going to various websites trying to get infected that way.

 

Perhaps use a Virtual Machine?

 

Perhaps go back and read what I said? I've got a couple of dozen machines that I can use to do this, and I'm also pretty sure that I can get a VLAN setup with a direct connect to the internet and zero access to my work network.

Well, we're still on XP at work, with no (apparent) schedule to go to Win7. Mostly everyone I know is on XP too, and I get quite a few people asking me to clean their computers up.

Right now, I just want any piece to study. Eventually I'll target certain ones so that I have a test machine to infect and figure out how to clean it manually. I'm fairly certain I have the process down pat, even if my normal proggies don't get it. Plus, it's an opportunity to learn and expand my resume and skill set. Always a good thing.

 

Well, what I meant was to put an older OS in a virtual machine and not connect it to the work network. Then download the virus within the OS and transfer it to a USB/floppy/CD/etc and delete the VM.

On the other hand, it was early.

 

But if I've got the VLAN with direct internet access and a machine that's been selected for this, using a VM is simply an unnecessary step.

 

Well I suppose a quick way to get a virus is to go to a torrent site and look for one with a lot of bad comments.

 

Well, there is that, but ultimately....