Computer Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread

[aimeeandbeatles]

Ok, the picture came out badly, so I'll do a sketch in paint instead:

Spoiler :

You have to open up the case to clean out the behind of the glowing blue LED thingy, but then open up the vent (you can do this from the outside) to clean the blades off. The cables are attached to the blue thing.

Another question: There's a smaller button below my power button on the front of my case. When I accidentally hit it, the computer immediately reboots, so I call it the "reset button." is this correct? here's a pic (in which you can also see my broken USB ports):

Spoiler :

 

[Cutlass]

Yes, it's a reset button. It's there in case the computer freezes up. And shouldn't be hit otherwise.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Sometimes when I'm pulling the computer out, my toe bumps on it. Or my mom hits it while vacuuming. I was just wondering, because at first I thought it was a standby button or something.

 

[Cutlass]

Put something over it if it is too easy to hit.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I did try a piece of duct tape at one point, but it didn't quite work. I'm more careful now.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

If you really want to make it not function, you can unplug it from the motherboard. I don't recommend this though as it is very useful when you need to do a hard reboot.

 

[Zelig]

You also can just go to the power options in Windows, and set the functions to whatever you want.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Indeed, I disable the reset button at work via control panel->power management or something because I hit it with my feet.

At home I have a power button on my keyboard above "print screen" which shut down the PC without asking are you sure, I disabled that as well somehow

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Im probably just missing it, but where exactly in power options is it? I dont want to disable it, but I'm curious as to where I find it.

 

[Aramazd]

It is in the control panel.

 

[Zelig]

Im probably just missing it, but where exactly in power options is it? I dont want to disable it, but I'm curious as to where I find it.

In Vista, "Choose what the power buttons do." on the left.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

In XP, it's control panel (classic view), power options, advanced -> power buttons.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Am I the only one who calls a laptop a "lappy" and a program a "proggie"? I dunno why I do that.

 

[Turner]

I've never heard 'lappy' or 'proggie'. Mostly at work I get labtop....I want to email them back and say "Yes, we work for a hospital, but we don't have a lab here....." But that would be the kind of upper management awareness I don't want.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

I sometimes call programs proggies. Mainly when Im referring to tiny, one-use programs though.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Is there a decent way to compile Linux proggies under Windows? I've done it before, but it came out horribly buggy. There's a few Linux programs I found interesting, but no Windows binaries.

Thanks.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I've never heard 'lappy' or 'proggie'. Mostly at work I get labtop....I want to email them back and say "Yes, we work for a hospital, but we don't have a lab here....." But that would be the kind of upper management awareness I don't want.

I remember my mom would always mix up "hard drive" and "memory." And it drives me crazy when the tech teacher calls desktop computers "the big ones."

I sometimes call programs proggies. Mainly when Im referring to tiny, one-use programs though.

I have a bunch of tiny, one-use programs. I always keep them handy if I want to use them again.

 

[Padma]

"Lappies"? Ewww.

"Proggies"? Even worse. All developers I know call programs, "programs", or, if they're applications, "apps". Most will also differentiate between a compiled "program", and a "script".

 

[Zelig]

Why would you ever say "lappy" or "proggy"? They're both the same number of syllables as the real words...

Shorten them to something useful, like "rig", or like Padma said, "app".

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Yeah, "lappies" is kind of... not the best connotations. But "proggies" sounds cool. I still haven't quite figured out the difference between a program and an application. Because according to my dictionary:
application: A program that gives a computer instructions that provide the user with tools to accomplish a task