Computer Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread

[Perfection]

Are you sure it's the downstream bandwidth that's a problem, and not the upstream?

No, I am not. It could be either or.

Are you running on a router that can do QoS?

Router guy doesn't think QoS is going to work.

http://www.netlimiter.com/ -- the only one I can think of off the top of my head.

Needs to be free.

 

[lndm]

QoS is a nice way of saying limiting peoples bandwidth, and is used to enforce sharing. Do you need something more than that?

 

[salty mud]

Does having a laptop connected to the mains improve it's performance?

 

[Padma]

Does having a laptop connected to the mains improve it's performance?

I assume your meaning is "plugged into a wall outlet". (The English and the Americans: two peoples separated by a common language. )

Technically, the answer would be "no". But laptops, by default, come with different power settings for when it is plugged in vs when it is on battery, half-power-battery, etc. These settings are modifiable, so you can set it to run the same on 10% battery as on full external power. These settings are to help prolong battery life while disconnected, though, so doing such a thing would be considered rather foolish.

 

[salty mud]

I assume your meaning is "plugged into a wall outlet". (The English and the Americans: two peoples separated by a common language. )

That is what I meant, yes.

Technically, the answer would be "no". But laptops, by default, come with different power settings for when it is plugged in vs when it is on battery, half-power-battery, etc. These settings are modifiable, so you can set it to run the same on 10% battery as on full external power. These settings are to help prolong battery life while disconnected, though, so doing such a thing would be considered rather foolish.

Thanks. It's just I think I have noticed my laptop perform better when plugged in. Might just be a coincidence.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

My laptop performs much better when plugged in too. The CPU and GPU are not in a power-saving state, and thats likely why its faster when its plugged in.

 

[lndm]

I assume your meaning is "plugged into a wall outlet". (The English and the Americans: two peoples separated by a common language. )

Way separated What we call mains you call line (IIRC), but what we call line is a 2 Volt signal cable.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Why is it called x86? I wiki'd it and didn't find anything that made sense.

 

[lndm]

186, 286, 386..... They're actually 80386 etc, but people drop the 80.... 86 is Intels code for a 16-bit processor in that line (but that no longer applies).

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

That makes sense.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Why is it called x86? I wiki'd it and didn't find anything that made sense.

huh?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86

That explains it fairly well...

 

[Till]

Why is it called x86? I wiki'd it and didn't find anything that made sense.

An instruction set architecture (ISA) is a set of commands that a CPU supports at the basic level. This can range from very simple stuff, like "move x from y to z", or "add x and y", to complex operations like "calculate the square root of x".

x86 is the name for a very popular family of ISAs by Intel. They are all fully backwards compatible (afaik) so the latest CPU supports all the commands that were included in the first CPU of the family.

From time to time, new commands are added. These are called extensions. You probably are too young remember this, but a big deal was made out of the MMX extension for multimedia commands back in the late '90s.

x86 has become the de facto standard ISA for desktop computers, so even Intels competitors design their ISAs to be compatible with it.

That's it, grossly simplified. For more info, you really should check out the wiki links.

 

[TopDog]

Hi all.
Ive had my laptop for about 3 years now and its going well, but i think it might be breaking the mouses i plug into usbs. Ive gone through about 5 mouses in this time and its getting really annoying.
They usually work fine for a while(several weeks to several months), then start getting temporamental (only working if i jiggle the usb or plug into a different usb) and then stop working. The most recent one stopped working and came with the error message 'power surge in hub port.'
I do carry it around alot and so often bump/drop my mouse, so do you think they stop working due to wear and tear/my poor care of them, or could it be that laptop is making a power surge and shorting them out?
Any help is much appreciated.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

It's possible a power surge is doing it. I think except for the really cheap dollar-store mice, a lot of them survive bumps and bruises easily (I have a $7 Microsoft mouse which has even survived crashing 6 feet to the floor when it was knocked off a shelf. And it fell pretty hard. What happened was I had it on a shelf because I was getting a new computer desk and when I reached up to get it without bothering to find a stepstool I just missed and it fell).

Question: Am I the only one who used to believe viruses were little bugs crawling inside the computer eating the hard drive?

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Id think that a power surge strong enough to fry the mouse would take the port with it. Just try taking better care of them

And yes Aimee, you are the only one.

 

[lndm]

A power surge is not necessarily a power overload, and is not necessarily caused by the port. I'd check the port voltage using one of those motherboard sensor reading programs to be sure.

Even if the port is overvoltage, it may be current limited so it's possible it could take out the mouse but not die. The mouse may have gone short circuit then burned open circuit. If this caused the mouse to appear permanently dead then it would be an internal issue within the mouse, not a connecting wire issue unless you managed to get them permanently twisted.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Is it true the only foolproof way to prevent viruses is to never use a computer?

 

[salty mud]

Common sense is the best anti-virus, that's for certain. But saying that, I think 99% of people who own a computer will get infected with a virus at some point. It's like a bike getting a puncture or your car breaking down.

 

[Padma]

Is it true the only foolproof way to prevent viruses is to never use a computer?

Just like the only foolproof way to avoid pregnancy is to never have sex.

Actually, you *can* use a computer. Just never connect it to the internet, and never insert any removable media. Not that that leaves you with much....

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

LOL.

What happens if you load a Windows virus under WINE?

Edit: Googled. The people who tried it said they had to reinstall.

Okay, another one: Let's say you took a fresh install of Windows XP without doing updates or installing everything or surfing the net, although it's connected. And left it sitting there. How long can you expect it to last before xxx-rated pictures start popping up and stuff? I read 20 minutes but that was surfing the web.