Tech-related problems

[frblckstr1]

Just remember: just visiting a site can actually be 'unhealthy' these days.

So 'but I didn't download anything' doesn't always apply. 'Drive by' downloads, carpet bombings and 'Mouse/Click stealing' are possible.
The last one has no defence yet and seems to be possible with *all* browsers! Only disabling all and every possibility of scripting (java and vb/javascript) seems to help at the moment.

Drive savely, use a scanner (I use the corporate version of Symantec, way better in performance then the Norton consumer 'thing') plus windows defender.
Only one virus intercepted in the last 5 years though, but better save(r) then sorry.

[~Dan~]

I think I've only ever had 3 viruses. The first one was the "kak" virus after only owning a pc for 1 week, and I only knew I had it when the virus somehow got deleted and I got an error on bootup saying it couldn't find the file!
The other 2 were the antinny.G virus, both on the same day, from a zip file downloaded off winny.  The really stupid thing wad I knew there was a virus but the damn thing tricked me into clicking the file anyway!  ...  The zip was supposed to contain mp3's but the filenames were so long it wouldnt extract, all except the virus which would extract, but I was careful not to click on it... yet!  So, I want to extract the mp3's because even though there's a virus in there the mp3's might be legit, so in the end I find a way to extract the files and there's a load of folders all inside each other, so I'm clicking to go inside the folder, and there's another folder, so i click again, and there's another one, and whopps it's an exe that has a folder icon.  Then after disinfecting my pc I stupidly did it again and had to disinfect it again.
After all that they weren't mp3's but something to do with linux.

Oh, and I got a dialler off Robbs Celebs, that bloody site is infested with them, or was, I've not been there for years.  Strangely enough on the same day I also got a dialler off an email that downloaded and installed automatically when I just viewed the email in the preview pane (presumably through some javascript).  They were easy enough to remove myself, I didn't even have to google anything.

As for Genuine Advantage, if you have your pc set to do the monthly automatic updates, don't have it set to download automatically, set it so it asks you first before downloading.  Then each month it'll give you a list of updates and you can read the description for each one carefully and choose not to download the ones you don't want.

[StreakInTheSky]

If you have one legit thing on your computer I think the OS should be it as it will relieve you of a lot of stress

Oh and dai if you already bought Norton 360 and can't return it, just use it. I don't think it would hurt you much by upgrading to better crap.

[cool_kickin_dude]

actually..you can try www.avg.com it's all free anti-virus software

got a couple of questions: i got a mp4 file that needs to be changed to .avi, how do I do it?

also..i got a file that will start playing commentary on Windows Media player, how do i change it to the regular voice?

[JFC]

^
If I may be so bold, it would appear that your first problem could be solved if you used VLC to play it.  I'm guessing that you ask about converting MP4 to AVI because your WMP can't play it? If that's the case, it just means you don't have the correct codecs to play MP4 files. VLC has it's own codecs built into it, so it'll play pretty much anything with little problem.  VLC is free and easily found with Google, not to mention it's a lot less time and effort than it would take to actually convert the file.


As for the file that starts playing commentary instead of the "regular voice", usually in cases like this the commentary is simply a secondary/alternate audio track on the file (the "regular voice" is the file's "main" audio track).  Based on what you've said, it sounds like WMP automatically plays the file with the secondary audio track instead of just the main one.    WMP has the ability to switch between audio tracks. Just go to the menu bar in WMP, click the "Play" drop-down menu and go to "Audio and Language Tracks." There will probably be multiple tracks listed there, from which you can select the one you want it to use.

[StreakInTheSky]

CCCP (Combined Community Codec Pack) is the way to go with your video needs It comes with some media players, but you could choose not to install them and you should be able to play most vids with any player you prefer. (same with just about any other codec pack, but cccp is my preferred and suggested one)

And just for some extra info, mp4 and avi are just containers, though they're usually associated with certain codecs. The codecs are what you need to play certain media, but sometimes you need certain media splitters for your player to know how to handle the info in the container. Not that it really matters unless you encode vids, but it's just better to know correct info I guess, if you're not already confused.

[cool_kickin_dude]

can the VLC be used for Windows media or any other player I use?

[JFC]

can the VLC be used for Windows media or any other player I use?

Like I said in my previous post, you can use it to play almost any sort of video file. VLC is a separate media player, just like how your WMP is a media player.  When you have VLC, you don't need to use your WMP.

And just for some extra info, mp4 and avi are just containers, though they're usually associated with certain codecs. The codecs are what you need to play certain media, but sometimes you need certain media splitters for your player to know how to handle the info in the container. Not that it really matters unless you encode vids, but it's just better to know correct info I guess, if you're not already confused.

That's why I recommended he use VLC. Since everything necessary is already built into it, it's a lot easier to deal with.

[Guchi_Jnr]

can the VLC be used for Windows media or any other player I use?

You can just have a look at the VLC Features page to see what will play, and what won't..  ("real" media is about the only thing it won't play)

[StreakInTheSky]

seriously, instead of confusing you all(which it looks like I did) just go here and dl this. http://www.cccp-project.net/  Just click on the "Windows Vista/XP/2K" link and install it. And yes you can use any player you choose after you install it.

If you're still having problems playing files post here and I'll try to guide you.

(as you can probably tell, I'm not a big vlc fan )

[JFC]

(as you can probably tell, I'm not a big vlc fan )

That may be so, but VLC is still the solution with the fewest proverbial moving parts for CKD to worry about. He just needs something that's short, quick and simple to install/use.

[Guchi_Jnr]

I'm not a codec pack fan 

Why install a shit load of codecs from a pack, when you'll most likely never use most of 'em??

Better/cleaner, to just wait until something doesn't play, then grab the required codec needed..

Or simply just grab VLC player.. (VLC is not a pretty on the eyes player, which is probably why Sits isn't a fan  )

[frblckstr1]

^ I tent to use VistaCodecPack, mainly because I use VMC (Vista Media Center) to display videos on the TV. CCCP always gives me a 'xvid dll' not found for some reason.
VCP also has flash and realmedia.

But for 'standalone non codec install': yes VLC is king.

[StreakInTheSky]

I actually use Media Player Classic to play vids. It's just as plain as vlc but I find using it a lot easier and it has a familiar GUI if you're used to using Windows Media Player from back in the day. It also has a popup GUI when you're full screened so you can scroll to the part you want to see, something that has always annoyed me with most other players, especially vlc. The added plus is that it matches perfectly with the classic windows theme.

Also, the thing with most modern codec packs is that they use fddshow so you don't really have to worry about the separate codecs. I used to use just fddshow and the haali splitter with vobsub for subtitles, but noticed I couldn't play flash. Found CCCP which had everything I needed at the time in one pack and nothing extra other than zoom player. And I didn't have to change any settings to get everything to work correctly. Only thing missing was real and quicktime if you need to play them (easily fixed with real alternative and qt alternative). For the average user, there really isn't much different from using vlc other than being able to use the player you want. VCP is also a really good pack if you like to use Media Center. I find using these packs a lot cleaner than dling seperate codecs when you need them, cause almost everything is in the same place.

Strange about the xvid dll error though, I've been using it for a good while and never ran into it and play xvids fine. The only vids I couldn't play correctly were HiDef ones my PC couldn't handle and some 3gp vids which only play on cellphones or on Quicktime.

I'm pretty sure we've had this discussion here before, but I think I'm more clear this time... I hope...

[Guchi_Jnr]

It also has a popup GUI when you're full screened so you can scroll to the part you want to see, something that has always annoyed me with most other players, especially vlc.

Since this topic popped up, I decided to grab the latest version of vlc, and found it also now has a popup GUI with a scroll while in fullscreen.... 

As for myself, I pretty much only use PowerDVD with the codecs that I'll installed individually, and the only other player I use is vlc to watch iso files before burning then to disc..

[cool_kickin_dude]

ok, i'll do it..can you give me the link? also i had a H!M which did subtitles which i watched the other night, when i turned it on this morning, they were gone(even though it was supposed to be subtitled) any ideas to fix it?

[StreakInTheSky]

google is your friend...

I linked cccp up there somewhere, but that and vlc is easily found through google, whichever you decide you want to use.

Looks like they made some upgrades to vlc's gui the past year

Oh to show I'm not just hating on vlc, it is good for streaming videos and for watching them in ascii



About the subs, are they on a seperate .srt or .ass file? If they are, make sure they're in the same folder as the video and have the same filename besides the .srt/.ass in the end.

If you're using vobsub or something, a green arrow will pop up in your tray bar(next to the clock on your taskbar), when you right-click make sure there's a tick next to "show subtitles" and after double clicking make sure it sees the correct subtitles.

If there is no arrow there should be a menu or some settings about subtitles in your player and make sure it allows subs to be shown and that the subs you want to see are selected.

I know vlc has a subtitles menu and I use vobsub, but mpc also has its own subtitles feature. Was looking around Windows Media Player and can't seem to find anything for subs so can't help you there.

[cool_kickin_dude]

^ actually, it's all on the same file, couldn't figure it out though.

I had cccp once, but I took it off, probably will go to vlc.

thanks again guys!(Good thing my hard drive is still alive tonight, I REALLY need to burn everything off before anything happened)

[StreakInTheSky]

everything should still apply if they were on the same file, except you don't have to worry about the other file. All subtitles settings work pretty much the same way no matter where they come from.

Since you're going to be using vlc, if they don't show automatically, on the menu bar go to "video --> subtitle menu" and select the subtitles you want to see. I had that problem the first time I got something with subs in the same file, using vlc at the time and took me a while to find that menu and thought I got an unsubbed file.


All this talk made me want to try the newest vlc, and I actually like the older version better, other than there being a fullscreen gui and being able to click where I want to go in the vid.

Still prefer my old setup, but think I'll use it on the mac though. Been using mplayer, but I don't really like it.

[JTRIX]

Just need some advice.

In terms of performance, is Asus Eee 1000H better or HP 2133 Mini-Note PC? I'm thinking of getting a netbook, so please give me some good advice.

Thanks!