Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2012 October 14

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October 14

Downloadable Google Books only

Is there any way to search only those books which Google allows to download? --Tito Dutta ✉00:37, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

At this Google page click "Full View Only" under search for free downloads only, or "Google ebooks only" for downloads available both free and charge. Hope that helps! Marketdiamond (talk) 01:04, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Excellent, I have bookmarked the link!--Tito Dutta (talk) 01:44, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Glad to help! Marketdiamond (talk) 10:26, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Resolved

Virus

If my computer is infected with virus, and I change the HDD to a new one, is it gone for good? Does the virus infected programs on the stuff like the motherboard? What I mean is when you start a computer, even without HDD, the motherboard has programs showing cpu temperature etc, so can virus infect that kind of stuff? Money is tight (talk) 03:00, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

It is possible, but uncommon, for malware to target specific hardware, or to install itself to nonvolatile memory other than the main system hard-disk drive. Nimur (talk) 03:24, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

You shouldn't have to replace a HDD to remove a virus - reformatting it should be sufficient. AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:27, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

And you don't usually even have to do that to remove the virus. StuRat (talk) 03:33, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

True enough - I suppose it depends on (a) how clued-up you are on removing viruses (most people aren't), (b) how much money you have, and (c) how essential it is to get rid of it - which mostly depends on the value of the data on the drive, and/or how essential it is to have the computer working. If you know what you are doing, and/or aren't too bothered about being absolutely sure it is gone, just deleting it (with the proper tools) may be good enough. If you don't know what you are doing, replacing the HDD is foolproof (apart from mainboard viruses etc...). In between, reformatting the HDD (and reinstalling the OS if required) is safer than the first option, and cheaper than the second. AndyTheGrump (talk) 04:29, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

If you are going to replace the hard drive anyway, it is vary rare for the virus to remain (ie. only in the case outlined above by Nimur). Otherwise, it is a pretty drastic solution to a virus infection. Try a virus/malware scanner first. (I was now going to mention how to manually remove a virus, but the usual sites I would check for virus information seem to no longer have manual removal instructions). Astronaut (talk) 10:47, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

If you replace the HDD, be sure to reinstall all software from known clean media (eg original disks or re-download from reputable source). If you replace the HDD and then simply reload all of your programs from a recent backup - eg a system image from Windows' Backup and Restore - you will "restore" the virus as well. Mitch Ames (talk) 03:39, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

Gateway, Inc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway,_Inc. 1. Is Gateway still a company, owned by Acer now or only a TradeMark?91.79.154.141 (talk) 08:41, 14 October 2012 (UTC) 2. You wrote their Revenue = US$3.980 billion. What Year? Can You give me any reference on this value?91.79.154.141(talk) 08:41, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

I corrected the revenue number on the article after reviewing that it had not been changed since at least early 2008. As a unit of Acer I doubt there are any public and verifiable numbers on specific Gateway-only revenue. The best source online for public information on companies is Hoovers and they state that Gateway revenue alone is negligble and 0 profit 0 etc. herealso that they are a unit of Acer. Marketdiamond (talk) 10:22, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

P.S. Please refrain from using terms like "you" since almost every article is a collaboration of many editors, unless of course you are referring to a specific editors contribution that you have identified, just trying to prevent any confusion, thanks! Marketdiamond (talk) 10:25, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Coding LinkedIn

Hi, I have a business idea which basically requires me to make a website like LinkedIn, where people can make pages, and add information, and the website remembers it (practically exactly like LinkedIn). I don't have any coding ability, but I don't want to have a professional make it for me because I have no money, and I'm afraid someone will steal my idea and it will be the Winklevoss affair all over again. So, really, I need to know what languages I need to learn. Thanks for any help you can provide. 31.205.106.147 (talk) 13:29, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Do this class then this class. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 13:52, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Thank you ever so much, Finlay, that's awfully kind of you to provide such assistance. I had never heard of Udacity before, but it appears to be greatly useful for learning new things for free. Thank you once again! 31.205.106.147 (talk) 15:13, 14 October 2012 (UTC)

Just in case someone finds this thread in the future and finds the Udacity web pages have disappeared, the course names are "Introduction toComputer Science (cs101): Building a Search Engine" and "Web Development (cs253): How to Build a Blog".PleaseStand (talk) 03:53, 15 October 2012 (UTC)