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Source: (consider it) Thread: It's Geek to me: Translating computereze
Alisdair
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# 15837

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@ Sparrow -- if you have no worries about letting Google 'own all your stuff' then the Google a/c sync with contacts, calendar, and gmail is definitely the way to go, and plenty go that way (including me ;-) ), but...

...if you prefer to keep some things between yourself and your hard drive, i.e. under your control and nobody else's then there are various options:

1. apps like 'Wifi File Explorer' allow your desktop to network with your Android phone and copy, move, backup selected files;

2. something like 'Owncloud' takes it a step further and allows you to run your own private 'cloud' service, either locally or across the internet, giving you the same kind of access as 1. but with the ability to sync your phone's calendar to other calendars. Whether any of this hooks up with 'Outlook Express', I don't know; but that is just two alternatives to the Google route.

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mousethief

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Is it possible to make relative file shortcuts in Windows? I have my rather large collection of mp3's both on my computer and on a USB external drive. I'd like to be able to make shortcuts to the files so that I can have a song in two different directories without it actually being in two different directories, but of course when it's on my hard drive it's on

c:\users\mousethief\music

and on the backup drive it's

g:\music

It would be nice if I could create a shortcut that was relative so it worked in both places, and if I took my backup drive somewhere and plugged it into somebody else's computer, it would still work no matter what drive letter their computer assigned to the drive.

Thanks!

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Karl: Liberal Backslider
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It would appear not. I just tried it and it doesn't work.

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The Machine Elf

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Open a command line (cmd.exe) and type

subst g: c:\users\mousethief

This makes g:\ point to c:\users\mousethief, and so g:\music will be c:\users\mousethief\music

Then your shortcuts can be to the same location.

You can add a batch file with the command in it to your start-up programs so it happens when you log in.

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Amanda B. Reckondwythe

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# 5521

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Machine Elf, that wouldn't work because g: is already in use. You'll get an "invalid parameter" error.

quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
I'd like to be able to make shortcuts to the files so that I can have a song in two different directories without it actually being in two different directories

I'm puzzled. Why would you want to access a file from two different locations at the same time?

[ 19. October 2012, 11:13: Message edited by: Amanda B. Reckondwythe ]

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The Revolutionist
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What you need are symbolic links, Mousethief. There are instructions on How to Geek on how to set them up on various systems, including Windows.

I used to do the same for Music, Video, etc. on an external hard-drive - they were useful for making the folders appear as part of my user profile, even though they were actually stored externally.

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Alisdair
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You may find the problem is that that Windows traditionally allocates drive 'letters' to external/hot-plugged drives on an ad hoc, first come first served basis, which means you cannot guarantee a given device will always have the same identity when it is plugged in.

More recently drives are/can be identified by an identifier that belongs to, and is unique, to that device. If your OS uses this ID (Linux, prob. OSX, maybe Windows now---if told to!), then you can set up 'symbolic links' (usually called 'shortcuts' in Windows), that will always point to the correct device and location, when ever that device is plugged in.

Time to go and do some research perhaps. :-)

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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
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Minor point of order: strictly speaking a Windows shortcut isn't really equivalent to a Linux symbolic link. Or rather, IME Linux users tend to use symlink to mean a hard link, whereas a Windows shortcut is more of a soft link, and you have to ponce about to make a hard link.

This page has quite a nice summary (based on a quick glance) of what you can do, how, and why.

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Alisdair
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@ snags -- I must admit in Linuxland I've always equated soft/symbolic link with a Windows 'shortcut', and a 'hardlink' as something altogether more serious---delete a hardlink and the file it links to goes as well (and I think a hardlink can only exist within a disk, not across disks), but it's years since I've chased the details down, so am quite happy to stand corrected.
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mousethief

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This all requires doing something to the computer. I don't want to have to program something on my friend's computer (if they'd even let me); that's why I inquired about a "relative" link, where the link information is stored in the link itself, and doesn't require something on the computer to make it work. Sigh. Windows can be so primitive.

quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
I'm puzzled. Why would you want to access a file from two different locations at the same time?

I might want to have a song in a directory with the album it came on (soundtrack to Forrest Gump, for example) as well as in a directory by the performer's name. So if someone says, "Do you have such-and-such a song by so-and-so" I can go to the so-and-so directory, and if someone says, "I can't remember the song or the performer, but it's on the soundtrack to Forrest Gump, do you have that?" I can look it up that way. A shortcut in the performer's directory back to the soundtrack directory, or vice versa, would allow me to do that.

Playlists are software-specific; I use Winamp but my friend might use something else.

[ 20. October 2012, 15:44: Message edited by: mousethief ]

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Amanda B. Reckondwythe

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But even if you could create a shortcut to do what you want, how would that shortcut get to your friend's computer in the first place? Wouldn't you have to "do something" to make it appear on his desktop?

Plus, your friend's computer would not have the c:\users\mousethief\music directory on it that you have on your computer unless both your computer and your friend's computer were members of the same domain, and you logged onto it using your domain account, and your account was configured to use roaming profiles.

In which case, both the c:\users\mousethief directory and the shortcut that pointed to it would be part of your profile and would automatically appear on your desktop when you logged in, regardless of which domain computer you logged into. Although I'd hate to be the administrator of a domain whose users were allowed to store music files in their roaming profile.

[ 20. October 2012, 15:55: Message edited by: Amanda B. Reckondwythe ]

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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
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@Alisdair the fault could well be with me; I still get my knickers in a twist over linuxy stuff [Smile]

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Jengie jon

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I wonder if it is there and all that has happened is with increased complexity of the system some of the old shortcuts have been forgotten.The old "cd" command in dos used to allow you to do cd \music which would change you to the music subdirectory of your current directory.

I think that is basically what you want.

In that case and I have not tried this, create a short cut, then edit off the front part of the command so it only has the relative subdirectory and the file bit.

I have no idea if this would work but suspect it might. It used to in dos days.

Jengie

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mousethief

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quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
But even if you could create a shortcut to do what you want, how would that shortcut get to your friend's computer in the first place? Wouldn't you have to "do something" to make it appear on his desktop?

Not a desktop shortcut. A shortcut in the directory. Surely you've created those or at least used them?

quote:
Plus, your friend's computer would not have the c:\users\mousethief\music directory on it
Precisely my problem and why I want relative rather than absolute shortcuts.

quote:
Originally posted by Jengie Jon:
In that case and I have not tried this, create a short cut, then edit off the front part of the command so it only has the relative subdirectory and the file bit.

Tried that, alas, didn't work.

[ 20. October 2012, 17:44: Message edited by: mousethief ]

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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
# 15351

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Having actually read what you want to do (always helpful!) you may find the following helpful:

Relative Shortcut utility

I haven't tried it, and the pre-requisites may render it useless, but it's the best I've found. There are also some kludges with environment variables, but I'm not convinced they'd work for what you want to achieve [Frown]

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mousethief

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I'll give it a go. Nothing to lose.

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mousethief

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Alas and fooey, can't seem to make it work. It seems to recognize it as a shortcut (puts the little swoopy arrow in the icon), but when I click on it nothing happens. If I do an "open with" and choose winamp, it opens winamp and puts the file in the queue, but doesn't play the target.

Thanks though.

The search continues...

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mousethief

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Report #2: Okay, I figured out how to make it create a shortcut, but when I copied it onto the G: drive, the length of the "shortcut" file was 5.4M -- the size of the target file. Which kind of defeats the purpose of having the shortcut in two different places pointing relatively to two different mp3 files.

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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
# 15351

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That might be down to how Explorer calculates file size. As in, it may be an untruth.

AIUI if you use the equivalent of a hard symbolic link then as far as Explorer is concerned the file is actually there, so when displaying file size info it displays that actual file info, not the shortcut info. But it isn't really taking up that much space.

The same issue occurs with the SXS stuff in Windows 7, where to avoid DLL Hell loads of hard links are used to refer to DLLs that exist elsewhere. This can lead to an almost doubling in the reported size of the Windows hierarchy against what it's actually using on disk.

I think the SysInternals "disk usage" utility can be told to give you the real size, not the hard link size.

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mousethief

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A little testing determines that it is, in fact, an mp3 file -- I renamed both of the targets, and the "shortcut" still plays.

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mousethief

Ship's Thieving Rodent
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Got a nice letter back from the author of the software:

quote:
That's an interesting problem. It looks like the shortcut isn't relative at all.
First of all, are you running on XP, Vista, or later? (The XP version of Relative
is a totally different program.)

Let me know so I can figure out what to do next...

Thanks in advance for helping me get this fixed. What you're trying to do is exactly what relative should do correctly.



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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
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There's still hope then!

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Chamois
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Please can anyone help me understand about software updates on my new iMac?

I've finally had to upgrade to a new iMac after 6 happy years with my Macbook for the one and only reason that my old operating system will no longer run the current version of Firefox. I can't understand the method for offering software updates on my new machine. On my old operating system the "updates" app used to open automatically from time to time, and then I could download patch updates for free. On the new operating system a window pops up telling me that there are "Updates Available" but when I request details it tells me to log on to something called iTunes and put in my credit card number. Is Apple no longer providing free patch updates for its software? What is this iTunes site? Can anyone explain?

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lilBuddha
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iTunes is a program that serves as a storefront for Apple. One needs an account and a credit card on file to set up the account, even for downloading free stuff. As far as I can tell at least. Would have thought it would come pre-loaded on a Mac. Not surprised Apple run you through it for updates. These days they make more from iTunes then they do from the sale of computers.

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Chamois
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Thanks for the explanation.

Hmmm. Not sure I want my credit card details logged on an unknown site. Is the iTunes program secure?

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monkeylizard

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It's as secure as anything else. It's one of the most widely used programs in the world. Millions of people around the globe use it daily.

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lilBuddha
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I've not yet had a problem with my credit or identity with iTunes. My soul, perhaps, but not my monies.

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Sparrow
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# 2458

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Does anyone know if it is possible to save webpages to read later on your Kindle?

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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
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Are your browsing on the Kindle itself, or on something else? If something else, print them to PDF?

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Sparrow
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# 2458

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It's pages I'm looking at on the PC but need to take with me when I am travelling to read on the Kindle. I don't like reading PDF pages on the Kindle as the text comes out too small, so I was wondering if there was a way of saving the webpages direct to the Kindle.

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For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Wesley J

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Google is your buddy. Try searching for 'save webpages kindle', which provides several hits.

Hope this might help you.

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jbohn
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quote:
Originally posted by Chamois:
Please can anyone help me understand about software updates on my new iMac?

I've finally had to upgrade to a new iMac after 6 happy years with my Macbook for the one and only reason that my old operating system will no longer run the current version of Firefox. I can't understand the method for offering software updates on my new machine. On my old operating system the "updates" app used to open automatically from time to time, and then I could download patch updates for free. On the new operating system a window pops up telling me that there are "Updates Available" but when I request details it tells me to log on to something called iTunes and put in my credit card number. Is Apple no longer providing free patch updates for its software? What is this iTunes site? Can anyone explain?

Here's some instructions for setting up an iTunes account without a credit card, if that helps:

quote:
How to create an iTunes account for your iPod or iPad that is not associated with a credit card

Step 1 - Create an email account, such as gmail, to associate with an iPad

Step 2 - Create an iTunes account for your iPad that is not associated with a credit card

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2534

• Open iTunes on a computer
• Go to the iTunes store
• Click App Store
• Find a Free App to purchase
• Click Free
• Choose "Create New Account"
• Continue to go through the steps to set up a new iTunes account- your password must have at least one uppercase, one lowercase and one number
• You will have a choice to choose “None” on the “Provide a payment method screen”

Hope that helps!

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Karl: Liberal Backslider
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# 76

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iTunes is Satan's own way of organising your music collection and you will burn in Hell for all eternity if you tempt just one person to use it.

It's a worse sin than getting off your bike and pushing it up a hill.

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Chamois
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# 16204

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Thanks very much for all the advice about iTunes.

As I'm not musical I don't have a personal music collection (apart from some old vinyl records which belonged to my father that I keep for sentimental reasons).

I'd better go away and mull this over quietly by myself. I don't like leaving details of my credit card all over the internet for no good reason.

Thanks again

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Ariel
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# 58

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Does anyone have any idea why from time to time a Word document will suddenly turn into Read-only (without my doing anything to it other than typing in it) and need to be saved under a new name?
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Curiosity killed ...

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Ariel, do you have two copies open? or does the computer think so? It's under properties the tick box that changes it.

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Ariel
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# 58

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No, only one copy is ever open. It will save OK for a while then suddenly my open document will shift to being read-only and need to be saved under a new name or I lose all my changes. Not sure why this has started happening.
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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
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As CK says, when it does it, quit the file, then find it in Explorer and right-click on it, and choose "Properties". At the bottom of the "General" tab are Attributes check boxes, one for Read-only and one for Hidden. If the "Read-Only" one is ticked then your system thinks it's read only, and some process or other has caused that flag to be set (you can unset it manually). In that case, you'll need to track down the process that's doing it, so look at scheduled tasks etc. as well as doing the usual malware scans.

If that flag isn't set, then it's down to Word thinking the file's already locked by someone else. Normally (IIRC) it will say as much to you, but not always. In this case, depending on how you work/use the computer, it might be that you do have another copy open, you just don't realise it. If you've had the file open since the last reboot, it's possible that there's a hung, invisible instance of Word that's holding it open.

To check this, close all oepn Word docs apart from the one giving you grief. Then bring up Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc, or right-click on the task bar and pick it from the menu), switch to the "Processes" tab, sort them by name by clicking on the Image Name header and see how many copies of "winword.exe" there are. If more than one, you've probably got a stuck instance. Close the one you're working on so as far as you're concerned there's not Word open at all, and check the processes list again. If there's still a "winword.exe" entry you'll need to "End task" it to kill it off properly.

If it's neither of those, then unless you're somehow triggering protection on the file, I'm at a loss.

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Posts: 1399 | From: just north of That London | Registered: Dec 2009  |  IP: Logged
Ariel
Shipmate
# 58

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Thanks for this, CK and Snags. At present the "read-only" file that I had to save under a new name is back to normal again. Very odd. I'll follow your advice next time this happens (as I'm sure it probably will at some point).
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Wet Kipper
Circus Runaway
# 1654

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a question I should probably know the answer to already, and suspect is not the answer I want.
Years ago I bought a copy of Adobe CS2 and installed on what was then our new "whizz-bang fancy" laptop.
Years go by and it is now our "at death's door and about to fall over" laptop.
Can i just re-install on our newer "whizzbang etc" machine ? will it ask me to register and then if I do, it will claim someone is already using it ?

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- insert randomly chosen, potentially Deep and Meaningful™ song lyrics here -

Posts: 9841 | From: further up the Hill | Registered: Nov 2001  |  IP: Logged
Drifting Star

Drifting against the wind
# 12799

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Having done something similar with Photoshop a year ago, memory tells me that you can de-register it from one computer, or, if the computer has bitten the dust, you can sort it out with Adobe. I don't think it can have been difficult or I would be able to remember it better... sorry I can't be more precise.

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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus

Posts: 3126 | From: A thin place. | Registered: Jul 2007  |  IP: Logged
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333

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You may install your CS suite on two computers concurrently.
From the CS2 licence agreement
quote:
2.4 Portable or Home Computer Use. The primary user of the Computer on which the Software is installed may install a second copy of the Software for his or her exclusive use on either a portable Computer or a Computer located at his or her home, provided the Software on the portable or home Computer is not used at the same time as the Software on the primary Computer.
Bold and italics mine

I would deactivate the licence on the dying machine. Otherwise you will lose the potential of installing on a second machine should you so wish.
The deactivation button is under the help menu.

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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou

Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008  |  IP: Logged
The Kat in the Hat
Shipmate
# 2557

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quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Does anyone have any idea why from time to time a Word document will suddenly turn into Read-only (without my doing anything to it other than typing in it) and need to be saved under a new name?

That happened to me - I was using an external hard disk and suddenly had to save as a new file. In the end I had about 5 versions of the same document. It was very annoying!

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Less is more ...

Posts: 485 | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
Wet Kipper
Circus Runaway
# 1654

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Thanks for your help. I'll give it a try and see what happens. Will I need to open each part of CS2 to deactivate, or can I just open, for example, photoshop and do it from the help menu in there ?

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- insert randomly chosen, potentially Deep and Meaningful™ song lyrics here -

Posts: 9841 | From: further up the Hill | Registered: Nov 2001  |  IP: Logged
Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76

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quote:
Originally posted by The Kat in the Hat:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Does anyone have any idea why from time to time a Word document will suddenly turn into Read-only (without my doing anything to it other than typing in it) and need to be saved under a new name?

That happened to me - I was using an external hard disk and suddenly had to save as a new file. In the end I had about 5 versions of the same document. It was very annoying!
It happens if Word loses contact, even if briefly, with the location where the file is stored. It's more likely therefore to happen with external hard drives and over networks.

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Might as well ask the bloody cat.

Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333

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Not certain, WK, sorry.

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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou

Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008  |  IP: Logged
Wet Kipper
Circus Runaway
# 1654

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it appears to be deactivating the whole thing from within the single option in Photoshop.

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- insert randomly chosen, potentially Deep and Meaningful™ song lyrics here -

Posts: 9841 | From: further up the Hill | Registered: Nov 2001  |  IP: Logged
the giant cheeseburger
Shipmate
# 10942

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quote:
Originally posted by Chamois:
Thanks very much for all the advice about iTunes.

As I'm not musical I don't have a personal music collection (apart from some old vinyl records which belonged to my father that I keep for sentimental reasons).

I'd better go away and mull this over quietly by myself. I don't like leaving details of my credit card all over the internet for no good reason.

Thanks again

Just to add to this issue again with some more accurate information (I used to provide tech support to Apple users for a living, as an employee of a local independent computer store), it appears that you've come across the Mac App Store which is used to manage applications (including OSX itself) so they are tied to your Apple ID and can be accessed by you even if you choose to switch to a different computer. The relevance of iTunes to this is simply that you can also use your Apple ID to make music/video purchases on iTunes if you want to, but you don't need to if you don't want to. The Mac App Store is required for packages like iLife (iPhoto, Garage Band etc) because that's how they administer the licensing being tied to your Apple ID, and it's generally regarded as quite secure. I used it to buy Final Cut X (professional video editing software) the other day, which made for a very smooth process and no need to worry about entering serial numbers or other copyright mechanisms, although it was a rather large download which took about as long as a season of ... not going there!

Updates to content you do have by default (the system itself, iPhoto, Garage Band) are not paid purchases you'll need to make, but the Apple ID account system is used to restrict that use to you alone. The flip side of that inconvenience is that if you switch to a different Mac for some reason you can just log in and download the programs you've linked to your account previously without worrying about activations/de-activations, serial numbers etc like Wet Kipper is dealing with for his Adobe software licenses.

I would suggest using it, but connected to a VISA or MasterCard debit card which deducts money you do have from an account rather than a credit card which writes an IOU to be sorted out later on. A debit card will decline any attempt to make a purchase (including any hypothetical hackers' attempts) if there is no money (or not enough money) in that account, so if you keep that account empty except for transferring in funds when you want to make a purchase it is perfect for online purchases. You can also get pre-paid cards that work in a similar way and can be 'reloaded,' kind of like a VISA/MasterCard version of a store's gift voucher.

You can also purchase an iTunes gift voucher from many bricks-and-mortar retailers, which will enable you to redeem that and set up an account without enduring payment details.

I would suggest that you make sure you register it with an email address you'll be keeping for a while, and not one that is tied to your internet service provider which you might change later on. If you forget your password, you'll need this email account to get it back again, and it will also be used by Apple to inform you in the unlikely event there's a recall of the particular computer model you own.

quote:
Originally posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider:
iTunes is Satan's own way of organising your music collection and you will burn in Hell for all eternity if you tempt just one person to use it.

It's a worse sin than getting off your bike and pushing it up a hill.

It works for some people, doesn't for others. Just like most things in the computer world.

I must protest about your labelling of that practice in the world of cycling. It's perfectly acceptable to do that if you're on one of those rare hills where a 15% gradient sign comes as a relief because it means the 20% bit is over. That's about 1/7 and 1/5 for those of you thinking in the old money.

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If I give a homeopathy advocate a really huge punch in the face, can the injury be cured by giving them another really small punch in the face?

Posts: 4834 | From: Adelaide, South Australia. | Registered: Jan 2006  |  IP: Logged
Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76

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God's way of telling you you need lower gears. Or a different route. Or to MTFU. Everyone knows that.

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Might as well ask the bloody cat.

Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829

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Can anyone suggest a relatively low-priced but physically sizeable data storage medium?

My terrible Luddite* mother has finally gone digital, and is using my brothers laptop for downloading photos and burning them to CD. Given the faff involved, and the high likelihood of losing said CDs, I thought of getting her a portable hard drive for Christmas to put them on. A memory stick is far too losable especially with grandchildren and a Jack Russell about, but I figured something like my Seagate Freeagent Go drive - sort of slim paperback size - would probably be about right.

So... the rub of the question (at last!). These seem to start price-wise in the £50-60 range, and I'd rather not spend much more than £30 if I can help it. Has anyone any suggestions that might fit the criteria?

Thanks,

AG

*ie worse than me - which is bad!

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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869

Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007  |  IP: Logged



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