Just Geeky

What to do when a program won’t run on Vista

The release of Windows Vista has also brought and outbreak of compatibility issues, programs which used to run on previous version of Windows no longer do. In this tutorial I will explain how to run a program in compatibility with another Windows OS This only works with a few programs which aren’t compatible so don’t get your hopes up too soon.

Start

• Install the program which is incompatible. If already installed skip this step.
• Now locate a shortcut for the program, this may be in the start menu or on the desktop. The shortcut must be the one which launches the program. (Try a search for the program name on the Start Menu, this should display the main shortcut for the program).
• Right click this shortcut and select Properties.
• When the Properties window displays select compatibility from the five tabs along the top of the window.
• Underneath the ‘Compatibility mode’ heading check the checkbox (’run this program in compatibility for’) and select an OS which the program is compatible with.

Surf the ‘Net for about 10 minutes and chances rate very
high that you’ll encounter an error of one kind or
another.

Whether the error message pops up on your own computer or
on a website loaded in your browser, knowing what the
error means can help you solve the problem much faster
and avoid hours of frustration (especially in a situation
where nothing you do will solve the problem).

The following represent some of the more common error
messages you may encounter while surfing the Internet and
what (if anything) you can do to correct the situation.

Error: 404 File Not Found

This means the web server cannot find the file or web
page you tried to pull up in your web browser.

Almost nothing you can do will correct this situation.
Try hitting your web browser’s “Refresh” button to see if
the page will load. If not, email the website operator to
let them know of the problem and then move on.

Error: 500 Internal Error

This error usually occurs when you fill in a form on a
web page (contact form, shopping cart, feedback form) and
click the submit button.

This means the server or the script handling the form on
the server has a major problem. Again, there’s nothing
you can do so just email the website owner and move on.

By the way, resubmitting the form a dozen times, banging
your hand on the keyboard, and yelling at your monitor
won’t fix the problem!

Error: 408 Request Timeout

This error usually occurs when you try to download a huge
file or large web page and, for whatever reason, the
connection times out.

Simply hit your browser’s “Refresh” button and it should
pick up the download again where you left off.

If not, contact the website owner and inform them of the
problem or check back later.

Error: Host Unavailable

Grab a cup of coffee on this one and fall back to reading
the newspaper.

You can try hitting your “Refresh” button a couple of
times, but, for all intents and purposes, this means the
server has gone down.

Try again in a few minutes on the off-chance you tried to
access the website just as the owners were restarting the
server or temporarily disconnected it from the Web.

If this doesn’t work, the phone rates your best course of
action to contact the website owner since it’s a safe bet
their email won’t work either.

Error: Unable to Locate Host

This message usually means one of three things: the web
server is down; your Internet connection is dead; you
typed in the web address incorrectly.

To correct the problem, first try retyping the web
address into your browser’s address bar. If that doesn’t
work, try surfing over to another website to make sure
your connection is live.

If you can’t load any websites, contact your Internet
service provider (ISP) for technical assistance.

As a general rule, if you encounter an error while
surfing the web, try these steps in order to fix the
problem:

1. Click your Web browser’s “Refresh” button.

2. Verify that you typed in the correct URL (web address)

3. Close down and restart your Web browser completely.

4. Contact the website owner to alert them to the problem
or request help.

5. Contact your ISP for help.

The Super Smash Bros. series has always been the premiere fighting game for anyone who didn’t want to spend their weeks trying to learn complicated button combinations and advanced aerial combos. It’s an easy game to learn and a harder one to master. There aren’t any worries about quarter-circle turns or dragon-punch directional pad movements–you just grab the star wand and smack a bitch around for a little while.

So with a tremendous amount of fanfare the newest installment of the series, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, has dropped for the Nintendo Wii and a horde of video gamers have rushed into the stores to get their grubby, Carpal-ridden mitts on it.

Overall, the game has tried to improve itself in every way possible. There seems to be an attempt at balancing the characters while also expanding on its gameplay themes. Stages, too, have gotten the royal treatment. While there are the more boring flat stages where nothing interesting happens, there are now more visually interesting and gameplay-influencing stages that delight the senses. There is a level that uses a design based off of the original Donkey Kong arcade cabinet as well as another stage that bases itself on the Nintendo DS’s Pictochat. If people refuse to play on the diverse stages, smack them upside the head because there’d be too much creativity going to waste.

As with any fighting game, the real focus is on what kind of characters are actually in the game. With a fully unlocked roster of 35 characters, most play styles are going to find one of them enjoyable. Fast and furious fighters will want to use Fox, while fans of slower and more controlled matches will probably find Snake (from Metal Gear Solid) and Ike (from Fire Emblem) to suit their play. Most of these characters have wildly different movesets from the rest: Snake will blow his enemies across the stages with a well-timed attack while Fox will use a blistering assault of laser blasts coupled with fast attacks to keep his opponent in check.

Newbies will immediately go for classics like the aforementioned Fox, who seems still to be one of the most powerful characters in the game; people who want an intriguing character to learn will find themselves looking towards characters like the sword-swinging Metaknight or the always second-fiddle Luigi.

The major addition to the game is the smash ball item. A long-touted feature by both Internet reviewers and press, it is almost always an instant kill move when performed correctly. It does tend to cheapen the game and mess with the dynamics of the matches, as some of these moves are incredibly cinematic and impossible to avoid. With the item enabled, it makes the inevitable rush to get it vastly unfair. It’s not a real gripe but more the annoying reality of the gameplay balance. There will always be characters who are better than others, but with the smash ball in play, it becomes viciously clear who’ll win. Thankfully, it can be turned off when it gets too aggravating.

With the almost begrudging move to the Internet for Nintendo, Brawl is one of the premiere games to get players connect over the ‘Net. Friend codes are an annoyance of the highest degree. If you want to play with a dude from Bumbleweed, Alabama who has been talking shit to you on a forum, you’ve got to put in that friend code. If you want to play your best friend who lives across the street but is too lazy to come to your house, expect to put in that bloody friend code. It’s a major aggravation that can disrupt the flow of fun very quickly, despite the ability to have two-minute matches against anonymous strangers the world over.

One thing that has been frequently complained about by the critics is the lack of voice chat. Honestly, it’s not a big deal: being called all sorts of crude, nonsensical and unprintable names wasn’t fun while playing Halo 3 and won’t be fun while kicking some kid’s ass with a flying pink ball.

The last thing to note is the adventure mode. While it’s an improvement over previous games–it has a story–the level design pretty much sucks. It’s an exercise in antagonizing the first player, heaven forbid there being a second player. Long, trap-laden hallways and enemies who are way too powerful fill these levels. It’s an improvement, but when you have to beat the game to unlock some characters, it’s just obnoxious.

Despite those complaints, the game is built for one thing: multiplayer brawling. It delivers it in spades and just for the multiplayer experience alone, the game is worth the $50 to pick it up. Just because it has an adventure mode annoyingly tacked on that provides a sparse amount of entertainment, doesn’t mean it’s a real detraction from the game. It’s the hairy mole on the prom queen’s back. It’s there and it kind of detracts, but she’s still the belle of the ball.

Though conspicuous by its absence on AMD’s processor page but announced some six months’ ago, the company is now shipping, in volume, triple-core processors based on its K10 architecture.

Indeed, MESH Computers is already listing at least two triple-core-equipped SKUs, comprising of the Phenom 8400 and Phenom 8600 parts, running at 2.1GHz and 2.3GHz, respectively.

Remember, though, that ‘losing’ a core from a monolithic quad-core architecture – whether by financial design or yield problems – also loses 512KiB of L2 cache, bringing the processor’s total L2 to 1.5MiB. L3 cache, which is shared, remains the same, at 2MiB

Processor-in-a-box models will be available soon, we’re told, although that’s akin to saying how long is a piece of string, right?

Codenamed Toliman, triple-core models will be a mainstay of AMD’s desktop processors business, with 45nm models planned for release later this year. We just hope that the company can roll out B3 stepping (erratum 298-free) models ASAP.

Is a triple-core Phenom faster than a dual-core (45nm) Core 2 Duo clocked in at the same speed? Will it be cheaper to the end-user? We’ll find out in due course.