Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with settings

When I say draft I mean draft!

DiscourseMarker — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:51:14 -0800

How can I get my HP printer to work correctly with my MacBook Pro? I have a new, HP Photosmart C4580 all-in-one printer connected to a wireless network. In the room I have an Intel iMac and a MacBook Pro, both running 10.5.6. I added the new printer to both computers, choosing the same driver from the list (C4400 series, as there was no C4500 series choice).

Here is my problem: I can change the settings on the iMac with no difficulty, and when I set it to draft, the printer actually prints in draft mode. However, nothing I do on my laptop seems to get the printer to print on draft. Even when I change the settings on the printer menu to draft, the printer is not printing draft (and is therefore wasting precious ink) when printing from the MacBook Pro. I also cannot get the printer menu to save any of my settings on the laptop - for example, it always defaults to HP Premium Photo paper instead of plain paper.

I have completely uninstalled all HP software from the MacBook Pro and installed the Apple HP drivers direct from the Apple website.

This is driving me absolutely insane. Help!!!

Don't look into the light!

nam3d — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:14:12 -0800

I currently have an iMac 24" (early 2008). If you are acustom to the iMac you'll know that the brightness setting is extremely high. Unfortunately everytime I boot the computer up the brightness settings reset and I have to go through the hassle of lowering the brightness. Why is the keyboard/mac doing this? and can it be fixed?

Shooting video in the dark on a budget

segatakai — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:37:46 -0800

Please help me prepare for taking video in the dark next month! I know very little about taking video and I need help preparing for an event where I won't have any second chances for re-shooting. I am going to an event at the beginning of May. It is an event to which I have been before, where people parade through the dark down a mountain path carrying paper lanterns, while chanting/singing. The scene is, IMHO, breathtaking, and I would like to record it, if at all possible. I have had some (minor) success getting some still shots, but it's video, really, that I most want here, as the bobbing and swaying of the lanterns in the dark, along with the chanting, is really magical.

What can I do to record this event? I don't need to get the whole thing -- if I can get even a 30 second stretch, I'll be very pleased (of course, the more the merrier), and I'm willing to try (the same or different things) over and over during the 20-30 minute event. I can't use any extra light source, as it will ruin the atmosphere for other participants. I will have a tripod, but often won't have time to find a spot to set up, as I'll be trudging through the dark on a sloped, rocky mountain path along with everyone else, but from time to time I can try to move ahead and get set up for when everyone comes past. I know I can use the "nightshot" feature on my video camera, but I'm not happy with the "space-video" look that results. I haven't tried it out yet, but I suspect the infrared mode will have similar odd-looking video, and probably won't carry far enough anyway.

What would a professional filmmaker do? Would they have a "million dollar" camera that would do this (in a way that my consumer model simply can't)? Would they do this mainly in post-production (if so, what kind of things would they do)? What are the important settings on my video camera in this setting: obviously exposure, but white balance? ae shift? wb shift? anything else? The camera is a Sony HDR-HC3. Know any good tutorials for making these kind of adjustments to exposure (etc) settings? Any and all suggestions most welcome! Thanks!

How to get my motherboard to recognize all 6GB of RAM

PetiePal — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:25:54 -0800

New Asus P6T motherboard only showing 4GB of RAM in BIOS when I have 6 installed. :( Hey everyone! Just built a new PC last weekend specs are as follows:

-Antec 900 case
-Asus P6T Mobo
-Intel Core i7 920 CPU
-3x2GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 RAM
-Vista 64-bit
-ATI Radeon 4870 1GB

I have the memory slotted in DIMMs A1/B1/C1 as listed in the manual for the P6T. When I boot into BIOS (and Vista 64) it only shows 4GB of RAM total. I've tried looking everywhere for possible disabling of memory reallocation etc but I haven't been able to find any way to switch this on and off. I don't think any of the modules are faulty but I will admit I'm not that experienced with RAM optimization.

Is it possible I may have to set voltages etc manually. I've heard/read that DDR3 takes more voltage than standard DDR2 RAM. Mobo BIOS was flashed to most recent (which was released March 6, I built it all the 7th lol) Any help would be most appreciated as I'm really super eager to get all 6GB working :(

Where are custom settings stored in Word 2000?

roxie110 — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:57:31 -0800

What file are settings (created macros, custom toolbar buttons, etc.) stored in in Word 2000? I want to try upgrading to Word 2003 but don't want to lose all the custom stuff in my current version of 2000 (in case I decide to go back). When I reinstalled Photoshop in a new computer, I was able to find a settings file that preserved all of my created actions. I think something similar must exist with Word, but I haven't been able to find it. Help!

Extra credit points if you know whether it's possible to import custom stuff from earlier versions into 2003 after you upgrade!

Why Oh Why, YUI?

fourcheesemac — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:22:26 -0800

DrupalFilter: I need help configuring YUI Rich Text Editor so that it appears in specific non-body fields in a specific content type [CCK-created bio page] while also appearing site-wide in all body fields. I love YUI text editor. With default settings enabled (both "paths" and "IDs" left blank), it appears in all the usual body fields (across quite a few specific content types), such as in stories, events, etc.

However, we have one particular content type on our site -- an expanded user bio linked to the user account with a bunch of CCK fields -- where I need YUI text editor to appear in just one of these fields (where the user writes a biographical text) in addition to appearing in all the usual body fields in other content types.

Presumably I need to put the field ID into the "IDs" field in YUI Editor Settings. But I don't understand the syntax of the field ID. Looking at the source of the CCK output, I see something called:

id="edit-field-bio-0-value"

Presumably this is the "ID" of the field that YUI needs to know, right? What syntax do I use to specify this field in the YUI IDs settings field?

By the way, in my "Paths" field, I have the following:
node/add/*
node/*/edit

(and this seems to work to make YUI available in body fields sitewide)

Thanks very much in advance. This is non-profit stuff and I'm not a developer, so maybe it's more obvious that it seems, but I cannot find documentation of the YUI Rich Text Editor Settings interface, or its integration with Drupal, anywhere. YUI RTE works beautifully elsewhere throughout the site -- by far the best solution I've tried. But this is frustrating me. I'll monitor the thread and answer any questions.

iphone app dev question

daveyt — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:22:29 -0800

High level iphone app dev question Before I commit to delivering something, and my skimming round the Apple SDK docs not withstanding. I need to know whether an app can be written that will change iphone settings.

In essence, can i create a app that calls various 'options' from the main Settings app, and present a select few of them in one page?

For example, could I have a page that displayed the Settings | wi-Fi on|off switch, and the Settings | Sounds | Vibrate on|off switch on the same page (or any combination of the different switches)? Is this possible or restricted?

(Note, not jailbroken, just legit. I'll go JB as a last resort)

How do I get my work POP3 account at home to have the same content (emails) as my work computer in Outlook?

Mr_Crazyhorse — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:09:28 -0800

How do I get my work POP3 account at home to have the same content (emails) as my work computer in Outlook? Here is the situation. I have a POP3 account that I use for work. I am using Outlook for all purposes.

At work I use my POP3 account from my webhost. After I read messages, I delete those I no longer have any use for. For example, at work I have 43 emails in my Inbox and folders called "Followup" and "Important". When I SEND/RECEIVE, all the deleted messages disappear from Outlook when I use it at work.

At home, it appears that no message has ever been deleted. At home I have 973 emails in my Outlook Inbox and no folders called "Followup" and "Important".

How can I make my Outlook at home look like my Outlook at work?

Here are my Outlook settings... they are the same at work as they are at home:

Account Type: POP 3
Logon with SPA: OFF
Outgoing SMTP: Same settings as incoming mail server
Leave a copy of messages on the server: YES
Remove from server after X days: OFF
Remove from server when deleted from "Deleted Items": YES

I will be standing by to provide any additional information.

Thanks in advance.

Is there such a thing as DOF bracketing?

drpynchon — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 07:55:58 -0800

Another photography question regarding bracketing aperture and locking exposure. Is this possible on either a Canon or Nikon dSLR? Say I like the metering/exposure as is on my camera just fine especially shooting in RAW, but I want to be able to shoot in bursts with "bracketed aperture..." For example let's say I have a shot at f/4 with a shutter speed of 1/100s based on whatever metering in either a basic time or aperture priority mode which I'm familiar with. Can I make my camera do a bracketed burst of shots at f/2.8 & 1/200s, f/4 & 1/100s, and f/5.6 & 1/50s? In other words I want to vary the depth of field in a burst but maintain the exposure. Is there a named function for such a thing? This may be obvious but I can't seem to figure out how to pull it off on my basic Canon XT and I'm also curious if the newer Canons or Nikons can do this.

I ask this because as a camera noob, despite practicing a ton I still have lots of trouble guestimating my DOF per aperture/focal length/distance on the fly. It wouldn't be such a big deal if I shot everything at f/16 but I'm trying to work in varying amounts of bokeh to my backgrounds and it ain't easy to predetermine how things will turn out. Any additional tips are much appreciated on this front.

Help me restore my Windows XP settings. DARN YOU SP3!!!

slavlin — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:57:08 -0800

How can I restore the settings I had from my previous Windows XP setup? I recently made the mistake of installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 and, to make a long story short, I had to use the restoration feature. During the restoration, I had another HP_Administrator folder was created with the name HP_Administrator.computername and none of the system's settings will register from the original "Docuements and Settings" folder.

I would like to know if there is a way to redirect it back to the original settings and documents folder, as it is still there, just not referenced by the current account.

facebook privacy setting wierdness

chrissyboy — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:37:29 -0800

Is anybody else experiencing privacy setting wierdness on facebook today, or have I broken my internets? Since facebook added more privacy options, I've been a bit more 'add happy' of late.

I notice today though that all custom options of who can and can't view different sections of my profile in the 'privacy' settings have disappeared, and all sections are defaulting to 'all friends'.

IIRC when facebook implemented the recent changes to privacy settings linked above, the old 'limited profile' became a friend list called limited profile, which was automatically set to hide the same parts of your profile as it had done before. However no friend list will now save in the 'exceptions' field of customized settings.

I've tried re-applying the 'limited profile' list to the sections I don't want that list to see, but the settings just won't stick. Also a duplicate (empty) friend list called limited profile keeps appearing, despite repeated deletion.

So what the f-bomb is going on? Have I done something to break teh facebooks or am I not alone?

I can has gud spelling?

Phire — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:59:21 -0800

Why is Firefox refusing to spellcheck? I got my laptop in August and one of the first things I downloaded was Firefox. As far as I can remember, Firefox has never spellchecked on it. The option to check spelling as I type is enabled. I've tried re-installing Firefox and re-installing multiple versions of Firefox, but it just won't spell check.

Can I fix this? How? (Currently running version 3 beta 4.)

And a tag-along question. Searching AskMe archives suggest a built in MeFi spellchecker. Jessamyn also made reference to this a few days ago, something about it being a little button that looks like 'ABC'. Have never seen this. What?

Lost user settings on a win XP machine

lobstah — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:59:05 -0800

Please help me restore my user settings (Win XP Pro). All of my wife's personal settings (also folders and files) have beem sent to the recycle bin upon restart. I tried to use the recycle bin restore feature, but to no avail. There is only one user account, and that seems to be set to new machine status. She wants her desktop back ! Last time, you guys saved my butt...can you do it again? Thanks.

Help me test the waters with Google Apps

edjusted — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:31:17 -0800

I'm trying to set up Google Apps Email Premiere for just a few users for testing. I'm following the instructions on the Pilot program help page, and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. The help page says to "Add another destination". My domain is currently being hosted by Bluehost if that makes any difference. The POP server address is mail.domain.com and when I try to add that as the additional destination, it states that the setting is saved, but then it doesn't show up. I e-mailed Google Apps support, and got this back, which doesn't seem to make sense.

"I've investigated your report and found that your CNAME record isn't configured properly.

Here's the current CNAME record:

Non-authoritative answer: mail.domain.com canonical name = domain.com.

To fix this issue, please modify your CNAME record as follows: mail.domain.com points to ghs.google.com"

I'm not a DNS expert, so I may be wrong, but this is what I'm afraid of:
1. change CNAME record to ghs.google.com
2. doh...all the e-mail sent to the rest of our accounts *not* on the Pilot program don't get delivered
3. once the ghs.google.com CNAME record gets propogated, then I do the "Add another destination"
4. add the MX records for Google mail
5. doh...while the MX records propogate, the people *on* the Pilot program don't get their email

What am I missing? Can someone help me with a more detailed step-by- step of what I need to do to make this work?

But it's just a little scratch

zachxman — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:11:47 -0800

On my Linux-based laptop and desktop, I've been having trouble reading DVDs that have even the slightest scratches. It seemed that Windows was a bit more tolerant of imperfections--is there any way to modify my [Ubuntu] settings so that it doesn't hang at the first missed bit? Now that half the country has Netflix and their DVDs are spending a lot of time in transit, every disk seems to come with at least one small abrasion. In an effort to smooth the playback (via Totem, VLC, MPlayer, whatever), I have taken to copying and/or transcoding the disk to my harddrive first (dvdrip, handbrake, vobcopy, and DVD Decrypter through wine), but each program hangs at the first unreadable sector. Is there any DVD equivalent to something like Exact Audio Copier to conduct error checking/correction to reclaim these bits? Alternately, are there any settings that I can modify to make my system tolerate a small gap in the data stream?

How do I change

EvilKenji — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 05:40:40 -0800

How can I change permissions so that i can run an underclocking program for my notebook under a guest account? I've looked in the control panel under administrator tools and tried changing some registry key permissions. I've looked under administrative tools > local security policy > local policies > user rights assignment directly and cannot find anything. In addition I changed permissions for the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Controls Folder\PowerCfg and gave all users access. However the two programs I've used for underclocking, Notebook Hardware Control and speed switch XP still do not run under a guest account.

One of the programs (notebook hardware control) has a feature that allows it to run as a service; allowing it to run on guest accounts. However the version I have, for some reason, the feature is not accessible. Is there anyway where I can change some registry key permissions to get this program to work?

How to fix this icon?

catatethebird — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 16:04:55 -0800

How can I change the icon (that shows up in My Computer, etc.) for a hard drive in Windows XP? This is mainly an aesthetic problem.
I have a second internal hard drive (F), and in 'My Computer' and when opened, it used to show the normal hard drive icon, just like my C drive. Then one day I turned on my computer, and there was the little broken icon image. Now, the icon itself still exists on my computer, my C drive still has it. My problem is I can't find any way to fix the broken icon. In other folders, if you right click and open properties, there is a 'customize' tab. This doesn't show up in the properties for the F drive. So how can I change it?
I know this isn't a huge problem, but it has been bothering me.

Device Manager in XP doesn't see LCD monitor

Dasein — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:11:28 -0800

Help! I've just reinstalled Windows XP, and now my computer doesn't recognize that I have a monitor in the Device Manager, which means I can't install drivers, which means my screen in currently in 4-bit colour mode. Which is really not going to sit well with my family if I can't fix it. The screen is a Viewsonic VX924 LCD Display. I have the install CD, but it's useless if the computer doesn't even know it has a monitor. Before I updated to SP2, it was running in 16-bit colour mode at 640x480, and I tried the CD to no effect. But now it's in 4-bit colour mode, and the install CD won't even run without 16-bit colour. I have already been to this page and tried installing both the Signed XP and the Unsigned drivers. Nothing.

Help! I'm starting to get worried.

Firefox settings not being saved

docpops — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 07:15:13 -0800

Firefox won't save my settings. Firefox inexplicably updated itself, lost all my bookmarks, and now also opens up without any of my prior settings for the toolbar (new tab, history, bookmarks, etc.).

Anyone know how I can correct this?

Stroke my Photoshop, the same way every time

pithy comment — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 13:33:19 -0800

Can I set defaults in Photoshop CS2? Specifically, I want to change the Layer Style "stroke" default. Right now whenever I want to add a border using the stroke function, it defaults to 3pt, Red, Outside. I almost always use 1pt Black, Inside. How can I set that as the default?

Better sound device management on OSX?

pzarquon — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 11:02:03 -0800

Is there a widget or other worthwhile utility out there that can give me slightly easier, and better, control of the "Sound" settings on my Mac? Right now I have "System Settings" in my dashboard, and I click that and then to the "Sound" window. Which isn't bad, but... getting to the same point on my PC at work requires only double-clicking the cheesy speaker icon in the taskbar (well, okay, I also have to to go "Properties...").

On my iMac G5, I use Skype with a USB headset with a microphone (input and output device), GarageBand with an iMic USB adapter from Griffin (input device, sometimes output as well if I plug in a headset to the iMic), iSight for chatting (built-in mic audio in), iTunes for music (built-in audio out)... and may even periodically plug something into the 1/8" line-in jack on the back.

Suffice it to say, switching between these applications is complicated a bit more by having to also go to the "Sound" page of "System Settings" to change input and output device settings. Basically, I'd be happy with some way to get straight there from my desktop.

Of course, never satisifed with a simple solution, I'm also curious if there's a utility that can "remember" or automatically adjust my sound device settings depending on what application is launched and/or what hardware I just plugged in. For example, GarageBand will always cause the system to cutover to "iMic USB Audio In," or plugging in my cheap Logitech USB headset with mic would prompt the system to switch to it for both input and output.

I imagine this is not a particularly vexing problem, but if there's anything Mac folks do well, it's coming up with elegant ways to solve problems, even some you didn't know you have!

How do I change my monitor display from vertical back to horizontal?

missmobtown — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 17:27:42 -0800

Ack. Happily coding away in DreamWeaver when my monitor hiccuped, and suddenly my horizontal display had been switched to a vertical one (ie, so I need to rotate my monitor 90 degrees CW to read properly). No amount of poking around Windows XP settings or Googling has given me the simple solution I seek: How on earth do I switch back to a regular horizontal view? Everything else seems to be working just dandy.

Why the cyclical disconnects?

sourwookie — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 15:10:33 -0800

Help me get this to work! My iBook/SBC DSL/Airport express will not stay online. I'm 99% sure it's just some simple setting issue. I just switched to mac so I really don't know my way around or am really familiar with the terminology... So I'm connected and surfing. I go to the little < ...> icon at the top of the screen. The "< part of it is black, the ... part of it is grey, yet i can still connect. when i click it the pull down menu shows: ppoe: connecting... (this is grey) disconnect (check mark) built-in ethernet airport open internet connection... after a minute or so of surfing, this dialoge box pops up: no pppoe server has been found for the specified service. please delete the service name option and try again. so i wait a few seconds, pull the menu from the ...> icon. It now looks like this:

PPoE: Idle (this is grey)
Connect
(check mark) Built-in Ethernet
Airport
Open internet connection...

I click "connect" and I can immediately start surfiing again---for about a minute, then that dialoge box pops up again. Rinse. Repeat.

I'm really new to the Mac world so any help in as close to layman's terms would be really loved.

I'll be online for a while so I can answer any questions almost immediately. Thanks, all!

To view this question you must download the most recent version of the free Acrobat Reader® software

clgregor — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 13:07:15 -0800

Every time I open Adobe Acrobat, it creates a folder in My Documents called "My eBooks." How can I stop this? I hate repeatedly deleting this folder, and I'd rather not just make it "hidden." Similarly, when I do mail merges, Office creates "My Data Sources," another folder I don't want. And AIM makes "filelib" and "downloads." The list goes on and on.

This would be a great thread to collect all sorts of instructions on stopping auto-folder creation, if you have tips.

How can I take clear pictures in a small, dark club?

adampsyche — Tue, 25 Jan 2005 06:58:03 -0800

What are the best camera settings to use when taking pictures at a concert in a small club? Mine always come out really blurry. Canon S45 digital camera, if that helps any (4mp).