DEMO TECHINCIAL HELP!!

[america person]

ok, i wanted to dl the DW demo, and so i go the link on subsim, start dl the demo, and here is the funny business, i start the dl, everything is fine...but then i hit a button, NO CLUE wich one either, and the dl stops, with the empty .exe file sitting on my harddrive, it is not the install wizard, just this Dangerous_waters_demo.exe, that TAKES UP 0 bytes....none nada, zip. and so when i try to delete it, it says that DAngerous_waters_demo is being used by another person or program....WHAT THE FECK IS GOIN ON? i tried deleteing, dragging and dropping it to the recycle bin, and i give up. on a further note i dl the demo again successfully last night as i slept, ran the install today after school and it is a kick ass demo, suberb....but i jsut want this .exe off my pc, before it messes up my pc. it currently appears harmful, but im not sure, don't want to take chances. If any of you guys know how i may solve this problem my AIM is oidkmfan, MSN is tla@qpcteam.com and my icq is 204906912. i also have skype, and that is t-money_treamhis.

thnx for the help...TRAV

[MaHuJa]

This sounds like a download manager gone bad. Totally unrelated to what was actually being downloaded.

What download manager do you use?
(If none, specify browser instead)

Can you delete the file if you quit the download manager?


If you reboot?

[america person]

i use mozilla firefox...and i solved the problem...i changed resolution and then deleted it, problem solved

[moose1am]

I normally will shut off my firewall program and my Virus Checking Program and any other program that may be running before I go download any new files over the internet. I leave everything turned off while installing the new downloaded program also. Then I reboot after the install to complete the process. With a reboot my firewall ZAP and my virus program McAfee Virus Scan will start up again with the reboot.

To play the DW game I have to turn down the security settings on my Firewall and put the firewall in learning mode or shut it down completely.

To clear any residual temp files or tmp files you can reboot into safe mode and search for any *.tmp files on the computer and then delete them. You would be surprised how many residual temp file one can find when using windows98 SE operating system. Since swithing to Windows XP I don't seem to have as many residual temp files left on my hard drive anymore.

I hate working with computers at times due to the complexity of them. But I got into computer games years ago and that forced me to learn more about how computers work. I remember the first time I heard someone talk about a autoexec.bat file and it went right over my head. Then a few years later I was rewriting that file to play games on my computer and working with a config.sys file that allowed me to chose multiple formates when I booted up my old packard Bell 1992 computer. Games like 1942 Pacific Air Wars and Fleet Defender required lots of ram memory and I had to learn to put stuff into upper memory to make room for those games. I hated having to figure that stuff out on my own. This was before the internet was available to me and getting game tech support meant calling long distance phone numbers and being put on hold for 30 minutes before getting to talk to anyone. Boy have things changed in the last ten years. Games like DW work right out of the box without all that extra work.

Do all you guys shut down your other programs before downloading stuff off the internet? PS I don't download that many games and only from sources that I trust.

[LuftWolf]

I normally will shut off my firewall program and my Virus Checking Program and any other program that may be running before I go download any new files over the internet. I leave everything turned off while installing the new downloaded program also. Then I reboot after the install to complete the process. With a reboot my firewall ZAP and my virus program McAfee Virus Scan will start up again with the reboot.

:o

This I do not recommend. ;)

[MaHuJa]

For those that are faint of heart and/or not interested in computer security technical stuff, feel free to skip this post...

I normally will shut off my firewall program and my Virus Checking Program and any other program that may be running before I go download any new files over the internet. I leave everything turned off while installing the new downloaded program also. Then I reboot after the install to complete the process. With a reboot my firewall ZAP and my virus program McAfee Virus Scan will start up again with the reboot.

Keeping virus scanners off during the run of a downloaded program is probably the #2 worst thing you can do. Kinda negates its purpose. If you have problems with it, try getting them resolved, or switch. (If you then have it because someone else pays for it, tough luck.)

(#1 is turning off your firewall. If you leave it down for 1 second, you've been exposed already. It's all it takes.)

To play the DW game I have to turn down the security settings on my Firewall and put the firewall in learning mode or shut it down completely.

If this is the case you're not doing something right. It's supposed to remember from time to time.

To clear any residual temp files or tmp files you can reboot into safe mode and search for any *.tmp files on the computer and then delete them. You would be surprised how many residual temp file one can find when using windows98 SE operating system. Since swithing to Windows XP I don't seem to have as many residual temp files left on my hard drive anymore.

You have looked in "C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp" (which is the standard location) I hope. Note that the "local settings" folder is usually hidden.

I've had a whole GB of trash there at one occasion.

The "disk cleanup" program that comes with XP will automatically remove that which is in that folder which is older than a week.

I hate working with computers at times due to the complexity of them. But I got into computer games years ago and that forced me to learn more about how computers work. I remember the first time I heard someone talk about a autoexec.bat file and it went right over my head. Then a few years later I was rewriting that file to play games on my computer and working with a config.sys file that allowed me to chose multiple formates when I booted up my old packard Bell 1992 computer. Games like 1942 Pacific Air Wars and Fleet Defender required lots of ram memory and I had to learn to put stuff into upper memory to make room for those games. I hated having to figure that stuff out on my own. This was before the internet was available to me and getting game tech support meant calling long distance phone numbers and being put on hold for 30 minutes before getting to talk to anyone.

The .... well, the old times, at least. I was there.

If you ever heard Bill Gates quoted for saying something along the lines of "nobody will need more than 640k of RAM" that's where it all came from.

(Boy, was he wrong!)

It's probable that it's due to the problems that came with this that computer games got the "geek factor" it got.

Boy have things changed in the last ten years. Games like DW work right out of the box without all that extra work.

We now run systems that do not have the inherent limitations that was present in DOS. No such assumptions were really made for the newer windowses - those limitations that were have been slowly removed or increased.

Do all you guys shut down your other programs before downloading stuff off the internet?

I don't. There are three reasons to:
1) Processing power.
Things that take CPU while in the background. These either have a priority of IDLE which makes everything else take precedence, or they are buggy in which case they should be shut down. Otherwise this is no reason to shut them down. (Except other game instances, but running e.g. DW and OFP at the same time isn't recommended anyway)
2) Memory.
Especially programs that do something take ram, as they cannot be swapped out.
3) Application compatibility issues.
This is the main reason for shutting down antivirus and firewalls.

I don't run two games at the same time, I have 2.5 GB ram, and I don't have compatibility issues.

PS I don't download that many games and only from sources that I trust.

You do trust them whatever place it is. If you download and run an app from some trojanedstuff.com you trust them:

"Trust is an important concept in computer security and security engineering. In this sense, a "trusted" resource is one that you are forced by necessity to trust — that is to say, that its failure will compromise the security or integrity of the system. The name of the Trusted Computing platform is said to be derived from this sense." -Wikipedia

If they are trustworthy or not is another question - and the interesting one.



On trust and DW:
Missions: Safe, until mission parser buffer overflow (or similar) is found, in which case it's very likely to be verifiable.
Database mods (e.g. lwami): Auto-installer is trusted, but possibly verifyable. Otherwise safe (unless parser vulnerability is found)
Interface mods: Trusted
Sound/Graphics, file replacement: Safe, unless parser vulnerability is found.
Sound/Graphics, repacking: Trusted

Trusted means you're relying on the one making them and the ones who could have changed the file before it ended up in your hands to not introduce malicious stuff.

Verifiable means you can check for yourself if it is maliciously made or not. Which most people just don't do even when they can.


I believe the community is quite lacking of those who would (and could) do such things, but it only takes one...