Some FAQs about PCs you wish you knew before you bought it!

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Q: What are .SFV files? What is a CRC32 checksum?
A:
SFV = Simple File Verification. Basically it appears like this:

Initial D - Live Action Movie.sfv, which contains


; Using hkSFV on 11.29.2005 at 22:27:48
; http://www.big-o-software.com
;
;/----
; 730357760 03:40.56 2005-11-21 Initial D - Live Action Movie.avi
;\----
;
Initial D - Live Action Movie.avi 0ac923f4


It says it's generated by hkSFV, file size, date, name, etc. And generated a CRC32 of 0ac923f4.

Some programs will automatically check SFV files when it unpacks an archive. SFV uses CRC32, which is an older and less accurate algorithm, but it is quite fast. A 700 meg file can generate a full CRC32 checksum in less than 2 minutes, even on an ANCIENT 400 MHz machine. On a modern machine, it should only take seconds.

Sometimes on Bittorrent, you may see the checksum embedded in the filename, like:


[L-E&IDE]_Initial_D_Fourth_Stage_Ep_16_[E87966A3].avi


Where [E87966A3] is the CRC32 checksum.

Sometimes you may see alternate checksums, such as MD5, SHA1, and other algorithms. Those basically generate a longer checksum, and is helpful when you need to generate a short but unique ID based on the content of the file. Any change in the file, and the ID will change. Thus, they can be used as unique file ID, as well as a file integrity check.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Q: Is there a free utility I can use to send e-mail from command-line, not using an existing e-mail client?
A:
Try Blat

Friday, November 04, 2005

Q: I want to install Apple's QuickTime 7, but I don't want iTunes. Is there a way to get QuickTimes Player by itself without iTunes bundled with it?
A:
As it turns out, there is, but it's pretty well hidden. However, I'll just link it for you... Enjoy. Apple - QuickTime - Download - Standalone QuickTime Player

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Q: Is it possible to "share" a single PC among multiple users?
A:
Yes. Ikonnet's HiShare (see link below) allows up to 3 additional "workstations" to be created from a single PC provided you add additional video cards (and mice and keyboard via USB) with appropriate software.

Link to One PC Multi User System - Hishare