Damn, that sucks.

*Joke mode on* That's what you get for trying to make a full aware AI in your home, bro. *End Joke Mode*

I know 360 does, but IIRC Wii(classic) and PS2 do not....but one CAN buy cheapish devices to convert older signals to/from HDMI/etc.

I will be praying and hoping for the best for you.

WII use the video and sound separate cables, which can also go in a scarf converter. Think it’s the same with ps2. A quick google will answer your question.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ps2+to+tv+connector&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari
https://support.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-360/console/connect-xbox-360-console-tv
For example. I think you can get converters for most though. I would always suggest paying a bit more and getting a tv with different ports all over the shop, just to be sure (and you don’t want to be swapping).

Actually, I have some time now, so I'll start by replying to what's been said:

I'm not talking about a regular .EXE; I'm talking about a .NET .EXE, which is a byte code more like Java.

Does that compile for .NET Core, or is it just for other languages to use them instead of C#? Anyway, I'll put it on the list of things to look up as soon as I have enough time.

Oh, well then it won't solve my problem. But it seems like it would be worth them developing it if it's DRM-free.

It's actually not specifically that I don't trust their installer not to spy, but more that I have a policy to keep that computer offline at all times, because I don't want anyone spying.

For my purposes it really needs to be cross-platform compatible within a single .EXE, so anything compiled to machine language (including C/C++) won't work, but Java might theoretically work, but my previous experience with Java makes it seem like it's not really as compatible as people seem to think it is, and it's kind of a pain to work with, but whatever. But you say that even Java can only be installed online?! You've got to be kidding me! Or did I misunderstand you?

Well, to be fair, you don't actually know how much complexity is in the program.

I'll check that out as well. I was trying to avoid emulation for other reasons which I don't even want to get into because we're dealing with enough as it is, but it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility, especially if all else fails.

That's a good point, and frankly, I'm not sure how well you can emulate a Windows .NET program on a Windows emulator running on a Macintosh. I'm not saying that it wouldn't work well, but I just don't know. In any case, it seems like jumping through a lot of hoops - both an interpreted language and and emulated OS.

And I understand this concern, but unfortunately the answer to this particular question is not one that I'm comfortable posting on the Internet. Believe me, nobody in the world understands better than I do the downside of privacy - at least from the perspective of practicality - but that's how it is. Sorry. But then, for a bunch of people who frequent a website specifically devoted to providing a product with registration and internet connectivity requirements stripped out of it, I'd hope that you'd all understand.

And by the way, you've all been very patient with me, for which I thank you. Most people just call me a freak or an idiot and say that I'm too exhausting, always doing everything the hard way, trying to reinvent wheels, if not gravity itself, etc.

I've never used Unity, which isn't to say that I wouldn't be comfortable learning a new language, but I don't happen to know it. I didn't realize that it could be used for making anything other than games. Can it? But the bigger problem is that I know someone who does use it, and according to him, it requires registration, an Internet connection, etc. He could be wrong, but that's what he says, which is another reason that I never even considered it.

Actually, I found that very funny. But to put everyone's mind at ease, I'd be the last person to ever do anything illegal. Think about it - as private as I am, why would I want to do something that I know would incite the government, including the police, to poke their nose directly into my business?

Oblongs! I haven't seen that in forever. At first I thought you mean that it would end up being put in Sensodyne toothpaste, before I realized that it was just an ad before the video. But seriously, why wouldn't they like that suggestion?

Sorry that quoting got slightly messed up. Anyway, if I were to do that (which I might, in view of new predicaments that I'll describe soon), can I do a thorough format (at least setting all bits to 0 on the hard drive) using something like fdisk or anything that is included, or if not, what should I use and how would I do it? I haven't reformatted a hard drive since about the mid-2000s, so I'm not sure what I even have for that anymore.

Actually, I am a software developer, though I'm currently unemployed (long story), but I'm not a famous anything. Have you learned nothing from this discussion? (I don't mean for that to sound rude, but I just mean that it should be clear that fame is the farthest thing from anything I'd ever want).

Actually, I found a nice converter box that I think I'll get.

Why would it be better for the TV to do it directly? And what's wrong with swapping? I don't switch between consoles super-often, so I don't mind if I have to change plugs from time to time, as long as it works.

Well, now that I've gotten all of the replies out of the way, I'll get to the updates about the main problem. There's good news and bad news (mostly bad). I'll start with the bad news:

After all the partial installation crap that didn't work, which I had been trying to do for a few days, I went back in to use the program in question (the one that I'm trying to upgrade after I manage to upgrade my version of VS). When I opened it, I got an error that said I couldn't view my project files, and they didn't appear. The list of files and project stuff all appeared on the right, but if I double clicked any of them I got the same error or a similar one. However, I was still able to run the program.

But then when I finished, and closed Visual Studio, I noticed that it had erased the program from my hard drive, along with it's parent directory containing it and numerous other programs that I've made!!! Fortunately, I have backup copies, but why the hell would Visual Studio just delete my programs without asking me?!

So anyway, I put in a portable drive and made a new copy from a backup. Then once the program was back on the hard drive again, I tried to open it, and Visual Studio immediately crashed! But at least this time it didn't delete anything. I even checked my code files in Notepad, and everything seems fine. I also tried opening Visual Studio directly, which worked, but then when tried to open the project through that, it crashed again.

I'm thinking of possibly just opening Visual Studio, then opening my code files in Notepad and copying the code into new code files within a new project, and hopefully that will work.

And now for the good news (if you even want to call it that):

At this point, it may be a perfect excuse for me to just make backups of anything that isn't already backed up, reformat and reinstall Windows, connect to the Internet and download/install Visual Studio 2019 the normal way, and then disconnect from the Internet (as I've explained in more detail in an earlier post).

I just need to be CERTAIN that the way that I format the drive will completely erase everything before I put it online! Any thoughts?

Most (if not all) hard drive manufacturers have software that allows you to perform a low-level format. Basically it recreates all the sectors/tracks. I would just do a web search for your hard drive manufacturer + low-level format download, to find one specific to your hardware.

There's a few other options out there like Darik's Nuke, but some have have restrictions unless you buy the program.

Rather than reply all:
“ But it seems like it would be worth them developing it if it's DRM-free. ” - it’s not, it is a huge amount of work duplicating everything that VS does, and the end product may not be as good. Also it would need a connection to download the various different plugins, additional scripts and tools that are commonly used, so you wouldn’t be any better off than VS. Almost all languages have vast libraries of code, tools etc. To plug into.

“ cross-platform compatible within a single .EXE” - there is no such thing. . Net, have both compile to byte code. The target system has to have a clr or virtual machine through which the byte code is then run, so there are multiple components, even if you don’t have to build them yourself. If the machine has a modern browser, you could - and again I.know nothing about what you are doing, so analysis is impossible - use JavaScript, maybe even electron which cross platform:
https://electronjs.org/
In fairness, that is probably the simplest and quickest idea, and it’s very easy to learn. Does use chrome for UI, so browser needs to be on target machine, but shouldn’t need anything else.

“Unity” - it uses c# therefore is only learning some UI. It’s a game engine, but you could just setup a flat 2d scene add a UI and code the backend in c#. It’s just a thought, never tried it. As for registration, where you develop would need to be logged in, once you build for a target however, that should be stand alone (used to need unityplayer, not sure now as haven’t looked in a while).

“ Why would it be better for the TV to do it directly? And what's wrong with swapping? I don't switch between consoles super-often, so I don't mind if I have to change plugs from time to time, as long as it works.” - depends, if you get a naff concert or you could get some latency or misconnection. No need to add extra bits into the mix if not needed. I find having to pull the tv over to switch cables a real nuisance, your usage may vary. A lot of tvs come with multiple sockets, so why not, you never know when you would need more.

It knows......run b*tch run!

(More serious: I don't know....bug? Safety feature perhaps?)

As I said before/just above this bit on the prior reply in this post: Try moving the HDD to your other PC and using it's OS to format it.....and/or use a program. I hear tell a program called bleachbit might work...dunno if it's freeware, though.

Well I know that my hard drive didn't come with anything like that, but I could search for it. I didn't realize that there was enough difference between hard drives that they needed their own specialized tools though, because don't they all have a standard format if they're using a particular file system?

Well, they do it with games, so why would it be much harder with other software?

I'm not sure what you mean. Install the formatting software on the other PC? What good would that do, since the two computers aren't connected to each other? Or do you mean move the hard drive from one PC to the other? But wouldn't that essentially put the hard drive online?

I suppose so, but don't think for a second that I'm actually Kurt Cobain and I just faked my own death, because that's not who I am... I promise.

Well obviously it needs an interpreter on any computer that runs it, but that doesn't mean that it needs a different executable file. Well I really need it to be more of a regular application, not something to run in a browser, and all you really need to know is that there are a lot of calculations and code and such in the program, but it doesn't really have any external dependencies. I don't think I even included a single DLL or anything like that.

Well that all sounds good up until the point where you say that I need to log in while I'm developing, which is the most crucial stage to be offline, hence the reason why I'm using an offline computer.

I'm not sure what you're referring to here, because I'm not sure why there are extra bits or what a "naff concert" is, but I'm planning to get an adapter that looks good and has been rated and reviewed well.

The day a development program provides the service of an automatic an unwelcome deletion of the files that it had once created is the day that people riot in the streets.

So that is what you meant - move the hard drive to the online computer. Well, no thanks, because that would then put the hard drive online.

Anyway, I've also downloaded a file recovery program, just because I thought it might be useful to have around in case more files keep getting deleted. Other than that, the next step that I think I'll try is to see if I can get the program working again, just to see what went wrong, but then I'll do the whole backup, reformat, etc. I just need to plan it out a bit first, because I want to make sure that I don't mess up anything. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to think/say/do at the moment. I'll always welcome suggestions, if there are any more, and I very much appreciate the ones that you've all given thus far - even including the ones that turned out to not work or not be applicable, because at least you tried, and I thank you all!

EDIT: Of course, none of that means that I won't encounter even more problems soon, but who knows. First though, I think I need to take care of the heater and the TV.

Most game companies are usually a bit less obsessive over control(to put it mildly) than companies like MS/etc with their OSs and related files.

I was a bit rushed with that....I meant I don't know if you can erase the entire drive(if it's the OS drive of that air gapped pc) with a format. You might only be able to move it to the other PC(after downloading the needed tools to that other PC and disconnecting it from the net of course) and format it from there.

Unless Kurt Cobain also knew how to code I don't you'd be him, my man. :)

"They can riot....but only quietly" -Program devs of said program. ;)

As said above this, it might be the only way short of smashing the drive to bits and buying a new one....you could always take the other pc fully offline before doing so if you went that route, correct?

Good...tech em who's boss. :D

There isn't that much of a difference. One program will probably work just as well as another (though they might key their program to only recognize a hard drive that they manufactured). However it is a free utility that is offered on their websites, and I would think a hard drive manufacturer would have less reason to place any spyware than a free program.

Then again, it could be the perfect cover. Muhahahahaha!

I know with older hard drives, low-level formats weren't supposed to be something that is done regularly. I vaguely remember something about lifespan in some cases. Generally they were designed to function on average between 5 and 7 years before needing repair or replacement, though mileage may vary (I have a few that have lasted over 10). I have no idea about newer hard drives though as I got out of the IT buesiness a while back.

Are you referring to installing the Visual Studio 2019 Community Edition? If so, you may need to occasionally reconnect to the internet to keep using it. As per this webpage:

"VS Community is a free IDE, so when your community license expired, you just need to login VS with a Microsoft account. Do you want using VS offline? Your work asks offline environment? If yes, this may not be the answer that you want to hear, but we do require occasional online connectivity as a requirement of using Visual Studio Community. While we set out to try and make Community as broadly available as possible, we recognize that it doesn’t accommodate every scenario. For those who need offline usage, Professional and Enterprise editions might be a better choice."

I guess that's true, but it's just so stupid! I don't see why they can't just do it the way they used to, and let people download it. It worked just fine then, didn't it? It did for me, anyway.

Oh, well I think it would be easier to reformat it where it already is then to take the drive out and put it into the other computer, even if I have to download and transfer some formatting software to it. And if you're worried that I can't format a hard drive on which the operating system resides, that's not true, because I can boot into another program like fdisk or something (or I guess these other ones), and format it from there, because it will be loaded into RAM, so it won't erase itself. Then I could boot from a Windows CD to install. At least, that's what I did years ago every time I reformatted.

Are you trying to make me even more paranoid? In any case though, I don't think spyware would be effective unless it installs it after reformatting, and even so, it wouldn't matter on that computer, since it's disconnected. I'll look into some software like that.

Well I've had mine for about 7 or 8 years, I think. It's a traditional style disc, but next time I'm definitely getting a solid state drive... but that may still be a few years from now.



Anyway, the good news is that the files which I thought had been automatically deleted weren't actually deleted as such, but moved into the publish directory for Visual Studio. I have no idea why that would happen, but I just moved them back, and made another convenient backup. But since my installation and everything seems so corrupted now anyway, I think I'll need to reformat after I'm certain everything's backed up.

I'll probably do that within the next few days, but first I have to take care of the heater, and so far there have been a bunch of different people in a row who've inspected it and haven't been able to figure out what's wrong with it (and supposedly they're experts, so I have no idea what horrible atrocity has occurred!).

I'll install the new TV as soon as the heater's done, but I don't know when that will be, because they don't like to give accurate times about when they'll show up, so if I start putting in the TV, with my luck they'll arrive just then! And I still need to order a HDMI adapter (ever time I try to type HDMI I instinctively type HTML).

Oh, well. Hopefully nothing else will fall apart soon. I'll let you know how it all goes.



EDIT: I didn't see the following post until I already posted everything above:

Ugh! Well what about installing certificates for offline installation, and also refreshing those certificates? I've read something about that:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/install/install-certificates-for-visual-studio-offline?view=vs-2019

But I don't know if I entirely understand what it's trying to do and I'm not sure if it's the same thing as activation (if not, then how is it different?). Does this apply to the Community Edition? It doesn't need to be version 2019 - it could be 2017 or even 2015, but nothing older than that. I can't get Professional, Enterprise or any version that isn't free, because I need it to be anonymous.

Didn't they have more competition back then? That might have something to do with it(i.e. being more open and nicer to the user base to drive sales).

Sounds good...just make sure to backup every thing you want to save...than back THAT up for good measure. :)

Possible replies: No, that's my job. ;) & Your paranoia(lovable as it is) is truly a weapon to surpass metal gear(pic related, it's your new security system if you want it :))

Just be aware that you get much less space for the cost, and also that if it failed you'd lose everything all at once, most likely.

That's good to hear(the first bit) and good luck with your plan, then.

As I said before....it KNOWS(the heater must be punished...it knows too much and is likely becoming self aware...get rid of it while you can. o.0).

Well installing TVs is usually a breeze...so have fun with that. :)

*Heresmyaccount's house then crumbles into dust...news at 11*

I will, of course.

Hmm, I thought they came way down in price so that they're almost the same size for the same price now. Am I wrong? Well I back up stuff, so losing data isn't the biggest deal, but I was under the impression that the traditional hard drives are much more likely to fail.

I wouldn't be surprised. And what's with the crab that has oil tanks attached to it, and an extremely long cannon for a nose?