I have windows xp and it has started responding very slowly, so was thinking if the various software I've installed might be affecting its speed.  PS: Even if I run one program/software at a time the same thing happens
I have always heard that it's a bad idea to install lots of software on a Windows machine, and new software should always be tested in a virtual machine so as to not permanently affect the operating system. But does the actual act of installing a piece of software really slow down the Windows OS? Or is it more due to the programs themselves running a bunch of background services?  To rephrase my question, if I were to continuously install software but then remove it later, would Windows still slow down?
Is "Smaug" pronounced "Smog"? Did Tolkien the linguist intend for the name of the dragon Smaug to be pronounced "Smog" [IPA: /smɒɡ/ or /smɔːɡ/]? The trailer for the second installment of The Hobbit trilogy pronounces the word (pronounced 'sma-ow-g' [IPA: /smaʊɡ/]) entirely differently than the way I have been reading it for all these many years. Weighing a flying bird Easy way to turn JavaScript array into comma-separated list? I have a one-dimensional array of strings in JavaScript that I'd like to turn into a comma-separated list. Is there a simple way in garden-variety JavaScript (or jQuery) to turn that into a comma-separated list? (I know how to iterate through the array and build the string myself by concatenation if that's the only way.) If anonymity is so important, why is it not universal? A frequent argument brought up in support of voting anonymity is that it can lead to potential grudges. Certainly the review system is of the same nature.  I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that voting is anonymous and reviewing is not. Either both should be public--and this would be fine since public reviewing has been successful--or both should be anonymous--and I assume this would be the desired option since this community holds anonymity so dear.  One could say that voting rates the posts, the actual meat of the site, while reviewing is based on clarifying the purpose of the site and cleaning it up.   answer makes the point that the community can trust that votes are a good measure of quality for the very reason that they do not know who cast them; the mentality that a high-ranking member may have supported something could blur the line between "science" and "politics/religion."  Reviewing, then, can be seen as a judgment of specific members rather than quality of edit/questions, which seems to fall precisely under the "politics/religion" umbrella--the review system is much more vulnerable to grudges due to this.  So let's discuss the differences and the implications of these disjointed anonymity policies. How do I disable System Integrity Protection (SIP) AKA "rootless" on macOs [OS X] Why does the sizeof operator return a size larger for a structure than the total sizes of the structure's members? I had to take ownership of the special folder C:\Program Files\WindowsApps to fix . The issue is now resolved, so I'd like to reset the permissions to the way they were before I took ownership of the folder.  I reverted NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller to the owner and removed my account's permission entries:     But I still have full control of the folder and can browse the folder in Explorer without getting the usual warning that I would have to take ownership:     Is it possible to restore the default permissions of this folder? Avoiding the second leg of an international flight - different rates for a return ticket? Possible Duplicate:          I am in the process of booking a flight from LAX - ZUR. I found a flight for approx. 1100 USD. However, if I book that flight and then continue, after a 5 hour layover, onward to SVO, The flight is approx. half of the initial price, and the first leg of the second flight is the exact same flight as the first booking. Assuming I travel light and do not check any baggage, are there any potential issues with this? Seems like a hell of a way to save a good chunk of change. A Linear Diophantine Equation is of the following form:                                                                                        $Ax+By+C=0$, where $x_1 \leq x \leq x_2$ and $y_1 \leq y \leq y_2$.  If the value of $A,B,C,x_1,x_2,y_1,y_2$ are given and $x_1 \leq x_2$ and $y_1 \leq y_2$, then how many solutions can be found? How can I find out the total number of solutions according to the above condition. Equation's symbols or parameters description are shown below, however, the = and the details of parameter are not aligned.     I want to make a parameters list for a equation like this, in which symbols, = and detail information are aligned in terms of vertical position.  where    ...    P   =   notional permeability factor    N   =   number of waves    Sd  =   damage level    ...   A tabular environment will produce more spacing before and after text. So how to make the = vertical aligned?   The codes is provided:  \begin{equation} \frac{H_s}{\Delta D_{n50} } = 1.0~ P^{0.13}~ \left(\frac{S_d}{N} \right)^{0.2} \xi_m^P~ \sqrt{\cot \alpha} \end{equation} where:   $H_s$ = significant wave height, equal to the average of the highest 1/3 of the waves  $\Delta$  = relative buoyant density, equal to $\rho_r / \rho_w - 1$, where     $\rho_w$ is the water density  $D_{n50}$ = nominal  diameter defined in Equation (2)  $P$ = notional permeability factor  $S_d$ = damage level   $N$ = number of waves  $\xi_m$ = breaker parameter based on mean wave period $T_m$  $\alpha$ = slope angle How do I change permissions on a FAT32 formatted drive? Are console games locked to a certain region? I'm going on a vacation from Europe to the US and was planning of bringing along some Xbox360 or PS3 games, but now I'm curious if they will be compatible with my European Xbox.  In that past there would be a clear difference between NTSC and PAL games, but is this still the case with the current gen of consoles? What is this Windows 8 icon for as rectangle icon in the title bar? Every Window in Windows 8 got this icon if it gots the focus. When clicking on it, nothing seems to happen.   How does this icon work? Create instance of generic type in Java? Is it possible to create an instance of a generic type in Java? I'm thinking based on what I've seen that the answer is no (due to type erasure), but I'd be interested if anyone can see something I'm missing:  class SomeContainer&lt;E&gt; {     E createContents()     {         return what???     } }   EDIT: It turns out that  could be used to resolve my issue, but it requires a lot of reflection-based code, as some of the answers below have indicated.  I'll leave this open for a little while to see if anyone comes up with anything dramatically different than Ian Robertson's . Isometry from Manhattan plane to Euclidean plane? Does there exist an isometry from a Manhattan plane $A$ to a Euclidean plane $B$? I.e. a function $\varphi:A \to B$ that suffices $\|\varphi(a)\|_B = \|a\|_A$ for all $a \in A$, where  $\| \cdot \|_A$ is the Manhattan norm and $\| \cdot \|_B$ the Euclidean norm. What determines who gets or becomes an MVP? This hasn't been asked yet, but what determines how or who gets an MVP award in CS:GO? After a match, there's always a little blurb that first states who got MVP first, and then a random fact (Player X got Y knife kills, Player X lasted Y rounds without dying, etc.).  Do these two factors both "factor" into getting an MVP award? Is it a set percentage of enemies you kill? Is there a priority list (ie, planting bomb, defusing, etc.)? Pacf lag axe , is not an integer I'm trying to use ARIMA process to predict the behaviour of a time series, the probleme I face is that I can't get the order of each component of ARIMA, the lag is between 0 and 1, same goes for the acf. The time series has no tendency, and I guess no seasonality.     My question is : Does this mean that ARIMA orders are all 0s, and if so, is the HoltWinters a good (or the best) solution for modelling this kind of TS ? How do I install GNOME Shell extensions?  Is it possible to update, remove and manage the extensions? Why is $\sqrt{-x}*\sqrt{-x}=-x?$ Q1 - Why is $\sqrt{-x}*\sqrt{-x}=-x?$  Q2 - I was thinking it would be:  $\sqrt{-x}*\sqrt{-x}=\sqrt{-x*-x}=\sqrt{x^2}$ but apparently not (why not?)  Q3 - What are the formal algebra rules to use? Can I calculate this without using i such as in: $\sqrt{-x}*\sqrt{-x}=i\sqrt{x}*i\sqrt{x}=-\sqrt{x^2}=-x$. Additive group contains exactly three elements of the set $\{p,p+q,pq,p^q,q^p\}$ Let $p$ and $q$ be distinct primes. There is a proper subgroup $J$ of the additive group of integers which contains exactly three elements of the set $\{p,p+q,pq,p^q,q^p\}$. Which three elements are in $J$?  I know the solution is $\{p,pq,p^q\}$. However I do not understand why. I thought $J$ can not even be a finite group. Maybe there is serious misunderstanding of the problem. Can anyone give me a hand? Thanks.