A couple of general questions from a n00b

**Binary.tobis** · June 11th, 2008

Hi all, thanks for all of your help so far! Feel free to answer all, one, or none of my questions. I've installed xubuntu on a really terrible laptop and it seems to be running fine, but the resolution has maxed out at 800X600 instead of 1024X768, leaving a 2" black bar between the image and the edge of the screen. I think my laptop may be too old to update, but what would be the easiest way to do this? (I know I should give you the model number but I will have to wait until I get home for that.)

Another question I had was if there is a way to disable the password box that pops up every few minutes when I am tweaking settings. I'm not really worried about someone breaking into my machine so it is more of a hassle than it is worth.

I tried opening some miscellaneous video and image files and I really liked the fact that the codecs downloaded automatically, but the player seemed kind of iffy.

Are there some better players/image viewers you guys might suggest? For that matter are there any programs/general tips I should know about as a fresh user?

**Duck2006** · June 11th, 2008

Another question I had was if there is a way to disable the password box that pops up every few minutes when I am tweaking settings. I'm not really worried about someone breaking into my machine so it is more of a hassle than it is worth.

sudo su -

**wolfen69** · June 11th, 2008

vlc player has always been a favorite. rhythmbox is also good for music.

**gr4nf** · June 11th, 2008

sudo su -

DO NOT DO THIS. Sorry, but nobody on this forum is supposed to help you to log in as root. It is dangerous, and you can lose your whole system. Do not do this. Use "sudo" followed by the command you want after it. This is the way to do things as superuser.

**Binary.tobis** · June 11th, 2008

That makes sense, I suppose it would be bad for me to do commands without some sort of conformation.

**wolfen69** · June 11th, 2008

Originally Posted by gr4nf

DO NOT DO THIS. Sorry, but nobody on this forum is supposed to help you to log in as root.

is there a rule? anyway, it is ok if someone understands the risks. after all, it is their computer.

**Duck2006** · June 11th, 2008

If you use

sudo su -

don't for get to exit it after you have done what you needed to do.

**Binary.tobis** · June 11th, 2008

Thanks for the warnings. I just remembered, I also had a problem with the preference boxes being so big they went off the screen, so I couldn't press the 'ok' buttons. It's weird, but is there a way to fix this?