Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2013 February 8

= February 8 =

What should I do with my Eee PC netbook that has Windows XP?
Hello, everyone. I have an ASUS Eee PC 904HA netbook (Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz, 1 GB RAM expandable to 2 GB, 160 GB HDD, 8.9" 1024×600 LCD) with Windows XP Home, which is the OS the manufacturer installed on it. With the display on my primary computer (an HP Pavilion dv1049cl that I bought new around U.S. Thanksgiving in 2004) having recently quit (I'm now using it with an external display) and Microsoft ending support for Windows XP in 14 months, I'm wondering what to do with it. Currently, I use it to surf the Web (occasionally watching videos hosted on YouTube and the like). The only other things I do with other computers are keeping my calendar using Mozilla Sunbird and, once in a blue moon, word processing. (I've been using Microsoft Works for the latter but I'm trying to learn LibreOffice Writer.) I may also start using either QuickBooks Online or GnuCash (depending on which of the two we adopt at work).

Some people are still using Windows 2000, right? Will I be able to continue to use XP securely beyond April 2014? Will the netbook run Windows 7 well if I add RAM? I'm wary of learning Linux.

Thanks in advance. --anon. 71.183.136.48 (talk) 02:51, 8 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Well, according to Microsoft it will no longer be secure, but I've used Windows 98 for years past when they dropped support for it. If you don't have critical data on it or do things like online banking, how much security do you really need ?  Worst case scenario, your O/S gets hopelessly messed up and you reinstall it.


 * However, if you want to upgrade to Windows 7, you seem to have the basic reqs there. Of course, you could also put that money towards a new laptop, then use this one as a backup.  One other comment: 14 months is forever in the field of computers, so you probably shouldn't decide now.  For one thing, the cost of a Windows 7 upgrade will probably drop in half by then. StuRat (talk) 03:47, 8 February 2013 (UTC)


 * No doubt I will use my netbook to use my email accounts and I wouldn't want the password for any of them to be stolen. As for the price of Windows 7, with seemingly plenty of users not happy with the new-fangled ways of doing things in Windows 8, I figure Windows 7 won't see a drop in sales. Also note that when Microsoft puts a new version of Windows on sale, it stops issuing copies of the previous version one year later (or so I've read).


 * (I will consider Linux, though — maybe even Ubuntu, as Ubuntu Netbook Edition has been merged into Ubuntu proper.) --anon. 71.183.136.48 (talk) 20:46, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Install a lightweight Linux distribution instead. It will do everything you do now, run faster, and be more secure. HenryFlower 00:28, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * I don’t think Unix is hard to learn (indeed, I would say a person inexperienced with both operating systems would prefer Unix over Windows), but aside from that, you might consider that if you do have to put forth a considerable effort to learn it, you may well never have to learn anything again. The software is virtually all open source, so things aren’t discontinued as with Windows XP, at least not unless they truly are almost universally recognized as inferior to something new (and even then, you can maintain things yourself if you want). ¦ Reisio (talk) 00:33, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * It depends on your Linux distro, but I've definitely had some that are hard to use, especially when doing things like downloading and installing programs. Some distros lack a single downloader which will do it all in one step.  I've also had trouble getting Linux web browsers to work with Java, Flash, etc. StuRat (talk) 00:49, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Sounds like you’ve been using Slackware. :p In general I’d say it’s hard to argue that Unix-style package management is not superior to random executable hunting online; but you were of course being specific. ¦ Reisio (talk) 05:41, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

NetAssistant/Freeze.Com
How can I remove NetAssistant/Freeze.COM from my Windows 8 PC? It doesn't show up in the list of installed programs in the Control Panel. RNealK (talk) 06:53, 8 February 2013 (UTC)
 * You can download, for instance, ad-aware and scan you computer. Ruslik_ Zero 09:02, 8 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Well, that didn't do anything, so I went into regedit and removed Freeze.com from the registry, and now ad-aware's blekko.com page pops up. Guess I'll uninstall that and see what happens.  :)  RNealK (talk) 00:37, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

Is a Sapphire RADEON HD 7970 Graphics card suitable for calculating Dho-Nha geometry curves in real time?
Is a Sapphire RADEON HD 7970 Graphics card suitable for calculating Dho-Nha geometry curves in real time? If so what precautions should I take, I was thinking an extra cooling fan would be sufficient.
 * I would isolate the baseboard and set pi to four just to be on the safe side. Dmcq (talk) 09:20, 8 February 2013 (UTC)
 * don't do it - you fool!

is facebookmail.com a real address?
I get messages from facebook from "facebookmail.com", for example this recent one on "Getting back onto Facebook"... called

Hi ********,

Sorry you’ve been having trouble logging into your Facebook account.

Get back on Facebook now

You can also get password help or login help on Facebook.

Thanks,

The Facebook Team

I'm confused...if this is a phishing thing that's always from the same address, why on Earth would Google actually deliver mail from "facebookmail.com" right into my inbox? I don't get much spam, but Google always puts it into my spam folder.... I can't beleive that this is both obvious, confirmed phishing, and Google's gmail is very happy to deliver it. So...which is it? 91.120.48.242 (talk) 11:14, 8 February 2013 (UTC)
 * What does WHOIS say about facebookmail.com? --jpgordon:==( o ) 15:22, 8 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Google is far from perfect (and the way they hide the spam folder is a terrible idea). ¦ Reisio (talk) 00:36, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Have you really been having trouble logging in to Facebook? If not, then it sounds as if someone else has been trying to log in to your account.  Make sure your password is secure.  I assume you have checked the headers to see if the e-mail really came from facebookmail.com.  Phishing e-mails often fill in a false "From" entry.  Does it have a link to a fake Facebook login page?     D b f i r s   11:21, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * After signing into Facebook, click on the top-right gear icon, go to Help, and search for facebookmail.com. You'll find this help document confirms you should add @facebookmail.com to your account's safe list to make sure you get notifications from Facebook.


 * When I sign in to Facebook, I occasionally mistype my password, and so I just re-enter it more carefully on the next screen and get in with no problems. However, when this happens to me, Facebook always sends me the "Getting back onto Facebook" e-mail you describe. If you remember mistyping your password and having to re-enter it to sign in, then you can just delete the e-mail. If you don't remember doing this, then someone else may be trying sign in as you. If your password is something someone else might be able to guess, you might want to change your password to protect your account. --Bavi H (talk) 20:03, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

Windows 8 laptop start, desktop and touchpad problem
When using a laptop which has Windows 8 installed is there any way to stop the screen switching to the Start tab i.e. only bring up the menu or move the the mouse left, when you swipe from the right on a touchpad? Simply south...... walking into bells for just 6 years 16:08, 26 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Could you rephrase? I don’t think I quite parsed that as you intended. ¦ Reisio (talk) 20:20, 27 January 2013 (UTC)


 * It sounds like you are using the "Windows Classic" display, which includes the Start button. Switching to the new display, which lacks the Start button, would be one option, although obviously that has a major impact on usability. StuRat (talk) 14:52, 29 January 2013 (UTC)


 * http://classicshell.sf.net/ could help with that. ¦ Reisio (talk) 00:22, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

Sorry, the menu I was having trouble with I have learnt is called the Charms bar. Difficultly north (talk) - '' Simply south alt. '' 11:58, 8 February 2013 (UTC)


 * I’m afraid that doesn’t make it any clearer, the problem (with your wording or my understanding of it) is more fundamental than that. ¦ Reisio (talk) 22:36, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

A (hopefully) simple question about MS Word
A few weeks ago I noticed that when I save files in MS Word 2007, the next time they are opened, the following message pops up: "xxx.docx should be opened as read-only unless changes to it need to be saved. Open as read-only?". Now, I realize that when saving a file in the first place I can go to the Tools button in the Save As dialog box, select General Options, and uncheck the "read-only recommended" box in order for that message to not show up when the file is opened later, but how in the world did that box ended up to be checked by default in the first place? Now it has to be unchecked for every single file I save, which gets old very quickly. Any suggestions about how to fix this would be greatly appreciated. I didn't find anything applicable in the Word Options, but perhaps I'm not looking in the right place?—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); February 8, 2013; 15:18 (UTC)


 * I can't answer as to how to prevent it, but I can see why they might make this the default. This is the safest choice, and they often err on the side of safety.  They don't seem to realize that having warning messages pop-up right and left, for trivial things, leads to people ignoring them all, and this causes the very problems they are trying to avoid. StuRat (talk) 22:39, 8 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Yeah, but who are they? :) This is an old installation; suddenly a few weeks ago it started doing it. As far as I remember, there have been no updates to trigger this (and I have this exact same version of Word at home, and it's not doing it), no one else has access to this computer, and while I can entertain the possibility that I myself changed something in the settings which I didn't realize would result in this behavior, I don't believe I was doing anything with any kind of Office settings in this time frame! I'm saving the files for my own use; surely I can decide when it is and when it is not safe to edit them? What am I missing?—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); February 8, 2013; 23:31 (UTC)


 * I've had programs suddenly change behavior like this, and don't know why, either. Perhaps a customization file that told it not to do this happened to get corrupted, and it thus it reverted to it's default behavior. StuRat (talk) 00:45, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * This article says that by defining a macro called FileSaveAs you can change the default action (in versions of word from 97 - 2003) - it may be worth looking to see if such a macro exists.  Cheers,  d avid p rior  t/c 13:08, 9 February 2013 (UTC)
 * No, there was no such macro in place, but thanks for the idea! I wrote one that does the opposite of what's in that example and while it does not resolve the root of the problem, it is a workable temporary measure until a more permanent solution can be found. Much appreciated!—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); February 11, 2013; 19:01 (UTC)

DVI and VGA cable

 * Using a DVI cable instead of a VGA cable makes any difference in quality, performance or anything?
 * …using the same monitor(this monitor)
 * thanks Iskánder Vigoa Pérez (talk) 22:52, 8 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Originally, VGA meant 640×480 resolution, but the term has come to mean a variety of resolutions, up to 7680×4800, apparently: . A single DVI signal seems to be limited to 1920×1200, but dual-signal can be much greater.  So, we can't really say which is better, it depends on the type of signal you are trying to send, and whether that signal is well supported by DVI or VGA standards. StuRat (talk) 00:31, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * DVI connections altogether are preferred for good reason over VGA ones, but it’s entirely possible your eyes will not notice any difference at all. ¦ Reisio (talk) 00:40, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * My personal experience is that analogue VGA cables, particularly longer ones, particularly the cheaper variety can be quite susceptible to interference.  I haven't seen this problem with DVI on the same equipment.  My personal preference is for HDMI or DVI where at all possible  nonsense  ferret  01:36, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Thank you all, I was asking because the included cable is a VGA and some reviewers said that for obtain the best result you most buy a spare DVI cable… but why??
 * I now today a DVI cable don’t cost that much but in the case of buying more than one it would be another charge, and an unnecessary one, I even could start seeing another monitors, a shame because I really liked this dell
 * And in any case the cable would be the same long of the Dell included one, I guess the standard for a tower to monitor connection
 * any reference for any real difference or is just marketing?
 * Iskánder Vigoa Pérez (talk) 03:03, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * There’s a real difference; as nonsense mentioned, VGA is analog, and DVI is digital. But again, you truly may not notice the difference in the least. Also you can probably find someone / an office / dumpster that has DVI cables for free; I got one with each of two computers a year or two ago, and the computers didn’t even have DVI ports. :p I’d offer to have you pay postage to get you one, but it’d probably cost more than just getting one yourself. :p ¦ Reisio (talk) 05:33, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * A couple more thoughts:


 * 1) If there's no visible problem with the current arrangement, I wouldn't worry about changing it.


 * 2) However, if you do want to try out a DVI, I suggest buying it from a local store which will allow you to return it without restocking charges (beware packaging that has to be destroyed to get it open). Then, if the DVI cable is no better, just return it. StuRat (talk) 03:19, 9 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks again… any anothe ranswer, preferably a more categorical one? Or a reference please?
 * In theory, there is any perceptible difference at all, or who say “a dvi cable is way better than a vga one” or “to enjoy all the potential of your monitor you need a blabla cable” is somewhat the same as who say “intel cpu sockets are pentagonal… not four sided”
 * I have ask in other places but here is the only place I feel the people don’t start writing useless garbage, man… one can really lear n pretty interesting stuff in here!!
 * The fact that everyone in anywhere tell me that “dvi/hdmi are better” in a so unconditionally way and no one can tell me why, really bothers me, I mean, even the service guys from my current ASUS, and I switch all its cables and the picture is just the same!
 * Iskánder Vigoa Pérez (talk) 00:42, 13 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Let me add some thoughts on digital versus analog. Digital can produce a better image when there is a nice strong signal with no interference.  It can be perfect, while some small imperfections are visible in an analog signal.  However, when there's lots of noise, an analog signal can still be usable, while a digital signal is not (they could fix this if they resend the signal, using an error-correction system, but they generally don't do this).  So, which is better ?  It all depends on how good your signal is. StuRat (talk) 03:28, 13 February 2013 (UTC)