Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2013 May 11

= May 11 =

Desktop backgrounds...(A more convenient way to switch them?)
Let's say I have a picture of oh...how about a generic landscape - in the daytime. Now let's say I have a picture of the same landscape, but at night-time. Is it possible to somehow make a keystroke combination so I could toggle between the two, without having to keep right-clicking and choosing "set as desktop background..."? This would be quite useful if I had a few different pictures I wanted to constantly switch between. Is this possible, with two, three, or many? Thanks! --Yellow1996 (talk) 02:42, 11 May 2013 (UTC)
 * On Linux, you could use nitrogen or feh to show a wallpaper, and set up a script with hotkeys to switch them. On Mac, the answer is almost certainly yes--there seem to be plenty of wallpaper managers which could be controlled in the same way. Anything else, and you're on your own. HenryFlower 15:33, 11 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Windows 7/8 does it automatically: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ie/windows7/create-a-desktop-background-slide-show. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 16:09, 11 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Oh sorry guys, I forgot to mention I'm on Windows Vista. Is it possible on that OS? --Yellow1996 (talk) 19:00, 11 May 2013 (UTC)


 * If you don't wish to use a program designed specifically for this function, you can set a scheduled task to do it. Follow the instructions in part two of the first answer to this superuser question to create a vbscript to change the wallpaper based on the time. Now open task scheduler, and schedule this task to be run at the appropriate times. You'll also want it to be run shortly after logon to set the wallpaper when you turn on your computer. &#9888;   Efreak   09:58, 14 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Looks cool...but is there a way I could modify the code to make the wallpapers change with a keystroke combination rather than on a timer? --Yellow1996 (talk) 23:36, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

slow boot
This is related to the "RetroUI problem" above. I'm using Windows 8. I was using RetroUI, but after the desktop came up, it took about 110 seconds for RetroUI to load. Until then, the mouse cursor did not appear on the desktop.

Now I've removed RetroUI, but I have somewhat the same problem. Now after the desktop does appear, the mouse cursor shows up. However, no apps that I click on will come up. I can click on Computer, explore a drive, click on a batch file on the desktop, and do ctrl-alt-del. But nothing else works for 100-110 seconds after I get to the desktop, when my gadget appears and the rest of the icons appear on the taskbar. Then everything works. (Until this time the only two icons that appear are the "safely remove" and Malwarebytes.)

Any ideas of how to fix this? Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 04:17, 11 May 2013 (UTC)


 * It's possible that RetroUI wasn't completely removed from your system. Did you delete all the folders manually, or did you go to uninstall/remove programs? If you did the latter, search around and see if there is anything left over. I don't have experience with that particular software, but this has happened to me many times with other things and is quite a bother. If that doesn't work then I'd do a full computer scan. Good luck! --Yellow1996 (talk) 19:11, 11 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I did the regular uninstall in the control panel. I'm not sure if this was caused by RetroUI.  I do a full virus scan each week and a full malware scan each week, with quick scans each day.  I'll try a full scan.  Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 23:31, 11 May 2013 (UTC)


 * The retroUI folder was still there, but I don't know if that was causing the problem. Anyhow, I deleted it.  Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 23:58, 11 May 2013 (UTC)


 * In that case, I doubt it's a virus - this was probably all caused by RetroUI. Deleting the folder was a good idea; that could have been the issue. Does the problem persist after you deleted it? --Yellow1996 (talk) 17:37, 12 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I haven't booted again since I removed the folder. I ran both complete scans last night, but they found nothing.  Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 21:54, 12 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Well at least we know it wasn't a virus at work there. But next time you're on the system in question see if the problem still exists - and hopefully it doesn't. --Yellow1996 (talk) 01:32, 13 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I'm back to using Classic Shell. It still takes a long time for the weather gadget and most of the icons to come up, plus a long time before IE will start.  Bus some other programs will come up not too long after the desktop is visible - e.g. EditPad, Word, Thunderbird, and Firefox.  I had been testing with IE because if the internet is down, it realizes it quicker and handles it more smoothly than Firefox.  So maybe it is just taking a long time to boot.  (It takes a long time with the dots are spinning too.)  Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 02:24, 13 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Hmmm... that's quite puzzling. And this all started when you were trying out RetroUI? Switching back to Classic Shell was a good idea but I wonder why it's still so sluggish to boot. Perhaps registry errors? Fragmentation? Junk files? I'm just guessing, but those types of things could be causing you trouble...do you run fixer tools for stuff like that often? --Yellow1996 (talk) 16:21, 13 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Well, I'm not sure if it all started with the RetroUI trial. But one part certainly did - the mouse used to be usable right after I got to the desktop.  With RetroUI, after I saw the desktop, the mouse cursor did not appear until RetroUI loaded, which was 100-110 seconds after the desktop came up.  With RetroUI removed, the mouse comes up when the desktop does, but only some things will work when clicked on.  For instance, if I click on IE nothing happens until it finishes the entire boot process (the rest of the icons appear in the tray and the weather gadget comes up) - then IE starts.  I estimate that the entire boot process takes nearly 10 minutes, and this is a quad-core i7 with a 7200 RPM drive.  I clean out junk files from time to time but I don't do registry cleanup anymore because I read that they really don't help much.  Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 16:33, 13 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Okay, that definitely should not be happening on an i7. So if there already were problems before, they could have just gotten worse coincidentally when you were trying out RetroUI - while that software itself only caused your mouse troubles - therefore misleading us as to what the real problem is. If this is really annoying you/hindering stuff you are doing on the computer I would just take it in to a specialist to see if they can figure it out...though that can be expensive! --Yellow1996 (talk) 16:44, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

This computer came with Windows 7, upgraded to Windows 8. I didn't time it, but W8 seemed to boot faster than W7 - used to at least. I just rebooted and timed it (min:sec - elapsed time from restart).


 * 0:00 restarting
 * 0:45 blank screen
 * 0:55 blue window logo, spinning dots
 * 3:35 blue welcome screen, sound
 * 3:50 desktop appears
 * 6:25 completely finished booting

I didn't touch it in the process. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 16:50, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Wow. So the slowdown is definitely on the desktop! So does the computer have the same speed as before while you are doing things like browsing the internet and running programs (is the slowdown only in the booting process)? --Yellow1996 (talk) 16:57, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
 * I had something similar on a PC running XP. When I got it, it would be workable quickly.  Subsequently it spent a long time on the "Loading Windows" or somesuch.  I eventually traced it to having turned off bluetooth.  It was obviously timing out trying to find it.  Turn it back on and all was well.  Could it be something similar? --Phil Holmes (talk) 17:03, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Generally, after it finishes booting it seems OK. There are two little things compared to the way it was a couple of months ago: (1) every few minutes there are burps when playing back a sound file - itunes or YouTube, (2) every once in a while (maybe a few times per day), while typing, the letters I'm typing don't appear right away, but after a few seconds they suddenly appear.  Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 17:09, 13 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Hmmm...your second thing happens to me sometimes as well; though that's to be expected from a 5-year-old laptop running Vista. I'd say my above advice to take it in if this is an urgent problem for you is what I'll stay on. --Yellow1996 (talk) 17:15, 13 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Have you checked what is running at start-up? I believe they moved the interface for that into the task manager, or you can probably find it by searching for startup. I would also check through the device manager and see if there is anything unusual - I don't know how RetroUI does its magic, but it is plausible that there could be a driver running in the background to help it out, and maybe it didn't uninstall properly, although I suspect that it would cause problems earlier in startup. You could also check the list of running services and see if any are related to RetroUI or other third-party software you have installed. 38.111.64.107 (talk) 11:45, 14 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I have several things starting up, but the Task Manager doesn't show anything for RetroUI - either running or in the startup list. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 00:43, 17 May 2013 (UTC)


 * You can try searching your registry for any references to RetroUI. If nothing else works, you can refresh your PC: Windows 8 Tip: Reset or Refresh Your PC.  A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 18:15, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

PHP geolocation consent on smartphones
In the hypothetical scenario where a friend's phone was stolen, would it be possible to send to that phone (via SMS or Whatsapp) a link to a webpage that geolocates the client, and if the thief clicked the link, the page could locate the phone without any other consent? Or would they get a popup saying something like "Do you want to share your location with [webpage]?" --Markr4 (talk) 09:32, 11 May 2013 (UTC)


 * It’s been a while since I looked into it, but IIRC you can do a number of things if GPS was left on or if you had preinstalled an application designed to deal with this type of situation. If your friend’s phone was stolen and it has any personal information on it and no locking mechanism (screen lock, password, etc.) whatsoever, the first thing you should do is call your provider and have them brick it. No phone is worth criminals having access to the kinds of information stored on them. ¦ Reisio (talk) 10:28, 11 May 2013 (UTC)


 * I don't really understand the suggestion here. In most places and countries, the most your provider can do if you report your phone as stolen is add the IMEI to a black list. (In some countries like the US, it's commonly said that the phone is bricked, but this seems unnecessary confusing in the context, even more so with smart phones where there's a lot you can do with the phone even if it no longer works with mobile networks.) In a number of countries these black lists are shared with all local providers. There have even been some attempts to develop shared international black lists, although I'm not sure how far these have got. Either way though, these stop criminals using the specific phone on mobile networks which is intended to discourage theft (although there's still the problem of people changing the IMEI), but don't achieve much else.
 * In particular they will not generally protect your personal information. If the information is stored on the phone, the fact that the phone is blacklisted is of no consequence since the information is still stored on the phone. A smart thief intent on stealing the info would likely disconnect the phone from all networks from the moment they can do so (to prevent tracking and also to reduce the possibility of an app activated remotely doing stuff) and then use forensic tools to backup all data from the phone and analyse it from there so the IMEI being black list is of no consequence, they won't even know it happened. A dumber thief may use the phone until it now longer works, and then try to recover the data, if they're careless they may have already killed some of it, but most of it will still be there.
 * For information stored remotely (i.e. in the cloud) but for which the password or some access code is stored, it's more complicated, but the phone being blacklist would not generally help much unless the service is intrinsically tied to the device which isn't very common. For such information, the more important thing to do would be to change the passwords for all these services. This would generally get round the problem of compromised passwords, and many services also kill all cookies and similar tokens when you change your password (unfortunately not all).
 * I'm not saying you shouldn't report your phone as stolen, a more important reason is not to blacklist the phone stolen, but ensure the mobile provider deregister or block the specific SIM card or connection between the phone and your mobile account. (I think you could normally tell the provider whether you want the IMEI blacklisted or not, so you're not forced to do both at the same time, but I'm not sure.) This stops them using services you may have to pay for and more importantly stops them spoofing you which can be important nowadays with the way some services including banks sending passwords or tokens to mobile phones. (It would also stop them trying to scam or just plain annoy your friends and relatives.)
 * Note however this could also be counter productive if you do have a lot of valuable information stored on the phone. As mentioned below, iPhone has a phone locator service. The Google Play store on Android phones generally allows remote authentication for the installation of apps (you choose to install the app on a browser while logged on and when the phone has network access it will download and install the app), so you can install either a locator app or a data deletion app. As most criminals don't really know what they're doing, quite a few will give the phone mobile network access (if you haven't disabled it, just turning on your phone or leaving it on will usually be enough if they don't do anything) enabling you to run these apps to either delete data (in the case of Android) or locate the phone and attempt recovery. Having it black listed will not generally stop it being used with wifi, but it may discourage the thief from using it.
 * Ultimately you'll have to make the choice between different factors at play. It may be that your network would be willing to partially block a phone or limit the ability of the thief to use services to ensure they don't spend too much money. In addition, you could disassociate the phone number from anyone services which may send passwords or tokens to it (in some cases this may result in a SMS notification being sent to your phone, but perhaps you can stop that if you report the reason is because of theft).
 * Nil Einne (talk) 03:34, 12 May 2013 (UTC)


 * For the iPhone there's Find My iPhone, which can also remotely lock the device. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 13:26, 11 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Whether a web page can see your location without asking permission is up to the browser. You could visit the web page beforehand and permanently approve it to see your location, but your scheme still requires a pretty dumb thief to work. I have no idea what percentage of thieves are that dumb.
 * There are apps that will autoreply with the phone's location to an SMS message containing a preset phrase, such as this one for Android. -- BenRG 07:22, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

GMAIL SETTINGS
I use Gmail. Please help me to solve the above problems. It may be due to that I am not familiar with the technical terms. Thank you.175.157.181.240 (talk) 10:22, 11 May 2013 (UTC)
 * 1) How can I set the emails from unknown sources, received in the spam folder instead of inbox folder?
 * 2) How can I block bogus/unwanted emails, not even received in the spam folder at all?
 * 3) Even thought I requested, I don’t receive email updates from some blogs/web pages. How can I receive those email updates?


 * Gmail has some kind of an automatic spam filter, although you can filter specific emails to automatically go to spam based on the sender. Some websites like Wikipedia itself have an option to turn on emails, but it varies by blog/website. Numbermaniac  - T  - C  10:26, 11 May 2013 (UTC)