Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2013 November 5

= November 5 =

AOL Desktop
According to the wikipedia article AOL Desktop is an Internet Suite that combines a browser, media center etc. However, what internet browser is it using exactly? I feel like this is a stupid question but I ask because I had a technical support question come in from a customer who was using this program. As the AOL browser itself was discontinued 7 years ago many websites no longer support it so I expected that to be his issue. I'd like to know for sure should I ever come across anyone else using this system. Thanks. 63.95.64.254 (talk) 00:42, 5 November 2013 (UTC)


 * According to the system requirements for AOL Desktop 10.1, IE 6.0 or up is required. I believe that they have used a modified version of IE for awhile. MrScorch6200 (talk) 00:52, 5 November 2013 (UTC)


 * That's what I suspected, I bet they were using some funky version of IE9 or 10 then which isn't yet supported for my purposes. Thanks MrScorch. 63.95.64.254 (talk) 00:58, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

Really free domains
Is it possible to get a free domain name that works just like a regular non-free domain name? What I found (e.g. http://www.dot.tk/ ) assumes that I already have a website somewhere under some domain name and only want a free redirect domain name. I already have a server running a website with a regular (non-free) domain and would like to experiment running a second website from the same server. Until I have decided on the final domain name for that second website, I'd like to use a free domain. Basically for testing the setting of my web and DNS server. So I don't really care on what the domain name is (could be "asfd962fa.tk" or whatever), as long as it is free and works like a normal domain name. bamse (talk) 09:39, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Perhaps I am misunderstanding what you are looking for, but what about a subdomain of your current domain? (otherproject.example.com) Most general web hosting providers allow that. KarlLohmann (talk) 11:31, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
 * I could use a subdomain or perhaps I could use port based virtual hosts. It is just that I would prefer to keep (in my mind) the existing project separate from the old project and later I'd just replace freedomain.com with otherproject.com in the apache/bind configuration. bamse (talk) 16:44, 5 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Sure! Just not on the Internet!  You can run your own network, with your own root name server.  bindd is free software, and you can run it on your own network, and configure it to route any name you like to any server you like.  But chances are pretty high that you want other people to connect to your server using the domain-name.  If so, you will probably want to register your name in a place that most of the Internet will look: one that several authoritative name servers will resolve.  Registering with their instance of domain name database is the only way to get a globally-unique domain name that is resolvable throughout the world.  Because you do not own these top level name servers, you don't have permission to just "add yourself" to their list.  Those top level name servers are managed on behalf of IANA, the quasi-official organization that decides which giant mesh of networked computers is the giant mesh of networked computers; and they delegate domain-name registration to commercial providers.  You could ask IANA to add you to their list, but they will probably not want to talk to you unless you are a major government organization, a nuclear-armed military, or a  super-major commercial internet provider.  Nimur (talk) 19:21, 5 November 2013 (UTC)


 * So the question is whether names registered with the Top-level domain .tk are recognised and propagated efficiently by the DNS servers round the world. I've only ever registered .com .uk .eu and .info domain names, and these seem to propagate well within 24 hours.  Along with Bamse, I'd be interested to know whether .tk works as efficiently.  If no-one knows, we could try some experiments.  One problem is that .tk domain names might not be as well protected as better-known ones, and so would not be suitable for important websites.    D b f i r s   21:55, 5 November 2013 (UTC)


 * ... on second thoughts, it's probably not worth experimenting. The .tk system seems to work unless it is blocked by a firewall somewhere, but the registrant never actually owns the name (unless they pay), so it can be reclaimed at any time.    D b f i r s   23:10, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Right - let's be perfectly clear: the www.dot.tk scheme is really nothing more than a benevolent network engineer who is nicely allowing you to borrow his domain-name for your personal use. At no time is it ever really your domain-name (insofar as anybody can ever "own" an entry in a name-server database).  It's great for the enthusiast or the hobbyist; and it's probably convenient for a lot of purposes; but it is essentially a security-hole if you depend on it: you are granting administrative privilege over the name service to a benevolent stranger.  Nimur (talk) 23:40, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
 * Just to make sure, with a free domain from www.dot.tk I cannot bind the domain to an ip address, or can I? As far as I saw it would only allow me to redirect to another domain, the idea being is that if I have an ugly domain name (e.g. from a free hosting) I could get a pretty domain from dot.tk and redirect it to the ugly domain. bamse (talk) 10:35, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
 * There's no reason it shouldn't work for an ip unless it has been specifically disallowed. I tried this a few months ago and it worked. Maybe they changed it since then though. 82.44.76.14 (talk) 12:02, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

Mouse buttons don't work on laptop
A user came in the office a bit ago complaining that she could click in a cell in Excel but then couldn't type anything in. I asked her to bring the laptop, a Toshiba running Win7, by and she did. What was open was Firefox and Lotus Notes but not Excel. I didn't ask her why it wasn't running when that's what she was complaining about. I was unable to get the left or right mouse buttons on the track pad to do anything though. It was as if they were clicking right through whatever window was there and clicking on the desktop. But the right button wasn't pulling up a contextual menu. I could move the pointer around with the track pad but not use the buttons. I eventually got an external track ball and was able to use that to check the mouse settings where I didn't find anything out of the ordinary. I then opened Excel and found that I could click in a cell and input text. So, I couldn't confirm the original issue. I closed Excel and tried the track pad and its buttons again. And just like that, they were working perfectly! The user was fine with that and went away but I'm still left wondering what could have caused the buttons not to function. Any ideas?

Note: This is not a request for medical or legal advice. Thank you, Dismas |(talk) 10:23, 5 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Maybe just a random issue with the trackpad? It did resolve itself after all. I see them from time to time on my laptop even though it's an Acer running Win7. There's also callibration issues that arise from Excel (At least in the version i have), where clicks affect the wrong cells and resolve themselves usually after a minute or two. Until then, clicking A1 would select D1 for example, making working impossible. Thanks ツ Jenova   20  (email) 10:37, 5 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Does plugging in new hardware - in this case a trackball to replace the internal trackpad - load/reload the drivers? Astronaut (talk) 15:15, 5 November 2013 (UTC)


 * It had to install drivers for the trackball to work. Dismas |(talk) 17:08, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

This developed further after I submitted the above question but I haven't had time to follow up here until now. She brought it back at the end of my shift saying that the buttons on the track pad were once again not working. So this issue comes and goes. One of my coworkers, who came in on the tail end of this, suggested that it might be a driver issue with the track pad. Today was my last day at work until Thursday and I won't see the user until Sunday, but when I do I will try to get a minute to update her track pad driver to see if that changes anything. Dismas |(talk) 17:08, 5 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Failure, then working, then failing... sounds like a physical loose connection in the wiring to me. I solved a similar problem in a different laptop by just exposing the connection and re-seating it. If it were me, I also might first try some gentle percussive maintenance :) SemanticMantis (talk) 18:47, 5 November 2013 (UTC)


 * I would agree if it was just not clicking at all, but clicking through the top window onto the desktop sounds like it is a driver issue, to me. I'd try reinstalling the driver. StuRat (talk) 19:00, 6 November 2013 (UTC)