Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2021 June 26

= June 26 =

Replacement mouse "pads", also called mouse feet or mouse skates...
I took the wording of my question from this part of our mouse article, which doesn't answer my question.

My mouse skates are getting too grippy. I know mice don't cost very much these days but I would like to glue something on them instead of getting a new one. What material works best? I was wondering if they are like nylon? Hayttom (talk) 12:20, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Whenever that happens to mine it normally just means they're dirty. Have you given them a good clean with something that will get rid of grease? Fgf10 (talk) 12:48, 26 June 2021 (UTC)


 * They seem to be PTFE now (I think they used to be nylon). Aftermarket replacement skates (on Amazon and eBay) seem to cost about as much as a new replacement for my (cheap) Logitech mouse.


 * Wow, a little soap and water did the trick. Thank you both! Hayttom (talk) 15:57, 26 June 2021 (UTC)


 * FYI, although mouse mats are not needed these days, they do help to keep the skates clean, so long as you don't use the mouse mat as a coffee or beer coaster! Martin of Sheffield (talk) 16:17, 26 June 2021 (UTC)
 * In my experience, they also ameliorate the discomfort of one's wrist being in contact with a colder and harder surface such as a bare desk top. The one I use also has a gel pad to support the wrist, resulting in a better wrist posture. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.125.73.1 (talk) 07:29, 28 June 2021 (UTC)

Desktop Windows Manager (DWM.exe) swallows memory
I have a Dell Inspiron 3688 desktop computer running Windows 10. Occasionally performance becomes bad. (That occasionally happens with almost any hardware and software configuration, unless performance is always bad.) Usually this is due to memory contention. I use the Resource Monitor utility, and look to see what is using most of the memory. This morning I noticed that the Desktop Windows Manager, DWM.exe, was using a Commit Charge of 11 MB. With 16 MB of physical memory, that doesn't leave much for anything else. Maybe a week ago, the same thing had happened with DWM.exe using 13 MB (out of 16 MB). Does anyone know what causes this? What I have discovered I can do, which maybe I am not supposed to do, is that I can End the Process. This kills the Desktop Windows Manager, which leaves the screen blank and disconnects the system from the world. However, in about a minute, the Desktop Windows Manager respawns, and is using about 100 KB.

The temporary outage of about a minute is tolerable, and performance is better then. I assume that killing DWM is something that I am not supposed to do, but it does allow me to do it, and it works as a form of refresh. Does anyone know what causes DWM to swallow nearly all of the physical memory? Are there any downsides to terminating it and letting it respawn that I should be aware of? Robert McClenon (talk) 16:01, 26 June 2021 (UTC)


 * says:
 * " If you use an Intel iGPU in your system, in that case, it is a known issue since mid 2020 and caused by buggy Intel iGPU drivers. Reported countless times now and Intel is so far ignorant about it, has no interest so far in looking into it. Seems like an incompatibility with new features of Windows 10 introduced around with 20h1 or h2.
 * A workaround is that you need to downgrade your intel drivers to <= 27.20.100.8476"


 * gives several suggestions, including details about how to downgrade the driver. Another discussion:


 * Intel says "screw you, loyal Intel user. We already have your money. Report our buggy driver to Microsoft."


 * --Guy Macon (talk) 00:28, 27 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Well, there could be other motives. Maybe Intel is carrying a chip on their shoulder after Microsoft's diktats on which hardware to support in 2015... Or is MS planning a repeat of the dirty campaign now with Windows 11? ---89.172.70.41 (talk) 05:35, 28 June 2021 (UTC)


 * There may be a way you can get away from the buggy driver and increase video performance:
 * says the Inspiron 3668 has an integrated Intel HD Graphics controller and options for a discrete NVIDIA GeForce or AMD Radeon controller.
 * Maybe, just maybe, you have the better graphics controller installed but not enabled. What do your BIOS settings say? Are there any unused video outputs on the back of the computer?
 * Adding a video card (or having a friend or someone at a PC repair shop install it for you) is surprisingly cheap. How does $16 with free shipping work for you?
 * Then again, why spend even $16 if the Intel HD is doing a good enough job at playing games, streaming videos, or CAD? In that case I would just load the older drivers. --Guy Macon (talk) 00:59, 27 June 2021 (UTC)
 * User:Guy Macon - What command do I use to query the BIOS? I will try to figure it out, but you might be able to answer before I can find it.  Robert McClenon (talk) 22:04, 28 June 2021 (UTC)
 * User:Guy Macon - You wrote: "if the Intel HD is doing a good enough job at playing games, streaming videos, or CAD?"  What games?  What streaming videos?  Streaming videos are Generation X or Y stuff.  I just have a lot of browser windows and a lot of Word documents and Access databases open.  Any video workload is due to web sites that have dancing figurines or whatever.  Now that I write that, I am guessing that maybe the stupid animation on the web pages is what is eating the memory.  Do you have instructions for loading the old drivers?
 * In the meantime, it sounds as though killing DWM.exe and letting it respawn is not such a bad idea. When in doubt, reload or refresh something.

Robert McClenon (talk) 22:04, 28 June 2021 (UTC)


 * Maybe we are back in 1990, but are you sure that some of the MBs are not GBs? --Stephan Schulz (talk) 11:55, 27 June 2021 (UTC)
 * User:Stephan Schulz - My error. Those are thousands of MBs, as in GBs.  Since we are approximate, we can assume that 2**10 =~ 10**3, and not worry about the difference between decimal and binary.  Yes.  Robert McClenon (talk) 22:05, 28 June 2021 (UTC)


 * I just assumed that you were running Windows 10 For The Commodore 64... :)
 * This page: explains how to check the BIOS settings. Rather than trying to get the timing right, I just turn on the PC and press F2 once a second until I see the BIOS window. The extra F2 hits don't hurt anything. Also nothing you change in the BIOS setup actually happens unles you save changes in the last screen. This is a Good Thing.
 * As I wrote before, gives several suggestions for fixing this problem, including details about how to downgrade the driver.


 * I have some great suggestions for nuking those stupid animations and ads on the web pages, but let's wait until we get this memory problem sorted. Please ask again in a new section later. I think you are going to like what your hear. --Guy Macon (talk) 23:39, 28 June 2021 (UTC)

Computer-generated Poetry
Does anyone have a source for a very early piece, Pavane for the Children of Deep Space?

Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elizabeth Ann Curran (talk • contribs) 20:11, 26 June 2021 (UTC)


 * Please sign your posts by placing ~ at the end.


 * [ https://www.gwern.net/docs/ai/1984-michie-thecreativecomputer.pdf ] has the poem on the page labeled 157 (my PDF viewer says page 156 of 262).


 * It is credited to Robin Shirley, published in The Sunflower Suite, a collection of computer assisted poems If anyone has more info such as an ISBN, or more info on Robin Shirley, please post it.


 * The poem is also mentioned here: [ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35425004/the-observer/ ] and here: [ https://www.bbk.ac.uk/hosted/cache/archive/PAGE/page57.pdf] --Guy Macon (talk) 00:18, 27 June 2021 (UTC)
 * I'd like to see how a computer would assist in finding a rhyme for "orange". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:24, 27 June 2021 (UTC)
 * HAL, please tell me a word that rhymes with Orange.
 * Glad to, Dave. Sporange:, the portion of a fern in which asexual spores are created.
 * --Guy Macon (talk) 21:18, 27 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Here is a page with plenty of info about Robin Shirley (1941-2005). MinorProphet (talk) 22:52, 30 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Knock, knock. Who's there? Banana. Banana who? Just a banana.... [repeat x3] Knock, knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad I didn't say banana? MinorProphet (talk) 22:52, 30 June 2021 (UTC)