Computing desk
< January 5	<< Dec \| January \| Feb >>	January 7 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

January 6

Japanese Input in Internet Explorer 6 screwed up

Hi, I was just trying to fix our renter's computer, they are Japanese, and they use Windows IME to input Japanese text into the computer. It works well in Office and most other applications, but when entering text into forms in such places as Wikipedia and Hotmail, the text is inputted wrong. For instance, when they try to type "na" in Hiragana, it shows up as "nn(hiragana character)a". Outlook works perfectly, it's only in Internet Explorer. Can anyone help with this?

76.224.121.58 (talk) 01:36, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried Firefox? Think outside the box 11:00, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ordered files

Let's say I have 10 numbered files, e.g., 01, 02, ... in Microsoft Windows.

I can select them all and drop them in a program that handles these files (e.g., word processor, media player ...). Chances are, when I drag and drop the numbered files into a program, the program may not properly open each file in order. For example, I have a merger program that allows me to combine text files into a large text file (e.g., Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 ...). However, inability to properly order files makes the program much less useful.

I think Windows shall be the culprit. How do I solve this problem? -- Toytoy (talk) 01:55, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The GUI is the culprit. How does it know that the order of the files is important? You need to work from the command prompt where you can explicitly give an order to the files. I'd suggest writing a batch file to handle it. Then you can drag-drop the files into the batch file and it will order them and send them to the merging program. -- kainaw ™ 02:05, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think it first passes in the file the mouse was actually pressed down on, then does the rest in order by however you have them sorted in the explorer view (at least for Vista). Some programs like winamp will correct for this, but most won't. --f f r o t h 04:12, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Start the drag operation by clicking and holding down on the first item of your selection. --Bavi H (talk) 01:13, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

WEB SCANNER /ANTI- VIRUS SOFTWARES

I am having net connection with 1GB limit. MY ANTI-VIRUS WEB SCANNER IS USING around 75% of it. I want to know how to control the web uses by the anti virus. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.192.1.200 (talk) 03:39, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You could get another anti-virus software, for a start. Something is not working right with it if it is downloading over 700 MB of bandwidth a month. What software are you using? --Fastfission (talk) 04:06, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

uml(unified modeling language)

please help me on topic:

"generating test cases using use cases and tracing requirements." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tanyakapoor (talk • contribs) 11:19, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You might want to take a look at Model-based testing. Taemyr (talk) 21:04, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Random alterations

Can alterations to wikipages (and other pages on the web) occur by virtue of machine error or quarks or something hitting the hardware? - CarbonLifeForm (talk) —Preceding question was added at 12:29, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know. Error detection and correction should take care of most of it, as far as I can say. Kushal^t 12:47, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

CD, recordable status ?

Using multiple CD-RW, they all seem to have become "format failed".

I was informed, by a friend; it's because of the SCRATCHES, on the bottom.

Nothing 'deadly', just nics from normal use. Is thissufficient to make them only good as 'coasters'? Abi12 (talk) 15:14, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It might be. You can trying using the "erase" feature that most CD burning software has. That might fix the formatting of the CD. Equazcion •✗/C • 15:25, 6 Jan 2008 (UTC)

Also try doing a flash upgrade on your hardware, that solved my problem. I was getting a format failure with most of my disks before doing that. Be careful though, use only the software that is written for your exact model. Sandman30s (talk) 19:39, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Compressed SVG readable and displayable by browser?

Can a compressed SVG be read and displayed by most browsers? If not, what browsers can do this? If none, why? Could the time taken to decompress out-weigh the downloading time saved? --Seans Potato Business 19:21, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If I remember correctly, Mozilla Firefox 1.5.x.x did not display the compressed SVG. I used Inkscape ~~does that~~ for that, however. Kushal^t 19:48, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

But Firefox, IE, Opera, Safari can all do it now? What about the issue of de-compression time versus download time? ----Seans Potato Business 20:13, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think any browsers support compressed SVGs. Some browsers (and by that I mean IE) don't support the SVG format at all, and the ones that do offer limited support (although they should be able to display most SVGs correctly). For more info, you can refer to the article on SVGs, particularly the section on SVG browser support. 208.181.90.67 (talk) 23:01, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Why do Microsoft lay themselves open to such criticism? How is it in their interest to slow down uptake of SVG? ----Seans Potato Business 23:54, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Microsoft has become a VERY huge corporation and it has a lot of bureaucratic layers. The project managers probably need to report to non technical people who want to see work going to place where there is the most money in the short term. Kushal^t 05:56, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

They didn't invent it, they don't control it, they can't make money from it, they don't think it's that important, and the criticism is likely to come from niche corners that they don't care about anyway. Until vast numbers of users, or significant numbers of very large and influential websites, start clamoring for it, I doubt they'll lift a finger. Bitmap graphics ought to be good enough for everybody. —Steve Summit (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 01:31, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

SVG right now IS kind of pointless. The browser (Firefox) can't do scaling, and renders it to a bitmap (at 96 dpi) before printing, so it comes out exactly the same as a bitmap on both screen and print (Javascript + SVG though, is quite interesting). --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:52, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(Don't get me wrong; I love the idea of vector graphics. As it happens, SVG is pretty far from my favorite implementation, but I certainly wouldn't mind if it had more traction. —Steve Summit (talk) 06:45, 7 January 2008 (UTC))[reply]

It does save a few dollars for big websites like Wikipedia in terms of Internet use. However, I have to agree with Antilived. Kushal^t 05:59, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Actually all my SVG used in my last project were bigger than their png equivalent (yes I've used the plain SVG output in Inkscape). --antilived^{T | C | G} 06:02, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Isn't the PNG supposed to be smaller? isn't the svg supposed to be smaller than a thousand different renderings of PNG and not any one version? Kushal^t 21:30, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

put star chart on mac desktop

Is there a free program for mac that puts a live star chart on to an animated desktop?81.150.247.152 (talk) 20:25, 6 January 2008 (UTC) It's tiger, running on an intel.81.150.247.152 (talk) 21:20, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Windows XP moving shortcut icons

I am using Windows XP on a computer with two graphics cards and two monitors, and the Windows desktop extended onto the second monitor which is directly above the first (main) monitor with the start button, taskbar etc. I like to keep some icons on the second (higher) monitor so I move them there. Now comes the problem:

The system has two "user accounts" of which mine is one (I am an Administrator if that makes any difference). When I log out and log in again all the icons from screen no. 2 have been moved back to screen no. 1. The Windows login screen only uses one screen (the lower "main" monitor).

Any ideas how I can make my icons stay put?

-=# Amos E Wolfe ^talk #=- 20:48, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Did you let Windows to auto-arrange the icons? Right click on the desktop and there should be some options on this (can't tell you exactly the steps, I'm a Linux convert). --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:49, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Adding RAM to Laptops?

Is there a diagram anywhere that shows how to insert additional RAM to Laptops? --Obsolete.fax (talk) 21:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It depends on the laptop model. Even different models by the same company can be different. And see my note below about RAM compatibility—you want to be 100% sure you are putting the right kind of RAM in, or else all hell can break loose. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 21:16, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, the manual should cover this. Typically you might remove the battery and/or some other covering, and there will be some number of slots underneath. Friday (talk) 21:18, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Heres a pic Think outside the box 10:53, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And a video guide Think outside the box 10:55, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Adding RAM from 2001 PC

I removed the 256 RAM from my 2001 old PC, to put in my 2006 PC. The RAM doesn't fit in the slots. The length is same though? Does anyone know why this is? --Obsolete.fax (talk) 21:15, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Different motherboards use different types of RAM. You can't just swap them from machine to machine if they aren't exactly the same type of RAM. The Memory Advisor Tool at Crucial.com is very good for figuring out what types of RAM are compatible with different systems. Needless to say, if the RAM doesn't fit into the slot, it isn't compatible. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 21:18, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's most likely a stick of SDRAM, which is incompatible with today's DDR2. --antilived^{T | C | G} 04:41, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, if the old RAM is from 2001, it's probably PC-133 as opposed to your newer computer which probably uses PC-3200 or PC-4200. If you want to buy some more RAM and aren't sure which to get, take one of the sticks out of the machine, take it to Circuit City and ask what kind it is. Then go to tigerdirect.com or newegg.com and buy it cheaper there. Useight (talk) 05:54, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wireless adapter

I connect to the internet using this thing which I plug into my usb port. It looks like a flash drive. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make it go faster? I'm wondering if its overheating cause when i put my hand on it its really hot. Lately its been very slow. When I right click on the wireless computer icon in the system tray and click repair, after its done repairing it temporarily speeds up for about 30 seconds then slows down again. Whenever I'm playing a game I get lag. I dont know if its because my adapter is really low quality or if the place im connecting to is. I brought mine for $7.99 but I see lots of $40 and $60 ones. Will buying a higher quality adapter fix my problem? Or do I have to buy my internet from now on? The one I currently have is this one: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0243527 If buying a more expensive one will help then I'll buy a new one but I dont want to waste my money if it wont do much. If anyone has any help I appreatiate it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.187.104.71 (talk) 23:53, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That is a Trendnet; I have used other products from them and found them reliable. The heat is worrisome; I had a Linksys USB-Bluetooth device at home overheat badly and fail not so long ago. Any electronic device that overheats is going to go into some sort of failure mode. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 00:38, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The product reviews on newegg.com seem to indicate that the driver it ships with on the CD are bad and that you should update the new one from their website. You might give that a try. --24.147.86.187 (talk) 00:53, 7 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for telling me theres a new driver. But I downloaded the driver and when I unziped it I saw something called setup so I clicked it and it uninstalled my current driver and did nothing else. So I ran it again and this time it says it installed new drivers but when i plug my adapter back in it says "found new hardware". So then I decided to install the old one back with the cd when I realized you can like choose a specific location so I clicked that and i clicked next and it installed it again. So then I opened up internet explorer and I didn't notice it go any faster. I went back to the trendnet download site and I notice the file was added on 10/6/07 and I brought mine later than that. So I looked at which version and the site says v3.1 and my cd says version 3.2. What confuses me is how the customer reviews were posted on 1/4/07 and 1/2/07. Did I accidentally download the wrong thing? Or did they name it so that it gets smaller, like 3.1 actually better than 3.2? If it isn't is using old drivers harmful to me and should I uninstall my current drivers and put the cd back in?75.187.104.71 (talk) 00:28, 8 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]