Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2013 August 2

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August 2

Safe storage of devices with rechargeable batteries

A while back I asked a question about battery life and safe charging practices. One of the things I learned was that it is unsafe to leave the batteries at 0% for too long. In my case, I have quite the collection of such devices (most of them being hand-held game systems) so many in fact that I go very long periods of time without using some of them. So it got me thinking: how should I be storing these devices if I know I won't be using them for a long time? Periodically taking them all out and recharging them (my first thought) seems wasteful. So is there a better way? Thanks! --Yellow1996 (talk) 00:57, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

If the risk is that they can leak caustic chemicals, then making sure nothing valuable is underneath them makes sense. For example, no electronic devices in the same drawer as the batteries. StuRat (talk) 10:22, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

IN company battery used to avoid power loss are always kept plugged, even when they are never used (no devices are connected on it's output). They are often high cost device, and if they are unplugged during some month, it is good for recycling.

The best way to keep your battery is to keep them charged permanently, even if you don't use them. Consumer battery are less sensitive: it will take +3 years. Consumer battery are more sensible to Memory effect. 2A02:8422:1191:6E00:56E6:FCFF:FEDB:2BBA (talk) 10:34, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

I don't know what you mean by consumer batteries. In the case of portable devices, they are li-ion in most cases, and have no memory effect. OsmanRF34 (talk) 15:15, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps I should have been a little more specific: these devices are things like a PSP and a Game Boy Micro. There's no real risk of leakage; and the batteries aren't designed to come out (except in the case of the PSP, which I have seen replacements for.) Just sometimes I won't use them for a long time and if they run out of charge then I'm worried about them being at 0% for a long time. --Yellow1996 (talk) 16:31, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

The control circuitry in many Li-ion batteries will render the battery useless if the voltage falls below a certain minimal level. This is a safety feature because recharging rapidly from a very low state can cause the cell to explode. (The battery can be reconditioned by dismantling it and very carefully recharging each cell individually, but this is not something to be recommended unless you really know what you are doing.) For this reason, it is wise not to store Li-ion batteries in a discharged state for a long time. I think I read somewhere that storing at 60% charge was best but our article on Lithium-ion battery says 40% based on this reference. Perhaps it depends on how long you are storing before recharging. Dbfirs 21:08, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

All right. It's too bad that they need "maintenance", but I guess routine recharging is my only option. Thanks, everyone! :) --Yellow1996 (talk) 00:54, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Future Intel Processor Specs

How far in advance can we generally anticipate having firm specs, prices, and a release date for the next generation Intel Xeon processors? The rumor is that they will be released in September, but for a number of them Intel hasn't yet even released information on the number of cores to expect (and the rumored values that have come out are contradictory). How many weeks in advance do they tend to convey official information on upcoming CPUs? Dragons flight (talk) 01:45, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

What sort of "firm spec" do you seek? Press release, white paper, or user manual? Intel.com and http://ark.intel.com have all the technical information that's available to the general public.

For example, the Software Roadmap, hardware roadmap, and similar all announce "the plans" for the next several years (including things like public marketing names, processor speeds, cache sizes, major features - at a level of detail suitable for marketing and general planning, but not for system engineering). Press releases announce new products, usually a few weeks or months from general market availability. White papers, data sheets and user manuals sometimes precede market availability of the parts, sometimes by as much as 12 months or more. Technical addendums and errata trickle on in for months to years following product shipment.

Also bear in mind the distinction between release date of a CPU and release date of a computer system based on that CPU. Unless you are in the business of designing and fabricating your own logic boards and peripherals, you probably care very little when Intel makes a new part available - you care more about when they release a reference design; or, when a system-integrator releases a computer system. Nimur (talk) 03:23, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

For example, the intel spec page only shows last year's Xeon chips. It doesn't include anything about the next Xeon E5 or E7 chip generation. There have been leaks/rumors about various part configurations (e.g. [1]), but those rumors have been inconsistent on key features, thus far offer no guidance about price, and serve only to suggest a rough launch date of September. As I said in the original question, I'd like to know how far in advance firm information is likely to be available? How far in advance has Intel historically published such guidance. Regarding usage, in keeping with Intel's two year cadence for the server market, most of these parts are expected to run on the same chipset as the 2012 Xeons, with at most a firmware update needed. So there should be little delay towards deployment. I'm thinking about a September / October purchasing window, but right now there isn't enough actionable information to make plans around. Dragons flight (talk) 03:39, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

I don't recall prices ever being released until the product is almost shipping. But guidance (in the form of product roadmaps) are available as much as a few years in advance. Have you looked at the Server Roadmap and the Data Center roadmaps? They list features and specs for various product lines through end of 2014. Nimur (talk) 04:11, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Yeah, that's pretty vague in the part of the roadmap I care about. Dragons flight (talk) 04:52, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

vertical disc drive

I got a new small computer that has a vertical optical disc drive. The markings are all for the box being vertical, but there are foot pads on the bottom and one side. When the box is vertical, the optical disc drive is vertical. It seems to me that the drive should not be used in the vertical position, but the manual doesn't say anything about it. Can an optical disc drive be used vertically? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 02:25, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

It's not *that* common but the Intel based iMacs use vertical optical drives. Dismas|^(talk) 02:30, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

It seems to me that it will be hard to close the drive with the disc in there. There is nothing to hold the disc. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 02:52, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

On the iMacs it was a slot loading drive. With the drawer type, it can be done (I've done it before) but it's not handy to say the least. Dismas|^(talk) 03:26, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 are optical drives that can be placed vertically or horizontally, at the preference of the users. I prefer laying it flat, but it can do both. Mingmingla (talk) 03:32, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Many (probably most) PC optical desktop drives (the full 5 1/4" size ones) have four tabs on the tray stopping the disc from falling out if they are mounted vertically. [2] The size and design of the tabs does vary and some do work better than others but these also some degree of tradeof since it may make discs harder to insert particularly horizontally which don't need the tabs. I've even had some where the tabs can be extended so that the side near the bottom more securely supports the disc without making it too difficult to insert the disc. That said, my limited experience has found these tend to work okay with any decent design, you only have to take slightly more care when inserting the disc. Of course 80mm discs and other odd sizes ones like business card ones won't work in such an orientation. Slot loading is another alternative and may be easier to use but is less common at least for full sized drives and generally never support non standard size discs. Evidently some manufacturers claim their slot loading drives do support 80mm discs [3] but it sounds a bit risky (which highlights an issue with slot loading drives) and I expect they still won't work with odd sized ones. Mini CD and the earlier link says you can get adapters for 80mm discs which should enable them to work in both tray loading and slot loading drives in any supported orientation but I don't know if business sized disc adapters exist and other less common odd sized ones unlikly to exist. Caddy loading with an appropriate caddy is another options for vertical loading of such discs but is even less common although potentially I wonder if a well designed caddy could work with many different sizes. Nil Einne (talk) 08:45, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Well I tried one and it worked OK. I needed to hold it in a little. The second time I tried it, it slipped out of the holder when I opened it. If I need to do this often, I'll put the computer on its side, but this one has a small footprint that I can stand up on a shelf. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 14:48, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Resolved

What is srf in a URL?

.srf redirects to Raw image format, and I don't think that's what I'm looking for. It appears, for example, when I type "hotmail.com", but now that I'm signed in it's not staying onscreen long enough to copy.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 15:29, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

It stands for Server Response File. You can read more about it here. Hope this helps! --Yellow1996 (talk) 16:35, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. Now that I know what to look for, ATL Server seems to be where that's covered here.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 18:32, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Can someone verify that the edits I did today relating to this topic are correct?— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 19:40, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

They look fine to me. ;) --Yellow1996 (talk) 00:55, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Syskey registry entries on nt 6.x (post-vista)

I know 4.x (nt4) and (5.x) but I don't know the entries on 6.x.

Thanks in advance 2A02:8422:1191:6E00:56E6:FCFF:FEDB:2BBA (talk) 17:23, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

I click and nothing happens

Lately I've had short episodes where I click on the screen and nothing happens. It doesn't matter where I click. Usually the problem goes away in less than a minute, but today it lasted more than five minutes and so I shut down the computer and rebooted.

It's an HP 2000 laptop running Windows 7. Any advice? Thanks. --Halcatalyst (talk) 18:32, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

The first thing I would do is try a different mouse. That would at least tell you whether the problem is with the mouse itself.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 19:33, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

In this case it's a laptop, so it's probably something wrong with the mouse buttons. Especially if the laptop is old, these can wear out. Just to rule out any internal (or software-level) problems, try a USB mouse and see if that works (it should.) Self-service for laptops can be a pain, but if you can get the buttons off then you can check if there is a visible problem underneath. --Yellow1996 (talk) 01:00, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Actually, I am using a USB mouse -- sorry I forgot to mention that. But when the problem occurs, it also affects the on-board mouse. --Halcatalyst (talk) 04:04, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

In addition to StuRat's suggestions below, it is also possible it's some type of malware. I had some once which messed around with the mouse. If nothing else seems to work, then you could always try a virus scan. --Yellow1996 (talk) 22:46, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Another possibility is that the computer is just maxed out on resources, like RAM. Sometimes you will get a busy cursor when this happens, but not always. How much RAM do you have ? Were you running some heavy applications ? If a reboot always fixes it, this may be the problem. Use the performance monitor to check out how close to 100% you are. If this is the problem, try running fewer apps at once and reboot frequently, and/or upgrade your RAM. StuRat (talk) 22:05, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

I have 2 GB RAM. I don't run applications heavier than MS Word and Excel. I did do a complete virus scan a week or so ago -- I think before I started this thread. The only time I rebooted was when 4-5 minutes had passed, as I mentioned. Previously, the episodes had lasted only a minute or so. The thought had occurred to me also it might be some subtle virus. --Halcatalyst (talk) 04:28, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

AVG and McAfee? anti-virus

I have AVG 2013 with which I am quite happy. I also have McAfee for free for a year from March 2013. Is there any reason one would use both, or am I correct to suspect I should just deinstall McAfee according to authoritative sources? Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 19:09, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

I've been told you can't have both in use at the same time, because they'll interfere with each other.— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 19:41, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Right - you should not use two anti-virus programs doing real-time protection at the same time. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 20:31, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, I suspected as much, and have uninstalled the McAfee based on past unsatisfactory experience. μηδείς (talk) 20:44, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Resolved

It is OK to run Microsoft Safety Scanner along with another because it doesn't do real-time protection. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 21:18, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Absolutely (this is even suggested - with a source! - by the article you linked.) I personally get by fine with just AVG, but that's just me. :) --Yellow1996 (talk) 01:03, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

How do you tag someone on Facebook?

I'm returning to the real world now, but Wikipedia does not satisfactorily answer this question. Someone complained on Talk:Facebook features four years ago and the problem still hasn't been entirely solved. I added something today that I found doing a Google search and picking out what I felt Wikipedia might accept, but their basic description of the concept is very basic and seems to assume people know what tagging is. So do the mentions of tagging that were already in Facebook features. Actually, one of the sources I used just says when tagging began, and I'm not even entirely sure that person is right. And I'm sort of guilty of WP:OR since if the date is correct, there were no Timelines, whereas the source for the defintion I used does use Timelines (and for some odd reason, the newspaper's web site didn't give a date for the article).— Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 21:45, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

While typing a status update or other post, the user can type @ followed by the name of the person they are tagging. The tagged person gets a message that they've been tagged. For a photo, the user clicks the tag photo option, clicks on the person in the photo, and then selects a name from a popup menu. The user can click on anywhere in the photo and not just on faces. And again, the tagged user is notified. Dismas|^(talk) 21:57, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Disable Facebook like popup box

Specially bloggers use it, you go to read content and a Facebook/Twitter like request comes up (for example see this page). Sometimes they don't go even you press [esc] or click on [x]. How to disable all these? Browser: Firefox and Chrome (Greasemonkey installed in Firefox)? --Tito☸Dutta 22:12, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Turn off scripting. Astronaut (talk) 18:16, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

Adblock Plus can also do this. --.Yellow1996.^(ЬMИED¡) 01:18, 9 August 2013 (UTC)