Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2013 October 23

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October 23

Wrong login information

When I log in via Google or Facebook to any of various news and commentary web sites in order to leave a comment after an article, using my name and password on Google or Facebook, then the comment gets identified as being from my wife, rusing her Facebook avatar. This happens not only on my own machine, but on machines in libraries that I've never used before. So I tried logging in via Twitter. I've never posted anything on Twitter. The same thing happened.

What is going on and how can I fix the problem? Michael Hardy (talk) 00:34, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

My first thought is you should check your avatar and make sure it didn't somehow get replaced with your wife's. Richard-of-Earth (talk) 07:44, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Nothing like that happened. Both here avatar and her name appear. Michael Hardy (talk) 00:11, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

Do you and wife possibly have a common e-mail address as these sites commonly(?) use that for logging in? The ones that I have commented at did anyway and I logged in via Google. 220 of ^Borg 22:31, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

We don't have a common email address. I sometimes log in using facebook or google, and we don't have any accounts in common there either. Michael Hardy (talk) 21:47, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

Excel 2010

I have a spreadsheet where I enter times. The cell is formatted as hh:mm and I type things such as 09:15. When I go to edit the cell, for the duration of the edit, it changes to format hh:mm:ss . Why? Can this behavior be stopped? -- SGBailey (talk) 08:15, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Change the cell format to "Text" to stop it completely. Otherwise you can change the way the "Time" cell format works to fine-tune it to your needs. I have assumed you are using Microsoft Excel, since you do not say. Thanks ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 12:12, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Text works. :-) I assumed I had to have it formatted as time in order to do time calculations on the data, but as you suggested, I don't. Changing the format changes the value in each cell, so they have to be re-entered, but that is doable. Thanks. -- SGBailey (talk) 14:10, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Transfer file from old to new computer

I am upgrading to a new computer and want to transfer 30+ GB of pictures and 20 GB of video files to new computer. how will my current eMail accounts transfer. Help Please in simple terms. I am not computer literate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.4.52.201 (talk) 10:13, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Email accounts carry an inbox size limit generally and also limit the size of email attachments. You may be better with software such as: Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft Skydrive for this. Or simply just transfer if with a backup drive, USB thumb drive, if you have one. Thanks ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 12:09, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Yes, to transfer files, a USB flash drive is cheap to buy, or a friend may lend you one, and is usually easy. There's another approach, which is to transfer the files over your home network. There are also a couple of other ways to interpret the question:

• Are you asking, as a separate question, how to transfer an email account to a new computer?
• Are you asking how to transfer an email account because the picture and video files are stored in the inbox?

 Card Zero  (talk) 12:18, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

If you no longer need the old computer, one option is to remove the hard drive(s) and connect them to the new PC by putting them in a housing that turns them into an external hard drive, connected by USB cord. This obviously requires somebody familiar with computers, but can be a lot faster than trying to figure out which files you need to transfer. Another advantage is that it increases your total disk space, and it also nicely segregates "new" from "old". StuRat (talk) 13:48, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Good idea, or even connect it internally in a spare drive slot - though not possible if the new PC is a laptop or an all-in-one PC.  Card Zero  (talk) 14:53, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

DICTIONARY

I am looking for a free dictionary to be installed in my son's computer so when he edit a word/excel file he can find the meaning of the word by double clicking the word without opening the dictionary software. Thank you.175.157.52.188 (talk) 12:01, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

[1] gives you an option (although not with double click, but ALT + click, which seems equally handy for me). OsmanRF34 (talk) 23:08, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Thank you. But its online. is there anything offline?175.157.9.222 (talk) 05:08, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

Another one on iPod's battery

I finally got a new battery for my iPod and I added it. But it [the iPod] keeps discharging, not so quick as it did when it had the old battery but it discharges pretty fast.

When I plug it into my laptop it shows this message: Please wait. Very low battery

What can it be, guys! I am loosing my baby U2 iPod :'( Miss Bono ^{[hello, hello!]} 18:17, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

My iPod is only slightly newer than your U2 edition, and it's on its last legs. I suspect that the older iPods, no matter what battery is in it, simply aren't as energy efficient as the newer ones, so that maybe, and this is just guessing, the new batteries just don't have the capacity to last. Mine goes dead after 4 hours or so. To even get it charged I need to have it plugged in for a couple of hours before the "Very low battery" message goes away. That said, the laptop isn't the best way to charge it. A desktop or wall socket will likely provide a faster charge. Mingmingla (talk) 19:03, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Yes, I have also use the usb charger. It turns on very fast but the battery doesn't last. Miss Bono ^{[hello, hello!]} 19:06, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Although you may have purchased a new battery for you iPod recently, it may have been manufactured a long time ago. Batteries will lose their capacity with age whether they are used or stored. The battery should have a date code on it but as each maker has their own scheme it may be extremely difficult to find its age, and finding a supplier of freshly crafted batteries even more so. I had precisely the same problem with finding a battery for an obsolete mobile phone and had to concede defeat in the end. 86.147.202.194 (talk) 21:04, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

I'm afraid 86.147.202.194 is probably right. Batteries can be tricky things sometimes; though you could try charging from a wall socket and see if it makes a difference. --.Yellow1996.^(ЬMИED¡) 03:35, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

I suspect you've bought a fake battery. In my experience, most of those on eBay are counterfeit.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 06:01, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

I've been stung by those for camera batteries and for laptop batteries. They don't hold a charge like they are supposed to. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 15:18, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

When I am using the iPod --I noticed last night-- it doesn't discharge fast, but when I unplug the headphones and leave the iPod on the table... it gets fully discharged... in a few hours. Miss Bono ^{[hello, hello!]} 12:32, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

Now, it says that is not fully charged but when I unplug it from the wall socket it says it is fully charged- Miss Bono ^{[hello, hello!]} 17:27, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

How many employees does Wikipedia have?

How many employees does Wikipedia have? This applies to the whole world. 78.156.109.166 (talk) 19:55, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

According to the article, the Wikimedia Foundation (which runs Wikipedia) has 142 employees. 82.44.76.14 (talk) 20:34, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia itself (as in, the articles) is worked on by volunteers, though. --.Yellow1996.^(ЬMИED¡) 03:19, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

Well, WikiAnswers says 35, as does Business Insider. 3rd and 4th result if you google "how many employees does wikipedia have" on google.com. BTW, I am the question creator. Pubserv (talk) 15:38, 27 October 2013 (UTC)

Creative Zen Xfi 8GB

Separately I've had a Creative Zen X Fi for the past three years and I have dropped it numerous times (who doesn't). One of my most recent ones has caused the screen to go blotchy, have a large white rectangle in the corner of the screen, make the whole screen have white lines and caused the graphics to jump or fizzle. I can still however make out most of the tune details and it still plays everything normally. Is there a way to fix the screen? I have tried reinstalling the software from scratch, reformatting and readding all the media, running diagnostics and running the battery dead but none of these have worked. Is this a lost cause? Simply south...... cooking letters for just 7 years 21:23, 23 October 2013 (UTC)

One of two things has happened:

1. You have dislodged the ribbon connector which connects the circuit board to the LCD
2. You have damaged the "display sandwich" (the sandwiched layers of polarisers, lcd, and reflectors that make up the screen).

If it's the former, you may be able to open the casing, pull the ribbon cable from the connector, clean it, and reseat it in the connector

If it's the latter (which is likely the case, given you said "blotchy"), then your only hope is to open the case, figure out why the various layers of the sandwich aren't in their usual nicely flat and lined-up way, and see if you can fix that. In some devices (I've never even seen a modern Zen) the external casing acts as a vice, holding the display sandwich in together and in place.

But realistically - you're getting an iPod. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 22:20, 23 October 2013 (UTC)