Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2014 January 25

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 25

Is Google drive safe?

I had to install a Google Drive on my Windows 7 machine. I had no choice, it was a sort of an emergency. I was asked to take a look at a collection of many images, professional tomography to be exact. Now I have to do the same with my wife's computer and I am more observant. The system asked me to run an exec that starts with dl.****.exe I don't quite remember the full name, may correct it later. I don't think there is google in that name though. Is it safe to install it? So far I haven't seen any harm to my OS though. Perhaps I am paranoid? I understand Google Drive is a cloud server of sorts, correct? I will appreciate any comments. Thanks, --AboutFace 22 (talk) 02:10, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

I've used Google Drive for years (on XP, 7, and MacOS) and don't recall ever having to download anything. I assume it's because it's browser based. Dismas|^(talk) 02:48, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

There is a desktop client of Google Drive that is similar to Dropbox. It runs as a native app on both Windows and Mac. It's not required as everything can be done via web browser. But if you want to automatically sync a folder between several computers and/or mobile devices, you need to install the application. If in doubt, download fresh copy from Google. There's an option to "Connect Drive to your desktop" when viewing your Google Drive through a browser. Make sure you are connected to Google Drive via a secure "https" URL. --Navstar (talk) 02:56, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

--Navstar (talk) 02:56, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

You could also make sure the exe is signed by Google, I'm pretty sure Google signs most if not all of their installers. Of course if you don't trust Google this doesn't help but I don't understand why you would use Google Drive if you don't, or for that matter, why it would matter what the exe is called. Nil Einne (talk) 12:45, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank you, all commentators. I am pretty sure the download is probably safe but wanted to vet the idea anyway. You never know what people with experience might say. --AboutFace 22 (talk) 16:23, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

It occurred to me to ask this question. When I used Goggle drive, I was on the receiving end. Now I will be on the transmitting end. How would I let the other person know for him to find the pictures I will be sending/uploading to the drive? Do I do it through email/gmail? Thanks, --AboutFace 22 (talk) 16:54, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Again, I haven't used the download version and only have used the online browser based version but... There is a share button on each document where I can choose to share a document with however many people I want and even assign whether or not they can edit the documents. I would assume there is a similar function on the download version. Dismas|^(talk) 17:40, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

Is there a light version of Google Maps ?

(I restored this Q, which seemed to have been deleted for some reason.)

When, in Google Chrome on Windows 7, 32-bit, I type a restaurant name as a general Google search term, it shows me a nice little preview map indicating the locations of that chain in my area. So far, so food. Next I pick on the little map in the hopes of getting a full-sized map of the same thing, where I can zoom in and drag to find the names of local streets etc. This is where it all goes bad. Instead of what I want, I get a map showing every "point of interest" in the area, with pop-ups listing reviews of the restaurant, offering to recommend bicycle routes, etc. Even with nothing else running on my PC, this can take it down to a crawl. So, what's the easiest way to get what I want, just a larger version of the preview map, without all the bloatware ? StuRat (talk) 18:36, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

UPDATE: I resorted to entering the address in Yahoo Maps. Any other suggestions ? StuRat (talk) 22:26, 21 January 2014 (UTC

Instead on clicking the map, click the grey push-pin under the main Google listing (left hand side of the page). Works for me, though I've only tried it with one restaurant.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 10:56, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, that does work better, presumably because it opens up the map already zoomed in, so isn't trying to display all that data on the full map. Still, I'd also like to know how to display the full map without all those other points of interest denoted. I want to see just the locations for the restaurant chain I typed in, and no cruft. StuRat (talk) 02:21, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

Google may well not want to do that for you. Google's advertisers are paying them money precisely because they want their map location displayed when you type in a search for one of their competitors. Providing the feature you need would not be profitable - so my guess is that they're not interested in making it possible. SteveBaker (talk) 02:41, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

Yep, I was worried that might be the reason. Why else would they show me all these businesses in which I have no interest ? I wish they could make some alternate funding arrangements, where the business I'm actually looking for would pay them a few cents. After all, I'm far more likely to go there than to the random businesses they listed. In general they seem keen on targeted advertising, but here, where I told them exactly what business I was looking for, they ignore me and show me every business in town. StuRat (talk) 03:39, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

What are you guys talking about? When you click on the little map, it opens a bigger map, which has all kinds of things on it, including streets, parks, subway stops, and other restaurants. I don't think the streets or parks pay for placement. It's not an evil advertising conspiracy, it's Google Maps showing you a map. The mini-map, which you say is what you want, shows all of those things too, including other restaurants. The thing you actually searched for is marked with push-pins, so it should be easy to see.

I thought your complaint was that the full-size map is slow, not that it's cluttered as such. If so, maybe the problem is related to the "new Google Maps", which draws the map locally using WebGL instead of downloading bitmapped images. Click on the circled question mark at the bottom right and click on the link there (I can't remember the exact text) to turn it off, and see if that helps. -- BenRG (talk) 08:39, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

The text is "Return to Google Classic maps", and it does fix the problem, thanks ! As for all those POIs, I do think that WebGL has a problem with those, presumably because it tries to draw every vector of every POI on the screen, regardless of if they each show up as a single pixel at that scale. If it was smart enough to filter them out in such cases, and not keep them in memory, it shouldn't display so much more slowly when zoomed out. It just looks like bad coding, to me. StuRat (talk) 14:47, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

FOLLOW_UP: Where can I submit comments to Google on Google Maps ? StuRat (talk) 03:42, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

I found it. The question mark in the gray circle also allowed me to comment on their bloatware taking my system down. (A least that's better than a question mark inside a human head, which to me always looked like it was saying "click here if you are a person of questionable intelligence".) StuRat (talk) 04:06, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

Resolved

StuRat (talk) 04:06, 27 January 2014 (UTC)

Computer crashes instantly (in all but safe mode)

Hi there, everyone:

I'm having issues with my computer, which runs a Windows 7/Ubuntu dual boot. The problems are on the Windows side. I cannot do anything on Windows anymore, because almost instantly after logging in, the computer freezes and does not come out of freeze, sometimes for an hour or more. I can load Windows on "safe mode with network connectivity", but on this mode, it does not allow me to access the internet - making me wonder if the problems are related with the wireless drivers. The computer was working fine, but then I brought it back home from Spain to Wales over the Christmas holidays and that's when the issues began. After returning to Spain, the computer worked fine for a week or so, and then the problems recommenced again. I'm able to use the computer almost perfectly fine on the Linux partition, with the only problem being that downloading programmes in the software centre/trying to download some larger documents/.pdfs makes the screen grey out, so perhaps it's an issue with memory, but it is a relatively new computer and shouldn't have problems loading documents. Unfortunately, I can neither run diagnostics (the computer crashes before a program can be loaded) nor system restore (it takes hours and then eventually says, unable to restore). I'm not sure how to resolve this issue at all.

Regards, --188.78.102.209 (talk) 12:49, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

It may be simpler to reinstall windows. Or even start again if it is a new computer. [1]--Aspro (talk) 20:41, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Agreed. But you can log on in Safe Mode first to back up any critical data. StuRat (talk) 02:12, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

The problem is that the computer was provided to me without the windows disk (and the computer doesn't even have a disc drive.) --188.78.102.209 (talk) 13:16, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

If you had the registration key you could still theoretically re-install from the internet, although if your internet isn't working, you'd need to download it first using Linux (if they allow that). With no install disk or registration key, you basically need to buy Windows or just stick with Linux. If this is an older PC, you might just keep this one as your Linux PC and buy a newer Windows PC.

BTW, Linux graying out the screen during long downloads might just be their screen saver kicking in.StuRat (talk) 14:30, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

Good point. I don't quite understand why some flavours of Linux has started to uses Splash screens. Without them, one could see what was happening. If a download or installation hung, the original screen gave a quick indication that a problem had occurred and to were the problem may lay. Fortunately, they can be disabled but that is just another retro-fix to do. I found Windows very annoying in this respect. The splash screen would just sit there for 20 minutes or more with a silent modem, without me knowing if it was still working or if it had hung. Back in the days of dial-up-modems, my phone was out of use to incoming calls during these frequent periods. Little niggles like these, made the Total cost of ownership of widows much grater than Linux (-for home use of surfing, emails and things). For todays home user, they would be better of using Chrome or Linux as their main machine as it will always be available, and reserve windows for just those applications that only run on windows.--Aspro (talk) 16:37, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

You might be able to make a boot log, see for example [2] which will tell you how far it got in the startup progress before it hangs, and might identify the driver which has caused the problem. I've seen this behaviour caused by a virus and managed to identify the program by looking for suspicious filenames in linux. If you suspect you might have a virus try running a anti-rootkit tool.[3] It also worth trying with a direct ethernet connection with a cable from your computer to the router. Some problems can be caused by windows update so turn this off [4]. Also try making a System repair Disk [5]. This has some good options for recovering broken systems.--Salix alba (talk): 15:30, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

If you're interested in really digging into the issue (rather than simply reinstalling) and have software debugging experience, you can create a crash dump when it is locked up then use WinDbg to investigate what the system was doing. You can set everything up in safe mode, then reboot and trigger a blue screen. Here's a Microsoft document explaining how to do it: [6].

That covers a Server 2003 system but the procedure is essentially the same for other Windows OSes. Unfortunately, if it is frozen to the point where the keyboard interrupt isn't being handled, then the CrashOnCtrlScroll option won't work for you, and you'll need special hardware to generate a non-maskable interrupt.

Feel free to ask for more help if you're interested in going down this route. I wouldn't bother if it was my home system, but I have used it in debugging a lockup problem in a Windows-based industrial controller. I would try the boot log method mentioned above first, and also selectively disabling drivers that you suspect may be causing the problem. If those don't work, then this method may be able to track down which driver or other system process is stuck. Katie R (talk) 16:03, 28 January 2014 (UTC)