Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2016 April 24

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April 24

Preview (Mac)

Sometimes when I try to open an image file, Preview refuses, saying I lack the appropriate permission – though it simultaneously opens other image files with the same permissions (644). Any idea what might cause this? I did succeed in opening them as superuser. —Tamfang (talk) 05:54, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

"THIS APP DOESN'T RUN ON THIS PC."

I get this message on Windows 10 quite a lot. The latest were the most outrageous. I bought an Epson printer (WF-3620) and needed to download the printer software. Got the above message. Also, since I'm getting black streaks on the screen of one of my computers (Dell Inspiron 13-7353), I tried to download the graphics driver. Same message.

Microsoft says go to the software vendor, and I will, tomorrow, because the support departments for both Epson and Dell are only open M-F 800 to 5:00.

So what is Microsoft up to? Why? How can an ordinary consumer deal with this nonsense? --Halcatalyst (talk) 18:33, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

One possible reason for this message is that you're trying to run a 64-bit executable on 32-bit Windows. -- BenRG (talk) 02:41, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

You asked this before; did you see the answers? -- BenRG (talk) 02:43, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

I missed it before; sorry. It has failed with several applications. The latest are cited above. --Halcatalyst (talk) 18:38, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

Are you running 32-bit or 64-bit Windows? (Press Win+Pause to open the System control panel; it should say "32-bit Operating System" or "64-bit Operating System".) Did you download the correct version of the drivers for your OS? -- BenRG (talk) 20:11, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

I contacted Dell support; they took over the computer and checked the hardware (ok) and replaced the bios and drivers. Didn't see the MS problem. Same with Epson. So I'm okay now. Thanks for your help. --Halcatalyst (talk) 01:27, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

This message appears when a installed software or its installer wants to open a browser window. --Hans Haase (有问题吗) 07:12, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

differences between esxi and horizon (vmware)

Hi there,
Does anyone know what are the differences between vmware esxi and horizon 7?
I mean, why can't any esxi user deploy a VM and use it as a virtual desktop?
Thanks!Exx8 (talk) 19:30, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

Swerving/Ergonomic keyboard

I sought a swerving/ergonomic keyboard that has the "Delete" key next to the "Left arrow" key - I'm guessing its known as keyboard rather than extended keyboard/(101 Keyboard). What's the correct term/name for such keyboard type and where could I purchase one from? -- Apostle (talk) 21:06, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

Adobe Reader dialog box cancel buttons

One thing I have been wondering about for quite some time is this: why do cancel buttons in dialog boxes in Adobe Reader behave so oddly? The standard behaviour of buttons on the Microsoft Windows platform is that they are activated when you let go of the mouse button (OnMouseUp). This applies to all buttons in Adobe Reader too, except cancel buttons: the dialog box is closed as soon as the mouse button is pressed (OnMouseDown). What is the reason for this? --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 23:39, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

@Andreas Rejbrand: 'Activate when released' (Windows) implies that the user might want to select and drag, but there's never any need to drag a cancel button. 'Activate on press' (Reader) does exactly what you expect. Instantly. It seems to me that it's Windows that behaves oddly, unless it was originally something to do with allowing the user to slide the pointer onto the button and then activate on release. Maybe that's a hangover from very early times (30 years ago) when users were not so experienced at placing the pointer. Akld guy (talk) 12:16, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

Windows is coded like that so you can cancel your click before you release; drag your pointer while holding click and then release, and the action doesn't take place. I have this happen almost daily, and I find it annoying when a program uses mousedown instead of mouseup or click, since mousedown doesn't provide an opportunity to change your mind. FrameDrag (talk) 14:51, 28 April 2016 (UTC)

Wow, you mean you click first and think later? Does that carry over into real life matters, lol. Akld guy (talk) 13:24, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

I do the same thing regularly although I wouldn't say everyday. I'm not sure if this is the reason for the behaviour though, why I didn't mentioned it before. Another advantage with mouse up is even if the program doesn't allow you do do anything with click and drag, it may not always be clear it doesn't, whether this is selecting, dragging the button or whatever else. Nil Einne (talk) 14:07, 29 April 2016 (UTC)