Friday, January 11, 2008

Aaaaargh / Yawn / Arrrrrgggh!!!

Aaaaargh / Yawn / Arrrrrgggh!!!

I've had more problems this morning and have been staring at a laptop screen where everything has stopped working.

So I did the old trick of turning everything off (in this case by actually pressing the power button as everything else had stopped working) and then took out the power cable, unplugged the battery and started to sort out my older PC which had just had XP reinstalled.

At which point I found out that it was coming up with a checksum error and wouldn't boot with a wireless keyboard.........(although my lovely big screen worked fine)

So 40 minutes later I found where I'd put my old wired keyboard...........At which point I found that old PC doesn't have a socket for oldest wired keyboard!!!

So I now have to go and buy a wired keyboard to make sure I can boot the old PC so I can install the software for the wireless keyboard and mouse.

In the meantime I've dismantled the place where I put all the things I only use once in a blue moon and they are now decorating various corners of the flat - this happened before I remembered that I'd recently seen the old keyboard in a box of cables in another room.......

So having established that I needed a new keyboard - and that it was still tipping down with rain outside I returned to the laptop. Which started - but wanted to report that the new security suite was not happy. Plus I tried to install one last bit of software. Bottom line after starting in safe mode I got back to the normal screen - in safe mode.

Now we get to the point of this post (apart from me having a massive whinge about my awful morning!).

Whatever you do - if getting a new computer and learning Vista for the first time, make sure you make time to learn how to do a restore point. I fortunately did that yesterday and so restored back to that and everything started working again.

Apart from the bit where the windows security centre insists that my anti-virus is not running........whereas the security suite thinks it is. So I've now got to work out what's going on there.

But the sun has come out so I think I'll just go and get that wireless keyboard which means I can avoid putting the 'once in a blue moon' store back together again before lunch.

Whatever did we do before we had computers? I think next time I get a new one I shall take computer and all new gizmos and security software and get somebody else to set it up for me.

8 comments:

  1. Oh big HUGS Katherine! Sounds like you need them! (and a ... no I won't say it)

    But seriously, deep breaths. And I'm glad you had the foresight to work out restore points. I know nothing about Vista yet other than to avoid it. (still XP running on my PC and Mac)

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  2. Time to switch to a Mac? I have both at home and find myself using my Mac more and more. My PC runs slowly due to virus software, and there are no viruses on Macs--as far as I know.

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  3. Thanks Tina. I've almost got to the permanent headache stage.

    I know lots of artists use MACs - and that up until now they have been pretty much unaffacted by viruses. Consequently I did take 5 minutes out to look at them before getting the new laptop. I concluded that they were very pretty - and very expensive! Laptop prices are plummeting over here.

    Also, while reading my way through four computer mags I did spot a reference to the fact that Apples have now got so many users that the virus people are beginning to think it is worthwhile to write viruses for MACs - so I'm not sure how long the current troublefree period will last.

    I'm now the owner of a new wired keyboard and mouse so I can get my the other PC started (I'll be crossing my fingers and toes too). I've also entertained idle thoughts about completely rearranging the existing set-up..........but I think I'll focus on getting both computers working properly first.

    This has only been going on for a week so far - and the moral of the story is don't wait until your old PC/laptop/Mac conks out......

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  4. Hi Katherine
    I enjoy and appreciate all that you post.
    You have been tagged. Info on my blog at http://nmoskovitz.blogspot.com

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  5. I remember at the birth of this computer revolution, we were told to anticipate a huge amount of leisure time in the future, when all life's boring tasks would be done by computers. What we weren't told was that the leisure time would be swallowed up sorting out the computers. ;)
    Apart from childbirth, I don't think there is anything more satisfying to have done with than computer problems. Of course a few years down the track, the pain is forgotten and we start thinking about our next computer.

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  6. Oh how true Robyn!

    For me, the real benefit of computers has been the way they allow me now to converse and blog with fellow artists around the world in a way which would have been unthinkable not that many years ago.

    Incidentally, is there anybody else out there besides me who has a real problem getting rid of the boxes all the stuff comes in - "just in case" it goes horribly wrong and needs to go back. (What I really hate about this recent experience is that it yet again confirms the view that this will always happen!) The only real joy of this whole experience is how small the box is that the Vaio came in!

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  7. I could not have left my daughter in Australia and started life here in Tuscany without a computer - skype to talk to her; email for my friends; the web for Australian news and radio (not to mention the wonderful BBC); the incredible art resources in a language I
    speak and finally, most unexpected but delightful, all the friendships that have come through blogging.

    As for those equipment packing boxes... The best way to ensure you never have to send anything back is to keep the boxes!

    Finally you didn't say what size extra hard disk you bought for your backups.

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  8. A terabyte - it's one trillion bytes, or 1000 gigabytes.

    :)

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