Don't Even Look at it the Wrong Way!

I don't know what happened this morning but my computer was deceased for a few hours. It made a clicking noise and could not load up anything, did not get to Windows (far from it). I thought it was a hard drive failure. Which was really not good cause it's been awhile since I backed up all my photos, drawings and writing and other bits of stuff I fool myself that I can not do without.

I tried a couple of times, no luck. I used my "women and children first" disk and hoped I would at least still have a functional computer at the end of it, knew I would lose all the data. But that did not work either. So, sad at heart and feeling like someone who only phones people when I need something... I called my sister to see if her husband was out in Barrie today. They have a second business here in my town. But he wasn't. She did say that he could rebuild/ repair my hard drive so all was not lost. But, she agreed with me that it was unlikely I would still have photos and the rest intact.

So, I came back here and thinking to be prepared, I shut it all down and then pulled it out and tipped it over (gently) so I could read that tightly-typed sticker with the serial number for my Acer Aspire PC and the other sticker with the Windows register number. I wrote them all down, making sure to write clearly so I didn't have a B instead of an 8 anywhere. Then I put the computer back in it's regular spot.

I thought I could give it one more try just to see if maybe it might change it's mind about the whole dead as a doornail thing. It Did!!!! I couldn't believe it. I was not expecting anything but more of that clicking noise. But Windows came right up as if nothing had happened. I checked for my files and they are all here. But, it was running really slow when I tried to copy files onto a second disk so I could back them up and then delete them from the hard drive. I still don't trust it to not be dead again if I shut it down. So I am spending countless hours trying to back everything up from more than a year of photos and so on. I usually do it a lot more often but not having a real CD to install Windows Vista again has kept me from going through with my routine back up and reformat of the hard drive. I've missed it. Nice to start with a completely fresh PC again. Knowing there isn't any junk on it at all. :)

Anyway, I will be doing this backing up for days I think. Wish I could find a better way to do it. A lot of photos of my sisters kids which I am sending to her in zip files and then deleting from here. If I get all those done I might be able to save the rest of the stuff which is just mine onto one CD. I can't find my DVDs though I should have 2 packages of them, one not even opened yet. I'm not Ms. Organized though so they will turn up someday when I don't need them at all. Of course.

Happy New Year. This is an interesting start to mine. Could be seen as a good thing. It will seem a lot more to the good once I get it all done.

Password Safe

Password Safe. I'm sticking this link here cause it's getting late and I'm too tired to think about it right now.

Password Safe allows you to manage your old passwords and to easily and quickly generate, store, organize, retrieve, and use complex new passwords, using password policies that you control. Once stored, your user names and passwords are just a few clicks away. Password Safe allows you to safely and easily create a secured and encrypted user name/password list. With Password Safe all you have to do is create and remember a single "Master Password" of your choice in order to unlock and access your entire user name/password list.

Clean House - Broken Computer

Found this on A Daisy A Day.

New Old HP All-in-One

I bought this for half the sticker price ($19.99) at the thrift store yesterday. It was 50% off for Friday only. Now I will have a fax machine instead of having to get someone to fax for me. Will be handy now that I am looking for another job, again. The only things I will need to figure out are getting a CD/ files for the install if I need them and getting a USB cord as it is not with the hardware. I'm also hoping Windows Vista is not going to be a pain about running this, I've heard it can be temperamental when it comes to hardware. I've been lucky so far though.

Update: HP is an absolutely lovely company! I found the download drivers and extras for this All-in-One without any trouble at all, right on their site. All I had to do was open the file and let it load up. Everything is working now. I already tried a scan. Still don't have the fax set up as I need to puzzle out how to get one more hardware item plugged into the phone jack section.

One interesting thing for everyone to take note of... as I was registering on HP I was given the option of keeping the name and phone number from the old owner of this machine. I bet no one thinks to delete their registration information when they recycle old electronic hardware. I wouldn't have. But, all my recycling has been to give it to someone I know. In this case they left it at the thrift shop for any anonymous human to pick up.

I thought about calling and asking if they kept the original installation CD from it, also the USB cable would have been a nice bonus. Right now I am just giving double duty to my USB cable from the little scanner (which is also an HP machine).

Won't my brother be surprised when I send him a fax. He gets back from the west coast (British Columbia here in Canada) this next week I think. I can have a note waiting for him. :)

You've Been Vista-ed!

Old games never die they just need old operating systems. It's frustrating to have all these games which I really enjoy (especially when Zack, my nephew, is visiting, as he is for a couple of weeks) but not be able to get most of them working on the new computer running Vista. Carmageddon, my favourite, runs but without the sound. It is still fun but kind of bland to play it silently. Most of the others will not even load up at all.

New games are expensive. Not all the games I like have new versions. Like Carmageddon they stopped development on them and even though there is talk about a new Carmageddon I've yet to see anything new in the store.

Why can't they make an operating system (a Windows in my case) that works with the old games? Why do they intentionally eliminate old software and force us to buy new software? I wish they would cut that out!

Sentimental about PC Dinosaurs

Why are we sentimental about old electronics? I've seen them at the Goodwill, those thick monitors side by side, the old towers with their dirty keyboards leaning against them and the mouse dangling like a spider. I've seen photos taken by others who have found old computers, video game consoles and assorted technological anatomy discarded on sidewalks, rummage sales, tossed out of windows. It's funny that they bring more feeling than the other debris, the general run of the mill stuff like cracked dishes, beat up furniture and half-dead clothing.

It's funny that we do care. I get a funny feeling seeing those discarded dinosaurs, unwanted and hopeless. Of course, they have no thoughts about the whole thing. Whatever emotions or passion they ever had were from the people using them. Maybe it's because they became something more than a hunk of plastic, a tool. They became familiar, like a family pet you give attention to every day, worry about when it's sick and feel happy spending quality time together.

Still, they are totally useless now. Unless you can make some kind of modern art with them, deconstruct them and build a new system using some of the old parts. Those old clunky monitors are too far gone though. But, they could make a very unique fish bowl for your goldfish. So there is always hope, if you really want to save your old PC.

Reboot Grrl

Don't yell too loudly at the tech support people... For we have your modem/ cable at our fingertips.

Ubuntu Newbie Today

I have installed and am running Ubuntu as an OS (operating system) today. Will see how it goes. Not much time to play around as we had planned a road trip this weekend. I`m just putting off taking that last load of stuff out of the car.

Odd things are different with Ubuntu. Some of the keyboard keys don`t work as they should or would usually.

Trying to Install Ubuntu

Windows Vista is making things very difficult but I'm not giving up yet. I have CDs for an old version but the latest, 7.04 seems to do a better job of working alongside Windows. Not that I really am fond of Windows, especially Vista, but some things will not run on a Linux (Ubuntu) operating system. Some day they will all get it right, all work together so that your computer doesn't seem to be at war with itself. At least it would be nice. I'm not holding my breath. Though, from a money making view, who wouldn't be interested and likely buy into an OS that could work with everything.

I am thinking to toss Windows Vista for my old Windows ME. For one thing it did not nag at me constantly. Vista is like having a dog humping your leg, no matter how many times you swat at it the damned thing just keeps coming back. I don't know why they did this. How does this seem useful to the PC user? It's just hugely annoying. Took me years to stop getting annoyed each time old Windows asked me if I really wanted to delete that file. Now the new one is paranoid and asks me if I even want to open that file. Too much!

Bad Vista

What's wrong with Microsoft Windows Vista?: "BadVista"

The BadVista campaign is an advocate for the freedom of computer users, opposing adoption of Microsoft Windows Vista and promoting free (as in freedom) software alternatives.

Windows Vista is Nag Ware

I've got the new computer running. It's different in small, strange ways from the old IBM. This one is an Acer, running Windows Vista (which should be known as nag ware) and I bought a flat screen monitor (ViewSonic) which has a warped sense of colour. I am trying to adjust them. The red on this is pretty awful. Which is not good when red is my favourite colour.

I'm also setting up Firefox, looking for my old favourite addons. I've got StumbleUpon back but still need to decide if I want the Google toolbar back or to keep that other one I found which was just as good and did not hog bandwidth nearly as much - a nice feature.

One problem I have found which is a biggie, are the USB ports. While this PC has about 8 - 10 USB ports the blasted thing will not let me use even one extra one to plug in my scanner. I have not even tried the camera yet. For some stupid reason the computer wants to run everything it has on a USB port: mouse, speakers and the keyboard are all USB connections. Even though there are ports just for the keyboard and mouse they don't come with those connections to be able to plug into them. So here you buy this PC with so many extra ports and you think you've got it made when it comes to finding a port for your scanner, camera and other extras. But, no buddy, you've got a flock gathered and your extras won't fit in cause the essentials are already at the USB feeding trough. This is bugging me immensely.

I've just bought a new PC and I already need to buy new hardware for it, day one. So, I will likely see what I can find at Staples or Zellers or some such place. I need a plug to adjust my mouse and keyboard from the USB port sucking space to the other spaces which they should have been working in.

I also need to buy my very first DVD. A blank one. Cause they don't actually give you an OS when you buy a brand new computer. No, Microsoft is far too greedy/ paranoid for that. You get a preinstalled hunk of molasses slow junk (which nags at you endlessly) and you do not get a CD or a DVD. Instead you have to either burn seven blank CD's or one DVD in order to have something to reinstall your OS when it crashes and burns. Until then, you are using it at your own risk. Also, I can not install Ubuntu on this baby with a dual boot cause I can not reinstall Windows. I'm not really keen on the idea of buying Windows just so I can continue to use Windows Vista. It doesn't seem much different from the XP I have used on other computers. It is quite slow, likely to being clogged up with junk I don't want and don't really want to wade through to delete or tame in some way. Also, it nags and nags and nags at you each time you do anything, asking if that's ok. Like a nervous paranoid chicken, it just does not shut up. Cross the road already!!!

Anyawy, not sure I can scan anything. I have over 200 photos I would like to take off the camera but may not be able to. But, I do have a new computer. Great, right?

Peanut Butter as Caviar

I'm getting tired of my body inflicting hunger upon me. Can't I just out grow these annoying things like having to sleep and eat. They take up so much time. Plus, I've already got enough storage that my body should be able to just shut up and leave me alone about eating more of anything for awhile. I even gave it a buttered bagel tonight. Give it a rest already!

I have a day off tomorrow. It feels that way even though I am pretty much unemployed and just coasting along in my own afterlife. It has been good being busy and having a schedule to stick to this week. I know I need that I just don't do very well at creating a schedule for myself, on my own. But, tomorrow there is no workshop. I did get a job offer today. I'm not sure about the facts, other than it is for some web content and general web geekery to get a site off the ground. I won't say much else till I have more hard facts. But, it would be a part time thing, a paying part time thing which is a nice step up from all the non-paying part time things.

Also, there is a really terrific job I am going to apply for. But, when I research the company and the other people working there (although as directors and assorted bigshot titles) I feel I am peanut butter in a world of caviar. I might stick around but I won't ever fit in. Still, the company is a non-profit (sounds like a think tank in laymans terms) and I would really enjoy reading about the ongoing projects they are thinking and researching upon. I had a look at what is mentioned on their website. So excellent! If I had gone a different direction in life I could have been one of the caviar types, thinking alongside the rest of the tank. But, here I am, just peanut butter.

Even peanut butter can apply though. I need to vamp up my domain and turn it into something like a writing portfolio. A real one not that pile of knicknacks I have tossed in it now. Not a very professional page. Way too peanut butter though fun.

Sometimes I feel really inferior compared to people who can build a computer with a few paperclips and a snippet of code. Yet other days I meet someone who calls me a geek and acts like I'm speaking a foreign language. I'm just your humble every day mouse swinger but I'm trying to be more. If I pretend enough maybe no one will notice the peanut butter on my fingers. Actually, the funny thing is that I don't like peanut butter and I never have.

National Shut Down Day

Of course when I went there just now the site has nothing to say what it's about. Just something asking for charitable donations to some cause or other.

From the blog I found this on I assume it is shutting your computer off for 24 hours beginning in a few minutes (March 24th).

Tech Trash and Clutter

Updated Creative Fat Grrl with a post - Dealing with Tech Trash and Clutter.

Which Linux is for You?

Take a quiz/ survey and find out which Linux would suit you best.

Computer Shopping for Me!

My taxes are done and I mailed them in yesterday. That means I can start looking at new computers. I don't know just when I will get the money or how much it will be but... I'm ready to shop! Ideally I'd like an HP PC. But I want one which will run with Ubuntu Linux. I'm not going to have Windows installed when I bring it home. I might see if I can bargain for the extra RAM instead of the Windows CD/ DVD they'd add to the package. That would work out very nicely.

Mad Science Grrl Does it Again

The computer is formatted again and I am back to reinstalling all the software again. Some I think I will leave off. I still have hopes of getting a new computer. Once the taxes are actually, finally done and I get some money back. Computers aren't as pricey as they were last time I bought a new one. Maybe I don't need to spend a thousand dollars on a new one this time. That would be nice.

Anyway, it's nice using a clutter free computer. It's running faster and the mysterious and aggravating slow downs are gone. Maybe not all of that was from Sympatico. I think at least part of it was Webshots so I am not going to load that again. I do think I will go to my backup disk and nab the fonts and some graphics which I saved.

One thing I forgot to save to the back up disk were my bookmarks. Most of them don't matter, but a lot were sites I intended to go back to and have a better look at. The ones that I do wish I had saved were about local history and urban exploration. It's a pain that they are gone cause each was a site I found by chance. I didn't find it through Google or any other search.

Do other people reformat their hard drive now and then? Seems few do when I ask. I think it's great. Like having a new computer, almost. This one is so old I can't say it feels new this time around. A lot of new stuff won't work with Windows ME now. Stupid of them. Not everyone wants to buy the latest Windows, it's unfair that software makers try to force it. I can't use Google Toolbar, the new one now. They made if for Windows XP and up. Idiots. One more strike against the almighty Google.

Anyway, tonight I am going to muck around with the computer. I only installed one game so far. I thought I would do the split hard drive thing and have Ubuntu here but I decided against it cause this is such an old computer now and it does have little things going wrong with it. But, I will keep it when I get the new one. That way I don't need to split the hard drive of a new computer. I can keep this one for the old software and start the new one on Ubuntu and keep it that way. I'm looking forward to it.

Answering the Phone

My brother brought me a surprise answering machine. I don't know if it will work with my phone. It is a good idea though. I don't have anything else to take phone messages. Might even cut down on all the times I answer garbage calls.

If I get it working the next trick will be creating a phone answering message. Instead of trying not to make a really annoying or nerdy message I think I will plunge right in and make it as dorky as I can.

I don't have enough outlets for everything I have connected to the phone line. The computer is already using one plug for the powerbar and the phone itself is in the other one. There is not even one extra slot in my powerbar to add the answering machine to. So, I will have to make a trip to Zellers tomorrow and pick up an extension cord or one of those smaller things that acts like a splitter. Not sure how safe that is. I don't like having so many things plugged into one wall outlet. But, I only have one functional phone jack in the basement. It looks like there was another one but it is missing wires.

Hot in Hand

I was going to get an interesting picture of two houses with Xmas lights on tonight but my camera didn't feel like working. I was surprised to find it quite hot to the touch too. It was the only thing warm at all in my purse. Then, since it wasn't working I took out the batteries and found out they were the culprit. I don't know why they got so heated. I put them in my pocket to cool off. Though they were nice as hand warmers on the cold night. I still don't know what made them get so hot though. It was odd.

MSConfig

Once upon a time on a computer which has since migrated with my Mother down to her Florida getaway and hurricane magnet...

I used to use an uninstaller and nothing else to clean my computer. It ran great. Crashes and freeze ups were rare. If one did come along I knew it was time to clean it up or check for a more updated kernel32 file. Not a problem.

Now, until recently, I was running a firewall, several spyware programs and virus checkers. Most of those are gone now. They became the problem. In trying to keep my computer virus and other pestilences free I ended up having freezes, crashes and system overload warnings when I was actually running almost nothing. So, most of those old guards are gone. My computer is my own again, it runs faster and much smoother. It's no longer bloated with all those safety gadgets.

However, I still have the problem of clean up. It's not so simple any more. Don't think your spyware will do it all for you. If you want to get rid of some computer bloat of your own look for information about cleaning up your individual computer. Meanwhile, this tip (below) is something I used to know but forgot about. It's just what you need to get some pests out of your start up menu.

Make a fresh start. Accelerate your Windows start-up by disabling programs that automatically start with Windows. Go to Start, Run, type msconfig, press Enter, and select the Startup tab; uncheck the box for anything you don't want starting up with Windows. Recheck the box to change it back again.

Keep in mind, do not get rid of something just cause you've never seen it before or don't know what it does. Windows has a lot of programs keeping it running which you will never see. They run in the background. It's only when they stop running (or are removed by accident) that you find out what they are and how much you need them. So, just get rid of programs you know you have already deleted from your hard drive, those uninvited guests who have outstayed their welcome.

Good luck, happy cleaning.