My computer died...

[fajrdrako]

Yesterday I couldn't use my computer at home. I turned it on (or tried to) and got the Blue Screen of Death. It worked after a fashion in Safe Mode, so I deleted a lot from my hard drive, thinking that it was maybe just that the hard drive was too full. No, that wasn't it. I came to the limit of my capacity to fiddle with it very quickly, so I called in the cavalry. Sheila the Computer-Tamer came to my rescue double-quick, with her whip and chair, and did her usual magic. The computer now works like a dream.

Whew.

Comments

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're up and running again!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Me too - I was trying not to panic, but I'd hate to be without my computer, and without my Internet connection. I'm sure you understand!

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Entirely! I don't really have a social life here in Glasgow outwith the 'puter!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's a sort of lifeline - without it I feel cut off. It isn't that I don't have a social life, I do, but online contact with net friends is important to me too.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Phew! I trust everything important is backed up to the wall in case the computer decides on another abrupt vacation?

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

It's a 6-hr round-trip by bus for me to get to my social life, so it only happens every month or 2. A lot of my real-world friends in St As area are on LJ, too.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

A lot of my RL friends are on LJ but only some of them post or comment on a regular basis. Still, I sometimes get a kick out of realizing how much they know about my life now. They'll mention something, and I think, "I don't remember telling them about that" - then I realize they read it here. Always makes me smile.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I hope so. I made a few back-up discs about a month ago, and don't really remember what I've added since - I suppose the most important thing is my unposted stories and my stories in progress!

As soon as I get my DVD burner back from being repaired I'm going to do quite a bit of back-up.

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

What do people w/o personal computer tamers DO? I have therienne to wrangle mine for me. Yesterday she solved a "won't send messages" problem for me I was having with my email software (The Bat!) that one of The Bat!'s own customer service people could not solve for the life of him.

There should be a "Computer Tamer Appreciation Day"!

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

An easier backup thing (I use it, anyway) is a Lexar device. Incredibly simple.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I never heard of it. What's a Lexar device?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

People like that are worth their weight in gold. Yes, we much do something to show our appreciation! (I'll think of something.)

It always amazes me how the people you'd think should know how to fix things - like the service people you get when you phone about something like The Bat! - are so comparatively useless. At best, they're usually polite but unable to fix the problem. At worst, they are rude and incompetent.

I know this is a huge generalization and some technical-help people are great. But it seems to be exception rather than the rule and it's people like Sheila and therienne who can really do the job.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

It's a little device that you can plug into a USB port and it automatically puts up a window, to which you drag things you want to back up. And the files overwrite, too, so you can back up big files automatically. It can be pulled out and put on a keychain. (i don't do this, but some do.) I've borrowed my daughter's laptop when I travel, and I just plug in the Lexar, drag the files I want to work on to her desktop, work on them, drag them back, plug in the Lexar to my own machine, drag the files to the appropriate folder, and bingo, all backed up. No screwing around with discs. They have tons and tons of space on them--I have all my novels on my smaller one (my spouse gave me one with at least twice the space, which I haven't opened yet.) And I still have lots of room on the smaller one.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That sounds extremely useful. I should look into this.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I like enabling them to mix and mingle on LJ with all my overseas friends such as yourself!

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Having contact with the wider world(s) around us is very important for a lot of reasons, isn't it?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Definitely. I like to have people to talk to - especially those who can relate to talk about comics, books, TV shows and other fannish fun.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's fun - a way of looping circles within circles.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

I used to have a 'tamer' but no longer do, so I just sucked in as much information as I could. If all else fails, I now use my library's systems workers, haha.

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

I used to work as a computer tamer. For easy and medium difficult problems (but what is easy for one is unsurmountable for an other).
I did get a lot of appreciation, not just for reviving dead computers but also for explaining the problem and showing how they could solve it themselves (I am more a teacher than someone with bussines sense)

[maaseru.livejournal.com]

That sounds awfully like a memory stick, but I may be missing something. I take mine everywhere - it stores 2 gigs.

[maaseru.livejournal.com]

Your puter seems to crash more often than it should. Did she say exactly what was wrong with it and what you can do to sort it out without having 911 calls?

[mommimus-prime.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a thumb drive or jump drive or whatever you want to call it. It's a small portable drive that uses flash memory. Lexar is a brand name. I have a 6 gb one and a 1 gb one. They can be used on Macs and PCs which makes it insanely easy to move files between the two.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That's a very valuable talent - offering a wonderful service to the world.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

How nice to have them as resources! I wish I had more knowledge of computers, but in truth, I'd rather spend my time writing or researching than learning more about computers.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

No, she said it was okay and shouldn't happen again.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Handy thing to have!

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

that might very well be. But it took more out of me than I had to give.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, I can't say I'd want to do it. But I admire it all the same.

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

Definitely. I call 'em "flash drives", and (thanks to another friend) can say that there are good ones available locally.

Knowledge of Computers

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

In my (humble but perhaps completely insane) opinion, nobody should have to know as much about the computer they use as they know about the task they ordinarily do (or do from enjoyment). Computers are there to help humans -- not the other way around.

[RANT]
My biggest regret about the "open source" movement is far too many programmers involved in it have severe myopia on exactly this topic -- they provide very little documentation with the program or application they have just developed, and assume the poor end-user is just as savvy as they were. Bzzzzt -- wrong answer; thank you for persuading Yet Another End User to choose Microsoft and have a nice day. :-(
[END RANT]

I hope you don't mind the sarcasm in a' that.

Re: Knowledge of Computers

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

No problem re the rant, I tend to agree. Computers are complex and mysterious things and not as easy to use or set up as the manuals imply. Easier for some people than others, of course, but I'm a bit resistant when it comes to figuring out technology. I can do it (usually) if/when I must, but it's stressful and doesn't come naturally.

Re: Knowledge of Computers

[brashley46.livejournal.com]

That's why I'm so glad I can run a nice stable Linux distro with a knowledgeable and friendly user base. I'd never run across one of those before. I'm now addicted. ::grin::

Re: Knowledge of Computers

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't even know how to set such a thing up, or use it!

Re: Knowledge of Computers

[brashley46.livejournal.com]

Installation was easy, and running the box is actually as easy as running windows.

Re: Knowledge of Computers

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Technologically, I tend to fear new things. If someone set it up for me, I'd probably love it. Otherwise it just sounds intimidating.