2004 Year in Review

Computer Woes

It seems everyone lately is lamenting their computer woes. I’m no different. I had three working computers: my business computer to do bookwork on (built by Essex), my newest family computer (for the Internet, school projects, games, etc.), and a computer I inherited from my Mom.

All my problems started when I decided to do my own taxes using a popular software. It wouldn’t load on my old computer (what else is new) so I decided to clean the dust off my Mom’s computer in my son’s room and get it ready to run the software and eventually run the business.

The computer wouldn’t shut down the normal way (a Windows problem) so I finally decided to just format C (clean everything off the hard drive and start over). I knew nothing on how to do it but when has that ever stopped me? With the help of other computer users in the know I was able to get it up and running. A wonderful feeling, I might add.

About this same time Adware and Spyware were slowly swallowing up the family computer. I tried everything I could think of and it just go slower and slower. Eventually we couldn’t even get email (I check mine all the time). I was considering another format C but someone suggested adding an inexpensive 120 gb hard drive available at a local office supply chain and using my old hard drive for storage (a slave).

I didn’t know how to replace a hard drive but that didn’t stop me either. Everyone has a first time right? I made tons of mistakes, spent many hours and late nights, but Saturday, Feburary 28 at 6:36 pm, my email worked again. That was the highlight of my year so far (it really has been that bad).

I loaded all the software we needed to run the programs we use most and everything works except I still can’t download pictures from my camera. It runs so fast! One thing I would highly recommend if you are having Internet trouble (popups, Adware, and Spyware) is a product by Mozilla. Firebird is an alternate Browser that can be downloaded from www.mozilla.org for free and it stops all popups. We use it here at TheCity1.com. It’s not perfect but it’s better than Explorer.

I decided to take a break before I make my old hard drive a slave.

That begins my third computer woe. I had borrowed the portable Zip store drive off the business computer (my most reliable computer) to exchange large files I needed on Mom’s computer with the Internet computer. Then two weeks ago when I went to start it up, it wouldn’t start. I replaced the Zip drive on it and it still wouldn’t start.

The last time I had backed up information was January 21, 2004. I put a new version of my bookkeeping software on Mom’s computer. I had bought it two years ago but the old machine didn’t have enough RAM to run it so it was just sitting there.

So for the last week I have spent almost every evening entering in the lost month of data. Now I’m caught up to where I was when it crashed. I still need to bring everything up to date but boy am I burned out on computers now.

There is a lot of satisfaction in doing the work myself without having to hire anyone but a lot of hours have been spent. Someone told me when you have computer problems you just take your computer someone that works on computers. That would be the easy way out and what would I have learned from that?

I’m sure glad the weather hasn’t interfered by being nice but now that I’m getting caught up it can turn warm any time.

by Barb Benson, theCity1.com
March 17, 2004