Friday, August 28, 2009

We now return you to the 20th century.

This computer has multiple problems -- yes, again, and ever since I bought it -- but anyway, it has a bunch of dysfunctions, including no sound. Multiple attempts to fix it -- my repair guy was here for 4 hours -- have failed.

I'd gotten awfully used to MP3 convenience. Now: no carefully compiled playlists. No easy clicking, no uninterrupted 90+ minutes of music at a time. Worst of all -- no YouTube! Larry is fine with my using his computer, but since everything at his desk is set up for a left-handed person who likes s-l-o-w mouse scrolling 8~) I won't do that every day.

But I can access music to work by, using old fashioned 20th century technology, CDs, a player, and my headphones. CDs not only have a full, rich sound -- MP3's are cruddy, really -- but many I bought in the 1980's still play. There's a lot to love about music that's not disposable.


This also got me to dust and organize my bookcase to make room for the boombox.

I really would like to get Sindows out of my life forever. We've already gone un-Window Shopping at the local Apple dealer, and I'm thinking on a Mac for next year, but right now I can still work and write on this machine, so that purchase can wait until the other bugs --- and there ARE others, including no saved log-ins anymore (Yes, I've done all the suggested fixes)-- drive me so insane that I take this thing to my cousins' house on the next Confed'rate Holiday and let 'em fire their cannon at it.

5 comments:

Mike said...

I'm just about to pack up my tower and switch over to a laptop for the next month while I'm relatively homeless. I suspect I will find some small things I forgot to bring over from one to the other, and there will be some discomfort at the changes in how things work, but the nice part is that every upgrade includes more speed, so, even if you've made a colossal purchasing error, it feels like an improvement!

ronnie said...

Ruth, have you tried doing a complete System Restore? It reverts your computer to its factory settings. I finally bit the bullet and did one a few weeks ago after first saving all my documents and photos onto CD. I just had that many problems that it seemed like a less painful option than repair-shopping (repair, which never seems to fix the problem).

I am slowly tweaking the computer back to my liking, re-installing programs etc., but I am ecstatic to have a fully-functioning computer again. It was like getting a new computer for free.

southernyankee said...

Oh, yes, it's awkward using a left handed arrangement, and OMG a slow mouse, good grief!

Just remember, a the slow mouse got the cheese, and oh, by the way, still has sound 'cause the slow mouse works off of XP.
LOL ;-)

Dann said...

The problem with your Wintel machine is in the "Win" not the "tel".

If you aren't afraid of new software, there is always the option of using some flavor of Linux and Open Office. I've been playing with Open Office for a couple weeks and have been reasonably satisfied, although not outright thrilled.

--
Regards,
Dann

Nostalgic for the Pleistocene said...

Come to think of it, changing computers, or restoring one, is much like packing and moving.

ronnie - my original version of this post had a long whinge about why System Restore would be so ha-a-a-rd! (insert whingeing sound effects) but it's still an option. The story of this machine is long - i got one of the first Vistas off the assembly line which is never a great idea and i don't entirely trust it to accept my software again. It gave me a very hard time when it was fresh from the factory. But i can see myself thinking "Oh why not" once i get some projects squared away.

And, Dann, that's another reason why i'm reluctant to try to make this machine do anything...unusual. My tech guy has suggested i let him build me a computer next time, and that would be a good time to try such options.