Late last June, my Dell with Windows 7 puked out on me. The hard drive died, much to my dismay. We were only weeks away from the release of Windows 10, but there I was caught between a new Windows 8.1 desktop or nothing at all.
I went to Best Buy and talked to a lad there who said, "Oh, Windows 10 won't be shipping on computers until the fall, at least," when I asked how long before Windows 10 would be on a new desktop. Hearing that, I bit the bullet and bought a Dell with Windows 8.1, knowing I would upgrade immediately.
Windows 8 is on my Surface was I didn't like it much. So I knew I would not like Windows 8.1, either.
Of course the dude at Best Buy lied to me, because Windows 10 was out on new computers nearly the day after Microsoft released its new OS to the public.
I downloaded Windows 10 about three days after it came out. During my initial upgrade, the electricity went out (thank you Appalachian Power). After much cursing, I managed to get the computer back up on Windows 8.1 and tried again.
The second time took. However, Windows 10 has been a nightmare. I know many people upgraded and have had little problem, but I am not one of them. Did the power outage do a warp thingy on me? I will never know.
The main issue I have is something called a "failed group policy client service" which occurs at sign-in, usually after Windows 10 has performed an update. When this happens, the computers thinks I am not its owner anymore, and I cannot perform administrative functions on the darned thing.
Recently, I started experiencing a failure to sign into Microsoft Solitaire (via its new Xbox configuration) and along with that goes the ability to access the Microsoft store.
I used to be very good at computers - when they were DOS based. Yes, that was 25 years ago. Then I was a whiz and could write batch files and code, and take care of most anything. Then along came Windows and I was lost. I think I started out with Windows 3.1 At some point I realized that Windows is really DOS in disguise, and managed to figure out some nifty and necessary things like msconfig and a few other commands that could be helpful in times of need, but mostly I prayed the thing didn't fail me.
Windows 10 fails me constantly. I have performed a "system restore" on this computer more times than on all of the others I've owned put together (and that goes all the way back to a Commodore Vic 20, in about 1980).
It doesn't help that Microsoft's solution to any problem you ask about is "find a friend who is an expert." Like we all know computer whiz's who live down the block or something. Maybe you do, but I do not. Or at least, not any that I would bother. Their other solution is a community forum which may or may not offer you a dozen different things to try, or nothing at all.
During these long and frustrating months, I have discovered a few commands that are helpful. First one must be able to access the command prompt and be the administrator on the computer.
In Windows 10, The easiest way to access the command prompt (what used to be known as the "C" prompt in DOS), is to right click on the start button. You will see a list of items similar to classic Windows. Look for "Command Prompt" (Admin). That's the one you want.
Once that is up, you will see C:\Windows\system32>
To fix many problems, you can type in this after the system32>
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
This will run for a long time. It should come back and say "The operation completed successfully" at the end, whether it found a problem or not.
Check and see if the problem still exists. If it does, you're probably going to have do more googling to find your particular issue.
If you can get your system working with a system restore, then try that. I used system restore this morning to return the computer back to yesterday, and then, since I could now access the Windows store, I uninstalled Microsoft Solitaire and reinstalled it again. Hopefully this will solve that issue but I won't know for a few days - or until the next update, anyway.
You may also want to consider uninstalling whatever junk the seller placed on your computer. Dell, for example, had something called "supportassist" on mine that I recently deleted because it seemed to be at least one of the culprits on my PC. Whether or not I regret that move we will find out in time.
Microsoft, in my opinion, has released its worse OS since Windows ME and Windows 8, which tie for last place in MS operating systems. I don't know what they are thinking, releasing this. It has been, for me, anyway, the most unstable and error-filled OS I have ever used.
At any rate, I hope the above will help someone else out there who is about ready to toss their PC out the window.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query windows. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query windows. Sort by date Show all posts
Monday, March 28, 2016
Friday, July 31, 2015
Windows 10
So my new Dell was determined to upgrade to Windows 10 yesterday even though I had asked it to schedule the upgrade to today (Friday). Yesterday morning at 7 a.m. the computer began asking me to do the upgrade. I had a few hours before I had somewhere to be, so I hit "install now."
All was going well and then the power blipped. We've been having strange electrical outages for about a month now, usually at 10 minutes to the hour, as if something at the substation is cycling through and not working properly. I'm not an electrician, so I don't really know.
I have my computer on a battery backup so the computer stayed on. But the blip interrupted the internet signal and the next thing I knew my computer had reset itself back to Windows 8.1.
I was infuriated because the first attempt failed, having wanted a clean and untarnished effort, but the power blip was not Microsoft's fault. I think things like that come back to haunt you, though, with little trickles of data stuck someplace they're not supposed to be.
Windows 8.1 had problems and I was not a big fan. I have it on my MS Surface, which I rarely use because I find the OS frustrating. My Surface has not received any kind of notification about the update, so I am assuming it is stuck with Windows 8.1. It's a first generation product. After using Windows 8.1 on the PC, where I could figure it out, I was able to make more sense of it. But that OS is made for tablets, not a desktop.
And here is where Windows 10 also fails. Why does MS want to make everything work the same? A desktop is not a tablet nor is it a phone. Microsoft appears to want to force things to the cloud, ultimately doing away with the need for hard drives. I don't want my stuff in the cloud, thank you very much. My documents belong to me, not to Microsoft or anybody else. I have no illusions that at some point in the future, there will be proprietary issues over manuscripts and other intellectual property stored on the cloud. Written a best seller? You stored it in the cloud - now give Microsoft its cut. Maybe I am paranoid but that is what I believe will happen in a future closer than we think.
At any rate, after the first failed attempt, I tried again later in the afternoon and this time all went well. I spent several hours fiddling with the new OS to set up my "charms." There are still a few things I'd like to tweak but I can't find the way to tweak them, however.
So on to Windows 10. What do I like? I like that the start button is back, and it doesn't take me three steps to find the power button. I immediately turned off the much-touted Corona, which is supposed to be a helpful digital assistant but which to me was such an invasion of privacy that I would prefer to have the option to remove it completely, but do not.
Microsoft Edge doesn't work with Norton, yet, so I am still using Internet Explorer (also available). They put Solitaire back where you don't have to enter Xbox crap to play the game, but the update of the game is messy and I prefer the cleaner lines of earlier Solitaire versions.
All of the programs that I had installed a few weeks ago under Windows 8.1 work fine, including my outdated version of MS Outlook 2003, which I use for a calendar and contact list, along with Office 2007. I am not going to a subscription version of Office ever, which makes me think that at some point I will need to try out OpenOffice or some other word processing program.
Windows 10 comes with a calendar and I think a contact list is in Corona, but I haven't played with those items enough to determine if I will switch or not. The inability to "print" things, if there, is not immediately obvious and I am a print girl. I don't carry a smart phone or a tablet with me, I keep a little calendar in my purse, and I print out a monthly calendar to keep on my desk so I know where I am supposed to be. I am not changing my habits simply because Microsoft thinks I should.
My husband's computer has Windows 7 on it, and I dislike Windows 10 enough that I plan to not install the new OS on his computer. When he buys something new, he will have no choice but to switch, but for now Windows 7 is fine for what he does.
In fact, Windows 7 was fine for what I was doing, and I would, I think, revert back to Windows 7 if the old computer was still running. This new desktop tower came with Windows 8.1 and I knew when I purchased it about two weeks ago that I would upgrade as soon as I could. Windows 10 feels a bit like Windows 7 except junked up and things are hidden and buried. Microsoft obviously doesn't want you to make changes.
One thing that people don't seem to get about Windows is that it is still actually DOS based. I smiled a little when I found the old C:/ prompt, still hidden but available in all its glory. So "format c:/" is still something one could do, should the insanity to do so prompt such action. I daresay other DOS commands, most of which I have forgotten, are also hidden in there (I used to be decent at DOS but when Windows took over I gave up trying to keep up).
Because Windows is DOS based, still, it will never function without issues. That's the biggest difference between a Mac and a Windows-based computer. The MAC OS is completely different; it's not functioning as something that it's really not, which is what Windows does and always has done.
If I am wrong about my assumptions on that, I am sure someone will tell me, but that is my understanding of it.
At any rate, the verdict on Windows 10 remains a shoulder shrug. It's an improvement over Windows 8.1 but for a desktop, Windows 7 was cleaner and easier. After a few more weeks of use, I'll try to remember to report back with an update on what I think.
All was going well and then the power blipped. We've been having strange electrical outages for about a month now, usually at 10 minutes to the hour, as if something at the substation is cycling through and not working properly. I'm not an electrician, so I don't really know.
I have my computer on a battery backup so the computer stayed on. But the blip interrupted the internet signal and the next thing I knew my computer had reset itself back to Windows 8.1.
I was infuriated because the first attempt failed, having wanted a clean and untarnished effort, but the power blip was not Microsoft's fault. I think things like that come back to haunt you, though, with little trickles of data stuck someplace they're not supposed to be.
Windows 8.1 had problems and I was not a big fan. I have it on my MS Surface, which I rarely use because I find the OS frustrating. My Surface has not received any kind of notification about the update, so I am assuming it is stuck with Windows 8.1. It's a first generation product. After using Windows 8.1 on the PC, where I could figure it out, I was able to make more sense of it. But that OS is made for tablets, not a desktop.
And here is where Windows 10 also fails. Why does MS want to make everything work the same? A desktop is not a tablet nor is it a phone. Microsoft appears to want to force things to the cloud, ultimately doing away with the need for hard drives. I don't want my stuff in the cloud, thank you very much. My documents belong to me, not to Microsoft or anybody else. I have no illusions that at some point in the future, there will be proprietary issues over manuscripts and other intellectual property stored on the cloud. Written a best seller? You stored it in the cloud - now give Microsoft its cut. Maybe I am paranoid but that is what I believe will happen in a future closer than we think.
At any rate, after the first failed attempt, I tried again later in the afternoon and this time all went well. I spent several hours fiddling with the new OS to set up my "charms." There are still a few things I'd like to tweak but I can't find the way to tweak them, however.
So on to Windows 10. What do I like? I like that the start button is back, and it doesn't take me three steps to find the power button. I immediately turned off the much-touted Corona, which is supposed to be a helpful digital assistant but which to me was such an invasion of privacy that I would prefer to have the option to remove it completely, but do not.
Microsoft Edge doesn't work with Norton, yet, so I am still using Internet Explorer (also available). They put Solitaire back where you don't have to enter Xbox crap to play the game, but the update of the game is messy and I prefer the cleaner lines of earlier Solitaire versions.
All of the programs that I had installed a few weeks ago under Windows 8.1 work fine, including my outdated version of MS Outlook 2003, which I use for a calendar and contact list, along with Office 2007. I am not going to a subscription version of Office ever, which makes me think that at some point I will need to try out OpenOffice or some other word processing program.
Windows 10 comes with a calendar and I think a contact list is in Corona, but I haven't played with those items enough to determine if I will switch or not. The inability to "print" things, if there, is not immediately obvious and I am a print girl. I don't carry a smart phone or a tablet with me, I keep a little calendar in my purse, and I print out a monthly calendar to keep on my desk so I know where I am supposed to be. I am not changing my habits simply because Microsoft thinks I should.
My husband's computer has Windows 7 on it, and I dislike Windows 10 enough that I plan to not install the new OS on his computer. When he buys something new, he will have no choice but to switch, but for now Windows 7 is fine for what he does.
In fact, Windows 7 was fine for what I was doing, and I would, I think, revert back to Windows 7 if the old computer was still running. This new desktop tower came with Windows 8.1 and I knew when I purchased it about two weeks ago that I would upgrade as soon as I could. Windows 10 feels a bit like Windows 7 except junked up and things are hidden and buried. Microsoft obviously doesn't want you to make changes.
One thing that people don't seem to get about Windows is that it is still actually DOS based. I smiled a little when I found the old C:/ prompt, still hidden but available in all its glory. So "format c:/" is still something one could do, should the insanity to do so prompt such action. I daresay other DOS commands, most of which I have forgotten, are also hidden in there (I used to be decent at DOS but when Windows took over I gave up trying to keep up).
Because Windows is DOS based, still, it will never function without issues. That's the biggest difference between a Mac and a Windows-based computer. The MAC OS is completely different; it's not functioning as something that it's really not, which is what Windows does and always has done.
If I am wrong about my assumptions on that, I am sure someone will tell me, but that is my understanding of it.
At any rate, the verdict on Windows 10 remains a shoulder shrug. It's an improvement over Windows 8.1 but for a desktop, Windows 7 was cleaner and easier. After a few more weeks of use, I'll try to remember to report back with an update on what I think.
Monday, April 18, 2016
A Bad Purchase
Back in May 2010, we purchased new windows for our home. At that time, the windows were the original from 1987, and they leaked. During the winter the house was drafty and cold.
We did extensive research on window brands available, and ultimately settled on Gorell because at the time, they were listed as among the best and given high energy efficient ratings and blah blah blah.
Fast forward six years and we're ready to replace the damn things again. Most of them have already been replaced once under warranty because the glass did weird things and turned brown or the gas leaked out of the seal.
Unfortunately, Gorell went bankrupt in 2012. The company was bought out by Soft-Lite, which chose not to honor the lifetime Gorell warranty.
Instead they came up with some deal with the installer that if they sold so much of their product, they could then obtain warranty replacements. The installer refused to honor the window warranty as well, though they did (sort of) honor their free labor for 5 years portion of the agreement.
Toward the end of our five-year labor warranty with the installer, we parted with harsh words because the windows were (and are) crap and they wouldn't stand behind what they sold.
I have two windows now that look like this -
That is not screen. That is degeneration of the window glass. It has turned brown and you cannot see through it. We managed to get several replaced after Gorell went out of business but it was a trying task. It took well over a year to replace some of them, and during the time we waiting on those, others began to fail.
Replacement windows are not cheap. We spent thousands of dollars on these. Some day soon we are going to have to do it again. These certainly aren't going to last as long as the windows we originally had on the house.
My guess is Gorell was beginning to have problems about the time we made our purchase, and we got the short end of things despite the raving reviews online in 2010. Probably about the time we received these windows, they were cutting quality because of financial issues which they obviously could not overcome.
The company that installed these windows, Southwest Sunroom and Windows, doesn't show up as a dealer for Soft-Lite anymore. The nearest dealer who comes up is in North Carolina, about 100 miles away.
The last time we tried to replace these, while still under the 5-year warranty, the installation company sent us a bill for both labor and the window. We didn't pay it and pointed out it was all still under warranty. They billed us several times and my husband had some angry phone conversations and we sent at least one letter before they stopped billing us.
If we want to replace the browned-out windows, I guess our only option would be to contact Soft-Lite and pay for them. But that is not happening. We will replace all of these windows with some other brand, at some point, and not spend any more money with a company that refused to stand behind the warranties it obtained during the bankruptcy sale.
And of course, we will use a different installer, having burnt that bridge over these horrible Gorell/Soft-Lite windows.
The drafty, cold air still comes in. It is especially apparent in the second-replaced windows, the ones made by Soft-Lite and not Gorell. They do not fit as well as the original Gorells. Of the original Gorells that did not fail (or have not so far), they seem to be okay. But I think of the 12 windows we originally replaced, about 7 of them failed, either with the gas leaking out or the window panes turning brown.
Buyer beware, is all I can say. Businesses all want one thing - your money - and they don't give a rat's ass if you are happy with the product or not. I think the installer should have stood behind the product; after all, they sold it to us. They should have offered to give us a complete set of windows of a different brand, but of course they weren't going to do that. I also think the company that bought out Gorell should have stood behind the warranty.
But we live in a world where it's all hooray for me and f&ck you, don't we? And guess where we ended up with these windows. It certainly wasn't on the "hooray for me" end.
We did extensive research on window brands available, and ultimately settled on Gorell because at the time, they were listed as among the best and given high energy efficient ratings and blah blah blah.
Fast forward six years and we're ready to replace the damn things again. Most of them have already been replaced once under warranty because the glass did weird things and turned brown or the gas leaked out of the seal.
Unfortunately, Gorell went bankrupt in 2012. The company was bought out by Soft-Lite, which chose not to honor the lifetime Gorell warranty.
Instead they came up with some deal with the installer that if they sold so much of their product, they could then obtain warranty replacements. The installer refused to honor the window warranty as well, though they did (sort of) honor their free labor for 5 years portion of the agreement.
Toward the end of our five-year labor warranty with the installer, we parted with harsh words because the windows were (and are) crap and they wouldn't stand behind what they sold.
I have two windows now that look like this -
That is not screen. That is degeneration of the window glass. It has turned brown and you cannot see through it. We managed to get several replaced after Gorell went out of business but it was a trying task. It took well over a year to replace some of them, and during the time we waiting on those, others began to fail.
Replacement windows are not cheap. We spent thousands of dollars on these. Some day soon we are going to have to do it again. These certainly aren't going to last as long as the windows we originally had on the house.
My guess is Gorell was beginning to have problems about the time we made our purchase, and we got the short end of things despite the raving reviews online in 2010. Probably about the time we received these windows, they were cutting quality because of financial issues which they obviously could not overcome.
The company that installed these windows, Southwest Sunroom and Windows, doesn't show up as a dealer for Soft-Lite anymore. The nearest dealer who comes up is in North Carolina, about 100 miles away.
The last time we tried to replace these, while still under the 5-year warranty, the installation company sent us a bill for both labor and the window. We didn't pay it and pointed out it was all still under warranty. They billed us several times and my husband had some angry phone conversations and we sent at least one letter before they stopped billing us.
If we want to replace the browned-out windows, I guess our only option would be to contact Soft-Lite and pay for them. But that is not happening. We will replace all of these windows with some other brand, at some point, and not spend any more money with a company that refused to stand behind the warranties it obtained during the bankruptcy sale.
And of course, we will use a different installer, having burnt that bridge over these horrible Gorell/Soft-Lite windows.
The drafty, cold air still comes in. It is especially apparent in the second-replaced windows, the ones made by Soft-Lite and not Gorell. They do not fit as well as the original Gorells. Of the original Gorells that did not fail (or have not so far), they seem to be okay. But I think of the 12 windows we originally replaced, about 7 of them failed, either with the gas leaking out or the window panes turning brown.
Buyer beware, is all I can say. Businesses all want one thing - your money - and they don't give a rat's ass if you are happy with the product or not. I think the installer should have stood behind the product; after all, they sold it to us. They should have offered to give us a complete set of windows of a different brand, but of course they weren't going to do that. I also think the company that bought out Gorell should have stood behind the warranty.
But we live in a world where it's all hooray for me and f&ck you, don't we? And guess where we ended up with these windows. It certainly wasn't on the "hooray for me" end.
Monday, August 03, 2015
Windows 10 Part 2
Blah.
And Blah again.
Microsoft has utterly destroyed the desktop PC experience with Windows 10. It had mutilated it with Windows 8 and now it has completely screwed it up.
They also kind of lied. Early indications were Solitaire would be back, and free, without signing into an Xbox account.
That was the case for a day.
Over the weekend, I went back to look at Solitaire and there was a little Xbox symbol over it. To try to play, it wants me to create an Xbox account. I can play as "guest" (with ads) or I can pay $10 a year to play something that used to be for free. Here's a nice story detailing the Solitaire problem, as well as what privacy users see as a major fault in the program.
You know what? I can go to shockwave.com or games.com, where I already have accounts, and play solitaire without having to sign into an Xbox account that I don't want.
I think the big change with Windows 10 is that nothing, I mean nothing, is free now. You'll pay for the OS when you buy a computer, and then it'll probably want a subscription to keep you up-to-date.
They want you to pay $100 a year to use Office 365. Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. Use the cloud, subscribe.
Screw that. Really? But I know millions of people and businesses will accept this new "licensing" purchase model, and that will be that. The rest of us will either have to go along or . . . maybe buy a MAC.
Because that is now my plan. To switch to a MAC the next time I need a computer, even if they do cost 5x more than a PC.
Don't get me wrong. This is still an improvement over Windows 8. But it's a backwards move from Windows 7. It's a move that takes the PC environment and tries to turn it into a smartphone.
My desktop isn't a smartphone.
There are people who like it, to be sure. It seems to work well on newer Surface devices, from what I've read. I have a first generation Surface and apparently it isn't going to update to Windows 10, at least, not yet. Maybe at some point. I don't use it much because I don't like Windows 8, and was surprised recently to turn the thing on and find it had updated itself to Windows 8.1.
It is early days yet, and I keep getting downloads. Maybe Windows 10 will improve over time. Maybe this morning I'm simply irked at Dell, which keeps telling me in a pop up message that now that I've installed Windows 10, the only way I can do a back up and restore disc is to pay them money for something else. But sorry, guys, I am not putting out more dough. If I have to restore this thing to the initial Windows 8.1 that came on it when I bought it two weeks ago, then so be it. But you will be getting a word or two from me soon about this, if nothing else so I can find out how to disable your stupid messages.
I wait to see what others says about Windows 10 over the next few months. Maybe in a few weeks, I won't hate it, either. Maybe by then I'll have worked out the kinks and figured out my concerns and rid myself of the irritations.
But for now, I wish I had Windows 7 back on a desktop.
And by the way, I might be in the market for an old MAC notebook, just so I can familiarize myself with the product. I've never used them, not even an iPad, so if you know of anyone selling, let me know.
And Blah again.
Microsoft has utterly destroyed the desktop PC experience with Windows 10. It had mutilated it with Windows 8 and now it has completely screwed it up.
They also kind of lied. Early indications were Solitaire would be back, and free, without signing into an Xbox account.
That was the case for a day.
Over the weekend, I went back to look at Solitaire and there was a little Xbox symbol over it. To try to play, it wants me to create an Xbox account. I can play as "guest" (with ads) or I can pay $10 a year to play something that used to be for free. Here's a nice story detailing the Solitaire problem, as well as what privacy users see as a major fault in the program.
You know what? I can go to shockwave.com or games.com, where I already have accounts, and play solitaire without having to sign into an Xbox account that I don't want.
I think the big change with Windows 10 is that nothing, I mean nothing, is free now. You'll pay for the OS when you buy a computer, and then it'll probably want a subscription to keep you up-to-date.
They want you to pay $100 a year to use Office 365. Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. Use the cloud, subscribe.
Screw that. Really? But I know millions of people and businesses will accept this new "licensing" purchase model, and that will be that. The rest of us will either have to go along or . . . maybe buy a MAC.
Because that is now my plan. To switch to a MAC the next time I need a computer, even if they do cost 5x more than a PC.
Don't get me wrong. This is still an improvement over Windows 8. But it's a backwards move from Windows 7. It's a move that takes the PC environment and tries to turn it into a smartphone.
My desktop isn't a smartphone.
There are people who like it, to be sure. It seems to work well on newer Surface devices, from what I've read. I have a first generation Surface and apparently it isn't going to update to Windows 10, at least, not yet. Maybe at some point. I don't use it much because I don't like Windows 8, and was surprised recently to turn the thing on and find it had updated itself to Windows 8.1.
It is early days yet, and I keep getting downloads. Maybe Windows 10 will improve over time. Maybe this morning I'm simply irked at Dell, which keeps telling me in a pop up message that now that I've installed Windows 10, the only way I can do a back up and restore disc is to pay them money for something else. But sorry, guys, I am not putting out more dough. If I have to restore this thing to the initial Windows 8.1 that came on it when I bought it two weeks ago, then so be it. But you will be getting a word or two from me soon about this, if nothing else so I can find out how to disable your stupid messages.
I wait to see what others says about Windows 10 over the next few months. Maybe in a few weeks, I won't hate it, either. Maybe by then I'll have worked out the kinks and figured out my concerns and rid myself of the irritations.
But for now, I wish I had Windows 7 back on a desktop.
And by the way, I might be in the market for an old MAC notebook, just so I can familiarize myself with the product. I've never used them, not even an iPad, so if you know of anyone selling, let me know.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Renovations Underway
At long last some of the housing renovation projects are underway.
The men arrived this morning to install new doors and windows.
This has become an entire house-fix-it project. It initially started out as a door replacement project. The Pella representative gave us a good price on new windows, too, and so we decided to replace those as well.
Astute long-time readers may remember we replaced the windows in 2010. Those windows failed, and the company that made them, Gorell, went bankrupt. Southwest Sunroom & Windows out of Salem sold us these windows and installed them, but wouldn't or couldn't honor the window warranty, only their installation warranty, which did us little good. We fought with them for five years as the windows failed one after the other. The company that bought out Gorell, Soft-Lite, did replace some of the windows but it was a constant battle to have the replacements made, and then the new windows fit loosely, which only let in that much more air.
That was the biggest waste of money - and probably the biggest mistake - we have ever made in our 35 years of marriage.
This is what the windows look like now. It is hard to take a picture of a window that shows this clearly, but here goes:
I think you can really tell from the bottom one how bad the glass is. That is not dirt. That is glass failure. This is the worst one in the house but several of the windows have spots or areas where you can't see out of them because the glass failed.
The remaining project involves flooring. We weren't planning on replacing flooring this year but a leaking dishwasher changed those plans. We will be replacing the kitchen parquet hardwood with tile, and we decided while we were in the middle of tearing things up we may as well pull up the carpet and put down hardwood floors.
We are hoping this will help my allergies, if nothing else.
Lots of hammering going on now with the new installation. I'll show you some of that tomorrow.
The men arrived this morning to install new doors and windows.
This has become an entire house-fix-it project. It initially started out as a door replacement project. The Pella representative gave us a good price on new windows, too, and so we decided to replace those as well.
Astute long-time readers may remember we replaced the windows in 2010. Those windows failed, and the company that made them, Gorell, went bankrupt. Southwest Sunroom & Windows out of Salem sold us these windows and installed them, but wouldn't or couldn't honor the window warranty, only their installation warranty, which did us little good. We fought with them for five years as the windows failed one after the other. The company that bought out Gorell, Soft-Lite, did replace some of the windows but it was a constant battle to have the replacements made, and then the new windows fit loosely, which only let in that much more air.
That was the biggest waste of money - and probably the biggest mistake - we have ever made in our 35 years of marriage.
This is what the windows look like now. It is hard to take a picture of a window that shows this clearly, but here goes:
I think you can really tell from the bottom one how bad the glass is. That is not dirt. That is glass failure. This is the worst one in the house but several of the windows have spots or areas where you can't see out of them because the glass failed.
The remaining project involves flooring. We weren't planning on replacing flooring this year but a leaking dishwasher changed those plans. We will be replacing the kitchen parquet hardwood with tile, and we decided while we were in the middle of tearing things up we may as well pull up the carpet and put down hardwood floors.
We are hoping this will help my allergies, if nothing else.
Lots of hammering going on now with the new installation. I'll show you some of that tomorrow.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Look at them windows!
The window installers from Southwest Sunroom and Windows showed up at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday to replace 13 windows in my house.
The framing around the windows had darkened considerably on the exterior. The things leaked like sieves and definitely needed to be redone.
The shot above is the rear of the house exterior.
A closer view of the old window.
A little closer still!
By lunch time, the old windows had been ripped out and new windows put in place. It took three men about four hours to do everything but the exterior trim, which they finished that afternoon.
The windows on the exterior now have a creamy white colored trim.
I like the looks of it a lot. I think it gave the house more personality.
The house is an L-shaped ranch.
This is a picture of the rear with the new windows, like the first shot.
The windows are vinyl and are made by Gorell. We investigated the window brand and the installer as thoroughly as we could and, in the end, we were satisfied that this was the best deal for the money.
There are more expensive windows - we had quotes that were three times what we paid for this brand - but these have a good warranty and numerous thumbs up for being Energy Saver windows.
We'll see what happens to the electricity bill now.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Welcome Windows 7
Yesterday my disks from Dell came for my Windows 7 upgrade.
In July, regular readers will recall, my Gateway of four years developed a hardware issue. The resolution was as expensive as a new computer. I had a new computer purchased scheduled, but not for another year. I bit the bullet and bought the thing early.
After a horrible experience with an ASUS computer, I ended up with this Dell. It came with Windows Vista, an operating system which received poor reviews all around. However, with the new computer came the promise of a free upgrade to Windows 7, which at the time was touted as being more stable and better and what Vista was supposed to me. Sort of like Windows ME prior to Windows XP, I think.
Anyway, I did not dislike Vista and was using it on my Gateway laptop anyway, but when the upgrade arrived in the mail yesterday, I could scarcely contain myself.
I'd read that an upgrade could take as long as 20 hours. Yikes. But the little two page-manual Dell sent said it would take two hours.
At 2:50 p.m. yesterday, I plugged in the "upgrade assistant" DVD from Dell. By 6:15 p.m. (longer than two hours but certainly not 20), the thing was done and my computer was up and running on the new Windows 7.
The upgrade via Dell was very easy. The "upgrade assistant" took care of removing software, such as audio and video, and then adding the Windows 7 versions back. TThe only software I really had an issue with was my keyboard software. I use a Microsoft Natural Keyboard and the intellipoint software did not jive with Windows 7. This was easily solved with a download, however.
The other issue was my desktop. I like a Windows Classic look most of the time (solid blue screen) and my desktop came up with pretty icons on a black screen. After some fiddling with preferences I managed to get the desktop back to something I like.
I'm pretty happy with it so far. The printer works, my MS Office works, Quicken works, and the virus software works. Those are the main things. And I feel very comfortable knowing that at least for a little while this operating system won't be abandoned by Microsoft.
*Nobody paid me anything to write this.*
In July, regular readers will recall, my Gateway of four years developed a hardware issue. The resolution was as expensive as a new computer. I had a new computer purchased scheduled, but not for another year. I bit the bullet and bought the thing early.
After a horrible experience with an ASUS computer, I ended up with this Dell. It came with Windows Vista, an operating system which received poor reviews all around. However, with the new computer came the promise of a free upgrade to Windows 7, which at the time was touted as being more stable and better and what Vista was supposed to me. Sort of like Windows ME prior to Windows XP, I think.
Anyway, I did not dislike Vista and was using it on my Gateway laptop anyway, but when the upgrade arrived in the mail yesterday, I could scarcely contain myself.
I'd read that an upgrade could take as long as 20 hours. Yikes. But the little two page-manual Dell sent said it would take two hours.
At 2:50 p.m. yesterday, I plugged in the "upgrade assistant" DVD from Dell. By 6:15 p.m. (longer than two hours but certainly not 20), the thing was done and my computer was up and running on the new Windows 7.
The upgrade via Dell was very easy. The "upgrade assistant" took care of removing software, such as audio and video, and then adding the Windows 7 versions back. TThe only software I really had an issue with was my keyboard software. I use a Microsoft Natural Keyboard and the intellipoint software did not jive with Windows 7. This was easily solved with a download, however.
The other issue was my desktop. I like a Windows Classic look most of the time (solid blue screen) and my desktop came up with pretty icons on a black screen. After some fiddling with preferences I managed to get the desktop back to something I like.
I'm pretty happy with it so far. The printer works, my MS Office works, Quicken works, and the virus software works. Those are the main things. And I feel very comfortable knowing that at least for a little while this operating system won't be abandoned by Microsoft.
*Nobody paid me anything to write this.*
Monday, February 08, 2021
Blue Screen of Death
Saturday evening, my computer went berserk.
The screen turned sideways. It wouldn't go back to normal.
Then I tried to shut it down and reboot, to see if that would fix it, and the thing wouldn't boot back up.
Finally, it booted up, but then it started into an error message loop.
The blue screen of death appeared.
Stop: Critical Process Died.
That's what it said. I had no idea what that meant. I pulled out the laptop and looked it up. Apparently this was an error that could be fixed if one knew what to look for. Maybe. While it was a known issue with Windows 10 early on, apparently it wasn't supposed to be one now.
The computer was a Dell 3847, and I'd bought it in 2015. At the time it had Windows 8 on it and I upgraded to Windows 10 when it came out.
I hated Windows 10 at first, as it was not stable, but with time it has seemed more reliable.
No matter what I tried, I could not bring my computer back from the blue screen of death and into Windows 10. Finally, I hit the Dell Repair that was supposed to save all of my documents, etc.
It brought the computer back to factory default. Windows 8.
And it lost all of my data, although I have it backed up to an external hard drive.
So while I can use this now, it's Windows 8, which I never liked.
Instead of spending $140 to get Windows 10, I have purchased a new Dell tower. It will arrive via UPS one of these days.
I couldn't see spending that much money on a six-year old computer just to get back to Windows 10.
O Blue Screen of Death, I know not why thou visited me.
But thou hast cost me money.
Monday, March 18, 2019
What the #$@# is an ASP.NET?
Last night my computer suddenly went bonkers on me, and reverted itself back to the tiled desktop of Windows 8.1.
My computer updated on March 13, so I assume it had something to do with the update, but I'm not sure.
At any rate, I realized my computer was showing a new account called ASP.NET machine account. Ever heard of that?
Me neither.
Apparently this is some kind of developer thing that has shown up as a problem for folks since Windows XP. Yep, that far back, and apparently Windows still has issues with it.
Really, Microsoft?
This is what Microsoft says about it: "ASP.NET Machine Account is created when the 1.1 is installed onto a Windows machine."
I don't know what the 1.1 is, nor do I know how to install it or uninstall it. I don't even know what that sentence means.
After snooping around and looking at various responses to other concerns about this issue, I decided first to try removing the account in my settings. That didn't help.
I rebooted a couple of times. That didn't help either.
The instructions to fix this issue talks about going into the REGSTRY to make changes. I am not big on doing that, though I have.
One thing I do that many people do not do is I set a restore point every time Microsoft tells me it is going to update my computer. I learn that the update is on its way either by a message from Microsoft that says "Hi, we have an update for you that will take place at such-and-such a time" or by noticing when I go to shut down my computer that it says "Update and shut down." There is no option not to accept an update from Microsoft anymore.
What I do when an update is imminent is this: I go into the control panel and create a restore point. You can figure out how to do this by typing "create restore point" in Cortana if you're using Windows 10. It is easier on older operating systems like Windows 7. I honestly don't know if all Windows 10 users can create a restore point or if I can do it because I upgraded from Windows 8.1.
Anyway, since I had a restore point from March 13, I simply went back to that to restore the system, and when it finished sometime around 2 a.m. this morning (when I woke up and checked), things looked normal. I shut the computer down and when I woke the first thing I did was double check my backups on documents and photos.
This thing of downloading updates just to update is getting old. I have made peace with Windows 10 after its second or third upgrade made it more stable, but it remains a source of aggravation. I don't need development codes or things to code or whatever. I just use software on the computer like most people and do my writing on it. This kind of update should be optional for us normal folks who don't care to be developmental IT engineers.
My computer updated on March 13, so I assume it had something to do with the update, but I'm not sure.
At any rate, I realized my computer was showing a new account called ASP.NET machine account. Ever heard of that?
Me neither.
Apparently this is some kind of developer thing that has shown up as a problem for folks since Windows XP. Yep, that far back, and apparently Windows still has issues with it.
Really, Microsoft?
This is what Microsoft says about it: "ASP.NET Machine Account is created when the 1.1 is installed onto a Windows machine."
I don't know what the 1.1 is, nor do I know how to install it or uninstall it. I don't even know what that sentence means.
After snooping around and looking at various responses to other concerns about this issue, I decided first to try removing the account in my settings. That didn't help.
I rebooted a couple of times. That didn't help either.
The instructions to fix this issue talks about going into the REGSTRY to make changes. I am not big on doing that, though I have.
One thing I do that many people do not do is I set a restore point every time Microsoft tells me it is going to update my computer. I learn that the update is on its way either by a message from Microsoft that says "Hi, we have an update for you that will take place at such-and-such a time" or by noticing when I go to shut down my computer that it says "Update and shut down." There is no option not to accept an update from Microsoft anymore.
What I do when an update is imminent is this: I go into the control panel and create a restore point. You can figure out how to do this by typing "create restore point" in Cortana if you're using Windows 10. It is easier on older operating systems like Windows 7. I honestly don't know if all Windows 10 users can create a restore point or if I can do it because I upgraded from Windows 8.1.
Anyway, since I had a restore point from March 13, I simply went back to that to restore the system, and when it finished sometime around 2 a.m. this morning (when I woke up and checked), things looked normal. I shut the computer down and when I woke the first thing I did was double check my backups on documents and photos.
This thing of downloading updates just to update is getting old. I have made peace with Windows 10 after its second or third upgrade made it more stable, but it remains a source of aggravation. I don't need development codes or things to code or whatever. I just use software on the computer like most people and do my writing on it. This kind of update should be optional for us normal folks who don't care to be developmental IT engineers.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
I Bought a Dell
Last week I noted I might need a new computer. I made the purchase this weekend. I bought a Dell.
The one that had lasted for six years was also a Dell. I have noted that most businesses that send folks out with laptops send them out with Dells. They seem to be the workhorse computer, sort of like IBM used to be.
One thing I like about a new Dell is that there is not so many add-ons. HPs in particular come crammed with all kinds of things you don't want or need. It is a relief to find a fairly clean hard drive.
I always do a clean install of my programs instead of copying over from the old computer. I personally think it makes the machines run better and usually I have accumulated a lot of things that I really don't need. I save my documents and pictures to an external drive and go from there.
Setting up a new computer that way can be quite time consuming, however. One must reenter all passwords, and all bookmarks are lost, and sometimes programs you may have downloaded five years ago and used frequently are no longer available, or are now available at a huge price.
Of course, many things are now "in the cloud" so I really don't have to do much with emails, etc. However, I am not one to put my documents "in the cloud" because I consider my things to be private.
Amazing how we trust a big company, set out to do only one thing - make a profit - with all of our personal documents and pictures, but we don't trust the government to do a single thing. I think this is weird. Why would you trust either one? Frankly, I trust the government more. At least it offers the illusion of accountability through the voting process.
So anyway, I don't use the Microsoft OneDrive much (their document cloud) and I doubt I use the free cloud space Dell offered for a year (mostly because then next year I'd have to pay for it). I also kept my MS Office 2007 and chose not to upgrade to the "subscription" service of Office 365. Why would I want to pay $100 a year for that? Ultimately I may have to, but only if I am still writing.
So far I like my new computer even if it does have Windows 8.1. Fortunately Windows 10 will be out next week and I am hoping that it will resolve some of the weirdness of Windows 8. Microsoft seems to offer a bad operating system every other upgrade, although I didn't think Vista was as bad as people made it out to be. Windows 8.1, though, is definitely confusing.
The sales person told me that they would not be upgrading Windows 8.1 computers in the store because Microsoft is offering a free Windows 10 upgrade for a year, so it will probably be Christmas before the stock catches up to Windows 10. If the sales person had said that I could buy a Windows 10 computer in three weeks, I might have waited, but that was not the case.
Buying a computer is worse than buying a car. There are too many choices and ultimately it came down to reliability and price. It helped that I didn't need anything but a tower, so that kept costs down.
The one that had lasted for six years was also a Dell. I have noted that most businesses that send folks out with laptops send them out with Dells. They seem to be the workhorse computer, sort of like IBM used to be.
One thing I like about a new Dell is that there is not so many add-ons. HPs in particular come crammed with all kinds of things you don't want or need. It is a relief to find a fairly clean hard drive.
I always do a clean install of my programs instead of copying over from the old computer. I personally think it makes the machines run better and usually I have accumulated a lot of things that I really don't need. I save my documents and pictures to an external drive and go from there.
Setting up a new computer that way can be quite time consuming, however. One must reenter all passwords, and all bookmarks are lost, and sometimes programs you may have downloaded five years ago and used frequently are no longer available, or are now available at a huge price.
Of course, many things are now "in the cloud" so I really don't have to do much with emails, etc. However, I am not one to put my documents "in the cloud" because I consider my things to be private.
Amazing how we trust a big company, set out to do only one thing - make a profit - with all of our personal documents and pictures, but we don't trust the government to do a single thing. I think this is weird. Why would you trust either one? Frankly, I trust the government more. At least it offers the illusion of accountability through the voting process.
So anyway, I don't use the Microsoft OneDrive much (their document cloud) and I doubt I use the free cloud space Dell offered for a year (mostly because then next year I'd have to pay for it). I also kept my MS Office 2007 and chose not to upgrade to the "subscription" service of Office 365. Why would I want to pay $100 a year for that? Ultimately I may have to, but only if I am still writing.
So far I like my new computer even if it does have Windows 8.1. Fortunately Windows 10 will be out next week and I am hoping that it will resolve some of the weirdness of Windows 8. Microsoft seems to offer a bad operating system every other upgrade, although I didn't think Vista was as bad as people made it out to be. Windows 8.1, though, is definitely confusing.
The sales person told me that they would not be upgrading Windows 8.1 computers in the store because Microsoft is offering a free Windows 10 upgrade for a year, so it will probably be Christmas before the stock catches up to Windows 10. If the sales person had said that I could buy a Windows 10 computer in three weeks, I might have waited, but that was not the case.
Buying a computer is worse than buying a car. There are too many choices and ultimately it came down to reliability and price. It helped that I didn't need anything but a tower, so that kept costs down.
Thursday, April 03, 2014
Thursday Thirteen
1. Well, finally it is April. I thought it would never get here. The mustard is blooming in the hayfield - it's a weed but it looks gorgeous against the greening grass. The cows are calving, and we've got a truck right this moment going back and forth across the lower fields, spreading fertilizer so all will grow fast and well this season. My husband is trying to get all of his machinery ready for the upcoming year - he's hoping for lots of haying and ditch-digging and things of that nature. The stuff that makes him happy.
2. Smoke rises from what looks like the cement plant. Stuff is always rising into the air from that direction these days. It is hard to tell it if is smoke or dust from something they're doing in the quarry.
3. I saw what looked like a bob cat with a long tail when I was outside the other day. I thought it was a bob cat because it had tufted ears. I took photos - I had the camera - but they didn't turn out well. I guess it's just a regular ol' cat but it was a big 'un if that is the case. What do you think?
5. On Monday and again on Wednesday I went outside and watched the International Space Station fly over. I attempted to take photos on Wednesday but they didn't turn out. I will try again with a different camera. You can find out when the Space Station will fly over your area at this link. Looks like my next good viewing time will be Saturday night at 8:40 p.m.
6. Ordering flowers this morning to send to the funeral home, I was struck by the incongruity of it all. Why do we kill flowers to send to the living who are mourning the dead? I sent a live plant instead; it seemed to make a better statement.
7. The lead story in the local paper yesterday was about heroin. I wonder why human beings are drawn to drugs, alcohol, and mind-altering states? I think our lives are so full of despair and loneliness that we can't help ourselves.
8. Another day, another shooting. Do we now have license to simply kill one another because we want to? I think this entire country is suffering from PTSD, and has been since the World Trade Centers collapsed. If we are a nation of crazy - I really do believe we are - then what is to become of us? Why are we allowing this kind of thing to continue?
9. My new favorite game apps: The Sims Freeplay, Candy Crush, and Words with Friends. However, I don't have many folks to play the word game with because I chose not go through Facebook. Look up CountryDew if you want to play a game.
10. Pain, I have decided, can make you feel absolutely crazy. That includes mental pain. See #8.
11. We purchased replacement windows four years ago. It changed the look of the house for the better, but we have had to request warranty replacements on almost half of the windows installed. Something happened to the glass and many of the windows developed brown streaks. We have been told this happened nationwide to many glass manufacturers about the time we bought our windows, but I don't know if this is true. I can't find anything about it online. The local company has been good to work with but the window manufacturer has not. If I had to do it all over again, I would not have replaced the windows; I would have installed storm windows over what was there instead. Live and learn, I guess.
12. This is one of my new mantras: I am a thin and healthy person with manageable issues. That is not my reality but it is what I am trying to convince myself.
13. I recently learned about something called oil pulling. Basically you take a quality oil like sesame, olive, or coconut, and swish it around in your mouth for 20 minutes. It's supposed to detoxify and help with oral hygiene. I asked my dentist about it and she said she had a patient who had pitted teeth who did it and the pits went away.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 338th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
2. Smoke rises from what looks like the cement plant. Stuff is always rising into the air from that direction these days. It is hard to tell it if is smoke or dust from something they're doing in the quarry.
3. I saw what looked like a bob cat with a long tail when I was outside the other day. I thought it was a bob cat because it had tufted ears. I took photos - I had the camera - but they didn't turn out well. I guess it's just a regular ol' cat but it was a big 'un if that is the case. What do you think?
5. On Monday and again on Wednesday I went outside and watched the International Space Station fly over. I attempted to take photos on Wednesday but they didn't turn out. I will try again with a different camera. You can find out when the Space Station will fly over your area at this link. Looks like my next good viewing time will be Saturday night at 8:40 p.m.
6. Ordering flowers this morning to send to the funeral home, I was struck by the incongruity of it all. Why do we kill flowers to send to the living who are mourning the dead? I sent a live plant instead; it seemed to make a better statement.
7. The lead story in the local paper yesterday was about heroin. I wonder why human beings are drawn to drugs, alcohol, and mind-altering states? I think our lives are so full of despair and loneliness that we can't help ourselves.
8. Another day, another shooting. Do we now have license to simply kill one another because we want to? I think this entire country is suffering from PTSD, and has been since the World Trade Centers collapsed. If we are a nation of crazy - I really do believe we are - then what is to become of us? Why are we allowing this kind of thing to continue?
9. My new favorite game apps: The Sims Freeplay, Candy Crush, and Words with Friends. However, I don't have many folks to play the word game with because I chose not go through Facebook. Look up CountryDew if you want to play a game.
10. Pain, I have decided, can make you feel absolutely crazy. That includes mental pain. See #8.
11. We purchased replacement windows four years ago. It changed the look of the house for the better, but we have had to request warranty replacements on almost half of the windows installed. Something happened to the glass and many of the windows developed brown streaks. We have been told this happened nationwide to many glass manufacturers about the time we bought our windows, but I don't know if this is true. I can't find anything about it online. The local company has been good to work with but the window manufacturer has not. If I had to do it all over again, I would not have replaced the windows; I would have installed storm windows over what was there instead. Live and learn, I guess.
12. This is one of my new mantras: I am a thin and healthy person with manageable issues. That is not my reality but it is what I am trying to convince myself.
13. I recently learned about something called oil pulling. Basically you take a quality oil like sesame, olive, or coconut, and swish it around in your mouth for 20 minutes. It's supposed to detoxify and help with oral hygiene. I asked my dentist about it and she said she had a patient who had pitted teeth who did it and the pits went away.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 338th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Thursday Thirteen
Today I write about minor (or maybe major) aggravations...
1. about:tabs. Every time I want to go to a new website in Internet Explorer, there it is. Those words show up in the URL area. Sometimes you can go over them without issue, other times you have to stop and delete them. What is up with that?
2. Check-out clerks who hand you your candy bars. What is the deal with this? If I buy one candy bar, they give it to me immediately. Do I look like I'm having a chocolate attack right there? Do they think I can't wait until I get in the car? I know I'm overweight but sheesh. I notice that it is only female clerks who do this. I've never once had it happen with a male check-out clerk.
3. No backwards compatibility. Windows keeps evolving and Microsoft apparently has decided to not care about programs that were created a long time ago. It was bad enough losing all my DOS games but now even Windows games, created for those long-ago operating systems of Windows 3x, Windows 98, and even Windows ME, will not work. That started with Windows XP and is dramatic in Vista. What am I supposed to do with these games?
4. Supposed improvements in software. I wonder how much lost productivity has occurred because Microsoft changed Word 2007 so dramatically? I've been using word processing programs since the 1980s, starting with something called Wordstar. From there I went to WordPerfect (still my favorite) and then finally to MS Word simply because I had to. Word 2007 is substantially different, so much so that for the first time since I switched over I felt compelled to buy a Dummies book to figure it out.
5. Things that don't work very long. My dryer conked out on Saturday. It is a Whirlpool, purchased in 2006. Just three years ago. Fortunately my husband is a great handyman. He tore it apart and found that the heater element had burned in two. He beat the closing time for the parts store and $125 later had the thing running again. We bought it to replace a dryer that I bought in 1983. It ran for 23 years and went through a flood. We only replaced it because we couldn't get parts for it anymore.
6. The weather. This has been the weirdest summer. Cool days, rain. Lots of fog in August which is supposed to mean something about snow in January.
7. Things that don't work like they're supposed to. My printer is an HP Officejet Pro K5400. It is supposed to be able to print front and back on the paper, but I have never been able to get it to work. It always jams up when I try duplex printing.
8. Leftover food. I keep leftovers think I will serve them another day. Sometimes I do, but just as often they end up pushed to the back of the refrigerator. I try not to fix so much food that leftovers are necessary but sometimes it happens.
9. Phone calls from politicians. During the last election I thought I'd go nuts with the phones calls, mostly from Democrats, about the congressional election. Now I'm getting phone calls all the time from Republicans about the governor's race. At least I am annoyed by both parties.
10. Emotional thinking, which isn't really thinking, it is only reacting. This is all the place in the media and this is how our politics are run these days. Whatever happened to rational thinking? When did this become normal?
11. Rising gas prices. What, there's a Labor Day holiday coming up? Of course, let's creep those gas prices higher and higher so that we're at $3 when folks want to travel. Do the oil companies think we don't notice?
12. People who call and don't leave a message. I was in the shower yesterday when the phone rang. The machine kicked in before I could answer. No message. I cancelled call waiting a while back. And I wanted to know who was calling!
13. Ink pens that stop writing even though they have ink. I don't know why this happens. Thankfully it doesn't happen often. I use a specific pen - a Pilot G2 05 (extra fine). I don't care if the ink is blue or black, but I won't use any other kind of pen. Occasionally they just stop writing for no apparent reason.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here. This is number 104!
1. about:tabs. Every time I want to go to a new website in Internet Explorer, there it is. Those words show up in the URL area. Sometimes you can go over them without issue, other times you have to stop and delete them. What is up with that?
2. Check-out clerks who hand you your candy bars. What is the deal with this? If I buy one candy bar, they give it to me immediately. Do I look like I'm having a chocolate attack right there? Do they think I can't wait until I get in the car? I know I'm overweight but sheesh. I notice that it is only female clerks who do this. I've never once had it happen with a male check-out clerk.
3. No backwards compatibility. Windows keeps evolving and Microsoft apparently has decided to not care about programs that were created a long time ago. It was bad enough losing all my DOS games but now even Windows games, created for those long-ago operating systems of Windows 3x, Windows 98, and even Windows ME, will not work. That started with Windows XP and is dramatic in Vista. What am I supposed to do with these games?
4. Supposed improvements in software. I wonder how much lost productivity has occurred because Microsoft changed Word 2007 so dramatically? I've been using word processing programs since the 1980s, starting with something called Wordstar. From there I went to WordPerfect (still my favorite) and then finally to MS Word simply because I had to. Word 2007 is substantially different, so much so that for the first time since I switched over I felt compelled to buy a Dummies book to figure it out.
5. Things that don't work very long. My dryer conked out on Saturday. It is a Whirlpool, purchased in 2006. Just three years ago. Fortunately my husband is a great handyman. He tore it apart and found that the heater element had burned in two. He beat the closing time for the parts store and $125 later had the thing running again. We bought it to replace a dryer that I bought in 1983. It ran for 23 years and went through a flood. We only replaced it because we couldn't get parts for it anymore.
6. The weather. This has been the weirdest summer. Cool days, rain. Lots of fog in August which is supposed to mean something about snow in January.
7. Things that don't work like they're supposed to. My printer is an HP Officejet Pro K5400. It is supposed to be able to print front and back on the paper, but I have never been able to get it to work. It always jams up when I try duplex printing.
8. Leftover food. I keep leftovers think I will serve them another day. Sometimes I do, but just as often they end up pushed to the back of the refrigerator. I try not to fix so much food that leftovers are necessary but sometimes it happens.
9. Phone calls from politicians. During the last election I thought I'd go nuts with the phones calls, mostly from Democrats, about the congressional election. Now I'm getting phone calls all the time from Republicans about the governor's race. At least I am annoyed by both parties.
10. Emotional thinking, which isn't really thinking, it is only reacting. This is all the place in the media and this is how our politics are run these days. Whatever happened to rational thinking? When did this become normal?
11. Rising gas prices. What, there's a Labor Day holiday coming up? Of course, let's creep those gas prices higher and higher so that we're at $3 when folks want to travel. Do the oil companies think we don't notice?
12. People who call and don't leave a message. I was in the shower yesterday when the phone rang. The machine kicked in before I could answer. No message. I cancelled call waiting a while back. And I wanted to know who was calling!
13. Ink pens that stop writing even though they have ink. I don't know why this happens. Thankfully it doesn't happen often. I use a specific pen - a Pilot G2 05 (extra fine). I don't care if the ink is blue or black, but I won't use any other kind of pen. Occasionally they just stop writing for no apparent reason.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; you can learn more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here. This is number 104!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Big Doin's
It's a big day at our house!
Today we are having our windows replaced.
I will have a before and after photo later, probably Friday.
The windows we are replacing were installed in 1987, when we built the house. Our house is a Timber Truss house, which is kind of like a kit. The windows came with it. I have no idea what name brand these old windows might be, but they have needed replacing for a good 10 years.
Last year, with so much snow, wind and cold, the drafts, along with sky-high heating bills, became nearly unbearable.
We decided it was time to spend some money and take care of this problem. Our bones are older and we're not quite as young as we used to be. Drafts make knees and backs and elbows and pretty much everything else ache these days.
That said, I must mention how much I love windows. I love being able to look out at the farm and see the trees and grass. I love watching the deer, squirrel and birds. I enjoy looking at the sky and watching the clouds roll past.
I never worked well in a cubicle, those times when I worked in cubicles. Cubicles and work spaces sans windows should be against the law, if you ask me.
Let's hope the work goes smoothly.
Today we are having our windows replaced.
I will have a before and after photo later, probably Friday.
The windows we are replacing were installed in 1987, when we built the house. Our house is a Timber Truss house, which is kind of like a kit. The windows came with it. I have no idea what name brand these old windows might be, but they have needed replacing for a good 10 years.
Last year, with so much snow, wind and cold, the drafts, along with sky-high heating bills, became nearly unbearable.
We decided it was time to spend some money and take care of this problem. Our bones are older and we're not quite as young as we used to be. Drafts make knees and backs and elbows and pretty much everything else ache these days.
That said, I must mention how much I love windows. I love being able to look out at the farm and see the trees and grass. I love watching the deer, squirrel and birds. I enjoy looking at the sky and watching the clouds roll past.
I never worked well in a cubicle, those times when I worked in cubicles. Cubicles and work spaces sans windows should be against the law, if you ask me.
Let's hope the work goes smoothly.
Friday, September 21, 2018
Renovations, Exterior
The work continues today on replacing the windows and doors. The saw is singing its whining high-pitched screech even as I type this. However, they are in the garage now so I am a bit more insulated than I was when they were in the house proper.
It is very hard to concentrate in a construction site.
Here are exterior shots of the back side of the house. They still have to replace the front door.
This is what the exterior looked like prior to installation:
Here are pictures of the exterior of the newly installed windows and back door:
This part of the renovation project should end next week. Hopefully it will cut down on drafts and heating. We also found several areas of rotten wood and concealed mold, which we cleaned up and sprayed down with mold elimination stuff. This should also help my allergies and sinus issues considerably in the long run. I sure hope so, anyway.
We still do not have install dates for flooring. That is aggravating and I am starting to question our choice of provider. We can't plan anything because we have no clue when the floor installation will begin.
It is very hard to concentrate in a construction site.
Here are exterior shots of the back side of the house. They still have to replace the front door.
This is what the exterior looked like prior to installation:
 |
| French door with shutters. |
 |
| Kitchen window |
 |
| Most of the back of the house showing the double windows. |
 |
| We switched from a French door to a patio door. We think it will give us a little more room. I put some window stickers on there because I am afraid the animals will become confused by the glass. We haven't decided what to do there as far as shutters or curtains or whatever. |
 |
| New kitchen window. Different angle. The colors are similar but these Pella windows offer more glass space and less white area. |
 |
| New double window. |
 |
| The new door and the kitchen window. |
This part of the renovation project should end next week. Hopefully it will cut down on drafts and heating. We also found several areas of rotten wood and concealed mold, which we cleaned up and sprayed down with mold elimination stuff. This should also help my allergies and sinus issues considerably in the long run. I sure hope so, anyway.
We still do not have install dates for flooring. That is aggravating and I am starting to question our choice of provider. We can't plan anything because we have no clue when the floor installation will begin.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Thursday Thirteen #234
Good morning! Achoo! The pollen is thick, isn't it?
There is help for allergy sufferers! I've suffered from this bane of spring all of my life, so I thought I'd offer up 13 tips for feeling better during this time of sneezes.
1. Rinse your nose and sinuses. The best way to do this is with a neti pot. To use a neti pot, heat distilled water (not tap water) and add sea salt and baking soda. You can buy neti pots at most drug stores these days, and they come with instructions. You can do this every day or just once a week or any time in between. This is the best help for allergy sufferers.
2. If you don't want to use a neti pot, then use a saline nasal spray. Drug stores also sell pre-mixed versions of this, but I find that they burn and irritate more than they help because of the preservatives in them. So what I do is buy the cheapest version, pour out the solution, and make my own, with distilled water and sea salt, every couple of days. That way you can keep your sinuses moistened and help keep the allergens cleared out. Nothing feels better using this about 30 minutes after it's made while the solution is still a little warm. Use this frequently. I personally replace the plastic spray container every couple of months. Do not let them sit long without using them. Be sure to clean the sprayer with alcohol.
3. Shower at night. During allergy season, I take two short showers a day. The one at night washes the pollen out of my hair and off my body. While two showers might not work for you, showering at night instead of in the morning should prove a beneficial change.
4. Change or wash the bed linens frequently. This is particularly necessary if you don't shower at night. The pollen comes off your body and gets on your bed clothes, and in turn that means you're breathing pollen all night long.
5. Close the windows. I have found the only time I can have the windows open is after a good rain. Then for an hour or so I will open the windows and air out the house. The rest of the time, the windows are closed and we cool the house with the air conditioner. It is expensive but no more so than doctors visits or time lost due to illness.
6. Take a multivitamin. I take a lot of vitamins because I have a low immune system and don't process things well, but definitely a multivitamin of some kind is called for while you're struggling with allergies. Extra B Complex is a good choice, too, along with magnesium at night to help you sleep and relax. Check with your doctor, particularly if you have other health issues.
7. See a doctor. She can suggest over-the-counter medications that are specific for you and your condition. Generally, this will be an antihistamine or an antihistamine-decongestant mix. I take a generic version of Claritin, myself. Zyrtec is good too. Some people find relief with Allegra, though I do not. Do not take any medication without first seeing your physician. This is particularly true if you take drugs for other medical conditions. As an FYI, I have found Walmart brand generics (Equate brand) tend to work better than other brand generics. Generics are supposed to be exactly like the brand-name, original drug, but they're not. I hate supporting that particular company but truth is truth.
8. Use Ayr nasal gel with aloe. I recently discovered this and what a great product! No, I am not getting paid to endorse this. But it has made a huge difference in how my sinuses feel. It eliminates dryness and seems to make everything in there feel better. Apply inside the nostrils with a Q-tip.
9. Be careful how you blow your nose. Do not just honk into a tissue. You should blow gently, first on one side, and then the other. You can bust a blood vessel or something if you go at it wildly. Plus you enhance the risk of a sinus or ear infection by forcing things back up into your sinuses. Don't blow your nose in front of other people if you can help it. Excuse yourself and go elsewhere. Be polite.
10. You can unstop your nose so you can breathe by massaging the area along the sides. Also if you push in for about 10 seconds and let it out, after about three times something will open up and you will feel a little better. You may have to do this often if you're having a particularly hard time. Also, tapping on the sinuses will loosen things up; you can rub under your eyes, across your forehead just above your eyebrows, and around your ears.
11. For sinus headaches, place a warm compress on the forehead. You may also want to breathe in steam, either from a pot on the stove or from a steam humidifier or vaporizer. You can add tea tree oil to this if you want; it only takes a few drops. Do not drink tea tree oil or put it on your skin; inhale the fumes only. If you don't want to use that, try a little Vicks vapor rub.
12. Get the pets out of the bedroom. I know you love them but, at least while you're fighting seasonal allergies, keep them away from you. Your pets, like you, bring pollen into the bedroom. You need some time away from the pollen in order to get better.
13. Take this stuff seriously. You need to rest, take care of yourself, drink plenty of fluids, maybe even take a day off from work. Allergies can lead to many other issues, such as sinus infections, ear infections, severe headaches, asthma, and pneumonia. Allergies weaken your body and your immune system. Do not dismiss them.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 234rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
There is help for allergy sufferers! I've suffered from this bane of spring all of my life, so I thought I'd offer up 13 tips for feeling better during this time of sneezes.
1. Rinse your nose and sinuses. The best way to do this is with a neti pot. To use a neti pot, heat distilled water (not tap water) and add sea salt and baking soda. You can buy neti pots at most drug stores these days, and they come with instructions. You can do this every day or just once a week or any time in between. This is the best help for allergy sufferers.
2. If you don't want to use a neti pot, then use a saline nasal spray. Drug stores also sell pre-mixed versions of this, but I find that they burn and irritate more than they help because of the preservatives in them. So what I do is buy the cheapest version, pour out the solution, and make my own, with distilled water and sea salt, every couple of days. That way you can keep your sinuses moistened and help keep the allergens cleared out. Nothing feels better using this about 30 minutes after it's made while the solution is still a little warm. Use this frequently. I personally replace the plastic spray container every couple of months. Do not let them sit long without using them. Be sure to clean the sprayer with alcohol.
3. Shower at night. During allergy season, I take two short showers a day. The one at night washes the pollen out of my hair and off my body. While two showers might not work for you, showering at night instead of in the morning should prove a beneficial change.
4. Change or wash the bed linens frequently. This is particularly necessary if you don't shower at night. The pollen comes off your body and gets on your bed clothes, and in turn that means you're breathing pollen all night long.
5. Close the windows. I have found the only time I can have the windows open is after a good rain. Then for an hour or so I will open the windows and air out the house. The rest of the time, the windows are closed and we cool the house with the air conditioner. It is expensive but no more so than doctors visits or time lost due to illness.
6. Take a multivitamin. I take a lot of vitamins because I have a low immune system and don't process things well, but definitely a multivitamin of some kind is called for while you're struggling with allergies. Extra B Complex is a good choice, too, along with magnesium at night to help you sleep and relax. Check with your doctor, particularly if you have other health issues.
7. See a doctor. She can suggest over-the-counter medications that are specific for you and your condition. Generally, this will be an antihistamine or an antihistamine-decongestant mix. I take a generic version of Claritin, myself. Zyrtec is good too. Some people find relief with Allegra, though I do not. Do not take any medication without first seeing your physician. This is particularly true if you take drugs for other medical conditions. As an FYI, I have found Walmart brand generics (Equate brand) tend to work better than other brand generics. Generics are supposed to be exactly like the brand-name, original drug, but they're not. I hate supporting that particular company but truth is truth.
8. Use Ayr nasal gel with aloe. I recently discovered this and what a great product! No, I am not getting paid to endorse this. But it has made a huge difference in how my sinuses feel. It eliminates dryness and seems to make everything in there feel better. Apply inside the nostrils with a Q-tip.
9. Be careful how you blow your nose. Do not just honk into a tissue. You should blow gently, first on one side, and then the other. You can bust a blood vessel or something if you go at it wildly. Plus you enhance the risk of a sinus or ear infection by forcing things back up into your sinuses. Don't blow your nose in front of other people if you can help it. Excuse yourself and go elsewhere. Be polite.
10. You can unstop your nose so you can breathe by massaging the area along the sides. Also if you push in for about 10 seconds and let it out, after about three times something will open up and you will feel a little better. You may have to do this often if you're having a particularly hard time. Also, tapping on the sinuses will loosen things up; you can rub under your eyes, across your forehead just above your eyebrows, and around your ears.
11. For sinus headaches, place a warm compress on the forehead. You may also want to breathe in steam, either from a pot on the stove or from a steam humidifier or vaporizer. You can add tea tree oil to this if you want; it only takes a few drops. Do not drink tea tree oil or put it on your skin; inhale the fumes only. If you don't want to use that, try a little Vicks vapor rub.
12. Get the pets out of the bedroom. I know you love them but, at least while you're fighting seasonal allergies, keep them away from you. Your pets, like you, bring pollen into the bedroom. You need some time away from the pollen in order to get better.
13. Take this stuff seriously. You need to rest, take care of yourself, drink plenty of fluids, maybe even take a day off from work. Allergies can lead to many other issues, such as sinus infections, ear infections, severe headaches, asthma, and pneumonia. Allergies weaken your body and your immune system. Do not dismiss them.
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 234rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Friday, July 17, 2015
What to do, What to do
My Dell Inspiron 545 desktop, which I purchased in early 2009, recently developed a problem starting.
I like to shut my computer down every night and not leave it running all the time. I noticed about 10 days ago that it wasn't turning on right away when I pushed the button. After I hit it a second or third time, though, the computer would boot up.
Then Sunday it wouldn't power up for the longest time. Finally, after one desperate plea, it powered up. I went online to the Dell site and chatted with an agent, who suggested I needed a new power button. This comes in a front panel called a bezel. It was $18 so I ordered it.
My husband and I last night installed the new part. The computer powered right up. But this morning it took a few hits on the button again, and this afternoon when I returned from an outing, it took quite a number of pushes before the computer kicked on. The problem is not fixed.
Best Buy will look at the computer for free but the fellow on the phone said it was probably either the power supply or the motherboard. While the GeekSquad won't charge me to look at the computer and make a diagnosis, to fix it would cost labor plus parts, with a low estimate of $150, probably more.
I can purchase a new Dell tower for anywhere from $325 to $600. But Windows 10 comes out July 29. The new tower would have Windows 8.1 on it and I'd have to do an upgrade.
So do I purchase a new tower and not do much to it until I do the Windows 10 upgrade? Or do I keep fiddling with this older computer? I wasn't planning on a computer purchase this year, but it would be kind of nice to have a new one. Do I wait and see if on Sunday there's a sale on computers with Windows 8.1?
Generally my rule with computers has been if you have to start messing with it because something is wrong, replace the thing and be done with it. I've tried fixing them in the past and it simply eats money. I've already wasted $20 trying to fix this one.
Then there is disposal. What do you do with an old computer? The last ones I gave to Goodwill didn't work because I removed the hard drives. Those I gave to my husband and told him to use them for target practice. I don't want my old hard drive getting out into the public, reused on reconditioned computer where some smart kid can figure out what used to be on the thing.
Six years out of a computer is not bad. I wish they lasted 10 or 15 years, but that is asking too much with technological changes. I've been very happy with this tower and this set-up; it has worked for me. I like having a desktop and am not keen to switch to a laptop for my permanent work space.
So what do I do? Fix the old one, or buy something new and spend all the time it will take to set it up, reinstall programs, probably have unexpected expenditures on software because something won't work, or what?
I like to shut my computer down every night and not leave it running all the time. I noticed about 10 days ago that it wasn't turning on right away when I pushed the button. After I hit it a second or third time, though, the computer would boot up.
Then Sunday it wouldn't power up for the longest time. Finally, after one desperate plea, it powered up. I went online to the Dell site and chatted with an agent, who suggested I needed a new power button. This comes in a front panel called a bezel. It was $18 so I ordered it.
My husband and I last night installed the new part. The computer powered right up. But this morning it took a few hits on the button again, and this afternoon when I returned from an outing, it took quite a number of pushes before the computer kicked on. The problem is not fixed.
Best Buy will look at the computer for free but the fellow on the phone said it was probably either the power supply or the motherboard. While the GeekSquad won't charge me to look at the computer and make a diagnosis, to fix it would cost labor plus parts, with a low estimate of $150, probably more.
I can purchase a new Dell tower for anywhere from $325 to $600. But Windows 10 comes out July 29. The new tower would have Windows 8.1 on it and I'd have to do an upgrade.
So do I purchase a new tower and not do much to it until I do the Windows 10 upgrade? Or do I keep fiddling with this older computer? I wasn't planning on a computer purchase this year, but it would be kind of nice to have a new one. Do I wait and see if on Sunday there's a sale on computers with Windows 8.1?
Generally my rule with computers has been if you have to start messing with it because something is wrong, replace the thing and be done with it. I've tried fixing them in the past and it simply eats money. I've already wasted $20 trying to fix this one.
Then there is disposal. What do you do with an old computer? The last ones I gave to Goodwill didn't work because I removed the hard drives. Those I gave to my husband and told him to use them for target practice. I don't want my old hard drive getting out into the public, reused on reconditioned computer where some smart kid can figure out what used to be on the thing.
Six years out of a computer is not bad. I wish they lasted 10 or 15 years, but that is asking too much with technological changes. I've been very happy with this tower and this set-up; it has worked for me. I like having a desktop and am not keen to switch to a laptop for my permanent work space.
So what do I do? Fix the old one, or buy something new and spend all the time it will take to set it up, reinstall programs, probably have unexpected expenditures on software because something won't work, or what?
Monday, November 06, 2023
When the Computer Dies
The memory card access hole broke as soon as I inserted a card. Dell tried to tell me I'd inserted the card too hard; I told them I'd been using computers since they were in diapers and knew very well how to insert a memory card into a desktop. They sent me a new memory card reader, but I had to take the computer apart and install it myself, which I did. And then bought an external memory card reader because the one in the computer is flimsy.
Then I discovered that the video card, which I had been assured was strong enough to handle my favorite video game, Skyrim, did not in fact work with Skyrim. Nor could I upgrade the video card because when I looked to see if I could, I found videos indicating that upgrading generally burned up the motherboard, even to the point of catching the entire computer on fire.
So back in May when the thing started telling me "No Hard Drive Detected," at start up, I think part of me was hoping for a new computer even though I try to use my computers for five years or more before I get a new one. I continued to use it, and nothing I did told me the hard drive was bad. I ran the Windows disk check, and the DOS check, and went to the Dell site and let its little support assistant run a check, and everything said the hard drive was fine.
I did find where the "No Hard Drive Detected" error seemed to happen a lot in Dells and it seemed to be a BIOS firmware issue. I read the instructions on how to enter the BIOS and set everything back to factory default. I did this several times.
The computer would run ok and then the error message would come back. I'd turn the computer off, and it would boot up and I'd go on about my business. But it became more and more frequent, more indicative of a problem.
I started looking at new computers.
We have computer repair stores in the nearby city. One of them has a very good reputation. I decided to take it there and see if it was the hard drive or the BIOS. If it was the BIOS, I figured they could fix that easily enough. Plus, I could live with the boot-up issue long enough to get through the year and finish up the documentation for the taxes, which was my main concern, if the hard drive wasn't bad.
I did not want the computer out of my site. I didn't want to leave it overnight. I never have computers fixed. If I can't fix them, I take the hard drive out them, and put the rest of it in the hazard waste pickup at the landfill. I have a box full of hard drives.
Also, I did not want to go by myself. You see, in the mid-1990s I went into a local computer store, where I'd had a computer built. Apparently, women aren't supposed to go, even now, into computer stores, and 30 years ago I was assaulted by the owner when I went in for assistance with the computer he'd built for me. I spoke to a detective about it, but it was one of those "your word against his" things, aside from a few finger marks on my arm where he'd held me, and the county prosecutor didn't want to press charges. In the end, the sheriff's office convinced the man that leaving town was a good idea, and he closed up shop and left the state.
They were satisfied with that outcome. I was not.
So, my husband went with me Friday to tote my computer into the fix-it place. We got there at 9:05 a.m. There was not a woman in site. A man took the computer from my husband, took it in the back and hooked it up, and then said, after about 15 seconds, that the hard drive was failing. Would I like him to replace it? I asked what that would cost, and he quoted me a price for a 215 GB drive. I told him that would be useless to me because I already had 192 GB of stuff on my 1 TB drive. I said put the screws back in it and give it back to me.
Next thing I know, out comes the super salesman, who says he is the company owner. He promises me a 512 GB SSD hard drive along with a secondary 2 TB storage drive, and they would transfer everything over for me and it would be like nothing ever happened. On top of that, he'd give me Adobe photoshop and some other programs. Oh, and it would have Windows 11 on it, but they could make it look sort of like Windows 10. Same price as the one the guy quoted earlier. He wanted to earn my business, super salesman said.
I looked at my husband, who shrugged and said it sounded ok to him. I agreed. What else could I do, really? The man said to come back after noon, and it would be ready.
We didn't call. We made the 45-minute drive back because, well, the man said it would be ready. But it was not ready, and we had to be at a funeral, so even though we killed an hour in the city and called again to see if it was ready, we found it was not. That left us with no choice but to go to the funeral and pick the computer up on Saturday.
Only I would have to do that by myself, because my husband had other plans. I was not happy with any of this. I hadn't wanted to leave the computer overnight. I was worried about my passwords being on the computer hard drive. I also didn't want to go into the store by myself. It was obviously a very male sort of place and women who went in there weren't supposed to know anything about computers except how to turn them on and play solitaire, and maybe use Word.
But I went and got the thing. A nice young man hooked up the computer and quickly showed me what it looked like. I asked a few questions - did I have full administrator privileges, for example. And then I mentioned my issue with the video card and Skyrim. He said it should run Skyrim. I said it never would and I doubted it would. He said to try turning down the graphics, like I hadn't already thought of that.
Anyway, I brought it home. After I downloaded Norton and reinstalled that to ensure my computer was safe, I spent 3 hours changing passwords. Most things require two-factor authentication so I was getting text messages left and right while I was trying to remember what sites would be the most dangerous to have someone get into.
Several of the programs ended up in a folder called "programs you need to reinstall." They were mostly old programs. I can't get the old MS Outlook 2003 calendar program that I prefer to work, but the MS Outlook 2007 program they installed on the computer is something I can adapt too, aside from all the birthdays and anniversaries I have now lost. iTunes appeared to have been lost forever but suddenly tonight Apple did an update and it seems to be working, although everything I had there is gone. Finding my pictures has been a trial, but they are there. Just not where I had thought they would be.
Next time I will do what I wanted to do in the first place. I will buy a new computer and start fresh, or just let them put in a new hard drive with Windows and give me back my hard drive. I back up my documents and photos every 30 minutes to an external hard drive, and installing programs is time consuming but doable. (Note: Windows 11 doesn't have an external hard drive backup app, you have to go around in circles to get that done. I've watched a video on it but haven't set it up yet, which is fine because I haven't done much, except the calendar, that requires any saving.)
I think this has been just as time consuming as setting one up anew, and it's not set up like I would have set it up. It took a long time just to get the desktop to look like something I wanted to look at. This may have been the cheaper route, but I'm not at all convinced it was the better one.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Good day, Sunshine
It has taken me days to get my computer back to where I feel comfortable with it. Still, I find it so different from what I had used for four years that I am not quite certain all that I lost.
My calendar, for one. My contacts list, for another. Thankfully I had enough sense to print those out and to put them in .pdf format before I disconnected the old computer. The e-files I emailed to myself. The information is not lost, just not as accessible.
The new and improved Windows offers a lot of stuff. A “Live Blog” feature allows me to write and post to my blog without ever connecting to blogger.com. It formats paragraphs funny and is taking some getting used to.
I imagine young people love it.
Also I have been beleaguered by requests from Windows to “join” various components that would follow how I use windows. They want to track me, as it were, following my every key punch and mouse track to see what I am doing and why. “We won’t collect your information” the little notes all say, and I decline them all. But I bet they’re collecting information anyway.
I do not trust corporations. Not a single one. The makers of Tylenol may be glad their product kills my pain but they are happier still with the bucks my pain puts in their pocket.
I have a Brita pitcher filter. The filter leaves little black spots of charcoal all over the top of the pitcher. Every filter does this. On the packaging it says a little of this is normal at first. It happens all the time. It’s not harmful, the packaging says.
I don’t believe it but I drink the water anyway because it tastes a little better with the filter. It’s like Coast soap – the smallest soap in the house, not because it’s used to much but because the way it’s made makes it go away very quickly in water. And we swallow the commercial and the claims.
Hopefully I am now back in business and Monday will find me ready to tackle some writing projects, my and my little tracking computer.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Sunday Stealing: Let's Not Be Difficult
From Sunday Stealing
Let's Not Be Difficult
1. Do you like your movies and books to be more lighthearted or serious?
A. It depends on my mood. Sometimes you want to laugh, sometimes you want to cry.
2. What’s more important, first impressions or lasting impact?
A. Lasting impact. First impressions can be wrong, if the other party is open-minded enough to afford the other a second chance and another opportunity to acquit oneself in a more appropriate manner. That said, I think many people lose out on what might have been good friendships because of poor first impressions.
3. Order these areas of psychological health from what you need the least improvement into what you need the most improvement in: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, environmental, spiritual
A. Intellectual, environmental, social, spiritual, physical, emotional
4. Do you react appropriately to things and control your feelings?
A. I certainly hope so. I am sure, though, that I have my moments. Don't we all? I mean, come on, KG, why are you asking all of these questions? :::sob:::
5. Do you have stable relationships?
A. I've been married for 32 years. I have friendships that have lasted as long. So I would say yes.
6. Do you need to be in a relationship to feel good about yourself?
A. No, but a relationship is nice to have.
7. Which is the clearest and most concise, your thoughts, your speech or your writing? Which is the least clear and concise?
A. My thoughts, my writing, and my speech. The latter would be the answer to the second query.
8. Are you always trying to learn new things?
A. Yes. Today I learned that Windows 8.1 really is as bad as I thought it was, and I can hardly wait for Windows 10 to come out.
9. Do you feel at peace?
A. I am content at the moment.
10. Do you have strong morals and ethics that you believe in and adhere to?
A. Yes.
11. Do you think of the needs of all humanity or just the needs of yourself and those you know?
A. I tend to think of the needs of all, and we are doing a pitiful job of taking care of one another.
12. Do you recycle?
A. Yes.
13. Are you active in your community?
A. I was when I was well.
14. Are you sensitive to the needs of others?
A. I try to be.
15. Do you dress up to go out?
A. Yes.
16. What could make you lose respect for someone?
A. Finding out that they have chosen to be a misinformed or uninformed idiot.
17. If you won $1,000 every week until you die, would you still go to work?
A. No.
18. What trend has been getting on your nerves lately?
A. It would be nice if people would stop shooting one another. I hate that this has become so commonplace that the headlines scarcely cause alarm in the United States.
19. Do you forgive yourself when you make a mistake?
A. Not until I've had 40 lashes and worn a hair shirt for three months.
20. Is ignorance really bliss?
A. Ignorance may be bliss, but it does not make for good economic policy, nor is it any way to lead the House of Representatives in the United States Congress.
21. What can be described as ‘even better than the real thing’?
A. Well, let's see. Coca Cola is the real thing. It used to have real cocaine in it, I understand, so I suppose that means cocaine would be better than the real thing.
22. What’s in your wallet right now?
A. A couple dollars, a receipt for a brand new Dell computer tower (with Windows 8.1 on it, which as stated aforesaid, sucks), and some change.
23. Do you write letters that you never send?
A. Yes.
24. Do you ever get the feeling people are laughing at you?
A. I just laugh with them, so it doesn't matter.
25. Who’s the one person you’d like to drop a house on?
A. Oh my. Could we put all the GOP candidates in a cluster and let it fall on them, forcing the Grand Old Party to start over, this time perhaps with people who do not make them look like a bunch of old white guys from the 1950s who are hell-bent on segregation and dehumanizing women and poor people? I honestly would like to see them field a decent candidate, not a clown.
________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
Let's Not Be Difficult
1. Do you like your movies and books to be more lighthearted or serious?
A. It depends on my mood. Sometimes you want to laugh, sometimes you want to cry.
2. What’s more important, first impressions or lasting impact?
A. Lasting impact. First impressions can be wrong, if the other party is open-minded enough to afford the other a second chance and another opportunity to acquit oneself in a more appropriate manner. That said, I think many people lose out on what might have been good friendships because of poor first impressions.
3. Order these areas of psychological health from what you need the least improvement into what you need the most improvement in: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, environmental, spiritual
A. Intellectual, environmental, social, spiritual, physical, emotional
4. Do you react appropriately to things and control your feelings?
A. I certainly hope so. I am sure, though, that I have my moments. Don't we all? I mean, come on, KG, why are you asking all of these questions? :::sob:::
5. Do you have stable relationships?
A. I've been married for 32 years. I have friendships that have lasted as long. So I would say yes.
6. Do you need to be in a relationship to feel good about yourself?
A. No, but a relationship is nice to have.
7. Which is the clearest and most concise, your thoughts, your speech or your writing? Which is the least clear and concise?
A. My thoughts, my writing, and my speech. The latter would be the answer to the second query.
8. Are you always trying to learn new things?
A. Yes. Today I learned that Windows 8.1 really is as bad as I thought it was, and I can hardly wait for Windows 10 to come out.
9. Do you feel at peace?
A. I am content at the moment.
10. Do you have strong morals and ethics that you believe in and adhere to?
A. Yes.
11. Do you think of the needs of all humanity or just the needs of yourself and those you know?
A. I tend to think of the needs of all, and we are doing a pitiful job of taking care of one another.
12. Do you recycle?
A. Yes.
13. Are you active in your community?
A. I was when I was well.
14. Are you sensitive to the needs of others?
A. I try to be.
15. Do you dress up to go out?
A. Yes.
16. What could make you lose respect for someone?
A. Finding out that they have chosen to be a misinformed or uninformed idiot.
17. If you won $1,000 every week until you die, would you still go to work?
A. No.
18. What trend has been getting on your nerves lately?
A. It would be nice if people would stop shooting one another. I hate that this has become so commonplace that the headlines scarcely cause alarm in the United States.
19. Do you forgive yourself when you make a mistake?
A. Not until I've had 40 lashes and worn a hair shirt for three months.
20. Is ignorance really bliss?
A. Ignorance may be bliss, but it does not make for good economic policy, nor is it any way to lead the House of Representatives in the United States Congress.
21. What can be described as ‘even better than the real thing’?
A. Well, let's see. Coca Cola is the real thing. It used to have real cocaine in it, I understand, so I suppose that means cocaine would be better than the real thing.
22. What’s in your wallet right now?
A. A couple dollars, a receipt for a brand new Dell computer tower (with Windows 8.1 on it, which as stated aforesaid, sucks), and some change.
23. Do you write letters that you never send?
A. Yes.
24. Do you ever get the feeling people are laughing at you?
A. I just laugh with them, so it doesn't matter.
25. Who’s the one person you’d like to drop a house on?
A. Oh my. Could we put all the GOP candidates in a cluster and let it fall on them, forcing the Grand Old Party to start over, this time perhaps with people who do not make them look like a bunch of old white guys from the 1950s who are hell-bent on segregation and dehumanizing women and poor people? I honestly would like to see them field a decent candidate, not a clown.
________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
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