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Posts Tagged ‘computer woes’

*#!(*&%#* Computers

Posted in Journeys, tagged on June 30, 2016| 9 Comments »

            “The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do.” – Ted Nelson

            “Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window.” — Steve Wozniak

            “A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.” – Emo Philips

Trying to solve a computer problem is harder for than trying to identify little brown birds among foliage. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Trying to solve a computer problem is harder for me than trying to identify little brown birds among foliage. — Photo by Pat Bean

It’s a Love/Hate Relationship

            As I mentioned in my previous blog, downloading Windows 10 destroyed my ability to download photos onto my computer from my camera’s memory card.

A trouble-shooting action told me I needed a new driver.

Though a bit of research on the internet, which turned up lots of helpful commercial offers, I learned I needed up to 142 new drivers. But finally I found a Microsoft program that said I only needed to update 14 drivers. Not wanting to buy a new computer, I decided to risk it, although downloading any programs gives me the heebie jeebies.

Thankfully, after multiple downloads and restarting of the computer, and hours simply trying to locate if Driver E was on my computer – a simple task before Windows 10 – it worked.

Once again I can import pictures from my camera onto my computer. It’s not as easy as before, but it is doable.

And it only cost me two frustrated days of fiddling with my computer – and $30 for a year’s update of my drivers.

There is an upside, however. Solving one of my quirky computer problems always makes me feel like a genius.

Bean Pat: Chris Martin Writes http://chrismartinwrites.com/life-is/ I like this blogger’s view of life.

           

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Computer Woes Continue As My Blood Pressure Leaps

Posted in Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , on June 16, 2011| 6 Comments »

 “The hacker mindset doesn’t actually see what happens on the other side, to the victim.” — Kevin Mitnick

Travels With Maggie

Hackers are drowning us with viruses just as surely as Mother Nature does with her weather extremities, as shown here at Cedar Hill State Park in Texas. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The picture that accompanies this blog was taken several years ago at Cedar Hill State Park in Texas, when the area had an excess of water. Today the same area is in a drought.

Meanwhile, Northern Utah and Southern Idaho, which is my stomping grounds for the summer, is having an excess of water.

Given the extremities of Mother Nature, it’s a problem of inequity that’s never going to be solved.

I’m beginning to think it’s the same for my computer woes, which is actually what got me focused on this particular photo this morning. I feel like I’m drowning.

It seems my brand new computer may be suffering from a malicious virus targeting Windows 7. So far, counting travel and tech support costs, I’m out nearly $300 in an attempt to get it fixed – and it will be more when I have to drive 320-miles round trip to pick it up again.

As I’m the only campground host volunteer at Lake Walcott State Park, I need to get back there for the weekend crowd. And my computer, the geeks told me, won’t be ready by then.

Budget cuts, layoffs and business failures abound these days. It’s a time when everyone in this country should be pulling together to find solutions.

I do not understand why some of the brightest minds, those among us who might even be able to improve the economy, are so intent on making it worse. How, I ask myself, can we stop this maliciousness?

I truly wish I had an answer.

In the meantime, I hope every hacker making this country’s economy woes worse is caught and prosecuted to the fullest degree possible. We need to let them know their pranks are criminal acts that are costing people their jobs and business to fail.

And my blood pressure to rise.

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Mountain Joy and Computer Sand Woes

Posted in Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , on June 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

 “Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out – it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.” – Robert Service

The sun was shining brightly over Lake Walcott when my computer crashed. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Travels With Maggie

It was sunny and bright, after a morning of light rain, at Lake Walcott State Park, when my new computer crashed Monday.

My choices to fix it was to drive 160 miles to Ogden, Utah, where I had bought the computer at Best Buy, or 45 miles to Twin Falls, Idaho, to the closest Best Buy. I chose the former because of having a place to park my RV in Ogden and because it was an opportunity to visit friends.

I packed up my RV and left immediately. Maggie, as always, was tickled to be on the road again, and soon was contentedly snoozing in the co-pilot seat. I was also happy to once again be going down the road.

The drive from Southern Idaho to Ogden on Highway 84 is a pleasant drive on a four-lane divided highway over a mountain pass with minimal traffic. The best part of the journey for me is coming back into sight of the majestic Wasatch Mountains that were my home for 25 years.

It took longer than usual, however, to see them. About 50 miles into my drive, Mother Nature decided to weep Mississippi tears.

Anyone ever caught in a Deep South downpour knows what I’m talking about. The rain comes down so hard that one can’t see more than 10 feet ahead – if that. Windshield wipers can’t keep up and are almost useless.

All one can do if caught on a highway driving in such a downpour, as I was, is to try desperately to stay on the road and keep driving. To stop is to risk being hit from behind. I truly think I drove through the hardest rainstorm I had every experienced  in Utah.

The sight of the Wasatch Mountains finally breaking through the storm briefly made me forget my computer woes. -- Photo by Pat Bean

It wasn’t until I hit Brigham Cit, just north of Ogden, that the rain lifted enough for me to enjoy the view. It,  as alway, filled my heart with joy.  I’ve seen many mountains in my lifetime, but none that touch my soul like these western peaks of the Rockies that stretch from Idaho to Central Utah.

Just to be able to drink in their beauty once again made me almost forget my reason for seeing them.

But tomorrow, when I would spend the day confronting Best Buy and HP geeks and management before getting my computer problem solved, I would remember.

 It was my day to have sand in my shoe.

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One Easy Problem Solved, One Quirky Problem to Go

Posted in Travel, tagged , , , , , , , on May 30, 2011| 7 Comments »

Murphy’s Laws: If something can go wrong, it will; The chance of the bread falling with the buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet; Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand….

It's cold and rainy here at Lake Walcott this morning, but Maggie, who cares nothing about computer problems, sleeps the morning away. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Travels With Maggie

A quirky problem with my Verizon air card the first week of May suddenly blocked me from accessing the online home pages of Story Circle Network, the women’s writing support group to which I belong.

It took a couple of weeks, and over an hour on the phone with a Verizon techie, to determine it was a service provider blip. That was confirmed when the techie duplicated my air card set up and he, too, couldn’t access the Story Circle pages.

Verizon is still working on a fix, or so they say.

In the meantime, my four-year-old laptop died on me. I decided, since I had to purchase a new computer, why not just upgrade my air card at the same time. Surely that would solve the problem.

I patted myself on the back for thinking of it, then shelled out $129 for a new card because I didn’t yet qualify for an upgrade.

All the time that trouble-maker, Murphy, whom my grandmother really believed existed, was laughing at me. The upgrade card wouldn’t access the site either. Grrrr…..

Well, she did wake up from her snooze on the couch long enough to give me a dirty look after the camera flash woke her. -- Photo by Pat Bean

There was still some warm sunshine on my shoulder, however. With the help of my geeky Ogden friend, and a couple of Jack and Cokes to ease the transition, all the files on my old computer were transferred to the new one and it, at least, was working perfectly.

Of course I didn’t know then that Murphy was going to hitch a ride with me back to Lake Walcott.

While my old air card had four bars of connection to the world at the remote state park, the new one had half a bar. Not only could I just barely get connected, the connection almost immediately fizzled. The message, when things went awry, was “the remote computer is not responding.”

I suspected a Verizon tower might just be temporarily down, so I gave it 24 hours before I was back on the phone with another techie.

He tried numerous unsuccessful fixes – as I sat in front of my computer amazed at what they can do remotely these days. When nothing worked, the techie gave up and reactivated my old air card.

I immediately had four green bars of connectivity showing, which goes to show newer is not always better.

The techie said the antenna on the new card was probably a lemon, and he asked if I wanted him to send me a new one.

Nope, I said. I’ll just take a refund. As my grandmother said, when something’s not broke, don’t fix it.

Now if Murphy will just stop pestering those Verizon techies, maybe I’ll once again be able to connect to my Story Circle web sites.

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