We've been building to this crescendo for a while. Slowly, at a rate of about one task per week my main computer's been dying. Today we are burying our Phoenix. It's taking much longer to rise from the ashes than suits us.
Let' start with not being able to drag and drop, rearrange the quick launch bar, launching Firefox, the clock going to military time and several other annoying and debilitating quirks. Next, my anti-virus was paralyzed. We were quickly running out of options.
Gratefully we had an external hard-drive that backs up each night. We are not missing anything. It backs up all application data, all files, email. I'm set. I'm adjusting to the laptop with settings of 1440 rather than my usual 1600 on a smaller screen. I have more scrolling to do but am quite grateful to have the back up system. A big, "WHEW!"
My husband is my IT department. He's reading and patiently going through the steps to start from scratch. I spent a lot of time on the Castlecops.com website. I know they would be able to help me, because they always do, but I just ran out of time. We lost the drive by mid-day and have been working to rebuild the rest of the day.
If you Google your various errors and situations, be sure to check the URL for the potential solutions before you click and follow their instructions.
Some favorites are:
HelpOnThe.Net: TechSupport Guy - Free help for Windows XP, Vista ...
TechSupport Guyoffers free support to users of Windows Vista, XP, 98, and just about anything else! www.tech guy.org/
CastleCops®
Making the Internet a Safer and Enjoyable Experience.
The list was mounting, 10+ missing sys files, missing drivers, you name it -- the list was growing by the hour. This was not how we planned to spend a beautiful day in July when the sun was shining at 70 degrees with clear skies and a breeze.
The questions come to,
"Vista or XP?"
"Office 2003 again or just get used to 2007?"
We have all of the software but I just can't bring myself to switching to Vista. I'll give in and just buck up on Office 2007.
Fine.
We have the rest of the disks - Adobe Suite, Office, and many others.
Recommendation - Buy the disk.
Sure you can download a lot of software and save $20 or so dollars, but I have to tell you, having the disk and then reinstalling with only the need for the updates is a lot less stressful.
Spend the money - get the real disks. At the very least, pay for the ability to download as many times as you need to. Then, print the receipt with any special numbers to identify you and tuck it away.
I also recommend honesty.
Buy your software. You use it, you may profit from its convenience - pay for it. Do you scan a friend's painting because you'd like it on your wall too? If so, you won't care what I or anyone else says. If you agree that scanning a painting and then making yourself a copy to hang on your wall is wrong, so is not paying for software.
Freeware and FREE SUPPORT - be kind.
If it works for you and you really enjoy it, toss something towards the person requesting donations. Why not? WinZip - perfect example. It's handy. Give them $20 - come on. Get reimbursed or take it off your taxes. Tech support - Think that Microsoft would charge you $100 for an hour and not guarantee a fix.
With the back up drive I'm calm. My husband has a stink day ahead, but we can continue to serve our clients. Hopefully it will be sunny and the children can be outside.
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