Seeing as how there's not a "computer" topic....

Kinda makes you miss the old days when you were a kid and only had an etch-a-sketch, doesn't it Don?

Etch-a-sketch instructions:

Re-boot - flip over
New file - flip over
Delete file- flip over
Show desktop - flip over
Save file - don't flip over

 

I can relate Don. I recently had a problem with my printer and in attempting to restore the driver I somehow messed up alot of other things. After getting my printer to work, I couldn't access my money files. I couldn't access my backup money file either. I uninstalled, reinstalled and still couldn't access my date. I finally formatted my hard drive reinstalled windows then restored my backup and viola everything worked.

Bill

 

Yup all over one lousy driver file. It just goes to show I should have followed windows rule number one. If windows asks you if you really want to do something, 99 times out of 100 you don't want to to do it. I forgot that rule and answereed yes.

Bill

 

LOL! How true! Maybe they should change the question to more of a statement...like "Come on now, you don't REALLY want to do that, but if you insist the YES button will be available in 30 minutes. Take some time, think about it..."
da Gina

 

Oh, and that reminds me of the time I deleted the "WinZip" file and couldn't open any files for a while. I saw the "Win" part and immediately thought "I never meant to download anything about Winnie the Pooh off the net!", and I tossed it. They really should test people's intelligence before they let them buy computers!
da Gina

 

Gina:
I always get stomach cramps rotf-laughing everytime I read your posts.

Don:
Out of curiousity, what actually got your problems fixed ? I work at Comcast's High Speed
Department Call Center and sometimes get calls with problems like yours which we then send to tier 2.0 (I'm at tier 1).
I'm curious because seems to me like simply running the DOS command line and doing a release-all, renew/all should restore things. I dared work with somebody once (though procedures state we are to transfer stuff like that to tier 2) and
all I asked the caller to do was unplug the ethernet cable, plug it back in, and reboot, and it worked.
But yours seems to be a little more complex.
Tell me about it, if you will.
Thanks. God bless.

 

My sentiments Clint!

Installed new CDR-W. Computer wouldn't boot. Went to computer shop, hard drive less than one year old no good. Data on old drive can't be recovered...........!!!!!! Realize what that means? 8 years of data gone, except for a little downloaded to CD.

So yes Clint I pund my head on my desk regularly.

I won't even discuss the pleasure of upgrading to XP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ernie

 

There's a driver???

I thought I was in charge of this thing.

For obvious reasons, my brother sent me the following not too long ago --

=========

SHOULD MY LOVED ONE BE PLACED IN AN ASSISTED COMPUTING FACILITY?

For family members, it is often the most difficult and painful decision
they will face: to accept that a loved one - a parent, a spouse, perhaps
a sibling - is technologically impaired and should no longer be allowed
to live independently, or come near a computer or electronic device
without direct supervision. The time has come to place that loved one
into the care of an Assisted Computing Facility.

But you have questions. So many questions. We at Silicon Pines want to help.

WHAT EXACTLY IS AN "ASSISTED COMPUTING FACILITY"?

Sometimes referred to as "Homes for the Technologically Infirm,"
"Technical Invalid Care Centers," or "Homes for the Technically Challenged,"
Assisted Computing Facilities (ACFs) are modeled on assisted living facilities,
and provide a safe, structured residential environment for those unable to
Handle even the most common, everyday multitasks.

Most fully accredited ACFs, like Silicon Pines, are an oasis of hope and
encouragement that allow residents to lead productive, technologically
relevant lives without the fear and anxiety associated with actually
having to understand or execute the technologies themselves.

WHO SHOULD BE IN AN ACF?

Sadly, technology is advancing at such a dramatic rate that many millions,
of all ages, will never truly be able to understand it, putting an undue burden
on those friends and family members who must explain it to them. But unless
the loved one is suffering from a truly debilitating affliction, such as
Reinstallzheimers, the decision to commit is entirely personal. You must ask
yourself: "How frustrated am I that my parent/sibling/spouse is unable to open
an email attachment?" "How much of my time should be taken up explaining how
RAM is different from hard drive memory?" "How many times can I bear to hear
my dad say, 'Hey, can I replace the motherboard with a fatherboard? Ha ha ha!'"

To make things easier, we have prepared a list of Warning Signs which we
encourage you to return to often; or, if you can't figure out how to bookmark it,
print out. Also, please take a moment to read "I'm Glad I'm in Here! - A Resident's
Story."

MUST IT BE FAMILY, OR CAN I PLACE ANYONE IN AN ACF?

Several corporations have sought permission to have certain employees,
or at times entire sales departments, committed to ACFs. At present,
however, individuals can be committed only by direct family or self- internment.
The reason is simple: there are not nearly enough ACFs in the world to
accommodate all the technologically challenged. For example, there are currently
only 860,000 beds available in ACFs, but there are 29 million AOL users.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

ACF rents range from free up to $12,500 per month. The disparity is currently
a point of contention in the ACF industry. Many residents are covered through
government programs such as Compucaid or Compucare, but reimbursement
rates are low and only cover a portion of the fees. Exacerbating the situation
are the HMOs (HelpDesk Maintenance Organizations), which often deny coverage,
forcing residents to pay out of pocket or turn to expensive private techcare
insurers such as BlueCache/BlueScreen. Offsetting the costs are technology
companies themselves, many of which subsidize ACFs. Firms such as Microsoft,
Dell, Qualcomm, and America Online will pay up to 100 percent of a resident's
monthly bill, but there is a catch. ISPs, for instance, require residents to sign
service contracts lasting a year or more. Microsoft, meanwhile, prohibits the
installation of any competitive software, while Priceline requires that residents
buy shares of its stock, which seems onerous but saves residents on lavatory
tissue.

HOW OLD MUST I BE TO HAVE SOMEONE COMMITTED?

Until very recently, you had to be 18 or older to legally commit a family member.
However, the now famous British court case Frazier vs. Frazier and Frazier has
cleared the way for minors to commit their parents. In that case, 15-year-old
Bradley Frazier of Leicester had his 37 year old parents committed to an ACF In
Bournemouth after a judge ruled Ian and Janet Frazier were a "danger to
themselves and the community." According to court records, Bradley told
his parents about the I Love You virus and warned them not to click
attachments, then the next day his parents received an I Love You email and
clicked on the attachment because, they explained, "it came from someone we
know."

WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR IN AN ACF?

First, make sure it's a genuine Assisted Computing Facility, and not an Assisted
Living Facility. To tell the difference, observe the residents. If they look rather
old and tend to openly discuss bowel movements, this is probably ³assisted living.²
On the other hand, if they vary in age and say things like, "I'm supposed to figure
that out? I'm not Bill (Censored) Gates you know!" this is probably ³assisted
computing.² Also, at a well-run ACF, residents should lead full, independent lives,
and should be allowed the use of many technology devices, including telephones,
electric toothbrushes, and alarm clocks. However, only a facility's Licensed
Techcare Professionals (LTPs) should perform computational or technological
tasks such as installing programs or saving email attachments. And LTPs should
NEVER answer residents' questions because studies have shown that answering
user questions inevitably makes things worse. Instead, residents should simply
have things done for them, relieving them of the pressure to "learn" or "improve."

CAN A RESIDENT EVER GET OUT?

NO!

OK, THIS SOUNDS PROMISING. HOW CAN I LEARN MORE?

For your enlightenment, we offer extensive information on Silicon Pines and
the ACF lifestyle, which can be found by clicking one of the links in the navigation
bars found at both the top and bottom of this page. But whatever you decide,
keep in mind that due to demand, ACFs now have long waiting lists. WebTV and
AOL users alone will take years to absorb.

 

ROFL

That is GREAT Helen. I better get on the waiting list now so that when technology passes me by I'll have a place waiting for me.

Bill

 

I have an atheist friend at work who's argument for evolution includes his idea that mankind is getting smarter & smarter. "Weve invented computers!!!" he said.

I am an electronics applications technologist by trade. 90% of my job is going around re-booting computers that have locked up, stopping test equipment. I went thru 4 years of school to do this. We lose hundreds of dollars each shift due to windows errors.

I found some humorous about bone-head tech support nightmares...

http://rinkworks.com/stupid/cs_stuptech.shtml

Ain't science grand ?

 

Ernie? its sounds more like you were scammed! Unless you mistyped something; I would really argue you were scammed huge

Was your hard drive working fine before you took it in? Unless you got one of those "freaks" I've only read about

Also Your Cd drives have nothing to do with Hard Drive only motherboard.

There could have been the following problems
1. Your "jumper" settings were off"
2. Your CMOS / OS could have been not capable of handling that device
3. They gave you ALL the drivers which overlap some other drivers and you reinstalled over some drivers needed for HD and other pieces of software.
4. Your motherboard was bad

That kind of fraud happens a lot - store overclocking machines in order to charge more. Installing beta or "upgraded" OS. INstalling OLD CMOS' that are incapable of handling expansions or the lastest technology. Double-spacing in order to pretend the drive is twice as big as it really is. Also playing with the Ram. Installing substandard parts replacing name brands with knock-offs. Not giving you a copy of the OS, and driver disks.

I will never touch an AMD chip again - they have yet to impress me with their performance; and other then virus scanning, firewalls, and video games, I really dont demand much out of my machine.

I've worked with computers with physical damage to the motherboard, motherboards that went through electrical shock, etc.... In all those cases the motherboards still functioned enough to SLOWLY pull off all the data on the drive, except the stuff over the size of a floppy disk. Even then the physically damaged motherboard, allowed me to multi-disk Winzip/Pkzip everything off.

He He work at an amusement park but got diploma and certificates in Computers. Got a few certificates from the Church of Christ online courses - despite theological differences.

Even have experience in computer field

Anyone willing to put me up? I'll keep yer computer humming, and deliver theology lessons aimed at Young Adults or Teens

 

Sularis, I agree with you 100%. Just tired of trying to argue with idiots. Went to the same place with a brand new Western hard drive and they pulled the same thing, this time i caught them in there game of trying to sell hard drives.. The one they installed was under warranty, they used the "need to be returned" thing to keep the hard drive outa my hands so I wouldn't catch on to thier game. Now looking for new tech to service my 'puter.

Ernie

[ May 04, 2002, 12:30 PM: Message edited by: Ernie Brazee ]

 

Don't even talk to me about hard drives.

My first computer was a Packard Bell (I know that was the first mistake) it died on me and with out boring you with the long sob story, after many months I got PB to replace the system. They sent it to the local repair shop and it had a bad drive in it. That drive got replaced by PB.

About a year later I couldn't boot up, and I took it to a repair shop and sure enought they told me it was the hard drive. I believe it really was the hard drive because I couldn't get CMOS to even recognize that I had a hard drive installed. Yes I checked all the cables and even replaced the IDE cable to be sure. About a year later the same thing happened. At that point I dumped the Packard Bell, figuring there had to be something that was making hard deives go bad.

Next I bought a Compaq and a couple of months after the warranty runs out I start to hear what sounds like metal knocking together every time I boot up. Guess what? Its the hard drive. I had that one replaced, and it now been another year and so far so good I still have a working hard dive.

Bill