MORE BLOODY COMPUTER WOES

Image from Tack-o-rama (see Links, right)

Rats and double rats - the computer is still not fixed. The technician came Wednesday as promised (a miracle in itself) and pronounced the computer not very well at all. So the new hard drive was delivered yesterday (!) by DHL, but I am still awaiting the discs without which the hard drive cannot be programmed as my reboot disc is also corrupt. Oh joy. And now I have to depend on the postal system...

So fingers & toes crossed that the discs arrive tomorrow and then Sunday I will be attempting to replace my very first hard drive (Himself not being very good at the electrical side of things, and also one of Those Men Who Do Not Read Instruction Manuals).

Meantime, although the hard drive and discs are being paid for by the insurance, I have had to buy new memory myself (1GB) as every security programme uploaded takes its memory from the same area as Windows - so although my computer tells me I have 85% unused area, it's obviously not in the same place as all my other stuff, as Windows keeps telling me I am out of Virtual Memory. So what DO people load up? Tons of Excel documents? You can bet Bill Gates made sure there'd be plenty of room for geeky stuff and accounts stuff and other unnecessary (to me) rubbish.

The technician also told me I don't have enough graphics capability - I am not a gamer, and apparently most of the graphics capacity is aimed here, and not towards photos, artwork etc. Which means I have had to buy a graphics card - and now have to find out where to insert it (don't tempt me...) as this one has to go in some slot in the motherboard. The other option being not to have many photos or fonts on the computer - which is what I mainly work in.

So the next question is, if I have a hard drive, what is a motherboard, and what relation is it to the hard drive? I take it they are not one and the same thing.

Oh for the days when I worked in an office and the nice young IT man down the corridor used to come and change the toner cartridge for me, and all was magically updated overnight without my lifting a finger... It's all a very steep learning curve I could well do WITHOUT. And all due to some smart little shit with nothing better to do than send out computer viruses as a "joke". I got a Trojan back in May which has permanently damaged the machine, and this is the result.

Still, I managed to replace the modem on my old computer when it got fried in a lightning strike (luckily for me, I had the windows open at the time - the lightning flashed right through the living room - we are right next to a telephone post). I was on the phone at the time, and it went ZZZZZPT. Luckily I dropped the phone at the time or you might not be reading this post... Suffice to say, I replaced the modem (it took a couple of tries as they had sent the wrong one, which explained why it wouldn't fit) not that it was because I was female. Thankfully, things seem to have moved on a little, and I am not encountering so much prejudice when I shop in Maplins for computer-related bits & bobs. So I will certainly be giving this my bestest shot.

SO... once the hard drive has been replaced and I have reloaded the programmes, I will then be able to load up Week 3 Life Class drawings. I'll keep you posted!