hit me with your USB stick! hit me! hit me!
I have a few quiet moments while I’m installing Windows 7 on my home computer. I’ve been waiting for this operating system for a while and I finally have my computer ready for the upgrade. Considering the computer problems I’ve had over the last month, I’m wondering if I should be doing this at all. You might want to skip reading this post. It is mostly boring work and computer stuff and mainly therapy for me to keep me sane.
It all started when the server at work went down. It was old and I was aiming to replace it before the end of the year anyway but, I would have liked to have scheduled an upgrade when I was ready though. But hey, all I have to do is move the upgrade forward. However, the server needed emergency life supp0rt first. Both fans were not working and since the server is a Dell, it has it’s own proprietary parts and the fans could not be replaced. We rigged a temporary fan and for a couple of weeks the computer ran open with a household fan blowing on it to keep it cool as well as a replacement fan that worked but didn’t fit properly in the computer box. So far so good. Patched, but working. At about the same time, the modem failed. I had to get my IT consultant to come and fix it. I can’t work without it. All my research is internet driven. My clients send me important emails. I have to log on to a government virtual private network to perform critical functions. It took over a week to procure a modem from Telstra. Then, once it was installed, it wasn’t compatible with Small Business Server. We can use a new modem at home and I ordered another one from an online computer store and the technician came back and installed it.
I ordered a new server and two new PCs from Dell. I started the purchase on line and then phoned through to finalise the oreder over the phone to ensure that there was no misunderstanding about what I wanted for my system. One computer was to replace the one at home (which would in turn replace a computer here) and the other is an additional PC for the extra staff I’ve had to employ. Whenever I update computers, there’s a bit of a hand-me-down of computers. I buy the latest for me at home where I need the most ram and power to run Photoshop, Illustrator and a few other programs. The one at home goes to work with me and becomes my new computer and the one I had a work becomes someone else’s new computer.
The computers arrived but the order was not filled to my specs. My PC was supposed to have Vista installed and it didn’t. The other PC was to take dual monitors and it wouldn’t. The free printer turned up with an invoice and on checking my credit card, a payment was made for it. Then, some of the old computers started to play up. One computer decided it didn’t want a monitor upgrade. My laptop’s power chord failed. And then last week, the CD drive on my computer failed and in trying to get Dell to fix it I ended up with a trashed drive. They might seem like small problems, but they take so long to fix. It’s not just one phone call for each problem, it’s multiple phone calls and most of the times, I have to convince the operators that I have a problem. The technician today took the easy way out and formatted the drive before I could retrieve the licence details and software. This means that I’ll have to phone software companies to do manual activations or search on line for manual activations over the internet. I am really annoyed about the reformat. My business is software driven, It will many hours to get it all sorted. As an example, I have 9 McAfee licences and the only way to know which licence is on each computer is by the expiry date of the subscription.
Today I felt beaten. Tomorrow, I have to go to work and install software before I can work. It will take me two days without sorting the activation.
I’m looking forward to the time when the whole network is humming along nicely 