Friday, March 19, 2010

My Computer Died

Blogging will be on an as able basis until I get it fixed. My boot disk will not bring it back. I do have a data backup hard drive but I have been unable to check it. Maybe tomorrow.

Hits to the tip jar most appreciated.

Originally posted at 3/07/2010 11:56:00 PM. It will stay at the top until I get my computer fixed or replaced.

Update:

I was able to check my backup drive and it seems intact. I will post more about my backup system once everything is restored to its last known good state.

Update:

My son is home from college and I was able to prevail on him to let me use his computer. I still need some help even though posts will be a little more frequent until he goes back to school.

Update:

I took my machine to Best Buy and had them do an instant check. I watched while it was done and came to the same conclusion they did. Dead. Recovery not likely. So I'm looking for a new machine at under $400. I want to get one from a local store so if there are problems in the first 90 days I can get local service. My choices are an HP machine with a 500 GB HD with a single core processor and an e-machine. Any other suggestions welcome. Very much welcome. And if you can help out it would be very much appreciated. I live on a fixed income and even at $400 this is going to be very, very, hard to do. And to all those who have donated so far. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!

And on another related note: I have to stay home to help my ill son. Any work I can do for you from home would be much appreciated. Obviously I can write. I can also do electronic design. And I am more than willing to charge by the project milestone with guaranteed delivery dates or no charge.

Update 20 March 2010 0130z

Thanks to the help of all my friends here at Power and Control (and my Mom) I was able to go out to Best Buy tonight and get a Gateway DX4831-01e. My geek friends tell me it is a very good machine for the price.

I haven't started setting it up yet. When I do get online with it I will tell you how I like it. Thanks to all your help I was able to go from a barely adequate box to one that should serve my needs for quite some time. i.e. 64 bit instead of 32.

And to the person who sent me a monitor when mine died a while back - thanks again. I will be using it with this new machine. And to those who helped with donations back then: the gas company thanks you and I do too!

And finally - this post will drift away and you won't be bothered with it any more. Yipeeee!!!!

2 comments:

Mr. Snarkolepsy said...

How old is your current PC? Have you looked at simply replacing the motherboard? If you can find a replacement MB, you can save the expense of replacing everything else.

M. Simon said...

I'm still considering that. It is beginning to look like it is entering wear out mode. You know - a new repair every few months. Like an old car past its prime.

We are going to a geek/used computer store tonight to see what the options are.