Computer Necromancy
Several months ago, within a few days of one another, both my husband's and my desktop computers just quit working. We both have laptops as well, so that wasn't a complete disaster, but there were files on the desktop's hard drive that I hadn't saved off--like my writing files. I know I have newer backups, but the latest I could find was from 2004! So I've been either writing totally new stuff (a good idea anyway), or working on rewriting things that have been sitting for a few years.
Finally, we found a day when Brook wasn't too busy, and Brook pulled both the computers and checked their power supplies. As far as he could tell, the power supplies were both dead. So we traipsed on down to the computer store, bought two new (and more powerful) power supplies, and put them into the computers. Voila! Two working desktops!
The first thing Brook did was to back his entire 300 Gig hard drive up onto the portable 500 Gig hard drive he got for Christmas. The first thing I did was to back up all my music and writing files onto CDs, and transfer everything I had on the laptop (it only has a 60 Gig hard drive) into my desktop hard drive (250 Gig and nearly full). So now, if anything happens, I hope to have my data all backed up elsewhere.
I had just got a new flat-screen 17" monitor for my birthday when my desktop died, so had never really used it. Ooh, it's nice. It's one of those extra-wide ones (good for watching movies on) and I've found it's nice for putting documents side-by-side to compare them. It's much clearer, less fuzzy, than my old monitor. My old eyes were having trouble with the old monitor, even though it still worked fine other than that, but this new one is NICE.
So I am happy. Now I just have to figure out how to hook the laptop (with the internet on it) up to my desktop (with no internet) so I won't have to keep sneakernetting files back and forth. And I want a side desk so I can have both my desktop and laptop up at once. Am I spoiled, or what?
Finally, we found a day when Brook wasn't too busy, and Brook pulled both the computers and checked their power supplies. As far as he could tell, the power supplies were both dead. So we traipsed on down to the computer store, bought two new (and more powerful) power supplies, and put them into the computers. Voila! Two working desktops!
The first thing Brook did was to back his entire 300 Gig hard drive up onto the portable 500 Gig hard drive he got for Christmas. The first thing I did was to back up all my music and writing files onto CDs, and transfer everything I had on the laptop (it only has a 60 Gig hard drive) into my desktop hard drive (250 Gig and nearly full). So now, if anything happens, I hope to have my data all backed up elsewhere.
I had just got a new flat-screen 17" monitor for my birthday when my desktop died, so had never really used it. Ooh, it's nice. It's one of those extra-wide ones (good for watching movies on) and I've found it's nice for putting documents side-by-side to compare them. It's much clearer, less fuzzy, than my old monitor. My old eyes were having trouble with the old monitor, even though it still worked fine other than that, but this new one is NICE.
So I am happy. Now I just have to figure out how to hook the laptop (with the internet on it) up to my desktop (with no internet) so I won't have to keep sneakernetting files back and forth. And I want a side desk so I can have both my desktop and laptop up at once. Am I spoiled, or what?