I am online at home again ...
After my partial success in getting a machine working on Sunday, I was disheartened last night to find it had forgotten it had a NIC installed... Moving the card to another PCI slot had the desired effect, and WinDoze rediscovered it, and installed the drivers like the civilised OS it is not.
I was very pleasantly surprised that my PC not only detected the fact I have myself a little network at home (of just the one PC!) but also had no problems access the internet through it as well. Perhaps WinDoze isn't that bad after all...
After that it was just a case of installing AIM and I could chat to my good lady again. I was reminded (again) last night of the trauma that is involved in loosing a machine. I've had that laptop for a little over two years (although it was a lot older than that) and in that time it has been moulded to how I like my machine to look and work. I have keyboard shortcuts for all my favourite programs. The icons are exactly where I want them. The files are all associated with the programs I actually want to open them, rather than the programs Microsoft would like me to use.
I had 2 years worth of emails with links and information and registration codes. I really really need my laptop back up and running. Either that - or I need something that connects those little drives to my machine at home.
I need to install something to play MP3's... I need to install the drivers so I can use my zip drive, except the only disk I can find with those drivers on it is a Zip Disk ... catch 22? I think so. Now if the laptop would speak to me again (I promise all is forgiven) I could share the zip drive and copy the drivers to the PC... see that would work nicely.
Tonight I will try and get the thing looking like a normal PC ... with a case and everything. Then I will start the process of turning it to a useful machine ...
Of course if the new PC I've ordered will hurry up and arrive already, I wouldn't have to do this *twice*...
I was very pleasantly surprised that my PC not only detected the fact I have myself a little network at home (of just the one PC!) but also had no problems access the internet through it as well. Perhaps WinDoze isn't that bad after all...
After that it was just a case of installing AIM and I could chat to my good lady again. I was reminded (again) last night of the trauma that is involved in loosing a machine. I've had that laptop for a little over two years (although it was a lot older than that) and in that time it has been moulded to how I like my machine to look and work. I have keyboard shortcuts for all my favourite programs. The icons are exactly where I want them. The files are all associated with the programs I actually want to open them, rather than the programs Microsoft would like me to use.
I had 2 years worth of emails with links and information and registration codes. I really really need my laptop back up and running. Either that - or I need something that connects those little drives to my machine at home.
I need to install something to play MP3's... I need to install the drivers so I can use my zip drive, except the only disk I can find with those drivers on it is a Zip Disk ... catch 22? I think so. Now if the laptop would speak to me again (I promise all is forgiven) I could share the zip drive and copy the drivers to the PC... see that would work nicely.
Tonight I will try and get the thing looking like a normal PC ... with a case and everything. Then I will start the process of turning it to a useful machine ...
Of course if the new PC I've ordered will hurry up and arrive already, I wouldn't have to do this *twice*...