Grr argh and all that
So, computer has been playing silly buggers and there was a while there when I was deeply afraid that I'd need to reinstall Windows. Er, I may have spent a couple of days trying not to look at the computer because the stress was too great.
It had been fine until I attempted to do a virus scan on a folder of videos. This is something that I do frequently and it usually takes only a minute or two. After over an hour, it was only 30% of the way through the scan and I needed to go out so I cancelled the scan. Apparently this locked up a bunch of things and Windows refused to shut down.
Ugh.
Had a go at working out the problems on Sunday and established that I could get the computer to start and shut down in safe-mode and then start normally. Mcafee seemed happy to scan a tiny folder. So I attempted to rescan (the video folder is on an external HD). And the same thing happened, with bonus error messages when Windows couldn't shut down.
Argh.
Yesterday I finally got a full couple of hours to sit down and work out what was happening. Booted the computer into safe mode with drivers, no problem. Then backed up the critical data files. Most of my data is backed up on a big external HD, but the most recent copies of certain things (including my website, my writing and my photos) were on the external HD that I was having issues with. My nightmare scenario (laptop dying and taking backups with it) looked all too possible.
Note to self: look into online option for back up of the back ups, just in case. Watch me become paranoid!
Then I got the computer shut down and booted normally. I performed various tests: whether it could shut down straight after booting, whether it could scan a small folder on C and then shut down, whether it could scan a small folder on the external HDD and shut down. Everything was fine, so it looks like Windows isn't totally borked. Phew!
Then I checked out the external HDD a bit more. Videos play fine from it. Scanning a folder with mp3s in (smaller than the video files, but big enough to be a challenge) took around half an hour. It did finally complete and nothing locked up after it completed, but there seems to be something going on with the combo of Mcafee and this drive. Scanning a small music folder on my C drive was super-fast. I got Mcafee to look for an update, downloaded and installed it and then did a test scan on just a couple of music files on the external HDD. It still seemed a bit slower than normal, but I ran out of time at that point. Next plan: re-scan the music folder and see just how slow it is.
Why can't computers just work?
Everything seemed fine with both Mcafee and the HDD early last week and the slow-down started after a Macafee update. Can anyone give an opinion on whether what the most likely source of this is? My options right now are Mcafee, the HDD or the USB port that the HDD is plugged into, but all three were fine a couple of days before this started.
We have also been having problems with the big desktop. Technically this is my father's computer, but we all have accounts on it and Mum uses it a lot when she's here. I rarely use it because I have my laptop, but it's been comforting to know that I can Google solutions if my laptop becomes unusable for some reason. I have no idea what is going with it. Mum's account logs her out as soon as she logs in. Other non-admin accounts were working fine until last night, when Mcafee popped up with a warning about Firefox and Mum said "yes" to blocking it. D'oh! Mcafee was apparently concerned that the firewall had been turned off (WTF?) and I suspect will warn about anything that connects to the Internet now. I've advised Mum to do a full virus scan today but I'm completely lost on what else to do. Thankfully Dad visits in a couple of weeks: he's more of an OS guy than me and may be able to figure it out.
The last week has made me more determined to get an iPad for my birthday (two months!). Apart from anything else, Internet connectivity (my iPod works, but the screen is too small for really technical stuff) is important when computers start mucking about.
I am so glad that I'm not going to be spending my iPad savings on replacing my laptop. That was one of the nightmare scenarios I kept thinking about. I'm about halfway to having the money together for a desktop when the time comes, but I need a few more months to get there properly without needing to dip into the main savings account. Which is not impossible, but wouldn't make me happy.
In other techy news, I'm going to get terribly technical and get an internal HDD for my Popcorn Hour. I'll also be hooking it up to the Wi-Fi and when the HDD is in, sorting out the apps to see whether I can torrent straight to it. This may be scary. I may be needing tech support from my PCH owning friends.
In non-techy news, Mum and I went sailing on a tall ship on Sunday. It was so much fun! We just went around the harbour and there were loads of other people there, but it was lovely and we got to see the islands in our harbour much closer than we've ever seen them before.
Also, I may have watched a lot of rugby. It's been great. Tonight there is no rugby (we watched a videoed match yesterday) and we are a little lost. It may be a Holby-watching evening. We're about four episodes behind.
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