Follow-up: tech and travel
Flights from Toulouse and nearby are still grounded. I think I'm booked onto a flight on Tuesday, but I'm not expecting it to actually fly to London. Meanwhile, apparently there's a strike on the French trains! And Eurostar has been a no-go zone for days - let's hope that those extra trains materialise.
Luckily, Dad's friend Andy has come to our rescue: he's got a mate who's trying to transport himself and his family from the UK to his house near here, and basically very few routes are still available. They've hit upon the plan of hiring a car, and using the Dover/Boulogne crossing. I understand that the ferries aren't taking foot passengers, only cars! So this guy is going to cross tonight, arriving here in the early morning, at which point I take over the hire car and drive back to Boulogne, cross, and get the car back to its hire point by Tuesday night. Everything is paid for, apart from my petrol and food of course. Sterling work, I have to say!
If the thing about foot passengers is true, I shall make myself a sign in French and English offering seats for the ferry crossing. What an adventure, eh?!
On the tech front, we are finally in business - I'm typing this from the Acer :-)
Dad was persuaded that upgrading to Win7 was the best solution. As said, he hated Vista, but hopefully he'll be ok with 7, which sucks a damn sight less. Also, I've got Office 2003 installed for him, which was half the problem. If you don't know, the change from 2003 to 2007 is a fundamental one, the entire package looks and works differently, and it's a bit of a pain to adjust.
We discovered that it's possible to buy the upgrade online and download an ISO, which you then transfer to DVD or USB stick (I used the latter), and then install on the required PC. The HP stuggled mightily with the ISO and the stick, I've literally spent a couple days and several reboots getting it to work, but once I'd got the stick into the Acer, it worked like a dream. Very fast install, found everything, had absolutely no issues with anything, least of all hardware. It just worked, which is surely how it's supposed to be.
So yes, that is a good & successful feeling now! The Acer is lightning speed compared to the HP, it's actually a joy to use. I very much hope that it'll be a good workhorse for Dad - like me, he's stuffed without a) a good computer and b) a fast net connection.
Well! I'd best get out there and enjoy the last of the sunshine, hadn't I? If I'm leaving early tomorrow morning, this is my last chance...
Luckily, Dad's friend Andy has come to our rescue: he's got a mate who's trying to transport himself and his family from the UK to his house near here, and basically very few routes are still available. They've hit upon the plan of hiring a car, and using the Dover/Boulogne crossing. I understand that the ferries aren't taking foot passengers, only cars! So this guy is going to cross tonight, arriving here in the early morning, at which point I take over the hire car and drive back to Boulogne, cross, and get the car back to its hire point by Tuesday night. Everything is paid for, apart from my petrol and food of course. Sterling work, I have to say!
If the thing about foot passengers is true, I shall make myself a sign in French and English offering seats for the ferry crossing. What an adventure, eh?!
On the tech front, we are finally in business - I'm typing this from the Acer :-)
Dad was persuaded that upgrading to Win7 was the best solution. As said, he hated Vista, but hopefully he'll be ok with 7, which sucks a damn sight less. Also, I've got Office 2003 installed for him, which was half the problem. If you don't know, the change from 2003 to 2007 is a fundamental one, the entire package looks and works differently, and it's a bit of a pain to adjust.
We discovered that it's possible to buy the upgrade online and download an ISO, which you then transfer to DVD or USB stick (I used the latter), and then install on the required PC. The HP stuggled mightily with the ISO and the stick, I've literally spent a couple days and several reboots getting it to work, but once I'd got the stick into the Acer, it worked like a dream. Very fast install, found everything, had absolutely no issues with anything, least of all hardware. It just worked, which is surely how it's supposed to be.
So yes, that is a good & successful feeling now! The Acer is lightning speed compared to the HP, it's actually a joy to use. I very much hope that it'll be a good workhorse for Dad - like me, he's stuffed without a) a good computer and b) a fast net connection.
Well! I'd best get out there and enjoy the last of the sunshine, hadn't I? If I'm leaving early tomorrow morning, this is my last chance...