Since our last installment, the Dell Support Guy asked me to try to boot with another CD drive. I took the CD from the old system, plugged it in, and tested it. This was enough to convince him that the CD-RW/DVD drive was bad, and he says that he's told Visa to give me back $50 of the purchase price. This brings the cost of the system including ( Read more... )

In our last installment, Our Hero was waiting for a driver CD to arrive in the mail. It arrived today.

The email from Tech Support Guy had a list of drivers I should install, and the order that I should install them in. Using the CD, I was mostly able to comply with his instructions; the ultimate file (a BIOS upgrade) was missing. Since one of the ( Read more... )

In this installment, we hear why Murstein is posting from his older PC ( Read more... )

In our last installment, Dell sent me a CD that would magically solve my system's inability to read CD-R disks. The disk arrived yesterday, and I attempted to install it today. Ironically, it, too, cannot be read.

I have more reason to doubt their "solution" would do nothing, even if I could read the CD. You see, it appears to be digital music ( Read more... )

For the last year or year and a half, my home PC has gone through several annoying issues. I've wanted to replace it (or at least parts) for a while, and probably would have, if my income was still at its 2004 level. Instead, I've gone through several iterations of the equivalent of bailing-wire and bubblegum repairs. Some will be horrified to hear ( Read more... )

So, seeing as I brew, and it's beginning to be fruit season, I pulled out last year's Yule gift from laureth and looked it over in detail. It's an antique fruit press, with that late 19th or early 20th Century look and feel of something made to just work forever. The base, giant screw, twisting handles, piston, and bottom grate are all cast iron, and I'm ( Read more... )

So, it's often too hot in laureth's cube for her comfort. This morning was especially bad; for at least the first five minutes of lunch, all she could do was hold her head from the pain. I've tried all sorts of "super-quiet" fans, and they're all noisier than she'll accept. (It's quiet in her side of Cubeville, because everyone's concentrating, and ( Read more... )