Now there's four words you don't like to hear. A little tip... if your computer starts making a sound you've never heard before, kind of like a large insect (maybe a mantis, maybe a beetle) is scratching around inside it, your hard drive is probably destroying itself. Not that knowing this will help -- it's already too late. Anyway, that's what happened to me a week ago. One new drive and OS install later, the system is finally coming back into focus, but there is still much to do. Funny thing about backups... they're never as extensive or as recent as you wish they were. And here's a mini book report for you... if you suddenly find yourself running WinXP, Windows XP Annoyances serves as an excellent manual, loaded with clearly written and practical tips on everything you need to know to make it do what you want it to do. It feels worth every penny, in contrast to the monopoly-priced XP Full Install package. Geeze, for that kind of money, the disc should come in an engraved, silver-plated case -- not popped onto a foam-rubber nub glued to a piece of cardboard. Now go back up your data... your drive could be next.
Posted by M.Ace at 08:19 PM, September 24, 2004.Ouch. I've had this happen to me a couple of times now, and although I'm better prepared, it's still going to be painful when (not if) it happens again.
The biggest problem with backups nowadays is the massive size of hard drives vs. the relatively teensy storage capacity of zip drive floppies and CDs. My current system has 4 18-GB drives, so my approach has been to backup the contents of two of the drives to the other two.
As for XP, I refuse to shell out that kind of money (especially when I can get Win2000 from work for free). Even the price of the upgrade package is usurious. I'm just waiting for Linux on the desktop to mature a little more before dumping Billy's crappy OS for good.
Posted by MrBaliHai at 12:53 PM, September 25, 2004.Yeah, if it wasn't for P-Shop and Samplitude, this would have been a real good time to switch over to Linux or BSD.
Though it seems like we've been waiting for Linux on the desktop to "mature a little more" for years now, and they don't seem to quite get it there.
Must go back to reconstruction now. Still haven't had the courage to try the printer or scanner.