When hard drives go boink!
Nov. 22nd, 2004 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bronwynrhI may have mentioned that my computer was having issues. Maybe it's Post-Thesis Stress Syndrome. While I was finishing up, it would go to blue screen filled with codes and messages, ending with "beginning physical memory dump". I nearly dumped something myself when I first read the message, but fear and shock gave way to anger and frustration as it happened repeatedly, sometimes at longer intervals, often at shorter.
I quickly set to uploading all of my lab-related data onto the IU server so my life's work (so far) wasn't shot all to hell in an Inspiron 4100 handbasket. The process was slow in spite of the DSL connection, because of the repeated blue-screen freakouts. These were sometimes accompanied by frantic chirping or beeping or clackety clacking within the guts of my poor, tortured laptop, who seemed to have lost its identity. Hard drive? I have no hard drive!, it cried out, ever more frantically.
ScanDisk
DiskDefragmenter
BIOS diagnostic
DOS diagnostic
All tests came up negative. No problems here, proclaimed the system. We are fine.
15 minutes later. . . BAPBAPBAPAPBPABPAPBPABPAPBPABPAPBAPBPABPA! Oh my god, she's having a fit! Seriously, folks, there was some loud, raucous thrashing going on. Startled the cats and dog, and made my heart jump.
I am lucky for two reasons:
1. I still have 48 days left to my warranty. Yay for extended warranties!
2. John the Phillipino Dell Guy agreed that in spite of the negative test results, I deserve a brand new hard drive. Yay for technical support being, well, technically supportive! I didn't even have to beg.
Ok, so I'm lucky for far more than just those two reasons, but we'll save the rest for Thanksgiving.
I will now have a clean slate from which to begin. I'll install XP from the CD I bought in Bton along with the Norton Antivirus software I can download FREE from IU. Better make the best of my remaining registered student privileges, right? Then on to the Thunderbird and Firefox installations, and I'll be set. Sucks though, that this installation CD is good for only one computer.
Nick, if you still want a laptop, we can talk numbers. The man and I will need to discuss which we'd like more - the cold hard cash, or a secondary laptop, but we may be able to make a deal. :-)
I now have a question for Thunderbird users. When I was backing up my music and movies to my new 2 GB pen drive, I couldn't find the archived files for my email. I really need those addresses and archived messages. . . can you tell me where they might be? If I can get the old girl to hang on for just a few minutes more, I'd just like to back up that last bit.
In other news, we got the house in Coralville. I'm waiting now for my closing agent to call so I can impress upon him the DIRE URGENCY of our need to close this deal and get our butts moved in. Since I seem to be on a pursuasive roll, I may get lucky.
That's about it for me. I'm going to go try to pack/unpack/reorganize something while I wait for people to get back to me.
I quickly set to uploading all of my lab-related data onto the IU server so my life's work (so far) wasn't shot all to hell in an Inspiron 4100 handbasket. The process was slow in spite of the DSL connection, because of the repeated blue-screen freakouts. These were sometimes accompanied by frantic chirping or beeping or clackety clacking within the guts of my poor, tortured laptop, who seemed to have lost its identity. Hard drive? I have no hard drive!, it cried out, ever more frantically.
ScanDisk
DiskDefragmenter
BIOS diagnostic
DOS diagnostic
All tests came up negative. No problems here, proclaimed the system. We are fine.
15 minutes later. . . BAPBAPBAPAPBPABPAPBPABPAPBPABPAPBAPBPABPA! Oh my god, she's having a fit! Seriously, folks, there was some loud, raucous thrashing going on. Startled the cats and dog, and made my heart jump.
I am lucky for two reasons:
1. I still have 48 days left to my warranty. Yay for extended warranties!
2. John the Phillipino Dell Guy agreed that in spite of the negative test results, I deserve a brand new hard drive. Yay for technical support being, well, technically supportive! I didn't even have to beg.
Ok, so I'm lucky for far more than just those two reasons, but we'll save the rest for Thanksgiving.
I will now have a clean slate from which to begin. I'll install XP from the CD I bought in Bton along with the Norton Antivirus software I can download FREE from IU. Better make the best of my remaining registered student privileges, right? Then on to the Thunderbird and Firefox installations, and I'll be set. Sucks though, that this installation CD is good for only one computer.
Nick, if you still want a laptop, we can talk numbers. The man and I will need to discuss which we'd like more - the cold hard cash, or a secondary laptop, but we may be able to make a deal. :-)
I now have a question for Thunderbird users. When I was backing up my music and movies to my new 2 GB pen drive, I couldn't find the archived files for my email. I really need those addresses and archived messages. . . can you tell me where they might be? If I can get the old girl to hang on for just a few minutes more, I'd just like to back up that last bit.
In other news, we got the house in Coralville. I'm waiting now for my closing agent to call so I can impress upon him the DIRE URGENCY of our need to close this deal and get our butts moved in. Since I seem to be on a pursuasive roll, I may get lucky.
That's about it for me. I'm going to go try to pack/unpack/reorganize something while I wait for people to get back to me.
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(no subject)
Date: November 22nd, 2004 10:29 am (UTC)Boohiss for the computer epilepsy... but hooray for the new hard drive!
Let me know your new address as soon as it's official, so that I can send you your first official piece of non-bill, non-junk mail. (;
(no subject)
Date: November 22nd, 2004 10:58 am (UTC)Besides, with the move mess, I'll need everyone to remind me of their addies.
thunderbird backup
Date: November 22nd, 2004 10:47 am (UTC)Re: thunderbird backup
Date: November 22nd, 2004 10:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: November 22nd, 2004 11:20 am (UTC)The Computer Gods (tm) really hate you.
(no subject)
Date: November 22nd, 2004 11:25 am (UTC)*raises fist*
Take THAT, Computer Gods! Check your calendars next time, whydontcha!
*giggle*
Check out Ash's post in lab gripes (from yesterday). I'm crying, it's so funny. It's The Wall, Revisited.
(no subject)
Date: November 22nd, 2004 12:19 pm (UTC)Isn't that what people do when they write tests and exams?
(no subject)
Date: November 22nd, 2004 01:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: November 22nd, 2004 01:30 pm (UTC)Man! Crazy doins a transpirin' for Bron!
(no subject)
Date: November 22nd, 2004 01:35 pm (UTC)