#ComputerWoes

#WooHoo! – Shrinking #CompterWoes – #Update

/ Marcia / 24 Comments

Just a quick update on a more positive note than some I’ve had lately … today marked a MILESTONE in the Saga of the New Computer: I finally got my printer hooked up and working. There were several things impeding that process, not the least of which was that it wouldn’t accept the Wi-Fi password, but a call to a VERY nice young lady at Spectrum helped me figure that one out. And I have actually printed out THREE documents this afternoon, hence the happy dance above.

I’m still not out of the woods yet, as I try to find a graphics program that does more than the pathetic Paint that comes with Microsoft Office, yet doesn’t cost as much as many. I won’t be using it professionally any more, so I don’t want to lay out another huge chunk of change, but I DO need something whereby I can make headers and do some photo retouching. If any of you has a good suggestion, I’d be love to know. I’ve got a list I’m planning to check out tomorrow, but would be interested in hearing any success stories you might have. (I’d prefer something that resides on my own computer, rather than an online site.)

Thanks so much for all the kind and supportive comments on my previous posts. Haven’t been able to respond to all of them, but I read each and every one, and they ALL helped me keep my sanity! With any luck, a few more days will at least get me out of Crisis Mode here, and I can take my time with other apps and programs I might want.

Thanks again for being part of our wonderfully supportive writing and blogging community, and always being willing to offer a friendly word of understanding.

LOVE YOU GUYS!

 

 

#TearingOfHair and #GnashingOfTeeth – #ComputerWoes – #Update

/ Marcia / 17 Comments

Just a quick update on my progress–or lack thereof–with setting up my new computer. Yeah, it’s plenty fast, but heck if I can find everything I need, even when it’s actually ON the thing. Plus, many (probably most) of my programs are gone, due to being incompatible with Windows 11, so I’m trying to find possible substitutes for them. Every file I ever had is still here, but the list is astonishingly long, and finding things is tough. And worst of all (so far), my printer doesn’t seem to work on this computer, even though the pc says it’s the default printer. If I can’t figure that out, I’ll have to buy another. *sigh* (Not like I haven’t already spent a lot of money on this.)

But never fear! I WILL get things sorted out one way or the other. It’s just going to take some time, and that means less time I have for blog stuff. I am scheduling all guest posts, etc, first and foremost, so that those run for you guys, no matter where I am in this process. But what I may not be able to do is spend very much time responding to comments and/or checking out my favorite blogs. I’ll do my best, I promise, but getting my pc in order is critically important, so I have to keep working on that every chance I get. 

I know you guys will bear with me as I work through this process, and sooner or later, in the famous words of a certain Terminator, “Ah’ll be baahck!” In the meantime, thanks for your patience!

NOTE: Sorry I should have mentioned that my wonderful SON (in his early 50’s now) has helped me hugely, but he doesn’t live here. He did give me some great pointers over the phone, and is hoping to visit us before too long. I also know I can call Best Buy, but I wanted to be sure I’d done everything I could before doing so. (It’s a good way to learn as I go.) I considered myself fairly savvy about my OLD computer, and earned a living with digital art for some time, etc. But I skipped about five generations of pc’s between it and the one I have now, so everything on this one is quite different. I’ll get there, though. THANKS!

 

#This&That&TheOtherThing -#ComputerWoes & #HappyDays

/ Marcia / 51 Comments

THIS

As I posted last week, we had very poor Wi-Fi signal in our house, and we relocated the modem to fix the problem. It did. For a whole week, we had Wi-Fi in every room! And all it cost us was some labor.

THAT

Alas, on Friday morning, I started losing the internet connection. Things got worse and worse, and finally, my ancient pc just quit, and we lost Wi-Fi and all else, even though that should have stayed on. I was gone Saturday, but Sunday, we tried everything we could think of. The old pc would come on, but internet/ethernet/whatevernet was GONE. Period. As was the fan in the old computer. So we headed over to Best Buy to get a new one.

THE OTHER THING

The display of computers at Best Buy left me in shock! The were so SMALL, compared to the corpse of mine. When asked how old my dead PC was, I really wasn’t sure, but guessed it was over 5 years old. Maybe 6 or 7. Then later, I realized I wrote WRR on that computer and that was in 2013. My final calculation was that it was somewhere between 12 and 15 years old. No wonder I didn’t know what new ones looked like! But the upshot of it all is, we got the new computer, started setting it up, and in the process discovered the co-axial cable was kinked, which may have been why we lost the Wi-Fi, too. It came back on as soon as I sorted that out, and so far (knock wood, fingers crossed) we have a strong signal throughout the house. 

And I have the new pc set up (IT’S FAST, FAST, FAST compared to my dinosaur), and running now. Easiest set up I ever did. Sadly, I’m no where near done reinstalling a lot of programs that I’d collected over the years. Some of them may not even be compatible with this computer. But I’ll replace them with whatever works. In the meantime, I’m online, I’m able to access my blog, email, Amazon, and all the biggies. And if the bridge don’t go, the creek don’t rise, and the Wi-Fi continues to function, I’m BACK!!

Whew. Just in time for Wednesday’s Ten Things post, too. But, I’m afraid I’m likely to be very busy over the next few days, getting as many of my favorite programs back as possible. In the meantime, you guys have a wonderful rest of the week ahead! (NOTE: I almost lost my mind not being able to access the WORLD online! Missed you all, and I’m so happy to be back. Hopefully it lasts!!)

#SoFarSoGood – #FingersCrossed –

/ Marcia / 20 Comments

Welp … I’m back online already, but I’ve still got my fingers crossed.  We have been having major wi-fi issues for a few months now, resulting in excess fees (like triple the norm) for using cellular minutes, etc, in parts of the house where the signal wasn’t working. After some research, I realized that the technician who installed our system put the wi-fi transmitter  it in the worst possible place: down near the floor, in a corner, and against an outside wall. No wonder the signal didn’t reach as far as it should!

We decided that we would try relocating the transmitter to a better spot before spending money on an extender, but I confess I was terrified that my old computer (which is already signaling it’s  not long for this world) would never boot up again after we messed around with this. (Yes, I’m a devout coward where electronics are concerned. Give me snakes, any day!)

It was a hot, slow process, down on the floor, unhooking things and moving things, and rehooking them up again … BUT, everything came back on. There were a few hiccups and some red lights flashing, but in the end, we seem to have gotten it all running again, and so far, I have internet and wi-fi once more. And best of all, the signal is actually reaching more more than just one room away! This fix may not last forever, but as I said, my computer is likely to need replacing before long, anyway, so we’ve at least bought some time before we’ll have to hook everything up to a new one. 

In the meantime, I’m back, though I’ll still be swamped with other things this weekend. But at least I can stop now and then and check in to see what’s going on. Still crossing my fingers, though. You know … just to be safe an’ all! 

Have a great afternoon, everyone!

I’m BACK! (I think.)

/ Marcia / 22 Comments

At the risk of jinxing myself, just want to let everyone know my computer is up and running again. So far. It seems the cable company was doing some work/upgrading in the neighborhood yesterday, which is probably a good thing. (It could have been a “perfectly fine” thing, had I known and been prepared for it, but that’s another story.)

At any rate, everything is working well this morning and hopefully will continue to do so throughout the day. Week. Month. Year. For all time! 😀 I am having to do a fairly large email dump, as I can’t hope to catch up with everything that came in, but I’ll try to snag the critical stuff. And please forgive me if I miss responding to some comments here and there on the blog. 

Overall, though, this day is starting out much better than yesterday, and I’d like to think it will continue to go relatively smoothly. (I tend to hyperventilate and tear at my hair when computer issues crop up. If it happens again any time soon, I could end up blue in the face and bald! 😉 )

Thanks for your patience and understanding. Things happen. Life goes on.