Showing posts with label computer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label computer. Show all posts

September 24, 2017

My good old typewriter

Dear Bloggers,

Yes, you should think your Old Sailor is out of his mind (crazy = mentally ill) because a few days ago I wrote some strange scribbles on this computer, I have writers cramps or a writers block and I walked around with the thought maybe it's time I'll stop writing for a while, but this I have to write this thoughts off from my mind.


Please, hold on for a second and then the lamp will probably fade out forever. No this is not a promise, I am not going to do anything, it's just a subject that matters suddenly and that subject is so tempting that I can not let it go.


In addition to the problems with my computer, I am lying awake about this in the nightly hours, but obviously aside. I had my memory on the run, just to think about the good old time when we used the good old-fashioned typewriter. Do you still know how that was, Dear fellow bloggers? 


Then you just pushed a button and that button put a lever with a letter in mirror image in operation on the end of the lever. That same lever with that letter "punched" first a ribbon that was soaked with ink and finally came to the paper (TICK!). If you wanted to enter a new line for the next sentence, you gave a yank on the big lever and the roll that serves the paper just bumped with a click. 


Without a doubt, I was able to watch this for hours when my wife took a seat behind the machine and typed flawless letters with over 200 hits per minute. Here I am still jealous with. She is ticking with ten fingers at once and I type with up to four fingers at the same time. The writing itself takes me little effort but my thoughts go a lot faster than I am able to type.

I saw this as a simple person with a simple background this all happen.

And how are you doing this now? You push a button and suddenly a letter appears on the screen. But how?!? I always think so how is that letter just the right one? Something like that. Do you have that too? No, you probably do'nt, because you have been using this for so long that you do not even stand still about this anymore. And if that letter does NOT appear, look, I'll get pretty upset, because I will not get it. I will scream and shout to the damn machine and throw things to the screen. Yes, I did not really understand how that letter came there into the first place, so how could I figure out how it will NOT happen again? Can you follow my reasoning a little bit, Dear bloggers? Or should I make little a drawing again?!?


So, what I really wanted to say: if a man has a troubled relation with his computer, then a specialist needs to be found, your whole machine is being in a heap and everything is being overlooked, or maybe even worse, it will be completely emptied and then it will be started up again. It's for a guy like me as if there is an illusionist on the job who makes the big Houdini acts blurred, and it's so cleared and cleaned up that no cat who would find her kittens back in it. Oh, it's on the good Lord's name all a big box of misery.


I've been running around with the vague plans for a few days to follow a computer course after which I could empty my computer or reset my computer myself. A good laugh.(I could not do magic tricks either in my younger years, so this is probably also an illusion or what is it called?) and so in the end it would have everything under control. However, I work in a kind of team system, at which time I am sometimes at 04:30 hrs. there to start my job and then the other week I will be around 02:30 hrs. home.


How do I have to drag it all on board and put it in place, Yes dear bloggers? Good advice is pretty expensive.


I sometimes think seriously about my old typewriter and dig it out of the dirt heaps in the attic where it is covered. Look, that's a good example of getting old! Isn't it, dear bloggers?


The Old Sailor.
(Mechanically thinking person and slightly strange type.)

June 23, 2013

Oh no, my computer crashed again.

Dear Bloggers,

If you ever had a total computer system crash, count yourself lucky, because all the gurus say it's not "IF" your computer is going to crash, but "WHEN." Having had three crashes myself over the years, I can confirm that statement. How well you prepare for this inevitability will determine how stressful and costly the crash experience will be.


When my computer’s operating system was fried last week (and not even during the night of Friday the 13th), I braced myself for the stress that was to follow. My computer a laptop was only about three years old and was probably killed accidentally during one of Microsoft's automatic downloads in the middle of the night. The reason given on the "black screen of death" I got the next morning was that perhaps I had temporarily lost my cable Internet connection or the power had failed momentarily during installation of an update or during the reboot. (For that reason, I have now instructed Microsoft to download updates to my computer in the middle of the night, but give me the option of installing them when I choose.)


Not wanting to put any money into a three-year old computer I'd bought refurbished to begin with, I trekked over to Thrift shop the following Tuesday to see what my options were. I was VERY happy to learn that I wasn’t going to be stuck with Vista’s operating system, and that I could buy a LG computer with a free “downgrade” to Windows XP Pro; further that Microsoft would continue to supply critical updates for years to come. (In fact, I was told they are still issuing critical updates for Win 3.1.)


Coming back from a computer crash is going to be stressful, no matter how you carve it. But if you have prepared for a crash by taking steps to insure that you have everything you need to get back up and running as quickly as possible, your stress will be manageable. Then, your primary concern will be the time it's going to take you to shop for a new computer (if necessary) or reformat the drive and begin all over again to reinstall the software programs you normally use, plus all the time it will take to download the latest updates to the operating system, browsers, software, etc. If you use Outlook as your email server, you will need a current .PST backup file containing all your email messages and contacts (see below).
Backing up and Restoring Files


Getting all your documents and files back on the computer again can be easy or difficult, depending on what backup system you use and whether you back up files regularly. The thing that gave me the most comfort when my computer crashed was knowing that all my documents, website files, pictures, music, and programs I had downloaded from the Web but did not have CD-ROMs for were waiting for me on a remote site.


Outlook is the only fly in the ointment (see below). Knowing how to back up Outlook and actually doing it on a regular basis are two different things. It's easy to "forget" to back up Outlook, even when you've got the automatic backup program in place. I get busy and think I'll do it tomorrow, and before I know it, it has been a week or more since my last backup. I was lucky the last time my computer crashed in that I lost only four days' email messages and whatever changes I had made to my Contacts folder in that period. I’m now being very good at backing up Outlook every other day at least, and especially when I’ve got unanswered email messages in the Inbox at the close of day.
Tips for Getting Everything Back Up Again


Before your computer crashes, do these things:

1. MAKE A LIST of all the software programs you have on your computer, which ones you have CDs for, and which ones will have to be downloaded again. And keep all your computer program disks together in a safe place, such as a fireproof file drawer in your office, or in your safe deposit box. (I've been amazed to learn how few computer users actually do this.) If you buy a program that you download and then install from your computer, make SURE you put that .exe file either in a folder that is backed up to a remote location, or on a CD disk to be stored with your other program disks.


Free programs such as Adobe Reader, File Zilla, etc. can always be downloaded from the Web, but you may need a reminder list to remember all that you want to restore. For example, the last time my computer crashed, I had forgotten that I had to download Microsoft’s "backup tool" in order to get the backup option on the FILE button so I could make regular backups of the .PST file. Now that file is in my downloads folder, which is always backed up by Carbonite. (This Web page has the download link to Microsoft's backup tool, along with instructions on how to do regular backups.)


2. Even if you have a current .PST (personal folders file) for your Outlook email and contacts list, you will have to manually set up all your email addresses again. This will be easy to do if you go into the settings for each email address you have now, and then copy that information into a document you can print and save. (Be sure to protect your email passwords; you don’t want them in a document on your computer.) If you regularly archive sent messages, you’ll need to figure out how to save this file and restore it too, as it's not included in the .PST file.


3. Always have a print copy of all your passwords and contact information for everything related to those passwords. If you keep this information only on the computer and you lose access to your hard drive, you’ll really be up the creek without a paddle.

4. Id ther eare some document files you absolutely must have to keep your business going in the event of a major computer crash, put those files on a CD that can be used on another computer. For example, I'm an Amazon Marketplace seller, and I normally include customized cover letters with outgoing orders. When my computer crashed, I could temporarily access my Amazon orders from a computer at the library, but I couldn't include my usual package inserts because I didn't have a CD backup of those important file folders I could use on my laptop.
Know Who to Call When You Need Help



The thought of having to haul the computer to a shop, wait for maybe days to get it back, and then pay big bucks for the repair had me thinking I should just buy a new computer and be done with it, even though my HP Compaq is only three years old. Thankfully, the friend I called for help had recently met a computer guru in my area, and when I called him, he said not to worry; whatever the problem was, he could fix it, and I certainly wouldn't need to buy a new computer.


It took three hours for him to find all the bad stuff (much of which he said was just "Microsoft crap") on my computer. Using several free and very powerful shareware programs, he cleaned my Registry several times as he removed this or that file, ultimately finding 956 Registry errors. After uninstalling my CA Internet Security program and all the files it had left in the Registry (they did reverse my credit card charge without question), he installed a powerful free anti-virus program he said he had used for years with no problems. After doing virus and malware scans and a defrag, my computer was "blazing hot" and my Internet speed had doubled. My printer was also printing pages so fast and with such power that they were almost flying off the rack.


Finally, my new computer friend, installed his powerful computer tools on my computer so now I can easily and very quickly use them to do weekly virus and malware scans of my hard drive and keep the Registry clean. He also installed a defrag program (better than Windows') that runs in the background all the time. He turned on my Windows' firewall program, but agreed that I should download Zone Alarm's more powerful (and free) firewall program for maximum security.


I urge you to look in your own community for the kind of help Al is now giving me and have him "on call" so you'll know where to get fast help when you need it. If you happen to live in the Naperville, Illinois area, visit Al's website. For me, finding him was like getting manna from heaven. I highly recommend his services.
In Summary

If you’ve never had a computer crash before, don’t assume that it can’t happen to you. If my experience is any indication, a computer crash is going to come when you least expect it, and preparing yourself for that inevitability will make all the difference in how stressful and costly the experience will be.

The Old Sailor, 

November 1, 2008

Computertrouble


Dear Bloggers,

My computer is troubling at the moment.
I am getting the funniest messages and errors



It is not that bad, but I have been losing my patience every now and then.




I had to ask for help



And get my computer serviced



And all my files were cleaned up.



They even got my Word program fixed.



As soon as I Can I will come with a blog again.

The Old Sailor,

Talking and Writing

Dear Bloggers,   Why is it that some folks (such as myself and my daughter) talk so much? This visit, I am learning how I process throug...