I posted these words on my Facebook page yesterday: “I LOVE Windows 8!” After a not too pleasant week, in which I missed a trip to Richmond I really wanted to take and my faithful laptop failed me, that declaration of love was the high point of my week.
You know, I am a slave to social media and adore Facebook and am addicted to email as communication. So, when my laptop failed to boot it was a pretty big deal to me. I should note that my husband’s computer failed just before Christmas and he is still working to restore his computer. If you’ve ever done restoration after a failure, you already know this can sometimes be simple and sometimes complicated. (If you failed to connect your battery backup that your wife bought you two years ago, and the source of computer failure may have been a succession of electrical transformer failures resulting in big power outage, your computer failure may be complicated by “other forces”.)
Often, the success of computer recovery is dependent upon backup. If you are not backing up your data because you didn’t know you were supposed to do so or you don’t know how, you should stop reading right now, click this link and watch an easy tutorial. Most new computers have automatic backup and recovery if you just “tell” them when to do so.
It’s hard to imagine now, but there are still a lot of people on the planet who did not grow up with a smart phone attached to their palm. There are still people who are mystified and perhaps a little terrified, to “Mess with a computer.” I’m pretty sure that term, “Mess with” came from my Grandmother who also offered to “tan my hide” if I “messed with the buttons on the television.”
Somehow, I outgrew those dire admonitions, bucked the natural order of the universe and embraced technology. Now, as opposed to the male in our household, I differ in my approach to computers. I DO back up my data, I DO have a battery backup for the PC, I DO read directions, tutorials, guides, and other Technorati topics. (It’s a little like the tabloids at the checkout counter but most of the sensationalism revolves around topics like, “Does Facebook Really Own your Soul?”)
So, I’m sure my laptop recovery is going to take far less time than my spouse’s PC recovery, except…I have a hardware failure! Now, to get help for that problem, one typically resorts to good friends for advice like this. Of course, if the spouse, (who has been cobbling together a computer from an old XP system with the evil Vista and has strewn computer drives, belts, wires and parts all around the house since before the holidays!) has disassembled several computers, one will now realize I can’t get help because out of the five (yes, 5) computers and laptops around this house, none of them is capable of connection to the internet so I can get the answers to my questions!
So, being the inventive, pioneering spirit my Grandmother never envisioned, I just went out and bought another computer. I couldn’t force myself to buy a laptop because I’m waiting for the Surface Pro. (The release date is now January 29, but I could not possibly be computer-less for 3 weeks!) So, I bought a nice HP with Windows 8 as a bridge. (I’ve managed to acquire a lovely machine with self-contained CPU and a 27 inch screen.) I won’t bore you with the tech specs, but there’s plenty of memory and it’s fast.
Now, I can get online and download the drivers I need for my laptop to repair it. I’ve threatened my spouse with homelessness if he doesn’t quit assembling and dragging pieces of computers all around the house. I volunteered to give him my new computer as soon as I get the Surface Pro. (I admit, I am wondering if I need bother repairing my laptop.. There’s no way I’m going back to using boring old Windows 7…I Love Windows 8!)
BTW, in a shameless plug for my friends, Bryanna and Ralph Altman, if you need help with your computer, whether it’s a new purchase, an upgrade or a repair, contact the Computer Doctor on Facebook or call: (703) 670-7766
