Darn! Darn! Darn!---I hate computers!

Thats all I have to say!
My (expensive) laptop of LESS than 2 years has developed some kind of problem awhile back.. Slowly, month by month, I have had to format at least once a month....But a week ago Sunday, it finally stopped working totally.
Unclevic indicated that maybe my hard drive went south on permanent vacation...
Am working on trying to get it taken care of.....

(Tried to load the O/S, and just wont happen.)
It loaded once, and got the blue screen of death telling me that some "oleat" something or another file is corrupt or missing and then another one about a systems manager blah blah blah.
Right now, I am about hating HP!

Therefore, I am currently hitting the library, "ALA Ort" to catch up with email and various items.
Due to my work schedule, I can't get here but once or twice a week.
So... if ya dont see me, this is why...

Dont want an APB put out on me like ya did Mr. Carlton!

We thought you and Ort hit the road for some microbrewery and never came back...

Hmmm, anyone else with AOL having problems like this? Seems lately that everytime I get a downloaded "update" I'm experiencing the same kind of things as roossy.

After the last update I've been having lock ups, crashing and all kinds of similiar corruption warnings not to mention a copious amount of molasses in the drive.
Most of it, it seems to me, is related to the AOL spyware program.
I shut the program down the other day and have not had near as many problems as of yet(he say's loosely).

Get an IBM pc. Mine rocks.

Pat n Hat

I have a dial-up connection via AOL 9.0 VR. Since doing the update to the 'VR' version I find my initial sign-on takes a bit longer, but no other noticeable side-effects. Since I am not on a broad-band or hi-speed connection EVERYTHING takes awhile!! I don't bother to try to see the videos that some folks have uploaded as it will take literally hours in some cases to watch the Bacon Fry !!

My desktop is now 4 years old. I have replaced the power supply once and the cooling fan once, and otherwise it keeps on ticking (slowly). I use my 2 year old LapTop now and then, and when we are on the road. I do enjoy the hi-speed connections we get at most hotels these days.

I back up both machines with a 250 gig stand-alone hard-drive that I try very hard to keep "pure".

Yep Mayor, I'm on dial up too until high speed gets over on my side of the road.
I'm having a slower start up now as well since that update. It seems it just keeps loading or won't load properly. If I try to sign on too quickly I won't get a connection.

These "upgrades" are killing me. Every time I get the bugs and kinks worked out here the come again trying to help me out and doing me favors. Kind of like an in-law.

I nearly danced naked in the street the day I finally got high speed and (after much hassle) dumped AOL. All AOL did was try to give me sales pitches instead of cancelling my services. My service was finally cancelled after a nice threat to call then Attorney General Petro (Ohio). They very quickly processed the cancellation. I then informed my bank. I heard stories of AOL continuing to debit accounts or bill credit cards after service was cancelled.

As for XP, I have had somewhat good luck with it. I did have to reinstall a few times thanks to my glorious power company (quickie outages). I still get the occasional stop error, always when I'm online. SBC Yahoo software sucks. It crashes frequently. Of course, they have no fix for it. I refuse to use Internet Explorer.
However, I find Geocities very easy to use for my personal website.

The other day, I fixed a balance problem for a client. He saw my palm pilot. We got to discussing computers and he told me they have had nothing but trouble with Vista.

With all the BS I went through, my next PC will be a Mac.

quote:

Originally posted by Pat T Hat

Hmmm, anyone else with AOL having problems like this? Seems lately that everytime I get a downloaded "update" I'm experiencing the same kind of things as roossy.

After the last update I've been having lock ups, crashing and all kinds of similiar corruption warnings not to mention a copious amount of molasses in the drive.
Most of it, it seems to me, is related to the AOL spyware program.
I shut the program down the other day and have not had near as many problems as of yet(he say's loosely).

Same here and I quit doing it because each time I do, it screws up everything.

Paul E. smith
Knoxville, TN

Why some of you people still have AOL is beyond me. Get a direct internet portal vs. something that has to go through 2-3 servers just to reach same.

Duh...

quote:

Originally posted by Adjudicator


Duh...

Huh?



I have no idea what you said but damned if it didn't impress me!

You have to understand when I bought a computer the only thing I knew was how to do open the box and plug it in.
I can do just a smidgen more than that now and I'm still cracker jack at opening boxes.

I'm a guy who until about 2 years ago, had a cell phone, but it was one of those "bag" phones on a strap that weighed about 5 lb's and could double as a tire chock and boat anchor. I'd still use it if I could find a the Flintstone battery to fit it (5 watts of power...beat that with those itty bitty things. I could talk through mountains).

I am going to further my entry into the 21st century by finding out what your talking about and maybe advance to the next rung in the electronic era. I thank you for the tid bit!

Next challenge...programming my microwave...oh my word!

quote:

Originally posted by Pat T Hat

quote:

Originally posted by Adjudicator


Duh...

Huh?



I have no idea what you said but damned if it didn't impress me!

You have to understand when I bought a computer the only thing I knew was how to do open the box and plug it in.
I can do just a smidgen more than that now and I'm still cracker jack at opening boxes.

I'm a guy who until about 2 years ago, had a cell phone, but it was one of those "bag" phones on a strap that weighed about 5 lb's and could double as a tire chock and boat anchor. I'd still use it if I could find a the Flintstone battery to fit it (5 watts of power...beat that with those itty bitty things. I could talk through mountains).

I am going to further my entry into the 21st century by finding out what your talking about and maybe advance to the next rung in the electronic era. I thank you for the tid bit!

Next challenge...programming my microwave...oh my word!

Simplified directions (I hope). Get a REAL ISP. U need help? Send me an E-Mail through RF.

I gave up on dial up as soon as I could get on DSL. Now I am wireless in my house and usually sit in my Craftsman style leather lounger with my MacBook Pro to surf the Internet. I keep a backup older Mac Powerbook just in case and just hasn't happened yet. I prefer the laptops since I get out on the road a lot and there is wireless now just about everywhere. The Macs are so much more elegant and bullet proof. At work I am on a Dell with Windows. Not my choice. It is a big corporation.

We are on a small DSL (I think) called mesanetworks.net. It is the best we've ever had. We had DIRECTV's satellite, and brother, it was TERRIBLE. Lost connection when it was sunny, when it was windy and when it snowed. We have had this one now and we have lost connectivity only once. And is it ever FAST.

I know loads of ppls love and use AOL ( AO HELL if you ask me) hahaha
I tried it once and would NEVER use it again! God forbid you get a new update....that's asking for troubles. I am sure I will get slapped but my honest opinion ... I can think on my own ...I do not need AOL to think for me. It's a resource hog, in the registry of the coumputer....IT has it little dll fingers EVERYWHERE. if you decide to install a new isp...you just about have to format.
If you call to cancel your account ,you are pressured to keep AOL, till you just about have to hang up on the account ppls to get your point across you don't want AOL anymore.

I have been considering a Blackberry type device. I have a friend who has one and it has almost eliminated the need for a computer.

Send emails, get emails, surf the web, open files. Everything but print and perhaps you can do that. I just have not seen it done yet.

If you travel, carrying a Blackberry device around is a hck of a lot easier than a computer bag.

The biggest negative for me is there are a lot of buttons on a small space.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

My problem isnt with AOL, but my laptop hard drive.
It, as UncleVic said, took a permanent vacation.
I am just waiting on someone to replace it....
Hopefully this weekend I will have it back... so, in the meantime..
here I am, at the Library.

Damn.. I swear I just saw Ort duck behind some stacks of books!

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

I have been considering a Blackberry type device. I have a friend who has one and it has almost eliminated the need for a computer.

Send emails, get emails, surf the web, open files. Everything but print and perhaps you can do that. I just have not seen it done yet.

If you travel, carrying a Blackberry device around is a hck of a lot easier than a computer bag.

The biggest negative for me is there are a lot of buttons on a small space.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Ah. Crackberry.

quote:

Originally posted by roossy90

My problem isnt with AOL, but my laptop hard drive.
It, as UncleVic said, took a permanent vacation.
I am just waiting on someone to replace it....
Hopefully this weekend I will have it back... so, in the meantime..
here I am, at the Library.

Damn.. I swear I just saw Ort duck behind some stacks of books!

Re: laptop hard drives.

The biggest enemy of a hard drive in normal use is HEAT.

Most laptops bring cool air in through the sides and vent it out the bottom. However, many users don't allow enough space at the bottom; if you put your computer directly on a tabletop, there might be 1/16" for venting. NEVER put the maching directly on ANYTHING that blocks airflow. Especially if you use it in bed; nothing blocks cooling as well as a mattress, or a pillow, or a sheet; there is no venting at all.

The solution is to go to a computer supply store and get a laptop cooler, a small pad with fans that goes under your laptop and runs off your USB port. They are around $10-20 and work well. If you don't want to spring the bucks, you could also elevate the rear of the unit with a pencil or something, anything to allow some air movement. In bed, lay on your back and hold it up in the air or something. Laptops are really jammed full of stuff these days, and the faster CPUs generate more heat. If your drive crashes prematurely, this is usually why.


Tom

Roossy
You need erase the Master Boot record on the hard drive, Or Low level the Drive either will fix the problem. Then reinstall your operating system. I don't belive a 2 year old drive should be dead, unless you dropped you laptop while it on.
I can help you do this email me

My PC is down due to a power inverter failer (again) so I am using a laptop hooked up to my monitor, mouse and keyboard, its elevated on some 3" wooden ship wheels that were originally intended for a project that never came about. I keep saying my next PC will be a MAC but I continue to replace components on the frankenstein I have.

As for AOELL it was my introduction to the web and I enjoy the chat rooms and I've had the same email address for almost 9yrs now but for surfing and whatnot I use firefox