Computer Madness
Damn computers anyway.
Maybe my wide-screen Toshiba laptop that I use as a desktop is getting overloaded. It takes forever to boot up, which is not a problem. I just get another cup of coffee and read the paper while it grinds gears and gets ready to face the day.
I get error messages now and then. When I installed the HP All-In-One printer and went on the Internet for program updates, the one HP says I need refuses to download successfully. The printer works fine, though, so I don't care. Or maybe I do.
I seldom use that printer and seldom turn it on. This morning, though, it was still on from yesterday. When I fired up the Toshiba, I got one of those little messages that says it's screwed up and would I please send an Error Report to Bill Gates. Sure, why not? I did and it went and I closed the box.
Then I launched Quicken so I could reconcile it with my bank statement. While that was launching, I got a blue screen I'd never seen before, ever. On any computer.
It began, "A problem has been detected and windows [not even capitalized] has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer." Then it told me that, if this is the first time I've seen this message, restart the computer, blah blah.
I ignored the rest of the page, figuring I'd read it if restarting didn't work and I got the blue screen again. Bad idea.
That was ten hours ago, and entire day wasted when I could have been out in the rain digging holes for concrete piers for my new front porch instead of reading the latest Robert B Parker novel while my computer spun its wheels.
I had to use the power button to shut down. After waiting several seconds, I fired it up again. It got as far as trying to launch Windows when the blue screen message flashed for a billionth of a second or so and the computer punted.
It continued to try to launch until I shut it down with the power button. I fired up another compute to check email and essential web sites such as "9 Chickweed Lane" and then tried again. This time, it got far enough to leave the message on the blue screen. I wrote down every word on a note pad, all except the last couple of lines. The blue screen got tired of my slow penmanship and reverted to the popular definition of insanity--doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
I tried F12. That gave me some options on rebooting, including from the original recovery DVD. I put that in the machine and got as far as, "This will erase your hard drive..." before cancelling out.
I emailed my brother asking his advice.
I tried again later and got as far as Desktop! The blue Hard Drive Working light was on steady. I plugged in my memory stick and, heart in overdrive, clicked My Computer. Then I dragged the most critical files from My Documents to the stick. It appeared to work. Then I got brave and put a bland CD in the burner, figuring I'd copy my entire Document folder. That was too much for the computer and the blue screen message came back.
F8 would not get me to the Reboot in Safe Mode page for a few hours. Then, for some reason, it did. No matter what version of reboot I selected, the computer would cycle endlessly into the Windows launch, then a flash of blue screen, and back to the beginning.
I was beginning to despair. I went so far as to go to the file drawer and drag out the folder with all the original paperwork on the computer to see if there was some secret I had overlooked.
There was!
I never buy extended warrantees on anything--except computers. They are generally a waste of money--except on computers. The three-year extended I bought on this one is good until August!
I've already used it once. The power board failed last year. Pushing the power button didn't do anything the first ten or twenty times I pushed it. It seemed worse in cold weather, so I put an electric heater under the desk. That seemed to help, but it didn't really. I got a repair number and the address of a repair shop and, a week or so later, my computer was working again.
First thing in the morning, I'll call and get another number. I might ask about buying another three years of warranty while I'm at it.