Sick Computer

Vacation is Over

I came back from vacation and my home computer did not work correctly. Most of my Vista sidebar gadgets did not display properly. I could not see my router's web interface correctly. McAfee's interface was blank.

I used System Restore to revert to an earlier time. Everything worked - for a short while. I tried again going back to an earlier date. Everything worked - for a short time. I tried again, but all my System Restores had disappeared.

Finally, a web search found that sometimes some DLL's become "unregistered". I built a bat file with the following:

regsvr32 msxml3.dll
regsvr32 scrrun.dll
regsvr32 jscript.dll

I executed this as administrator. Everything worked - and is still working.

If you have problems with your PC, try searching the web, if possible, before you do anything.

Television Repair Depression

I'm back. I am depressed over my TV. I thought writing a new post might help. Later, I will get into the details concerning my television problems. Now, I am going to jump directly to my recommendations.

Before you buy a television, check the manufacturers repair reputation. Also, what will you have to do to get it repaired. Purchase the extra warranty. Most TV repairs will start out too high and only get higher.

Once you get your TV home, be sure to save your warranty information and your dated receipt. The ideal place to put this would be in a fire proof box. Keep the box in a cool spot. This is because today's receipts will often fade when exposed to heat over time.

Another possible location for the warranty information and receipt is in a small plastic bag attached to your TV. I would attach it low in the rear of the set since heat rises and you don't really want to display a plastic bag filled with paper.

The last resort for the warranty information would be in the infamous kitchen drawer. I have two filled with mostly useless paper. I didn't say I follow my advice. I just think it is good advice.

OK, what did bring me to this point of depression and talking about warranties. You probably guessed part of it. My TV is dying. I searched the Internet and believe I have found how to fix it, but that has not solved my problems.

1) I have no idea where my receipt would be. 2) I have no idea whether or not the TV is still under warranty. 3) I cannot figure how to disassemble the TV.

I bought the parts to fix the set. I need to replace four capacitors. I chickened out. How do I get to the main circuit board? If I can remove the main circuit board, will my soldering iron be hot enough to allow me to unsolder the capacitors?

With all that fear, I called a repairman.

"I have a TV that needs repair. I think I know what needs to be fixed. Usually, there are four capacitors that need to be replaced. Do you do that sort of work?"

"So you found something on the Internet and want me to do what you found. Or do you want me to fix it?"

"Well, I want it fixed, but if the problem can be fixed by replacing the capacitors, do you do that sort of work? I have dealt with some repair places who would not repair parts. They would only replace major assembles."

"Where was that? Not in Lynchburg!"

On and on this conversion continued. I will pretty much called a liar. He insisted that they would repair a part if they thought that was the right thing to do. When I bring in the TV, I will leave an $80 deposit. This will be deducted from my bill if it is over $80.

I am certain the bill will be over $80. I am also certain I will be told the main board needs to be replaced. If there are any other boards other than the main board, at least one of those will need to be replaced.

I do not know what I will do. If I had a place to work on the TV, I would take it apart even without instructions. I am 90% sure those four capacitors will fix my problem. Of course a new main board would fix it too.

Right now, I am leaning toward a new TV (a newer TV) with an extended warranty. I will carry the broken one to a place where I can disassemble it and try my disgusting Internet fix. Then again, ...

Privacy - Often Misunderstood

We hear a lot about privacy. Mainly, we hear about how to protect your privacy on the web. Many of the steps people take to insure their privacy on the web would be at least frowned upon in the physical world.

Imagine a world where everyone wore a mask. Several people would stop on a street corner to yell obscenities at someone who just commented on the radical design of a new car. Seems pretty unlikely doesn't it.

Go to a Windows forum or a Linux forum or just about any OS forum. Someone who would not use that OS on a dare will be there telling some poor sap he is an idiot. Usually, everyone is wearing a mask.

Of course, someone will now say, "I want to remain anonymous to keep my identity from being stolen." This is not a good reason. Yes, identities are stolen. The problem is they are not stolen because you let someone know your real name is John Doe. Identities are stolen because you bought something or gave someone a tax payer ID or driver's license number or other important number so you could go somewhere you wanted to go.

I doesn't matter to whom you gave this information. It doesn't matter where you were when you did it. It may happen online. It may happen at a store. It may happen at your credit card company. Truly, it happens way too often at your credit card company or at some other trusted agency. Someone breaks in or someone at the agency throws out old records without shredding them.

What can you do? Check your credit report. It will show you when someone has tried to get money from your identify. It will not show you that someone has been using your identity to harm others or to harm your good name. Only a solid identity system could prevent that, but then everyone would know who you are. You don't want that do you?

Truth or Lies [You never can tell]

I was reading another blog that contained a debunked story that had previously circulated as an email joke. It seems a person could not get Word Perfect to work. The problem was traced to no power in the room. The help desk person told the user to return the computer because they were too stupid to have one.

That story hit home. I had an experience so similar it could have been the true story behind the emailed lie.

I was second level support when I received the call.

"My computer screen is blank" was the exasperated plea.

I tried all of the usually troubleshooting plans. I was stumped.

"I've tried everything I can think of. Before I can get anyone else to look at this, I will need the model number of your computer. You will find it on a small tag next to the power connector on the back of the PC."

"I can't do that."

"Why?"

"The lights went out about an hour ago and I cannot see behind the computer."

I did not yell. I did not call the person stupid. I did count to 10 -- maybe, twice. I am sure I let out an audible sigh.

"OK. When the lights come on again, please call us if you are still having problems."

We did not get a follow-up call.

I have told many people about that incident. I wonder how many of the other incidents reported on line are really mine in disguise.

They were here all along.

My photos have been found! Vista had saved them. I found them in the folder windows.old on my C: drive. They were not in the most intuitive place, but they were there.

For those of you that reinstall Vista without formatting the hard drive first note that Vista will save your Documents folder and your Pictures folder under the windows.old folder. It saves a lot of other stuff too, but these I think are the most valuable. If you try to recover some of the other files, I think you will do more harm than good.

Also, be aware that if you are low on disc space before you re-install Vista, you may run out of it because of this back up. I do not know how the re-install will react if you are low on space. I had a brand new huge disc space so I had no problem. I am planning on backing up the windows.old folder and removing it from my PC. That will streamline my full backup somewhat.

Computers - A Tale and MiscellaneousThoughts

After nearly seven years, I finally bought a new computer. I had a company build it for me. For the most part, I am happy with it, but the smaller part can drive you crazy.

When I returned from vacation in July, I found my password had expired. I did not have a password, but it had expired. Vista asked me to change it. I tried to change it. Vista would not let me change it. Vista said it could not connect to my domain controller. I did not have a domain controller. This is a standalone installation.

After much pushing, shoving, and head pounding, I re-installed Vista. Before the re-install I used the maintenance connection to back up my data. Well, I thought I had backed up my data, but I cannot find the DVD with all my photos.

I have now recovered to April 13 of this year. I think I will be able to recover up to June 1. Only time will tell. I tried to copy the photos from my old PC. I must have broken the heart of my old PC when I bought the new one. The old one will not load Windows. It crashes to boot up.

That is enough about this problem. I am ready to move on to bigger and better problems. See you later. As my college roommate would always say, "Thanks for stopping."

When you step into the water ...

your feet do get wet.

This is my first step into blogging. Now, I have written musings on web pages, but this is show how different. With a blog, you are actually expected to say something. Not all blogs manage to live up to expectation. However, this fact does not diminish the expectation.

I will ramble on from time to time - talking about ... Well, talking about my grandchildren. Talking about computers. Talking about this crazy world.

That about sums up Ravings of a Mad Granddad. There will be many many other topics. At least, I plan for many many other topics. Even so, most will fall into those three areas.

The ravings about my grandchildren will sound a lot different than my ravings about computers and this crazy world. I guess I love all three, but definitely not in the same way or to the same degree. Grandchildren are always number one. The world? Dead last. Computers - don't you just love em. Like really?