Add Another Laptop to my Museum of Broken Stuff
I pressed the rectangular power switch on my trusty, five-year-old HP Pavilion laptop, and sat back waiting for the familiar home screen to show up.
But nothing happened. Just a black screen stared back at me.
The drive began making some strange noises. CLICK...CLICK...CLICK...Whrrrrrr. Sounds expensive.
After several start attempts with the same ugly noises and the same black screen, I suspected my electronic writing buddy was dead. I panicked, then put my forehead on the cheap, folding table that passes for my desk.
“My book is on there. Oh crap...I mean my books.” Sometimes We Ran 1,2,and 3 are all stored on the hard drive, resting comfortably. They sit there along with all my other scribbles taking up disk space. “What the hell am I going to do?” I cried.
After trying a few more fixes that regressed into shouting at the poor sick computer, I pronounced it deceased. It was time for a new laptop. So, I did what everybody does when they need some new electronics. I dialed up Amazon.com. :)
And that's where the problems began. Amazon has – I think – a million and a half pages full of new laptops. My eyes glazed, and my back ached as I paged through dozens of comparisons. Besides needing a computer that handled word documents, I needed one that could run CAD software as well. This means more RAM and a higher end processor. The search became complicated.
It seemed like hours later, but I finally settled on a new model... An ASUS 2 in 1 flip with 8GB of RAM (remember the CAD!), 500 GB(!) hard drive, and a new Intel I5 processor. It ran Windows 8.1 when I bought it, but updated to 10 a week after setup. So far, it has worked out great. The little ASUS is quiet, quick, and boots up fast. The keyboard even flips around, and it becomes a giant (13.3”) Windows 10 tablet. Pretty cool. Hopefully, Sometimes We Ran 4 will get back on track. :)
There is one thing I took away from all this, and it's very important. Back up your work on a daily basis. Luckily, I made a backup of all my files from the old computer, so it was just a matter of plugging it into the new machine. If you write on a laptop, grab a couple of USB drives and back up your masterpiece. Two times on two separate drives if possible. Set up cloud storage with Google Drive, Dropbox, or whoever Apple uses. Throw a copy in there as well. You'll thank me when your laptop starts making those expensive noises. :)
Till next time, friends.
But nothing happened. Just a black screen stared back at me.
The drive began making some strange noises. CLICK...CLICK...CLICK...Whrrrrrr. Sounds expensive.
After several start attempts with the same ugly noises and the same black screen, I suspected my electronic writing buddy was dead. I panicked, then put my forehead on the cheap, folding table that passes for my desk.
“My book is on there. Oh crap...I mean my books.” Sometimes We Ran 1,2,and 3 are all stored on the hard drive, resting comfortably. They sit there along with all my other scribbles taking up disk space. “What the hell am I going to do?” I cried.
After trying a few more fixes that regressed into shouting at the poor sick computer, I pronounced it deceased. It was time for a new laptop. So, I did what everybody does when they need some new electronics. I dialed up Amazon.com. :)
And that's where the problems began. Amazon has – I think – a million and a half pages full of new laptops. My eyes glazed, and my back ached as I paged through dozens of comparisons. Besides needing a computer that handled word documents, I needed one that could run CAD software as well. This means more RAM and a higher end processor. The search became complicated.
It seemed like hours later, but I finally settled on a new model... An ASUS 2 in 1 flip with 8GB of RAM (remember the CAD!), 500 GB(!) hard drive, and a new Intel I5 processor. It ran Windows 8.1 when I bought it, but updated to 10 a week after setup. So far, it has worked out great. The little ASUS is quiet, quick, and boots up fast. The keyboard even flips around, and it becomes a giant (13.3”) Windows 10 tablet. Pretty cool. Hopefully, Sometimes We Ran 4 will get back on track. :)
There is one thing I took away from all this, and it's very important. Back up your work on a daily basis. Luckily, I made a backup of all my files from the old computer, so it was just a matter of plugging it into the new machine. If you write on a laptop, grab a couple of USB drives and back up your masterpiece. Two times on two separate drives if possible. Set up cloud storage with Google Drive, Dropbox, or whoever Apple uses. Throw a copy in there as well. You'll thank me when your laptop starts making those expensive noises. :)
Till next time, friends.
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