Category Archives: PC

Yes, yet another missed post yesterday, and as luck would have it, I got of work early today and have to work late tomorrow. What this means to you is that my every other day update schedule is going to continue for at least a couple more days. I had no plan for it to do so, but sometimes we just can’t plan for anything.

The good news is that my missed update had nothing to do with “Deadly Rooms of Death”! The bad news is the only reason for that is that I am quite stuck on a board, and with the drod website still down I am not able to find any clues as to how to beat the board. It is quite an irritating little board, sicne it is just straight-forward, lots of roaches and spawners. The problem I keep running into is that after I kill the first spawner I am not able to get near any of the other spawners without having the little roach babies gang up on me from all sides. I may give it another go tonight, as I saved the room when I was in a far more favorable position than all of my failed attempts yesterday. Why do I feel that I have to solve this? You may as well ask why the sky is blue..

• What did consume a lot of my time yesterday was computer related, in that I was looking for a value in upgrading mine. I am sure that I have mentioned many times before that my current pc is a real dinosaur. I have been married for three years, and the computer was with me in the old apartment that we lived in for almost a year after we got married. I think it is almost five years old at this point, and it shows, kind of.

I am one of the idiots left in the world that approach computers with a ‘buy the base and add on’ mentality. I am not so sure if this is a good or a bad thing at this point, but five years ago a decent computer system was a hell of a lot of money. The computer that I use currently is an “eMachine 466is” yes, with the ultra fast 466 mhz processor. When I got the system it had an astounding 32 megs of Ram, and a 4.3 gig hard drive. Lets just say that it was not the pinnacle of modern computer technology even when I bought it, but hey, it was under 500 bucks, so it seemed a value at the time.

The first upgrade that I made was the hard drive, how anyone can survive with 4.3gigs is beyond me. I remember thinking, when I bought it, that it would barely be enough to hold a couple of video games. That was before the diablo 2 expansion came out, and I was damn sure right, you wouldn’t be able to have that one single game fully installed on a drive of that size. Anyway, I upgraded to a 40gig drive (which does not transfer at the correct speed due to the fact that my motherboard is so antiquated), which did allow me to store some photos and all the games that I play. Then I added a CD-RW drive to it, you should have seen the look on my wife’s face when I had the system open and started to smack it with a hammer and chisel so that I could add a new media drive. The final upgrade was to the ram, which I now have maxed out at 256megs. I did also add a 32meg 3d card also, but that wasn’t actually necessary it was added since I was playing everquest at the time. So the absolute total cost of the system with upgrades was about $750 over five years, I think that is pretty good over that span of time. -I also bought a larger monitor but that was a necessity, well a new monitor was since the old one died and the larger one was only a couple of bucks more, but it will be used with my next system so it doesn’t really count.-

A note about computer shopping. I have been seeing ads on t.v. and the internet for complete Dell Systems including monitors for about 500 dollars. They are airing the same commercials for Gateway Systems. I looked at the systems that they are offering at that price and they are just crap by todays standards. I did look at a bunch of systems on ebay, but was turned off by the fact that most did not have operating systems, and that you had to read the fine print to see if it actually had a hard drive. Amazon has a lot of systems, but there prices are not quite as low as I had hoped. I was about to give up before I decided to just go and check the websites for less expensive computers. eMachines.com was the first site that I visited, and though I went to a few more after that I ended up going back to it.

I hear a lot of people dogging eMachines, but that is what I am using now and I haven’t had a single memorable problem with it in five years. Sure there have been some software issues, but that is Microsoft’s fault, eMachines just puts the components in a box they don’t manufacture any of the hardware or the software. I did have a few problems with the machine while making upgrades, but they just required possibly a better than average knowledge of the system BIOS, and as such were not anything to require tech support. With the performance of this machine over the last five years I was absolutely confident when I hit the confirm button on the purchase of my new machine.

The computer (which I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of) is an eMachine. It breaks down thusly (skip this section if you just dont care);

2.8 Ghz cpu
400 Mhz System Bus
512 Megs Ram (upgradable to 1 Gig)
CD-RW/DVD combo drive
64 Meg 3d video card

There are, of course, a lot of the specs that I am not going to mention. I did find a bit of humor in that this new system has a front side bus that is damn near as fast as the cpu on my current system. Holy shit, now I might have to start going to star trek conventions. A bit of Nerd humor there.

I did pay the same for this machine as I payed for the one that I am currently using, about 500 dollars. It seems a bit pricy in that respect, but the new machine has sextuple the processor speed, triple the bus speed, double the memory already installed (upgradable to quintuple), a dvd drive and double the 3d video of my old system. I think it will likely be enough to get me by for another few years at the very least. When video games start demanding more than one Gig of Ram it must either be like actual virtual reality, or about time to let the game run without windows trying to slow it down at every step.

This is all subject to change, of course, once I get the computer and find that nothing on it actually works.

• I must admit that while I was going through the pricing while looking at purchasing a new computer, I actually checked out a few Mac systems. From all that I have heard/seen the OS on them is so much more reliable that I would likely have given it a go (keeping in mind that this is like a hick who grew up a “ford man” deciding to try a “Chevy”), had I been able to find one in anywhere near the price range that I paid for the new PC. The real “plug and play” aspect of them, that is you plug it in and it works, as opposed to having to spend a few hours on the internet looking for drivers, would have made me drop an extra hundred dollars or so just to check it out. The fact that the MAC systems that you can buy for over 2000 dollars have slower processors and less ram than a PC that you can buy for one-quarter of the price was why I didn’t.

I am not so naive as to think that the windows operating system is better than the mac system, far from it. I have no doubt that the mac system is way better, and to further that I am sure that the reason that the PCs need so much RAM to simply view web pages is likely because of the software clogging up the memory. I really don’t have any doubts that a MAC with a processor half the speed of a PC and half the RAM of a PC could probably perform better doing any task (ask yourself, if that was not the case wouldn’t Microsoft focus on that to try to slay their only real rival?). As the earlier Ford/Chevy reference would hint at, it is damn hard to sell someone on a different product regardless of how much better it is than the current product.

The part of that which I find a tad funny is that if you try to copy the look of the old product you will get people to buy it even if it is crap. For instance, I bought an electric razor back in 1991 or so that looked just like a “Norelco”, it wasn’t and I paid less than half the price of the name brand. Within the space of about three weeks I found that the blades were clogged, brushing them out helped a little but it still felt like shaving with sandpaper. Guess what, they didn’t sell replacement blades for the razor, not even the company that made it. They had invented a look-alike “Norelco” electric razor that was disposable. I have been soured to imitation products ever since.

Now, Apple has gone completely the other way with it. They want their product to stand out and look nothing like a PC. It has worked for them so far, or at least they haven’t gone out of business yet. That is why I am pretty sure that if I ever had the opportunity to use a Mac I would go with it and never look back. There must be a reason why your average “CompUsa” store will have a dozen systems on the floor and only one is a Mac, the fact that people that have used the Mac will walk past all the PCs to get to it is, I think, certainly proof that once you use one you will wonder what the hell you did without it. This is all conjecture, as I did buy yet another PC mostly based on price, but I really doubt that anyone that is currently reading this on a Mac would ever consider a PC as their next computer purchase.

I got that marvel of technology that is my mother’s computer yesterday. It sucks just as bad now as it did like thirty years ago when they first released it. It is not that it is bad, or slow, on its own merits, it is just that it is a dinosaur by todays standards. It works quite properly but it has a problem with a modem being inserted into it. Not like a ‘non-compatible device’ type thing, but just an actual scream like ‘get that damn thing away from me!’

I had never had a problem like that before on any system. I did what I knew was necessary and went online to get the correct modem drivers, they installed just fine. In fact, it connected to the internet just fine, but I was not able to download anything. Not even to load a web page. I was pretty convinced that the reason for that was that the computer was an old office machine, more on that in a bit.

So I called my ISP to see if they could help me troubleshoot the problem. I really should have known that it was a bad idea, considering my last experience with their technical support people. The first thing that I said to the tech was that I thought the problem was because the pc I was trying to configure had previously been running on an intra-office lan. I suggested that there may be a proxy setting somewhere that I was not seeing that would clear the whole thing up. The tech said, “mmm hhh. Okay, did you check your password?”

If I had any common sense I would have just hung up right then, instead I told him that, yes, my password was correct and that I was not having a problem actually connecting, the problem was in downloading. So he promptly suggested that I may not have the correct modem driver. Okay, maybe there is an off chance that I could connect with the wrong modem driver, but honestly, this guy was not listening to a damn word that I said. After a half an hour or so, he concluded that the problem was that my version of Internet Explorer was not up to date.

Now I am always using machines that were in their prime several years in the past. I am always behind on my Internet Explorer updates because, in my opinion, every time they upgrade it it just gets worse. Everything loads slower, there is more crap that you can’t make disappear, it is constantly in your face. I do sometimes get broken images and the such using such an old version, but I am always able to load a page like Yahoo, I was not even able to do that on the machine that I was working on yesterday.

The guy eventually transferred me to another tech, I explained to her what I thought the problem was, and she asked if I was sure I had my password correct (do they even tell them what they have already tried when they transfer the call?). She had me try to ping a couple of websites from a dos prompt, which I was able to do with no problem. In my mind that just reinforced my theory that there was some proxy setting somewhere that needed to be taken care of. Instead of helping me try to find it, the tech told me that I needed to call the pc manufacturer since it was not a problem with their service. That was a bit irritating, but I suppose it wasn’t their fault, their service really wasn’t my problem. I was pretty frustrated at that point so I just went to bed (I had about half of this written at that point) to look at it in the morning with a clear head.

The first thing that I tried in the morning was to go into the BIOS and disable the network password. That had no effect, so I changed it back. Then, with my system’s screen beside the new system’s, I started checking for differences in the dial up networking. They were all good. I started looking through the networking, and I found the first problem. That was that the setting on my machine said to use the windows log on, the new machine said to use the network logon. Once I changed that the computer would connect about twice as fast, but I still didn’t get any information to transfer. I set up a new windows log on, which I am not sure had any effect, but I left it anyway.

Then, just on a whim, I went to find files/folders on the new machine’s start menu and typed “Proxy Client”. It displayed a few help files, but more importantly an executable. Once I opened that folder I saw that it was indeed trying to connect through the proxy client/server thing. It had a button on it whereby I could disable it. Once that was done the internet started to function normally. Though when you first connect it still asks for your network id, password and the domain. It is easy enough just to close that, and I don’t feel like screwing with it any more, so I am calling it fixed.

On a side note. This is a problem that I know would have been fixed if I would just have formatted the hard drive and re-installed the OS. The reason that I didn’t do that is that it already has licensed copies of Word, Excel and Quicken installed. Not a bad bundle of software for 49 bucks, eh?(75 with shipping). I am not sure about the legality of using a program that is licensed to someone else, but whenever I read those agreements it always says that they are for use in one machine, and I have that machine sitting right beside me with the software in it. In my opinion they sold me those licenses when they sold me the system.

Now to talk about this being an office pull. The reason that I bid on this was that I knew that it was an office pull, that much was mentioned in the ad for it. Also mentioned in the ad was the software that was installed. Now I assumed that what this meant was that when they pulled it from the office they had wiped the hard drive and re-installed the programs. Nope. They didn’t delete anything. I mean seriously the had moved some of the desktop icons to the recycle bin, but they were still there.

Some of the stuff that was left on the machine I found a bit amusing, if not disgusting. Such as links to a couple of gay porn sites. An MP3 library that boasted a ton of Bob Marley, Dave Mathews, Sublime and some band called ‘Snot’. Also still installed were AudioGalaxy, Napster and some other file sharing thing that I had never heard of. I deleted everything that I found that was not directly associated with making the machine run. After all I bought this one to replace one that was virus infected, the last thing that I needed was for Mom to happen upon one of those files and open it only to find that the seller had left a trojan in it somewhere and steal all her credit card information, or something even worse.

After browsing the internet for a bit, just to make sure that all was working correctly, I noticed the little computer with antenna pop up in the system tray. Yes, it has Norton antivirus installed on it also. It did a live update, and when the screen saver came on it went ahead and performed a system scan. Now I am pretty sure that you have to pay for that live update thing, so this likely won’t last long, but the fact that it did it once, then scanned for viruses and didn’t find any kind of sets my mind at ease. That has always been my worst fear when thinking of buying a used machine. I am sure that lots of people sell old ones when they upgrade, but I am always thinking that someone is trying to screw me into buying something that is totally screwed and will work only long enough that they can say, “Well, it worked fine when I gave it to you.”

If you didn’t know me you might think that I don’t trust anyone. If you do know me, you know that I don’t trust anyone.

Well that is just about enough about that computer. With a bit of luck I won’t have to speak of it again for at least a couple of years.

Well as my regular reader(s?) might have noticed there was no new blog thing on Saturday. If you are upset about this feel free to voice your displeasure in the Complaint Department.

You see, what happened is that I had a hunch (go Velma!) that maybe the reason that the cd drive from my computer would not work in my mom’s computer was that it required me to install drivers prior to shutting down the pc and installing it. This led me back to believing that if I were to just get a cd drive I would be able to format her hard drive and reinstall the operating system. So when I got home from work last night, that is what I did.

And a big thanks to Ron (a guy that I used to work with) who donated the cd drive, which through some miracle was exactly the same brand and speed as the one in my mother’s pc, even though it was pulled from a system that was three years older than hers (which just really proves that she took it anal when she bought this system to begin with, at the price she paid anyway.)

Now, trying to make sure that I had this thought through pretty well, I made a clean windows 98 boot disk on my own machine and clicked it to write protection (this is possible the only time I have ever done that on any floppy ever, that may be why viruses spread so easily, lots of people probably never take that one second to write protect their floppies.) okay, now I needed to make sure that I was booting in the order that I wanted to. Into the BIOS I went, first boot set to floppy to make sure that I got a clean boot. Second boot to cd, though it wouldn’t really matter since I was using a floppy boot disk, I just wanted to make sure that it didn’t try to boot from the hard disk. With fingers crossed I restarted the system with the boot disk.

I got it booted to an a: prompt, and switched it over to the cd drive. I typed in setup, and it worked! It asked if I wanted to restore core system files or format the drive and reinstall windows, and I went with format. It went to work telling me that it would take 30-60 minutes for the process to complete. I called my mom to get her windows 98 key, thinking that I had the problem all but solved, yes, there is a but, about fifteen minutes into the process it abrubptly stopped. The screen said “Write error! boot sector virus detected. continue y/n”. Of course when I typed either of the letters on the keyboard nothing happened and I had to power down with the button on the tower.

I really thought this was just a minor setback. I figured I would be able to format her hard drive manually, then do the install. I went to search the internet to find information about formatting a hard drive, since I had only ever done it once without just using a system rescue disk. Once I had the information that I needed I popped the clean boot disk back into the floppy and powered on her machine, nothing happened. Well, the light flashed on the cd drive a couple of times, and the power light on the tower came on, but nothing displayed on the monitor at all, and the floppy drive never gave any indication that it was trying to read. I hit the reset button a couple of times, tried to shut the power off and restart, even unplugged it and plugged it back in, ’cause I mean it might work, right? Nothing.

There is one thing that was odd about the machine though, and that is that each time I opened up the bios after trying to load windows it seemed to randomly set which device booted first. I only tried to load windows a couple of times while I was initially looking at it the first day, but each time I went into the BIOS afterwards the boot order would be different, and on occasion either the floppy or cd drive would have been disabled.

I am wondering if when I tried to format the drive and install windows again it somehow did format the drive, but then replicated the virus in the boot sector. I am not sure if that is even possible, as it would require that the virus be in the actual system memory. At any rate, I theorize that if I were to remove the old hard drive from my system (which has a working, bootable OS on it) and put it into hers it would probably boot. At least I was theorizing that last night when I looked at the clock and saw that I had just spent another four hours fucking with the damn thing. It would make sense though, if the infected boot sector of the hard drive was the first thing to load it would never make it far enough to load the drivers for the other devices, right? I honestly don’t know.

I had exchanged several emails with Flux over at BlackChampagne regarding this problem, and I started thinking about what he said about putting a value on my time. If I were to be paid the wage I make at work for all the time that I spent working on/researching the problems that this machine is having it would be about 200 dollars. This machine is worth way less than that, even in perfect working order. In fact, I just went on ebay and bought a system that has the exact same hardware as her’s: 366mhz processor, 6 gig hard drive, 64megs ram (well hers only has 32, plus I have an extra 128 on the shelf that I will throw in it), with the same integrated sound and video as her system, but it lacks a modem, which I will re-cycle from her dead system. How much does this pinnacle of modern technology cost on today’s market?? 49 dollars (74 after shipping). Had I known that in the first place I might have just gifted the damn thing to her, as she did have a birthday last month, and paying 74 dollars to replace a system that she paid about 17 times that for would have seemed to be a nice gift.

Mind you that 74 dollar system comes in working order with a Windows 98 operating system already installed. No monitor though, god damned cheap bastards. Let that be a lesson to me to always check on ebay before I decide to pour all these hours into trying to fix an old, worn out piece of shit.

This makes me think of a quote that I heard from a guy at the local True Value hardware store. He said, “it doesn’t make any sense to be penny wise if you are dollar foolish.” He said this to me when I was trying to extend the life of my bathroom sink faucet by replacing all of the seals in it. The repair kit for the faucet cost 7 dollars, a cheap new faucet was 12. I bought the repair kit and spent a good hour fixing it, I was damn proud of the five bucks that I had saved by doing it myself. Unfortunately about a month later one of the water inlet pipes on it rusted completely through and, with water spraying all over under my sink, I was forced to pay the 12 dollars for a cheap new faucet. As I was buying it, the guy smiled at me and said, “dollar foolish”. (I have been buying parts at this place for years so, no, he wasn’t just trying to be an asshole, he had told me originally that my faucet should be replaced, that was where that whole quote came from.)

• This guy at the hardware store, he wears a name tag that says “MacGyver” though his name is Dave, has helped me solve a lot of problems since I bought my house. Even after he told me about being “dollar foolish”, he told me that instead of using expensive cleaning compounds to remove calcium deposits from my cooling system I should instead use vinegar, but when I am not at home so the smell won’t drive me out of the house. To cover up the smell after the vinegar has done its work, just a tablespoon of liquid fabric softener. That solution cost less than a buck, while the chemical cleaners that yield the same results cost about ten.

When I was trying to replace a piece of pvc pipe that had broken, but the water would not shut off completely so I could get it dry enough to clean it and put on pvc cement, he suggested that I take the crusts off of a piece or two of bread, then roll the bread (not the crusts) into a ball and stick them in the pipe while I worked on it. A few minutes later the repair was done and I went to check the faucets to make sure I was getting water, I could see the bread dough coming through them in little bits and realized that that was why he said to use bread, so I wouldn’t clog up the line.

When I was trying to replace the hinges on some of my kitchen cabinets (I have enough hinges to replace almost all of them, but the rest still work, and I am lazy) but the screw holes were stripped out, I thought I would have to replace the wood, nope, he told me to put a bunch of toothpicks in the holes with some wood glue. I let it set and was able to replace the hinges without a problem.

Don’t even get me going on what this guy can do with a box of baking soda.

Any time that I have to go to the hardware store now I always look for Dave. He is going to tell me all of the conventional options as well as what he can come up with to save me a buck. As I think about it, that is kind of like why customers buy meat where I work. I will tell them exactly what is the truth, no more, no less. I don’t lie to them to make them buy a more expensive cut, I just tell them the truth. I think that is why a lot of people don’t mind paying a little bit more to buy stuff from people who know their business, as opposed to saving three cents to ask a kid how to hang drywall or cook Chateau Brionne. For that you want someone who knows what they are doing.

If you do need to know how to cook Chateau Brionne just email me. This is possibly the most delicious dish I have ever tasted. Beef is the main ingredient in this dish, but really good beef.

That is all for today.