Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Darn Computers!

Nothing is working right in my world of computers right now! Talk about frustrating!!!

Computer Problem Number 1: First off, my hard drive on my desk top work computer died last Friday night. This is the second time it's died in less than two months! After the hard drive died the first time in late July, Jesper, my awesome One-Man I.T. Department, got me all set up on a new hard drive. He totally redid my whole setup, cleaning up junk that took up valuable computer memory and increasing my gigabytes. He also got me a new wide screen monitor! I loved how everything worked - fast, quiet, new spiffy software and everything much more organized. Jesper also upgraded our backup system to run automatically on a daily basis (THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!)

My new hard drive died last Friday again after a bizarre power outage on the whole north end of Boulder. I still don't know what caused the power outage. Anyway, it seems that my computer, which is more than 5 years old, has a faulty thingy in it that doesn't handle power surges properly. This is not to be confused with an external power strip with a surge protector - I have one of those. This internal thingy is not repairable, so Jesper recommended that I buy a whole new computer, since he feared the problem would keep occurring. Wasn't exactly planning for that expense..... My new Dell ships in two days and it will have even more spiffy upgrades (after my awesome I.T. Department spends hours getting me set up all over again).

Until my new beauty arrives, I am working off an old hard drive; the one I used before the first hard drive crash. This one is SLOW as molasses, is noisy and is of course, not up to date. It has old files on it and I have to delve into the backup to get my current documents. And for some reason, since we changed how I uploaded photographs from my camera, I can't figure out how to get my pictures downloaded.

Computer Problem Number 2: Did I mention that this old hard drive is SLOW?!??! So slow that it impedes my work efficiency quite a lot. I can click on a web site to open up a guidance document, grab a refill on my coffee, go the bathroom, brush my teeth and the document is still not opened. Don't even mention what happens when I try to open multiple documents/files!

Computer Problem Number 3: This would not be a problem, except that Jesper is working from the IBM office all this week. I, like a dork, inadvertently closed the directory to the back up drive and have NO idea how to find it again. With the number of computers we have and the way Jesper has set up a gazillion drives, it's not as easy as browsing drives A, B and C. So now I can't get any of my old files until tonight - not so good for the work I need to accomplish today.

Computer Problem Number 4: I also cannot print anything. I have a new printer in my office and the old hard drive does not recognize it and we haven't had time to fix that yet. No problem I say, I'll just print to Jesper's printer downstairs. But for some reason, that printer is not spitting out the documents I send it and Jesper is not home until 5 or 6 tonight to help me figure out what the problem is.

Computer Problem Number 5: I am trying to plan my travel for a business trip to Toledo next week. I'm supposed to be able to log on to a system my company uses and do my travel myself. For some reason, the system will not accept my password. I have had this trouble with every system my company uses. Once I get set up properly, which usually involves getting an I.T. guy from California to get involved, everything works great, so I'm hoping I get this fixed tomorrow.

Computer Problem Number 6: This one is almost fixed, but the battery on my laptop completely died. Thankfully, my new battery (with more power) should arrive tomorrow, well in time for my business trip next week.

On the bright side, all of this makes me truly appreciate Jesper's help managing my computer needs. I don't think I could run my business or even work remotely for Tetra Tech without my awesome Danish I.T. Department. I also know that, once I get the new computer, Jesper will set it up to be even more slick than before. And, although I wasn't wild about shelling out a bunch of dough for a new computer and a new laptop battery, they are necessary business expenses that I can write off on my taxes next year.

Besides, I can still blog!








4 comments:

Rick said...

boy can I relate.....unfortunately, I'm anna's IT dept and mine. You should have gotten a Mac! :-)
A big update from me....I'll e-mail you.

Itty Bitty Betty said...

A Mac?!?!?! When Jesper works for IBM? I don't think so!

Gary Burkholder said...

WTF happened to me being your IT dept, Rick??? IBB, don't be so down on the Mac, you can run VMware fusion on it and have all your Windoze apps run seemlessly with your Mac desktop. If I ever buy a new computer as opposed to building them up, I will look heavily at a Mac.

j (Free) said...

Last comment before I pull the plug on the Web, Jen.

Sorry to hear your PC travails. I assure you, I can relate. My PC is about three years old and showing signs of software dementia, data incontinence, etc. I'd smother it with a pillow but acquiring a new computer is in the realm of telekinetic levitation. Just not a real option. (But you have to admit, levitation would be really cool. save me money on my commute...)

Signing off,
j (Free)