Thursday, April 3rd
And now I'm back on Windows XP. It's surprising how, when you know what re-installing your operating system requires, it's relatively easy to do.
1. Make list of programs used and how important they are.
2. Backup mission-critical data & install files for programs.
3. Re-install Windows, install programs & drivers, re-tweak, reset all settings.
Which brings us to now... the "find-what-I-forgot" stage, accompanied by the "oh-crap-I-did-what?" stage.
Things I still need to fix:Printer
Scanner
Open Office troubles
Modem driver upgrade?
Newer codecs?
But, this time, unlike last time, I made a system restore point & a registry copy RIGHT AFTER everything worked. So, all else fails... I can go back to that.
Oh, and I know I was telling somebody about a really great winxp tweak site. Here It Is.
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Sunday, April 6th Ughhhh.... sorry about the lack of updates. I = tired. Pics of lexus were promised... and so here they are.
Click for larger:
And I still need to install my printer & scanner... & OpenOffice...
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Tuesday, April 8th Yey! Printer installed! I made backups of everything... except drivers. The only one I couldn't find on a disk somewhere was my printer driver. And so I had to download it. A 13 Mb file on dialup. UGHHHHH! But, done!
Also, got scanner installed & OpenOffice works... mostly. I need to mess with my file extension settings a bit I think. But, it runs. So that's good.
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Thursday, April 10th FREAKIN' WINDOWS!!!!
I have 2 scanners. 1 I got for a bday many many years ago. The other I got off a friend who didn't want it any more.
I was, in case you didn't already know, previously on Win98.
Interject Brief History of My Computer: Had a 98 computer that I inherited when my dad moved on to 2000. Lovely machine, worked beautifully, had all my files on it. Inherited a WinXP machine when my sister moved on to whatever... faster computer or something. Had 2 computers for a several years. Used the 98 as my primary machine, because all the peripherals were installed there, it had my files... no real need to move on. Used the XP machine occasionally for goofing off. Decided that the 98 was really too old to continue using as a primary machine, so I moved to XP. For a couple of months. I love Daggerfall like you can't even imagine, and I tried to get it to run on XP and failed enough times that I gave up and re-installed 98. Somewhere around here I decided that I really had no need for 2 computers, so I tore the hard drive from my 98 (still with ancient ancient files on it) and put it in as a slave drive onto my new spiffin' 98 install. Also, I plugged my second monitor into my spare video card (the onboard), and so I'd been living with a sweet Win98, 2 monitor, 2 hard drive setup. Until this last week when I decided to reinstall WinXP. XP is a better operating system. It's just... better. And... in my previous post, I finished installing all the stuff I haven't forgotten.
So it's installed alright. I installed the old CanoScan POS I had from longlongago. Tried to use it today. Didn't work. Went into my device manager to find out what troubled it, and OH! "This scanner is for Windows 98 only". WTH? Oh well, I knew there was a reason I have two scanners. Plug in the other one, install crap. It didn't come with a CD because I got it second-hand, and so I had to download drivers. There's nothing so fun as downloading drivers. And then I install the drivers. And then the dll's. I spend ALL TODAY doing this (minus the 6 hr nap I desperately needed), and then I try to use it. And it tries to work. And I get a mangled image. I think it's broke.
And so now I give up and post a rant about scanners and windows up here. Because that's how I deal with things.
P.S. - I think I'm going to not install the scanner. I have a sweet digital camera WHICH WORKS ALREADY, and so I think I'll just take pictures of things when I need them. Screw you scanners!
P.S. - I did get OpenOffice to work. I just needed to tell it to ... you know ... open files and all.
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Monday, April 14th The sounds of a modem screaming in my ear. A vague sense of dread about the future, my future. What's it all for anyways? It's not for, maybe it's not at all. I can't unwrap that puzzle. It all seems so simple, yet everyone disagrees.
I don't know who I am. I'm not the person in the mirror. Names & faces are a convenient convention.
Nightmares. Over & over. Different. Always different. I don't dream anymore, they're always nightmares. Good, bad, all the same, the fear.
I'm not afraid of life, but the dreams. Guilt.
Drown it out with music, noise, the echoes of a keyboard, the Kthunk of CRT monitors.
Fill my head with data... with problems. Things that can be solved. I can't solve the past. I'm missing pieces. And they never really fit together in the first place. The colors were all wrong. Didn't stop me from trying. From wearing down the edges of all the pieces. Watch them break under the pressure.
Do any of the pieces match? Is it a puzzle, or just a collection of pieces?
If it does make a picture, I don't know that I want to see it.
Things will be better in the future.
Except the future is made from the present. If the pieces don't fit today, why would they fit tomorrow?
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Saturday, April 19th Well, computer update. Removed additional Malware/Trojan/Whatevers, did a little more tweaking to the services, and downloaded K-Meleon, which is like Firefox, only it doesn't eat 90% of my CPU to run. It doesn't handle 50 zillion tabs as well, but I don't have that many open usually, unless I'm really browsing, which happens sometimes. Also, I got the Download Thingie for Firefox, which... doesn't work with K-Meleon, or at least I haven't figured out how. Yet. Maybe it has it's own.
So... things are good. Progress is being made, slow-like, in life.
Also, I had lunch at Desi-Wok at 41st & Hudson, which I think all you Tulsa people should go eat at, like, now. Indian food @ $10-12/person. And delicious.
Eventually, I will get my computer exactly the way I want it, and my posts will return to other matters. But until then...
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Monday, April 21st So, one of those moments where you forget things you should know.
I connect to the internet, get ready to check my email, and I can't remember the address to get to my email. I don't have it bookmarked, because I type it in, usually several times a day, it's like forgetting your own middle name. Which has also happened to me.
And just now, I realized that I had yahoo mail open in 2 tabs. The only 2 tabs I have open. My brain is not present.
I would write it off as being tired - which I am - except that I am usually tired. And usually, I'm able to remember how to check email. So, yeah, weird.
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Friday, April 25th Operating System: WinXP Home
My Programs:Music Player: XMPlay
Image Browser: IrfanView
Image Editor: The GIMP
Internet Browsers: Firefox, K-Meleon
HTML/JScript/CSS Editor: Crimson Editor
Document Editor: OpenOffice
These are my core programs, without them I would be lost. I recommend every one of them. Especially Crimson Editor, OpenOffice, & The GIMP.
As a side note... does anyone know how to get GIMP to save into CMYK? 'Cause I'm struggling with that. Email Me if you know.
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Things I still need to fix:
But, this time, unlike last time, I made a system restore point & a registry copy RIGHT AFTER everything worked. So, all else fails... I can go back to that.
Oh, and I know I was telling somebody about a really great winxp tweak site. Here It Is.
Top of Page
Sunday, April 6th Ughhhh.... sorry about the lack of updates. I = tired. Pics of lexus were promised... and so here they are.
Click for larger:
And I still need to install my printer & scanner... & OpenOffice...
Top of Page
Tuesday, April 8th Yey! Printer installed! I made backups of everything... except drivers. The only one I couldn't find on a disk somewhere was my printer driver. And so I had to download it. A 13 Mb file on dialup. UGHHHHH! But, done!
Also, got scanner installed & OpenOffice works... mostly. I need to mess with my file extension settings a bit I think. But, it runs. So that's good.
Top of Page
Thursday, April 10th FREAKIN' WINDOWS!!!!
I have 2 scanners. 1 I got for a bday many many years ago. The other I got off a friend who didn't want it any more.
I was, in case you didn't already know, previously on Win98.
Interject Brief History of My Computer: Had a 98 computer that I inherited when my dad moved on to 2000. Lovely machine, worked beautifully, had all my files on it. Inherited a WinXP machine when my sister moved on to whatever... faster computer or something. Had 2 computers for a several years. Used the 98 as my primary machine, because all the peripherals were installed there, it had my files... no real need to move on. Used the XP machine occasionally for goofing off. Decided that the 98 was really too old to continue using as a primary machine, so I moved to XP. For a couple of months. I love Daggerfall like you can't even imagine, and I tried to get it to run on XP and failed enough times that I gave up and re-installed 98. Somewhere around here I decided that I really had no need for 2 computers, so I tore the hard drive from my 98 (still with ancient ancient files on it) and put it in as a slave drive onto my new spiffin' 98 install. Also, I plugged my second monitor into my spare video card (the onboard), and so I'd been living with a sweet Win98, 2 monitor, 2 hard drive setup. Until this last week when I decided to reinstall WinXP. XP is a better operating system. It's just... better. And... in my previous post, I finished installing all the stuff I haven't forgotten.
So it's installed alright. I installed the old CanoScan POS I had from longlongago. Tried to use it today. Didn't work. Went into my device manager to find out what troubled it, and OH! "This scanner is for Windows 98 only". WTH? Oh well, I knew there was a reason I have two scanners. Plug in the other one, install crap. It didn't come with a CD because I got it second-hand, and so I had to download drivers. There's nothing so fun as downloading drivers. And then I install the drivers. And then the dll's. I spend ALL TODAY doing this (minus the 6 hr nap I desperately needed), and then I try to use it. And it tries to work. And I get a mangled image. I think it's broke.
And so now I give up and post a rant about scanners and windows up here. Because that's how I deal with things.
P.S. - I think I'm going to not install the scanner. I have a sweet digital camera WHICH WORKS ALREADY, and so I think I'll just take pictures of things when I need them. Screw you scanners!
P.S. - I did get OpenOffice to work. I just needed to tell it to ... you know ... open files and all.
Top of Page
Monday, April 14th The sounds of a modem screaming in my ear. A vague sense of dread about the future, my future. What's it all for anyways? It's not for, maybe it's not at all. I can't unwrap that puzzle. It all seems so simple, yet everyone disagrees.
I don't know who I am. I'm not the person in the mirror. Names & faces are a convenient convention.
Nightmares. Over & over. Different. Always different. I don't dream anymore, they're always nightmares. Good, bad, all the same, the fear.
I'm not afraid of life, but the dreams. Guilt.
Drown it out with music, noise, the echoes of a keyboard, the Kthunk of CRT monitors.
Fill my head with data... with problems. Things that can be solved. I can't solve the past. I'm missing pieces. And they never really fit together in the first place. The colors were all wrong. Didn't stop me from trying. From wearing down the edges of all the pieces. Watch them break under the pressure.
Do any of the pieces match? Is it a puzzle, or just a collection of pieces?
If it does make a picture, I don't know that I want to see it.
Things will be better in the future.
Except the future is made from the present. If the pieces don't fit today, why would they fit tomorrow?
Top of Page
Saturday, April 19th Well, computer update. Removed additional Malware/Trojan/Whatevers, did a little more tweaking to the services, and downloaded K-Meleon, which is like Firefox, only it doesn't eat 90% of my CPU to run. It doesn't handle 50 zillion tabs as well, but I don't have that many open usually, unless I'm really browsing, which happens sometimes. Also, I got the Download Thingie for Firefox, which... doesn't work with K-Meleon, or at least I haven't figured out how. Yet. Maybe it has it's own.
So... things are good. Progress is being made, slow-like, in life.
Also, I had lunch at Desi-Wok at 41st & Hudson, which I think all you Tulsa people should go eat at, like, now. Indian food @ $10-12/person. And delicious.
Eventually, I will get my computer exactly the way I want it, and my posts will return to other matters. But until then...
Top of Page
Monday, April 21st So, one of those moments where you forget things you should know.
I connect to the internet, get ready to check my email, and I can't remember the address to get to my email. I don't have it bookmarked, because I type it in, usually several times a day, it's like forgetting your own middle name. Which has also happened to me.
And just now, I realized that I had yahoo mail open in 2 tabs. The only 2 tabs I have open. My brain is not present.
I would write it off as being tired - which I am - except that I am usually tired. And usually, I'm able to remember how to check email. So, yeah, weird.
Top of Page
Friday, April 25th Operating System: WinXP Home
My Programs:
These are my core programs, without them I would be lost. I recommend every one of them. Especially Crimson Editor, OpenOffice, & The GIMP.
As a side note... does anyone know how to get GIMP to save into CMYK? 'Cause I'm struggling with that. Email Me if you know.
Top of Page