It is Labor Day Weekend. A day of rest.\u00a0 And there is no question\u2014I really do need to take a break.<\/p>\n
For almost a month now, computer problems have beleaguered and hindered my progress preparing for school as well as adversely impacting my writing.\u00a0 It all began with the mysterious midnight Microsoft update<\/a> right after the first week of August.<\/p>\n After solving the problems of the midnight electronic intrusion, I was well ahead of the game.\u00a0 I had increased my hard drive capacity by almost four times, upgraded from the notorious\u00a0Windows Vista to Windows 7, and backed up all the files I thought I had lost.<\/p>\n Yes, I was feeling pretty good about the situation…until last Thursday.\u00a0 That was when I woke up, walked into the office, turned on the computer, and watched as it hung on the bios screen.<\/p>\n To say I was livid really was an understatement.\u00a0 I was very happy my shotgun was not within reach.\u00a0 I was at the point of declaring open season on all computers.\u00a0 PC, Mac, Kindle, Ipad…, it would have made little difference\u2014they were all on my hit list.<\/p>\n I have told many before, I really like technology.\u00a0 I do.\u00a0 Honestly.\u00a0 I have defended technology over the years, when people have said computers were the bane of society.\u00a0 They would talk about computers in the context of not saving time.\u00a0 And I would say, \u201cYes they do.\u00a0 How would you like to do all the repetitive and boring paperwork without them?\u201d<\/p>\n It is true, while some of us cuss out computers because they sometimes refuse to do what we wish of them, life without them would be…bad.\u00a0 As I was coming to the end of my trials and tribulations\u00a0with the office computer, Ardis said I should write about the problem.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I am too mad to write about it now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone else may have the very same problem.\u00a0 If you write about it, you might help them.\u201d<\/p>\n I had to admit, she was right.<\/p>\n When the computer started hanging up on the bios load, I started to Google the problem.\u00a0 The first thing giving me great hope was a thread I read about\u00a0loose cables.\u00a0 So, I put my mini-flashlight in my mouth and crawled under my desk, jiggled all the cables, and tried to start the computer again.\u00a0<\/p>\n Success!\u00a0 I could not believe the problem could be that simple to solve, but I was happy it was working again.\u00a0 It worked for about two days.<\/p>\n Then it started hanging on the bios load again.\u00a0 Now the serious troubleshooting began.\u00a0 Back to the Internet and Google.<\/p>\n During further research, I started reading about all kinds other serious and scary things–problems probably beyond my capabilities.\u00a0 Still, I could not get over the feeling this was something simple.<\/p>\n Then I talked to my friend Tom, at work.\u00a0 The first thing he thought of was a failing bios battery.\u00a0 I began doing more research and I found that dying bios batteries usually slowed the computer\u2019s clock.\u00a0 The clock on my computer was keeping great time.\u00a0 Back to the brainstorming.<\/p>\n After more research, I discovered a thread about wireless keyboards and mice sending a keyboard error message to the bios on startup.\u00a0 Then I read about other peripherals causing problems.\u00a0 This was when I discovered the problem with this computer was the USB ports on the side of the monitor.\u00a0 These culprits were sending a failed error message to the motherboard.<\/p>\n I yanked the cable connecting the ports to the computer, reconnected all the other USB connections, and fired it up.\u00a0 I am happy to say I spent the next hour or so shutting the computer down and restarting–just because I could.<\/p>\n Now that I\u2019m confident the computer is okay, I reflect back on what others have said about computers being a waste of time.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that they are a waste of time; it is the time you waste in either trying to fix them or run them back and forth to a computer shop.<\/p>\n I am just happy to have saved the diagnostic fees I would\u2019ve been charged had I taken the computer in for repairs.\u00a0 In actuality, there was nothing wrong with the computer; it was all in the monitor\u2019s USB ports.<\/p>\n I am really happy now that I can use the computer again\u2014and get on with my work.\u00a0<\/p>\n -30-<\/p>\n \u00a92011 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n Hey–all y’all be safe over the Labor Day break.<\/em><\/p>\n Subscribe by email<\/a><\/p>\n Note: Email subscribers, please go to <\/em>my blog <\/em><\/a>\u00a0to view vids<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is Labor Day Weekend. A day of rest.\u00a0 And there is no question\u2014I really do need to take a break. For almost a month now, computer problems have beleaguered and hindered my progress preparing for school as well as … Continue reading