Computer Problems!!!! (UPDATE)

I've got a most worrisome computer problem. My home ISP is Chartertn.net. Since late last night I can't connect. When I try to call them, the several phone numbers in the local phone book for Charter are all disconnected! :shock:

Vic
a PSU should cost around £30 and a new mobo the same, not so expensive IMO.

2 days off the net posting and playing guitar and instead doing some overtime at work followed by spending the money on what you really want. :lol:
A few hours extra labour would probably buy you a decent refurb jobbie or a halfway decent replacement from your local private ads paper.

Just one of the type of things we USED to do before computer forums came along .

There is of course the current option in the uk where from either AOL or Orange if you sign up to them for 18 months broadband you get a decent 1.7 ghz , 1 gig ram , 40 gig hd laptop free of charge differance between your current internet contract and these is probably 3 tins of beer a week.

As someone else has already said theres always someone worse off and many people in the UK at the moment due to the floods not only cannot post on a forum due to losing thier pcs due to the water damage but also have no fresh water or cooking / washing facilities , some of them have also lost Sky Movie package too .

Hey, I know how lucky I am compared to a lot of people, OK? I'm not bemoaning my lot - even though I can't go out to work as I have a disabled Mrs to look after. I used to work from home, till that particular firm went belly-up, owing me a few weeks wages I might add. Money is pretty tight, but by focussing on the priorities we cope.

I've worked all my life till Marilyn became disabled - done more than my share of 12- and 16-hour shifts.

I know the people in Cheltenham have it rough at the moment, I've read Dogsbody's posts.....and had a couple of PM's. They haven't even got fresh water at the moment.

I guess I'm just moaning at the fact that when you spend so much money on a high-end product like a Sony VAIO computer, you expect it to last more than a couple of years.....

All I want from life is a couple of beers, a couple of guitars and some P&Q to play them. I'm the eternal optimist - it'll be better tomorrow. And you know what? It usually isn't - but there's no harm in hoping.

:D :D :D

Vic

Sorry to hear of the bad fortune, Vic.
Like Chris C, I've had plenty of crashes and drive failures and have almost always retrieved most everything.
Here's hoping it shakes out the same way for you.
:)

I guess I'm just moaning at the fact that when you spend so much money on a high-end product like a Sony VAIO computer, you expect it to last more than a couple of years.....

All I want from life is a couple of beers, a couple of guitars and some P&Q to play them. I'm the eternal optimist - it'll be better tomorrow. And you know what? It usually isn't - but there's no harm in hoping.

:D :D :D

Vic

You could always try data input work if moneys really tight but it might effect your benefits I suppose ? , some firms actually also supply the pc for you to work from home , all be it quite a basic one , once you have passed the iduction tests etc and the work is not that far from posting on a forum , you actually might enjoy it and kill 2 birds with one stone.
Personally I think the benefit system in the UK SHOULD allow a full time carer or a partner on Job Seekers Allowance etc to also earn a bit more on top of the benefit ,especially as there are more and more oppurtunitys to work from home these days.
Im actually working from home now and its a big benefit to be able to choose both hours and breaks , stay up late and maybe get it done to have a Friday afternoon in the pub .

In the short term desktop systems are increadibly cheap on ebay ,if you search for local stuff ... not that Im recommending buying one by post of course , but you can do an advanced search / items within 10 miles and sometimes there are 2nd user pcs that go really cheap because of the cost of postage , if they are near you , you can grab a great bargain by agreeing to collect as lots go unsold due to the falling value , anything that was £1000.00 three years ago is virtually a throw away item now but still suitable for non next gen gaming tasks .
.........and you get to see it working before you part with the cash probably be able to also salvage the memory and hard drive from your old kit to improve its performance as well.
Almost sure to be cheaper than a new motherboard etc as the old cpu might also be fried . its not unknown also for a faulty power supply to also trash the graphics card / memory by supplying more than the std voltage to the AGP slot / ddram shortly before it pops its cloggs..

Other than that theres also the option to get one free off Freecycle here,,,,

http://www.freecycle.org/groups/unitedkingdom/

Or The St Helens one is here with over 1100 members....

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecyclesthelens2005/

The basic idea is you collect ie : working pc from someone who is upgrading and put them to good use etc to save on the local authoritys cost etc of stripping them to European Guidelines , sure to be one in your area and a growing system thats also helping the planet.
You can reply to any offers of goods there but can usually only put a wanted add up once you have "recycled" something to the group

Most of all there really is always someone worse off and loosing Sky TV or the internet for a shortwhile should be a bonus ...you HAVE to spend a little more quality time with your family talking like we all used to rather than locked away in a room with a pc and IE .... or maybe even play the guitar rather than typing about it :shock:

lol at the Jack Bauer reference. 24 is awesome, not so much the past season though

Huh, we didn't even get to see the last season - about six episodes in, Telewest - the cable TV/internet/telephone provider - was taken over by Virgin Media, and as a result of some friction between VM (Richard Branson) and Sky (Rupert Murdoch?) we lost Sky One - 24, Bones, Simpsons, and a lot of good programmes - Sky Sports News(which I watched at every available opportunity) and Sky News. So I'll have to wait for the DVD for 24......
That sucks. The first four hours were prob some of the best ever on 24. Too bad the last 20 hours were just...uggg.

I'd prob rent the DVD, don't buy it. Trust me.

Most of all there really is always someone worse off and loosing Sky TV or the internet for a shortwhile should be a bonus ...you HAVE to spend a little more quality time with your family talking like we all used to rather than locked away in a room with a pc and IE .... or maybe even play the guitar rather than typing about it

Spend MORE time with my family? Quality time? Not in this house, the two terms are mutually exclusive. I already spend a lot of time playing guitar - that's why I've improved so much over the last few months or so. As for the forum posting, well that's what I do for fun. OK, it's not much of a life, but hey it's mine and I can live with it.

I don't watch much TV anyway - I leave that to the Mrs. Although the sports channels do get a bit of a hammering when there's cricket on, or football or Rugby League.

And I've got a couple of good friends to jam with....OK, let's just say I'm pretty obsessive about guitars and leave it at that.

:D :D :D

Vic

I was wondering why you had not posted from some days. I thought it was the flood causing the problems...

Even my PC has faulted many times. Its registry problems are everlasting. But somehow I am lugging on with this Win 98 computer till I get a new one.

Sony Viao...hmm. I am not a big fan of computers made by Sony. Don't feel like saying this, but Sony has a bad reputation in computer products and it showed with yours.

A piece of advice. Don't buy Sony ever, if its computer related. Go with HP or Dell and you should be fine. And don't forget to get 1 GB of Ram, so you can record much more tracks.

Good Luck.

Rahul

Argh, those pesky computers eh Vic? Perhaps you need one of these http://most-expensive.net/computer-world

Not bad, if you happen to have a spare $400,000,000 lying around! :lol: :lol:

Pete

Sorry to hear about your pc problems Vic. Computers are great when they work, but when they don't.... argh! :evil: Hope you can at least get all your songs off the old hard drive. I picked up an external hard drive awhile back to keep all my recordings on. Not too expensive, and they come in various storage sizes. May be something to think about in the future. Good luck on the new pc search.

Dan