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jaeclecticAs of a few weeks ago, my 5-year-old PC was running fine and serving its purpose. It's current configuration is dual-boot W2K Pro (the default which I use daily) and some mildly aged version of Linux (Red Hat 7.1 I think, which I don't use often but which saves my butt when Windows crashes, as now). I had been vaguely thinking that I might like to buy a laptop with the extra cash I got from AP, but no hurry, and I wasn't really sure what I wanted anyway, nor was I excited by the prospect of getting a new machine set up the way I'd want it.
I did have some major difficulty a couple of years ago, when the hard disk crashed (and I didn't have a current backup, eeep), after which it took an absurdly long time to get everything re-set-up the way I wanted it, e.g. the helpful technician who salvaged the data from the disk didn't really understand how to partition the disk so that I could re-install Linux, causing much time-consuming flailing, acquisition of new disk partitioning software, etc. This same helpful technician (who I liked, really!) also failed to give me very good advice when I asked for a recommendation regarding backup technology, with the result that I bought a zip drive (which was not a good solution) and then spun my wheels awhile before buying an external hard drive (what I should have done to start with) but then wasn't satisfied with the software that came with it.
With the result that I still had not been doing a very good job of maintaining a current backup.
Then, the trouble began. Innocently enough, I bought an iPod shuffle. Which required me to install a new version of iTunes. But then iTunes didn't recognize the iPod hardware.
So I tried to run the utility that would re-load the iPod software.
But it wouldn't run until I installed MS Service Pack 4 for W2K.
So I installed SP4, but then my internet access was hosed: simple web pages would load, but anything more complicated like JSP or ASP or even heavy javascript (i.e., 90% of web pages today) would time out.
Note: at this point, I was feeling pretty sick to my stomach, because I had not made a backup before installing SP4.
However, after the requisite banging of head against wall (and booting up under Linux to search the internet for information), this turned out to be because SP4 was not compatible with versions of Norton Firewall before 7.0.21. And I had version 7.0.20. And BTW Semantec no longer supports anything earlier than 9.
So, fine, I bought a new copy of Norton Firewall, or actually a bundle called "Norton Internet Security" which updated the firewall and my antivirus -- and which was discounted when you also bought Norton's backup program Ghost, which I had been planning to buy anyway (see above re: current backups).
So, whew, I get back on the internet, I get my iPod working, all's well.
But no: Sometime after I install the new firewall, I start getting a blue screen with the extremely helpful message PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA.
Fortunately, I had made a backup, and made a recovery disk using Ghost. (There was a certain amount more flailing, head-beating, and internet searching under Linux required in order to get the machine to boot from CD-ROM, but in the grand scheme of things, at least I had a backup!)
So I restore from the backup, everything seems OK for a tiny little while. Then, instead of the blue screen of death, I start getting the black screen of utter oblivion: the machine just reboots itself for no reason.
Figuring this must be either disk or memory gone bad, I start running every disk-check utility I can find, as well as downloading a couple of memory checking utilities (which I try to run but the machine keeps rebooting before anything can finish). At a certain point, I just run the basic DOS disk check with the repair flags on, and lo, although it reports no errors, the rebooting stops.
At which point, I go back to normal life, albeit with the thought in the back of my head that the computer is maybe not going to last much longer. Still, all is well.
Except that I start getting daily nags from the firewall telling me that it hasn't been enabled yet -- and when I enable it, it seems to work, but the popup comes back the next day, so it hasn't worked, it's just failed silently. Various suggestions from the Semantec site do not fix the problem, so it was on my to-do list for today.
So: further probing of the Semantec site yields a problem description that almost matches mine, and a downloadable patch to fix it. Yay!
Except, boo! As soon as I install the patch, blue screen. Same cryptic message.
So I restore from backup (yay for having a current backup!)
Then I think, OK, now what?
When installing the patch, I had noticed a little warning message that said not to change the default path for the patch installation. Which got me thinking, maybe the firewall is having some twitch because it's installed on the F drive instead of the C drive. I mean, I've worked in QA, I've seen stranger things.
So, I uninstall the firewall and reinstall it in the default location under C. And enable it, and all seems well.
For about 5 minutes, and then the machine reboots itself.
And reboots itself again in 2-5 minutes every time I run W2K (needless to say, I am working under Linux writing this).
So now I am trying to decide what to do next.
I could call my helpful technician, and rely on his superior disk-and-memory-checking mojo.
I could make a wild guess that the issue is not hardware, but rather that my antique operating system is well past its built-in obsolescence, and upgrade to some flavor of XP -- which would require some research: I assume that like previous MS OS's, XP comes in a standard version for typical home use and some more ruggedized version for server use, which logically I shouldn't really need but based on past experience I would want.
Or I could throw this machine in the trash and go shopping.
Actually, I should probably go shopping regardless of what I do with this machine. I'd like to own a laptop again anyway. However, I have to decide what I want.
One possibility that's crossed my mind is to buy a Mac, but keep the current machine for when I really need/want to have a Windows and/or Linux environment handy. Which would leave me with the same issues for getting it to continue (resume!) functioning, but less urgently.
Or I could just get a very new shiny PC and spend lots of quality time doing the dual boot setup and so on.
So: given that I have $$$ already set aside, but haven't really done any research, anyone have any suggestions on what beautiful new machine I should acquire? Or on my options for salvaging this one?
Update: after sleeping on it, tried the obvious solution of turning off the firewall, with the result that W2K is functional again (although I have not yet gone through the drill of turning the firewall back on, to confirm the cause-and-effect). The request for advice still stands, however, e.g., what is the chance that upgrading the OS will help matters, and if (when) I go buy a laptop, what should I buy?
I did have some major difficulty a couple of years ago, when the hard disk crashed (and I didn't have a current backup, eeep), after which it took an absurdly long time to get everything re-set-up the way I wanted it, e.g. the helpful technician who salvaged the data from the disk didn't really understand how to partition the disk so that I could re-install Linux, causing much time-consuming flailing, acquisition of new disk partitioning software, etc. This same helpful technician (who I liked, really!) also failed to give me very good advice when I asked for a recommendation regarding backup technology, with the result that I bought a zip drive (which was not a good solution) and then spun my wheels awhile before buying an external hard drive (what I should have done to start with) but then wasn't satisfied with the software that came with it.
With the result that I still had not been doing a very good job of maintaining a current backup.
Then, the trouble began. Innocently enough, I bought an iPod shuffle. Which required me to install a new version of iTunes. But then iTunes didn't recognize the iPod hardware.
So I tried to run the utility that would re-load the iPod software.
But it wouldn't run until I installed MS Service Pack 4 for W2K.
So I installed SP4, but then my internet access was hosed: simple web pages would load, but anything more complicated like JSP or ASP or even heavy javascript (i.e., 90% of web pages today) would time out.
Note: at this point, I was feeling pretty sick to my stomach, because I had not made a backup before installing SP4.
However, after the requisite banging of head against wall (and booting up under Linux to search the internet for information), this turned out to be because SP4 was not compatible with versions of Norton Firewall before 7.0.21. And I had version 7.0.20. And BTW Semantec no longer supports anything earlier than 9.
So, fine, I bought a new copy of Norton Firewall, or actually a bundle called "Norton Internet Security" which updated the firewall and my antivirus -- and which was discounted when you also bought Norton's backup program Ghost, which I had been planning to buy anyway (see above re: current backups).
So, whew, I get back on the internet, I get my iPod working, all's well.
But no: Sometime after I install the new firewall, I start getting a blue screen with the extremely helpful message PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA.
Fortunately, I had made a backup, and made a recovery disk using Ghost. (There was a certain amount more flailing, head-beating, and internet searching under Linux required in order to get the machine to boot from CD-ROM, but in the grand scheme of things, at least I had a backup!)
So I restore from the backup, everything seems OK for a tiny little while. Then, instead of the blue screen of death, I start getting the black screen of utter oblivion: the machine just reboots itself for no reason.
Figuring this must be either disk or memory gone bad, I start running every disk-check utility I can find, as well as downloading a couple of memory checking utilities (which I try to run but the machine keeps rebooting before anything can finish). At a certain point, I just run the basic DOS disk check with the repair flags on, and lo, although it reports no errors, the rebooting stops.
At which point, I go back to normal life, albeit with the thought in the back of my head that the computer is maybe not going to last much longer. Still, all is well.
Except that I start getting daily nags from the firewall telling me that it hasn't been enabled yet -- and when I enable it, it seems to work, but the popup comes back the next day, so it hasn't worked, it's just failed silently. Various suggestions from the Semantec site do not fix the problem, so it was on my to-do list for today.
So: further probing of the Semantec site yields a problem description that almost matches mine, and a downloadable patch to fix it. Yay!
Except, boo! As soon as I install the patch, blue screen. Same cryptic message.
So I restore from backup (yay for having a current backup!)
Then I think, OK, now what?
When installing the patch, I had noticed a little warning message that said not to change the default path for the patch installation. Which got me thinking, maybe the firewall is having some twitch because it's installed on the F drive instead of the C drive. I mean, I've worked in QA, I've seen stranger things.
So, I uninstall the firewall and reinstall it in the default location under C. And enable it, and all seems well.
For about 5 minutes, and then the machine reboots itself.
And reboots itself again in 2-5 minutes every time I run W2K (needless to say, I am working under Linux writing this).
So now I am trying to decide what to do next.
I could call my helpful technician, and rely on his superior disk-and-memory-checking mojo.
I could make a wild guess that the issue is not hardware, but rather that my antique operating system is well past its built-in obsolescence, and upgrade to some flavor of XP -- which would require some research: I assume that like previous MS OS's, XP comes in a standard version for typical home use and some more ruggedized version for server use, which logically I shouldn't really need but based on past experience I would want.
Or I could throw this machine in the trash and go shopping.
Actually, I should probably go shopping regardless of what I do with this machine. I'd like to own a laptop again anyway. However, I have to decide what I want.
One possibility that's crossed my mind is to buy a Mac, but keep the current machine for when I really need/want to have a Windows and/or Linux environment handy. Which would leave me with the same issues for getting it to continue (resume!) functioning, but less urgently.
Or I could just get a very new shiny PC and spend lots of quality time doing the dual boot setup and so on.
So: given that I have $$$ already set aside, but haven't really done any research, anyone have any suggestions on what beautiful new machine I should acquire? Or on my options for salvaging this one?
Update: after sleeping on it, tried the obvious solution of turning off the firewall, with the result that W2K is functional again (although I have not yet gone through the drill of turning the firewall back on, to confirm the cause-and-effect). The request for advice still stands, however, e.g., what is the chance that upgrading the OS will help matters, and if (when) I go buy a laptop, what should I buy?
Laptop
Date: 2005-05-05 09:35 am (UTC)As you know I'm no computer guru but if you want to spend big bucks on the laptop and have a very small one that is easy and lightweight for traveling I have been extremely happy with the Sony VAIO VGN-T170P that I purchased. It has lots of hard drive space, built-in wireless internet card which works great, and Windows XP-Professional (not XP-Home) which I have to have in order to run my tax software. I've been using the Maxtor backup and the Symantec virus and security without any problems and my IPOD and shuffle software loaded immediately without incident. Of course, I don't have a partitioned disk and I don't have Linus so I don't know how the configuration would work with that setup. But I would buy this laptop again. It's small and the screen is small so I use a docking station and external keyboard and monitor while at my desk but it's mighty convenience for travel.
Karen