ekebodesign blog

I bought a new desktop computer a month ago, as my previous desktop had died earlier and my laptop also stopped working. These computers had Windows XP Home and Pro installed. The new one had Windows 7 installed. Since it’s my only working computer, I won’t send it off to service. But the updates from Microsoft stopped being installed on June 11th, just 4-5 days after I first started the Packard Bell computer. I always get the same error and trying to fix it leads nowhere. I went to check if Microsoft would be of any help. Nope, my software is OEM, so I need to contact the computer manufacturer. Besides, I’ve tried several times to create the start disk for retrieval of the system. They were no good, the computer doesn’t read them. I have no backup for Windows whatsoever.  I didn’t get a disk when I bought the computer.

Now the system has locked the Documents and Settings folder so I can’t see what’s going on. The backups I’ve made on the 1TB external hard disk aren’t valid either. Only one backup made with an ancient program seems to have everything in it, it was made just after the last working Windows Update on June 10th. Now I can’t use that program either; the backup always ends at Documents and Settings….. I am leaning towards buying Windows 7 Pro and start all over again, which again eats up more than a week of my precious packing time and delays the move again!

I’m definitely not a happy bunny.

I also very much dislike the Microsoft style of making me, their customer, feel stupid, not showing me directories and not telling me exactly which file is missing from Windows. Just Error 126: Specified part not found. Not telling what it does, it just tries to solve problems for me. It turned out my external firewall/router was broken.

Soo: I’m not going to write here very much, as I haven’t been until now, being ill, buying a house, packing my things and suffering from dying computers and mobile/cell phones. But I do love my HTC Desire, also bought a month ago!

It’s hot here! I bet we’ll have thunder in the night.

Maybe writing this rant has helped me continue; I’m contemplating to buy Windows 7 Pro (complete system) and start fresh; then I’d have a backup and probably the complete software, not just parts of it. The Finnish version costs nearly the double compared to the English (I saved very much money by buying an English-speaking HTC phone). I still have to think about that.

I asked the seller what the main differences are between Home and Pro. He said “just about no differences”. Now I’ve found out that XP software will run on Pro but not Home; I have loads of XP productivity software

Let’s hope the weather gets cooler, then I’ll cool down too.