Ruminations of a digital kind
Wednesday, October 29th, 2003 03:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caddymanIt's odd, thinking about it, just how much despair can be created by a dead computer. Let's think about it. Ten years ago, I didn't own a PC, much less have an internet connection.
Now I have four or five more or less active e-mail accounts, a Live Journal, a web-log (though this is rarely updated de nos jours and theoretical access to about 40mB of website if I could only be bothered. In addition, I faff around purchasing books, CDs and DVDs off the web. What with all this and my growing collection of mobile phone handsets and methods of recording and playing portable music, I am indeed a slave to digital technology.
Which is why it is actually rather pleasant to find that one aspect of my personality remains doggedly pre-modern.
A while back when I was previously having trouble with the digital doodad that has inspired this rant, I entertained the notion of upgrading to Windoze XP. Needless to say, I received much conflicting advice on this matter, and I both being the Prince of Indecision and in thrall to the gods of lethargy, never quite got round to taking the plunge.
This fear of the new might yet be my salvation.
I found out last night that although I can't even boot my PC in safe mode, I can at least get something going with the rescue disk with CD ROM support. Tonight, all being well, and thanks also to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cybersofa, I should be able to reinstall Windoze 98 from the CD via the DOS A:> prompt. I understand from trying, that this is not possible with XP.
So, as it turns out, had I been less afeared of upgrading to XP, I should now have a comatose PC at home staring at me balefully and uselessly. Probably for some length of time, too, since I am not in a financial position to takepax_draconis's advice and apply the Arthur Dent school of programming (or was it Ford Prefect?) before splashing out on a shiny new confuter.
As it is, I entertain high hopes that tonight I can drag my PC back from the digital brink.
These are, as they say, famous last words.
Oh, and by the way, if it doesn't work,maleghast will have to be a little more patient than intended before receiving the Deaf School CDs. Guess who didn't burn them before the great digital collapse?
Now I have four or five more or less active e-mail accounts, a Live Journal, a web-log (though this is rarely updated de nos jours and theoretical access to about 40mB of website if I could only be bothered. In addition, I faff around purchasing books, CDs and DVDs off the web. What with all this and my growing collection of mobile phone handsets and methods of recording and playing portable music, I am indeed a slave to digital technology.
Which is why it is actually rather pleasant to find that one aspect of my personality remains doggedly pre-modern.
A while back when I was previously having trouble with the digital doodad that has inspired this rant, I entertained the notion of upgrading to Windoze XP. Needless to say, I received much conflicting advice on this matter, and I both being the Prince of Indecision and in thrall to the gods of lethargy, never quite got round to taking the plunge.
This fear of the new might yet be my salvation.
I found out last night that although I can't even boot my PC in safe mode, I can at least get something going with the rescue disk with CD ROM support. Tonight, all being well, and thanks also to
cybersofa, I should be able to reinstall Windoze 98 from the CD via the DOS A:> prompt. I understand from trying, that this is not possible with XP. So, as it turns out, had I been less afeared of upgrading to XP, I should now have a comatose PC at home staring at me balefully and uselessly. Probably for some length of time, too, since I am not in a financial position to take
pax_draconis's advice and apply the Arthur Dent school of programming (or was it Ford Prefect?) before splashing out on a shiny new confuter.As it is, I entertain high hopes that tonight I can drag my PC back from the digital brink.
These are, as they say, famous last words.
Oh, and by the way, if it doesn't work,
maleghast will have to be a little more patient than intended before receiving the Deaf School CDs. Guess who didn't burn them before the great digital collapse?