First, I wish you a Happy New Year. I would have done this about 100 hours earlier but my laptop was not cooperating.
I forget now exactly how the trouble started but by Christmas the laptop was becoming intolerably slow and unpredictable. For months I have been toying with the idea of a new computer in early 2012 but I simply don’t think that they are worth the hassle and the money. Why should I pay for a computer that, unavoidably, comes complete with a load of software that I don’t want? Take that software out, reduce the price accordingly and sell me a machine with a decent operating system and I will be happy. On second thoughts I won’t be entirely happy because, after just four years, I shouldn’t feel the need for a new machine at all.
As an alternative to a new laptop I have also been considering the feasability and likely effectiveness of clearing out the contents of the present one and starting again from scratch. By New Year I was sufficiently exasperated to give this a try and so, having copied my own files to a separate hard drive, I loaded the “Product Recovery Disc” (which came with the computer) and followed the on-screen instructions. It took most of an evening and I couldn’t begin to describe what was happening but I was left with a computer plus operating system and very little else. My spare time over the following day or two was spent reinstalling my favourite software packages. The result of all this is a noticeably quicker computer with around 24GB extra free space on the hard drive and all but one of the original problems eliminated.
However, this so-called “Product Recovery Disc” has not entirely lived up to its grand title. There are two new problems, and a couple of mysterious pop-up messages that I have never seen before. The problem that has not gone away is that it it necessary only to hover over a link briefly to activate it, whereas activation should require a definite button click. I can find nothing in the Control Panel to change this. The new problems are that the touchpad lights up unexpectedly – I don’t remember the last time it did this and had forgotten that it was able to do so – and I seem to have lost all references to Bluetooth from the laptop (and that was definitely in the Control Panel prior to the “Recovery”). Apart from the loss of Bluetooth (which I was about to start using to connect the laptop to another gadget – about which I will tell you another time) everything seems to be working.
The mystery messages? One refers to a failure to make a Windows connection – which I cannot describe further as I don’t understand it. The second message (which has appeared a couple of times at the bottom right of the Desktop tells me that this is not a genuine version of Windows! How come? The original was bought pre-installed in the new laptop. Clearly, the new messages must have something to do with the “Product Recovery Disc”. I am beginning to detect the odour of a rodent!
Oh, my. I’m having a flashback to my hard disk failure (and I MUST run some backups again! Now! Not next week!) and everything that brought about.
My only real aggravation is that I lost some files in the changeover, but that was my fault and mine alone. More puzzling is that I lost the auto-start for my various drives. That’s not a huge issue, but it seems like a re-install should put things back the way they were. Obviously, that isn’t so!
In any event – a Happy New Year, and happy fresh computer to you. May your links work and the kinks get worked out, so you can enjoy The Machine without aggravation!
Happy New Year!
I would suggest running a search on Google for the pop-ups you’re seeing. If it’s happened to you, I’d bet real money someone else has already dealt with the same issue. I just had a virus on my home computer (a mere 2 weeks after getting high speed cable internet) which I managed to eradicate with the help of Google and a tech Web site. When you reset the computer to the original settings with the recovery disk, it may have wiped out upgrades that kept programs from having trouble working together. You know how they’re continually pumping out upgrades and patches! Also, you could try Google-ing the actual error message and see what results you get on that.
Thanks to both of you for your comments. Since writing this post I have not seen the “error” messages. Could it be that various automatic downloads/updates from Microsoft (of which there have been at least 200) have fixed some of the problems? I hope so. Still no Bluetooth though so I will be seeing what can be done about that.
Meanwhile, by way of a diversion I have been playing with my Samsung Galaxy Tab, a seven-inch tablet that will do everything that the laptop should do except connect direct to my printer (but is also a mobile phone if required and it will take photos and shoot videos). Tab and laptop can exchange all types of files that I use, so far as I can tell, so printing is possible via the laptop. WordPress on the Tab is a bit more difficult and I have not yet mastered it – but give it time.