Oh, help. Computer issues--buying, probably

[Aubrey]

The computer wouldn't turn on the other day. Dh does all of our fixes & can usually talk me thr stuff over the phone, but this is bad. He came home, messed w/ it, & took it up to Best Buy. In all the yrs I've known him, he's never resorted to seeking computer help.

 

BB said $100 to retrieve the data; hard drive is fried. Dh didn't want to put $ toward something that doesn't fix the computer, & he's not convinced it's the hard drive, because it did do part of its start up routine. Maybe 1/2 fried. Some kind of virus that does physical damage.

 

Anyway, he spent about 4hrs w/ his computer guru friend last night, gathering amunition, basically, lol. He came home w/a hard drive & stuff, but not all the software he needs, so...? I guess he's going on a scavengar hunt?

 

Anyway, we still don't know what the problem is, haven't retrieved data, nothing. And he's been gone--school, work, church, for about 15 hrs/day the last 6 days in a row. I'm thinking that a self-fix, if poss, is not on the horizon. And generally, he's the kind of guy (if they're not *all* this way, lol) who says 2 hrs to fix something & you sort-of mentall prep yourself for 6.

 

His est of time for repairs once he gathers his stuff? TBA. That sounds pretty bad, esp for someone who's already so busy.

 

I want to just go around him & get it taken care of. I said so last night, & he wasn't thrilled, but didn't say absolutely no. Basically...he wants to know what I'd do.

 

So y'all tell me: what should I do?

[*********]

Aubrey, I can't tell you what *you should do. But I'll tell you what I would do; or rather, what I WILL do when this ancient thing we call a desktop computer finally sputters out.

 

I'll let my dh handle it.

 

I won't *want to let him handle it. I will want to do it myself. It will take him longer than he thinks it will, and it will take him longer than I want to wait. I don't know if he'll fix it, or finally buy us a new laptop (oh, how I hope it's a new laptop!). But either way, 'computers' fall under dh territory in our house, and we both know it. He may very well want my opinion on what to do; he also may very well ask me what I'd like, then do something different. But no matter; it's his to take care of.

 

If we needed to replace the oven, or someone needs new shoes, or my cookie sheets are no longer up to snuff, dh lets me handle it. That's just the way it is in our house. Of course we talk about things, of course we agree on finances and such. But we know (or should I say, we've finally learned) to give each other space and time to take care of the things that are 'ours'.

 

However, like I said, that's just what *I would do. You know your dh and your relationship better than we do. :)

[Aubrey]

Sorry to put this in 2 posts, but I'm using a reallly old, slow, janky, monitor-less laptop that I don't trust. I keep getting kicked off, & most sites won't load. Gr.

 

The phone's dead, & the car's in the shop again, too. Sometimes I wonder why anything works. Think we qualify as living "off grid" if enough stuff just shuts down?

 

In the past...2 weeks, I think:

internet box went out

keyboard fried w/ coffee

car tire blew out

car overheated; boss had to pick dh up

car repair failed, had to take it to shop

computer died

phone line died

 

The real problem w/ the computer, which should have been my thesis statement, lol, is that I'm doing a little bit of online business. I'm tutoring a writing student, selling books, writing articles, & making/selling aprons. My articles are all submitted at present, so that can wait. The aprons don't do anything w/out me, lol, but I'm really worried about the writing student. I can't just go to the library w/ 4 kids & really read & mark a paper. The book thing is a little more flexible.

 

I do have this laptop, fwiw, but yesterday it quit, too. Turns out I'd kicked the plug out of the janky wall outlet, & the thing won't hold a charge, so there was just a fizzy sound & then nothing.

 

It's plugged in & obviously I'm here for now, but it's not a reliable solution, if that makes sense.

 

Ok, so *now* tell me...

[Aubrey]

Aubrey, I can't tell you what *you should do. But I'll tell you what I would do; or rather, what I WILL do when this ancient thing we call a desktop computer finally sputters out.

 

I'll let my dh handle it.

 

I won't *want to let him handle it. I will want to do it myself. It will take him longer than he thinks it will, and it will take him longer than I want to wait. I don't know if he'll fix it, or finally buy us a new laptop (oh, how I hope it's a new laptop!). But either way, 'computers' fall under dh territory in our house, and we both know it. He may very well want my opinion on what to do; he also may very well ask me what I'd like, then do something different. But no matter; it's his to take care of.

 

If we needed to replace the oven, or someone needs new shoes, or my cookie sheets are no longer up to snuff, dh lets me handle it. That's just the way it is in our house. Of course we talk about things, of course we agree on finances and such. But we know (or should I say, we've finally learned) to give each other space and time to take care of the things that are 'ours'.

 

However, like I said, that's just what *I would do. You know your dh and your relationship better than we do. :)

 

Sorry, my phone rang, & I was afraid I'd lose my post. There's a little more below you--it's ultimately a business issue. I've gone w/out internet before, so I could manage that, if it weren't for these other things.

 

When I think about letting someone else down, I get completely panicky.

[Kathleen in VA]

Aubrey, I know you guys are short on extra funds so please understand that I say this as a means to truly help you. Buy a used Mac. I bought the laptop I am using right now from Stacey in LA right here on the WTM boards for $300. I've had it for about 2 years or so and I haven't had one problem with it. We are a mac family and have never had a computer get fried. My dh bought the Apple IIc back in the 80s and we've always owned Apples/Macs since. Never had problems with them. The iMac desktop we have was bought in 2003 and it's never had any problems. We've added more memory and upgraded to the new operating systems, but that's all we've ever done to it.

 

People say they can't afford Macs, but the way I see it, if funds are short, you cannot afford another PC. $300 for a great 'lil computer that doesn't ever give me grief? That's very inexpensive in my book. Check ebay for a good reputable dealer for a used Mac.

[Aubrey]

Aubrey, I know you guys are short on extra funds so please understand that I say this as a means to truly help you. Buy a used Mac. I bought the laptop I am using right now from Stacey in LA right here on the WTM boards for $300. I've had it for about 2 years or so and I haven't had one problem with it. We are a mac family and have never had a computer get fried. My dh bought the Apple IIc back in the 80s and we've always owned Apples/Macs since. Never had problems with them. The iMac desktop we have was bought in 2003 and it's never had any problems. We've added more memory and upgraded to the new operating systems, but that's all we've ever done to it.

 

People say they can't afford Macs, but the way I see it, if funds are short, you cannot afford another PC. $300 for a great 'lil computer that doesn't ever give me grief? That's very inexpensive in my book. Check ebay for a good reputable dealer for a used Mac.

 

LOL--if we end up doing something like that, you will be dh's new best friend!

 

Just out of curiosity--how would that effect the data we have? I mean, could we just move pics & docs to a mac?

 

And...from what I've seen, there's not a solution that will cost less than $300. That's kind-of what I'm suggesting to dh--*if* we can't fix this one for less than $300, but we could replace it for app. the same, wouldn't that be better?

 

Of course, this isn't a bottom of the line computer, so it's not really apples-to-apples, but I'm the same way about computers & cars: I'm suspicious of repairs. There are some things that change the basic...personality? soul? of the machine. And then they never run the same after.

 

Ours is a gray issue right now, though. I'm not sure enough about any of it to really *make* suggestions like I usually am. And I think that's because *he* doesn't know well enough to explain it. Which sounds pretty big to me.

 

The panicky thought of losing all my writing & pictures may be making me less rational, though. The pics weren't backed up. Not sure about the writing. Stupid, I know.

[Spy Car]

Aubrey, I would really try to find some PC experts (Best Buy or not) to see what's going on. If the drive is booting it doesn't sound like the drive is "fried" rather that a directory has been corrupted and/or damaged from a virus.

 

But for $100 you should try to get you precious photos back. If you can get the PC back up and running with the directories re-built, you ought to purchase an external hard-drive so you can keep back-ups. They are quite inexpensive these days (and I know every dollar hurts).

 

I am a Mac guy. Not an expert with PCs (great understatement). I simply can't live with the unreliability and problems that come with running the various forms of Windows.

 

But in the short-run I'd put what I could spend into an expert to recover the files (done wrong they could be gone) and a back-up EXTERNAL hard-drive.

 

Bill

Edited October 9, 2009 by Spy Car

[hornblower]

I agree with Bill. I'd spend the money on data recovery. Take the computer in to a reputable place, get them to pop out the HD and see what they can get off it. They can save it on to another new external HD. Then get a used computer & have all your stuff reinstalled.

 

I feel for you - I lost a large chunk of a book a couple years ago in a horrendous HD catastrophe. Backing up is something we all know we should do but we're not very good at actually getting around to do.... I've now got a subscription to carbonite so that it's all done for me.

 

BTW, I also have a dh who likes to tinker with computers etc and is very knowledgeable but lately I've been putting an end to that. His time is more valuable than that & what takes him 8h sometimes only costs $100 at the shop. This is just an illogical way of using his time when he's busy with work and other things. Only when he's absolutely sure it's a fast & easy fix will I let him get sucked into the computer repair land.....

[Kathleen in VA]

Bill's right. Also, I really don't know if you could transfer files from a PC to a Mac. My son has a newer Mac laptop that he can run Windows on. If you found a Mac that had Virtual PC loaded on it then I'd think you'd be able to transfer pc files over. My two older sons and dh are the computer experts here and they are all at work right now.

 

Another thing to keep in mind just generally speaking about buying computers is that PCs are like the stripped down model of a car and Macs are the loaded versions. That's why when you compare prices you really need to check into what comes already loaded on the computer and not just the price on the sales tag. Ds21 worked at Best Buy selling computers for about a year and that is one thing he was always telling me.

 

Oh, and if you do get another PC find out whether your OS will work with the new one. I don't know the details on this, but I know many friends who find Vista difficult to work with and wish they had their old OS instead. Not sure if that would pose a problem trying to put old files on a newer computer or not.

[KristineinKS]

This is exactly what happened to my computer about a month ago. DH (who's quite computer savvy) tried to fix it with no luck, luckily however, it was still covered until warranty. Dell sent a technician out 4 or 5 times - replacing all sorts of parts from the power source to the motherboard repeatedly. At one point they had it up and running, but within an hour it wouldn't turn on again. They never thought the hard drive was the problem. In the end, they replaced the whole silly machine, but it took FOREVER for a new one to arrive. In the meantime, DH drove to the nearest Micro Center & bought a refurbished computer for around $140. - he put my old hard drive in & I was able to use it and back up all the data to be transferred over to the new machine.

[Spy Car]

Bill's right. Also, I really don't know if you could transfer files from a PC to a Mac. My son has a newer Mac laptop that he can run Windows on. If you found a Mac that had Virtual PC loaded on it then I'd think you'd be able to transfer pc files over. My two older sons and dh are the computer experts here and they are all at work right now.

 

Another thing to keep in mind just generally speaking about buying computers is that PCs are like the stripped down model of a car and Macs are the loaded versions. That's why when you compare prices you really need to check into what comes already loaded on the computer and not just the price on the sales tag. Ds21 worked at Best Buy selling computers for about a year and that is one thing he was always telling me.

 

Oh, and if you do get another PC find out whether your OS will work with the new one. I don't know the details on this, but I know many friends who find Vista difficult to work with and wish they had their old OS instead. Not sure if that would pose a problem trying to put old files on a newer computer or not.

 

Almost all file formats can simply be copied to a Mac and used with the Mac versions of the soft-ware the files were created on, or with other open source programs. This is no problem.

 

The newer versions of the OS, from my understanding (not having used them), have an automated "assistant" to make the move even easier.

 

Only if you have files that are "exotic" or were created by a PC-only program might you have difficulties. Some tracking, scheduling, and educational games are PC only. Some audio-books have digital rights management that can cause issues.

 

Other than that a jpeg is a jpeg, a word doc is a word doc. A switch should not prove burdensome.

 

Right now getting the files back, and backed up on an external drive has to be a priority.

 

A note on externals. Some (such as G Tech) have USB II, eSATA, Firewire 400, and Firewire 800 connectors. This multiple connector feature could prove to be VERY VALUABLE getting data from a machine with one interface to another with a different interface in the future. It's no good to have data you can't move.

 

There are also an increasing number of "online" back-up options. But I've had no experience with these, so have nothing to offer advice-wise.

 

Bill

Edited October 9, 2009 by Spy Car

[The Governess]

I also agree with paying for the data recovery and the external hard drives. We have a mac mini that we have attached to our TV so we can use itunes with our stereo system, watch online or itunes videos on our TV, etc. We keep all of our pictures on there too. BUT, none of our picture or music files are kept on the mac mini. We have two external hard drives, one is a mirror drive so if the main hard drive fails we have duplicate files on the second drive (they are saved there automatically).

 

I have used two dell laptops over the last 6 years and they have worked great for me. Dh has a macbook and likes it but it's his first and he is still getting the hang of it. If you are used to PCs then there is a bit of a learning curve. :D With the laptop, rather than an external drive, DH set up an online sync-type account. Any files I care about losing are saved into a particular file and once a day they are uploaded to an online account. So if my computer dies, nothing important will be lost.

 

What will the computer be used for? What programsl do you need to install? If you get an older computer, I suggest you install only the basic programs you will need in order to conserve memory. If you are mainly just using a word processing program and an internet browser, an older computer should be able to handle that just fine.

 

Computer issues are NO fun. :grouphug: I hope you can find a solution that will work for you. I would think with layoffs, etc. companies probably have lots of extra computers laying around right now and you should be able to find a good deal somewhere.

[newbie]

:grouphug::grouphug: and more :grouphug:. When ours crashed a couple mos. ago we could not even turn it on, no lights nada.

 

We had a warranty and sent it back and Gateway/Acer couldnt get it to work. After the horrible cust. serv w/Acer , we went Mac and not going back.

Although I still have one Gateway PC. But, I subscribed immediately to Carbonite. Because I lost all pics and everything on the last one.

 

So, Alex's work is safe. With Carbonite, I dont even think about it, other than when I have to renew subscription.

 

Now, if I can just get the internet to work well all the time.:tongue_smilie::tongue_smilie:

[babysparkler]

My online business computer wouldn't turn on back in January b/c of a faulty surge protector. I ended up changing out the power supply box ($100 or so) and got it up and working just long enough to back up data before the hard drive did it's fatal crash and all was lost. Looking back, that $100 was the best money I could have spent to have my files (esp. for tax records) and photos backed up. I ended up buying a new computer because the damage was irreparable.

 

Sorry this is happening to you! I know how frustrating this is!