WOOT?!??!?

Well, I think I got it working. I was able to finally install the full version of McAfee while logged into the Safe Mode of XP. I then ran a complete scan of the hard drive after updating the virus program and it found a few trojans and one adware program which it deleted and once that was done things have been smooth sailing. I installed all the Windows updates and now I have to install a few drivers and some programs.

I was browsing today, possibly thinking about getting a new computer. I definitely want a new monitor and I may either go one of three routes:

1. Just do an upgrade - new motherboard, new processor, more RAM - go to like Pentium 4, 3GHz, with lots of RAM. New tower.

2. Get an HP - they have some very nice multi-media computers and I talked to the guy at my own Future Shop who said there were some nice new HPs coming down the pike within the next few months if I can hold out till then.

3. Go MAC - Get a new system, the new MAC G4 I think it is? These beasts are made for multi-media applications - they make feature films on MACs. Definitely something to seriously look into I think.

My Mom wants a computer, so maybe going the HP route for her would be good, if I am seriously considering doing more serious film stuff, maybe I should consider having a Mac for that, and then for everything else I do, since a huge part of me still likes Windows and the stuff it offers - I can just hang onto my laptop, and maybe even get a good multimedia HP laptop (the new one they have out now - sooo nice - P4, 3GHz, 1GB RAM (upgradable), 200 GB HD (with a way of getting another one hooked up to it), all the slots and plugs for multi-media devices, outputs to send signals to like your TV or a nice monitor, very very nice. Dual layer 16x DVD Burner. 17" widescreen that is very sharp - I am in love with this baby but the price is sticky $2,499.

But in the fall, they will probably come out with an even better model --- I'm not looking to replace my laptop right now but at least I have some options open to me with new models of computers coming to look at. Also, getting like a full HP or MAC, I can get it with a full product service plan that can be used to take the hasstle out of owning it - i.e. if something goes wrong I can hand it over to someone else and they take care of it at little cost to me, whereas right now, with a homebuilt model, although it can be fun to maintain and keep up, can be taxing on the time.

Anyway, it's 2:20am now, I gotta get to bed - pancake breaky in the morning on campus followed by a candy sale - I hope to be able to leave campus by about 2 or 3pm, to come home, finish installing stuff and finish cleaning and organizing my dresser area and the piles of stuff around my desk... I so need a tiny two shelf bookshelf next to my desk under the window to hold some of the crap on top of my dresser, so it's less messy looking in my room! Problem is I can't find a little tiny one, they are all big and too tall for the spot =S

- Steve

=(

Something is terribly wrong with my computer. The last reinstall seemed to go fine, and I thought it was updating properly but nothing will install properly. It's not even remembering what updates were installed from Windows Update. Why??? I didn't have this much trouble the last time I formatted my old hard drive (the computer was saying there was a fatal error with my old drive each time I started it up, and recommended I get a new one immediately). But last time, just formatting it and reinstalling it worked ok --- maybe I need to do that here. I thought putting a new drive in would just be easier to format and reinstall without going through the bother of formatting the old one and worrying about finishing copying some of the TV shows I'd recorded onto the hard drive. I wanted to just put the new drive in, install things and then just copy what I wanted off the old one onto the new one and then just format the old one and hopefully start with a clean sweep.

I may just copy what I can off the old one then set it up again as the primary and format it and try again that way. Last time it seemed to work that way - maybe this time it will work. If not, then I guess maybe it's just time for a new system. My laptop is much more reliable than my home built one now-a-days. Just too many worms and stuff for me to worry about - of course that can happen with a new system but at least everything in a new system is compatible and built to work with one another instead of worrying whether or not it will work on a home built.

I'll see if they have that drive scrubbing program at London Drugs today, I'll also try that in addition to the above. If that doesn't work then I'll start shopping for a new system.

- Steve

grrrrrr

I should've guessed things wouldn't be so easy. My computer is still giving me heartache and I am now on my 5th install of XP.

Things were so cool but somehow, and I didn't even do it - cause I had only been updating Windows, but somehow it just stopped and froze, and when I rebooted I had a shitload of spyware and adware. So I think this time, if it works, the first thing that gets installed is going to be McAfee.

- Steve

Quote of the Week: Monday, June 20

"Innovation as an approach to business growth is simply lazy. Actually it's worse than that; it's dangerous... So now we've got a bunch of companies that have forgotten all that boring stuff that made them successful in the first place and are getting into areas they don't know anything about and have no business being in at all. A lot of these companies are showing their commitment to this strategy by creating a new position: CIO. No, that's not Chief Information Officer. It's - yep, you guessed it - Chief Innovation Officer. And these CIOs are rattling on and on about how the company is "retooling" and "charting a new course" and "exploring new opportunities." And let's not forget about "driving double-digit top-line growth." The fact that all that top-line growth will probably come at the expense of the more important bottom line doesn't seem to bother anyone. Except me. - Sergio Zyman, former Chief Marketing Officer, Coca-Cola Company, in his book "Renovate Before You Innovate: Why Doing the NEW thing Might NOT Be the RIGHT Thing"

*** knocks on wood ***

Well, well, well. It's 1:52 am as I begin to write yet another blog entry. I've just re-installed for a 4th time, WINDOWS XP and I think this time, it's going to work. No virus alerts or problems arose this time. No stalls on install. No errors during install. I'm right now downloading again the first set of WINDOWS UPDATES, so we'll see how it goes. So far, it all downloaded ok, fast (as it should be - it was very slow after my 3rd install of the OS), and the installation itself seems to be going smoothly.

*** crosses fingers ***

I hope this works!

So my room is almost clean - I cleaned the closet, the bookcases, the desk, my night-tables, all that is left to sort and organize is the dresser and a bit of the desk which has become messy as I clean the other parts of my room. It smells a lot better too - less dusty.

I will finish early in the morning, I may stay up just installing stuff, I haven't decided yet. If I do I'll continue working on cleaning. We'll see.

I should sleep. And I'm kinda horny lol. I haven't bated in a few days due to being sick and all.

Ack. Now it wants to install a bunch of hardware lol. Which is good - but I don't want it to yet, not until the security updates are installed, oh, nevermind, XP installed it by itself. That's ok I guess lol.

Now installing update 17 of 20...

So far, so good.

I can't wait to get it working, I'll have an 80GB and a 120GB hard drive. I really wanna get a newer DVD burner, one that burns twice as much onto a DVD as the older ones, so I can get more stuff onto a DVD. So far, so good.

I was worried I may have to dump this whole system and start from scratch, but I tried something different on this 4th install, and it seems to have worked.

*** knocks on wood ***

I let Windows assign a random number at the end of the username, so that if there are any worms or viruses that sit out on the internet looking for my old username, well, it's not there anymore. That may be the key?

I dunno.... IT'S A HUGE GUESS ON MY PART.

Found a couple of marketing books I didn't know I had, which is good - I wanted to read them and now I've moved them up to my to read pile.

Anyway, better get to bed or get something done or something other than type randomly into this blog that hardly anyone will probably ever read.

I so could use some chocolate!

But that's bad - I won't lose weight eating chocolate. I so wanna go on my bike ride!

- Steve