“We have to get a computer!” Computer learning curve stories, a long one and a short one.

The short story begins towards the last paragraphs.

A computer systems engineer, I am not. Most everything I have accomplished successfully in setting up my dozen or so computers and installing the software is either from persistent guesswork or following the directions correctly.

Most directions can be discovered using Google, I mean GOBBLE.

‘Mastering’ computers has been difficult for me, I learned more about them than I wanted to know. It became necessary, because I could not trust, or afford, to have someone else do the repairs and upgrades. Rather than gaining exponentially more creative powers, using expensive graphics processing software, I have become a temporary terminal accessory for my Information Highway vehicle, just until keyboard operators like myself become obsolete, post SAI.

We started our family computer experience about 1987 with some small all-in-one thing from Radio Shack, we took it back within the trial period. There was no dial up connections available at that time, and we had no idea what we might be able to do with such an expensive gadget. Now, it could be a prized legacy item on eBay.

About 1993 at a public library, I was able to experience the Internet for the first time; it was something new and free to do. What a lot of hype the media had been spewing about it, I thought, as I surfed on the net for the first time using a Netscape web browser. I liked connecting with the Internet for the wealth of information IT made available.

In 1994 I was doing word processing on an electronic Smith Corona and I upgraded to a Smith Corona Personal Word Processor, (P. W. P. 7) when I found one at a yard sale.

The year 1995 started with a gift from my boss, of a 5.25 floppy drive type pac-man rig. Then, I bought an IBM, Windows 3.1 PC, at a yard sale for $50.00 and wrecked it soon after by mistakenly deleting system files. Oops, I had not enough experience to recover deleted system files.

Fall 1997; our just turned 7-year-old told us point blank that, “We have to get a computer!” She was acting like she just could not live any longer without a real computer. I began shopping around, Sears had a few, but the people at work warned me off those.

Early in 1998 I found a penny saver ad for computers and had a shop custom build our computer. I paid $2300.00 for a W-95 system. Approximately, a 300Ghz processor, 6GB HDD with perhaps 2-128 MB memory sticks. I failed to notice that the W-95 disk was not included with the delivery, nor did I understand then why I would need it later. I named our computer, Hope.

The new computer compared unfavorably to my Smith Corona P. W. P. 7, our computer seemed unstable, and a house of cards, next to the Smith Corona. Then the Smith Corona’s floppy drive broke, replacement parts were no longer available from the manufacturer, and I had to learn to depend on a computer for word processing.

Our computer usually worked OK for word processing, but I found out that a computer does things for reasons of its own programming, such as; ‘This program has performed and illegal operation and will be shut down.’ What judge and jury decided that? ‘Invalid page fault, you will loose any unsaved information.’ ‘Oops’, I was not saving my work often enough, again. That was tough, remembering to save my work often. I missed having my P. W. P. 7.

About 1997, AOL disks were arriving in the mail every month, so we went online, but no one here had time for “The Information Highway”.

By 1998, we were going online again with some AOL free hours. Then we tried the free Internet service from CompuServe. They insisted that I owe them $19.90, but I say they did not cancel my free account when I requested them to do so. My credit card company agreed with me and refused to pay their charges to my account. We had EarthLink.net for a few months just to get a free net cam, which is still in the box, somewhere in the piles of legacy equipment.

About a year after we bought it, I had to take our computer in to the repair shop. The repairman told me it was such a simple fix that the he would not charge me for it, and he said, “I'll catch you next time.”

The next time, about 6 months later, our computer needed more serious repairs. After it had been in the repair shop about a week they called to say that the hard drive needed to be reformatted (wiped) and that would mean a total loss of all data. The bill was $95, and when I got it back it was not fixed very well, so I took it right back in to see if I could use the ninety-day guarantee they had on repairs, to get it fixed properly. After a few more days went by, I was told that they found out it needed a new processor and a new power supply and that I had to pay $324 more. Ouch!

That was the last time I ask anyone else work on our computer. After it had been in the repair shop almost all of November 1999 I was glad to get it back and I was very busy reinstalling all of our software. It still had problems, but it was usable again.

We had not known enough about computers when we bought our first one to be sure to get the Windows 95 CD-ROM disk with it. When I uninstalled EarthLink.net I lost some files needed to display Web pages and we could not get back on the Internet. I tried reinstalling Windows a few times from two different disks I had bought to fix the problem, but even after struggling with it for weeks; I could not get the computer to connect to the Internet.

Buying a new bare bones W-98 computer [about $600.00] from TigerDirect.com solved our web page displaying and Internet connection problem. The first one they sent me was assembled incorrectly and I had to return it and wait for the next one. On the second day that I had the computer set up, I used Norton Utilities to optimize the registry. When that process restarted the computer, the computer could not find its hard drive. With tech help from Tiger tech, I reformatted the hard drive, losing all the pre-installed software and only regaining 6 GB of the 13GB hard drive because that is all the Tiger technician on the telephone could get our computer to format. Two years later, I had learned enough to know how to format the full 13 GB and I did that successfully. As I thought about it after reformatting, I realized the steps I missed that were necessary to have avoided such a terrible wasting of time problem.

I bought and then returned about half a dozen different brands and types of bulk storage backup units. I wanted to have our hard drive data backed up, but nothing seemed to work very well or was compatible with our system. Eventually, I got a Hewlett-Packard Colorado 20 GB tape drive. I felt much more secure after I had the hard drive contents copied to tape.

After about two years of our being able to go online there was a lot of complaining, about not being able to use the phone, with our daughter playing online computer games connected with our dialup service. I decided to resolve some of the conflicts by buying DSL service. It took about ten days to get the hardware stuff delivered, then three days of cussing to set it all up. My daughter helped me to correct some mistakes, and got our router to work. For another five days I was upset, tying to get out of the contract without having to pay the $200 early cancellation fee. Another sales pitch I fell for, thinking from what I understood, that I had ten days to cancel if I was unsatisfied.

After we had ‘high-speed’ Internet for about a month I began to appreciate some of the benefits. An improvement in our download speeds, and more than one computer could be on the Internet at the same time. Oh, and now the telemarketers could disturb us calling on our phone. I went back on dialup for awhile some years later, but I took a promotional Yahoo! - AT&T deal soon thereafter.

When I retired, I started watching YouTube videos for entertainment; the buffering interrupted my viewing. AT&T could only provide a basic DSL speed of about 78 Kbs, through my phone line. Annoyed, I dumped them for DSL Extreme to get 162 Kbs. By that time DSL Extreme had corrected many of their earlier problems that we all heard about. Now DSL Extreme is becoming annoying again with policy and contract payment requirements, so I plan to dump them for FreedomPOP, and EveryoneON. I’m waiting on the equipment to arrive that I ordered the other day. As a bonus, if this plan goes well, I can drop my AT&T land line for which I pay monthly, only to be annoyed daily with robot-telemarketing calls. Occasionally, I leave the phone connected for a call expected from someone I with whom I want to talk.

I’m guessing, I might use 160 GB of bandwidth some months; and that is a lot of data charges with some providers. 162 Kbs, 14 hours per day adds up, 7GB per day. I am hoping I will recognize some day soon, that all that IT time is being subtracted from my LIFE TIME!

Since about 2001, I have white-boxed [home built] or bought used computer systems on eBay. I’ve owned many brands of motherboards, with good results. Some died along the way, but most were retired working, and are available for operation whenever I figure out how, to love more than one computer at a time. I’ve always been a one-woman man, and geeks find turning on computers is so much easier than turning on women.

Now, I have better control of my computers, I upgrade the drives, motherboards, power supplies, processors, memory, and have overcome most of the difficulties I used to have with computers so often in the past. My women left me, so I acquired some pet cats. The cat’s honey-do lists are much shorter, feed me, scratch my neck, freshen our water; rather than remodel the bathroom, landscape the yard, etc.

Several of my computers can connect to the Internet, the one that I use, and extras for back up when this one develops a problem. Like legs, running with two computers is faster than running with one.

Personally, I feel that legacy equipment may be safer from manufacturer installed back door abuses, and I get by with older stuff that I can sometimes purchase used.

Over the years stuff breaks down and we adapt, with new stuff. I got very tired of buying and installing expensive NEW STUFF. It usually requires me to buy other newer stuff to complete the upgrade for profitability; I mean compatibility, and to achieve comparable computability.

I decided the last time, when I found out that I had not bought a replacement for my MSI NEO2 board on eBay, as I had intended, but that I had mistakenly purchased a MSI NEO3 865PE, that NEXT TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT! FTS [Fuk This Shet] Every time, it’s more expense & more down [the drain] time. Yeah right, but I tried.

The last time I bought boards, I bought five - ASUS P5B SE Socket 775 Motherboard P965 and twelve - Corsair CM2X 2048-6400C5 2GB 800 MHz, as my new set up, as well as the spares for when they burn out. I bought three more used - ASUS P5B SE Socket 775 Motherboard P965, when I saw them on eBay several years ago.

So, you’ve probably guessed already; I’ve not needed any board replacements – because I HAVE them!

Short story begins here.

Well, I surmise that I HAVE a fan – no one else has – until shortly after you’ve read this rant and understand that “The Information Highway” is a Troll Road, I mean toll road, run by the software Mafia, and the equipment manufacturers, for profits.

I tell people, “I’m caught in the WEB”, when they ask me, “Where have you been lately?”

‘High-speed’ Internet is a bad joke, in my opinion; it’s only my money and my life that goes ‘high-speed’, because I am paying more for virtual reality, and have a lot less time for enjoying a real life.

HEAT KILLS - computers, so I run mine with the doors [side panels] off. The two side panels are lost; somewhere in the piles of legacy equipment.

A very tough lesson for average computer users: COOLING FAN POWER must be greater than PROCESSING POWER.

One day I found out accidentally, that the backside area of my motherboard on the opposite side from the main cooling fan HEATS UP. The side panel of the box and the interior box frame components usually enclose this area. An average user NEVER feels this area of their MB while their machine is running. I did. Is this a hot spot planned for obsolescence, or is it planned for profits?

Now, for the last three years or so, I use a small computer fan dangling by its power wires outside my side panel-less white box build, to cool the motherboard on the back side, opposite the big processor cooling fan. My small fan custom addition is 1.5 inches from the motherboard main processor area that usually is warm, or too hot to touch.

Some things I recommend computer users need to do for their pet computers:

Install a power line surge protector, AND get a:
CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD PFC Pure Sinewave UPS 1500VA 900W [or less] PFC Compatible Mini-Tower by CyberPower $200.00

Buy Casper, or some other HDD cloning software, $50.00

Clone HDDs 3 times per year [+ or -], save tears from WannaCry, and tearing out hair from Eternal Blue.

Get Hatachi [WD] UltraStar HDDs. [eBay used are OK, usually]

HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 HUS724040ALA640(0F14688) 4TB SATA Drive [OR LESS as needed]

Get 32 GB [+ or -], USB flash drives for instant duplicate file saving as you work. [I use HP brand.]

Clean the metal heat sink the processor fan cools, when it gets lots of dust in it; look at it every year.

Change the processor thermal paste every five years. Adequate heat transfer to the heat sink from the cpu requires heat conducting paste. It can dry out fast if it is overheated. Motherboards get overheated when this happens, HEAT KILLS motherboards.