Mayday!
So, I’m on the road, in Ashland, trying to make do with the downright medieval strictures of dialup internet access, when my laptop freezes. I try various remedies, and eventually just power it down. When I power up again, I get a message saying a file named SYSTEM is missing or corrupt, and that I need to insert my Windows 2000 cd and try to repair. I carry all kinds of unnecessary stuff on the road - little speakers, a corkscrew, shorts in the winter and mittens in the summer, but do I carry my Windows 2000 cd? NO-O-O-O-O!
A normal person, someone in control of his life, would be able to go on a vacation and not be tethered to the internet, but I never seem to have all my work done by the time I leave for a vacation trip, and I am consequently relying on a fast, reliable internet connection at my destination and the continued flawless performance of my laptop.
I used the phone book (another medieval device - I always use Yahoo! to search for phone numbers or business addresses) to find a computer store. Looks like most computer folks work out of their houses here, if they work at all, but I managed to find a store squirreled away in a strip mall. I called and confirmed that they had a Windows 2000 Pro cd, and drove over. The cd turned out to be a burned bootleg copy, but I felt ok because I actually do own my software. Turns out I couldn’t “repair” my existing Windows installation without my Rescue disk. You know, those rescue diskettes we always make when Windows prompts us during installation? Or would make, if we had 4 blank diskettes and weren’t already burned out by the 45-minute installation process?
Even if I were sitting in my office, and had actually made a Rescue disk, there would be no way I could find it in the stacks and drawers of soon-to-be-extinct floppy disks. Fingers trembling, I finally gave in and selected the choice to reinstall Windows from scratch. I had a wild hope that somehow all my installed programs would magically appear when the installation was complete. I waited anxiously as the series of progress bars inched excruciatingly to the 100% mark. (why does it always take just as long to go from 99% to 100% as it does to go from 1% to 99%?)
The system rebooted, Windows came up, but the only installed program was Internet Explorer. Moreover, it hadn’t found my screen drivers, so I was working in a postcard-sized display.
It’s taken me, in dribs & drabs, about a day to get my dialup internet connection back, Userland reinstalled and my screen back to normal. I have no MS Office programs installed, can’t use Outlook to get my mail, so hundreds of Yahoo group messages are piling up in my mailbox. But, hey, I’ve got the time. I’m on VACATION!!!!
