This week’s blog is about a subject that everyone reading this will have some experience….  computers and their faults.  Talk about, “Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.”  When they mess up, they really do, don’t they?  I’m half thinking of going back to pen and paper.

A few years ago, my main laptop needed a new hard drive.  I can’t function without access to the interne, so, I had to buy a new one.  I opted for an EePC netbook (which, I now know, is made by Asus).  I love my little EePC, even though it’s XP (which is no longer being supported by Microsoft).  In its heyday, the battery lasted 12 hours on the spin, and I took it almost everywhere, so that I could work when I was out and about.

Anyway, this year, my little netbook started playing up, it fell in love with the letter “W” and put it in all sorts of odd places, so I took it in for repair and looked around for another one to cover in its absence.  I’ll be honest, I couldn’t afford what I really wanted, a Mac, and these Ultrabooks don’t permit the download of Word, etc, which is not a great deal of use to me.  Word processing and spreadsheets are the two main uses of my computer.  So, I bought another Asus netbook.  Which went wrong last week.  Eight months later.   So, I took it in for repair, to the well-known retailer from where I purchased it.  It is, after all, still under warranty.

I got it back a couple of days ago, and this is where my blood pressure rises.  Everything, and I mean everything, is gone.  Somehow (and I don’t know how) the computer has remembered some things, a couple of days later.  I back up all my word and excel files on a couple of cloud based solution, so I didn’t think they’d be a problem, but Microsoft Office Suite has gone to that great computer dumping ground in the sky, and, yes, you’ve guessed it, I can’t get it back.  I’ve e-mailed the company, so I am keeping my fingers crossed, but I am not a happy bunny.  And, one of my cloud based solutions won’t reload so I’ve had to e-mail the company about that.

When I went to collect my netbook, the very clever young man in the shop told me that I had signed to say I understood, and that it had been pointed out to me that I might lose everything.  I had to point out to him that I hadn’t read everything, although I will NEVER sign anything again without reading the small print.  He also then pointed out to me how netbooks are not intended for use in the way that I use them.  Really?  Funny how other people have told me that I use them in EXACTLY the right way and what he told me is the exact opposite.

I don’t know why they can’t explain these things to you in simple terms; it’s time-consuming and frustrating to have to go through all this.  I suppose it will all come out in the wash, but just at the moment…

©Susan Shirley 2013