Random grumbling

[triskellian]

My puter is not happy. It's been crashing on and off for days, and yesterday, Quark decided it wouldn't even start up before committing an illegal operation. All the work I was going to do today was with Quark. No one else in my office, and possibly on the whole campus, has a copy. No one seems to know where the installation disks are, or what the problem is. Norton Disk Doctor has been running for what feels like weeks, and is only three quarters of the way through, and this computer (my prehistoric Mac) has no access to the server, and no applications apart from those that came with the OS or can be downloaded.

Wish I had my laptop with me.

Comments

[cuthbertcross.livejournal.com]

I thought Quark was some kind of funny soft cheese...

[wimble.livejournal.com]

As a fundemental particle, it explains so much about the universe, if it's made out of a funny soft cheese.

[triskellian]

Ah! That must be the problem! The reason my computer won't run it is because it's cheese, and the computer isn't designed to run cheese. I understand now ;-)

(Although I thought it was more at the yogurt end of the dairy spectrum)

[al-fruitbat.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a job for... the Cheese Police!!

Although their first job might be sorting out the highly paradoxical phraseology of your last post. Don't worry though - there are Cheese Police permits for people having computer trouble.

[triskellian]

Paradoxical phraseology? Me? Where?

[al-fruitbat.livejournal.com]

The reason my computer won't run it is because it's cheese, and the computer isn't designed to run cheese

Paradoxical's probably the wrong word (I like it anyway) but the above doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I don't know... The office air con is playing up and we're all boiling and I've spent an hour today animating my icon so anything I write should come with an implicit disclaimer that I'm probably being silly. But you've known me long enough to know that anyway.

[triskellian]

The 'it' in 'it's' is Quark, damnit, not the puter :-P

[smiorgan.livejournal.com]

Get your IT department to pull their finger out of their arse. It sounds like the machine is a POS anyway, even before the hassle with RM. It sounds like a software fault, but can they check if the hardware is being adequately cooled?

Oh, and you're using Windows 98 - has it been properly patched or updated? Do you have any non-work programs downloaded on it?

Get them to buy Dell next time. Dell machines and great.

[smiorgan.livejournal.com]

are great.

[triskellian]

(Like your new name, btw)

I have actually had a useful IT person* with me on and off all day, checking various things about the machine, forming theories and passing relevant information onto the people who need to do the next stage of fiddling.

I'm more-than-half hoping that it's a lost cause, but what I want next time is a Mac, not a Dell. A shiny, shiny G5...

*No, I didn't believe in them either.

[smiorgan.livejournal.com]

I have actually had a useful IT person

Our IT people are useful. They buy Dell.

Anyway, if you have all of the installation disks*, your IT people should just reformat and reinstall the OS. Heck, if they're paranoid they can buy a new HD down the road for 45 quid. I mean, how much time has been wasted so far? How much is your combined hourly rate?

*If they don't know where the disks are, then they need a shoeing.

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Combined hourly rate isn't the point, 'cos wasting everyone's time doesn't require approval from Suits whereas buying new hard drives does (or otherwise comes out of your fixed budget).

[smiorgan.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah - type "msconfig" at the run prompt to find out what you're running at boot time.

Are you running Norton Utilities, by any chance? That can make the system more unstable, rather than less.

[cuthbertcross.livejournal.com]

I think you should try putting a Kraft Cheese Slice in the D drive and see what happens :o)