Yesterday, I had a very disquieting day when, switching on my PC after a few days away, it refused to complete the boot and start-up process. No matter how many times I tried, it would fail - in a different place each time. Fortunately, I have a laptop as well, so I was able to Google for info on an appropriate course of action to take.
Now, I'm not a computer whizz-kid, but I did build this machine from bits, and I was dead chuffed that it ever worked in the first place. I can't remember exactly when I built it, but it must be getting on close to 10 years now, and I am aware that these things do have a finite life. I have been quite good at maintenance and computer housework, keeping both the physical side and the operational side of the machine clean to the best of my ability, and backing up files etc, thinking it would be an easy thing to restore it's functions and my files - of which there are many - in the event of catastrophic failure. So far, I have been very lucky in that, up until yesterday, I have never experienced the dreaded BSOD - Blue Screen of Death.
Anyway, I have poked, prodded, cajoled, sworn at, pleaded with, safe-moded, Googled, hoped, tried (again and again) started, re-started, re-re-started, switched off, unplugged, and then gone through the whole process again, and still the bloody thing would choose a different point in the start-up procedure to fail each time, giving me just enough hope that I might get as far as opening one or two necessary programs that would give me access to other stuff. I have run disk checks, and run Startup repairs, all to no avail. After working away at it well into the night, and getting nowhere, I gave up and switched off again. At this point, I was seriously thinking it was going to entail an operating system re-install to get this baby working again - not a task I was looking forward to, as it would entail loads of other program installs, and the ultimate loss of quite a few programs which came as time-limited freebies, so not available again without paying for them.
Up very early this morning, switched on, booted up, proceeded to start up, and went right through to completion, and runs like butter wouldn't melt in its mouth. My next problem is - DO I DARE TURN IT OFF? I'll have a few coffees before I even consider that one, but it will, of course, have to happen sometime.
Anyway - the whole point of this rant is that it has made me realise just how dependent I have become on having access to a computer, and how lucky I am to at least understand a minute amount about what makes them tick. I remember how much they terrified me the first time I started to use them, fearing that I would click on the wrong thing and bring everything crashing down round my ears. There is a whole language to learn while even using a computer, let alone the language required for understanding how they work.
Rather than make our lives easier as was forecast, I feel they have introduced so much more into our lives that our existence has become even more complicated.
I still wouldn't be without one, but I think that my ageing faculties might be the deciding factor in that one - only time will tell.
