And then Wednesday morning I get up, make a cup of coffee, get situated on my couch to work on my upcoming blog about fighting fat... and my beloved laptop died.
My new Asus Vivobook on the top, my 2011 Toshiba below; they have the same size 15.6" screen
It had nothing to do with the new gateway just installed in my home. The Toshiba has been on it's last legs for a few years now, held together with packing tape, twine and even half-erasers under 3-4 keys that were stuck. It took forever to start up, and even longer to shut down at night--but I loved it like an old friend.
I bought the Asus over a year ago, back in Jan 2024, one week before I got covid that became long covid. It's been hidden away in my bedroom dresser ever since. Until today, that is.
I feel like I've been uprooted from 2011 and tossed into 2025. Did you know The Good Wife is no longer on tv? President Obama is no longer in office and we're under siege by a Fascist party and megalomaniac tyrant? You don't own Microsoft Office anymore, you SUBSCRIBE to it? Enough!
This new laptop is lighter on the lap--it weighs 13 ounces. Not even one pound. My Toshiba weighs 10 pounds, 5 oz--that thing was a tank. Anyway, I can't figure out where anything is on here. It keeps telling me to stop trying to store files on it, move them to Microsoft's One Drive.
The mousepad doesn't even have buttons!
What bothers me most of all, the first thing I did was download "Open Live Writer. OLW is an editor I've been using for 20 years to write and publish my blogs. But when I tried to install it, I got a stern warning APP DENIED ACCESS from Google (because it uses your Google credentials to create an offline version of your blog).
I went looking for answers. I discovered this has been happening since 2020 for every blogger who uses OLW and gets a new computer. So after 20 years of blogging, this is my first time writing a post using Blogger's online editor. It's going to take some time getting used to.
Well, on Saturday I am meeting with Carl from the hardware store, we're going to use his work station and an ethernet cable to hopefully get access to my Toshiba's hard drive long enough to retrieve my photos folder, financial documents and a couple blog drafts I was working on. Wish me luck and if you see anything weird going on with my blog--that's just me trying to get a new handle on things here. Thanks for listening.
What a challenge! I also hate moving from laptop to laptop; I never know how to run it or find anything. I loved Windows XP but was forced onto Win10 when I bought my not-so-new current laptop, then went to 11. (a nightmare) I hope that you can get your stuff off the Toshiba. It sounds like you have a friend to help you! I thought Blogger was easy when I tried it and probably would have gone with the platform except that it couldn't take my Typepad archives. :( WP is a lot harder with the blogs and the issues with editing. I still have to switch to my iPhone to edit a post--ridiculous! Best of luck, my friend!
ReplyDeleteMargaret, thank you my friend--I was just sitting here (tearing some hair out over trying to copy some files) and thinking "I'd rather deal with a new computer then what Margaret went thru this month with her blog!" I''m sorry it's still a weird challenge for you. And you are right on both counts--Blogger is simpler than WP, but you could NOT have migrated here from Typepad.
DeleteI don't understand why there has to be such a learning curve. We got a new laptop in our charity office and every one of us puts out a message on their morning "Where is the on button again". Mostly we randomly press every button on the top row until it turns on. We are retired office workers for the most part. How can it be that hard to turn on a computer?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you were back in the hospital. All this stress can't be helping with your healing. I am glad that the internet people showed up and got you working.
Now it's a new month. Let's get Dug straightened out!!
Thank you, Miss Merry! And I shouldn't complain, I am lucky I had a new computer "waiting in the wings". But boy are you right about "why must there be a learning curve"... I hate Microsoft!
DeleteI am impressed with how well you coped with this problem, Doug. I would truly miss your blogs if you didn't figure it out, but you obviously did. Hugs (virtual).
ReplyDeleteYou're very kind DJan, thank you! I wish I hadn't blogged about this to be honest, the new computer is very nice & I'm getting used to it :^)
DeleteI love technology. I HATE technology. I can't say more or I will go on a rant.😉 I'm thankful for those of you who blog and hate when y'all have trouble which seems pretty frequent based on my reading. My biggest complaint is that all the tech giants want to be monopolies and not work with each other which makes my life as a user a nightmare. What happened to that old term, "user friendly? " Good luck!🍀
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks Bobi, I needed this! The new PC is working out, I just wish Microsoft would STOP interrupting me to ask why I keep turning off all their amazing new AI features. I don't want or need that nonsense!
DeleteDug, I know nothing about Asus?? But glad you had another laptop on hand so we didn't miss your posts. We've always had Dell laptops - don't know why - just stayed with what worked over the years, I guess. Good luck with your new one! Hope your long covid and foot problems are on the mend...
ReplyDeleteThanks Rian! I have no brand loyalty--my first laptop was a Compaq Presario, my second was a Dell, then I got an IBM Thinkpad, then an HP, then a Toshiba and now Asus. So far it's been good :^)
DeleteOkay Doug, that's enough with the health issues. A weekend in the hospital? I'm sure that was a weekend of fun...not!
ReplyDeleteI've been using HP's, at work and at home for many years. Sadly, they don't last more than a few years before they become obsolete. As for OneDrive, I did find a work around - I had to save them to an external hard drive and then reload onto my computer. Not sure if that was the easiest way to deal with it but it worked for me. However, everything is updated in the cloud as I use it, and I don't always think to update it on the hard drive. I just purchased a new laptop (another HP - the price was right), and found it automatically found the files in OneDrive. That seems to be a benefit, but dammit I want to know where the heck that cloud is!
Have fun with your new toy and take care of yourself!
Thank you Maebeme, you always manage to make me smile even when you're sharing useful info. 🙂 I'm getting used to this One Drive, I told my friend Diana last night that I'm too old to keep rebelling, I'm just going to go with the flow and do what Microsoft tells me! This new laptop, or toy haha it's working out better than I expected. Still miss my old tank though!
DeleteI haven't heard the ASUS name in over a decade. The school system in which I taught was buying them for elementary students just as I was retiring. I hope yours functions well for you, and probably will since you aren't an elementary student who could be very rough on a computer. I am an Apple only devotee.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing Dkzody, I have to admit I haven't seen the Asus name in a long time either. I just looked for a modern laptop with enough hard drive on Amazon a year ago and found this one. I probably should have switched to Apple years ago, I'd probably be a lot less frustrated now!
DeleteYour column got me thinking about what would happen if my computer gave up the ghost.
ReplyDeleteI have a number of functions on it that I’ve set up to my liking and I doubt that they would be on a new computer.
There are several that certainly wouldn’t be – ones I wrote myself, 15 or more years ago. I’m sure I couldn’t remember how to do that now, especially as some are rather complicated.
I have these backed up but I’d be very surprised if they worked on a new machine.
Let’s hope it keeps working for a long time.
Peter I hope you can keep your machine for a long time. I was just telling a friend last night, who suggested I get open office for my PC, that I had to buy Microsoft office because I set up a series of Excel spreadsheets tracking on my retirement income, etc and I wrote a series of macros for this 10 years ago that cannot be migrated to open office. And I would have no idea how to rewrite that stuff now!
DeleteGood grief. And congratulations on seeking help, both in a health crisis and with the tech craziness. You've got the right instincts, even if the dentist is a curse.
ReplyDeleteNow for all the improvements you certainly are due for!
Ceci
Ceci, thank you my friend--I hope you're doing good :^)
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