My OperaWherefore Art Thou?
Saturday, November 17, 2007 5:45:20 PM
Well I may not be fair Titania (a glance at my mug shot will show that) but at least I'm not yet dead either. I have, dear reader, been off-air because of equipment failure.
Machine No.1 - usually overloaded - far too many additional programs that I never use - primary access to the internet. In spite of 8 separate security systems a trojan got through to install a rogue dialler. As far as I can tell one of these sentinels prevented me from getting an astronomical phone bill but other nasty little gremlins took thier toll. The machine gradually manifested more and more problems until it gave up completely. I now have a hard drive that I cannot even re-format.
So what was the cause of this malaise? Thinking back I can remember hunting for a particular Morrowind Mod. I followed the link to one of those annoying advertising boards that leave you fuming. In desperation I pressed the link for what looked like the right place - it turned out to be a porn site. Even though I got out as fast as possible the demon had already struck.
Machine No.2 - the workhorse - dial up to the internet - extremely slow but OK for picking up emails. I had this bright idea - why not attach the broadband modem - and install the TalkTalk software? The reason became obvious when said software stood still part-way through installation. After an hour I had to crash the machine. Windows had been corrupted. Who was at fault here I don't know but the result is another machine to take back to basics. Hopefully I can recover this one at some time in the future.
Machine No.3 - to get myself back on the net I convinced myself to finish a project that had been lying idle for some time - a Linux machine. Well I assembled the parts from spares and 'borrowings'. I even sucessfully installed Red Hat 7.1. So now onto broadband - well No!
Problem No.1 - no USB ports on the old machine - need to get a card.
Problem No.2 - the TalkTalk CD doesn't support Linux. However - at least in theory - technical support at TT can walk me through a manual installation. Only thing I need now is a crystal ball to tell me when I can get through to them - and oh yes - infinite patience.
Thanks to my friend Carol I can post this missive but don't hold your breath for the next exciting installment. Where computers are concerned my name should be Jonah.
Machine No.1 - usually overloaded - far too many additional programs that I never use - primary access to the internet. In spite of 8 separate security systems a trojan got through to install a rogue dialler. As far as I can tell one of these sentinels prevented me from getting an astronomical phone bill but other nasty little gremlins took thier toll. The machine gradually manifested more and more problems until it gave up completely. I now have a hard drive that I cannot even re-format.
So what was the cause of this malaise? Thinking back I can remember hunting for a particular Morrowind Mod. I followed the link to one of those annoying advertising boards that leave you fuming. In desperation I pressed the link for what looked like the right place - it turned out to be a porn site. Even though I got out as fast as possible the demon had already struck.
Machine No.2 - the workhorse - dial up to the internet - extremely slow but OK for picking up emails. I had this bright idea - why not attach the broadband modem - and install the TalkTalk software? The reason became obvious when said software stood still part-way through installation. After an hour I had to crash the machine. Windows had been corrupted. Who was at fault here I don't know but the result is another machine to take back to basics. Hopefully I can recover this one at some time in the future.
Machine No.3 - to get myself back on the net I convinced myself to finish a project that had been lying idle for some time - a Linux machine. Well I assembled the parts from spares and 'borrowings'. I even sucessfully installed Red Hat 7.1. So now onto broadband - well No!
Problem No.1 - no USB ports on the old machine - need to get a card.
Problem No.2 - the TalkTalk CD doesn't support Linux. However - at least in theory - technical support at TT can walk me through a manual installation. Only thing I need now is a crystal ball to tell me when I can get through to them - and oh yes - infinite patience.
Thanks to my friend Carol I can post this missive but don't hold your breath for the next exciting installment. Where computers are concerned my name should be Jonah.
