I am playing catch-up on my blog writing. At the end of December, my main computer had a “fatal” error.
\nI woke up to the “blue screen,” and no amount of refreshing, restoring past restore points, or fixing windows
\nin any manner would work. After six hours, I realized the computer would have to be reformatted. I then spent
\nthe next four hours attempting this process. Nothing I tried worked. At one point, which lasted a couple of hours,
\nthe computer would shut down within a couple of minutes because of the error state, which meant I had to restart it,
\npick an option within the BIOS only to find the computer was powering down because I took to long. In the end,
\nI contacted Microsoft tech support. They were no help. They told me I had some other issue, and I needed to take
\nit to the local repair shop.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At 7 PM I had an idea. You see I had experienced this about two years before when I had taken the “free” update from
\nMicrosoft for Windows 8 users to go to Windows 10. In the process, the computer had many issues, and I was elevated
\nto Microsoft’s highest tech support. During this support time, they not only take over your computer with remote
\nassistance, but they talk to you on the phone. At this level, they are the only ones that can fix your computer. There is no
\nother option. Making a long story short, I recalled something I had seen this technician do, so I thought there couldn’t be
\nanything to lose in the process. I tested my mental memory and tried what I thought I remembered the technician doing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It worked. I brought the computer back to life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I felt so empowered.<\/p>\n
When my husband came home from work, he highly suggested I get a different computer. We had been planning on getting
\nthe kids a stronger machine for what they were getting into anyway. Ah, the life of owning a computer.<\/p>\n
They are great until they don’t work.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Why am I telling you all this?<\/p>\n
I learned some vital lessons along the way, and I thought I would share them with you.<\/p>\n
First, always have a USB with Windows loaded on it. You can search the topic on how to make a Windows backup to a USB. <\/p>\n Second, never trust your computer to keep your stuff safe. Always have a backup. Storage disks are cheap these days. <\/p>\n Equipment fails at the most inopportune time. Trust me. I’ve lived through this. I currently have two Seagate External drives <\/p>\n Third, write down all your computer details. You always need this at some point. You want to know what version you have, <\/p>\n Be prepared is my motto.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nThere are plenty of videos on it. You need a copy of windows to fix most problems you encounter. Without this, you are dead in the
\nwater. It used to be that you could insert the disks that came with your computer\u00a0to do this. Now the computer manufacturers
\nexpect you do to it yourself, yet most people have no idea of how important\u00a0it is. I didn’t have this the first time around, which
\ncaused me more<\/strong> problems.<\/p>\n
\nYou can buy a 1TB Seagate for under 60 bucks, or you can back up to a cloud storage place for a few dollars a month.
\nIf you have a lot of documents, you don’t want to lose, or you have pictures you always want to keep, then back it up.<\/p>\n
\nattached to my computer, and I have everything backed up to one external drive that resides off the computer (and I back
\neverything up to this monthly, so I always have quick access to most of my files). I also back up to a cloud storage. My backup
\nplan leaves me with three copies should one of them fail. Take inventory of what is on your computer, and think
\nabout what you would do if it was wiped clean.<\/p>\n
\nhow much RAM it has etc. I keep a print off of this information in my filing cabinet. It makes it easier to troubleshoot when I know
\nexactly what processor I have.<\/p>\n