Hi, all.
I was scheduled to lead the The Bi-Weekly TPB discussion on Good as Lily last week, but was hit with multiple computer issues -- Windows was slow to load, slow to act, crashing more often than the Indy 500, giving me the Blue Screen of Death at every turn, and then a dire message I've NEVER seen before: "Your hard drive is imminent danger of failing. Back up everything and replace it."
Fortunately, I had backups. In fact, I had backups on two different backup drives, in part because last month I got an error message from one of them telling me it was failing(!), and bought a new one.
So, I bought a new, bigger replacement drive, unplugged everything attached to my computer (mouse, keyboard, printer, external drives, screen, etc.), cracked open the case, pulled out the old one, put in the new one. Now, I just needed to transfer over the data over from the backups ...
... and found that, although I had backups of the data, I didn't have an image of the old drive. Without it, I didn't have Windows or my other programs. 
In the old days, when you bought a computer, they would include a CD with Windows and/or a set of discs to restore your computer to factory-fresh state. In this day and age, they don't; it's on you to create those discs. Which, I didn't know.
So, I spent a couple of days trying to figure a way around that problem. I tried making a set from my laptop computer, but every time I tried I made disc 1 of 5 and disc 2 of 5, but it corrupted on disc 3 of 5.
Ordering a set from the computer manufacturer would take three to five weeks(!) 
Calling the computer manufacturer's customer service would cost $100(!) 
I did find a completely legit source to download a replacement Windows 7 image disc (see here), provided you have the product key from your completely legit version of Windows 7, which I had because one of the first things I DID do when I bought this computer was download Belarc Advisor, a wonderful program that lists EVERYTHING on your computer -- the components (drives, motherboard, processors, memory) and programs.
So, I installed the replacement Windows, and things kind of worked, except now the cursor wasn't working -- I could use the mouse and click on links and buttons and open things, but it wouldn't type!
I spent a day figuring out that problem, and the best I could do was a workaround -- the On Screen Keyboard in Accessories. But then, I found the answer. Because the replacement drive is from Western Digital, they provide a free version of Acronis True Image, a nifty file management program that allows you to do all kinds of stuff with backups ... including making a clone of your drives.
With that, I made a clone of the old drive, copied it to the new drive, and it worked!
Except I still couldn't type!
On the way to church this morning, I told my wife about that last problem, and she said it's not a cursor problem, it's a keyboard problem. Which made me realize -- the keyboard wasn't plugged in! (I knew I was insanely fortunate to marry her 25 years ago, and once again, I was reminded why.)
Anyway, I'm back in business, and hope to launch the Good as Lily discussion tomorrow.
Replies
Yow, what an odyssey. Glad you're back. I got about halfway through Good As Lily last week, so I'll be ready to chime in.
I would say something about a PEBCAC error, but i've done something similar.
Yowtch... I think I'll go backup my computer now.
I thought it was an interesting book, unfortunately, I'm away for the week and won't be able to participate. I'll probably chime in when I get back.
I pay a monthly fee for someone to take care of my computer. I got tired of problems. Now I can call someone at 4 a.m. -- and I have -- and somebody in India will fix my computer for me. It's worth the money.
Randy Jackson said:
I have no idea what that is, but then, I'm no computer guru. My level of expertise is that I can take things apart and fit Tab A into Slot B, and read the manual for instructions on what to do -- and do a Google search to tell me what to do if there's still a problem, or a new problem (like, say, the cursor working but not allowing me to type).
I didn't recognize this acronym either, but I figured it was some sort of operator error thing:
PEBCAC, or 'problem exists between computer and chair'. An alternative version is PEBCAK, or 'problem exists between keyboard and chair'.
ClarkKent_DC said:
As long as it is not an ID 10 T error :)