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PC Processing Power/You'll Know You're a Tech Writer When . . .
Subject:PC Processing Power/You'll Know You're a Tech Writer When . . . From:"George F. Hayhoe" <gfhayhoe -at- SCESCAPE -dot- NET> Date:Fri, 4 Apr 1997 09:10:22 -0500
I had to both chuckle and wince at Paula Puffer's comment:
<<You know you are a tech writer when you can pull the
cover off your machine, pull out the dead HD, change the
jumpers on the old drive so it can be used as your temp
primary drive, and it all works when you are done. >>
A few weeks back, I had a close encounter of the worst kind
with technology when my 3.5-year-old 66 MHz 486 crashed. I
had just spent $175 on 32 MB of RAM to upgrade it to 48 MB.
The plan was to keep that machine about another year and
then buy a new one when the MMX technology is mature.
Although it was a bit slow in its dotage, I couldn't quite
justify replacing it quite yet, especially since there was
other equipment I needed.
Despite my plans, the 1.2 GB hard drive crashed.
Fortunately, all of my data except my e-mail files (I
always print out critical messages) was on a second drive
(the machine's original hard drive) that had also been
backed up the night before. Thus, I was able to avert
disaster despite the fact that this happened in the midst
of a major project.
It wasn't all bad, though. The experience provided the
"opportunity" to buy a brand new PC a year earlier than
planned. It's a 200 MHz Pentium Pro with MMX technology, a
4.5 GB hard drive, 32 MB of proprietary RAM (rats; the 32
I'd just bought don't fit!), and a 16x CD-ROM drive. I was
able to set up the machine, install all my software,
restore all my data, and be up and running again about 6
hours after bringing the new computer home. Like a
well-tuned sports car, this machine really burns up the
track.
Meanwhile, the corpse of the 486 lies in the corner
awaiting autopsy, salvage of parts, and final disposition.
Maybe Paula knows someone who can help?
George Hayhoe Associates
Voice: 803 642 2156
Fax: 803 642 9325
Announcing the debut of http://www.ghayhoe.com
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