Wednesday 12 November 2014

The computer insisted

I had to load Windows 8.1 yesterday.
I do not like things happening to my computer. If it is working then I would prefer to leave things just as they are. It took me a long time to get even vaguely used to Windows 8.  I much prefer Windows XP. I am not a confident cat when it comes to computers.
Doing anything unusual alarms me.
My working life depends on a computer. I download the work first thing in the morning and then work on it through the day, sending each bit off as I finish it. I can stop work and go to a meeting or the library, do essential shopping, get meals and pots of tea for the Senior Cat  and so on.
Yesterday I had a meeting. It took longer than I hoped it would and, had I known, the computer could have been playing while I was out. It didn't tell me until I got home that it was going to have a little "upgrade". Right.
It has been telling me this for some time. I have ignored it. The computer was working. Why make trouble?
Yesterday it sulked. It was not going to do anything unless I let it upgrade. In the end I told it the process could occur while I was getting the evening meal and doing some other things. It had, I told it, to be back on duty for me to send some material off later.
I left it to play. It danced around. It switched itself on and off. It whirled. Lights flashed. The screen went dark and light and then dark. I held my breath and waited. The screen was light again.
Eventually a new screen appeared (and who on earth designed that - it is truly appalling) and the task bar appeared at the bottom of the page. Nothing more happened apart from a tiny whirling icon continuing to dance.
Still doing something? I waited for a bit. Then I noticed that the little clock in the right hand bottom corner was not working. I waited a bit more. After all the computer had told me it was not going to hurry over this process.
Eventually I phoned my brother. He knows about these things. He thought for a bit, told me to leave if for a bit longer. "If it still like that in about an hour then do the inelegant thing - pull the plug out, give it a minute and then try rebooting it."
I ended up doing the inelegant thing. The computer danced cheekily back into life. It made me re-enter passwords for some sites I use frequently.
I made it do some work. It was late. I was not impressed.
I would have made it work all night - but I needed some sleep too.

1 comment:

jeanfromcornwall said...

I think that most of us have that sort of love-hate relationship with our computers! After all, they are supposed to be inanimate slaves that do just what we want and no more. How did they get the upper hand, and start telling us what we need to do for them?
Rant over - haven't they made an enormous difference to so many lives, all over then world?