Installing Windows XP ... Again, Maybe

I am changing over to a new hard drive. I will boot from it and no longer boot from my current drive. But there are a few problems.

First, I installed to a new hard drive on the same computer. The hard drive went bad. I tried another new hard drive and installed my XP again. (I should have known better than to get it from the same store and the same batch.) It was bad. So I returned two hard drives.

Finally, I got a 3rd drive (a different kind from a different store this time). It worked, but when I went to install my Windows XP, it told me that I had already installed Windows enough times and it refused to activate! Argh!

I am ONLY using this version of Windows on ONE drive. I did not share it. I could not help having two bad hard drives before this and trying to install and activate XP a few times. What does a person do? I hate this activation garbage. It hurts honest people.

Seagate is Nice

Some time ago, we bought two 300G Seagate hard drives from CompUSA. As it turned out, both drives were bad. We did not buy them at the same time. We were still within our 3-week window on one of them so CompUSA exchanged it and the new one works fine. The other one sat in storage for beyond the return time.

It turned out to be bad. (That was a long and horrible story and posted here a couple of weeks ago. It was a mess.) After trying every other option (software upgrades and even buying a new motherboard), it turned out that the new drive was bad after all.

So, we sent it back to Seagate. Ta-da! About a week or so later, another drive arrived -- today, in fact. We couldn't be happier. We sent them a 300 g drive and they promptly sent back a 400 g drive. Seagate is all right in my book. (Well, if the drive works, that is.)

Happy Cinco de Mayo 2005!

This seems to be a growing holiday here in the the U.S.  - people like to party or, at least eat out in Mexican style on this day.

My daughter and I went to local Mexican restaurant for lunch. We got there early and watched the place fill up. Workers carried out food, balloons and posters to customers waiting to take them to work, etc.

Banners were strung all over the inside and outside of Casa Blanca (the best-furnished Mexican place in town). Lunch customers poured in. It was great food, with a great atmosphere -- fun!

Leo Laporte & Mike Smith Podcasts

Both of these guys produce useful informative podcasts about tech topics of interest to most computer owners (at least of interest to me). Leo recently got back together with Patrick, Kevin and others from the old Screen Savers show (that G4 ruined) to produce a new weekly, hour podcast. They are great to listen to and have much useful information.

I can't begin to tell you what a big influence Leo has been on me (after my husband who got me started with computers in the first place and continues to keep my hardware operating). The information here is helpful and up-to-date.

Leo's Podcasts - His twice-weekly KFI radio call-in help show (download from any link here) and TWIT (from the old Screen Saver buddies who are currently calling their show - "This Week in Tech").

Mike Smith Tech Show - Good advice and help with a touch of music.

I load these up on my iPod and listen to them when driving around or exercising - or sometimes just listen to them on the computer while working.

You Can't Hide from the Internet

One thing my 86-year-old friend complains about is how his name and address, etc., appear all over the Internet. I just shrug, but then I have a very common name. In way, that makes it harder to find me without more detailed information to narrow down that name.

Chuck Bobo sent this link to many peoples' private information. He said it was scary --> http://www.zabasearch.com.

And here's another one. Find anybody's birthday at http://www.anybirthday.com.

My friend also said that, if you give to one charity, they send your name to every other charity and you get inundated with money requests. This is true.

Photo Effect

Upload any two photos and this company will make it into one of those changing images -- the image changes as the photo is moved around. I just wish it was not so darn expensive ($69). Still, I love the idea - it would make unique Christmas presents for a parent, etc.

Magic Pictures

Podcasts - The Best of the Best

Oh, this is a great link! Look at a large list of the best podcasts, listen to 30 seconds of any one, and view a description of what it contains.

As you probably already know, a podcast is generally an mp3 file. It can be downloaded to your computer for using later. Programs exist to automatically download these to an iPod or anything that plays mp3 files. I listen to them while walking or driving, etc.

I especially love Leo Laporte's podcast news (at leo.am) and helpful information and, since I walk 5 miles a day, its like reading a book and exercising at the same time - so-o-o-o-o convenient.

Discounts

Before you buy anything online, check to see if there's a coupon code for it (from Digg.com).

TextAmerica Front Page Redesign

The host for my photoblog has just released a redesigned front page. They now offer a keyword search through their database. This will make it useful for anyone needing a photo on a certain topic.