Still here ...but only just!

[Parksy]

Hi all, and Happy New Year.
I've been unable to get online for the past few days because of computer problems.
My main desktop computer on which all of my information and passwords are saved is currently having it's innards poked around with by the (hopefully) intelligent colleague of a spotty youth from PC World who insists on calling me 'Dude', and I'm hoping it will soon be returned working as it should with it's memory unimpaired and a new disk drive installed.
I have my laptop computer and I used it for a brief spell until Windows 8 decided to throw a cyber wobbly and performed an update on itself without so much as a by-your-leave from me.
Of course when I switched it back on the next day I was confronted with the dreaded green screen and a log in / password dialogue box.
This is where my difficulty lies, my main Windows account password is on my other computer which is in a workshop somewhere and no matter how I try I can't get my account back until I get my desktop computer back.
I should have saved the relevant passwords on a flash drive or even written them down on a bit of paper, but I didn't think of that at the time.
I'm typing this from my local public library, fortunately I could remember the password to get to this forum, so until my main computer is back cheerio for a few days again, I hope that everyone is OK and I'll reply to any emails when my computer comes back

 

[RogerL]

If I said "serves you right" it would be a case of "pot calling the kettle black".

Although I have a padded bag for my laptop, which is where it travels to/from caravanning holidays, I am (well, was) too lazy to move it during a tour so it travelled in the caravan front drawer unit but of course inevitably the vibration caused a disk failure and equally of course I hadn't done backups for months.

PCW took all of 2 minutes to tell me it was unrecoverable, took it to a local PC shop who said the same but tried for longer - eventually a neighbour's brother who's a total nerd managed to write some software to read my files from it's hard disk to transfer to my new laptop which I'd had to buy.

I keep a Word document on my PC with all important passwords and just need to print it out every time one of them changes.

Hope you get things sorted soon and don't suffer too much from withdrawal symptoms.

 

[Gabsgrandad]

Many years ago when Pc's first started being used at work (80's) we were "advised" to change our passwords regularly, as we were on a shared computer. So to comply we changed them every couple of weeks. And of course as we were logging in every day and sometimes more remembering it was no problem. The problem arose after a 3 week holiday, got back to work and couldn't remember my password. Tried everything, got the 'boffins' in, all to no avail, lost best part of a years data input.Took me weeks to do a paper chase to resurrect the data. but it taught me a lesson (a) about backups, (Floppy discs in those days) and (b) passwords, although the experts tell us to use multiple passwords on our different accounts, from that day I have used the same password or slight variation on it. (I know there is all this password manager software, but I just don't trust it, or more likely trust myself to get it right!) So that is why I 'risk' my non negotiable password, and has been in existence for years.

 

[Gafferbill]

You gave me a shock Steve hmy:

I have been wondering where you had got to and then saw the title of this thread!
Luckily you were just referring to computer problems.

 

[Sproket]

Got me wondering with that title.... hmy:

Still here ...but only just!

 

[Dustydog]

Happy New Year to you and Carole Steve.

I thought you'd had a bit of the old chest trouble or more importantly you'd bent your caravan.

 

[Mel]

Gad you are OK. Hope you are back online soon.
Mel

 

[Parksy]

TaDa!!!!!
Apologies for the title, I was in the library at the time at a desk next to an individual who obviously was no great fan of soap and water or deodorant
After trying in vain to enter all of the old passwords that I could remember to get back online and trying not to breathe in too much I'd nearly used up my allotted hour when I posted above and I entered the title without really thinking about it, sorry :cheer:
My desktop computer came back this morning (Sunday) it's had a new DVD drive, a new capacitor fitted (I think that's what he said :dry: ) and after I switched on I had an unpleasant surprise.
The PC World tekkies had completely removed my old profile along with the 'My Documents' folder and everything else containing my pictures, music, email and favourite websites and the necessary information to access my online accounts.
I had to go out this afternoon and was about to get into starting a new email account and trying the very time consuming business of attempting to get back into my data from there when Carole found a screwed up bit of paper in the back of her purse with an old previous password and a second one that I hadn't tried or remembered.
I didn't hold out much hope as I typed it in but hey presto! The second one was it, it had been there all along if only I'd known.
I'm still re-establishing my previous stuff on my desktop computer and I bought a flash drive to copy important data, but slowly I'm catching up.
On the health front things are looking up.
I've actually lost 4 stones up to now, I go to the gym for a gentle workout at least three times a week, I eat less (but it's all good stuff) and I hardly drink alcohol at all, two or at most three pints of lager when I go to the local once a week is more than enough for me these days. B)

 

[Dustydog]

Good to have you back on the air waves Steve.

Minus 4 stone you'll be showing us a six pack in october

 

[Gagakev]

Good to have you back on the air waves Steve.

Minus 4 stone you'll be showing us a six pack in october

Two for Friday
Two For Saturday
Two for Sunday :lol:

 

[emmerson]

Wasn't it all so simple when we used pencil and paper?
Ah, but then we wouldn't have PC forum would we?
I guess there's points in favour of technology.
Keep up the good work Steve.

 

[Parksy]

Good to have you back on the air waves Steve.

Minus 4 stone you'll be showing us a six pack in october

Good to have you back on the air waves Steve.

Minus 4 stone you'll be showing us a six pack in october

Two for Friday
Two For Saturday
Two for Sunday :lol:

Only a one pack I'm sorry to say
Rome,as they say, wasn't built in a day
Beer bellies, it seems, take no time at all
But one day I'll get from size XL to Small
It's great to be back, and I've had to revert to pen and paper to write down the passwords that I've unearthed so far so I'm with Emmerson with regard to keeping things simple

 

[Mel]

Well done on the 4 stone. :cheer: :cheer:
Mel