My Reborn Friend

In late 2002 our house went from a one-computer household to a two-computer household when I bought a new notebook computer. Unlike our desktop computer, I don’t readily share my notebook computer with anyone. I put in a wireless network that allowed me to roam the house with full connectivity. I use it almost every day and on some days I consider it to be my best friend.

Four years later, as our family considers whether two computers are enough for our family, my notebook is starting to show signs of age. I’m getting older too and am generally forgiving of the condition, but let’s face it, my computer is a machine and it should either work or break. Unfortunately it showed signs of doing neither.

The computer has had a good life. I’ve carried it to Asia and Europe and many places in between. I’ve asked it to be a telephone, a game machine, a software testing lab, a photo studio have published half a dozen web sites from this 21^st century tool. Over the past four years, I became increasingly dependent on this machine to run my business and my life.

It was frustrating when some of the buttons stopped working. No big deal, there are always many ways of doing the same thing. It never seemed to shut down quite right, but I could manage with a quick reset. It stopped playing DVD movies, but that was no biggie, since we have a DVD player for that. It started moving a bit slower and then slower and slower. I was patient. But when it ceased being able to burn CDs, I lost my patience. It was time for the operating table.

Listen to any computer expert and they’ll tell you that Windows PCs get cluttered and stop performing as well as they did out of the box. The process of adding software (even if you eventually remove it), litters the machine with stuff that frequently adds bulk to the system. While I’ve been anal about keeping my system virus free, software conflicts and clutter are inherent with any computer and it was as if my old friend was burdened with a Scrooge-like chain.

Unlike my human friends, my computer came with an eternal Fountain of Youth. The six CDs have the power to magically return my PC to its original 2002 state. I did that for the first time yesterday and am only sorry I waited so long.

My old computer is now fresh and new. While it can’t compete with the power of its cousins awaiting adoption at Best Buy, my HP Pavilion ze4115 has been magically returned to its original state and I’m thrilled. All the buttons are in full working order and all the original features work again. But most importantly, my baby is peppy again just like the first day I bounced it on my knees.

Returning one’s computer to its youth is both easy and difficult. While it only took about half an hour of feeding disks into the notebook to restore it to its factory state, it took another 8 hours of tweaking to get it just right.

Preparation is key to being reborn. I used an external hard drive to copy all my data, settings, bookmarks, old e-mails and downloaded software updates and patches. This hundred-dollar investment is key to protecting one’s data (in case my notebook should break some day) and is also the one thing I will grab if my house is ever on fire (my wife and kids are on their own).

After backing up everything you’ve created and downloaded, it’s also important to make sure you have all the original program disks you’ll need. I made a checklist of only the most important programs. Things I use at least once a month. I’m sure I’ll find myself adding clutter again, but for now I’m hoping to preserve my computer’s youth as long as possible.

I did run into some small problems along the way. After returning my computer to its 2002 state, it is important to download and install all the operating system updates that have been issued by Microsoft. By my count there were almost 50 such updates and they required at least five passes to bring my 2002 baby current with the realities of life in 2006. I also realized that there are a few program disks that seem to be missing.

I gave my computer a slightly new look and feel with a different set of colors and options, essentially to remind both of us of the facelift. I wish that humans had the same ability to be reborn as computers do. Sure it would be great if computers didn’t age like humans do but it’s hard to blame them for emulating their masters. While I continue to age, my old friend is new again.

Greg

March 7, 2006