(no subject)

[ria_oaks]

I GOT IT BACK.

I am so happy I could cry. And when I turn it on, it starts up in less than a minute. Before? 5-10 minutes. This is how a computer is supposed to work.

Now, time to bog it down with a ton of shit again so it stops working. XD

So, hmm... if it keeps up working this well, then I'm less inclined to shell out $1000 for a new computer. My manager advised against a loan, since I'm planning to pay it off quickly and I don't need to build my credit or anything (I have good credit, yayz). She said a better thing to do, for future loans/mortgages/etc, is to build my net worth by investing and whatnot. So we're going to get moving on setting up an RSP with mutual funds for me. :)

Anyway, we'll see... I don't really want to spend the money, but otoh I'm in a pretty good position right now to buy a new computer, whereas in a couple of years I might have less available money. But... if I don't really need one... I don't know. I might anyway; this way my parents get a new (kinda) computer for North Van, which they really need.

But for now, time to put my files back on and download programs and such... this will probably take the rest of the day. ^^;

Comments

[bk635.livejournal.com]

A clean Windows install does wonders, huh?

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Oh god yes. o.o I can't believe I was about to do this then decided not to. Am especially irritated because I was ON THE VERGE of backing up all my bookmarks, and didn't. *CRY*

[bk635.livejournal.com]

God damn. I thought about reminding you to tell the guy to back up your bookmarks, but I figured you already had that covered. Sorry. :\

Let me know how Firefox 2 runs. ;p

Sometimes I wonder about reformatting, but my computer isn't really that sluggish; it also starts up in less than a minute. It just seems like a lot of work - backing everything up, doing the actual format and reinstallation, and installing drivers and programs. Blah.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I thought it was in Documents & Settings, which he backed up, but for some reason it's not there. I remember that's how I used to access my Firefox profiles, but maybe they were actually saved in Program Files.. fuuuck. Really wish I'd told him specifically to back those up. *cries* Oh wells. Right now I'm trying to recall what was in my bookmarks toolbar, and I'm still missing some... guess they weren't that important. ^^;

Only annoying thing so far about this newer version of Firefox is that is spellchecks my emails and LJ posts/replies and such. Which could potentially be useful, but a good chunk of the words I use won't be recognized. ^^;; Okay, not a big deal, but... lots of little red lines which annoy me, and I couldn't find a way to turn it off in the options.

If your computer's working okay, you probably don't need to bother.. mine was real slow. ^^;

[bk635.livejournal.com]

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\randomstring\bookmarks.html

It's not there? That's where it should be, and there's also a folder in there that has the automatic bookmark backups that Firefox creates every time it's shut down.

Yeah. Apparently it doesn't bother too many people though, because spelling and grammar errors are still as rampant as ever. :\

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Ahh, Application Data, yeah, that was it.. nope, doesn't seem to be there anymore. Unless it's hidden. *goes to desperately search* Doubt it, though. Odd...

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Application Data is hidden on my computer.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

How do I un-hide it?

But anyway, VICTORY. I did a search for 'bookmarks' and found it, oddly enough, in the recycle bin. Said it had been deleted from my external hard drive. O.o So I must have backed it up to my external hard drive then deleted it...? no. idea. Do not care. They are back! *goes to figure out where to put them to intergrate them back into Firefox* Need to find that App Data...

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Tools > Folder Options > View Tab > Click the 'Show Hidden Files and Folder's radio button.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, thanks, I figured it out. :) Tried copying/pasting the bookmarks.html file into my profile, didn't work. Going to go search Firefox's website...

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA VICTORY. I closed Firefox, moved the file into the profile folder, then reopened Firefox. Last time I moved the file, then closed Firefox. Woo hoo.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Are you busy this weekend?

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Not really. Could come down anytime... family's coming down Monday, prob, but there's nothing really stopping me from coming down alone tomorrow besides not wanting to leave my comfy bedroom up here. ^^; That said, I'd prefer to do something Monday unless they decide to come down tomorrow. Anything particular in mind? Or just the hanging out/movie plan?

Hm. I've lost my copy of Microsoft Office 2003.... can't seem to download it off of Microsoft's website; they only offer 2007. Any idea on how to (legally, pref) acquire it? I have the serial #... thank god I made that list of programs and serial #s back when I was going to reinstall Windows.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Not really.. I doubt you'll be able to download it from Microsoft since they usually want people to use their latest products..

Why, is 2007 crap?

Yeah, I was thinking Monday. Probably just go see a movie; I don't really know. :p

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but they just expect you to buy the latest one if you owned the earlier one and lose your hard drive and CD? Bullshit... I think Adobe lets you download old versions. Bleh, anyway... will hunt around for an illegal one. -_-

Well, a. it's got quite a different new interface and I don't want to learn it (it drove Mom nuts at first, and she was the one having to write books about it ^^;), and b. I already own 2003 and don't want to pay to upgrade.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

They make you pay to upgrade? :\ That's just mean.

I personally use OpenOffice, which is free.. But I really should be "learning" Microsoft Office.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Well okay, I don't actually know... I just assume they make you pay. Either way, I don't want to use 2007.

You don't use/know Office? Wow, didn't think many people didn't use Word. XD You should learn it, yeah... it's the standard most people use, so if you happen to be in a job where you need to know computers in any way you'll be expected to know it. Dunno if you'll be in those types of jobs, but it's good to know in any case. What's the other one like? Does it have a lot of functions and such?

Oh, and re: Monday - yeah, sure thing. When are you off class?

[bk635.livejournal.com]

No, I know how to use it, but it's just that I'm not "intimate" with it. I actually don't have Office; my computer came installed with something called "Microsoft Works." It has Word and a few other programs, but not Excel.

Since I needed to use Excel one day, and I didn't want to buy it, I went and downloaded Open Office. Open Office has pretty much everything that Microsoft Office has. It's so similar in look, functionality, and feel, that I'm surprised that Microsoft hasn't sued the hell out of Sun Microsystems for it. The nice thing about it is that it has support for cross-OS/program document file types, so it can open and save as Office documents, for example.

It's pretty much the main competitor for Microsoft Office, which still has a stranglehold on the market.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Huh, nifty. Hadn't heard of that... I'll probably stick with Office, but that's cool. :)

Mom just told me that 2007 is actually much superior to 2003 once you get past the learning curve, but I don't especially want to bother... sigh.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so I'm hoping my knowledge with Open Office translates well into Word, Excel, and whatever else Microsoft Office has. And I do work with Word on the other computer from time to time, and it's not really "hard" or anything, which is a good sign.

When I buy a new desktop or laptop I'll probably start with Office 2007, though. I'll probably cave-in and get Vista too. ;_;

This conversation reminded me that I need to update Open Office (haven't done it in years). Downloading the installer though HTTP at.. Holy shit, 500kb/s and it's still increasing. :O

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

You should be okay; the basics of Word are simple enough. I'm unfamilliar with... pretty much everything else in Office, though - I know a few basics of Excel, but basically can't use it. Gah.

Well, if you get one soonish, Dell still offers XP. :)

So, Monday - what time are you off class? When do you want to do something?

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

What the hell, the new Azureus is crazy. Going to go download the older version off of download.com. o.o

[bk635.livejournal.com]

uTorrent. Use it and love it. ;p

I forgot - I'm off at ~12:30 and home a bit after 1. But I'm not free until ~2-3ish.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Is it better? Esp in terms of slowing down my system and such? Might go for it, then... though I found the older Azureus.

Kk. When do you want to do something? We could watch videos in the afternoon and go see the movie in the evening, or just do one or the other in the evening. Those videos are due back Monday, at any rate. I'll try to renew them or just keep them one day and pay the fine, least if you want to watch them (and if you hate em, you can turn it off XD). What's your pref on what we do?

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Fuck yes. I mean. Holy shit. It's a world of difference. Azereus is crap. I switched to uTorrent a few years ago and never looked back.

Azureus is coded in Java, which a bloated language. uTorrent is coded in C++, and doesn't even need to install itself. It's just an executable.

http://www.utorrent.com/

Don't look back. Go go go.

Um. I'll let you know Sunday. It depends on how far I get through this report this weekend. I don't really want to have it spill over too much into the week. At the very least, just the movie in the evening.

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Lol, that was emphatic. :) Okay then, I'll download that instead. Thanks for the tip. I'll pass it on to my co-worker, too, who was asking about Bit Torrent (he used to use Limewire, but has had trouble with it and wants to download full CD) and to whom I recommended Azureus because that's what I use.

Kk, let me know. :)

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Surprisingly enough, a lot of people seem to use Limewire. I overheard someone in class telling the instructor how he can download full textbooks with Limewire..

I'm surprised it's still around. I dunno; I thought it died off after BitTorrent hit the scene..

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Lol, someone told their professor that? How... intelligent. XD Course, I once accidentally told a prof in the middle of class that I was writing a post in Livejournal on my laptop while he was lecturing, so I shouldn't talk. ;)

Yeah, I don't like Limewire. According to Kevin it downloads spyware to your computer which you can't get rid of unless you delete the program. Least I think he told me that. *short term memory* Then again, most of the music I download is either through a fanmix, so it's normally a direct download of a zip, or BT.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

The instructor was just like "Huh.. didn't know that." Besides, I don't even know who would want to read their textbooks on the monitor.

Yeah. Limewire is notorious for that. It came onto the scene during the whole Kazaa/Morpheus era.

BitTorrent, IRC, and HTTP are generally the safest because of the community interaction. You're able to tell whether or not a download is laced or something through the comments left behind by other users.

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Speaking of movies, is there anything interesting out there other than No Country for Old Men?

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

*checks North Van listings* Not really. There Will be Blood is supposed to be good, too, though. You can take a look at them if you want and see if anything appeals. Already seen Juno, which incidentally is excellent. Not much else...

[bk635.livejournal.com]

Ah yeah, I kept hearing good things about Juno - never saw it. Did it win anything?

Bleh.. Not much there. No Country sounds more interesting than There Will be Blood to me. What about you?

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Juno won best original screenplay. It was nominated for best actress (Canadian Ellen Page, who is adorable and talented), best picture, among others. It's the kind of movie that sounds like a typical sorta teen or chick flick on the surface, but is so clever and well written and well acted and directed and all that jazz that it surpasses those assumptions. It's sweet and funny and awesome. And JK Simmons from Oz (he's also Jameson in Spiderman) is in it, and I adore that man. He made a neo-Nazi rapist murderer seem almost sympathetic, and at least interesting. :) (well, I can think of... one scene in the entire show where I genuinely felt some sympathy for him. Heh.)

I agree, I'm more interested in No Country. Anyway, let me know tomorrow what you think - movie, stay at home and watch stuff, or both. :)

[ria-oaks.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Googled it and found a forum where someone had the exact same problem, and they were saying to use bit torrent. So much for a legal way, but at least I do own it. ^^; Seems odd that Microsoft doesn't give an option; guess they expect you to upgrade when you lose your old one. -___-