"No Signal"

[Nik]

Um, bad enough getting "No Signal" from cell-phone, but when you fire up Browser_PC after a fortnight's holiday and see it splashed across the flat-screen...

Good news, I'd taken a back-up of essentials. Bad news, my hit-rate on PC builds hovers around 50%...

I checked all the usual sillies, evicted a clan of dust-bunnies from the case, re-seated the graphics card *twice* then spotted the real problem...

The primary display's KVM switch had hopped channels to one of my adjacent CAD tower PCs. Seems that PSU had come up with stand-by voltage a whisker before this Browser_PC's...

D'uh...
---

FWIW, I had backed-up my tales, research archive, emails, favourites, passwords etc etc on a USB hard-drive.

On holiday, armed with laptop, USB drive and a *lot* of sleep, I tidied one of my half-written tales, but could not continue it even by a line. I tried to write a better opening for 'Soft Target', but words would not come. At least I found a title for that other tale, now 'The Curious Case of the Adventitious Artistes'.

To my chagrin, my trusty CD thesaurus and reference set would not work because the lap-top's browser was IE6 instead of IE5. And the 3D Connexions' 6DoF space-whatsit I'd packed to play with would not run because the lap-top's Install-Shield was too old...

Well, we're home again, and I can work through my list of googles: First, gotta research the ways and means of orange K-type main-sequence stars...

[Lith]

I once booted up my computer to be met with a black screen with the words "missing operating system" at the top. So naturally I took it to my dad (the computer whiz) and asked him what it meant. And he said: "You're missing your operating system."

I didn't even know such a thing was possible. Fortunately I was able to reinstall without touching the D drive or I would've been utterly screwed. And since then I've been the world's most devout believer in backing up data, several times over. On CDs, in case there's ever a major sun flare or our house gets struck by lightning. (And as a preventitive word of warning for those that may not think of it, don't forget to back up your IE links and computer themes, and as many individualized settings for programs (including customized dictionaries) as you know how to find- I lost hundreds and hundreds of links a few years ago...)

Not sure about all that jargon you mention though. Is it time for a new computer?

I'm still using the trusty old paper versions of Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. I love my computer, but it's still usually faster to flip the book open than to turn on the computer and wait for the programs to start up.

[dustinzgirl]

Um...I'm not sure why this is in Aspiring Writers. I'm not even sure what you are talking about, but then again I have a 104 deg fever right now and I'm freezing and not sure what anyone is talking about, but this seems more like a computer help post than anything else in which case I'm moving it to where you will get more computer help stuff I think like.

[Nik]

Um, I can write poetry when I have 'Flu...

Fixing the PC problem came down to one touch on the primary KVM's input-select. Bit like passwords not working if CapsLock is on...

FWIW, all I really have to show for a fortnight of 'chill out' and pencil chewing is a bunch of re-positioned phrases, some corrected grammar and the elusive title for my next work-in-progress. Hence 'Aspiring Authors'...

Suits here better, though.