ComPurgatory

I guess I deserve it.
After talking about how much I know about computers a few posts ago, I guess the fates wanted to put me in my place.

Three weeks ago I purchased a new processor for my old, yet reliable computer motherboard. It was the fastest, most powerful processor the old mobo was designed to handle; I figured it was the best and cheapest temporary upgrade I could perform to get a little more speed out of my five year-old system before spending a bit more money after the first of the year to completely replace it, saving my current system to replace Michelle’s machine (which I’m being forced to use now), which is older and significantly slower than mine was to start with.

Well I don’t know what exactly has happened — and that’s the frustrating part — but now, three weeks later, after buying the new processor and not being able to get it to work, I decided to try a new, more powerful motherboard, which I received earlier this week. But still no luck; nada; zippo; the system won’t boot or even beep upon startup. I just get a black screen with everything apparently running except the processor.

I’m so frustrated right now I could scream. I’ve run into snags in building systems before, but never anything so frustrating as this. I’m now stuck between deciding whether to return everything and start from scratch or continue to flail away at the problem and try to figure it out.

I’ve spent the past two full days scouring the Internet for answers, and have found numerous threads on computer message boards, with people claiming similar or the same problem. However I’ve yet to see any follow-up comments confirming that the suggestions given to solve the problem actually worked. I’ve tried nearly everything that has been suggested, but to no avail.

However I still have one major resource that I have yet to tap: my old friend and compu-guru, Randy. I'm gonna give him a call just as soon as I finish this post. I’m expecting him to tell me I’ve got a bad processor (which is what I have believed from the start), so I’d imagine I'll just be packing all the stuff up and sending it back on Monday.

The worst part of all this is that I’d timed the purchase of the new motherboard to coincide with all the vacation time I’ve got off here in a row (eleven straight days as of this past Thursday), to have time to get everything set up. However a large chunk of that time will be wiped out by our traveling to Memphis this coming Wednesday to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with our friends the Franklins. We’ll return home on Saturday, but that would give me only one more day before heading back to work on Monday the 26th.

It’s been agonizing not having access to any of my files and most of my programs for the past three weeks as I’ve been chained to Michelle’s slow-as-molasses-in-January machine. I’ve spent a lot of time duplicating efforts, copying browser bookmarks from my machine at work, and reinstalling software that’ll barely run on this underpowered computer, just to be able to carry on in a semi-normal manner. I guess it could be worse, however — I could have no computer and no Net access at all right now; ’suppose I should just count my blessings, huh?

Anyway, if you’ve wondered why I haven’t posted, that’s the reason. I’ll know here in a few hours what my final disposition will be, and I’ll move on and deal with it from there.

Ahh, technology...don’tcha love it?