I've actually cried all over a computer. That I think I broke.

[CarpeVinum]

Or maybe windows 8 hates me.

I need a fecking drink.

I'm 46 years old, allegedly not technologically incompetant (I used to repartition and reinstall and everything when I had windows XP, just haven't needed to do it for years) and I've cried all over this virtually new computer and I think I am about to cry again. Like actually plopping tears and everything.

If I can't fix it my son gets two crap Christmasses in a row. ( Mil was dying in hospital last year, so not so grave, but his most wanted xams pressies are totally redundant without his 'puter.

Due to a FURBAR during a.... "go back to factory settings you laggy git faced computer" session ....things went horribly wrong. Mainly cos the computer was speaking in Italian and I was tired. Probably.

So I had amazon UK rush a proper full copy of windows 8.1 in Bloody ENGLISH to Italy. DHL finally found me after a tense 48 hours of increasingly heated phone calls with me yelling "how can I always be "customer out" if you have kept me trapped in the house for TWO DAYS!"

I got into BIOS (whatever that is) I changed the boot thingie to CD-rom drive as first choice (gingerly, never been in BIOS before) All went swimmingly, but then it hung for hours and It couldn't finish the last bit of a clean install.

So a youtubber siad delete partitions.

So I did. Well some of them. 2. ACER and USER

And then I clicked next and the fecking computer complained something was missing so it couldn't run the cd-rom drive. Or something like that.

I have spent 113 euros. And all I have managed to do is kill the computer more.

And christmas is ruined cos the computer shop is not taking any repairs in till he comes back in the New Year.

Dos anybody have any ideas what has gone so horribly wrong and how to put it right ?

And if you don't. Can you please start sticking pins in an effigy of the Windows 8 wholly annoyingly displeasuring start screen of pissingoffness.

Or pass a hanky.

Is this peri menopause making me an emotional wreck due to poxy software ?

Wine. I wish I had wine.

So happy to hear your xmas is saved Carpe, it sounds like you have had your share of shit happening.

Enjoy your xmas now!

Took me ages to get used to a 21 inch but that one is massive.

That is late Nonna's telly in the first pic. ComputerDude wanted to try it when MonitorGate happened.

DS loves the tellymonitor. I am worried about the crap desk buckling and crushing newly working computer. So have put back original monitor.

I'll see if there is a not too pricey wall braket I can grab tommorow. And the right sized drill bit for my B&D. Then build up the nerve to drill into 300 year old bricks and hope the bleeding house doesn't fall down

God knows why he likes it, I was going cross eyed trying to set up his account and flashdriving all the ACER drivers.

I'm foing to ask MNHQ if they mind moving this thread to tech. I don't want it to disappear. I want to keep it forever. Ecpet for thenposts when I was rat arsed.

The rat arsed posts were a highlight though!

highlight/lowlight..mall a matter of perspective

No response from MNHQ re move thread to tech board yet. Maybe v. busy.

Today is my wedding anniversary. And I forgot. Again. I chose Xmas eve cos I thought it would help me remember. No such luck.

DS back in Minecraft prison server. Cannot be budged from 'puter.

At what point should I mention all the almost complete homework that got lost during ChristmasComputerCockup, that needs to be done again ?

Day after boxing day perhaps.

Riht. Milan! Brace yourself shopping centre, I'm on my way.

Dear Posters on this thread.

This smile, is for you. Thank you all so much for making it happen. Bottom of heart, you have no idea what it means to me to see my son wibbling with excitment with the thing he most wanted in the whole wide world, sitting on his head... attached to a working computer.

A very merry Christmas to you all, from the Carpe household. Espcially the youngest member.

It's a Christmas miracle!

Isn't it just !

I have blubbed. He is just so over the moon. He has been saving for those super dooper gaming headphones for ages. And cos they have a flexi mike, it means no more painful ears when at school too. He had no idea he was going to get them, which means he can now spend his savings on the games he was going to save for once he'd managed to buy the headphones.

All I have to do now is install the driver for his graphics table without upsetting windows, and he'll be able to participate fully in the game design MOOC/online course thingie he got oh so excited about.

He is 13. Those kind of "sheer unbridled joy" grins are pretty thin on the ground during the newish "must stand on my oh so grown up dignity" phase. MN gets the credit for the one plastered all over his face today.

He says to say thank you very much. And it is the best christmas ever.

I lurked on this thread as I have no tech skills whatsoever but it was a great read.

That is fab - he looks delighted and you must be pooped

Not looking forward to techie presents. My teenage DDs get make up and clothes and DS (6) has declared his best present to be a whoopee cushion

Have a wonderful Christmas.

Happy Christmas x

I have just read this thread from top to bottom.

That is all

It just keeps getting better and better. I have had more kisses today than I have had in a year. (not into kissing mum now he is a teenager)

I gave him the battlenet invitation code they sent (and I hid) so have installed and unlocked the game he has been lusting over for months.

My sincere hope is that everybody is having as happy a Christmas as the Carpe household.

Because you all deserve it. You all epiomise goodwill towards hard drive wreaking, semi hysterical women and peace on Windows.

This is a great thread.

It's lovely to see older kids soooooooooooo pleased with presents.

I got a out of ds1 too which is a Christmas miracle in itself.

Hello

at this. We've moved it to Geeky Stuff now at the OP's request.

THANK YOU ROWAN!

Please share this gift that I hand crafted for Tech. Well... finger crafted for Tech. I'm sure they won't mind if you have some too.

WHAT!

Whgte did my picture option go ? How can I give Tech chrissie pressie if all technology keeps PICKING ON ME!

Even flickr is being a bugger.

Rigt. That's it. I will send it by post.

Jun as soon as I work put how to make printer co-operate.

Glad to see you had a good Christmas Carpe,ds looks like he appreciates the sweat and tears that were shed over that PC,just dont go back on you tube in the near future

He is playing on his brand new copy of WoW as we speak.

Redoing all the homeowrk lost.... tomorow.

Oh he is as happy as a pig in muck love. Can't hear a dman thing I scream from downstairs ....like " DINNER! " .....in the new headphones though.

I still go rigid when he yells, "muuuuuuuuuuuuuuum, come quickly!" thinking "oh god, not again".... but so far he has only made me charge upstairs at warpspeed mother (with clutched flashdrive of ACER drivers) to admire... pictures of cats.

Have you made that system image yet

Merry Christmas Carpe,just in case your lurking.Just reread ,its still hilarious.

OMG, thought I was going to find MNHQ had deleted a spammer's posting.

Not read all the way through but couldn't help but respond to a post:
"it's not nice and simple like the old XP days where you had a disk, people lose discs and then get annoyed about it, so they put it on a partition so you can't lose it"

I think Micro$oft put it on a partition so it was more difficult to pirate copies of Windows. For years they added things like checking the system configuration (and adding a different hard drive, or more memory, might trigger a situation where user would have to contract Microsoft even though they had a legit copy of Windows). In Thailand they even sold MS Windows for $50 so there was less reason for anyone to get an illegal copy. If they could flog it that cheap then why not make that the standard price and not need to worry about pirate copies?

Then they stopped providing the OS on CD/DVD and hid it on the hard drive, so you (again) couldn't easily swap/ upgrade HD without messing things up somewhat. In some cases you could buy the OS on media as an extra when buying a new system (for business, primarily), and when they were flogging Windows 7 you could pay extra to be able to 'downgrade' to XP (given many businesses were very happy with XP). I stopped buying new machines (or supporting clients) at Windows 7 (though luckily I didn't send out any e-mail telling them they were on their own).

Have no plans to ever touch Windows 8 (though did give assistance to the MD of a firm when he came back from working in Barcelona and found the oik from London had been to his home/office and not installed Sage accounts [the task he was asked to do] but switched from XP to Win 8. He got a P45 for that, I suspect, mostly for what files to do with the business went missing during that 'upgrade'. Frankly I was amazed it even worked, as it was not designated suitable hardware for the new OS and the graphics display driver might have failed completely.

So in summary, I don't think it was anything to do with people losing the odd CD, but a piracy issue. One reason to stick with Linux in future, for me, at least. Though I may give Windows 10 a go, once they have sorted out the bugs during the first 6-9 months after global release.

PS CarpeVinum - so glad things worked out 'in the end' and hope this year your Christmas plans have been going with sufficient precision to not have a drama turn into a crisis at the twenty-third hour of the day :)