I haven’t reviewed a software program since my run in with a particularly vicious Trojan virus, where SpyNoMore really blasted it out of existence. Trying to make my wife’s new Nikon L18 camera cough up the pictures I took last weekend onto my notebook computer, inadvertently ended in adding a drive letter. Halloween invokes no greater horror than your computer deciding it can’t see your XP operating system. I know enough about computers to know this was a horrific problem on a par with seeing all the slasher movies back to back for a week. This is because XP allows no tinkering in their basic structure on boot up, and their recovery console is a joke. The key to repairing problems with a computer as many of you know is ‘First, do no harm’. After more than a few hours of trying to correct the problem without wrecking the interior structure, I went off to my nearby Office Depot. I found a program called Partition Commander 10, which claimed to boot on the CD drive and use a Linux interface to allow modifications and fixes at boot up.
Wonder of wonders, Partition Commander did exactly what it claimed. I was able to free the drive letter causing all the problems and my notebook booted immediately. This is not a paid commercial announcement… unfortunately. When something works as it claims, I like to mention it. Partition Commander by Avanquest works. In the spirit of the holiday, this is Halloween Flash Non-fiction. :)
I'm glad it turned out to be only a nightmare and not a lingering reality... :-)
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I struggled for about half hour to "safely" get my memory stick out of the PC. It was midnight and it kept telling me "try again later." It is needless to mention the cold sweat... especially since I had some irreplaceable stuff on it. My mistake of not backing it up, of course...
Happy Halloween!
:-)
It's funny about those memory sticks. The computer is always glad to recognize them, and very reluctant to let them go. :)
ReplyDeleteI will be out on the rainy Halloween trail with daughter and grandson tonight. Thanks, Vesper.
Happy Halloween Bernard! I wear a horrible mask when I answer the doorbell, and the kids piss their pants. Cool.
ReplyDeleteSome don't know it's a mask. Ouch.
Good luck in November. You're my favorite conservative. If things swing your way I'll open one of my laying-down wines and drink a toast to you.
Good ending on your non-fiction. I'm glad it worked and have noted it for my use for just in case.
ReplyDeleteGLad it worked.
ReplyDeleteTaking notes...
ReplyDeletePhew! I'm glad I don't do technical :D
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go ask my husband what "add a drive letter" means. Glad it worked out, Bernard.
ReplyDeleteI will have to remember this. It is something when you find the thing that actually works.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how it turns out, Stephen, you and I will still be Americans the day after. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely a life saver, Barbara.
Me too, Charles. :)
Yep, Raine, it's a good one.
It's hard to believe how incredible and yet annoying these machines can be, Miladysa. :)
XP looks for C: drive on boot, Beth, and finds I have changed it to G: somehow, and rebels. :)
It really is, Merelyme; and even better when one finds it before destroying something else. :)
Ah, some good news regarding computers. I'm happy for you Bernard. Unfortunately, my problems are not looking as good.
ReplyDeleteThe makers of Partition Commander also make a system data save and recovery utility called Perfect Image. It came with the utilities package I bought Partition Commander in. I installed it, but I hope I don't have to find out if it works. From the description you gave about losing your data, it appears your program lost memory during the period you were writing. That's a tough one, VL. :(
ReplyDelete