I have been without internet service for almost three days now. The problem started with Claro, and when I tried to fix the problem, I really fixed it good. I fixed it so good, Macho Man not only took the modem to Tocoa today, but he took my computer, too. This was at my insistence, since I didn't want Claro to say, "Well, it works with our computer." I wanted to be sure it worked with my computer.
Of course, it worked on Claro's computer, and when they tried to make it work on my computer, of course, it didn't. So off to the computer doctor. Now, those of you who live in Honduras can see this coming. When Macho Man got home, he is grinning from ear-to-ear. "Honey, I'm home. You have internet again! And I got your computer fixed!". Yes, indeedy.
Apparently Computer Quack decided rather than to fix the one problem Claro said we had, he would just reformat my hard drive and reinstall Vista. I now have programs I never had before, like Windows for Kids, which would be just fine, if we had kids; Norton, if I liked Norton; you get the picture.
What I don't have are any Internet Favorites; personally installed programs, like PCStitch; or my music. No screen saver or background that was mine personally. No sound card installed; and the versioin of Vista he installed is so old, there are a minimum of 71 updates available. Worst of all, and what had me sitting in the middle of the floor screaming "SUGAR!! SUGAR!! SUGAR!!!, gone is 9 years of genealogical research and the two programs used to collect it.
I know, I know, I should have backed everything up, and I am hoping the backup I did before we left the States will recover most of what is missing. But, why would Computer Quack delete all my programs without even asking if he needed to back anything up?
Oh, and by the way, now my computer speaks Spanish rather than English. This in spite of the fact that Computer Quack assured MM he reinstalled everything in English. That I can fix, to some degree.
Another BTW... Claro says it is impossible that my internet connection is being directed through Guatemala, even though MM explained that we had been told by the bank, Amazon.com, and several other places that this was the problem we were having originally when we tried to do business online. I just looked at Google, and sure enough, I am connected to Google.com.gt.
Oh, well, back to Tocoa tomorrow, not that I expect to accomplish anything.
Prayers and Praises!
4 days ago
Oh, Patty! I am sooo sorry - I know exactly how you feel... In 2006, my laptop went to the "doctor" in La Ceiba, and I want to state that what happened next was not the result of a quack. The shop was broken into, my computer one of many stolen and was formatted by the thieves before they were arrested.
ReplyDeleteMiraculously I did get it back, as it was held as evidence for the trial of the thieves (who were convicted and jailed in a little over a month!)
I was an absolute novice with computers in those days, and lost every single picture that I had taken in my previous four years here in Honduras, as well as family pics from Canada.
Needless to say, I've learned a number of ways to back up my files and photos since then! Good luck with retrieving your historical research...
I have purchase an external hard drive and everything will be backed up on a regular basis. I finally found the box with the stuff from my desk, so I am going to take the recovery discs back to computer quack and see if we can at least get Windows to speak English again, and re-install the newer, more improved, still horrible Vista that I had.
ReplyDelete