TWINPAC
Off topic, I know, but how did you make out with that computer virus thing?
It crashed last Friday night. Blue screen of death. I literally, and I'm not lying, spent 3 hours Friday night, about 5 hours Saturday, 6 hours Sunday, and 2 more hours on Monday with the boys in India working on my Dell. They charged me $129 for a "one time fix" (which took 4 days!) using that "remote online assistance" connection where they literally take control of your browser on your computer from their desk in India.
LSS -- got a trainee, a couple of clowns, an idiot girl who did nothing but giggle with the other girls in the office instead of working on my computer, and finally a couple savvy techs and one supervisor all of whom worked on it. Got it fixed, ordered Norton 2010 ($70) which came in the mail today, and Dell's "PC Tune-up" ($39 a year where they guarantee to fix any virus problems).
But it took so damn long 'cause I had to back up my files and then do a clean re-install of my Windows XP. I've got the Windows XP discs and could have done my own reinstall (have done it a number of times before) but in order to guarantee I saved certain "Documents" and "Programs" I needed and couldn't afford to lose, I had to call in assistance and pay for it. Had a lot of work imputed on certain documents so it was worth it to pay to save them.
Lost ALL the emails I had ever sent or received but was able to retrieve my OE Address Book.
I haven't had a virus or PC problem in at least 3 years but whatever this one was (showed 5 Trojans!) just grabbed a hold of my computer and within only two day crashed it. Dell had to run two "parallel" versions of my Windows XP (instead of doing a partition and a clean install) so that I would be able to backup the stuff I'd stored on the crashed version.
Mea culpa. Should have gotten back to you on the Nooner afterwards like I promised, but after 4 days on the phone with Dell -- literally for HOURS at a time -- I didn't even want to remember this experience let alone talk about it! LOL I was sooooo tired and punchy by Monday I couldn't see straight. Didn't want to even sit near a computer for more than 5 minutes for a few days afterwards. LOL
I did download that anti-virus you suggested I get from Windows XP but Dell told me that by that time my Windows XP had already been so corrupted nothing could have saved it. Thanks for your help that night, though, Twinpac. I appreciated it!
