Laptop Computer Problems

For a long time there was a problem with my Toshiba Satellite C655 laptop.

Once in a while the two screens would go black with a power loss.

Once, when it happened to me, I was watching streaming of the two-hour Wednesday night concert of Music City Roots from Nashville, TN. The computer shutdown during the jam at the end of the two hour show. This lead me to suspect that the computer was overheating. I purchased an external fan that I placed under the laptop. This didn't solve the problem.

Later, for some reason, I moved the power cord where it attached to the laptop on the right side. The screen went to black again. This lead me to think that there might be a break in the three or four inches of wire that was perpendicular to the laptop. I began to hope I might be able to fix the problem by replacing the part of the wire from the power supply to the computer.

I packed up the laptop and the power supply and cords and drove about 22 miles to Arundel Computers in Millersville, MD. Once at the store we started the computer using my power supply and cords. It didn't take more than a couple of minutes to make the computer screen go black. Next we tested with a "New" power supply and cords from the store. Once again moving the cord near where it was plugged into the side of the laptop caused the screen to go black.

At that point we knew that the short was inside of the computer, where the power cord plugged in.

The computer was in the shop for seven days. The repair was quite simple and quite expensive. Inside of the computer there was a short piece of wire. On one end was the socket where the power supply attached and on the other end was a four contact plug that I assume attaches to the motherboard. It was a very easy task to remove the cable from the computer and attach a new connection cable.

Cost for the part, $15.90. Cost for opening and closing the laptop and knowing how to remove and replace the piece of cable, $75.00.

Yesterday, 25 Apr 2018 I picked up the computer. I'm happy to report that this long-standing problem has been resolved and that the life of this computer has been extended.

Dick Henthorn
26 Apr 2018

Worrying

Worry me, worry you,
What good will worry do?
It will put you in a stew,
But never help you make soup.
(Mr. Dickie, 20 Jun 2010)

******

Last night I had trouble shutting down the computer. I finally just had to turn off the power. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that, on a whim, I decided to install the Google Desktop. This is not a good sign. My past experience tells me that this kind of incident is a warning of grief to come.

Last night I read the Wikipedia piece about Phillip Anshutz one of my classmates from the Wichita High School - East Class of '57. The article claims that he is one of the richest men in the world. He owns many businesses and made his first big money when a huge oil reserve was discovered beneath property he purchased. If you attend movies at Regal Theaters you patronize one of his businesses.

Mr. Dickie
17/Aug/2010 6:18

A Day of My Life

Today, I will avoid making excuses for my own or someone else's behavior. I will let consequences and responsibility fall where they belong. (Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, 7 September)

... a genuine desire to help a loved one can be exaggerated into a desperate need to fix another person. (Courage to Change, 17 August)

Allowing ourselves to become too busy is asking for trouble. We can concentrate actively only so long without a period of rest and relaxation. (Food For Thought, 6 September)

What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. (Hugh Mulligan in Touchstones, 14 August)

******

If you write an online blog I'm willing to post a link to it on Mr. Dickie's blog. Just send me an Email.

The program I used on my desktop computer to unzip files no longer works. They want some money. I checked the list of freeware on the computer club website. They recommended the program 7-Zip. I downloaded and installed a copy. It worked. I was able to unzip some genealogy files I stored on my Iomega Zip disks.

I'm worried about the possibility of the desktop computer failing. It's almost like these machines are holding us hostage.

Mr. Dickie

We Are All in the Same Boat

Photo: Aztech New Media

We did not all come over on the same ship, but we are all in the same boat. (Bernard M. Barach in Touchstones, 16 August)

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact. (William James in One More Day by Sefra Kobrin Pitzele, 16 August)

The wiser a person is, the simpler the language he uses to express his thoughts. (Lucy Malory in A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, 22 August)

... we do not have to allow ... [the] destructive beliefs [of others] to control us, our feelings, our behaviors, or our life. (Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, 27 August)

You cannot want more for someone than they want for themselves. If they want it, it is up to them to go out and get it; you should not have to drive or take them to find it. (Iyanla Vanzant, Acts of Faith, 23 August)

******

Yesterday I didn't post to my blogs. In the morning I was busy and later in the day I just didn't feel like turning on a computer.

Yesterday afternoon I attended the computer club meeting in Bowie, MD. Dennis brought the new name tags for the first time. They bought a kit of Avery labels and holders with spring clips. Inserts for all of the members were already printed. One of the members gave a very nice talk about what happened when she spilt a glass of water onto the keyboard of her Dell laptop. She used her own computer and the center's projector to display her nice Power Point show. After the meeting I spent an hour using the computer in the hallway. I made a couple of CDs from the thumb drive I had attached to my laptop when it died. There are several GEDCOM files on the thumb drive. I believe those are backups of my genealogy files that I made after I converted them to RootsMagic. I have my fingers crossed. I had some problems using the CD drive on the desktop computer. That made me realize that I'd better not place too much faith in that computer.

Mr. Dickie

Life Is Not Promised To You

Life is not promised to you. Nor is it promised that it will go the way you want it to, when you want it to. (Rosalind Cash in Faith in the Valley by Iyanla Vanzant, p. 249)

******

Yesterday my laptop computer stopped working. Another computer disaster which will be far worse than it should have been due to my own short-comings. Much to my surprise I was able to get my already damaged desktop computer to work on the high speed Internet connection. In the past I connected this computer to the Internet using a telephone line. There are serious issues with this computer too, but for the moment, I'll be able to check my Email if I'm not in a big hurry. Even though the Internet connection is high speed the computer seems to have some response problems. I've already posted messages about my computer problems and written some Emails about it. In the past when this kind of thing happened I have rationalized and said, "Maybe it is time to take a break from computing." Perhaps that's how I will deal with it this time. Needless to say, I'm not happy about this turn of events.

Computer Issues

Yesterday afternoon I started to have what appear to be serious computer issues. The problems continue this morning. I'm finding ways to get around the issues in order to post a couple of Emails and this entry to Mr. Dickie's Blog and Facebook. I want everyone to know that, for the moment, I'm not ill. I'm just trying to accept, and deal with, computer issues. In the past when this happened I often took a long break from the Internet and computers. I'm inclined to do the same thing again. I can always go to the library and to the Senior Center to get access to the Internet. That's not very convenient and the time on the computers is limited. Stay tuned for further developments.

Mr. Dickie

Computer Problems

Photo: Corel

• By now you should have realized you cannot solve the problems in your life. No matter how hard you try, you cannot do it. Want to know why? It is because you think you are in control when you really aren't. There is a divine source, a powerful force, a perfect order that controls everything. When you recognize it, acknowledge it surrender to it, you won't have to struggle to solve problems. There won't be any. (Iyanla Vanzant, Acts of Faith, 28 April)
• Yesterday I brought a spare monitor down from the attic. I used it to set up a Compaq Presario computer that my daughter gave me. The computer is loaded with Windows95 and has a 2GB harddrive and 32MB of memory. The reason I'm interested in this older computer is that I have three databases that I can't use right now because the computer where they were located broke down. I'm going see if I can load Lotus SmartSuite on this free computer. I was using Lotus Approach for my databases and the data was stored in the DBF format. I still have the files that tell Approach how to display the data.
• The three databases I lost were: 1) my book catalog, 2) my music catalog, and 3) my address file with records of Christmas cards sent and received over a ten year period.
• Last night I had trouble with the Dell Latitude laptop that I am using to access the Internet. The computer locked up and I wasn't able to turn it off even after I disconnected the cord running to the wall outlet. If I disappear it will be because I no longer have a computer that can access the Internet.

Mr. Dickie