Yes, We Are Still Out Here

Sorry for the gap in posts, but the computer finally refused to do anything.

I was so frustrated, my plan was to wait until we got to Albuquerque and go to the nearest Best Buy and turn it over to the Geek Squad! Since the computer is about 18 months old, the question would be "Repair or Buy a New One?"

MMG, ever practical, remembered that we had bought the PC at Costco and paid for it with the American Express Card and that Amex added one year to whatever warranty the manufacturer provides.

Naturally, every bit of paperwork on the PC is in my office in Cary. I called Amex and the very helpful lady ("You've been a member since 1970? Wow!") talked me through how to go online and recover a record of the purchases we had made in 2007 where we found the date and amount of the charge when we made the purchase at the Westminster, CO, Costco.

At MMG's insistence that I get the facts from Amex on how to file a claim and what was needed to file the claim before I turned the PC over to the Geeks, I found myself sitting in the car in the Best Buy parking lot talking to another very helpful, if somewhat inept, Amex service person.

When she discovered that we had bought the PC at Costco, she told me about this wonderful "Concierge" service that Costco provides to purchasers of electronics at Costco and suggested that under this (free) plan Costco extends the original manufacturer's warranty for one year. She told me that if I had the "Concierege" coverage, Costco would pay this claim and the Amex warranty extension would start when the additional year provided by Costco ended.

So, rather than delivering the PC to the tender mercies of the Geeks, it was off to the nearest Costco to get the lowdown on the "Concierge" service. Turns out there is much more to the "Concierge" service than just a warranty extension. You can read all about it here.

When I called the "Concierge" service to inquire about the claim procedure, I found that they also provide free technical service. Their technicians spent almost three hours running diagnostics on the hardware and software and came to the conclusion that there were so many software conflicts that the only real solution was the "nuclear" one -- an RFS!!

Fortunately I had everything backed up because RFS means Return to Factory Settings! This means exactly what it sounds like. Everything on the harddrive is removed except the programs that came with the computer when it was new! GULP! Had I really backed up everything!? Yes, --- I think.

So that's what we did and I've been spending the last many hours restoring programs and files that had been added over the past 18 months. So far I haven't added back whatever was causing the problem and it is going smoothly.

Still have a bunch to do and when that's accomplished I'll fill in the missing blog stuff. Stay tuned in for the Amazing McDonald Observatory and the Startling 3.5 mile pecan grove! and more cactus flower pictures.

MMG and DDG