0132 — Whither Mark?

Well, probably no one has noticed, but it has been over a week since I’ve posted anything here on IronSharpensIron.  But what a week it was!

The week was “set up” actually two weekends ago, when my sweet wife leaned over my shoulder, and invitingly whispered into my ear, “Mark, that computer is just so slowwww.. you really need to get another one!”  I thought she was just trying to get on my good side [sometimes she doesn’t remember that she is ALWAYS on my good side, no matter what!] and so kept working on what I was working on.  But then a little later she said, “You know, I really mean it.  And isn’t ‘You need to get a new computer’ on the Top Ten list of what you would like your wife to tell you?”

Wow.  I decided she was serious.  So of course I went out and followed instruction like any devoted husband.  Those of  you who know me very well know already that I don’t “buy a computer;” I buy components.  So, for the techies out there who really care, I got an Intel dual core 3.16 GHz CPU, plugged it into a new shiny ASUS motherboard with 4 GB of RAM (I’m staying with 16-bit computing for awhile, so there wasn’t much point in getting more than 4 GB right now), got two 1 TB whiz-bang disks to replace my two smallest disks, a pair of 250 GB Western Digitals, to bring my spinning disk total capacity to 3.6 TB.  I hasten to add that I don’t actually USE all that, sort of — half is for active storage, and the other half is for cloning the first half occasionally, for disaster recovery purposes.

What in the world does any of that have to do with not posting on my ISI blog?  Just this:  If you’ve ever put together those sorts of components, and forced them to play nicely together, you have a clue how much time it takes.  And on top of that, once that is achieved, THEN one has to reinstall tons and tons (well, pounds anyway) of software, and I’m still only perhaps one-third done with all that.

I’ll get it done eventually.  Then you’ll see more regular postings.  Promise!

Go with God.

–Mark

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2 Responses to 0132 — Whither Mark?

  1. m5williams says:

    Oh my! Sounds super fun. 1) where did you get the components? 2) what about your video card? and 3) why didn’t you use an app to move your system files over and save the limitless re-installs? and finally 4) I’ve started using LiveDrive or ElephantDrive for remote backup. It’s limitless storage, remote access, and less expensive than maintaining 3.1 TB at home. 🙂

    Matt and I are going to build a gaming PC this summer. Should be fun…

  2. Mark says:

    1. Fry’s Electronics
    2. A cheapie. $70 less rebate = $50. I don’t do “games” so only needed a card that was compatible with the PCIexpress 2.0 slot on the motherboard. As long as it works with MS-Office, I’m fine in this area. I think it has 512MB video ram on the card, if my memory is correct.
    3. Well, do you have any good suggestions for “Next Time?” Don’t know whether or not I’d use it though, to be honest. ONE of the advantages of the re-install is the Fresh Start, i.e., lots of the baggage that sometimes begin to bog things down just don’t get re-installed — and that can be a good thing.
    4. I use CARBONITE. $50/year if I remember correctly. Limitless. It seems to work fairly well. I guess that my Tier-2 backup plan. Can you imagine retrieving 500GB of pictures from the INTERNET, at ISP speeds, to recover just the disk we use for pictures, movies, etc.? WHEW! So I use it for insurance, but not as my primary plan.

    Have fun with the gaming PC! I’ve never ventured into that area. I guess it’s just a matter of what a person has time for, priorities, etc. That would be a SUPER project to do with your son. HAVE FUN!

    –Mark

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