The Big Crash

by David Stevenson

Why I disappeared from the Internet for a month!

May 11th

Hard drive went phut. Phoned PC Mastercare. They diagnosed by phone and ordered parts.

May 18th

Engineer came to house. He replaced hard drive with new [and bigger] one and put in new motherboard. I got out all the backups that I had made or been given and put them in. No modem. No sound.

May 19th

Phoned PC Mastercare. They said I need original software from Packard Bell. Did I not have the Master disk provided with computer? No, none provided. They would order one from Holland for me: will take a maximum of five days.

May 26th

Phoned PC Mastercare. They said that no order had been put through for a Master disk. They were sorry. They would order one from Holland for me: will take a maximum of five days. I phoned my service provider, Demon. They said that emails are kept for thirty days then deleted. No panic - yet. They said 138 emails waiting.

May 29th

Phoned PC Mastercare. They said that they are unable to tell whether an order for a Master disk has been processed. They were sorry. For safety, they would order one from Holland for me: will take a maximum of five days. Would ringing Packard Bell direct help? They gave me the number.

June 1st

Phoned Packard Bell. They did not sell Master disk with my model at that time. They would order Master disk from Holland for me: will take a maximum of five days. They suggest ringing back when it arrives.

June 3rd

Master disk arrives. Put it in. No modem. Phoned Packard Bell. Two hours on phone. Try everything. Engineer says either extra memory or modem is faulty: try taking back to PCWorld. I phoned Demon. They confirmed that emails are kept for thirty days then deleted. Starting to panic. They said 215 emails waiting. Consider trying to download at friend's house.

June 4th

Take computer to PCWorld. Only lead attached is modem lead because that does not detach. They promise to look at it. Friend agrees will be at home on Jun 7th for download.

June 5th

PCWorld engineer thinks Master disk may be faulty. New one coming.

June 6th

PCWorld engineer enters new Master disk. No modem. Says modem definitely faulty. Go to PCWorld to pick up computer. No modem lead. They say that it was not on the original document as separate item so they have no reason to return one. They talk about following procedures. I pleasantly tell them that that is what I am doing and ask to borrow phone to call police. They reconsider but cannot find any modem lead. They promise to order one and send it on to me within five days.

June 6th [evening]

Go home. Ring PC Mastercare. Tell him I need new modem. He says only if he diagnoses it. I say fine. We work on it together and duly find modem. No modem lead.

June 7th

Go out and buy new modem lead. Return. Plug in. Send fax. Works! Try for email. No modem! <scream> Ring PC Mastercare. More diagnostics. Solves problem. Email works. Download 264 emails.

Jun 12th:

The promised second, third and fourth Master disk, and the modem lead have not arrived yet. Oh I am surprised. <grin>. Large parts of my data including all files for web page lost through inadequate backups.

Thanks for listening!

Editor's note:

• If you want to comment on this article, why not write direct to me, David Stevenson? I shall be pleased to hear from you!

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