The Screwdriver Meets the Computer ....

So the computer-duncehead has to backup her computer, wipe her hard-drive, and re-install everything from scratch.

Hoo boy.

So yesterday I slowly and painstakingly read what was written on the screens, translated it into English from computo-jargonese, and figured out which button to push. With only two or threes pleas for help from my son-in-law, I re-installed the operating system. But I couldn't continue with Spybot, Zone Alarm, and AVG (much less anything interesting) until I could access the internet. That means I needed access to the wireless monitor in the house. That means I needed a "driver" for my computer to talk to the little box that slurps the Internet off the cables, into the house, and sends it beaming out into the airwaves of my home.

That means we had to reinstall not only the software but also the hardware. Okay, that means we need to unscrew the little doober-jobbie that hooks the antenna into the hard-wiring of the computer. Okie-dokie. Grab the screwdriver from the kitchen drawer.

But, man! We were having problems. A screen would disappear. Or the machine would say, "Okay, we're halfway through the installation. Now turn off the machine. Attach the hardware piece. Turn the machine back on. And we'll pick up the software installation where we left off." And then it wouldn't! The nerve of it!

After repeated tries, and we were finally on a roll, thinking we would make it, suddenly we plopped out of Proper Installation Mode and had the screen go belly-up on us again. And it crossed Gary's mind:

We're using a magnetized screwdriver.

We were fine as long as we turned the screws by hand. But the second we touched the screwdriver to the screw, we were messing with the magnetism in the machine, and it flipped out.

Good grief.
Everybody knows to keep magnets away from the computer.

But then there are those tricksy tools, disguising themselves as helping-hands, when they're really computer-crashers.

As much as I'd rather pay somebody to do this, we just can't afford that. So I guess I keep learning lessons about the computer these days. (Boy, I'm glad Nathan is just a phone call away!)