Friday, January 3, 2014

Miss Puerto Rico's Windows 8 Computer Drove Me To Indian Ghost Walking

This morning Miss Puerto Rico gave me a headache.

Well, that may be a bit unfair. Because, actually, it is Microsoft that gave me a headache.

Around noon I decided I needed to visit my favorite Indian ghosts for some anti-headache therapy. So, I drove to Arlington to the Village Creek Natural Historical Area to walk in the forest of spindly trees, currently de-nuded of foliage.

Last week Miss Puerto Rico tracked me down to tell me she bought a new laptop that she was having trouble with, asking me if I would help. I said I would help and then forgot about it. Yesterday Miss Puerto Rico tracked me down again, desperate now for laptop help, because she wants to take it to her home island with her in a few weeks.

This morning, early, Miss Puerto Rico knocked on my door, laptop in hand, handing it to me.

A couple hours later I turned on this laptop, entered the password and was soon understanding why Windows 8 has been a debacle for Microsoft.

Even before I had possession of the laptop I figured the woe was being caused  by Miss PR not understanding she needed to connect an Ethernet connection to the laptop in order to access the Internet. That clue came from Miss Puerto, in her charming island accent saying something about Microsoft won't let her check her Yahoo email.

So, I plugged in an Ethernet connection. That went all sorts of sideways, with all my U-Verse devices suddenly not working. An hour or two later I had the U-Verse devices back working. I then connected to U-Verse wi-fi- to find that Miss Puerto Rico's computer was no longer not cooperating.

Now I have to show Miss PR how to connect to her wi-fi connection. The language barrier is going to make this a difficult task.

I sure can see why people have been vexed by Windows 8. As soon as I got Miss PR's computer Internet connected, Microsoft started suggesting it be upgraded to Windows 8.1. I did not feel like taking that journey. I will leave it to Miss Puerto Rico to take care of that upgrade.

On the plus side of Windows 8, I quickly got used to the touch screen enabled aspect of it, working like a tablet or smartphone.

It is well past mid-afternoon and I still have a headache....

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