And other (Mis)Adventures in Computerland.

Last week: Brought Toshiba laptop into repair shop because it decided to stop recognizing/booting from the battery. Bought a new battery and even though it appeared to be charging, the computer still wouldn’t boot up on battery power. Unplug it and it instantly shuts off. Turns out both batteries are good and the motherboard needs to be replaced. Would have considered messing with it myself if it wasn’t still under warranty. I wonder if this is related to the fall off the couch (see below). Using netbook in the meantime, hope to pick the Toshiba up on Thursday. (You can do a lot on a netbook).

Last month: Brought same Toshiba laptop into same repair shop after it fell off the couch (ouch) and the wireless switch broke off. Unfortunately, it was set to OFF, not ON, and could not be turned on via the keyboard. Since it was under warranty, the repair shop set the wireless switch to the “on” position (decided I didn’t really need the toggle). Now the wifi can be turned off and on via the keyboard.

It was my cat’s fault. If Inky hadn’t gotten stuck in a space too small for her behind the couch, I wouldn’t have rearranged the furniture.

Last week at work: Slow clunky computer (could barely run MS Word and took 10 minutes to log into the SIrius Satellite Radio site via Firefox) was replaced with a faster, newer PC.

Today at work: Booted up the computer and YIKES! They loaded MSWord 2007. Did pretty well typing labels in spite of the fact I’d never used it before. There needs to be an easier way to copy text and paste it as plain text. Microsoft needs to bring back the “white text, blue background” option. And can someone tell me why they took away the pulldown menus? WTF?!

Two days ago: Narrowly avoided spilling coffee on my laptop. Instead it went all over the couch and my clothes. Would rather change my clothes than install a new keyboard again.

Two weeks ago: Started running out of space on my two Maxtor 1TB external drives that I use to store digital photos (one primary, one backup). Seagate has merged with Maxtor. Having had good luck with Seagate/Maxtor in the past, I purchased a couple of 2TB Seagate expansion drives online. They arrived last week, and I dutifully set about copying ALL my digital photos to a brand spanking new 2TB drive. Just one minor annoyance: the drive hummed very loudly, very sporadically, similar to the hum fluorescent bulbs make.

I should mention that I’ve had Maxtor drives for several years that are still going strong. Usage has not been 24/7, but it has been on a regular basis.

Today: After four or five days of backing up digital/scanned photos from the last decade and a half (and before), just as I finished copying the 2009s, the Seagate drive started clicking like a robotic cricket. This would go on for about 10 seconds, then stop, then start up again sporadically. It didn’t seem to matter if the drive was being accessed or idle. The humming was annoying, but the clicking was even more distracting. While the drive seemed to be working nominally, the extreme noisiness made me wary. I did not expect it—the Maxtor drives are fairly quiet, with the exception of one that makes a sound similar to a quietly babbling brook when it is accessed. A search online revealed that the noise issue with the later Seagate drives was somewhat common. Some people claimed the clicking was a sign of impending data loss and their drives did not last long; some claimed that, according to Seagate, it was normal for the drive, because the larger drives more frequently aligned their drive-heads in order to minimize damage from being dropped or moved. The Seagate technician I spoke with today confirmed this and suggested I hook up the second drive I bought to see if it also made noise (it immediately started clicking). In response to my question, he said they hadn’t received complaints about noisy drives, but reading computer forums about Seagate drives tells me otherwise. The technician also said that what sounds noisy to me probably wouldn’t sound noisy to him, but he’s not me. He’s probably half-deaf already from years of playing X-Box. I called back, obtained an RMA number, and shipped the drives back via FedEx Ground for a refund. At the very least, Seagate customer service was helpful and their return process was uncomplicated. I next went to Office Depot and purchased three portable Verbatim Clone USB drives, 500GB each. They are a little slower, but more portable and extremely quiet. My cat Selene is enjoying the boxes they came in her new toys.

Dear Santa Geek: I want an external USB drive of at least 2TB that is the size of a digital camera and can fit in my pocket. It shouldn’t be that hard to do. A 2TB drive needn’t be large enough to slap Bill Gates unconscious. Get your nerdiest elves on it.