Acmlm's Board - I2 Archive - Hardware/Software - Most Loathed Computer Task?
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BMF98567
Posts: 968/1261 |
Any time I have to replace hardware ("have to" as in "not by choice"), especially hard drives. Win98 was pretty lenient when it came to replacing drives, since you could just copy everything from master to slave via Explorer and then swap, but I was only recently introduced to the world of NT (via Win2K) and...it's different. I had to use a direct drive-copying boot disk thing to replace my Win2K drive. 
Motherboards are a huge pain, too, though fortunately I don't have to do those nearly as often... |
Mel
Posts: 849/991 |
You can't do it with 4Chan, though. All files have filenames along the lines of "1120483160355" to prevent any two filenames from ever being the same. Ever. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 5412/8210 |
Easy way to sort out hentai:
FOR %I IN "*tifa*.jpg" DO move %I hentai\%I
Repeat with other common names.  |
Mel
Posts: 826/991 |
Sorting out my 4Chan folder. 6000+ images and counting. And this is AFTER I've seperated all the hentai from the regular stuff. |
Tarale
Posts: 2200/2720 |
Yeah, I hate being FORCED to reboot. And I was hoping that Apple wouldn't do it to me as frequently as Windows does -- but OS X will force you to reboot after a software update too. No "do you want to reboot now? (yes, no)" just a straight choice between reboot or shut down.  |
HyperLamer
Posts: 5398/8210 |
Originally posted by Kaioshin
I can't stand having to reboot. Even worse, having to reboot without a given reason. 
I don't much like it either, but there's only one scenario in which it really ticks me off:
Visual Studio setup will now reboot your computer.
[Reboot]
And some other M$ installers *cough*IE6*cough* don't even ask. You're watching it install and out of nowhere it reboots.  |
FreeDOS
Posts: 1514/1657 |
Trying to maintain Windows so it doesn't break when you do something that shouldn't cauase it to break. |
Dei*
Posts: 222/412 |
Rebooting or Backing up data + Formatting + Loading it back on. I hate it all. Especially since I got like 5 spyware processes that come backl up every time I reboot, causing me to run a 10 minutes scan with nortons and ad-aware. Annoying. And doing that whole backing up thing, it takes me about 2 hours since I have GBs of shit I cannot lose, and even then my comp usually gives me hell when I try to format it...Blah. |
Kaioshin
Posts: 25/45 |
Restarting here, too. Sure, I could just go somewhere else for the period of time the PC needs to restart and load the stuff up, but that's something ...I...cannot...do...
Anyway, I find problems with installations fun to handle, so I guess I'm weird like that. But, as suggested above, I can't stand having to reboot. Even worse, having to reboot without a given reason. |
Ailure
Posts: 10327/11162 |
Restarting this computer, I really avoid that. It takes awhile before every program have started and so on. :/
Last time I reinstalled Windows on another computer I had no problems, I found all drivers easily as I knew what the computer contained. Though I realised that most Linux distros have even more painless installations.
I really want a ghost utility of some kind... |
HyperLamer
Posts: 5377/8210 |
Ah yes, it always takes me so damn long to defrag. |
Colin
Posts: 9004/11302 |
Defrag. Without fail.
At least it's more tolerable on today's machines but having to run it on my Celeron 300... Oy. That'll take half a day no matter how fragmented your HD is. And then one time it crashed at 100% and... well... bye bye FAT32 tables. |
HyperLamer
Posts: 5358/8210 |
Yes, reinstalling is a huge pain. Something always just plain disappears from the backup no matter how many times I make sure it's being copied, actually installing XP takes forever, and then I have to install Firefox to get to Microsoft's site to download IE (even though I don't want it) and then download and install a crapload of patches. Restore the backups, that's a good few hours. Then re-install all the programs (and why is it that EVERY FSCKING INSTALLER creates shortcuts in my Start menu and Desktop without asking? ) and get them set up how I like it. And then the worst part - getting ZSnes to work. There's always something weird I have to do for it to run properly and not screw up, especially with the joystick, and it's a different problem every time.
I did find a trick for some of those installers, though. When they have the nerve to only ask where you want the Start menu shortcut, not if you want one, I just tell them to stick it in "..\..\..\RECYCLER\[big number here]".  (Your big number may vary. Check your RECYCLER directory with hidden files visible.)
Karadur
Posts: 951/1192 |
Let's see. The thing I loathe doing the most on the computer doesn't directly involve me, but I'll still put it in here. Anything that has to be set up / (re)configured / somehow fixed, when I'm not at home. Thankfully, it hasn't happened too much, but I've gotten a few calls when I'm out at a friend's house for the night or something, usually from my brother, telling me there's something wrong with the computer, and that it needed to be fixed immediately because he'll die of boredom otherwise
The phone call, I don't mind. It's trying to explain over the phone what to do, when the main computer users in my family (besides me, obviously), don't know much about whatever they're trying to fix. Especially with programs that they use, and I don't. I can't really help fix a program that I've never used before
As for something that does directly involve me, it would have to be granting access to various files (usually games) that my brother can't access because they're under my account. What actually happens, is that he says he wants such and such on his profile, so then I put the file in the Shared Folder, so that he, and anyone else that wants to use it can. It's just that there was so much that he wants.
I said "was", because I recently purchased an external 120GB hard drive, and moved all our music and ROMs to it. That was probably 15GB worth of stuff. Yesterday afternoon, I was trying to install some new songs into StepMania, and the computer froze. I couldn't safely remove the hard drive, and when I restarted the computer and tried to access the files that were on it, I got prompted to format the thing. I had to go back up to Staples and get it exchanged for a new one, because I wasn't able to format it with the FAT32 file system (I need it for the computers here at volunteering. They're only running Windows 98). Thus, I lost all the files, including the music and ROMs, and although the hard drive in our computer has a lot more extra space on it, there's not much to do on the computer |
Sukasa
Posts: 1075/1981 |
Mine would be trying to install any windwos to a blank slate, because the install programs are always trying to divide by zero. Even when it installs OK, I usuallly have to go back and fix SOMETHING up for it to work. |
neotransotaku
Posts: 3404/4016 |
customizing windows because I want the OS to be isolated as much as possible from the rest of the computer. so, this means moving my desktop, favorites, my computer, program files, common program files, temporary internet directory, and the swap file into other places.
formatting for me is not a problem because I isolate the OS...i don't have to worry about losing stuff I forgot to backup... |
Tarale
Posts: 2192/2720 |
I'm pretty sure we'll get a lot of similar responses to this, but anyways -- I was just wondering what your most hated computer task is?
Mine would have to be the following:
Backup - Format - Reinstall **with no driver CD's supplied**
Backing up somebody else's data is fiddly, cause you can never really be sure where they've put it all or if you've gotten everything (it's hard enough backing up my OWN data sometimes, I put stuff everywhere). Inevitably something gets lost forever and you just have to hope it wasn't important.
Formatting and Reinstalling is fine -- until you get to the part where you need the drivers, and assuming all goes well (like the computer will boot from the installation CD, for starters). Most of the installation process more or less sorts itself out -- it's the bit where the obscure video driver you downloaded doesn't work properly, etc, that drives me nuts. Or when you can't even FIND the bloody drivers in the first place 
Course, once I'm done, I make DAMNED sure to Ghost the bloody thing right after it's all set up, so I don't have to do it again! 
So, what is your most hated computer task? |
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