Notices from Administrators...

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Sat Jul 04, 2015 11:34 pm

Hi All…

Just a quick note to let you all know that my lovely Samsung Laptop has encountered the dreaded ‘blue screen of death’, something I’ve not ever encountered before, but it prevents me from booting it up…

I can get as far as the desktop, then within 20 seconds the whole screen turns blue with a message that a catastrophic failure has occurred and it is about to closed down… then within 10 seconds it shits itself…

I will endeavor to find a local ‘guru’ to see what can be salvaged, but until then, I’m effectively off-line, restricted to my mobile phone until further notice…

I’m typing this up in MS Word on my old Fujitsu Stylistic tablet, but as that’s not capable of being upgradable from Windows XP, and the Anti-Virus has expired, I’m only logging on long enough to transfer this notice from the MS Word .doc to this post to avoid the possibility of attracting a virus…

I hope it won’t be too long before I rejoin the fold, but if it means a new laptop, it could be longer than expected… I’ll miss you all…! In the meantime I can be contacted (or receive SMSs) on my mobile, 0450 046 785… :hello2:

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Tue Jul 14, 2015 2:37 am

A quick update...

At the cost of a considerable dent in this fortnight's pension, I'm 80% through rebuilding my beloved Samsung Laptop, so if you bear with me,
I should be fully operational again by next weekend... I'll start by bringing the NRL Tipping Board up to date tomorrow...

I'm currently, and oh so carefully, restoring/ reloading all of my software and data recovered from C drive, hopefully to it's former glory...

I'd like to thank Pony for his phone call, which helped me greatly in pointing me in the right direction... But mainly I need to thank the local
PC Guru I was referred to by my local Dick Smith... Without him I would have lost everything when I had to "restore to factory settings"...

More later...

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Wed Jul 15, 2015 3:18 pm

A further update...

Recovery of data and reinstalling of software was going well, until I went to reinstall my Microsoft Office Professional 2007... :roll:

Because I hadn't 'uninstalled' it prior to the crash, my PC took it that I was trying to load a 'single version' copy onto a second PC or something, and whilst the DVD drive recognised, read and loaded the
software, it called for validation, and when I tried to do it online, it consistently failed.
So I opted for a telephone registration/ validation, :phone 2:

but no matter how I tried it, that too failed, because (according to the Flippolino operator,) it was supposedly, a 'pirate' :pirate:

copy...

Now whilst I know that it wasn't, the bastard on the other end of the line told me that the only way I was going to get a validation code, was to sent my copy of the software to Microsoft ANZ H.O. in Epping,
and if they decided that I'd inadvertently bought a 'pirated' copy, then Microsoft would re-issue a legitimate Microsoft Office Professional 2010 to replace my 2007 version... [-o<

So I express posted it to MS ANZ H.O. before realising that every time I opened a MS Office product, I was using up the '30 free goes' before my loaded software would shut down completely...!!! :faaaarrk:

That meant that every time I opened up Outlook to read my e-mails, or check my calendar, or to receive notices of bills, etc., opened up Excel to adjust the NRL Tipping Boards, opened up MS Word to read
something I'd previously written and/ or saved, I was rapidly using up my available access to my 'stuff'... :sheeesh:

I'm currently down to about 10 more attempts..! #-o

Then I find out from Microsoft, (via e-mail, of course,) that should they decide that I'm eligible to receive a replacement copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2010, it could take 4 to 6 weeks...! :shit:

And no guarantees either, as the Chinese guy who owned the computer shop where I bought my lovely Samsung laptop and my Microsoft Office Professional 2010 from has since gone 'belly-up', and I can't
provide receipts, nor evidence of my purchases...! Have you tried to live without access to Outlook, Word and Excel for 6 weeks once you've come to depend on it..??? :banghead:

What a pain in the :pottytrain2:

Sadly, my old and now painfully slow Fujitsu Stylistic Tablet PC :down:

(with MS Office 2010 installed,) died the day I got my lovely Samsung Notebook :down:

back...

Dags · **Posted:** Thu Jul 16, 2015 3:00 pm

Try Openoffice for your word and excel.

https://www.openoffice.org/

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Fri Jul 17, 2015 1:29 pm

Open source software is all a bit too adventurous for me, Dags, but thanks for your suggestion and your thoughts… :yes:

However, check out...

A creative Software Solution from Microsoft worthy of investigating for yourselves... :type:

In actual fact, Darryl, I have found (and implemented,) a very clever and creative solution to my Microsoft Office Professional 2007/ 2010 dilemma… :supz:

I can’t take full credit for all of it, the initial part of the solution came from yet another Flippolino operator at Microsoft’s Australasia/ Oceania Call Centre… :roll:

When I rang them :phone 2:

to complain about the projected 4 – 6 week delay in getting operational again, facing the prospect of no e-mails, etc., she suggested that I could
download a 30-day free trial of the latest Microsoft Office Professional 2013… :omg1:

Whilst investigating her recommendation I stumbled over “Office 365”, effectively the subscription-only, cloud-based version of the latest Microsoft Office Professional
2013, always (permanently) updated with the very latest FULL versions of MS Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, PowerPoint, even Publisher and OneNote, with 60 Skype
minutes per month and 1.0 TB of free cloud storage … :yess:

Faced with the very real prospect of not getting my copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2007 back, or not getting it replaced with Microsoft Office Professional 2010
if Microsoft decides my 2007 was a ‘pirated’ copy, I was staring down the barrel of forking out around $300.00 just to get going again..! Compare that with $9.00 per month,
or $89.00 per annum to opt for the clouds...! :plane:

Check it out and make the argument for yourselves… :type:

Microsoft Office 2013 vs Office 365 prices...

In my case, Microsoft Home and Business 2013 stand-alone software (for ONE PC) $299.00, versus a subscription of $9.00 per month, or optionally, $89.00 per annum, for
Office 365 Personal, which lets me load it onto one PC, one Tablet and one SmartPhone… :mobile:

(Office 365 Home lets you load it onto up to 5 PCs…) Only 3.0 GB on-PC storage
used up, permanently upgraded to the latest versions of the software, 60 Skype minutes per month and 1TB of free cloud storage... Hey, simply a no-brainer for me… :dontknow:

+

A final consideration that clinched it for me, with an online subscription and all stored in the çlouds, any future catastrophic PC crash won't affect my software/ data... :yea:

Seejay · **Posted:** Fri Jul 17, 2015 2:26 pm

Interesting. :-k

As a matter of interest, do you have to use the cloud as storage, or can you elect to store your data locally?

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Fri Jul 17, 2015 2:41 pm

You can store it locally and/ or on OneDrive... (the Microsoft cloud storage system.) $\:D/$

I'm actually reading up on all the ins and outs in the overview about :type:

Office 365 for PC or Mac :evil3:

as I type this...! :finga:

There's also a :type:

full FAQ section on Office 365 :evil3:

(i.e. Office 2013 for PC or Office 2016 for Mac...)

It'll do me..! :yea:

tafmo · **Posted:** Tue Jul 21, 2015 1:25 pm

Good choice Rick. I've had it for a year, and just renewed, but under a one-of cheaper licence ($79 for a year, reverts to normal after the 1sy year). Love the 1TB storage, and the fact that you can share it with up to 4 other household members and they each get 1TB in the cloud. Plus you can load on up to 5 devices, PC, Mac, iPad etc.

A word of advice on the original PC problem....when you get some spare cash, ditch your beloved Samsung and get a Mac. :yea:

I have a Toshiba Qosmio laptop for occasionally playing PC games that for some reason won't run under Parallels Desktop on my Mac; awesome 3D gaming laptop, but the Mac is my choice for gaming every time. No more blue screens of death (though some years ago I had a grey screen of death on the iMac....now that was scary.... :cat1:

).

It gets to be a bit of a disease though, having now got 2 iMacs, 1 Macbook Air, 1 iPads, 1 iPad Air, 4 iPhones, and an iPad mini. As they say, when you're on a good thing....stick to it. :glasses7:

At least they all talk to each other and the cloud. :yess:

OSX and IOS...a relatively intuitive and easy interface.... :yea:

Windows 8....what a non-intuitive, complicated piece of crap. :banghead:

..oh that's right, it's a Microsoft product... :omg1:

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Fri Jul 31, 2015 8:07 pm

Astute regular users of our vast Emoticon (Smilie) Library may have noticed a couple of 'newbies' in our collection (they're both sitting on the 7th line...) :omg1:

Inspired by the recent release of Minions the Movie, (and not being able to find a decent Minion Smilie online,) I set about creating one of my very own...

Meet BOB... :bob light:

well in fact, you're getting TWO BOBS worth, depending whether your post is to have a dark or light background...

For dark, or light backgrounds... :right:

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Fri Jul 31, 2015 8:08 pm

See what I mean..? :dontknow:

For dark, or light backgrounds... :right:

Enjoy...! :yea:

..........................................................

Yeah, yeah, I know... ...I'm working on one with a CLEAR background...! #-o

Notices from Administrators...

Who is online