Windows rant. WHY?

[ElwoodBlues]

I am so sick of fucking windows never working correctly. Error reports, crashed, non-responsive programs.

I just spent an hour writing an absolutely beautiful love letter to Indigochild111 celebrating our one-year anniversary. I poured my heart out to her in this letter, it was absolutely wonderful. Then disaster struck

Before I could save it, an error message popped up, and closed the program without saving anything. I LOST IT ALL

And now, when I try to do it again, it just doesn't seem to come out as good as the first time.

This was just the straw that broke the camel's back

[omega2K4]

What version of Windows do you have? I had tons of problems with 98, but haven't had any problems with XP Pro SP2.

[ElwoodBlues]

XP is the version I am running. The only things I have put on it since I got it are AIM and Firefox. This is not the first time something like this has happened to me, and I'm getting pretty fed up with it. Is there anyway I can even recover this letter?

[jorgelito]

I think we should all get refunds for "faulty product". IT's only fair. This is borderline fraud.

[flat5]

I feel for you, but

Then again you may have a hardware problem.

[Psycho Dad]

Never wait an hour to save anything you are working on. Nearly every Windows application will save your document by simply hitting Ctrl-S every so often. I've never lost any information by any fault or error of Microsoft, Dell, Compaq, Logitec, etc. I understand you are frustrated, but if you don't like Windows, there will be about fifty posters today suggesting other operating systems in this thread today. Try one of them.

[asshopo]

Uhm, I dunno, I've never really had issues like that ever with Windows XP. I've had filesharing issues (extreemly slow over what should be a fast network), but nothing that made me that pissed off.

[WillyPete]

check your temporary folder in your user profile. it might still be there.

turn on the auto backup feature in Word.

[Averett]

Originally Posted by elwoodblues43

I just spent an hour writing an absolutely beautiful love letter to Indigochild111 celebrating our one-year anniversary. I poured my heart out to her in this letter, it was absolutely wonderful. Then disaster struck

Oh my dear Romeo... love letters MUST be written by hand! And sent via mail, with just a hint of your cologne.

[Vincentt]

I haven't had any problems with xp. If you were using word, there could be a autosaved version of your letter somewhere on your HD.

[maleficent]

If you do a search on content contains -- something that was in the letter - -you should be able to recover part of the letter...

I've never had a crash that bad in XP that something couldn't be recovered.

A word processed love letter? Oh My...

[Bill O'Rights]

Originally Posted by Averett

love letters MUST be written by hand!

I was kinda thinkin' the same thing. But, I'm...old.

[Charlatan]

Geez guys... compose in word and transcribe to a hand written letter... it's neater that way.

Am I the only one who does this?


As for your crash. That sucks. I find it hard to believe that XP would do that. I've found it to be incredibly stable. I suspect hardware too.

[raeanna74]

Originally Posted by Bill O'Rights

I was kinda thinkin' the same thing. But, I'm...old.

Surely. Nothing beats handwritten for LOVE.

This was the biggest problem that students had in our computer labs at college. I was forever recovering lost papers that they'd written. There'd be 8 pages of Comp Paper on there and they hadn't saved it ONCE. We made sure the auto-save was on on all our computers. We used word perfect at that time. In fact I was recovering files for reasons like this before we even had Windows. Computers have errors and always fail. It's not just windows. Just save your files regularly and make backups of ALL your files periodically - especially if you have sensitive material saved in digital format. It's normal and to be expected. I do understand your frustration. There are times I'll start writing something in my journal here and my daughter will get to the computer when I go to answer the phone. Most of the time I won't bother to re-write it cause it's just not the same anymore.

[vox_rox]

Firstly, although I know this doesn't help you now, but you must always save. Save after each sentence, save all the time, it doesn't hurt, and it'll save you tons of pain, as you are aware. Just hit ctrl+S all the time, easy.

Having said that, if you search for files with names like ~tmp or *tmp, or even just "tmp" in the title, this is where word often stores it's temporary files. Now, depending on how fast you wrote this stuff, and whether you have ever played around with the autosave feature, you may get a lot, possibly all (but not likely) back. Try that.

As for windblows, I'm making the swith to Linux right now. I have two computers, one with XP Pro, one with Ubuntu Linux, and I'm finding I'm using my Linux machine for more and more all the time. Just a thought if you're serious about getting rid of beta software on your computer, like XP for instance.

Good luck, and I DO feel your pain.

Peace,

Pierre

[denim]

Originally Posted by elwoodblues43

Before I could save it, an error message popped up, and closed the program without saving anything. I LOST IT ALL

...save early and often.

[slimsam1]

Like denim said: Save, save, save. It's a good policy no matter what OS you are running.

Side note: My primary computer runs Gentoo linux, and it's been on for 7 days now with no problems. I like linux a lot.

[canuckguy]

i run winxp and have no issues, have not rebooted or had a crash in weeks, sometimes its not the software but the computer or operator.....just kidding btw, sorry about the crash and loss of the letter, consider it a first draft, now write it out on paper although with teh holidays they might not get it until 2006.

[Redlemon]

Really, I feel your pain and I don't mean to pile on, but my favorite phrasing of the "save often" idea is "Those who do not save their keystrokes are doomed to repeat them".

[ElwoodBlues]

well, I got a new one banged out. For those who said it needs to be written by hand, herein lies the problem.

I have absolutely horrible, 10 year-old child chicken scratch handwriting that I can barely read sometimes. So I something legible and word processed would work out better.

[dksuddeth]

elwood, look in the temp folder for a file that will look something like $tm000.tmp with a date of today. If you find one, right click on it and open with word. you MIGHT be able to salvage some of it.

[ratbastid]

There's a penguin winking at you right now...

[EleqTrizi'T]

Sounds like you have a hardware problem to me.

[Coppertop]

Yes, this is indeed a lesson in SESO:

Save early, save often.

No matter the OS.

[cyrnel]

Originally Posted by elwoodblues43

well, I got a new one banged out. For those who said it needs to be written by hand, herein lies the problem.

I have absolutely horrible, 10 year-old child chicken scratch handwriting that I can barely read sometimes. So I something legible and word processed would work out better.

Heh. I know this problem well. Live in terror of blank greeting cards.

The tragic thing is my mother's side of the family were teachers from the stereotypical one-room, furnace in the middle, rural schools. Their handwriting is/was beautiful. Looking at old farm receipts from my grandfather reminds me of the Declaration of Independence. My mother's is the same. I can't be related.

[AquaFox]

i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows, i hate windows.......



buy a mac

back up all your files and reflormat your hard drive and make it new again, that ussually does the trick

and good luck with windows

[irseg]

I know it's trendy among people who try to appear to be knowledgeable about computers to blame every problem on Windows and then recommend switching to their pet OS, but believe it or not there *are* other things that can cause programs to crash. Most of these types of problems I've dealt with were actually caused by cheap motherboards or flaky power supplies.

My XP machines usually go for a month or so between reboots. And on the other hand I've run Linux on computers with crap hardware, and it'd randomly crash all the time too.

[AquaFox]

i'm the number one cause for my computer problems.... i put too much junk on

[fhqwhgads]

Originally Posted by Averett

Oh my dear Romeo... love letters MUST be written by hand! And sent via mail, with just a hint of your cologne.

What about spraypainted on a freeway overpass in a drunken moment of passion?

I'm a romantic.

[vox_rox]

Originally Posted by ratbastid

There's a penguin winking at you right now...

Tux, you there? Can you help? Yup, I just knew we could count on you.

Peace,

Pierre

[McG]

The majority of crashes in Windows is either from faulty hardware or badly written 3rd party applications. And like everybody else says, save save save.

[Stiltzkin]

For stuff like this, I'll write it down on paper first. Then type it out. For example, I used to send e-mails to a really interesting and intelligent girl, someone who far exceeded my intelligence and I had to be careful not to offend her or bore her, or say something inaccurate or stupid. So I wrote out my e-mails on paper first and proof read them and stuff, then finally typed them out and e-mailed them.

[eribrav]

Originally Posted by EleqTrizi'T

Sounds like you have a hardware problem to me.

Certainly.

The problem is, your hardware doesn't say Mac anywhere on it.......

[thingstodo]

Any time something you love or hate doesn't work right, you hate it, especially if you've just wasted effort. Like everyone said, setting the auto save funstion makes it effortless. My old machine would crash a lot because I didn't have enough REM for everything I was doing, especially with broadband flooding it with stuff.

As to the love letter, I both agree and disagree. They should be handwritten. However, I don't think they should be composed in Word first. You have to write from the heart. That means crossing out when you want to say something different. If it's too perfect, it will be obvious that it's too perfect!

[mikec]

sorry you lost your letter....but I will reiterate what a few have already said...

save early, save often........regardless of what program/OS you use.

[SiN]

hmm..in such a situ, i'd be kicking myself, not my OS ...



...and i think most everyone has made similar mistakes. and one realises it's their choice to learn from it.

ps. I <3 Windows. (altho linux is cool and i respect mac)

[Kid_Karysma]

I agree with Averett. I understand your frustration at the worst operating system ever, but a letter that's supposed to mean anything is definitely written by hand. Typing it makes it seem so formal and business-like. Hand-written makes it very intimate and truly from the heart.

[Homey_V]

I know it's trendy among people who try to appear to be knowledgeable about computers to blame every problem on Windows and then recommend switching to their pet OS, but believe it or not there *are* other things that can cause programs to crash. Most of these types of problems I've dealt with were actually caused by cheap motherboards or flaky power supplies.

My XP machines usually go for a month or so between reboots. And on the other hand I've run Linux on computers with crap hardware, and it'd randomly crash all the time too.

Totally off topic, but A buddy of mine runs a linux webserver on a P.O.S. Computer the he literally picked up off the side of the road, its running a cryix 233Mhz processor and god knows what else, and its only crashed when the UPS died on it . Seems to me OS die more often from improper configuration or simply bad code in the OS itself. Rarely does Hardware cause a crash.

Back on topic.

I wont repeat the multitude of advice thats been given to you already. I will however sympathize with you.

That totally sucks the big one man.

[Faygo]

Well that really sucks man. JUST LIKE MICROSOFT!!

[irseg]

Originally Posted by Homey_V

Rarely does Hardware cause a crash.

Try being a sysadmin for a company that used PC Chips motherboards in all its computers, then come back and tell me that hardware rarely causes crashes.