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computer woes
May. 8th, 2024 01:05 pmI shall never, ever buy another computer, so help me God!
My old Dell laptop began showing its age with little angravating things. I messed around with it for as long as I could stand it and then finally decided to buy a new one.
I did all the usual good shopper things. I reviewed several different laptops. Then I visited several different sellers. I found out that buying directly from the manufacturer was the least expensive way to go. Sooo, after about a week of research and then checking my bank account, I decided to go with a Hewlett-Packard. I spoke with a sales representative and decided to have Microsoft Word and all the other things that come with it, installed at the manufacturer. So far, so good.
Then things started to go wrong. First off, the original delivery date was moved ahead. Now it would be two weeks instead of one before I would get it. Then I was notified that the laptop would be delivered April 9. Surprise, surprise, I got it on Monday, April 8.
I knew I would have to set the thing up myself and that’s where my troubles began. I was asked to enter a password to get into the computer when I first began to use it every day. I am getting senile because I used a 6-digit password instead of a 4-digit one. Not a problem because I soon remembered the change. For some reason, I mistakenly decided that I needed a 2-step verification system. Plus the 6-digit computer password. DUH!! Never do that. It will make you want to stomp on dogs and small children.
I thought I had saved all my passwords. Well, the new laptop wouldn’t accept them. So, I went to my handy dandy password-saving notebook to make certain I had done so. For many of the sites I use, I saved the password. Others not so much. I decided I would just wait until I went to whatever site and if the password I used didn’t work, I’d reset it. Easy peasy. Wrong! For some sites, I could have a text sent with a code that I could enter to get me started. For most of them, I was told a message would be sent to my email account with a link to go to change the password. Funny thing is I couldn’t (and as of 4/24) I still can’t get into my email account.
I found a customer service phone number to speak to a live person to help me. First, though, I had to go through a robot that spoke so fast and gave me so little time to do what was asked that I was told to hang up and try again. Tried again and was told that the email was no longer accessible. (Insert naughty words) I was told by a message on the sign-in page of Yahoo that I had tried to many times and to wait a day or two and try again.
On the evening of Saturday, April 27, I decided I wanted some fun so I decided to start tearing my hair out. I turned on the new computer and it was like the good laptop fairy came in and waved her magic wand over the new computer. I started using it and there were a few problems.
The two biggest ones had disappeared overnight. I could get into my email without having to call my sister to ask her to find her cell phone, it is always covered up by a pillow or a blanket or a cat, and give me the 6-digit code to verify the account is mine. I went to my email account and entered my password. I was asked to verify my account and was given the option to use either my cell phone number or my sister’s. I was feeling lucky so I supplied the missing digits to my cell phone. Wonder of wonders, I got a text message on my phone that gave me the code I needed. I entered the code at the right place clicked next and was asked to supply my computer ID number. I did, and what do you think happened? The darned email opened up!
I had over 125 emails to go through. But that was simple because most of them were destined for the trash or the spam folder. I ended up having only 25 to open and the majority of those were Trivia of the Day questions (Do you know which insurance company uses the Rock of Gibraltar as its logo? For the record, it is the Prudential Company.) The others were You Gov surveys asking my opinion on all kinds of items. The survey usually ends with a chance to rank anyone or anything from athletes to books, to music, to restaurant chains, and many others.
I still have a small problem signing into Google Chrome, but signing in isn’t necessary. The site won’t remember my password. That’s no big thing, but it irks me that I can’t figure out what to do about it. Maybe if I sleep on it, one night the computer fairy will come and fix that for me, too.
My old Dell laptop began showing its age with little angravating things. I messed around with it for as long as I could stand it and then finally decided to buy a new one.
I did all the usual good shopper things. I reviewed several different laptops. Then I visited several different sellers. I found out that buying directly from the manufacturer was the least expensive way to go. Sooo, after about a week of research and then checking my bank account, I decided to go with a Hewlett-Packard. I spoke with a sales representative and decided to have Microsoft Word and all the other things that come with it, installed at the manufacturer. So far, so good.
Then things started to go wrong. First off, the original delivery date was moved ahead. Now it would be two weeks instead of one before I would get it. Then I was notified that the laptop would be delivered April 9. Surprise, surprise, I got it on Monday, April 8.
I knew I would have to set the thing up myself and that’s where my troubles began. I was asked to enter a password to get into the computer when I first began to use it every day. I am getting senile because I used a 6-digit password instead of a 4-digit one. Not a problem because I soon remembered the change. For some reason, I mistakenly decided that I needed a 2-step verification system. Plus the 6-digit computer password. DUH!! Never do that. It will make you want to stomp on dogs and small children.
I thought I had saved all my passwords. Well, the new laptop wouldn’t accept them. So, I went to my handy dandy password-saving notebook to make certain I had done so. For many of the sites I use, I saved the password. Others not so much. I decided I would just wait until I went to whatever site and if the password I used didn’t work, I’d reset it. Easy peasy. Wrong! For some sites, I could have a text sent with a code that I could enter to get me started. For most of them, I was told a message would be sent to my email account with a link to go to change the password. Funny thing is I couldn’t (and as of 4/24) I still can’t get into my email account.
I found a customer service phone number to speak to a live person to help me. First, though, I had to go through a robot that spoke so fast and gave me so little time to do what was asked that I was told to hang up and try again. Tried again and was told that the email was no longer accessible. (Insert naughty words) I was told by a message on the sign-in page of Yahoo that I had tried to many times and to wait a day or two and try again.
On the evening of Saturday, April 27, I decided I wanted some fun so I decided to start tearing my hair out. I turned on the new computer and it was like the good laptop fairy came in and waved her magic wand over the new computer. I started using it and there were a few problems.
The two biggest ones had disappeared overnight. I could get into my email without having to call my sister to ask her to find her cell phone, it is always covered up by a pillow or a blanket or a cat, and give me the 6-digit code to verify the account is mine. I went to my email account and entered my password. I was asked to verify my account and was given the option to use either my cell phone number or my sister’s. I was feeling lucky so I supplied the missing digits to my cell phone. Wonder of wonders, I got a text message on my phone that gave me the code I needed. I entered the code at the right place clicked next and was asked to supply my computer ID number. I did, and what do you think happened? The darned email opened up!
I had over 125 emails to go through. But that was simple because most of them were destined for the trash or the spam folder. I ended up having only 25 to open and the majority of those were Trivia of the Day questions (Do you know which insurance company uses the Rock of Gibraltar as its logo? For the record, it is the Prudential Company.) The others were You Gov surveys asking my opinion on all kinds of items. The survey usually ends with a chance to rank anyone or anything from athletes to books, to music, to restaurant chains, and many others.
I still have a small problem signing into Google Chrome, but signing in isn’t necessary. The site won’t remember my password. That’s no big thing, but it irks me that I can’t figure out what to do about it. Maybe if I sleep on it, one night the computer fairy will come and fix that for me, too.
