Fall Type Weather.doc

[This post was composed over the weekend of October 27-28 and I didn’t get around to posting it.]

 

This past week has featured typical Fall type weather with the exception of near tropical heat Friday afternoon.  Unfortunately it also led to gale force winds and more rain later in the day.  Not that it mattered to me as I didn’t get out much. 

 

Last Sunday I went out and picked up a Hewlett Packard Pavilion Entertainment PC Notebook.  Not only am I now attempting to adjust to a Laptop keyboard but also Windows Vista which means finding new software to do the things my favourite programmes, that are incompatible with this new OS, used to do.  I’ll need a laptop if I plan to go traveling so now’s the time to start adjusting.  While my efforts were otherwise engaged I managed to allow 104 E-mail to build up in my inbox. 

 

Whereas Friday was tropical overnight Saturday it turned cold leaving me chilled in my bed but that was followed by heat that led me to switch on my A/C today, Sunday.  Until you’ve set up software on a new computer you have no idea how many installation files have to be found, install disks located, and registration codes retrieved.  Then if you’re anything like me and refuse to accept the default choices every programme needs configuring.  The process seems never-ending. 

 

Yes!  My mind is wondering and I’m a mite incoherent.  I’ve had my first misadventure with Windows Vista.  Used Disk Cleanup and discovered that if you clean up the Hibernate Files it removes the possibility of getting your computer to go into hibernation—it doesn’t just clean up the files, it destroys the folder completely.  Unlike past versions of Windows there is no way to access hibernation through power options.  After a serpentine search on the Microsoft Site I discovered that to restore hibernation it must be done as an administrator at the command line—in a DOS Prompt:

 

1.	Click Start, type command in the Start Search box, right-click Command Prompt in the Programs list, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type your password or click Continue.
2.	At the command prompt, type <powercfg /hibernate on>.

 

It’s that simple or difficult.  Click enter and then type exit and click enter again to close the box.

 

Using a laptop teaches one new skills.  Conservation being one; the speed at which the battery meter descends when a laptop is not plugged in is scary.  I haven’t actually timed mine but it’s rated at 2 hours.  Another challenge is working without a mouse—I find myself continually reaching for the mouse that isn’t there; remembering keyboard shortcuts certainly helps.  Confusion rains when I use my desktop and laptop side by side and find myself reaching for the desktop mouse to work the laptop.  When I used PC Pitstop to check out my laptop aside from discovering that the computer’s various security devices didn’t much like it I also discovered that the wifi connection I’ve been using is 2½times faster than my high-speed modem.