No I am not going to repeat ad nauseam all the problems I had earlier in the year - you all know about these, so don't run shrieking from the room. This will be brief. I hope.
I have to get a new printer. I have tried every which way and cannot get my current model to work. It scans beautifully but does not know it is a printer and goes on scanning forever. Went into PC World yesterday. I like to pop in every now and then and say hello to the Tech Guys who are now my second family. I told them of my difficulty 'Ah, how old is your printer?' say they stroking their chins 'Two years' say I. Then I get the usual response: shaking of head, sucking of teeth and then the inevitable. 'Ah well, it is probably not compatible with Vista'
Of course, at this stage I feel like lying on the floor, drumming my heels and throwing hysterics, pulling down every curse I can think of on Microsoft. I am told that though I have downloaded the drivers correctly 'with Vista you have to do it the other way round and force Vista to accept the software'. Taking one look at my face The Tech Guy asks me if I would like him to write down instructions on how to do this. He does. I leave.
Spend two hours wrestling with problem at home. Call up The Tech Guys on their, I hope, free line. After mutually abusing Bill Gates, Vista, and all its works quite happily and sharing a cyberspace cup of tea, I throw in the towel, tell them not to bother. I have wasted money on my new laptop, but more importantly to me, have wasted hours of my time since this trail of disaster which started back in March with the downloading of Norton (NEVER again) and it was downhill all the way after that.
I read a profile of Bill Gates recently. He has now stepped back from hands on work with his company, probably wise after the debacle that has been Vista, and is devoting more time to his charity work which is considerable. I know that this man has given away billions, I know he is doing good in the world with his money and I applaud this. Trouble is, I can't help but think that the reason he has got all this money to give away is because he is making it out of people like me who get caught up in his systems, upgrades etc etc. While I have no objection to giving to charity, I would rather like to choose one of my own, and not be forced to donate to Mr G's pet projects through profits he has gained out of my frustration and irritation.
Still, just carry on giving the money away Bill and I will forgive you.
Now, off to buy a new printer....
LATER: I have a new printer. I downloaded the drivers, the files, etc etc and sent up a prayer to the Computer God and o joy o rapture, it works. I have now printed off two pages, and scanned two photos and also done some photocopying.
I really hope that this is an end of it all. I am not sure I can take much more....
