This post is probably going to put you to sleep, but whatever.
Maybe
this will entertain you if you have any familiarity with technology, or maybe
you'll just find it amusing that I spent SIX HOURS in Best Buy last Friday,
trying to get Geek Squad to fix my computer.
Now, let me back up– I am something of a techno-geek, so it would
ordinarily be a cold day in Hell before I would let those hacks touch my sweet
MacBook that I partitioned out myself to run Windows XP and Mac OS X. Problem is, a couple of months ago I
scored a cheap copy of Adobe CS 4, which (surprise!) isn't supposed to run
without Service Pack 3 on the Windows side, which for some reason would NOT install on the
Windows-side of the partition and was throwing off this totally ridiculous
error saying it didn't have enough memory, which it clearly did. I mentioned this to a guy at Best Buy, just
in conversation, when I was shopping for something else, and he was all
"you should bring in your laptop for 'optimization,' then the Geek Squad
guys will have to solve the problem in order to install SP 3.
See, it's
getting techie in here already. Bail out now! Save yourself! Go back and watch some Saturday Night Live clips from the weekend!
I
actually thought this sounded like a pretty clever idea, but, to be honest, I
was not confident at all that Geek Squad would be able to solve a problem I
couldn't solve myself, since I am usually the one who fixes what's wrong with
other people's computers. But, on the
other hand, the Windows partition that I
set up does have some lingering problems, including the fact that the
"Eject" button doesn't work, and the keys don't light up on the
Windows side. So, I figured why
not? Maybe Geek Squad can tell me
something I don't know.
Nope. Turns out they can't. After making me wait, no kidding, FIVE HOURS,
they came out and said "we tried it this way, and this way, and this way,
and it just wouldn't install! We don't
know what to make of it!", after which I was like, "Yeah, those are
all the things I told you I tried when we started this journey, my friends– I
thought you were going to bring some of your unique Geek Squad insight into the
situation."
That's
when they shrugged, and gave me my money and my computer back, y'all. They didn't want to argue with me, and if they'd kept my money I would have kept right on going. Perhaps they sensed this. Maybe they read this blog. Who knows?
They did
have one other idea, though, which was for me to go to the "Apple
Computer" embassy inside of Best Buy, which technically is a tiny Apple
Store (so maybe they have diplomatic immunity and can hit you with their cars
without being prosecuted), and once I'm in there, I try to stump the Apple guy
with why it isn't working. P.S. I love
to stump the Apple guys because they're usually even more smug than Geek Squad. But, I have to give this guy credit. No lie, I told him all about it, including
when I set the whole thing up, and he was all "Maybe it's….but there's
no way…..I think…..um, did you install that version of Windows over Bootcamp BETA?" When I said
yes, he was like "NO! This is
impossible! I have only heard of this in
legends," because apparently the beta version of something is supposed to
automatically shut itself down when the production version launches, which mine
never did. The Bootcamp BETA is like the Apple Computer version of Sasquatch, dude. So frankly, this explains
alot.
And seriously,
THAT was the problem. I just had to
update this one thing, and now it all works.
That one piece of advice was free, took twenty minutes to implement with
software I already had (left over from Steph's computer, which I did the same
thing to, only SIX MONTHS LATER, which explains the new version of BootCamp,
which comes standard on Leopard).
Problem solved, computer working, ONLY SIX HOURS OF MY LIFE LOST.
Funny,
right? In a totally geeky "I'm not
sure what half of that meant" kind of way. Now the keys light up on the Windows side,
and I can play a DVD without the whole thing crashing.
I guess it shows how much of a geek I am, that I not only understood it all – but laughed!
You should know by now, that if you get in bed with Windows, you’re gonna get screwed. And it’s gonna make that squeaky sound while it happens.
Luckily the Mac diplomat came to the rescue. Is there nothing Apple can’t do? Even for Windows?
I’ve actually been running XP with “parallels” so I can have it in a small window while I stay in the Mac OS. Have you tried that?
Also, I have a copy of CS4 for Mac if you need it.
That will teach you, free and beta versions are not worth messing with unless you are a professional G-E-E-K! Buy it, install it, and use it! Download, upgrade, and the like are for people who don’t have anything better to do, then to do it with computers.
That’s just the thing– when I installed it, BETA was the only thing you could get. It’s supposed to have a built-in script that shuts it down and prompts you to buy the new version, but it DIDN’T.
Well, I aspire to your computer knowledge. When my son deleted the clock from the top right hand corner, it took my husband and I 2 days to figure out how to gt it back. At least we can say we are brand-new to mac.
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Funny Strange is Lori Culwell’s blog: This post is probably going to put you to sleep, but whatever.