I'm back! And my computer works again!

Hooray!  I'm finally back in touch with the world!  We had been limping along for awhile with our computer that had gotten nearly full and was ever so slow.  It was constantly locking up and working on it was a nightmare.  I had gone through and tried to delete a bunch of stuff and had downloaded lots of photos and other things onto an external hard drive, but it made no difference.  It still showed as full.

In computers I have owned in the past, when files were deleted, they sat in a recycle bin until I emptied that bin, so if you deleted something in error, you could still recover it.  This computer (with Vista) has always asked if you're sure you want to delete the file forever, and since there was no recycle bin, I assumed that extra step was no longer used with Vista.

I got a flyer in the mail that said that Staples will do a free PC tune-up.  I unhooked all the cords and took it in and explained my problem.  Turns out that even though I had been deleting files regularly, they had simply gone to the recycle bin, and since access to the recycle bin had disappeared from the computer, there was no way to empty it.  The technician restored the recycle bin and when we emptied it, we got back more than 17 GB of space. 

Also, something showed up that we hadn't known about.  It turns out that our hard drive is divided into a C and a D drive (D didn't show when I checked the drives on "My Computer") and that only the C had been full.  D is completely empty!  Now that I can actually see the D drive, I can move data to that drive and free up even more space on C!

Turns out that while I thought our computer was full, it was actually less than half full, and now that I can move things to an external drive or onto CDs and actually remove them from the computer, we can have a much easier time working on it.

While I was at Staples I went ahead and bought some additional RAM and although I know how to install that and have done it before on other computers, I had the tech do it for a $20 fee.

The free service included performing a system analysis including virus/spyware check, security software analysis and device manager check, thorough disk cleanup and optimization, cleaning of dust buildup, and providing a report of anything they found.  Some of the regular defrag and things like that we do regularly, but he was able to do even more than our regular housekeeping stuff.  And since we got the computer back it doesn't stop what I'm doing every few minutes to run another virus check - that was a real pain.

I really appreciate the techs at Staples - so helpful and answered many questions I had without making me feel like a dunce.  They did have to keep the computer for a couple of days, but despite my whining, it was worth it - and the price was certainly right!  The free PC tune-up has made a huge difference in our business and personal computer use, and I am so glad to have the computer back!

My husband Jon insisted that he wanted to be the one to hook it back up, but didn't get to it over the weekend, so I felt cut off from everything for a few days.  Oh, I could check some stuff for my Blackberry, but it's simply not the same. And I just didn't feel like trying to write a blog post on my Blackberry.

We've been a bit busy anyway, with family in the hospital, Mothers Day activities, and client needs, but I can usually find a moment here and there for Active Rain - if I have a computer!  I'm happy to be back!!

If you are having any computer issues like I had, I heartily recommend the PC tune-up at Staples.  The techs were knowledgeable, helpful and courteous.  The fellow helping me plugged it in, booted it up, and showed me some things, answered some questions, and was a big help even before he got to the tune-up. 

Anyway, I'm back!!


**********
Susan Neal
Broker / Realtor
Century 21 Noel David Realty
Fair Oaks, California

Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA,
with friendly professionalism, 30+ years experience.
I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress
transaction.

"Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916)705-8951or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.