It's common knowledge that technology is not my friend. Genius coined that phrase many years ago. I think he was about 5 years old at the time, having set up his desktop computer with two monitors and six speakers, while contemplating switching to a Linux operating system. I had probably asked him how to print something.
When Genius left home for college, he made sure my desktop had a gizmo that let him control it remotely. I had to utilize it several times. As you might presume, Genius was not always happy to help me. I would try to fix my own problems. I did this by using System Restore, reverting back to a date I knew my computer was working normally. It usually worked.
Of course Genius pooh-poohed my quick fix.
"Mom. What was wrong could not have been fixed by that! It just fixed itself when you restarted, probably. I don't know why you use System Restore. It doesn't do anything."
Au contraire. I learned about System Restore from Genius himself. I think he was in 3rd grade back then, fed up with the printer not working in his Gifted Program classroom.
"Mom. It has been broken for two months. The teacher said she put in a work order, but nobody has fixed it. I asked her if I could try, and she said 'Go for it.' I did a System Restore, and then the printer worked again."
I asked him to show me that. His mistake! He created a monster. A computer-fixing monster! Sort of.
Anyhoo... I might have mentioned how my HP LaserJet stopped printing about a month ago. There's no reason. It's hooked up to New Delly with a wire. It decided that every time I tried to print, there was a job in the queue. Even when I canceled all jobs. Anyhoo... I got around it by printing in the workshop, on the color printer. Which I can't flip over the page and print both sides, because I don't know how to feed the paper, because I can never tell which drawer it comes from. No way am I going to run back and forth to hit PRINT, then go see how the job came out, and try again.
Anyhoo... Genius's letters have been on two pages. Which cost extra postage, due to the scratchers tucked into the envelope. So after three weeks of this print-around, I resolved to get my LaserJet working, or cut down to a one-page letter. It's not like I hadn't dropped a hint to Genius all those weeks, about my LaserJet not working. Such as telling him, "My LaserJet isn't working, it says I have something in the queue."
Anyhoo... at the end of this week's letter, I typed:
"Now I'm about to see if I can impart some juju into my LaserJet and make it print. Not holding my breath. I think I'll try the old 'unplug it and plug it back in' trick. Next week, I'll attempt my old standby, SYSTEM RESTORE!"
I figured Genius would get a kick out of that, as my mom used to say. Even Steven must have been on my shoulder that night, because my LaserJet came to life. So I had to handwrite a note at the bottom.
"OH MY FREAKIN' GOSH! The unplug/plug-in method worked!
System Restore, you ride in the back seat now!"
I'm pretty sure Genius will be relieved to hear that.
Yeah, when those who are nincompoops when it comes to technology stumble over a solution, the rest of the world scoffs.
ReplyDeleteI have never used system restore, just the unplug and replug system, but rarely have to do that. I don't remember how long ago I had to do that, but just lately when I plug in the printer and click "print" the dumb laptop tells me the printer is not connected. So I unplug the usb cord and shove it back in, abracadabra, hey presto! printing begins. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with "the cloud" because everyday I get a message saying I am not signed in and I must sign in if I wish to start syncing again. I don't remember signing up for "the cloud" in the first place, it's one of those things they just throw you into and hope you can swim.
ReplyDeleteSioux,
ReplyDeleteBUT IT WORKS! So you can't tell me I'm an idiot, because if I'd done NOTHING, my printer would still be not-working. That's my reasoning to Genius, but he looks down his nose at me, perched atop his technological high horse, wearing the crown and holding the scepter of computer royalty.
***
River,
I did try that cord thingy, the one with the end like a telephone wire plugging into a wall jack. It didn't help. So then I gave up for three weeks, letting my brain marinate on another solution.
THE CLOUD is in NEW BLOGGER! When you write a post, it's in the upper right, by the PREVIEW button. It's a cloud with a checkmark that I think of as a lightning bolt. I hadn't used THE CLOUD before, either. That I know of. But it's very persistent in NEW BLOGGER. It probably spies on me through the monitor of New Delly, heh, heh!
I originally thought my printer problem was because I put in a new ink cartridge, the bargain brand, not HP. So I took that out and shook it and tried again. Nope. Not a fixer.