XP: Xtremely Problematic

· 303 words · 2 minute read

I think I keep a Windows PC around just so to raise my blood pressure. It certainly did so today.

It was a simple task. I had a tentative plan to stick in a faster CPU to service the games that like faster CPUs. A little googling and I discover that my motherboard will accept a faster CPU if I upgrade the firmware. So I upgrade the firmware. Then my own little world of XP collapses around me. Windows decides that it has a boot.ini error, whatever that is. Then it decides it won’t boot at all. Then two disks which had been set in a RAID configuration revert to a configuration called not working. In short, the whole machine has gone to crap, although the firmware upgrade that started it all is acting smug and working fine.

I have been here before, many times. It’s one of the reasons I moved to a Mac which does not die when you sneeze near it. As usual, I end up checking connections and changing cables and swearing. There is a lot of swearing. Eventually I realise that my Windows is lost for ever and I have to start again with all the bollocks that accompanies an installation of XP. After three or four wasted hours I don’t have the strength to continue. But I can lift a beer. Here’s to Windows, may it rot in hell.

Comments 🔗

2008-07-02 | Billy says

While no great fan of Windows, there are two points I would make here …

  1. what you did was rather brave (for which read stupid if you wish) and I would suggest not entirely layable at the door of the Great Satan

  2. I would be more impressed if you could relate your successful experiences of upgrading your Apple chips to run faster