This week we converted to new computers at the office so it has taken some time and effort to adjust to operating in a new environment. We hired our tech guy, Luke Rowell, to come in and help with the transition.
Over the years we have gotten to where we can do most of what is needed to install new equipment and software. But this time we decided that since we were going to change everything, it would be better to get someone to come in and help. Luke has been our go-to guy for years.
We had ordered everything we needed or thought we needed to make the transition. We work in the Dell computer environment. I called Dell and got a quote. For the workstations we normally pay around $1,000 and the heavy duty machines are about $2,000 each. One of our guys suggested going the refurbished route, which was $400 a machine for super fast computers.
The software folks have you over a barrel, which is what prompted all of this. The old Windows program was not compatible with our new operating system, and of course the hardware was not compatible with the new software we needed.
My production manager, Shelley Fairchild, and I discussed the best time to make the change, and we agreed to do it before the second publication of the year because we would be through with all the deadlines and on a little more even keel.
We ordered everything or so I thought, got it ready to go and got all the machines in and booked time with Luke. We started loading equipment with our new software.
I told Luke that the operating system was Windows, and pointed him to that email. But it said the order was canceled! In a panic I contacted the rep to see what was going on and he said that version was obsolete. I am not sure whether I believed him but he said he would take care of it.
Unfortunately, it was the end of the day and of course that meant I would need Luke to come back another day. Luke, of course, is used to glitches when it comes to dealing with me. Nothing is simple. Not to mention that the operating key serial number was not included for one of the computers.
We worked through all of those issues and it came time to change my machine over. I keep all of my correspondence through email for future reference. My inbox had 44,000 pieces of correspondence, which did not include everything that was filed in sub-directories. I went through and deleted all the history since 2014 and only kept the past two years. This reduced the count down to 14,000 emails.
It became time to make the transfer and the computer, of course, crashed and said it could not copy all the sub-directories. I decided to keep on going. I still have to function and move on.
So on Monday as I write this, I am working with my e-mail and it has locked up—of course it has. None of my existing passwords seem to work so I am having to reset everything I own.
This time, however, I am writing down all the passwords on a sheet of paper and also in a computer file so maybe next time, if there is a next time, a change may be a little easier to cope with.
