Love/Hate

I have a love/hate relationship with my computer. When it's working like it should, of course I love it. When it isn't I hate it.

I found it interesting how many times I thought about going to the computer to look up information, but couldn't because it wasn't here. Have you ever really noticed how often the tv mentions to go to "www. ..." for more info or more details on something?

Anyway, this latest bout of trouble I shall blame on my sister. I'm not really sure why, but one day she brought me a box with "Photo Explosion Deluxe" software inside. She had just purchased it from Best Buy. For some unknown reason she wanted to just give it to me. She said she was going to give me a Photo Shop, but it was too expensive. (It does cost quite a bit more!)

Maybe the reason was because I agreed to do a mosaic sign for her for no charge. But the reason I didn't want to charge her was because it's of our cheese logo. For the mosaic sign I am doing the sheep with just the words "Ewe La La" on top with "Artisanal Sheep's Milk Yogurt & Cheese" underneath. As usual I'll show you when I'm done.

So anyway I went to try and install the Photo Explosion software and I kept getting an "error-failed to add info" notice. So something was not right. I decided to take it to Best Buy and have them install it. Apparently I must have not been doing something right. I mean, how hard is it normally to put the disc(s) in the slot and push the buttons to continue?

At Best Buy I found out my expensive three year in home extra warranty I had purchased with my computer did not cover installations or any software problems. So I had to fork out $29 for the installation.

But wait -- there's more!

If they couldn't get it to install correctly either, then they strongly recommended a diagnostic for an additional $29 to find out what the problem was so they could then install it. Well I was kind of stuck for that, especially since the software could not be returned--because it was opened (duh).

But wait -- there's more!

Three days later they called me and let me know they also had problems installing the software and they thought it was because they found a virus or two. (Warranty does not cover virus problems either!) Now, I'm not sure how that happened because I have two different virus protections, but I suppose anything is possible. So, for the small fee of $120 they could get rid of the virus(es) and make my computer more efficient. They should then be able to install the software. Again, I felt like I had no choice.

But wait -- there's more!

Finally after an additional five days they called me back. They said they finally got everything figured out and it turns out it was a problem with... the software itself! They said they did manage to find a "patch" and get the thing installed but every time it was run the computer would shut down. When they got a hold of the software company they found out it was a problem specific to Sony Vaio computers only, and it was simply incompatable. Best Buy said since that was the case they would let me trade in the Photo Explosion for something else. I figured I might as well get Photo Shop at this point.

But wait -- there's more!

I went to Best Buy but guess what! The only Photo Shop they had was for Mac computers. They even checked elsewhere in the store for me. When I let the Geek Squad people know this the "Agent" seemingly reluctantly agreed to refund the price of the Photo Explosion software. He said when I got the Photo Shop they would install it since I had already paid for the installation. I let him know I would prefer a refund of the software and the installation charge, since, as I mentioned earlier, installation should not be a problem. I told him a refund of both would make me happy. He thought about it for a brief second and agreed.

I got the money back for the Photo Explosion, and the installation fee. Nothing was mentioned about the $120 charge and I didn't mention it either. (The two $29 fees were prepaid.) But he did say the virus(es) were removed as well as the Photo Explosion so the computer should be working well now.

When I got home and hooked everything up I noticed I had icons on my desk top for Photo Explosion. I'm afraid to click on them for fear my computer is going to mess up. I think I'll just delete everything in regards to that. I'm not willing to take any chances.

I also noticed my keyboard wasn't working for some reason. I tried clicking a few things and finally it started working again. I'm sure it's not from anything I did though. And it sure doesn't seem like my computer is running any faster than before. In fact it seems slower!

At least I'm back in business. I finally finished wading through the 74 new e-mails and catching up on the blogs.

And no, I'm not really blaming my sister. I was just kidding about that!