Rhonda Bracey: At Random

Whenever I stay with my uncle in California, I have to earn my keep! 😉 He always has a list of computer issues he’d like me to take a look at (and fix if I can). So yesterday afternoon we tackled the list. I could fix most of the issues (they were small things like re-sorting a list of names into alphabetical order by clicking on the column header), but there was one I couldn’t fix. He gets a message similar to ‘This copy of Windows may not be genuine’ when he’s on his computer and when he tries to open Windows Media Player etc. I asked where his Windows disk was — he says some local guy made his computer and he doesn’t have a Window disk, so I suggested he contact this ‘local guy’ and ask why he’s getting this message and where the original Windows CD is (I’m a suspicious type…).

I solved another problem too — he couldn’t get a DVD to work. There was a reason for that — he only has a CD drawer in his computer, and of course a CD unit won’t read DVDs. This morning he said that maybe the thing in his room would read it. Yes, he had a DVD player! So I put in the DVD and he switched over to the correct channel but nothing happened. Then he said what about that loose cable in the back. It was a coaxial cable. Once I removed the TV’s coaxial cable from the TV and replaced it with the one from the DVD unit, it worked! Of course, if he does this himself, he’ll have to remember to swap the cables each time — and remember to put back the TV coaxial cable. There has to be an easier way…

But I think I’ve earned my keep already!