Pink’s daughter just brought her computer for repair. Same problem as Pink’s machine a couple weeks ago; slow response and lots of no-longer-used applications to delete. So I’ll just erase all that is on it now, and install a fresh copy of XP. I’ll track the progress in the comments below.
With the recent flood threat last month, and the removal of many items to the first floor from the cellar (to keep them away from the waters that we thought might come in but did not this time, thank goodness), our basement is pretty empty at the moment (relatively speaking). So, Mom deemed this a great time to have it scrubbed and bleached. However these days, she cannot get down there to do the work herself, though she’s the one pushing hard to get this done. I wished not to do it alone, so as not to take so much time away from my writing, and my sisters weren’t much into the job either. Besides, it’s a basement after all; not some dining hall that must be pristine. So I see not the need to make it spotless. Cleaning the whole thing will be a lot of work, that will require at least a few full days. So for these reasons, I just couldn’t get my heart into doing the bulk of that particular job by myself. 
So, we’ve contracted nephew Garrett to scrub the floors (the entire floor) and he began that work this morning. This means unloading the many shelves down there, pulling them out, sweeping underneath them, and then scrubbing the floors and lower parts of the walls. We’ve also requested that he wash behind all appliances, to get up any leftover debris and mess from the flood of 2004. Then, while he’s at it, he can excise the cobwebs hanging from the beams and walls.
I will supervise and guide him with the hope that this be completed by the end of the week. We’d like to move everything back down to the cellar and get it organized as soon as practical; at the moment, I’m having to step over all that junk to reach my files in the first floor office; not good. So since I couldn’t talk Mom out of doing this, I am quite anxious to get it finished. Of course I feel less rebellious about this since Garrett will work the most difficult parts of the job.
I’ll track our progress in the comments below.
So, my nephew Grant complained on Friday that his IBM ThinkPad (Lenovo R60) laptop computer runs too slowly, and he asked if I could restore it to normal operation for him. So, I took on the project; starting work on it this morning.
11:20 AM: Verified that the ThinkPad does run quite slow; I observed nearly constant hard disk activity and slow screen drawing of windows and text. Also, several warning messages popped up, saying that the machine has multiple viruses. Yep, a drive-reformatting and complete re install of Windows XP should fix things up for him.
11:30 AM: The computer would not boot from the first copy of the XP CD ROM I inserted. So I played with the device boot order in the BIOS settings, placing the CD ROM drive as the first boot device. Still though it wouldn’t boot from the CD ROM.
11:40 AM: So I tried a different copy of the XP CD ROM. This solved the boot issue, and booting from CD finally worked.
11:45 AM: I chose to delete the existing drive partition (there was only one, so no recovery partition to utilize). Then, I created a new partition out of the entire free space available on the drive (roughly 38 GB).
11:49 AM: The computer is now formatting the new partition to NTFS. I did not choose the quick formatting option. So this could take a little while.
12:02 PM: Reformatting just finished. It’s now copying the installation files to the freshly partitioned hard drive from the CD ROM.
12:06 PM: The file copying just finished and the ThinkPad is now rebooting.
12:07 PM: Now, it’s preparing the installation.
12:08 PM: Now, it’s installing windows.
12:11 PM: Now it’s asking for Regional and Language Options.
12:12 PM: Entering the product key.
12:15 PM: It’s installing the network software now.
12:18 PM: It’s installing the start menu items.
12:19 PM: Now, it’s registering components.
12:21 PM: Saving settings.
12:24 PM: Rebooting.
12:26 PM: Created two users on this machine (Grant and his mother).
12:28 PM: Windows XP installation complete. Next, I need to install the drivers for sound and Ethernet access. But I’ll do that after lunch. Stand by…
12:50 PM: Located the drivers on the Lenovo site. Burning them to CD ROM now.
01:15 PM: Installed the Ethernet driver and network connectivity has been successfully established. Now, I’m applying all XP service packs and updates, becuase the wireless driver will not install without a later XP service pack installed first.
01:20 PM: Windows update, latest components just installed. Now rebooting…
01:24 PM: Now installing the XP Service Pack 2 update…
02:25 PM: XP Service Pack 2 just finished installing successfully. Now installing XP Service Pack 3…
03:30 PM: XP Service Pack 3 just finished installing successfully. Now, I’m applying the remaining updates…
06:10 PM: All updates applied successfully.
06:20 PM: Installed the WiFi adapter driver software.
06:25 PM: Successfully installed the audio driver (this is the one that failed before upgrading to XP Service Pack 3).
06:40 PM: Successfully installed the Intel chip set drivers and programs from the Lenovo web site.
07:00 PM: All work on this project is complete, and everything seems to be functioning properly except one Unknown Device that’s showing up in the Device Manager under Other Devices. This may be normal for this particular machine, and since the Ethernet, wireless Ethernet, HDD, video device, CD ROM, keyboard, and pointing device (all the important devices) are all working properly, I’m not going to bother tracking down this unknown device.
I’ll let this computer run all night to “burn it in,” and if no problems surface, sister Christine will pick it up either tomorrow or Tuesday.
09:30 AM: This morning, I received an email from dyndns.org, warning that my account with them would be deleted unless I followed the provided link, which was to confirm that I still wished to keep the account, as well as to remove the inactivity flag they’d recently placed on the account. If there’s no activity for thirty days, they deem the account inactive, and since this is a free account, they delete it within a week afterward unless they hear from its owner through this confirmation process.
I do in fact, want to retain this account, because it enables me to log into this computer while I’m traveling, without having to know its current IP address. I ust access it through the qualified domain name at DynDNS.org.
So, I followed the link, and got a message in my web browser, saying that my account would not be deleted. But, it also said that in order for me to retain the account indefinitely without being pestered to re confirm it each month, I should either upgrade to a pro (read that, PAID) account, or make sure to keep some activity going on the free account.
I wondered at this, because they said that routine client update requests sent periodically from their updater client program (which I run on this computer all the time) are enough to keep the account in active standing. But even with the updater running, for some reason, they deemed my account inactive.
To investigate the matter, I hovered the mouse pointer over the DynDNS updater icon that always shows up in the notification area of my task bar (I’m running Windows XP). Doing this brings up a status balloon message that shows when the last IP address update to dyndns.org occurred and whether or not it was successful. My message indicated that the last successful update had occurred some three months ago, in January. Curious.
So, I went to http://dyndns.org/ and successfully logged into my account. This meant that the user Id and password I had on file were correct. To my knowledge, these were also the ones I used when I first set up the client updater program on this computer.
Next, I opened the updater configuration window. Immediately, an error message window appeared over top of that one, saying that user authentication had failed.
This got me to thinking that somehow, the user id and password saved in this window when I first installed this program had become corrupted. But when I pulled up the “Change user” window, the correct user Id displayed. However, as per good security precautions, the saved password did not appear. So to eliminate the possibility that the password was corrupt, I tabbed into that field (edit box) and set it to what it is at dyndns.org, and saved. However, the error appeared again the next time I ran the configuration utility.
I noticed however, that my version of the DynDNS client program was old. So I updated to version 4.1.5, the latest version as of today. Still though, this program could not successfully log into DynDNS to update my IP address.
I wasn’t sure what to do at this point, and toyed with the idea of emailing their support address, asking for assistance. But I wasn’t quite ready to give up just yet. After all, I’d only spent ten minutes on the problem so far, and I’m usually good for at least an hour or two, wheel-spinning on my own, before frustration forces me to throw in the towel. Besides, responses to such email requests often come only after days, and I hate waiting around for them if there’s something I can do by myself to fix things sooner.
So, on a hunch, I went back into the change-user option, and re-entered my user Id and password, then saved. This time, I retyped both the fields (user Id and password). I don’t know why or how, but this seems to have solved the updater issue, as I subsequently got a successful update message, dated today. Perhaps resaving the entire user record overwrote any corruption so that now, my DynDNS client is working correctly.
Since it updates every few days, I should no receive those periodic email messages, asking me to confirm that my account is still active. Nice.
This raises another question though. My NetGear ProSafe firewall supports DynDNS. So when I first started using this dynamic IP address domain name service (DynDNS), I configured my DynDNS user ID and password into the firewall as well. The aim was to have the firewall send the updates so that I would not have to run the client program on this PC. But apparently, the NetGear isn’t updatig either. So I’ll check into that. Eventually though, I’d like to get the firewall to perform these updates so as to have one less program running on the computer here. Stay tuned.
With this, being the warmest day of the year so far (temperature at 78.5 degrees currently), I thought I’d go outside and survey the damage that winter typically imparts at least a little of, to our yard equipment and tools. Sure enough, our wheelbarrow picked up a flat tire in the harsh weather, and the cotter pin that keeps the wheel from sliding off the hub, had rusted fast. So I had to twist, pull, bang. and pray it out, rendering it irreversibly damaged and thus useless. Of course!
In a pinch, I might have replaced this pin with a galvanized nail. But no pinches today because we’re lucky to have a few lawn equipment facilities so close by, and when the weather cooperates, I can walk to and from all of them, and I was sure that the place I planed to visit would have the correct pins for this application.
Weather like this, on the heels of that blustery, snowy, cold stuff we’ve endured for the past three months, puts me in a spectacular mood. I’m in one of those at the moment in fact. So this little problem bothered me not. In fact, I wish I took everything in a good a stride as I did this incident. So with the sun beaming, I pulled the wheel off the rusty hub, and then took it to the farm equipment store that’s a block or two from here. Did they have either a new inner tube, or entire wheel replacement? Actually, they offered the exact replacement inner tube as well as the cotter pins. So in addition to the new tube, I purchased two pins for good measure, just in case I was to break one during installation.
Then I walked back home (about a five minute hike, along busy and at times, civilized roads, mind you), carrying the old tire and the new parts; dirtying my gray sweatshirt all the while. I know, today’s too hot for a sweatshirt. But I hadn’t counted on it getting as warm as it did. Oh well. It’ll all come out in the wash.
Within two minutes, I had removed the old inner tube, which sported a small yet gaping and jagged hole from where the valve stem had torn free; probably when it was very cold and the rubber had, as a result, become too brittle to support the air pressure inside. Inner tubes do this after so many years anyway, due to the advanced deterioration of the aging rubber. No way I know of to repair these. But since the new tube was only $8, who cares? In fact, for these smaller tires (like what’s found on this wheelbarrow and the mowers and lawn tractors we own), I typically don’t bother with patching. If the tube is more than several years old, I just replace it, because I don’t trust myself to apply a decent patch . I also wish to avoid having to repeat the repair on the same tire too soon, as the rubber from which the inner tube is made degrades further.
Anyway, once I’d removed the old inner tube, I set to work on seating the new one inside the tire. At first, I thought to completely separate the tire from the rim. That would make getting the tube around the inside of the rim, as well as avoiding pinches and kinks, very easy. But then I remembered how hard a time I had getting the tires on the lawn tractor back around their rims a few years ago, when I had employed a similar strategy on them. So I thought better of doing that.
Instead, with just my fingers, I worked the new inner tube in through the little space between the now-soft tire and the rim’s edge, being careful to correctly align its valve stem with the matching air hole in the rim. This took around five to ten minutes, as I did not want to rush the job and risk damaging the new tube.
Yes, the purists here will likely admonish me for taking this short cut. They’ll say that I should have completely removed the tire from the rim, to inspect its inside edges for rough spots and sharp edges. If not removed, these might puncture the new tube, and as a general rule, they’re correct to have this concern.
However, I knew the cause of this particular flat; the rubber around the valve stem had degraded. That’s all it was, and if not for that, I’m confident that the tire would not have gone limp. Besides, it held its air for five years I believe, requiring only small, yearly air spurts to top it off to the correct pressure. Besides, further inspection of the old tube revealed no scratches or other holes, though I’d expect that one or more of the above would have been visible if the rim sported any burrs or sharp corners. But since I saw no other damage on the old tube besides the valve stem, I deemed it a low risk approach to skip the exhaustive rim inspection, and to just go ahead and install the new inner tube, without removing the tire and then performing a visual inspection of the rim’s innards first.
Once installed, the new tube quickly inflated, and did not leak. I then attached the repaired wheel back onto the wheelbarrow with the new cotter pin. So far, so good. We’ll see though, how the new tire holds up once we start hauling some heavy loads of river rocks, dirt, shale, and yard rubbish around in it. Stay tuned.
So we have this 2.5 year-old Kenmore dishwasher built in under a counter in the kitchen. For nearly a year now, we’ve been unhappy with its performance. The unit fills okay, and while running, we hear lots of water sloshing around for the entire run period of each part of the cycle (rinse, wash, rinse, rinse again). Each time it fills, the water sounds like it’s circulating well, the whole time, until the system pumps it out. Yet the dishes aren’t as clean as we’d prefer.
Our complaints are:
We contracted a repairman to investigate what might be the matter. He did the following:
But we still get dirty dishes.
I know about rinsing plates, bowls, and pots off before dish-washing them. We do. In fact, I can accept the occasional dirty plate. But the cloudiness on the glasses? Not so much. It’s as though the rinse agent dispenser doesn’t dispense. I suppose I could manually verify this by pouring in some agent by hand when the rinse cycle begins. Any appliance repairmen out there who know how to test the rinse agent dispenser on a Kenmore?
The only other possible problem I can think of is that some-thing’s wrong with the water pump, and that though it sounds like copious amounts of water are being hurled at the dishes in there, perhaps it’s not pumping as strongly as it should.
I really hope we don’t have to replace this thing already; this would makd three dishwashers in five years. Grrrrrrrr. At $500 a pop, you want to avoid frequently replacing these if you can.
I’ll keep you posted on our progress with resolving this one.
This past weekend (March 13th and 14th, 2010) brought lots of rain, wind, and melting snow runoff unfortunately, that’s left our yard and house significantly worse for the wear; broken gutters, snapped tree limbs, scattered gravel and rubbish throughout the yard, and mud galore. The cleanup will take several days at least and comprises many tasks. So I’ll keep track of all the work involved in the redding up in the wake of this storm, in the comments below.
08:43 AM: [Emmy] called just now to say good morning. This will be the last time we talk on her Verizon land line telephone service; this morning, she’s switching to Comcast phone service.
For just a few dollars more a month, she’ll get a four-times faster Internet connect (12 mbps down), and lots more channels on her television. She’ll lose Verizon’s Call Intercept service however. But that’s okay because she’s been considering getting rid of that for some months now anyway. She’ll also lose her WiFi capability, a feature that’s built into Verizon’s Westel DSL modem, that Verizon will probably want back. But I have an extra access point that I’ll loan her.
The quoted prices for this Comcast service are good for one year. Hopefully by the time they expire, Verizon will have FiOS in her area, that offers a faster-still Internet connection, and even more television channels. In the meantime however, Comcast appears to be the most economical product for her.
…
01:00 PM: [Emmy] now has her new Comcast phone, television, and Internet service. Only problem was that the installer did not wish to help her configure her email, even though we were assured when we ordered the new service that the technician would assure that [Emmy's] email was configured. Nor did he take the time to show her how to use the universal remote control. She had no idea how to turn her TV on much less change the channels.
So once the instaler left, we called Comcast for assistance. The fellow we spoke with was most helpful, and he talked [Emmy] through setting up the email initially. He also provided me a link to the users guide for the remote that accompanied [Emmy's] new digital cable service. Between the two of us, [Emmy] and I gained access to the remote and I described to her how to find the remote’s essential buttons. It has many buttons that she’ll probably never use since she did not opt for a a DVR.
To reduce clutter on the main page sidebar, I’ve moved the projects I’m working on and have completed, to this page.
So, with the weather so rainy and threatening, and with a strong desire to avoid the four feet of water in the basement that we experienced in the fall of 2004, I’m executing an upgrade of our sump pump system.
The current compliment consists of two 1/3 horsepower pedestal pumps, sitting in a milk crate in the lowest part of the cellar. A separate PVC pipe for each unit routes water up to about seven feet, then discharges it outside, aimed toward the river. Of course if the water gets so high as to completely surround the house, then no amount of pump power will prevent basement fill-up.
These pumps proved inadequate in the flood of 2004, because the water level rose above their motors, which are not waterproof. They remained under water for a couple days then, and that appears to have degraded their bearings. The first (better-working pump) of the two, when activated, emits a loud grinding noise, hinting that the bearing is contaminated with dirt particles, or rusted. The second sump pump is in worse shape. When its float switch is raised, the motor hums but often does not turn (stalled). When it does, it too makes the loud grinding noise.
Additionally, rocks, dirt, and other debris line the bottom inch of the the makeshift pump pan (the milk crate), and should be cleaned out, so as not to clog the pumps.
I purchased a new sewage pump during yesterday’s shopping trip. This is a 3/4 horsepower, completely submersible unit constructed of cast iron, that can move over 8400 gallons of water per hour.
Given the above facts, my plan of attack for this problem is as follows:
I’m beginning this operation now and will track my progress in the comments below.