Computers Obey Murphy's Law

Quote for the Week

In 1978, the Farmers' Almanac published this: "To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer."

Oh, too true. Too true.

One of the things computer users should be advised against is replacing all equipment at the same time in a household. Space it out because it seems certain pieces of hardware tend to fail about 3 years after purchase. If you and your husband both buy new computers or peripherals at the same time, Murphy's Law seems to suggest that you each will experience computer failure at approximately the same time.

Recently my Western Digital hard drive failed creating chaos in my office. I managed to recover most of the data, but the failure messed up some registry files on my computer's internal hard drive that still aren't corrected, and may never be.

Friday night, my husband's computer went to the big electronic junk yard in the sky. After an expensive house call, an unorthodox attempt based on forum advice to get it to boot up, he succeeded in getting it running though the mother board (replacement cost $300+) is corrupted and unpredictable.

He's backing up all his data files then we get into the even more expensive process of replacing his computer or other options, all involving another house call from the computer tech.

So my Internet presence etc. may be limited this next week while we share my PC until he's back up and running.

Takeaway Truth

I'm beginning to think we should have heeded Ken Olsen, President of Digital Equipment in 1977, who said: "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.