More computer troubles/Update on Bill

Rusty

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Last night my bookmarks dissappeared. Also hum is getting louder frm the tower. In the past I had problems with my addresses disappearing til I went to Mozzilla Firefox.

They've cut support to Windows 98 2nd edition, so I may be upgrading to XP soon. In the meantime, I'll still be watching, but with my fingers crossed.

Please play nicely.
......................................................................................................

Oh, and last Tuesday I visited with Bill for about an hour it seems. He said he does well most of he time, but takes pain meds with him wherever he goes. About 85% of the time, doesn't need the real strong ones. 15% of the time he does. Last Monday was a fluke, the worst he'd had except for one day.

A while back he went to see if the Whipple procedure was still possible.

It was and maybe still is, but those who loved him persuaded him continue to let the growth grow slowly as it has, and enjoy what quality of life he has.

The Whipple would have subjected him to horiffic invasion by surgery and 2% at the most survive 5 years after it.

He sent a copy of the Medicine Buddha home with me.

For now I'll rejoice for the time he still is with us. Keep him in your prayers and other devotions ( such as sending smoke and burning candles ).
 
For the computer problems:

1. Get the latest version of Firefox if you haven't. Might fix the bookmarks.
2. Might want to try cleaning the fans in the case. Get some of that computer cleaning compressed air; should do the job.
3. While 98 SP is one of the more stable windows OS's, XP improves many things. I'd upgrade when you get the chance. When you do, I'd backup any import stuff, and do a full format. Will increase speeds and stability of your computer significantly.

Bill is in my prayers.
 
I'll second Overture's excellent suggestions about the computer. www.newegg.com has some of the best prices on XP I've seen, and they have great service as well. Can't beat 'em. Uncle Bill is of course always in our prayers, but a reminder once in a while never hurts. Thanks for looking out for him and us Rusty.
 
Roadrunner said:
I'll second Overture's excellent suggestions about the computer. www.newegg.com has some of the best prices on XP I've seen, and they have great service as well. Can't beat 'em. Bill is of course always remembered, but a reminder once in a while never hurts.

Newegg is indeed great. I do all of my shopping there. I run a small computer repair shop, and I have many customers who need parts ordered. I've probably done over 200 transactions with them and everything has arrived with standard shipping around 2 days later. Not a single problem yet.
 
Does Windoz 98 have a System Restore option like XP? If so running it may fix the problem.
 
Thanks for stopping by, Rusty. It's always nice visiting with you and if you just call ahead so we know your schedule we can often modify ours so we can meet. You generally come in the PM and we ship in the PM so "cold calls" are hazardous. Pala should be coming in a couple of months and he'll be wanting to visit with you.

I've gotten so many conflicting reports and opinions from the medical community both here and in SF that I've refrained from posting health reports since they contradict one another. Confusion we don't want or need.
 
Glad you're still with us, Bill. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

Don't worry about the health reports - there's only one health report that'll make us sad...the rest are premature and like you said, speculative at best.

Paraphrasing Kis - Enjoy your sandwich today and hope for another tomorrow. That's how I live and I'm just a young whippersnapper.



Rusty - XP is great. But I will tell you that an upgrade from 98 to XP is awful. You'll want to backup all your stuff and do a completely fresh installation. That's the only way to truly get rid of any lingering 98 issues. Perhaps buy a new hard drive, install it on that one and then copy the old stuff over. We did that with Bill's new computer. Was a pain at first, but not as bad as constantly fighting the upgrade. I just did this very thing last week. Takes some time, but well worth it.
 
Rusty said:
Oh, and last Tuesday I visited with Bill for about an hour it seems.
Thank you, Rusty, for taking the time to do what so many of us wish we could.

Daniel Koster said:
Don't worry about the health reports - there's only one health report that'll make us sad...the rest are premature and like you said, speculative at best.
And don't even worry about that one. It won't make everybody sad. I suspect, when it comes, it may be like watching an olympic-level diver execute a difficult dive with grace and precision. If you manage the transition as skillfully as I expect you will, and if I am still around, I promise to drink a toast to the skillful performance.
 
Kis - the word is luxuriously, not gently.

I would have used the word pampered, but it now has a different connotation.
 
Uncle Bill is a tough old dude.
I hate for anyone to have to worry about health stuff everyday, sorry about that.
But still, if the losses of my friends in the last three months have taught us anything, it should be how lucky we are, especially men like Uncle Bill.
 
Rusty said:
Last night my bookmarks dissappeared. Also hum is getting louder frm the tower. In the past I had problems with my addresses disappearing til I went to Mozzilla Firefox.

They've cut support to Windows 98 2nd edition, so I may be upgrading to XP soon. In the meantime, I'll still be watching, but with my fingers crossed.

The hum from the enclosure, unless it's high-pitch (very high rpm) noise it's something that everybody has to face eventually. Fans (power supply, CPU, graphcis card plus any additional fans you might be using) get clogged up by dust, bearings get worn out, etc. Fans get luder as a result of that. If it is high pitch noise you're talking about it is probably more serious - i have one HD here that emits ungodly loud noise which means its bearings are busted/worn out and it will die on me soon, If that's the case i suggest you get yourself a new HD and copy everything relevant over before the old one bites the dust. Restoring e-mail archives and things like that is a PITA, i've done it and never liked it.

If opening the enclosure doesn't void any warranties you still have (i guess they're all expired by now if 98SE is the OS your machine was bundled with) you shoudl do it and vacuum the fans to get rid of the dust. If you notice which fan it is that is making the noise (usually CPU or PSU fan) a couple of bucks will buy you a replacement fan. Broken fan on a CPU with no thermal protection can (and will) result in burned CPU. Broken fan in the PSU will just result in stench coming from blown-up overheated capacitors and shorted fuse.

The OS issue you're facing: the way i understand M$'s announcements the support for XP will terminate in not-so-distant future as well. With "Longhorn" still some time away i'm not quite sure how they planned to do that but just so you know you're not getting a long-term solution there. XP (NT family)is much more stable than 95/98/ME family but it also requires better computer to run at the same speed as your 98SE does now (having enough RAM makes the biggest difference). If you have older computer you might want to reconsider the switchover, at least until you upgrade your computer or get a new one.

I hope that helps.
 
And keep on plugging away Uncle Bill.
I sure hope Heineken is part of your medication procedure. I hope all the experts are charging you full rate for their contradictory diagnoses. I'm certain your account makes for a nice down payment on a summer home, swimming pool, etc.
 
I really hated to invade Uncle Bill's privacy, but when he said he was going to find out about the Whipple procedure and didn't say another word for three weeks I got a bit worried.

When I saw him last week I was happy to find that he seemed no less diminished by his health problems ( to my eyes ) than several weeks before. As he has said, it isn't getting better, but it also isn't getting worse too rapidly.

As Bill has said, he gets contradictory stories from the "experts".

I just wanted to let those who were concerned about him, what I saw. And it ain't as bad as my imagination.

( I guess now I can expect sometime to answer the phone in the middle of the night to find UB on the other end telling me how limited my imagination is... )
 
Rusty said:
I guess now I can expect sometime to answer the phone in the middle of the night to find UB on the other end telling me how limited my imagination is...
I quite doubt that that will happen Bro!!!! We all *Know* about your imagination Bro, some better than others with Bill at the top of the list, I imagine.:rolleyes: :p ;) :D
 
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