Just to let all my Photography friends know that I'll be offline for a week or so after today as my main desktop system threw the towel in after four years of Sterling service. Cost of repair far outweighs cost of replacement and it'll give me a chance to catalogue and throw out stuff.

I have a laptop, but I abosolutely refuse to connect it to the net, as it acts as a backup, and I need too minimise the chances of anything getting under the firewall.

So, Cash in hand, went to make a salesman very happy yesterday and bought a very shiny very fast system.

Will see you all soon!

Dave

(In case your wondering, blagged a friends system for this, so will be able to see any replies for the rest of the day)

Be good and I'll have some nice images ready soon!!

Dave

main desktop system threw the towel in Ouch! Have fun setting up the new system. MGD

Good Luck....and hang up that Towel :]

after only 4 years? :/ cringe... my desktop's dayz are numbered... good luck getting it all set up... it'll be nice for you when you do, all shiney & new :]

@Cynlee - Please keep in mind that a desktop PC does not have a specific failure date. The one I'm using now (w95, Pentium III 450, ...) was put into service June 1998 -- so it's been in use for almost 6 years. It has had many changes as well: original processor upgraded to a Pentium III 450MHZ from a Celeron 233MHz; original HDD upgraded to 15GBy from 8GBy; original CD replaced by a CD-RW -- which failed and was replaced today with a newer one. In addition, this PC has been runing SETI at Home 24x7 for a little over 4 years. And it has an APC UPS to keep the power steady. One key point ... in general, it's not how old the PC is ... it's the number of times it has been turned on and off. ... almost always, a PC can be repaired. Now, about your data ... that's a horse of a different color -- make regular backups ... and put them in a safe place away from the PC. I know someone on the net who says that there are two kinds of computer users ... those who do regular backups and those who have never had a HDD fail.

"the number of times it has been turned on & off"... arrrgh... i never leave mine going 24/7 even though i have battery backup & surge protector we have a lot of electrical surges & yes... i backup my best stuff but still dread the day my PC quits on me :p

@cynlee - > the number of times it has been turned on & off > arrrgh... i never leave mine going 24/7 At this point (4 years old) changing the power strategy might not give any improvement. > still dread the day my PC quits on me :p Maybe you should buy the new PC before the old one gives up. What do you need (processor and speed, RAM size, HDD size)? I'll find out the cost. MGD

uh, thanks MGD, appreciate it but mine's only 2 yrs old & i'm very happy with it... no way could i afford a new one now