Always handy to have an install disc with SP2 and all your drivers slipstreamed in

Yikes. I think I'd rather stick a rusty nail into my eye than go through that.

Yes, another time saver I should have thought of before I began.... funny how all these great ideas come up in retrospect... after the event and I have all this hair between my fingers.

It shall be done before commencing the next build... there wouldn't be a strait jacket strong enough, or a padded cell secure enough if I ever have to sit through two or more hours of naked XP.

And if I ever put myself through all that again, I will stick myself with a rusty nail... in places where it hurts the most - to dissuade myself from ever considering the idea again.

Admittedly, given time and money constraints, I wasn't as well  prepared as I could have been... and I'm no expert, either, often fuddling through things blindly until I get it right, but I have learned something from this experience and the next builds will be much easier/less problematic.

Having never encountered faulty connector leads and plugs, data from prior installations before, I just wasn't prepared for what could go wrong.  In the past I have had dream builds that worked first time every time, so this was somewhat of an eye opener for me... and the fact that I didn't have to ask anyone to help me figure it all out makes me feel like it's even more of an accomplishment... and I will never let my daughter forget it.  Every so Often I will send her an email just to say: "You are able to read this because of me!"

This rant sounds like nothing other than the average day for me. Oddly enough I *like* it.

I've still got my old P1 in the shed.. I haven't made anything out of it, but a family of rats have made it a nice new home. ... and I need stuff off that drive, I wonder if it would still work.. it's only been rotting in the shed for 9 years. hehehe, it just bought back memories of 'My Briefcase'..

Rant??   Rant???   It's not a rant!  It's a documented experience, I'll have you know... and oddly enough, in between the problems and profuse cussing at times, I actually enjoyed myself.  It's a bit like the old saying: "What don't kill you only makes you stronger."  It didn't defeat me so I've learned something valuable through my success. 

You never know your luck in a big city... even a small one.  I dunno about the rest of your P1, but the hard drive might still be good enough to retrieve the data from if nothing else.... worth a try, dontcha think.

Why?  Is there a family of rats living in it as well? 

I dunno, it's all Fisher Price to me.  The silver scheme might be slightly better *shudder*, but only slightly and the sooner that PC with 'naked' XP on it and I part ways the better.  

Seriously, though, I've seen worse things than 'naked' XP, and my daughter isn't complaining any about using it.  She is too overjoyed to have a working computer again to care one way or the other... and that's what makes effort and frustration all the more worth it.

And just as importantly, I have less PC junk in the box in the closet collecting dust.

Yeah starkers, only because there's photo's on that drive I want.. and there all in MY BRIEFCASE!

Well you'd only need to salvage the drive from the old box and plug it into a rig that's working, using a spare power lead/plug and IDE ribbon... not the ones your OS drive are connected to  You wouldn't even have to fit it in properly, just sit it on your desk while you transfer the photos, etc.

Alternatively, you could pay somebody to retrieve the data and pics for you... that's if they're not too embarrassing.  

The thing is, the reason that P1 died, was because that drive would freeze after 10 minutes, it was hell being on the net with that, having to reboot every 10 minutes, hehe, but I eventually got a new one.. and another one after that.. neverending. ... maybe I could get into it [oneday..] long enough to get what I want before the big freeze!

My favorite experience was finding out BOTH CDs that had my video cards' drivers were corrupted. Had to use my laptop to download the drivers from nVIDIA's website...and of course those worked fine. Heck, I even thought it was my OS, so I tried XP and Vista. Oddly enough, it's always the software that gets me. I haven't fried a piece of hardware....yet.

Yep, software is the worst. I lost 2 weeks to an upside down PCI cable though... utterly disabled my system until a buddy who knew better was able to make it over and enlighten me. My own stupidity there.

Glad it finally works for you. I`m planning/in the process of putting together a second gaming rig for guests using my old Q6600 as the core; hopefully things will go smoothly...

Ok ok, I'll fix it.

This rant DOCUMENTED EXPERIENCE sounds like nothing other than the average day for me. Oddly enough I *like* it.

There...

And good to know I'm not entirely alone in my morbid enjoyment of computer trouble. (Though I only enjoy the trouble that I manage to solve, I hate when I can't solve an issue for some reason... which mostly tend to be a matter of economy)

Situation: Trying to install a SATA HD

Problem: Upon opening the case to install the drive, I discover my power supply has no SATA power jack

Solution: Order a 4$ power coverter cable from newegg and pay more for shipping than the product costs.

Situation: I'm excited I finally got the SATA HD installed after waiting for the power cable to come in the mail. I'm now trying to install Windows XP SP1. During the process, XP asks me for SATA drivers on a 3.5" floppy disk.

Problem: I don't have a 3.5" floppy drive.

Solution: /wrists