ScuzzBlog: Diaries March 2024 Entry 7th March 2024: Post 1: Loss of an XP - Sure it makes me sad. Loss of an XP - Sure it makes me sad. So am I pissed off that Microsoft disabled one of my XP machines? Sure I am. It wasn't the computers fault that it was burdened with such a shit operating system, but it tolerated the crap. But to be cast into the darkness through no fault of its own just adds insult to injury. The computer had a legitimate, paid for product, installed and maintained and running this computer. The machine itself is from the Evesham stable that supported the Amiga for so long. There was no good reason to initiate a disable facility given the computer had a valid OS that had been running for years as such. Enough. I couldn't leave the Evesham XP machine sitting as it was totally useless, and so I decided to place the machine in deep storage. Before extracting the computer I wanted to record her status and maybe salvage some of the cards. In my checking over the kit I did discover that the DVD had been disabled by me to utilise the ribbon and power for the ZIP. Historically the ZIP had been shelved in favour of the DVD given the increased size of backup storage from the DVD. I had quite forgotten that I had interchanged the ribbon and power. Sadly the other CD Writer had somehow burnt out or simply failed. Having the active DVD allowed me to check the Evesham Recovery disc. This did not work as the software refused to install an older version of XP on top of a newer. Worth a shot. I had already removed the PixelView card a while back. In the day this video grabber was quite an expensive toy. The card recorded in AVI format and was just too heavy on disc storage space due to the large file sizes. I also checked the network card to compare with a couple I had in store. I don't believe there is anything wrong with the card. And so the Evesham XP grey machine went into deep store and in its place I installed an Evesham XP black mini tower unit. I have a few of these computers and this works just fine. For now !! Sadly I did have a problem with the monitor I wanted to use. In a freak moment the screen section literally snapped off from the base. The bottom screw sheared as I stood by the monitor and so was able to catch it before it fell to the floor. The monitor is the SyncMaster 2232BW which is a dedicated PC monitor without the HDMI or SCART. So no good for retro. Just need to get a bigger screw. And so after a few days of humping PCs about I now have another XP machine in place of the XP machine. In the area where it is stationed I have a cluster of computers, three of which are XP machines. One is my main computer from 2008 to 2011 and has the very lovely Candice Swanepoel as the wallpaper. Yummy. The XP machines are hardly retro but the machine placed in store has a history that I can track all the way to the dawn of this millennium. I can personally 'validate' its authenticity and have all the respective paperwork to prove it. The machine should not be consigned to the store room. I may not have much love for the XP operating system, but this machine was one of my own and I do not take lightly the loss of any of my computers. Anyhoo I have concluded that little episode and to help comfort my loss I just went on a World of Warcraft bender and reactivated one of my characters from 2008 and have levelled through three expansions in a mega blast session. That did feel much better. I guess I better get back to the old stuff now. As you do. Loss of an XP - Sure it makes me sad.

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Last updated 7th March 2024

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