Grumble…

Updating software/firmware is enough of a PITA to make one want to skip it, and THAT assumes the basic program updates itself automatically…

What truly sucks is when the software doesn’t update, and will connect to the hardware, but won’t find the required firmware updates after you’ve screwed with it for 20 minutes…

So…

You have to try to upgrade the software, which, as it turns out, doesn’t upgrade if it is more than one generation out of date. Which means you have to uninstall it… And that’s a 20 minute drill.

You go find the update and reload the software… another 15-20 minutes down the drain. You plug the hardware in and the software doesn’t recognize it… And find out you need a @#@%# driver update. Another half your while Windoze searches and searches.

And it FINALLY installs, only to tell you it won’t work unless you do a total reboot of the system. Another 5 minutes.

So you reboot, and it takes another 10 minutes to actually update the driver! Now it’s start the software again, wait for it to realize there is a new driver, connect the hardware and… It finally connects.

And five minutes later is done… Sigh.

And the muse is gibbering in the corner. Maybe tomorrow I’ll actually get some writing done.

Comments

Grumble… — 18 Comments

  1. About fifteen minutes into that scenario I’d be showing the dang machine who’s boss by pouring a full cup of coffee with cream and sugar into it’s innards.
    Next step after that is using it as ammo for my backyard catapult!
    Most people don’t realize it, but after he wrote “First, let’s kill all the lawyers”, Shakespeare added a second target, computer engineers!

    • I keep a slide-rule handy, just to remind the machinery to behave.

  2. Given the improvement in processor speeds since the early ’80s (and I had an XT clone which clocked at a blistering 2Mhz), you’d think a PC would update at similar speeds …

    Obviously, we expect too much. Verily, it sucketh.

  3. Aren’t you glad we have computers to make our lives easier? I say bring back the typewriter and white out.

  4. On the brighter side, I just got an email from Amazon flogging a bunch of your books. Only down side was that I’ve already read all of ’em.

    Remember, no matter how fast you write them, we can read them faster. 🙂

  5. RC- If I didn’t have all my writing on it, it would be tempting…

    Rev- Ha! I had the Lightning program, ‘I’ got a whole 8Mhz clock speed. 🙂

    CP- Sigh… That would work too!

  6. Give the muse a plate of ribs and a dark beer and tell it to take the weekend off. 😉

  7. Yeah and the update bar says “less than a minute.” Ten minutes later it finally tells you to “restart to complete installation.” Meanwhile the boss is wondering why he hasn’t got that report he asked you for yesterday. The muse can be a b***h but serving her is better than working for a living (most of the time). Putting on asbestos undies and heading for the bunker.

  8. Just a thought but, you might be valuing your time too cheaply,
    ie: when this sorta thing happens here I use my call a friend, he remotely fixes it in a few minutes, charges me 16.25 and all is well in cowcamp.

  9. Hey Old NFO;

    Would a backup device be helpful, for n other reason than for you to keep your muse in check while the main machine upgrades….

    • Microsoft now dictates when updates happen. You have no choice. You will be assimilated, and all your computers will go through failure-mode updates at the same time.

  10. All- Thanks for the comments, and I have a 1TB backup that runs DAILY for any new/changed files.

    Posted from my iPhone.