I have made a decision that many refuse to make! I have decided to migrate my website to a new host. This new host will support both my website and my email (but, not this blog!). The reason many refuse to make that decision is because this sort of migration often results in the interruption of service for the website and all email addresses. If done correctly, that interruption should take no more than 24 hours. If not, I have seen it take over a week. I cringe at the thought of being without email for an entire week.
I have tried to minimize the effects of any interruption by starting this on a Friday, hoping to use the quiet weekend to absorb some of the downtime. So, tomorrow is the day. Hope all goes well.
I should know in a few days, if the problems are non-repairable!! I doubt it, but the thought of all those emails trying to find my server and not getting pointed to the correct place is disturbing.
Have a great weekend. Hope that I do, too!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Note to Self
Blogging is interesting to you the reader, interesting to me the writer and effective to all of us only if there are periodic new blog entries. OOPS, guess I need to do something about that.
I guess my rant today has to do with other professionals in this wide and varied technical field. Within a day of each other, I received a call from 2 people, one a potential client to whom I had been recommended and the other a past client that I had helped at a time of previous crisis.
The first contact was a plea for help. One “professional” had been to help her. Apparently, the only result was that 2 or 3 hours were wasted, the problem had not been solved, the user felt that her computer had been trashed and all the professional could do was ask for payment. After all, he had been there for a couple of hours. Nothing positive happened, but he had spent the time and expected to be paid for this total waste of everyone’s time. This attitude gives us all a bad name.
The second call had to do with a quick and easy hardware installation that would take no more than a few seconds. It was done by a friend of a friend. And because there was little time invested, no money was exchanged. Free. Sounds good? Read on. The computer was returned and the used, suffering from techno-withdrawal, connected all peripherals and turned it on. All she heard were those annoying POST beeps, the ones that tell you the computer is not well and the Power-On Self Test has failed. Try as she might, nothing changed the results. The friend of the friend was off travelling to some far-off place and not available. I got the second call. While I agreed to look at the computer later that day, several days passed between the failed installation and my solution. So, if the friend of a friend had used an additional 10 seconds to turn the computer on, he would have discovered that the POST failed and he could have fixed it immediately. But, he did not do so. Cost the user several days and a lot of frustration. Was it ego or time that forced him to be so cavalier? We will never know. But again, this gave professionals a bad name again.
I am not sure I can right all of these, but I do try to ensure that what I have done works correctly and that the user agrees. I will try to remember these two events – to help me take the extra 10 seconds to ensure that all is well and that the user will be satisfied.
I guess my rant today has to do with other professionals in this wide and varied technical field. Within a day of each other, I received a call from 2 people, one a potential client to whom I had been recommended and the other a past client that I had helped at a time of previous crisis.
The first contact was a plea for help. One “professional” had been to help her. Apparently, the only result was that 2 or 3 hours were wasted, the problem had not been solved, the user felt that her computer had been trashed and all the professional could do was ask for payment. After all, he had been there for a couple of hours. Nothing positive happened, but he had spent the time and expected to be paid for this total waste of everyone’s time. This attitude gives us all a bad name.
The second call had to do with a quick and easy hardware installation that would take no more than a few seconds. It was done by a friend of a friend. And because there was little time invested, no money was exchanged. Free. Sounds good? Read on. The computer was returned and the used, suffering from techno-withdrawal, connected all peripherals and turned it on. All she heard were those annoying POST beeps, the ones that tell you the computer is not well and the Power-On Self Test has failed. Try as she might, nothing changed the results. The friend of the friend was off travelling to some far-off place and not available. I got the second call. While I agreed to look at the computer later that day, several days passed between the failed installation and my solution. So, if the friend of a friend had used an additional 10 seconds to turn the computer on, he would have discovered that the POST failed and he could have fixed it immediately. But, he did not do so. Cost the user several days and a lot of frustration. Was it ego or time that forced him to be so cavalier? We will never know. But again, this gave professionals a bad name again.
I am not sure I can right all of these, but I do try to ensure that what I have done works correctly and that the user agrees. I will try to remember these two events – to help me take the extra 10 seconds to ensure that all is well and that the user will be satisfied.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
It’s Not Official…
But, it may be a Microsoft bug!! I have found, and reported, what may be a bug in Microsoft Access 2007. Of course, the developers may decide that it is a feature and it was, in fact, designed that way. But, for now I will rest on my laurels and say that I have found and reported a bug in Access 2007.
Access has a new feature called a split screen. I decided that it would do just exactly what I needed for a customer’s project. And I was correct, it did work correctly. But, then I went one step too far. I wanted to do something that was reasonable.
A split form is one that has allows you to see the data in a form and in a datasheet view simultaneously. It is a handy feature and it worked fine. I decided that I wanted to write some VBA code that would allow me to display only some of the data, depending on what category the record had. Simple solution for the form portion: Simply modify the Visible property of the data field and I had exactly what I wanted.
But, then I decided that I should do a similar thing in the datasheet view. The Visible property would not work. But, I found the ColumnHidden property and that should have done the trick. In fact, it did work sometimes and not others. For those of you tekkies that need to know. It worked if I modified the ColumnHidden property on the form’s Open Event. But, it would not work when the same code was in the event on a form control, like a text box or a button.
It took me a few hours to realize that there was nothing wrong with my code. I even tested it on a very small, uncomplicated form. I repeated my findings – it worked when the form was opening, but not at any other events. So, I submitted a support case to Microsoft yesterday evening.
I got a phone call this morning and was told that the technician was able to repeat my findings. That is always such a good feeling – the problem was not me and my code, someone else can get the same problems!!
So, as I write this, this alleged bug is being reported to the Microsoft Access developers. I await their conclusions. But, I must finish the form I was working on without benefit of their answer. That could be months or years away. I am sure it will be addressed in a future version – well, maybe not!
So, for now I will enjoy the feeling of having found a true bug and start to find the required work-around!
Access has a new feature called a split screen. I decided that it would do just exactly what I needed for a customer’s project. And I was correct, it did work correctly. But, then I went one step too far. I wanted to do something that was reasonable.
A split form is one that has allows you to see the data in a form and in a datasheet view simultaneously. It is a handy feature and it worked fine. I decided that I wanted to write some VBA code that would allow me to display only some of the data, depending on what category the record had. Simple solution for the form portion: Simply modify the Visible property of the data field and I had exactly what I wanted.
But, then I decided that I should do a similar thing in the datasheet view. The Visible property would not work. But, I found the ColumnHidden property and that should have done the trick. In fact, it did work sometimes and not others. For those of you tekkies that need to know. It worked if I modified the ColumnHidden property on the form’s Open Event. But, it would not work when the same code was in the event on a form control, like a text box or a button.
It took me a few hours to realize that there was nothing wrong with my code. I even tested it on a very small, uncomplicated form. I repeated my findings – it worked when the form was opening, but not at any other events. So, I submitted a support case to Microsoft yesterday evening.
I got a phone call this morning and was told that the technician was able to repeat my findings. That is always such a good feeling – the problem was not me and my code, someone else can get the same problems!!
So, as I write this, this alleged bug is being reported to the Microsoft Access developers. I await their conclusions. But, I must finish the form I was working on without benefit of their answer. That could be months or years away. I am sure it will be addressed in a future version – well, maybe not!
So, for now I will enjoy the feeling of having found a true bug and start to find the required work-around!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
My Views on Windows Vista
A blog is to have new posts from time to time. This one has not!! It is my fault; I just haven't had the time to create any new entries. However, I do have a small piece of information to share with you.
I have recently started using a new computer. When it was purchased, I had to get Vista. I was not thrilled with this prospect. But, I wanted the smaller size (laptop) and the faster speed. So, to Vista I went, kicking and screaming.
The experience has not been so bad. There are a few strange happenings. The upper dock ribbon does not always hide itself. And sometimes icons in the lower task tray are among the missing. But, all in all I have come to like it.
Among the features that I like is what happens when you copy a file. Often, I copy and then paste a file into the same directory to "protect" it before I make substantial changes. In XP, the designation "copy" was placed at the beginning of the name. In Vista, it is placed at the end of the name. As I usually display directory contents in detail, I appreciate this. Now, the copy and the file are listed together. Nice.
Also, there are many operations that vista wants to protect you from. When you run some programs, it will ask you if you really want to run it. It sometimes is annoying and I want to scream "YES I DO - DIDN'T YOU FEEL THE MOUSE CLICKS". But, over the last month I have wasted many hours working on client's computers that have been invaded by viruses, worms, spam and a host of very serious problems. Most of which I was able to clean; some of which needed a complete disk reformat. So, Yes I do want to scream. But, I also say "thanks, vista, for watching over my shoulder".
I have recently started using a new computer. When it was purchased, I had to get Vista. I was not thrilled with this prospect. But, I wanted the smaller size (laptop) and the faster speed. So, to Vista I went, kicking and screaming.
The experience has not been so bad. There are a few strange happenings. The upper dock ribbon does not always hide itself. And sometimes icons in the lower task tray are among the missing. But, all in all I have come to like it.
Among the features that I like is what happens when you copy a file. Often, I copy and then paste a file into the same directory to "protect" it before I make substantial changes. In XP, the designation "copy" was placed at the beginning of the name. In Vista, it is placed at the end of the name. As I usually display directory contents in detail, I appreciate this. Now, the copy and the file are listed together. Nice.
Also, there are many operations that vista wants to protect you from. When you run some programs, it will ask you if you really want to run it. It sometimes is annoying and I want to scream "YES I DO - DIDN'T YOU FEEL THE MOUSE CLICKS". But, over the last month I have wasted many hours working on client's computers that have been invaded by viruses, worms, spam and a host of very serious problems. Most of which I was able to clean; some of which needed a complete disk reformat. So, Yes I do want to scream. But, I also say "thanks, vista, for watching over my shoulder".
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Updating Microsoft Office
Often, I do not update installed products. It is sometimes just too painful!! I work with client's problems from updates gone bad. So, I am always reluctant to update my own - well installed and clearly working well - software. Today, I made an exception. I updated Microsoft Office.
While I hate to update, I also feel that I have to keep current. To that end, I do update, but never, never to the latest version as soon as it is released. I always wait for the bugs to be worked out. So, today, I decided to upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007. I decided that it would be a piece of cake and would not be difficult and would not take too long. Boy, was I wrong!
It took at least 3 hours and it was very painful. The installation kept wanting to know where certain files were. After starting the installation a number of times, I finally figured out that it was looking for a handful of files and could not seem to find them on the installation CD.
I tried to find info on the web and there was not much. But, I did run across one article on the Microsoft site that seemed particularly relevant. It said to be sure that the CD was clean and not scratched. Of course it was - it was a new CD.
But, to test it out, I tried to copy the CD files to my hard drive. WOW - it could not copy 3 of them. I took the CD out and looked at it. It was dirty and scratched. I used a standard CD cleaner/polisher and tried again. Success!! It could read all of the files and the installation worked just fine.
Now I just have to figure out why my Outlook Express is spell checking in French!! C'est magnifique!!
UPDATE: When Office 2007 is installed, it deletes all existing language files. Even the ones that are used by Outlook Express. So, to solve the problem, I did what Microsoft wanted me to do anyway - I switched to Outlook. It is something that I have wanted to do. But, Outlook Express is such a workhorse and doesn't have the bloated bells and whistles that I don't need. But, I was beginning to "need" some of the Outlook features that are not in OE. So, now I am an Outlook user. I feel that I failed to solve the problem, but I do have functioning software and do not need to use le francais!!
While I hate to update, I also feel that I have to keep current. To that end, I do update, but never, never to the latest version as soon as it is released. I always wait for the bugs to be worked out. So, today, I decided to upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007. I decided that it would be a piece of cake and would not be difficult and would not take too long. Boy, was I wrong!
It took at least 3 hours and it was very painful. The installation kept wanting to know where certain files were. After starting the installation a number of times, I finally figured out that it was looking for a handful of files and could not seem to find them on the installation CD.
I tried to find info on the web and there was not much. But, I did run across one article on the Microsoft site that seemed particularly relevant. It said to be sure that the CD was clean and not scratched. Of course it was - it was a new CD.
But, to test it out, I tried to copy the CD files to my hard drive. WOW - it could not copy 3 of them. I took the CD out and looked at it. It was dirty and scratched. I used a standard CD cleaner/polisher and tried again. Success!! It could read all of the files and the installation worked just fine.
Now I just have to figure out why my Outlook Express is spell checking in French!! C'est magnifique!!
UPDATE: When Office 2007 is installed, it deletes all existing language files. Even the ones that are used by Outlook Express. So, to solve the problem, I did what Microsoft wanted me to do anyway - I switched to Outlook. It is something that I have wanted to do. But, Outlook Express is such a workhorse and doesn't have the bloated bells and whistles that I don't need. But, I was beginning to "need" some of the Outlook features that are not in OE. So, now I am an Outlook user. I feel that I failed to solve the problem, but I do have functioning software and do not need to use le francais!!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Why the @ Sign?
I have been a computer consultant for 18 years and have worked with computers and computer users for even longer than that. Just recently, I decided it was time to change my business image by creating new letterhead, business cards and logo; and by changing my website and creating this blog.
The hard part was to select a logo. I am not a graphics artist. I can certainly use a computer for many things, but drawing a straight line is not one of them! So, I generally used, non-copyrighted clip art. I found the at sign on the Microsoft site. It appealed to me. I liked the colors and the unusual orientation of the left side to the right side.
When I finally realized that this single symbol was made up of two parts - similar but different, I decided that it was a great representation of my new services. I am offering online training, troubleshooting and consulting. For this to work correctly, we need two parts. We need YOU, the customer, with your questions, problems and issues. And we need ME, with my experience and knowledge to help you solve those computer issues. Two parts - you and me. Two parts - your problems and my solutions. Two parts - of my logo.
I thought that it was all quite appropriate. The future will let me know if I was correct.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Website Vs. Blog
I have a website. Why would I start a blog?
For one simple reason. It is easier to add entries!!
Basically, I don't have the time to keep changing my website. Websites are really rather static - especially if you try to keep them simple and you have a staff of one to maintain them. Add to that the fact that that "one" also does all the work - consulting, bookkeeping, marketing, and everything else including dusting and vacuuming, then you realize there just isn't enough time to do it all.
As a result the website stays pretty much unchanged over time. From time to time it gets overhauled - as it just did to introduce a new service. You can visit it now to see www.pacheco-computer.com.
But, blogging allows me to add entries as quickly as I can type them - from anywhere I happen to be connected. No special software, just a special website. I have used www.blogspot.com for my blog.
Now, I will be able to write about almost anything that I want, my new services, some software tips, reviews of software, opinions about anything technical - basically anything I want. And I won't have to use a web designing package, or an HTML editor. I can just type it in, spell check it (hopefully) and publish it. So much easier and more fun.
Hope you visit often and read it frequently.
Talk to you soon!
For one simple reason. It is easier to add entries!!
Basically, I don't have the time to keep changing my website. Websites are really rather static - especially if you try to keep them simple and you have a staff of one to maintain them. Add to that the fact that that "one" also does all the work - consulting, bookkeeping, marketing, and everything else including dusting and vacuuming, then you realize there just isn't enough time to do it all.
As a result the website stays pretty much unchanged over time. From time to time it gets overhauled - as it just did to introduce a new service. You can visit it now to see www.pacheco-computer.com.
But, blogging allows me to add entries as quickly as I can type them - from anywhere I happen to be connected. No special software, just a special website. I have used www.blogspot.com for my blog.
Now, I will be able to write about almost anything that I want, my new services, some software tips, reviews of software, opinions about anything technical - basically anything I want. And I won't have to use a web designing package, or an HTML editor. I can just type it in, spell check it (hopefully) and publish it. So much easier and more fun.
Hope you visit often and read it frequently.
Talk to you soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
