Won't ... Die ...

This weekend, I've been tussling with a series of unfortunate events.
I helped a client with a HP Vista PC on Friday; it was blue-screen dead nearly every time he tried to start it (required multiple tries to actually boot successfully). I looked at it, and it held many minidumps (little state files written in a crash), each pointing to one of a few crash codes. Fairly common were PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (0x50) and MEMORY_MANAGEMENT (0x1A). So, I'm thinking, "Uh-oh, new RAM time."

The PC became more and more unstable as I worked on it, to the point where pretty much any process would puke right up and die. I ran SpinRite for a few hours, and MemTest86 overnight. All the hardware looked fine.

Having already saved all the important user data to a network drive, I nuked the PC. I selected HP Restore (reformat and reinstall from recovery partition) and killed the beast.

I'm re-installing security apps and such right now. I don't have the client's copy of Office 2007, so we'll do that tomorrow. Hopefully, that will solve that.

In summary, the PCs I work on skew toward XP (75%), Vista (20%), and Win98 (5%... why won't they upgrade....?) Of the Vista machines, this is the first time I've seen an OS install go so horribly wrong. Of course, it is possible that the client did something of epic bone headedness to cause the errors (in my experience, most fatal errors are self-inflicted), but its a little late now. After I'm done with it, he shouldn't have to muck around at all.

Leave it to the pros

Have I mentioned how much I am disappointed by Symantec Antivirus products. Your mileage may vary, but I find them simultaneously -

• Too large (threads, working space, &c)


• Too large (too deeply ingrained in OS)


• Not easy for the avg consumer to remove (the sure-fire way is to go to Symantec's Norton Removal Tool page, but most folks would rather just remove via Add/Remove. You know, like any other program.)


• Worse than nothing when out of date (it seems to become a beacon for all malware once its definition file gets out of date)


• Frighteningly ubiquitous - its everywhere, and it is FAIL

Rant over. I've removed Norton three times this week, and I am glad to do it each time.

Continuing Misadventures

I had an interesting call this week, in which the PC complaint was that the PC was overheating and would shut itself down. Well, I did all the usual (visual inspection, then ran under load, with cover on, with motherboard monitor utility installed, reviewed the system event logs, &c). And I ran that unit for 16 hours without so much as an odd noise. Funny, that. I mean, it was rock solid. Anyway, I told the client, call me if it breaks, and I need to see it in its operating environment.

Selling more and more printing supplies - looks like this might have been a good idea after all.

Swooshed Right By

What happened to the week?

Well, we've been selling a lot of printing supplies over at CW Land.

The fall lineup of networking has started. I was at the HBA Associates meeting Wednesday midday. Thursday it was WRN/Saline Leadership/Saline chamber reception at a local business/member meeting at Tri County. Man, I'm glad that member meetings are also burger night - I was starved. Leadership, I should take a moment to say, was fun. A good speaker gave some good tips on marketing (personal and professional).

The leadership institutes are a good deal; if you get a chance, you should go.

Friday evening was the Roast event given in honor of Bill Mangold. Bill's had a heck of an adventurous life, and its obvious he's collected quite a few friends in the bargain.

As for HTTP, well, I had a slow week...
* Bought the PC and monitor to build a system for one client (nearly finished)
* Answered an emergency call at Rentschler Farm (ineffective Verizon security suite)
* Answered an emergency call from a neighbor (another notorious AntiVirus2008 infection)

My online AT&T ad should be live soon. We'll see what that stirs up.

I'm sure a lot more happened... but my mind wanders, ya know...

Coolest Monday Ever

Ok, not really. But it wasn't bad. It could be a lot worse - we lost power Sunday for only about 3 hours. At least I'm not in Houston. How many millions without power? And so far no discussion of blame, no looting, no atrocities.

Hmmm, interesting.

Saturday, we visited friends in Manchester. People who know what I'm talking about will know who we visited. It was an ATF party (alcohol, tobacco, and firearms). Good times, and we got home horribly late.

So the new week: a little HTTP action, a whole lot of ink, the occasional networking event. More of the same, basically, but it sure beats the alternative.

I've found that the HTTP jobs have been skewing more towards residential work, and to hardware (new PCs, new components, network issues). We'll see if that becomes trend.

Networkin Fooooo

Started the day with the Washtenaw Referral folks. I'm glad I joined the group - they're very active, very responsive, very involved.

Then got an emergency call from a client whose laptop was not behaving. Its Gateway Vista unit, and it had stopped booting correctly. He left the diag screen up for me to see (Exactly right behavior- Gold Star!) It showed that it stopped the Norton processes and aborted the boot. It had no error messages in the system logs, no core dumps in C:\windows\minidump, no further indication of error state. And, worse yet, it booted right up for me. I don't doubt my client's sanity, and I think I'll take seriously the only clue given me, so I removed Norton. First, I should mention, first I ran SpinRite for about 12 hours. Recommended by the way - its The HDD diag utility.

Then I went to the An Arbor Chamber's NetWorks luncheon. The featured speakers presented a nice overview of the differences between marketing to Gen X and Gen Y audiences. It was interesting and not as dry as some attempts to do the same thing.

So then I went to the store. I'm not kidding to say that we've increased sales by about 25% in the past four weeks alone. I went to a local business and dropped off a toner cartridge. People can't believe that I'll deliver - Look, why wouldn't I deliver to build a relationship with them? I want them to know me, to know us, and to be comfortable that we'll take care of them.

Then I went down to Milan and participated in the networking of their monthly meeting. I went to the Campfire restaurant, had a few beers, met a lot of people. It was an event well worth attending; Milan is a good group of folks.

So what else? I'm writing this at 2200 hrs, i still have a laptop to finish and about 30 minutes of paperwork/catching up. What makes it all worth it, is that its mine. Its all mine, and I do it on my own. I haven't worked for someone else in nearly two years. That right there, is a hell of a feeling.

Better Title Than Last Post

Busy day. Started with the clothes dryer deciding to have a minor failure. The door switch lever arm snapped off, so I had to go get one.

Part - $5, gas - $10, not shelling out $125 for a repairman - priceless.

Had a busy day at the store. Seems people know about this place after all.

And tomorrow is very busy: Washtenaw Referral Network meeting, back to store, Ann Arbor Chamber NetWorks luncheon, back to store again, run deliveries, and finish day at Milan Chamber Evening Social. There's always a lot to do around here.

Nearly Dia de Hump

No, I'm not proud of that title.

Anyway, the Ypsi chamber event featured the president of WCC. He spent a half hour outlining all the things that are available at WCC, ostensibly to stump for the upcoming extension to fund the college. Seems they receive > 50% of their budget from property taxes. That, in and of itself, is enough to make me oppose their funding.

BUT. I had no idea how many diverse and useful programs they offer. I mean, really spanning the spectrum from the aesthetic, like dance, to useful, like vocational programs. Hey, I started my career in a vocational program, and I'm not about to stop others from learning a skill and getting on with their lives.

I was convinced to support it. The millage is an extension of existing funding, not new money, so I'll never know the difference anyway. But, someone else will know the difference if it gets defeated, so thats the incentive to just let it continue.

Today, the store was fairly busy, and I did a bit of delivery. Wednesday, I have a HTTP appt, and more inkiness. More of the same, and lots of it.

Fin de Semana

Day of rest. First in a while, and its kinda weird. Feels like I should be out, doing something....

Catching up on work (like bookkeeping, bills, invoices, email, &c, &c).

I saw a utility on the InterTubes for Vista defraggery called Auslogics Disk Defrag. I think I'll give it a try (its free - right in my budget) and maybe report back. I haven't had the opportunity to use any cool utilities recently, and I'd like to keep up. I have been using a LAN utility called LookAtLan. Pretty simple, but kind of cool.

Community Fair was the usual. If you haven't been to it, its a County Fair, on a smaller scale, with all the attendant animals, local talent acts, fair food, and such. There's no booze served, which is a blessing as far as I'm concerned. Years ago, we used to frequent the Wisconsin state fair, and plenty of beer was on hand. It was always a madhouse. On the up side, it is a target-rich environment for people watching of all sorts. And I mean all bleeding sorts.

So - what else? Upcoming week features 3 or 4 HTTP gigs, an ever-increasing volume of ink and toner sales, and several Chamber of Commerce events. Ypsilanti CC holds their First Tuesday breakfast meeting this week, followed by Ann Arbor CC NetWorks Thursday midday, Milan CC Social on Thursday evening, and Friday I think I'm supposed to be at a Small Business event at WCC. I'll have to research that... I really don't recall one way or the other.

I'm using Google Calendar to keep all this straight. I'd be a bit lost without it.

Oh yeah, he went there

And had a right good time at the recent Former Coworker Bash.
With those whose curfews permitted them to be out after dark, anyway.

So it has been a quick and busy week in the HTTP/CW world. A lot of ink & toner sold, a lot of new business customers, and a few HTTP visits as well. Next week promises more of the same, including a smidgen more cowbell.

Today and tomorrow, I'm at the Saline Community Fair, in the Saline Chamber of Commerce booth. One show daily kids, thats all they'll let me do. See me Saturday, 8-10 PM with the unnervingly entertaining Magic Joe.

Mention this blog and receive a coupon good for money off on ink. Don't mention the blog and get two coupons.

And So We Continue

Our merry narrative.

Did I mention that the Italian place right smack-dab next to the Little Shop of Inky Horrors is downright righteous? I'm not even getting free food to day so. Bella Italia - get over there and get... oh, pretty much anything on the menu. Try the eggplant parm. Yeah, that will do nicely.

SO we're getting more business customers every day. Things are picking up at a reasonably sustainable clip. Built slowly, we can keep the momentum going.

Went to the Home Builder's Assn Chili cook-off. Oh, my, but there were some fine colon-singers in attendance. A fine cap to the day, especially since the HBA always has beer, bless their little heads.

Slow on the HTTP front. Thats OK, I'm keeping pretty busy with CWAA, and the computer work tends to ebb and flow anyway.

To answer a question that cropped up the other day: Yes, When I blog of it, it is the LAW.

Keeps slippin... slippin

No, I'm not working today either, but that doesn't mean I didn't work.

Set up network printing at the club, and had a peek at the Camry's rear strut that's vexing me so. Seems it is broke afterall. I'm not real happy about that - its always something with cars. I swear (often and with vigor) that I would ride a bike to and fro, if by the time I got to fro I didn't resemble a rat drowned in its own sweat.

The reality is even worse than the mental image you are now stuck with.

So, what else?
* My parents arrived last Thursday, for a weeks RnR in the wilds of Saline.
* The store shapes up nicely. We've bought a lot of stock, and can now conduct commerce.
* We've got several new business customers, and there's more iceberg where that came from. And we're going to need every last one of them to make this work.
* I've got a few HTTP appointments this week
* The HBA has a meeting Wednesday featuring Chili and Beer (bless their little heads)
* Thursday, I have an evening meeting (ok, its at a bar, and the other attendees are former coworkers, but its sort of a meeting)
* I'll end the week taking a couple hours at the Saline CC booth at the community fair Friday.

Busy, busy. Ain't it grand?