IT problems plus the threat of snow

I’ve experienced a few computer/internet problems recently. First there was my laptop, which has died a death. I mentioned this in my final post of 2018, but any thoughts I had of a work colleague being able to fix it were dashed by the news that the hard-drive is kaput.

My colleague asked whether I had dropped the laptop, and thinking back I do remember it sliding off a chair whilst we were on holiday, back in September. As it was in my rucksack at the time, I thought it was OK, but the fact that one of the corner clips broke off is indicative of possible internal damage, and would explain why the machine kept crashing.

Apparently, hard drives are susceptible to knocks and especially to sideways blows – something to do with the internal platens, but the long and the short is by the time I pay someone to remove the back (my colleague and I both tried, without success), and install a replacement drive, I’m not far off the price of a new laptop.

So that’s something to look into, as I miss the portability and flexibility which the laptop gave me, but it does also serve as warning to be careful when transporting these machines.

Moving on, it was a case of no internet connection when I arrived home from work this evening. I was confronted by a disgruntled wife and an equally unhappy son, both of whom seem incapable of living without broadband.

To be fair, Mrs PBT’s works from home, and much of what she does relies on being connected. Son Matthew, less so, although as his Smartphone has been playing up, he too was missing being online. Mrs PBT’s thought the problem may have been caused by the builders, who are in the process of re-vamping our bathroom. The power supply to the router had been disconnected for a while, and then after switching it back on, the device refused to boot up properly.

 I put my foot down and told them both that I would look at it after I’d had my dinner, which I did, trying first all the usual self-diagnostic solutions. Eventually I called BT, using the landline – which was still working.

To cut a long story short, I spoke to a very helpful lady in Stockport, who ran a series of diagnostic tests, to check that both the phone and broadband lines were OK. They were, which then pointed to the router. We’ve had trouble with this re-booting before, especially when switching the device back on after returning from holiday, but what I didn’t realise is there’s a re-set button at the back, which can be accessed using an opened up paperclip. This resets the device.

With the helpful lady on the phone, I did as instructed and held the wire clip in position for 30 seconds. The router re-booted and went through its usual sequence of coloured lights, but his time, instead of flashing orange, it changed to blue and stayed on blue. The end result, broadband back up and running and a happy wife and son!

Apparently, routers do need to be re-set from time to time, and I was was told that is wouldn't hurt to do this on a monthly basis, and certainly whenever the power is disconnected. (I wish I'd known this before).

So full marks to BT, and their helpful customer assistant. I can’t remember her name, but she told me it was snowing quite heavily in Stockport, as we spoke. I thanked her for her help and wished her luck for her journey home. I’m quite used to driving in snow, although it’s not something I relish. I imagine she must have felt the same.

As I type, I been told that It’s snowing down in Hastings, but so far there’s no sign of the white stuff here. However, with snow showers forecast for the weekend, I’m quite pleased that my visit to Norfolk has been postponed until the weekend after. I could think of worse places to be stranded though!