Update 11/6:
My buddy Jim gave me some good hints on getting the Wifi card running on the laptop under Linux. He has his own Wifi tale of terror. Plus he pointed out that I can compile the driver, drop it into the file system, then use modprobe to tell Linux to look for it. Great!
XP is up and running. I am in the process of re-installing software. It refused to upgrade Windows 2000 Professional to Windows XP Professional so I had to install XP in a different directory, which happened to be the default directory for XP. It didn’t bring in any of the settings. I was afraid it would clobber user Application Data so I created a new user and am copying settings from the 2000 user to the XP user, like Eudora mailboxes. What a pain in the @55.
Now the computer is dual-boot, which isn’t at all what I wanted. During the install, XP warned me I couldn’t do a dual-boot system in the same partition. WTF? Of course, if I *wanted* a dual-boot system, XP probably would have shredded the existing file system. Sometime in the next week I’ll figure out what to change to uninstall 2000.
On the plus side, I backed up a lot of data to CD/DVD before starting, and then I cloned the hard drive. Just in case. I’ll install it in the other computer, which is currently doing a fine impression of a doorstop, if XP doesn’t implode in the next week. Then I can use *that* to recover the data from the original hard drive from that computer, which is currently doing an impression of a paperweight.
I’d have to change mobo drivers, among other things, to use it in the other computer. Might require a repair installation of Windows 2000. Did I mention that this whole process is a pain in the @55?
Plus I started using a Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse Wireless Optical Desktop Pro last week. The mouse is huge and is shaped to provide an easy, solid handhold. Unfortunately, that means that it’s hard to shift it around in my hand as I use it. Reorienting the mouse as you work is a way to prevent Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSIs), and this mouse forces me to use it in a way that is guaranteed to make my hand ache. Which it did. Well, I’m aware of it now. Maybe I can rig something up with an old mouse shell and this ones guts.
Update 11/10:
Mr. X, who has hands the size of catcher’s mitts, has no problem using the wireless mouse.
Bad Behavior
Member of American Mensa, Ltd.
Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
Potential Threat To The Nation
Amazon.com Daily Deals