The old adage “to err is human, but to really foul things up takes a computer” has been true for me since the first part of December. As I worked on my final project for ELS 832/Statistics (a 25-page manuscript related to my dissertation), my computer began to act funny. I managed to get everything off the machine and continued on another machine, while sending my own in for checking. However, regardless of the fact that my laptop kept restarting at odd times (in the middle of typing) and would restart if jarred, the retailer could find nothing wrong. They recommended that I order new recovery disks from the manufacturer and redo the machine, which I did right before Christmas (with three complete formats to remove everything before reloading the machine to its original Day 1 condition. (So long, SPSS 15 Grad Pack, SwishMax, and Office 2007!). But, the problems continued with the laptop even after that. So, now the machine has been sent off to a service center for examination for at least the next two weeks.
With classes starting on Monday and the immediate need for a faster processor for accessing Foundations of Distance Education (IDT 846 which uses Polycom’s PVX software), I bought a new desktop computer on Wednesday. This one has an AMD 64-bit dual core processor, runs Vista (which I’m not sure I like yet), and has 320 GB of hard drive space (of which I can only locate 288 GB). But even a new machine was not without its own nightmares. Windows Media Player 11 is part of Vista and could not be uninstalled and the version of PVX I had purchased required Media Player 9. I was unable to load a second version of the player to the computer and then found that PVX 8.0.2 did not run on Vista at all. Fortunately, Polycom was answering the phones after midnight on Wednesday and Renee gave me a service request number for the next day. On Thursday morning, Ben gave me a link to a later version supported by Vista (and not readily available to the public, as of yet) and I was all set–or so I thought.
I loaded the new version of the software and found that there were still a few issues. After trying to test my PVX system for class all week, I feel that I am now on a first name basis with several of the people at Master Control at ODU. I have talked with some of them extensively while trying to work the kinks out of the system. Today we finally got it working–after configuring my router, sending information on the updated software I was using to one of the technicians, and working through the settings one more time after he updated to the 8.0.4 system. On Monday morning, we will do a final check for audio and video. Hopefully, that will finally get me ready for Dr. Gary Morrison’s class at 4:20 P.M.
So, here’s a big thank you to Renee and Ben at Polycom for their timely assistance and to Susan, Duane, Craig, Christa, and Rodney at ODU’s Master Control for helping me circumvent the problems I encountered with Polycom’s PVX videoconferencing software. After this drawn out and harrowing experience, I can only hope that the IDT 846 class ends up being easier than the time spent so far in getting ready for it. (Now that I have a working computer, I can also get to the backlog of information I have wanted to post on this blog.)
Update: Despite the successful test on Monday afternoon, I was unable to log in for the first day of class. I guess this will continue to an experience. I only hope that logging in will become easier and I can get through this class. : )
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