Shadow of the Real World

A few musings from Kansas by a high school literature teacher. Over the past few months, this blog has turned a commentary on media. I will probably continue to focus on film and television, but books and music might sneak in... By the way - If you would like me to post on a regular basis - please comment, even if it's just to say, "Hi." If my audience disappears, I lose the motivation to write! Thanks!

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Computer adventure

Hello All - I just had to share a victory I had today. Some of you might know that I am one of those DVR people. I have a Replay machine (sort of like a TiVo) and it has completely changed the way that I watch television. I honestly can't imagine going back to the old "program the VCR and channel surf" way I used to be. I watch far less TV than I used to, and I'm much more intentional about it.

Anyway - a few days ago, my Replay broke. It kept showing the same screen and after much research on the Internet, I discovered that the hard drive was toast. It needed to be completely replaced. So - adventure girl that I am, I decided to attempt this on my own. I am completely intimidated by computer hardware. Software, no problem - I love figuring out computers and programs -- but hardware is another story. If it's not a USB cable, I don't know what to do with it! But, how hard can it be, right? (Famous last words...)

Well, I did some more research and found a guy who would sell me a new hard drive for my Replay. All I'd have to do is open up the machine, remove 16 screws from various places, unplug a few things, replug the things, replace the screws, and then I'd be in business! Uh huh, okay...

The new drive came today. After a few tense moments wrestling with a stubborn IDE cable, the new drive was in! As recommended, I tightened all the screws on the motherboard and power source, replaced the rest of the screws, and put the top back on the machine.

After a few minutes of set up, my machine is working perfectly! (As a bonus, the cheapest drive I could find took me from 40 hours of recording space to 120 hours of recording space.) Now, if only the studios would settle with the Writers' Guild so that we could have the rest of our TV season!! (Not to mention the pilots for next season's new shows...)

2 Comments:

At December 23, 2007 3:36 PM, Blogger Sandie said...

I know how exciting it is to be able to accomplish something in the depths of the mysterious CPU! Congrats.
Mom

 
At December 23, 2007 11:27 PM, Blogger Rachel said...

Your DIY skills never cease to amaze me. And 120 hours!?! Does that mean no more mad rush to clear shows from the Replay before it does it for us? Oh the adventures I am missing. hmmm...are you going to go recording happy and try to fill it just because you can? ;)

 

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