I guess it all bagan with the Laptop. I can't say for sure, but something changed and all of a sudden I was unable to enter The Secret World. There was a message, as the updater ran that was always on the screen at the moment of failure. I restarted a bazillion times. I reinstalled three times. I updated and adjusted everything I could. Always the same post step 4 "hashes" message. Contacting tech support... well let's just say I believe they wanted to help. I did everything they suggested and still, post step 4 of 4, lockup.
Things were looking bleak.
I think my escape started with the TV, The old PHILIPS Ambilight tv started to get weird marks on the screen- almost like water stains. On a pure white screen the upper quarter looked like a shoreline. Anyway, the decision was made to get a new TV (and since Ambilight is not available in the USA anymore I replaced it with Dream Screen which is as good or better:www.dreamscreentv.com/). The new 55 inch wonder looks great. But what to do with the slightly ugly but still w atchable old one? AHHH...a lighbulb went off. I spent 40 years in the computer business, Surely I could find a cheap PC adequate for TSW and hook it up to the old tv.
So Ebay it was.
I spotted a PC labelled used but fully functional for $80 buy it now. I did. Stupidly, I did. $50 in shipping and a week later I was the proud owner of a fully functioning PC with no CPU, memory, storage, os or video. sigh
Then came the question, should I throw good money after this bad? I did. I bought a used CPU and fresh dimms but I couldn't get it to boot. Since I had no way of testing which parts were bad, I bought a refurbed motherboard. Since it had an entirely different design, I now needed a Power supply...which I acquired. I couldn't get it to boot. 40 years in the computer business remember. I took it to a guy I used to work with years ago. He couldn't do any better than me and couldnt tell me which parts were wrong. Paid him. At this point, money stopped being an issue because--I dunno I lost my mind. Have Credit, will spend. I bought another brand new Motherboard, brand new memory, brand new case and used CPU. This tale of technical hell drags on , but I ended up with 3 pc's that wouldnt boot and I still wasn't playing.
SIGH
Back to Ebay. Bought a refurbed HP for $150. Installed the purchased video card and VIOLA! I'm back baby
EPILOGUE:
I took 2 of the 3 pc's to a guy in a nearby town who calls himself "the Computer Doctor". In 45 minutes he had both PC's running perfectly. With my parts. Paid him. sigh
In the end, my total spending to get back is more than a new Alienware would have cost.
Just to hang out with you knuckleheads.
What a world.
