Tuesday, May 31, 2011

AH-HA, My Computer: I Fixed U

There are no short stories in my life, just really, really long ones that I try to abbreviate with limited success. That being said, one day I turned on my mini laptop and up popped a window that asked me a series of questions, to which I of course responded with agree until I finished with all the options. I have no idea what the questions were, why I responded to them, or why I ended up with a new network controlling my wi-fi, but that's what happened. I no longer could use my big laptop, nor access the internet on my TV, but I could use the mini to my heart's content.

Since that happened, I've asked everyone with proximity to a computer (1) what did I do and (2) how do I undo it? No positive responses, so life continued with me no longer able to use my big laptop because it required some kind of identification number about which I had no conscious knowledge. And then came today, when one of my international students came down to wish me a happy birthday and go out to lunch. He brought along his laptop, and after he logged onto my wi-fi, we now had a new network -- this one with his name and no idea how to either delete it or deal with it.

After a couple of hours of fretting and fussing, we went to lunch so we could ponder what had happened and what we were going to do about it. Nothing came to mind, so when we returned to my home, I suggested that I use the straightened paperclip and reset the router. AH-HA indeed: with all of the computers turned off, I reset the router and voila! I could once again log onto the wi-fi with the big laptop and access the internet on my TV, which meant the daily weather in my designated sites, as well as Netflix. We no longer saw the newest wi-fi network Yucheng created, and he was logged onto the same one as my computers.

My determination is that I no longer need to know what I did to cause the problem as long as I never power up the mini at my home. I'm sure that if I ever make that mistake again, I will have to deal with Yucheng's new network, rather than the former new one I inadvertently created, so I'm taping a note to the mini to remind me never to turn it on within range of my wi-fi.

When I can't fix a problem, I often find a work-around, and thankfully, I found one today that worked.

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