For a while we’ve known my 5 year old PC was nearing the end of its useful life.  We even had a replacement computer standing by in its box under my desk, but actually taking that step to make the move proved a challenge.  We are good at finding reasons not to do something, especially when everything is still working ok and there isn’t an immediate crisis.

But you’ve guessed what happened next, haven’t you?

Whilst playing around with some digital photos on Monday, in the company of a like minded friend, the screen suddenly went black.  Oh heck…  My hero was away overnight and though I was able to restart and reassure myself everything was still there, it happened again shortly afterwards.  And then again.  And then finally, it wouldn’t restart at all.

Fortunately, my hero returned home the following day and was prepared for the long haul of reloading everything and setting it all up for me.  It’s no mean feat to manage all of those sign-ins, to find all the saved passwords and to remember just how many programs and systems I use regularly.  But it was a good opportunity to upgrade programs, to load Office 2013 and generally have a bit of a clear out.  So, in some ways (and the time spent sorting it all out notwithstanding) it could be seen as a Good Thing.  Thankfully, everything was backed up so I lost no data.

I’m now taking a deep breath and bracing myself to start the process of logging my photos.  It could take some time.