Customer was having trouble running MS office on a Toshiba laptop. On closer inspection, I found I couldn’t run some parts of the control panel , and IE was behaving strangely.

Customer didn’t need the data on the laptop, so I decided a clean install of XP.

That was the start of a few problems (if I had known, I probably would have said throw the laptop in the bin).

First problem was that the DVDROM drive was having problems reading CDs… maybe it was a DVD only drive, so it couldn’t read CDs, but it could read CDs sometimes. Anyway the DVD drive is on its last legs.

I try installing XP, but partway through, it complains about not being able to find a file… try again, and this time it spontaneously reboots in the middle of the installation.

I notice that the cpu fan is blowing some very hot air… so the Athlon CPU (and/or DVD drive) could be be struggling (on a very warm 30 degree day).

I point a 12″ cooling fan towards the laptop, and this time XP installs correctly.

I then install office, XP updates, and my usual security software (defender, antivir, etc)

I then connect it to my wireless network via my trusty netgear WG111v2 usb wireless adapter…. but the adapter doesn’t connect properly (it will see the WAP, and even connect sometimes), but no network traffic coming in…

I try the next usb port, and it connects without a problem.

Ok, flaky DVD, USB, CPU, low memory (196Mb RAM)… at least it works, but I tell the customer that if it breaks down in the future… its best to toss it out (or I could use it for parts, and I’ll pay a modest fee for it).