Reinstalling Windows on the Netbook
Now and again I write a post that is so mundane, so boring, and so nerdy that those unfortunate enough to begin reading itconsider putting some kind of warning sticker on it, for fear that others will fall asleep standing up too, and injure themselves in all sorts of difficult to explain ways. This is going to be one of those posts.
I'm re-installing the old netbook with Windows 7. For some reason best known only to myself a while ago, I installed Ubuntu Linux on it. Yes, Linux is great, and yes, Linux runs perhaps 90% (or more) of the internet, but it pretty much sucks on netbooks – so I'm replacing it with Windows again. “Again?” you ask – yes, again. I've been here before.
I'm half watching the Windows Update tool chug it's way through nearly a gigabyte of updates. No doubt it will install all of that crap, then force a reboot, then go again for another half a gig. I'll be surprised if it finishes the update/reboot dance before the night is out.
I'm thinking I can use the netbook to write blog posts on. It lasts for a good few hours on battery, and is a bit more re-assuring than the Chromebook. I know we're all supposed to be getting used to storing everything in the cloud (and I do, on the most part), but saving writing on a hard drive that can go offline, and not having to be anywhere near a network connection is somehow comforting.
Once the endless round of updates is finished, I need to install the various bits and bobs I tend to rely on – Dropbox, Focus Writer, and WriteMonkey are probably at the top of the list. Of course having a machine to write blog posts on doesn't mean the quality will change – I'll still be turning out random garbage about nothing in particular...