Why I hate computers, Part 6,789,623

So I tried installing Norton Systemsworks on the pc that has the cable modem. Went through an hour or so of various gyrations to install this and that, only to find out that it just wasn't going to allow me to run Firefox. So okay, I uninstall Norton, reach the part where it requires a reboot, and kablooey.

Windows shut down, and TRIED to restart but froze at the DELL screen and there she sits. Turned off the power, several times, tried to crank it back up, but it returns to the same DELL screen and will not initiate Windows.

Even put the Windows XP disk in but the thing has NEVER recognized ANYTHING from the CD drive until you specifically go in and look.

DELL. My first PC was an IBM and lasted about 4 years before it became too cranky to mess with. Thisnone I'm using now, almost 4 years, and I've an even older one that still is useful for word processing and it's going on 8 years old.

But not this DELL. Balky from the get-go, touchy in all manner of ways, and something to be nursed along. Their customer service always boiled down to, well, erase everything you've ever installed and try running the thing again, and THAT never worked. The service rep was always an Indian, and while polite, it was painfully obvious that English was not a first or even second language, and they never really helped with much of anything.

It was slow as hell too. Try opening a word processor and it clanked along, but one thing it ALWAYS managed to do was hook-up to th web without a glitch. That;s before the modem self destructed, and Lisa finally set us up with a high speed connection to bypass the BS.

And now I've gone and frigged the thing to all hells, just by following onscreen instructions. Lisa is pissed at me, and she has every right to be. Instead of leaving well enough alone I wanted the "bennies" of a Firewall and Virus protection, and forget the crap that AOL provides. I detest every time AOL's virus deal just kicks in and slows things down without even asking if you'd like to DL and install an update.

So to remedy it, I broke it.

UPDATE

It's "fixed", and here's how I did it:

First unplug the power cord. Reinsert while at the same time depressing the computers Power-On button. Continue to hold the Power button until the screen changes from frozen, to professing that something has indeed gone wrong, and you should call DELL in Bombay for assistance.

Balderdash. Disconnect all devices that are attached, save of course for the mouse and keyboard, and disconnect the power supply again, the reconnect and depress again.

It will then reboot to Windows. From that point, I then had to reinstall ALL of the software that came with the cable modem, being careful NOT to connect them to the computer itself. After reinstalling, reboot again using the above instructions. THEN connect the USB cable from the modem to the port. This will cause an error message to appear, but disregard. Turn the modem on, then disconnect it from the power source. Thus causes the error message to go somewheres else. THEN reconnect it to the power source WITH the switches to ON, and presto...

More error messages. But they soon go away too. Where I am unaware. Then click the icon for Firefox and another error message will inform you that there's a problem, but then disconnect the USB cable, then RECONNECT it and it will operate.

There'll be a quiz on Thursday, so bone up.