Posted on 03/06/2016 5:44:12 PM PST by John W
Backed the whole thing up with floppy disks! I used to blow out the system and reload the OS and apps just for the fun of it. We called it a "clean install" and actually it was recommended that you do that once a year.
A couple years ago when I was moving to my new house, I found this system down my basement. I turned it on and amazingly it came to life. I poked around and found archives from the old Prodigy Bulletin Board - which was the pre-Free Republic meeting place. Some of the original Freepers were on Prodigy, including Jim Robinson himself. I saw old names like Karen Bixman and Judith Pedgrift. I couldn't believe the hard drive still had all that original data.
Anyway, would you believe that in nearly a quarter century of using computers, I have never had a hard drive failure? I have always religiously backed up my data but never once had to restore a failed system. Maybe I'm just lucky.
I sent my first e-mail in September, 1991. I had just started my undergrad studies in MIS at the University of Pittsburgh. I didn’t realize at the time how new it was.
I remember my first Packard Bell computer in 1994. I thought it was amazingly sophisticated. My first email address was with Prodigy. I felt like a celebrity.
I remember computer shopping in the early 90’s and being wholly unprepared for the standard question, “What do you need it for?” Duh, to do computer stuff on!
Likely...
All is well?
Purchased our first computer in 1986 We upgraded the hard disc from 20 megabytes to 40 megabytes Had no idea what we were going to do with that much memory Those were the days....
I liked Wordstar and Turbo Pascal. Hated Microsoft before most people had ever heard of them..
Near as I can tell. I’m not as radioactive this week...
Must’ve fallen to me then...
I figure I’m down to about 4 µCuries.
Xclnt
386DX40. Smoking hot! (I am not counting those Apples from the 80’s)
RIP Raymond.
I was on ARPANET at the beginning - but it was really hard to get into the network. My log-in name was just my first name and initial - nothing special. We were on a contract working with university grad students - I’m sure they had a lot less trouble with this new “thing” than I did at the time . . .
NEENER NEENER I WIN THE OBSCURE WORD PROCESSING PROGRAM WAR!
(prior to this it was a pirated copy of Volkswriter)
Lol.. My first PC was a TRaSh80 (in 1980).. no HD (I think it had 8kb of ram), saved and loaded from a cassette tape, and no OS. Used assembly and BASIC. If you didn’t have a program to load, then you had to program it all in from scratch. My modem was 300 Baud handset cradle >.<
Two computers later was my first one with an OS and a real HD (a whopping 12Mb). I believe it was an Epson 286, which was a HUGE step up from my 2 previous computers ;^)
I was just thinking of WordStar yesterday... surprised anyone else remembers that one ;) I preferred Word Perfect though (after it came out :D), and I also used Pascal, Instant Pascal and Turbo Pascal..
More likely, the reason you haven't needed to do a restore is BECAUSE you're backing up religiously.
It shows a properly disciplined and conscientious orientation, which carries over into other things that absolutely DO have an effect on hard drive life, like how they're treated.
Congratulations, Sir, you are doing the Right Things.
Still use both today.
I started on a Burroughs mini computer in 1980. IBM PC XT in 1983, PC AT in 1984, Started building my own in 1985. 286, 386, 486, Pentiums. Now, Intel i5 Quad core. (My last computer, unless it dies before I do.)
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