Still Cranking About My Computer Woes

I just got done frustrating myself yet again. In my past posts I mentioned some sites refuse the wife's VISTA Internet Explorer version 9 browser the latest which can be uploaded for that system. Google's Chrome still works but is no longer supported either, but sometimes we can still get on with it.

So I came up with this brilliant idea to use my two hundred some dollar Windows 7 installation DVD I paid for a while back which would upgrade her system. It would enable me to install IE version 11 (which is the latest). I checked online and it said Windows 7 would upgrade the operating system without changing files and settings.

So I began. First it suggested I check compatibility by downloading software and installing that. Which I did. It said the sound card drivers needed to be updated. So I attempted to do that and ended up with two extraneous programs I never was informed about and none of updated drivers. Two more programs I then needed to uninstall.

After about a forty five minutes of this BS I decided to go forward anyway thinking I'll straighten that driver crap out later. Next up the Windows 7 installation disk informed me I couldn't upgrade from VISTA to Windows 7 Professional without it deleting all the files and settings after all. Well there's an hour of my life I'll never get back.

All of this came about again because the wife got into a tangle with her Target account. Last evening it rejected her older browser and would no longer accept her old password she's been using for two years. Clicking on reset password results in Target sending an email with a reset button linking to her account. Unfortunately clicking on that email opens up the default browser which is her IE version 9. You know the one they won't accept. Soooooo. We copied the email shortcut and pasted into the chrome browser. She typed in a new password. Hit save It then took her to a screen which said the password didn't meet their requirements. Why the hell didn't you say that when she typed her new password. What the hell's the matter with you folks! She got pissed off (who wouldn't after screwing around 45 minutes with this crap). So we'll save that frustration for another day.


Talking Points
(1) All these super password requirements are bullshit. It's not on our end. It's theirs. Every time hackers gain access to their servers they download the usernames, passwords and account numbers so they can gain access. Therefore it should be obvious to everyone (except these geniuses) these hackers never had the passwords to begin with until they were leaked from your end. All this seems to be a pretense to make customers feel somehow a 16 digit crazy mix up of letters, number and symbols will make things more secure. IT WON'T !

(2) Companies promote these sites as convenient and easy to use. They encourage folks to go paperless as well. I'll tell you what's easy and convenient... you send me a bill, I send you a check. A couple of our accounts stop sending paper bills as soon as we created online accounts with no option to restore paper billing. It's starting to become time we simplify our lives. If we can't get online with these stooges, that'll be the end of that.

(3) All of these woes were on a PC. These kind of computers are starting to go the way of the dodo bird with younger people. I can't begin to imagine how much harder it would be dealing with this on smart phones which is all many of the younger people have these days.

(4) These guys make a living by deliberately needlessly creating obsolescence before it's time for the things we buy.


In Conclusion
What started out convenient and easy has become cumbersome and time consuming. I can write a check. Stuff it in an envelope in less then a minute or two instead of wasting an hour or so dealing with this nonsense. And I don't have to update a damn thing. Somehow they forgotten they're not doing us any favors. We're doing these companies a favor by not having to hand process checks & bills.

Throughout my life I've always eliminated that which frustrates and complicates my life unnecessarily. Sometimes going go back to the basics (simplifying ones life) may be the best way to move forward. Such as the case may be with these developers and programmer clowns who unceasingly create unnecessary complications trying to get us to spend money for their latest gizmos.

Count me out. I'm not going to play this game. After 39 years of owning almost a dozen computers (starting with Radio Shack's TRS-80) I'm sick & tired of you guys screwing around. It's you NOT ME who are screwing everything up.

Computers used to be a lot of fun for me. They were supposed to make life easier and increasingly more convenient to use. Thanks to you guys running these websites they are neither.