the great crashes of April 2006

Here's the "Error Reporting" window in Microsoft's Windows XP; it's what I've seen about 15 times a day for the past 5 days or so. I guess it's time to bite the bullet and reload Windows XP from scratch. Well, at least I have a current backup (unless it's corrupted).

6pm update: I tried creating a System Recovery DVD using the files on the D: partition, but that didn't work. I kept getting a message:

HP PC Recovery CD/DVD Creator
Error in media surface verification

which supposedly pointed to inferior DVD media. I tried 3 different name brands of DVD+R media: TDK (8x); Philips (16x) and even HP's own brand (8x), and got the same error. Using the WTH (What The Heck) Rule, I tried doing a restore using these DVDs, but got too many error messages to ensure a viable system.

So .. I called HP Tech Support, got "Danny" (in Bangalore) and ordered the DVD from them for $12*. I swear he told me it would be here on April 12th (twice) so it must be a Language Barrier Thing. It'll arrive when it arrives, just not 6 days in the past.

6:30pm update: Although "Danny" said $12, I see they charged $23.85 on my credit card. Must be extra charges related to sales tax and shipping. Further, the online confirmation says
"Shipping Method: FED-EX NEXT DAY (10:30AM)" and (elsewhere)
"Expected Delivery Date: 04/24/2006" (Monday)

Deep thought (8:30pm): there's a bit of chatter about a patch - "Security Update for Windows XP (KB908531)" that Microsoft issued last week. Apparently it's causing all sorts of grief on systems that were grief-free before then. Hmm .. this sounds suspiciously like my problem. Wonder if Bill Gates will reimburse me the $23.85?

And .. speaking of crashes .. this arrived at work today:

As a result of the temperatures being higher than normal this time of year, the power generation plants and grids are being overloaded. During this time of year the power generation plants have a percentage of their plants down for maintenance to prepare for the summer months. Given the 100 degree temperatures we hit yesterday and expect to hit today, ERCOT (Electrical Reliability Council Of Texas) has given the order for rolling power outages to decrease loads on power generation plants. We could experience these outages today and if needed will happen between 2pm and 7pm and last approximately 15 minutes.