Preparedness for when

nuatha

GreyQueen wrote: »

I do get updates but they haven't caused the pavilion to go back to happy green; she spins, updates, the updates are confirmed when I open up MSE and I get the cross red pavilion back.

Strange, I've had green pavilions since July. Even the new XP install is green.

My happy green pavilion wasn't here this morning, back to cross one. Ne'er mind. Thank you for the info about Avast, I shall check that out in the next few days. Any link in particular or do I just search under Avast and it's obvious which is the right one?

The link in my post takes you to the Avast 2015 download at Download.com. I've installed this this morning, the default settings are fine. It would like you to select additional options (and pay for them) but behaves well if you don't.

I will eventually have to replace this PC, it's very obsolete and wouldn't be good enough for some people; heavens, it's putty-coloured, how old-fashioned is that?! but I'm not aiming to speed the day.

I have several putty coloured boxes - largely because I've reused cases (and components) though the oldest machine in regular use here is 1998 vintage.
My experience is if you've 1GB of RAM and are running XP service pack 3 then you'll be able to run Windows 7 - unless you've got some fairly peculiar hardware. Having said that, buying software for the sake of it is a mugs game, best reserved for those who think "Ooh shiny!" is a desirable attribute in its own right.
Hopefully when the day eventually comes, your next machine is as reliable as the current model.

Karmacat

fiftyeighter wrote: »

On another note somehow or other I have mislaid the little things that turns the breadmaker. I hate supermarket bread and havnt the patience to make my own. Plus I have arthritis in my wrists and find it so painful kneeing.
If I can't find a replacement I will have to dig into my emergency fund but with only £60 in there it will probably take all of it.

I've got arthritis all around my neck and shoulder, as well as my fingers and various other bits, so I know what you mean, I really do.

Can you contact the manufacturer for the little turn-y thing? They're often really good about replacing stuff like that free of charge. Or have a hunt on ebay - it'd be a shame to have to buy the whole thing new if thats all thats lacking.

Or Freegle or Freecycle, are they in your area? It takes a while, but something might come through. All the best with it.

Karmacat

Nuatha - thank you for the Avast info, I paid for Kapersky this year, and its okay, and fairly cheap, but no need to pay £30 if I don't have to. I'll go for Avast next year.

fiftyeighter_2

Thanks Karmacat, yes I'll try those places first.
Re arthritis things. Feeling really sorry for myself toda, I had a rotten night, painwise. Like you I have it all sorts of places, wrists, knees and hips. I am now off next week for another x ray Dr thinks it's now in my neck and shoulder. Tell me does it give you pins and needles down your arm and fingers and makes you feel a bit off balance at times. I get so irritated with myself I'm not even 65 yet.
I just try to think of all the terrible things other people are suffering with, my own eldest son is having treatment for bone cancer. So worried about him
Enough of the moans.
I would really like to open the fire in my living room but on inspection found all the lead pieces missing does anyone no if it is an expensive job to get done.
Also I have bottles of water stored for SHTF purposes but how often should I change them to be safe. I currently change them every couple of months. Should I do it more often? Thanks for your help.

GreyQueen

Thanks, nuatha, will check that out next week, am away from home on another PC. Mine came with 2 x 256 RAM and was sucessfully running SP3 then The Wiz spontaneously decided it should go faster and rocked up with a spare 512 and added that in, so is a whisker over 1 GB. His technical opinion (having been crawling all over this pooter for the past 12 years) is that it could possibly just about run Win 7 but not very well, not Win 8 (which he loathes anyway and doesn't recommend).

I shall keep 'er running as long as possible then move to either a new or a good used desktop. Trouble is, with a flatscreen instead of a CRT monitor, I'd be down one extra place to store carp..........:rotfl:

fiftyeighter, sealed bottles of water don't go off, but keep them out of direct light annd don't stand then on bare concrete. First because they could grow algae inside and the second because chemicals in concrete, in direct contact with plastics, can have a chemical reaction over time which causes the plastic to fail.

That's the reason why the food=grade plastic barrels I use as allotment water butts, although they stand on concrete slabs on the soil, also have a layer of wood underneath them.

Gordon Bennett, but I hate the keyboard on this borrowed PC and it has IE as the browser which is so rubbish and he won't let me change it to FF. Grr!

At least I worked out how to change the American keyboard settings so I didn't end up with the quotes and the @ interchangably. Reminds me of the time in an internet cafe overseas when I hit some random key and everything onscreen switched into Korean............! Zoot alors, as they say in Essex.

VJsmum

fiftyeighter wrote: »

On another note somehow or other I have mislaid the little things that turns the breadmaker. I hate supermarket bread and havnt the patience to make my own. Plus I have arthritis in my wrists and find it so painful kneeing.

At the risk of becoming a sourdough evangelist (I seem to be posting about it alot here there and everywhere) - i make "No Knead" sourdough. it takes a bit of patience, but is dead easy to do.

I follow the method of this bloke


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHFWAkKnkXg

although I don't follow his recipe. there are lots of starter recipes on the "net" but it is basically flour, water and time.

Perplexed_Pineapple

Frugalsod wrote: »

You can have up to £6000 before you get impacted by most means tested benefits, which is still a higher amount than most people have in savings anyway.

As for using an ISA as a pension pot, I do think it is a great idea which eliminates the risks of stock market plunges. The problem is to protect it from means testing you need to wrap it in a Self Invested pension wrapper which can be expensive to set up. Even then it might not be safe from a bail in.

Good advice thank you frugalsod .

Frugalsod wrote: »

As for the bicycle I would consider additional insurance. Bicycles can be quite valuable.

Not mine, trust me on this one. Although my bike is possibly worth more than my car...

Frugalsod wrote: »

A high end phone could be £700

Actually my phone is probably worth more than my car. Not £700 though :rotfl:

GQ, I saw a video on U-tube somewhere, can't remember quite where at the moment, where someone converted the front part of their CRT screen into a solar cooker. Using it as a big lens basically. You could repurpose it in an emergency maybe. I'm still with CRT, mostly because it was a freebie.
ETA: Karmacat, I get Kaspersky free with my internet banking service. That's with Barclays, they have been offering it as a freebie for at least 4 years. Also some ISPs offer deals on antivirus software. Avast is still good though.

nuatha

GreyQueen wrote: »

Thanks, nuatha, will check that out next week, am away from home on another PC. Mine came with 2 x 256 RAM and was sucessfully running SP3 then The Wiz spontaneously decided it should go faster and rocked up with a spare 512 and added that in, so is a whisker over 1 GB. His technical opinion (having been crawling all over this pooter for the past 12 years) is that it could possibly just about run Win 7 but not very well, not Win 8 (which he loathes anyway and doesn't recommend).

From various comments you've made, trust your Wiz. (Incidentally 256 + 256 + 512 =1024 MB also known as 1GB) Anyway, paying for a windows 7 license is money you don't need to spend at the moment as there will be no real gain for you. I agree with him regarding 8 and don't have high hopes of 10 (there not being a 9)

I shall keep 'er running as long as possible then move to either a new or a good used desktop. Trouble is, with a flatscreen instead of a CRT monitor, I'd be down one extra place to store carp..........:rotfl:

Well you could literally use it to store carp:



Most people find it gives them a lot more room for other things.

fiftyeighter, sealed bottles of water don't go off, but keep them out of direct light annd don't stand then on bare concrete. First because they could grow algae inside and the second because chemicals in concrete, in direct contact with plastics, can have a chemical reaction over time which causes the plastic to fail.

That's the reason why the food=grade plastic barrels I use as allotment water butts, although they stand on concrete slabs on the soil, also have a layer of wood underneath them.

Gordon Bennett, but I hate the keyboard on this borrowed PC and it has IE as the browser which is so rubbish and he won't let me change it to FF. Grr!

At least I worked out how to change the American keyboard settings so I didn't end up with the quotes and the @ interchangably. Reminds me of the time in an internet cafe overseas when I hit some random key and everything onscreen switched into Korean............! Zoot alors, as they say in Essex.

Its possible to install multiple browsers on a machine, that way you could use your preference (just leave IE as the default to keep him happy). Or you could run Firefox as a portable app from a USB dongle and take your bookmarks and favourite extensions with you. (Here's how)

Fiftyeighter I aim to rotate my water storage 6 monthly but have had water sitting in for more than 2 years with no ill effect (understairs cupboard or in cupboard in the garage).
Incidentally I now store some 2l carbonated water, I find it more refreshing for drinking or adding to home made squashes and cordials and at 19p per 2l PET it hardly breaks the bank to have a dozen on hand in case. (and these rotate into general supplies)

Karmacat

fiftyeighter wrote: »

Thanks Karmacat, yes I'll try those places first.
Re arthritis things. Feeling really sorry for myself toda, I had a rotten night, painwise. Like you I have it all sorts of places, wrists, knees and hips. I am now off next week for another x ray Dr thinks it's now in my neck and shoulder. Tell me does it give you pins and needles down your arm and fingers and makes you feel a bit off balance at times. I get so irritated with myself I'm not even 65 yet.
I just try to think of all the terrible things other people are suffering with, my own eldest son is having treatment for bone cancer. So worried about him

Sorry to hear about your son, 58er. The arthritis can definitely make me feel off balance, though post-viral bleurgh does that even worse. Its worst when it starts up in a new place, and then the acute pain tails off after a while. I had an operation on my shoulder so I could retain the use of my arm, the arthritic swelling was interfering with a nerve, which was, erm, inconvenient. Pins and needles - not from the arthritis, not so I'd notice, but I do get them - when its hard to exercise because everything hurts, your circulation isn't the best

Its upsetting to be less mobile and less capable - but the effects of arthritis in any one area of the body do tend to lessen the longer you have it. The shock of diagnosis is very upsetting but yes, thinking of what other people go through can help, it sounds a cliche, but it really is true, after a while.

Perplexed_Pineapple wrote: »

ETA: Karmacat, I get Kaspersky free with my internet banking service. That's with Barclays, they have been offering it as a freebie for at least 4 years. Also some ISPs offer deals on antivirus software. Avast is still good though.

Interesting! I have the Trusteer software from my bank, but not Kaspersky ... I think I definitely need to get the free anti-virus

Softstuff

We use AVG here, if the puter is too old to just run Microsoft Security Essentials (we had to do that with Grandfather in laws puter). We run Chrome currently as a browser with choice and on the super duper puter (hubbys work one) Windows 8. He understands people don't like it, but a lot of that has to do with change (disclaimer: he's a software developer!). I have to say, I wasn't taken with it to start with, but after he showed me round it and a few shortcuts it's great for those who are speedy touch typists in general.

As regards flour for bread, I've tried a few different flours for different things and I'm afraid I always come back to bog standard value flour for everything. Bread, cakes, pasta, flatbreads, biscuits. Maybe I'm a philistine, but they all taste, look and feel fine to me. And I bake *a lot*.