Stupidly, this morning, I uninstalled the @(#*& Bonjour service. Lo and behold, all my networking functions on my laptop are now completely nonfunctioning.
Here's what I learned about this insane program.
- It's primarily bundled with iTunes, but can also come with Photoshop CS3 to help with Version Cue (a feature I don't need anyhow).
- If you disable it from the Vista Services, you will be fine.
- If you uninstall it completely, you will spend a few hours in Windows hell like me. It literally complete kills all possible networking. You won't be able to get an Internet or a Local Connection.
There's a small utility called TurnoffBonjour that just turns it off, so you won't have to uninstall it.
I am trying to uninstall Photoshop CS3, to see if that helps. If not, I will uninstall iTunes, Skype, etc. and reinstall them.
Damn it.
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Update:
3:16 - I have found a fix that has worked! I am copying it here in case anyone needs it.
Found it on techsupportforum.com:
Check and repair Winsock corruption.
Click Start. In the Start Search dialog box, type: cmd, and right-click cmd.
Click Run as administrator.
Type: netsh winsock reset, and then press the ENTER key.
Type: Exit and press ENTER.
Restart the computer.
Reset the TCP/IP protocol.
Click Start. In the Start Search dialog box, type: cmd, and right-click cmd.
Click Run as administrator.
Type: netsh int ip reset, and then press ENTER.
Type: Exit and press ENTER.
Restart the computer.
Microsoft also has some convoluted fix, which is pretty much the same as the previous one. The article is entitled: "How to determine and to recover from Winsock2 corruption in Windows Server 2003, in Windows XP, and in Windows Vista"
I have to move my files over to the new laptop, and then I'll take a shower, and finish packing.
But here's the link anyhow:
Well, after two hours yesterday, and going on three today, I think I am very close to getting this laptop all set up.
See, the problem is that Windows ME is not bootable. And, if you formatted your entire harddrive, you know that you will not have even DOS installed on it. The solution, of course, is to use a bootable floppy, format the harddrive and get it ready for install. Then, launch the WindowsME setup from the CD-Rom. Straight forward.
But, because I have a swappable floppy and CD-ROM, it's impossible for me to do that. So, I had to track down a version of DOS that I can put on a CD, and have it be bootable. After three different tries, I finally found the correct version of DOS that supports large disks (for a comparison of different versions, click on this link).
I downloaded the correct version from ms-dos7.hit.bg/#msfv, and it's currently checking the partitions on my haddrive. But, since I don't really have any partitions, I don't know what it's doing. I might need to burn another disk to fix this. I've gone through about six CDs so far, because I don't have CD-RW disks to use. Grr..
Actually, strike that, I need DOS 8.0. I finally was able to download the correct version from Powerload Boot Disk Project. This actually seems like it's working. We'll see.
10:11 - Now FINALLY formatting. Looks like exactly what I need. Stupid Windows!
11:30 - I needed both disks mentioned above to get things set up. Not only that, but I also had the pleasure of reinstalling Windows 98 because stupid ME will not clean install since it's meant as an upgrade, and crashed at first install. Now, ME is at 61% install.
Meanwhile.... I uninstalled Bonjour.exe from my Vista laptop, and now my network has stopped working.
I should just stop, and like go back or something.
Eleven years ago, I bought a Gateway laptop for $1,700. At the time, it was the hottest and greatest thing out there. 10 Gigs, swappable DVDRom and floppy disk, and a whopping 512MB of RAM! At the time, I was in the middle of my MA degree, and thought that would be a good idea to invest in a laptop. Windows ME had just come out, so it was a very big deal to have moved from Windows 95 (which I STILL miss) and Windows ME.
Over the years, I have used it for basic word processing, and as new versions of Windows came, this poor little thing was left behind in the dust. But, in the meantime, it traveled to Trinidad, London, Lebanon, and all over the United States. The fact that it still works is mind boggling. Sure, many of the new softwares don't work on it anymore, but for basic things, it works.
In the last four years, I have used mainly laptops from the various contracts I have worked for, but still used the ME one for text, basic browsing, and Solitaire.
My last two projects have ended, and thus, I had to give up their respective laptops, and was left with this one. After visiting my mom, she was amazed that I was still using this piece of junk, and decided that she would buy me not only a happy new shiny laptop, but also a digital camera. I love my mom!
I was thinking about turning this laptop into a Linux machine, but mom asked for it so that she would give it to a friend. So now, I have to reformat it, reinstall Windows ME, basic programs, and then give it back.
So, in the last hour or so, I have reformatted a 3.5" floppy disk, reformatted the harddrive, and err... oh no! Swappable drives! That means that I can't run a floppy and the CD-Rom at the same time. And, since ME is not bootable, I have to figure out how to do boot into it somehow. Ugh.
This will probably take all day, and I will update as I go.
12:30 - Formatted A:\ disk, and tried to boot up
12:45 - Somehow made it to the D: drive, and now formatting C:\. It's 8 percent complete.
12:53 - Not bad. Completely finished. Um... how do I install from a D:\ drive, while there's no setup file? This is going to be interesting.
1:04 - I'm stuck!!
Over the years, I am constantly amazed by the quirks this thing has. It's amazing. I should have picked up on that when I first got it, and had to reset it. So here's all the weird things.
- When you reset an iPod factory settings, you HAVE to have a power source to connect it to. Merely connecting it to a computer will not work. I think the power is separate. But, you can go to any Radio Shack, plug your iPod in any of their auxiliary machines, and after thirty seconds, it boots itself.
- If you use your iPod also as a disk drive, anytime you accidentally disconnect your cable from the machine, you have to reset the iPod, and start all over again, and then copy your library again. So, best advice here is... back everything up that you save on it. It's tempting to save your files on a 40 Gig drive, until you lose your data. Not so much fun then.
- There's actually a site out there where you can check the life of your ipod based on serial number. Sorry, forgot the site. After I entered mine, it told me I had two months left on mine, and sure enough, in two months, it started acting VERY funky. After a while, I just turned it off, and forgot about it because I was annoyed so much. I don't like self-destruct mechanisms that I can't control.
- After getting my new shiny HP laptop, I thought I'd try the iPod again. Had to download iTunes, because for some reason Winamp was not recognizing it. After download, I noticed that iTunes was launching about thirty different processes, and using a "Bonjour" utility that was bringing down my entire network. After tweaking it a bit, I got it to work.
- Everything went fine software wise, but suddenly the iPod starting making an incessant clicking sound that was driving me batty. After some research online, I discovered that this was a common problem; the harddrive was loose. The solution? Insert a folded business card between the harddrive and the cover, and everything will work. I tried that, and now it works without the clicking.
So, for the time being, the iPod is working again. We'll see what devilish things happen next with this piece of machinery. I would like to have it when I go home this summer, but don't trust it enough to throw it or use it as a door stop. If it works, great. If not, then, well.... it won't, and I'll just figure something out to do with it.
I should be working, but I just can't get rid of this bothered feeling. One of my students plagiarized on her final exam. Pretty blatantly too. Some of it was from something I had written. I gave her an F on the final, and she ended up with a C in the course. She went in to the final with an A! I don't understand it.
I thought it over, and wanted to follow policies. Spoke to the Dean, the Chair, and my program Chair, and they all pretty much agreed with what I did. But, the Dean said that if a violation affects the student's grade, it must be reported to the Chair and the Dean. I have to notify the student first. Then, a letter will go out to the student's parents, she gets a copy, and one will go in her record. "Good graduation present!", the Dean exclaimed when I told her.
So, I just sent her the letter notifying her of what was to come. It really does make me sad. She could have passed the course with an A. Why she did this, is beyond me.
However, I am convinced that this student has hated me all semester. She would sit there and glare at me with a very sour face. Maybe she wasn't. Maybe that's what her face looks like normally, and I misinterpreted her expressions. There are people like that, I kept telling myself.
I gave an anonymous review of the course, and I keep suspecting her to be the one who said that she pretty much hated me, and would not recommend me to anyone else. The best thing about the course, the reviewer said, was that it was once a week for an hour and a half. She rarely said anything in the class (participation is 10% of the grade). I just kept thinking that she was sitting there plotting my demise the entire time I was either lecturing, or we were discussing something.
After sending the email, I am reminded of the student who threatened to break his professor's legs if the grade is not changed that University Diaries wrote about. That's just very scary.
I hope this doesn't turn into a huge drama or broken legs. I really don't have time to deal with either.
I just wrote this as a comment in another blog, and thought I'd repeat them here:
Here are the main requirements:
- Chocolate (or any GOOD sugary sweets). The chocolate has to be rich and yummy so you feel it's a treat
- Alcohol: You have two options here. Either drink while grading, and grade till you're ready to pass out. Or, use some Champagne or good wine as a reward for after you are done
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com. It's a sanitysaver
- Take a lot of breaks in between papers. I took a half an hour break between two papers. Yes, it was that bad.
- Make an appointment at a hairdresser for when you're finished grading. All that gray that will rear its ugly head while grading needs to be covered up. You might need to get some Rogaine too for the hair pulling.
- Don't forget to breathe!
- Good luck!
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Image source: Lavender Hill Studio
It is probably a universal thing about junior faculty to struggle with final grades. This is my sixth course teaching on my own, and everytime I have to give out grades, I really fight with it.
There are some students who I know are A students, and deserve it.
There are those who are stellar A students, but have a bad exam worth a large percentage of their final grade, and barely make a B+.*
There are those who are more towards B than As, but I know they're working hard. So that's a tough call.
There are those who are B students, and are happy with that. That's fine. Those are easy to grade.
C students do the bare minimum to pass the class, which is fine too.
I hate borderline grades because then I have to make the call.
Then there are stupid students who go into the final with A for an average, and then proceed to plagiarize on their take-home final exam. As if that wasn't bad enough, this student actually plagiarized me, her professor! That's truly a first for me. This person followed arguments and statistics that I have published online before, and used exact sentences and paragraphs and did not bother citing anything. Additionally, she copied grammatical errors from an Amnesty International site that was Google translated from Czech into English.
My mind cannot fully comprehend that one. I don't know what must have been running through her head. Probably something along the lines of "hell with this. I'm graduating, I don't care". She ended up with a C in the course, because I failed her on an exam that was worth 12% of her final grade. If she would not have been graduating, I would have brought disciplinary actions against her.
I'm not sure I'll ever understand this one. But, it will make a good story down the line.
I survived my first semester in this private. The average for the course, B, was the lowest I had ever gotten in any of the courses I taught. I don't know if that's because I was getting harder, or the quality of the work was mediocre.
Then again, I have to keep reminding myself that C is average. Many (most?) people are happy to be average, so I have to accept that, and move on.
All in all, I find grading truly annoying, and anguishing at times.
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* This semester, I the best student, and best writer in any of my classes. This person's work was so polished, and so well argued, that by the end, she just made the whole class worth teaching. She got what I was talking about, and synthesized it very well. But, she failed her mid-term because of some personal issues, and while she would have normally gotten at least a 98-99% (yes, she's that good), she ended up with 88%. This makes me very sad. But, it would be very unfair to the rest of the students if I gave her an A. I hate making these calls
