Sunday Morning With Apple Support

It SEEMED like a simple computer problem.

The adjective simple along with easy, uncomplicated, trouble-free, facile, painless, undemanding, effortless, straightforward, and duck soup do NOT describe the computer problem that faced me Sunday morning.

The trouble started when my backup drive no longer backed up. I read a bazillion sites that recommended a variety of solutions. One of them probably would have worked had I comprehended the suggestions. Since I understood approximately every third word at best, I didn’t have a chance.

 

I ditched the old backup drive and bought a new one.

Ideally . . .

New is a fresh start.

New leaves old problems behind.

New is better.

 

In reality . . .

New was fresh frustration.

New brought new problems along.

New was worse.

But I didn’t know that when I optimistically purchased “My Passport For MAC” at Best Buy.

The package boasted “USB-C and Time Machine ready”.

I have a MAC.

I have Time Machine.

“I can do this,” I encouraged myself.

And I DID do it . . .but not very well.

Fresh Frustration

An hour filled with created passwords, downloaded programs, and chosen options that SEEMED necessary, resulted in a somewhat working system. Somewhat because a backup needed manual request, passwords needed resetting, and software needed updating every time the computer slipped into sleep mode, or I glanced away from the screen.

New Problems

I called my “ace in the hole” Amy the computer whiz for help. She uninstalled and reinstalled whatever I had installed on my own. She explained that I had chosen unnecessary options that complicated matters. The backup worked flawlessly.

Then she left.

Thirty minutes later my MAC couldn’t even FIND the backup drive to backup to.

New Was Worse

The next morning I called Apple Support and spoke to Laurie who explained that I had a “vintage” MAC that didn’t qualify for phone support. (Five years old is vintage in the computer world.) She passed me off to Michelle as a “special case.” Since I had the newest software update, Michelle worked with me for HOURS. She explained that new updates don’t always work well with “vintage MACs”.

There’s that qualifier “new” again!

After several attempts involving contortionist poses (“Hold down Shift, Control, and Option keys while simultaneously pressing the power button for ten seconds.”) Michelle decided that I needed to reinstall the software update. Since that involved  a decade to execute, we broke for lunch while the computer churned.

Hours later, I received a polite email that she couldn’t reach me and left a contact number. I called and left a message, but I recognized a brush off when I saw one.

So the MAC works, but it doesn’t backup the way it should.

That means I should remember all the important data,

or

buy a new computer

There’s that qualifier that caused the problem in the first place

“new.”