I really got looped yesterday.

System Mechanic is a software package that I have used for years to keep my computer tuned up.  (I first used Norton but then discovered that the best Norton program was the one that removed all vestiges of Norton from my computer.  Their programs were memory hogs.  Are they any better now?). 

My computer has been giving me trouble off and on for several weeks now. It is set up to act as a proxy server for our wireless internet so we only need one monthly subscription.  Maybe that is what is tying up over half my RAM. There are over 60 processes running at any given time, some of which I likely don't need but which?  The sound snap crackles and pops, accompanied by a surge into the red of my CPU meters, whether CD, DVD, You tube or Skype.  Not constantly but consistently. The DVD burner reads but won't write.

System Mechanic10 (newest) was supposed to run automatic checks and fixes on several items but seemed to be giving trouble, stalling out and shutting down.  So I uninstalled it and reinstalled it from scratch.  Started a manual cleanup step by step. Everything was going fine until I did a hard disk check and repair.  It automatically shuts down and restarts after the operation is complete.

When it rebooted, it acted funny and suddenly a screen appeared announcing that a Check Disc was scheduled.  That was performed and the computer shut down again and then booted up again.  So far so good.  Except that on booting up it rechecked the hard drive, shut down, booted up, rechecked the hard drive ad infinitum.  There is an option to cancel the check disc.  So I dug out an old OS2 keyboard and hit any key.  the check disc stopped and the computer shut down, rebooted and the check disc announcement appeared again. 

So we cycled through that a few times, then I cold stopped the computer and let it sit. Nope, still looping.  It is going into Mir computers tomorrow.  I stuck the wireless modem on Tanya's computer and we are still connected to the outside world.

The loop reminded me of my student days back in the times of FORTRAN and punch cards.  For our computer labs we wrote little programs, keyed them in, made punch cards and ran them.  One learned quickly the advantage of logical thinking and accurate keying. We were given so much money (time) on the campus mainframe.  It was lots of money IF all our programs worked first time but most of us needed to run them a few times to get the bugs out.  Left over time was yours to play with and create computer generated pictures etc. But if you created a loop in logic, the program never stopped running until you ran out of money.  Not a good thing.