Ludic Dreams

I was messing around with my laptop- a nice little gateway running windows Vista Premium. I had earlier tried installing Ubuntu on it, with some success, but I soon realized it was just not what I was looking for, so I stopped using it. Of course, I had partitioned my hard drive for the space, which gave me very little time for normal vista applications and data. After searching through the troves of the inter-webs, I came across a neat fact from Lifehacker; windows vista has a full-fledged built in partition manager. This is exactly what I was looking for, and christ, I didn’t even need to reboot! Heaven!

With much haste, I deleted my never-used Ubuntu partition (mostly because the limited graphics capabilities of the lappy would not let me do the pretty Compiz Fusion hotness) along with the minor linux swap. After installing another program, I shut of the computer.

Mistake.

You see, Ubuntu uses the GRUB boot manager, which critically alters the Windows boot system. With No Ubuntu to find, suddenly it came up all dicked- Error 22.
After fevered searches, I saw I needed to produce my xp disc and run recovery console. Oh, whats that? Vista uses a different administrator password system, rendering it useless? Well, call me fucked then. I remember I have a recovery partition, so i’ll just install XP and access it later, somehow.

Well, mid-xp install, I realize too late that i had knocked out the cord on the laptop, and it’s battery life was just… about…to….

Well, you can get it.

Needless to say, “Defeated” would have been a good way to describe my feelings at that point. I booted the computer, no- disc.

And suddenly, the windows loading screen came up.

Gateway recovery services.

Full system restore?

Done in twenty minutes.

This tale would send chills down the spine of the average user. Of course, the average user wouldn’t be installing ubuntu, but that is besides the point. I have spent all night researching, experimenting, and finally succeeding in the correct interface with this device. Many people would consider this a wound on Window’s reputation.

No, ladies and gentlemen;

This is a battle scar. I have won a battle, and now me and my computer seem… closer. And to quote the High-Pitched MC:

I’ve got battle scars,
But it means I’ve survived.

-F9