Last Friday I broke down and bought a new wireless router.  The one I had was just shot and hadn't worked right in months and months and I had finally just disconnected it.  But I was getting tired of fighting the kids and hubby for a little computer time, so I bought a new one and a new wireless card for my laptop. I connected the second (old but functional even though the screen is busted and we're using an even older monitor with it) laptop with a hardwire, so both kids can be on the computers at same time and ran the setup for my laptop to function wireless.   Didn't work.  It would see the router but not connect to the internet.  I then spent nearly an hour on line with linksys tech support who finally got it up and running.  I was in heaven.  I could lie in bed, access email, order nephews birthday present, the works, while kids played and left me the hell alone without arguing over whose turn it was and when was I getting off the computer.  

Saturday I got up and was chatting on line and cruising around a few news sites when I started getting spammed left and right... popups everywhere, crap trying to download... so I'm thinking this is not good.  HA!  Was that an understatement.  By the time I got the virus protection and spyware software updated (this laptop hasn't been connected the internet in almost a year) I had over 70 hits of spy/malware.  Some things loaded on without me knowing and wouldn't even come off in the remove/add software area of Windows.  Finally got those stipped out and the laptop is fried... I mean just shredded to hell.  It keeps telling me the administrator has restricted certain activities.   And all I can think when I read that is I'm the fraking administrator!!!!!  GRRRRRR!  The entire control panel is gone... just gone, doesn't exist any more as far as I can tell.  It won't even let me change the time or date.  It won't show images (although it *can*, it just won't).  It is running about at 1/1000th of the speed it was before.  And accessing the internet? Ha!  In my dreams.  So I spent all weekend trying to reinstall and patch and get the damn thing up and running with no luck.  Koschka has a friend who's a computer tech guy who is going to call and try to talk me through some things on Friday.  If that doesn't work, I'll take the laptop with me when I go back to Koschka's in a few weeks for her birthday and let him work on it there.   

So long story short, I wasted my entire weekend trying to fix my stupid laptop and ended up worse than I started.  

Sigh.  

How does something so good turn to crap so fast?