Major Computer Problem!

We got up this morning and drank our coffee and had breakfast. Then I booted up our Dell laptop (the one we got last December) and nothing - Windows wouldn't start. I tried everything I knew to try to get it to boot-up & nothing.

I got went online with our HP laptop; I checked on Dell's support site, googled what my problem was and none of the solutions I tried worked. I called the Dell support line and explained to the tech what my problem was and what I had tried to fix it. The suggestion he had was for me to reload Windows 7 and reinstall everything - not really an option as far as I'm concerned. The only other suggestion he had was for me to take the computer to a repair shop and see if they could recover my data and restore my hard drive. He suggested Best Buy or maybe a local computer repair shop. He emailed me the instructions for reinstalling Windows 7 should I decide to go that route.

After getting off the phone with Dell I called a Best Buy in Tampa and found out that if their local tech couldn't fix the computer, they would ship off to their service center in Tennessee and it could take about 10 days to get the laptop back - not an option!

So I searched online for a local computer repair shop and found one that was open on Saturday. I called and explained my problem to the tech and what I had tried to fix the computer. He told me he should be able to recover my data and restore my hard drive, but if not then the only thing he could do was to reinstall Windows 7.

We loaded up the laptop and an external hard drive (I had backed the computer up on it, but it was an old back-up) and headed over to Tampa to Tampa Computer Doctors - about 40 miles from the state park.

When we got to Tampa Computer Doctors, we tried booting up my laptop and Windows wouldn't start. I had had a nagging feeling we would get there and the computer would work perfectly. We explained that we were leaving state park this Thursday and would need the computer back before then.

The tech was going to run diagnostics on it this weekend and see if he could fix it without having to reload Windows. He would try to retrieve my data before reloading Windows.

After leaving the computer shop, we drove down to MacDill Air Force Base and to look at the FamCamp there.

From Little Manatee River State Park & Tampa

Before leaving MacDill AFB, we stopped at the gas station on base to fill the tank in the Vue and paid $2.559 a gallon.

I did get a photo of the cruise ship, Carnival Inspiration, leaving port and the Tampa skyline.

From Little Manatee River State Park & Tampa

From Little Manatee River State Park & Tampa