Recently I got a really sweet deal from a laptop roadshow that includes 3GB RAM, 60GB HD space, original Windows Vista, MS Office, and other goodies. It was time for my 3-year old S2020 to move on to a slower-paced life back in Malaysia, as some of the buttons on the keyboard had just died.

I’d like to bring to light a certain ‘feature’ to new users of Windows Vista. Whenever you plug in an external memory device (e.g. thumbdrive, CD-RW, DVD-RW, memory stick, etc), you will most probably encounter a dialog box telling you that your device contains a ‘bad’ file or something and gives you the option to ‘Scan and fix (Recommended)’ or to ‘Continue without scanning’. Here’s what you do: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT click on ‘Scan and fix’!!

I had plugged in my digicam to transfer some rare-to-happen family photos of my Dad while he was in Malaysia. Thinking of the scan and fix feature to be something like a virus scan, I only realized the horrible truth when I discovered that all my pictures were gone when I then clicked to transfer them to the hard drive. There was only some sort of rudimentary file left on the digicam’s memory card. A quick research online through forums and support websites turned into a night-long frantic search for the missing files.

It seems I wasn’t the only one to have a problem like this. However the only responses these people got from tech support were that they could try downloading a few file recovery programs like Recuva (which this person tried with no success, and so did I), and to make sure that you never unplug your devices without ‘Safely Removing Hardware’, as the sudden cut-off will create corrupt files that triggers this ‘Scan and Fix’ dialog box. It’s the big difference between Windows XP and Windows Vista, because most of the time it’s ok to just yank out your external device, on Vista, it’s a HUGE no-no!

However, I have to note that some people have no problems with this feature, and never lose any files after the scan. Weird, huh? I’ll just choose to stick with clicking ‘Continue without scanning’ in the future.

Here are some helpful links from my research for a little bit more detailed explanation.

Alfred: Happy commercial jesus day to you too!

Gerard: Yeah yeah..

Lynn: Wooffffff wwuufffffffffffff! Burp… Hugs. Merry christmasssss!

Jonnie: Who’s this? I’ve lost your contact yo! [lol… damnit Jon…]

Unknown Malaysian number: Merry christmas to u n your loved ones. Bhavani. [um, I don’t recall knowing a Bhavani…]

*shrugs* Eh… spread the love and joy everyone. Have a metal Boxing Day!

Here’s for taking risks and working for what you believe in — Merry Christmas everyone!

I like fresh apricots. This is my new discovery, as I begin the first of many gastronomical attacks on the fine but funny-looking apricot tree in my backyard.

Mind you, coming from Malaysia, this is a huge novelty. What a freaking sakai I am

I’ve been so used to eating dried apricots and the tiny bits that go into your cereal, I’ve actually forgotten if you eat the fuzzy skin of apricots.

“The hell I’d know…” said my non-fruit-eating boyfriend, when asked. You’re such a big help, honey <3

A quick Google search tells you that you DO eat apricots with their skin intact. So after a few days of letting the apricots fully ripen in the bowl and wondering if I would accidentally ingest a worm in the fruit which would lead an adventure for the toilet... I took the plunge and made a careful dissection of the fruit before eating it...

It looked ok. Next, careful inspection in my tastes buds render the fruit to be ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! Not to mention juicy! Mmm Mm MM!

I polished off 7 more within minutes. God I love my apricot tree. I went out to pick somemore.

Not a step out the backdoor before I was reminded of the cute pests that I have to share my apricot tree with, the Rainbow Lorikeet. They flew away before I could take their incriminating photos, but they’ve left plenty of evidence behind:

Oh well… Learn to share, Wolfy. *mumbles*