My first "real" computer was a hand me down IBM 286 with 1MB of RAM and a whopping 20MB hard drive.It came with a 3 ring binder instruction manual for the computer, MS DOS 3.1 and the main program that it came with called "First Choice" (if my memory serves). I glanced over the manual a bit, trying to see what I could do, I came across the "scandisk" command and decided to run it. When it finished it said that I had a couple of "bad sectors" on the hard drive. We couldn't have that, I thought so in looking through the DOS directory on the drive, I noticed a command...fdisk. My stupid brain thought "hrmmm, that must mean "FIX DISK"! so I ran it, having absolutely no clue about what I was doing I managed to blow out the partition table.

When I rebooted, boy did I get a surprise! just the "insert system disk and press enter" message. I decided to spend some quality time with the manual and was able to finally fix things and get all of the software reinstalled. I spent a lot of time with that computer...Breaking things then learning how to fix them.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/24 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Abacus BBS! ---> bbs.abon.us:2323 (21:1/190)

I don't remember seeing the original posting, so I'll reply to yours.

Mine first PC experience (was at school and know it was DOS for Drafting Class as they started to convert from paper to PC. Rest of school was getting into the Apple iiC's .. )

Later on, my mom got me a Timex Sinclair 1000 and I had a tape recorder, so that was my SAVE device.

I then joined the military and a guy in one of my school sold me an Apple iiC and I loved it. You have #Megs of RAM -- you have #Megs of RAM.

Then go forward a few years and when I wanted to get my own BBS setup, I purchased an 386SX-20 (and the next day the -25 came out, then the -30, etc.etc.ect.) .. I took that home (from Best Buy) and it had Windows 3.1 on it. You clicked the icon on the desktop saying to create backup floppies (3.5") and continue -- it next said HOW many, but since I had a 2 boxes of 10 -- good to go. Until I hit disk #20 and it said insert #21. So I clicked the CANCEL button and it took me back and rebooted. OH OH!! Here was my 2nd idea MS / Windows was NOT going to be so user friendly -- it wiped the drive. And since I didn't have a full 20+ set of disks to repair, I called Best Buy. The tech was like, "lemme guess, you clicked the CREATE BACKUPs and didn't have enough disks?" .. How did he know? ".. cuz we have had a LOT of people complain - the software was installed incorrectly, so just bring back the PC and we will hand you a new one - no questions asked." So I did and then grabbed Spitfire for DOS and a few Desqview items and it was off to the races!!

Nowadays I still have PCs of course, but I use rasp-pis and Pine64s and even some Arduinos and have that old PC still around, but it is running Linux on it.

Timothy Norris
aka SirRonmit
admin@f4fbbs.com
bbs.f4fbbs.com:2323 or :62323

... I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Files 4 Fun BBS (21:2/120)

SirRonmit wrote to PainAndLoathing <=-

I don't remember seeing the original posting, so I'll reply to yours.

I used Commodore CBM systems in high school, and bought a Commodore 64.
I didn't do much with it except for playing games, calling BBSes and
acting as a dial-up terminal for my CS classes. I convinced my parents
to buy me an IBM PC XT and bought a clone XT with a 10 MB hard drive. I
remember running SpinRite on that thing a couple of times to deal with
formatting issues - and it was slow.

I swapped the motherboard out for an AT motherboard, a larger hard
drive, and that got me through college.

My first job out of college was working for a mail-order retailer with
a closet full of obsolete crap, and I was tasked with clearing out the
storage closet. I found a tank of an IBM AT with a 32MB drive, and that
became my first BBS box.

Most of my BBS systems since then have been cast-off systems that
people didn't want any more - from that first IBM AT, to a 386sx, to a
486 EISA server that doubled as an end-table, to my dad's old Celeron
533 system, and now a laptop missing keys and with a broken screen.




... Infinitesimal gradations
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

When I rebooted, boy did I get a surprise! just the "insert system disk and press enter" message. I decided to spend some quality time with the manual and was able to finally fix things and get all of the software reinstalled. I spent a lot of time with that computer...Breaking things then learning how to fix them.

That's how I too learned my way around computers. Many of us did it that way. I suppose I'm still breaking things and then fixing it. ;-)

... No mistakes today = New and better mistakes tomorrow.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

On 05 Jul 2023, HusTler said the following...

reinstalled. I spent a lot of time with that computer...Breaking thin then learning how to fix them.

That's how I too learned my way around computers. Many of us did it
that way. I suppose I'm still breaking things and then fixing it. ;-)

that's why i kind of feel lucky having an quite outdated pc in 1993. original Tandy 1000. hadn't discovered bbses yet, no internet.. you really learn things differently when you have to figure them out yourself with almost no help possible. that with no windows and no hard drive made you quite a bit more creative i think..

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (21:1/616)