In the end I wound up giving Yggdrasil Mark II to the local computer store for them to fix; a reinstallation of the heat sink that came with my processor actually wound up fixing things. Unfortunately they screwed up my network settings, forcing me to reinstall Windows to be able to connect to the Internet again. After that, though, it’s pretty much been smooth sailing. I’m probably going to be up very late tonight — even by my standards — getting programmes installed, and at some point I’m going to take the hard drive out of Yggdrasil Mark I so I can transfer all my old files over, but for now I’m just having fun here with my new computer, relieved that the problems that I’ve had for the past week are finally over. (Famous last words, Shannon …)

I don’t want to go into too many details about the computer’s specifications, but let’s just say that I didn’t build this system like her predecessor. Yggdrasil Mark I was built using fairly low-end hardware for the time (2003), although I used top brand names for all the important parts. I didn’t go top-of-the-line for Yggdrasil Mark II, but I was only one notch down from top-of-the-line at best. It’s another Intel-based system (my one AMD-based system was a real disaster for me), and contrary to my previous assertions I actually wound up going with an Abit motherboard since I heard that Asus’ quality was slipping when I did my preliminary research on parts. I loaded it to the max with RAM (RAM was so cheap I figured why not), and even though my new hard drive is half the size of the one I first bought, I doubt I’m going to run out of space on it any time soon. I actually have a good 3-D card in this system because I may need it for something at MCCC; now I just need something to really test it with. I’d like to think that this setup will last me as long as Yggdrasil Mark I did, but I’ve been around computers too long to place any bets on that.

Although I already pledged Yggdrasil Mark I to Mom, I’m probably going to want to make some changes to her before I hand her off. For one thing, instead of reformatting the old hard drive and putting it back in, I’d rather keep the old hard drive as an archive, so I’ll have to buy a new one. (I think they’ve still got old models at Best Buy.) I’ll probably want to max out the RAM on her since, again, it’s so cheap right now, and I may even max out the processor as well (although even maxed out it’ll still pale to most any new system on the market these days). I’ll need to replace the fans as well, and I may try sticking the power supply that came with Yggdrasil Mark II’s case into the old system to see if that helps with some of the problems I’ve been having with it lately. That will have to wait for a little while, though; in addition to just wanting to play with Yggdrasil Mark II here, I also want to make sure she is stable for a couple of weeks before I part with my old system. No sense in not being cautious about this.