I exist.

The last week has been very daunting. My CpE project, Chem lab reports, DiffEQ tests...all very tiring. I was up till 5 AM once trying to get my CpE report together. Anyway, all that was done, so everything was looking good.

Until Windows crashed.

It seemed innocent enough. Deus Ex on the new Nvidia drivers was running a bit choppy, so I attempted to boost its speed a little using RivaTuner (for those who don't know, it's a tweak program that can change low-level settings in Nvidia video card drivers). Along the way, I decided to experiment with driver-level overclocking. A slight boost didn't do anything, so I tried throttling it to the maximum safe speed. That throttled my computer. It crashed the Registry hard, and many key files were missing. Eventually, it got so bad with me trying to fix the problem that Windows itself stopped booting.

Thankfully, my data files were still intact, and with the loan of an external hard drive from vond, I backed up my files and reformatted the hard drive. I also had to switch over to my backup BIOS -- for some reason, flashing my primary with a new BIOS version didn't help. I also decided to give in and install XP this time instead of 2000. I had my doubts, but so far things have been going well. It's faster than 2000 ever was, for one. And the functionality for devices is a bit more modernized (IP over firewire, better USB hotplugging, etc). Right now, I'm moving files back. This also gives me the chance to do some well-deserved spring cleaning. Getting rid of some of my antiquated DOS stuff will free up more space for stuff I use more often.

Right now, I'm in the middle of midterms. Had CpE and Chem lab today, doing Chem tomorrow, then DSII on Friday. I should be going home shortly after that for Spring Break, where I pick up my TCon costume, do my taxes, write an AVL tree, and look for a summer job. A lot on my plate. I'll try to be on IM some of the time, however, so you should see me around.

One more point -- I finally got past a point in Metroid Fusion I had been stuck on for months! Go me!