This week I have been trying to make some upgrades to my technology. Two major upgrades are currently underway, my computer and my blog.

1. My Computer

So i was thinking of getting a new notebook and giving my brother my old computer. But I can’t seem to part with my Dell Inspiron 700m. This is a great machine with a killer screen. It is light, 4.5lbs, and has a very small footprint, about the size of a manila folder. The power is lacking and my hard drive is FULL.

I decided to keep my Dell and upgrade some parts. I want to max out the RAM (2gb vs the 1gb) and replace the hard drive (250gb vs 40gb). The goal is to get all the data off my external hard drive and onto my notebook.

So after some procrastination I finally purchased a new hard drive. Opted for the free shipping and one week later, my hard drive arrived. I grabbed the box that my computer came in and started digging around for the install disk…there are none. My computer has a hidden partition that contains the operating system and the computer came with no Windows XP CD’s/DVD. Instead, there is a piece of paper telling me that I need to go to support.dell.com/hdrp – which was not working. After much searching, I finally find a form that will allow me to request a copy of my operating system CD’s. So god knows how long it will be before I get to upgrade my computer.

If you have a copy of WinXP SP2, I would like a copy. I already have a serial, just need a copy of the disk.

2. WordPress

Version 2.5 is a major upgrade for wordpress. Mostly, it is ascetic improvements and the user experience is greatly improved. Using the back-end is now very pleasant.

If you write a blog and you host it yourself, you need to be using WordPress. Since I moved to WP from Movable Type, I have been very happy. If you want a free blog to replace your blogger or livejournal account, I recommend wordpress.com. However, I ran into a problem this week when I upgraded to version 2.5.

Part of the magic with the upgrade is the increased use of AJAX. But the AJAX image upload they used is not playing nice with my hostgator server. In fact, it is not working with a lot of people’s servers. So far, no solution. I spent three hours looking for an update and manipulating code on my server.

I have technology blue-balls.