The problem with my Vista OS

My laptop is about two months old now. There’s no regret really that I got myself one even if most of the time it’s just left at a corner of my room, safely tucked on its sleeves, because I’m not home from like 11:00am to 11:00pm. After a day’s work, I turn on my computer to write, make my PT review notes, listen to songs from my beefed-up music library, or catch the latest videos of my favorite shows or my archive of A+ movies. I have not gotten an internet connection because I am still thinking it over. With DSL, I would not be able to maximize the usage because, as I said, I am not at home most of the time. With those plug-it watchamacallits, the connection still depends on the 3G signal of the area one is in. In addition, the fees can be a little expensive for a so-so service. I am not egging to be hooked to the cyberspace just yet (I am like surfing the web the whole day I am at the office anyway). So other than that, I never really had a problem with my laptop until the day I got home to find something glaring at me upon turning the power on.

What my current desktop looks like
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The desktop is pitch black, saved for one window that became my only means of access to the data on my laptop. I confess it is my fault not having registered my Vista Operating System online since I got it two months ago. There is an explanation really, other than being the sloth that I am. Not having my own internet connection is what I could pinpoint as the likely culprit. I thought of bringing my laptop, too, to establishments that are hotspots for wireless surfing just to do the online activation. The thing is, it comes with a hefty price, here in Manila that is, and there is also the fear of being robbed carrying the pricey thing around, especially now that it is the Holidays. The last time I was in Zamboanga, I enjoyed the free wifi that most establishments there offered. However, I was not able to activate the OS even though I would have been able to. I left the registration keys pasted on the CD that my computer purchase came with back home, in Taguig! Now the OS has expired.

My laptop has 160 GB of hard drive, and I have used quite a chunk of it on movies and my music library; the bulk is Vista’s considering it takes such huge space it being the operating system. I am planning of upgrading it to premium in the hope that I would be able to salvage the OS. A concern arises though. After a conversation with a techy colleague, he said that the data saved on the hard drive--meaning my movies and music files--might be lost if I opted to do so. That certainly got me thinking as I do not have a backup of all my files, especially the music collection I have in various formats. He suggested of burning it in DVDs (would take hours and many discs) or getting an external hard drive (expensive and I do not need one just yet as the HD that the laptop has is more than enough). I will get me a higher version of Vista as “might” is the operative term of my data being lost. If an upgrade would lead to such a scenario, I believe pray that I still can activate it online as a pop-up menu prompts every now and then on my monitor saying that I may be a victim of counterfeiting because my copy is not genuine and that I need to access the worldwide web to fix the problem. If worse comes to worst, I have no choice but to procure an external hard drive or (20 or so?) blank DVDs. It is an unnecessary expense I know, but I would rather spend for it than finding a pitch black screen glaring at me one day, minus the access window and everything I worked so hard of getting.