Back On Line !!!

Finally !!! www.phoenix5.org is back online thanks to my lawyer.

Let's Get Legal

A quick update since it's been over a month since my last post and it was looking hopeful at that point. To put it simply, the documentation I provided Network Solutions wasn't enough and they are insistent on documents that don't exist since Robert didn't have a will. Since it's impossible to provide what they are requesting I've had to get my lawyer involved. We've had no response yet so we'll be following up this week. I sure hope this gets resolved soon!

When it Doesn't Work, Read the Directions

Thanks to your donations I was able to get the files off Robert's computer and it's now posted at www.phoenix5journal.org. I recovered the files by taking the hard drive out of the computer and turning it into an external hard drive that I could attach to my computer. After about 45 minutes of struggling to remove the hard drive I was about to give up. Then I remembered that caveat "when it doesn't work, read the directions." So I got online and found out how to remove the hard drive and it was an instant success. Now I can work on getting the paperwork to move the domain name phoenix5.org to a new internet host. Thank you all for your support and generosity!

It worked!

I re-ran the recovery program I mentioned previously and this time it worked a lot better and I recovered most of the Phoenix5 files and uploaded them to www.phoenix5journal.org . However, it's from an old version of the site so I still need to work on getting the last version off Robert's computer. I haven't uploaded everything yet so there's plenty of dead links and some missing graphics, but, there's a good bit there and I'm pretty sure almost all of Robert's cancer journal is online. It eases my mind a bit that at least the site is somewhere but I won't really rest until I get the issues with phoenix5.org resolved.

Phoenix5 is Down

You name it and it's gone wrong . I was moving Phoenix5.org to a new host yesterday and ended up spending 6+ hours fixing things and trying to solve problems that cropped up.

A little background . . . Phoenix5 was originally hosted on queencity.com who was purchased by goodnews.net. The domain name (i.e. phoenix5.org) is registered with Network Solutions and the information was never reset to goodnews. I don't know why Robert had it that way but when I talked with goodnews they said it was okay.

You need a password to get into Network Solutions and change the information about where the site is located. Robert left me almost all his passwords but not this one. So, in order to get the account transferred from Robert to me I have to provide all kinds of hard copy documentation including death certificate, marriage license, drivers license, my birth certificate and I forget what all else. Every time I started to do that I would start crying and kept putting it off. But I finally found the death certificate and have ordered a marriage certificate that I'm still waiting for.

I called Goodnews and their phone, fax and toll free # are disconnected. Their web site is down. I spent several hours looking up the name of the man I've talked to for technical assistance to see if I could find him somewhere in Cincinnati. I found a possible match and was able to send that person an email through the web but I have no idea when or if I'll get an answer.

Since that didn't work I decided to move Phoenix5 to a temporary home which I've named phoenix5journal.org. My old computer died and the files aren't on my new one but this shouldn't be a problem since I have it on a CD. Now here comes the "but". I have 3 CD's of backups and none of them will work on my computer. They work on Robert's computer which has the files on the hard drive but his computer isn't hooked up to the internet. So I try and transfer them the files to a CD again. Something goes wrong during the process, the computer locks up and won't restart again.

You’d think I’d be fine with triple backups but no such luck this time.

I have a Windows XP system and Robert’s is Windows 98 so I searched for information and found a program that will allow XP to recover the files from a Windows 98 CD. Of course it has a free trial but to actually use it costs money which I don’t have any of. I spent the $30 anyway. It works but (yes, another but) doesn’t recover very many of the files.

The only thing left to do is have Robert’s computer fixed by a professional and get the files onto something my XP machine can read or hook it up directly to the internet. I won’t be able to do that until I get my tax refund and that’s several months away.

So . . . If anyone would like to make a donation to help get Phoenix5 back online that would be helpful. Let me know and we'll work something out. In the meantime, I'll continue to try and get the files off those CDs and put up something at http://www.phoenix5journal.org/.

Thanks for taking the time to read this long missive.

P.S. I love blog comments so I'll hope you'll let me know you've visited. If you prefer to contact me privately please send email to caren@fuse.net.

Phoenix5 Journal - The Beginnings

I plan to use this blog to post updates and news about the Phoenix5 web site.

Robert on our wedding day, November 26, 2002

Robert & me on a Riverboat cruise in 2001.