Please do not touch the exhibits – or this tabletop Windows Boot Manager

There are some things in life that are not meant to be touched – museum exhibits, the biscuit tin that you're not supposed to know about, Microsoft Windows... People have shoved the operating system into all sorts of places over the years. Even Microsoft itself has crowbarred the poor thing into jumped-up whiteboards and eye- …

[My-Handle]

...computer hardware does not always respond well to a prolonged period without power

I've been working in computing for most of my working life, but I only got in to car mechanicing fairly recently. One of the first lessons I learned was that there are very few cars (or machines in general) out there that take kindly to not being used for any great length of time.

My other half's 4x4 ran out it's MOT and sat on the drive for six weeks. By the time I came to take a look at it prior to it's booked text the battery was stone dead. Even once charged, it wouldn't hold the charge for longer than a day. Even over six weeks, the brakes had lightly seized and the discs were lightly rusted. She made a right old clunk when I got her moving again, then I ran her up and down the lane a few times to clean the discs up again.

[GlenP]

I already knew the brakes on my car would need doing for the MOT (they'd been an advisory previously) but the garage reckoned they'd replaced loads due to lock-down inactivity.

[Graham Dawson]

This is why you take the handbrake off when you expect to park for more than a couple of days. Chock the wheels, leave it in gear. If nothing else, it stops the pads fusing with the discs.

[My-Handle]

I did not know that. Thanks for the tip.

[jdiebdhidbsusbvwbsidnsoskebid]

"This is why you take the handbrake off when you expect to park for more than a couple of days. Chock the wheels, leave it in gear. If nothing else, it stops the pads fusing with the discs."

This happened to me. I was away for about 6 weeks, other half didn't want to drive my old banger while I was away, so it sat on the drive all that time (the car, not my other half!). While I was away I sorted out a new car I was buying. Dealer wasn't interested in trading in my banger and I couldn't sell it, so my plan was to get home and next day drive it to the scrap yard just a few streets from where I would pick up my new shiny car.

Got in the banger, rear brakes had seized. Drove it up and down the driveway a few times with the rear wheels locked then bang, they were free! Didn't seem right though so I jacked it up, took the rear wheels off and had a look. The brake lining was still stuck to the drums, and had come away from the shoes! Couldn't drive it, so got on the push bike, rode 10 miles to get some new brakes, fitted them then drove the car to the scrap yard to collect my scrap money and pick up the new car. Told the scrap yard it had brand new rear brakes, they weren't interested. The scrap money was slightly more than I had just spent on the new brakes!

[Anonymous Coward]

"...computer hardware does not always respond well to a prolonged period without power"

Nothing responds well to a prolonged period without power.

It's why we have coffee.

[John Brown (no body)]

Windows is being optimistic

Considering the end of the screen states a boot device is inaccessible, the earlier instructions to insert you installation media to "repair" it seems overly optimistic :-)

[Dan 55]

At least it wasn't "bootmgr is missing"

Yet another overly-complicated Windows way of doing something essentially simple which is prone to failure.