So recently my computer’s started doing weird things.

First, a long time ago, Firefox started messing up by displaying everything small. I could see that Firefox was displaying it right and then resizing it. It was really annoying, until Paul did something to force it to display bigger all the time. I know Firefox still thinks it should be small though. As pages load, I can see the text and images get small and then big again.

Then, a couple of days ago, Firefox suddenly started doing something that really annoyed me. It has decided to clear all the cookies every time I close the browser. So that means every time I get on the computer to check email, Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, etc. I have to retype my username and password. It’s getting really annoying, because I purposefully keep Firefox closed when I’m not actively using it due to it getting slow and clunky when I don’t. I checked the settings and nothing has changed – there isn’t anything telling it to clear that info. I am getting fed up with it.

In addition to Firefox being annoying, my mouse has started being annoying too. It’s being either unresponsive or TOO responsive to clicks. It moves just fine, but when I click on something, it either doesn’t register or does a double click. How many times have I opened a stupid photoshop file just because I was trying to select the file? Or have it delete two emails instead of just one? Or scroll through two pictures instead of going to the next one? Checkboxes online are the worst. I sit there clicking on it until my mouse decides to just check the stupid thing once, instead of check-unchecking with one click. Grr!

It’s not just the clicking… it also makes it really difficult to select text. I’m big on selecting text. It skips around words, and it’s so difficult to select an entire sentence or paragraph. And this just isn’t in Firefox… it’s consistently problematic with every program I use. Selecting and dragging is also bad; it releases the click before I’ve told it to, causing files to go into the wrong folders and then I have to hunt for them… I told Paul that it’s a good thing InDesign doesn’t work on this computer, because I could *never* design with a mouse so faulty. I am a VERY heavy mouse user. I am a graphic designer after all. :-)

Speaking of InDesign not working, that’s a Vista issue. Have I mentioned I dislike Vista a great deal? I’m tired of Windows Explorer crashing all the time, I’m tired of it taking 30 minutes to transfer pictures from my camera card, of only being able to transfer 15 pictures at a time because otherwise it crashes and I have to start over again. Anyone else has issues with Vista? (The InDesign thing isn’t Vista’s fault… The version I have is really old, and was made before Vista was around. It’s just really annoying that because of Vista I have to buy the software again – $1800, yikes!)

Anyways, I’m really just ranting here. I could reinstall Firefox and perhaps the mouse drivers, but Paul suggested that we go ahead and reinstall Windows, and maybe even see if we can put XP on the computer. We bought the computer new in February 2008 so it’s about time, right? So now I have to back up all my information and write down all the programs I use, yuck. I do like starting over with a clean slate though!

By the way, anyone have experience backing up a computer with iTunes? I don’t want to have to reimport all my CDs into iTunes, and I know they’re picky about copyrights and music. I know one time I tried to put my music onto my computer at work from my iPod, but iTunes wouldn’t let me, saying I could only have my music in two places (iTunes on my desktop and on my iPod). If I just find the folder that iTunes keeps the music and burn that to a disc, would that be enough? Or is iTunes going to give me crap and complain about piracy and cause me to want to sell my iPod and never own another Apple product again?