Copied off worthy data from busted device this afternoon.
Housemate, who has earned a free dinner, wiped the busted device, and upgraded the machine in the process.
Now on that Windows 7 thing, and just going to rough out this Google Chrome business. Damn the torpedoes.
Amusing note: the first thin I usually do upon working on a new computer is figuring out how to make it look more like Windows 95. Apparently Microsoft is done with that noise, as it's not a (readily available) option here. Heh.
Back to battening down these hatches.