Vladimir's Service Pack

Converting to Quicken last year to manage my finances had been the final step in my PC-to-Mac conversion at home, with one tiny hurdle: no one knew the password that would allow the computer to receive updates. After much discussion, Team Mac (Tony and Patrick) eagerly set to work installing a new operating system, Snow Leopard, on my iMac. Confident I was in the hands of experts, I paid no further attention to the i-chatter.

Patrick explained how he registered his own new computer under 'Vladimir Petrenko' of Moscow, Russia, then Ed-proofed it against his dad by changing his ip address, adding passwords, programs and a host of other stealth moves to prevent invasion (where was all this talent when I was married to his dad?).

At the end of the day, unfortunately, an older copy of my financial files was saved, which means I lost all records for 2010 and iPhoto didn't make the journey to the updated computer. I don't dare file a complaint...