I like wearing boots. In fact I only wear two pairs of shoes 99% of time in the past 7-8 years, a Nike ACG leather hiking boat for the winter and a Converse All Star hi-top canvas boot for the summer. I had went through 6 pairs of Nike and 4 pairs of Converse and I just keep buying a new after the old one is worn. However Nike has discontinued the ACG series so I need to find a replacement. One day I came across a review of Palladium Combat Boots on Cool Tools and at once I knew it is the boots I am looking for.

Palladium Boots is both functional and fashionable. Their boots are famous for being worn by the French Foreign Legion and Isreali Army. The boots are also featured in various movies such as Will Smith’s “I am Legend”, worn by Hollywood stars and featuring in fashion magazines. I couldn’t find any stores in Vancouver carrying Palladium boots and I am hesitate order one from internet. After all, you can’t buy a pair of shoes without trying first. I bought my pairs of Palladium boot in Hong Kong at the Palladium store at The One in Tsim Sha Tsui, the only place that sells Palladium boots in Hong Kong

There are two unique features I like about the boots over Converse boots. The sole and the toe of the boot is mounted in one piece, this gives better protection of your toes and make the tip of the shoes more durable. There are extra support at the heel of the boot to maintain the shape of the back of the boot. Now I am totally hooked to the comfort and coolness of Palladium boots. I will still have only two pairs of shoes, but one will be Palladium canvas boots for the summer and the other one will be Palladium leather boots for the winter.

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天哪﹗我電腦找不到我的硬碟﹗跟據我多年的玩電腦經驗﹐這個錯誤訊息可大可小﹐小至BIOS設定出錯﹐大至硬碟報銷也有可能。幸好我還有另一台電腦可用﹐還可以上網找資料參考。出現這個錯誤訊息的主要原因電腦開機時﹐BIOS第一件時是找尋開機硬碟的Master Boot Record(MBR)﹐若硬碟還未format或者MBR損壞了﹐就會出現這個錯誤訊息。

第一件事要檢查﹐就是重新開機﹐留意開機畫面中BIOS有否找到硬碟。若找不到硬碟﹐可能只是機內的電線鬆了﹐也可能硬碟完全報銷。可幸重新開機後我兩隻硬碟還安在﹐這樣第二件事就是按del鍵﹐進入BIOS設定﹐檢查Boot Sequence。在電腦開機後﹐BIOS會順著Boot Sequence的次序去找開機碟。若果CD-ROM或磁碟機有非開機碟﹐或插入了USB碟﹐恰巧它們排在硬碟的順序之上﹐也會出現這個錯誤。若是這個問題﹐只要把CD或磁碟取出﹐或把開機硬碟排在Boot Sequence的第一位﹐重新開機就可以軟易解決問題了。

很不幸我的BIOS設定沒有問題﹐換一句話說就是MBR真的壞了。這時我要出動我的開機救星Hiren’s BootCD。這隻碟是每個電腦人必備的恩物﹐集齊所有開機救機軟件﹐在網上可以免費下載。進入BIOS把CD-ROM排在Boot Sequence的第一位﹐放入Boot CD﹐重新開機。開機後會出現一個畫面﹐問你想從硬碟開機還是從CD開機﹐我選了硬碟。過了慢長的半秒後﹐熟悉而令人安心的畫面出現眼前﹐卒之進入了Windows開機畫面。至少我知道硬碟本身沒有問題﹐Partition也安好﹐只需要修正MBR。不過修正MBR是一件危險的工作﹐如出錯的話會連Partition Table也弄壞﹐到時硬碟中所有資料就沒有了﹐只可以重新format硬碟。所有在進行MBR修正前﹐我花了差不多一晚把我的資料備份﹐抄到去安全的外置硬碟上。修正MBR的正統方法是開Windows的安裝CD開機﹐進入Recovery Console﹐然後執行fixmbr和fixboot兩個指令。我依照Mircosoft官網的旨示做了﹐不過還是開不到機﹐依然看見那個錯誤訊息。不過我對Microsoft的工具也不存厚望﹐始終還是要依靠Hiren’s BootCD的救機工具箱。

拿出Windows安裝CD﹐放入Hiren’s BootCD重新開機。今次選擇從CD開機﹐依照畫面上的Menu﹐選擇MBR Tools﹐再選擇MBRWork﹐跟著這個網頁照做就可以了。先按1把first track備份﹐按4清空MBR﹐按3清空EMBR。這時會有新的選項出現﹐按A去重建Partition Table﹐最後按5重新寫入MBR﹐再重新開機就大功告成﹗

差不多弄了一整晚和一個早上﹐才醫好了我的電腦開機﹐讓它可以正常。真的是自己部電腦才會這樣著緊﹐若果朋友的電腦發生同樣問題叫我修理﹐我大慨會叫他節哀順變format硬碟重裝windows算了。怪不得到街外找人修理電腦這樣貴了﹐因為真的花很多功夫和時間。不過相對起要重裝Windows所需的時間﹐盡力搶救MBR還是比較划算。