The New Computer System

CHAPTER ONE

The New Computer System

At exactly 8. 20 Mr Henry Williams walked through the doors of the bank. He was the manager and had worked there for twenty years. He wasn't always calm and relaxed when he arrived at work but yesterday something had happened to make his life much easier. He looked around the bank. There were beautiful new computers on every desk.

Some were connected to printers, others to scanners. The CPUs were hidden under the desks and the keyboards waited to be used. On each mouse pad (коврик для мыши) was a mouse with a small red light, which lit up when the computer was switched on. The VDUs shone (светились) as the sun came through the window. Mr Williams smiled. When he entered his office, he saw that his secretary had already arrived.

" Morning, Mr Williams, " she said happily. She was a very nice girl with long, blonde hair and a big smile but she wasn't the most efficient (эффиктивный) secretary in the world.

" Good morning, Belinda. Are you looking forward to discovering the wonderful things that your new computer can do? "

She looked worried. " Yes, but I hope I don't make too many mistakes. Yesterday I nearly lost some important information because I pressed (нажал) the wrong key. "

" Don't worry. I know you've only been here for six months. Mike has assured (уверил) me that we now have the most up-to-date computer hardware and software are the most secure (безопасное) system money can buy. "

Mike Black was the bank's network manager and head of technology. He had organized and set up the new system.

At that moment someone knocked on the door and Mike came in.

" Morning, Mr Williams. How are you? " he said.

" Very well, thank you, Mike. Now, are you sure the system is functioning properly (функционирует должным образом)? Can I go on holiday next week to the Caribbean without worrying about things back here? "

Mike smiled. " Things couldn't be better. Our LAN is working perfectly. It is now connected to the bank's WAN and the security access rights are... "

" Mike, you know that my knowledge of computers is very limited (ограниченные). I'm afraid I belong (принадлежать) to another generation поколению - which is why I pay you to solve our IT problems. "

IT terms (условия) were a foreign language to Henry Williams. His son Robbie was only 15 but he was already a computer genius and sat in front of his monitor for hours every day. He had no problem logging on and off, surfing the net or downloading files. His father was an excellent bank manager but unfortunately he had no idea what these terms meant. He was grateful for experts like Mike who could decipher (расшифровать ) these mysteries for him.

" Don't worry. You can have a wonderful time in the Caribbean. Things couldn't be better here, " replied Mike.

He left the office and Mr Williams sat down at his desk on which there was no computer at all, either new or old.

He was dreaming of blue seas and white beaches when a cry from Belinda's desk brought him back to reality. " Mr Williams, my computer has crashed! " As soon as she had said the words, they heard similar cries of alarm coming from the bank's main area downstairs.

One by one the computers were crashing...

CHAPTER TWO