Published by Deborah on 03 Dec 2005 at 10:13 am
Smoke, Sparks, & Bombs
I recently read the posts of two bloggers who had the misfortune of their computers dying on them. They’re not alone. My husband called me about 30 minutes ago to tell me that the power supply burned up in his office computer, complete with smoke and sparks. A rather dramatic ending, if I say so myself.
He called me again just now, telling me that he thinks his computer is toast. Worse, he hasn’t backed up anything in a month. That is not good at all. All I could say to him was, “Oooh!”
I’m not very good at backing up my hard drive. My G4 has been so good to me over the past four years that I didn’t see the need. But it’s starting to show its age. For instance, I had to reboot the thing twice this morning to get it to run. Guess what I’ll be doing today?
Lee Pletzers on 03 Dec 2005 at 4:52 pm #
Backing up is so very important.
If it is only the power supply then the HDD might be savable.
I have a flash data stick I use and an external HDD (used only for major backups), the data stick is the most important and it goes with me everywhere.
Another option is to email your work to yourself.
Deborah on 03 Dec 2005 at 5:06 pm #
Unfortunately, his hard drive is also ruined. What really sucks is that he was working on a major project for a client which is now gone, along with the quote documentation. This is a lesson he won’t forget.
I bought an external HD over the summer and used it the day before I moved. I’ll be using it again before I go to bed tonight.
Lee Carlon on 03 Dec 2005 at 5:56 pm #
I’m so paranoid about losing work I back everything up all the time. Didn’t hemmingway loses a couple of books and spent years trying to rewrite them? Or am I thinking about somebody else.
Deborah on 03 Dec 2005 at 8:07 pm #
I don’t know if that was Hemmingway or not. The way my computer has been acting lately, I’m going to make it a point to email myself every time I add to my manuscripts. It’s good to have you back, Lee.
Benjamin Solah on 04 Dec 2005 at 3:46 am #
These sorts of posts always prompt me to back up my writing.
Deborah on 04 Dec 2005 at 6:23 am #
Hi, Ben,
I uploaded my WIPs to my gmail account last night. This morning, my computer started without a hitch.
pat kirby on 05 Dec 2005 at 9:14 am #
Losing all that work would be a b__ch. OTOH, maybe it would do me some good to rewrite everything. Hee.
Deborah on 05 Dec 2005 at 2:18 pm #
Yes, it would hurt to lose some 300+ pages. I’m currently on my seventh rewrite for my novel. Maybe seven will be my lucky number.