I'm typing a brief post on my husband's laptop because (cue dirge here) my hard drive is dying. My laptop won't boot up anymore, and I went to the Apple store this afternoon only to find that they could not repair the drive or retrieve any of my files. I'm going to take it to someone else tomorrow who supposedly knows more about the process but to quote Elizabeth Bennett from the BBC version of P&P, "I haven't the smallest particle of hope. I know that nothing can be done." (Not sure if that's exact, but it conveys the idea.)
The shop where I'm taking my laptop tomorrow will also replace the hard drive. I probably will not get the computer back for four or five business days. Michael is under a tremendous writing crunch for the next two weeks, and I don't expect to be able to snatch his laptop for blogging. So don't expect to see me posting or reading your blogs for about a week.
In the interest of being helpful and trying to make a good thing out of bad, let me offer two pieces of advice.
First, if you ever hear your computer start to make occasional grinding or chugging or whirring noises . . . even if they are slight and stop fairly quickly . . . you should probably get it checked right away. It could be a sign that your hard drive is struggling.
Second, find a way to back up all your files often. We all know that, but I'm living proof that it's possible to become complacent. The only reason I'm not in complete despair is that we signed up for an Internet storage site this summer, and all my fiction and poetry and quite a lot of my work files are safely on that site. But not everything. I neglected to upload some of my work files this last month, so I have some documents to recreate. (I was working ahead and writing things not due till January or February, so it's not quite as bad as it sounds. Except for the tedium of having to redo things.)
There is still the faint possibility that the technician will be able to retrieve some of my documents, . . . but I doubt it. I talked to an expert in California this afternoon--at a company that specializes in data retrieval--and she (of course) wanted me to use their service instead. She explained all about the safety precautions they take, and their highly controlled clean room, and the high success rate they have. However, . . . taking the cheapest option (5 to 7 day service rather than 1 to 2 day service) would cost me between $700 and $2,400. If my novels were in danger of being lost, I might consider it, but not for social studies worksheets that I can redo.
Sigh. Twenty-three years without a hard drive malfunction and now I've had two in six months. What are the odds? . . . Or maybe the odds are just catching up with me.
Have a good weekend, everyone.
11 comments:
MMMM, making copies would be a good idea. . . . So sorry.
well that just SUCKS! hope it gets sorted quickly.
I feel your pain...I know the sound of the dying computer only too well! Mine up and died on me a couple months ago. Thank goodness I have a son who is a computer techie and he installed new motherboard, hard drive etc. and retrieved my files....just had to wait until he came home for a visit and then I nabbed him.
I hope you are as lucky with yours.
Anita
Oooh...your blog post title was a little scary. I'm sorry you're computer's dying, but I'm glad it's an inanimate object that you're eulogizing.
So sorry to hear about this. Our computer is still relatively new, so I am hoping we have a grace period in which to back up our files. Your post is a reminder that the clock starts ticking as soon as you take your new computer out of the box. BTW, I will use your suggestion for 1609. I believe Marietta Ohio is named for her, and my sister-in-law lives there.
Shoulda checked my facts before I ventured an opinion. Marietta was named for Marie Antoinette, but I will use your suggestion anyway. My collection of birthdates for the famous few gives me a general idea of what was going on in that century.
As Rosanna Rosannadanna says, "It's ALWAYS something!"
Funny you should mention. I've just gone through my third external hard drive, which I must now keep with the others for all time in perpetuity.
So I've gone on Mozy and back up every day.
Hope they can get your files for not a lot of money!!
Oh dear .. I am so sorry. It's a nightmare scenario for anyone who relies on a computer for storage, isn't it? :(
We have Time Machine, which is supposed to back up every hour or two. Sometimes it fails (possibly because I close the lid while it's trying to complete its cycle) but at least I know that if the worst happens, most of my stuff will be safe.
Good luck with the computer people!
There have been far too many Mac hard drive failures lately. I wonder why. I hope Apple is working on the problem. For years they have been reliable - except for some of the Performa road apples. My G4 is ok but two Macbooks have had trouble. Hmmm. Good luck with your data. I'm loving Time Machine and MyBook on the iMac. I've had to use it already when MobileMe messed up my address book.
I'm backing up my most recent files right now. I sometimes wonder about my external hard drive failing. Maybe I should do online storage too.
Good luck with finding an easy solution. You never know.
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