At the start of the month, my trusty old desktop
presented me with a blank screen and a very weird bleeping noise. I consulted a
techy friend and received the confirmation I suspected...a crashed hard drive!
The computer is about 12 years old and well past its 'sell by' so time for a
replacement.
Fortunately a member of the family had recently
acquired a new laptop and I have therefore inherited the 'old' one which is a
Dell Vostro running Windows 7.
Next step would be to transfer my files from the
backup disks...unfortunately it turns out I have not been following the correct
procedures and the disks appear blank!
The local computer shop had a look at my crashed
hard drive and is unable to recover the files as the 'arm' seems to be broken.
He says he can send it off to a specialist but may cost a 'few hundred £'....so
that's the end of that!
I have therefore spent the past couple of weeks
reconstructing some of my old files from scratch which has been rather time
consuming however many of the basics are now back and updated. At the same time
I have been finding my way around the new operating system and also the newer
versions of Word and Excel so just about ready to resume with the blog.
The files are now backed up to Google Drive and I
will probably also invest in a cheap external hard drive so I am hoping I will
not be caught out again should the same thing happen to my laptop.
Apparently all hard drives will crash in time and I
should have double checked my backup system worked before I really needed to
use it for real...lesson learned.
Leave a comment below if you have any unfortunate computer
experiences to share.
I hate computers.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFar too many of us learn the hard way! I found Recuva very good
DeleteI am sure that software would do the job if I could access the hard drive but with a 'broken arm' I am advised it is not possible.
DeleteSave your files to the cloud (I use both OneDrive and Google Drive)
ReplyDeleteI once had a computer that was sadly cut short by a lightening bolt struck right outside. For some reason, the computer refuses to work and since I have no back up, it was gone for good. Now, I normally make sure I got relevant files saved in Gmail.
ReplyDeleteYes, the previous computer was wiped out by lightning when I was living in Devon. I had unplugged everything in the house except the phone line socket...kerrrbooom! Took out the surge protector, modem,hard drive and monitor and almost started a fire.
DeleteHi DIY,
ReplyDeleteI don't touch the cloud as I don't trust the security in it at this stage, maybe in a few years, but not for now. Right now I have several external hard drives that I back up to reasonably regularly (at least monthly), and I am also looking at getting a third that I can then keep elsewhere (e.g. family member).
It's tough when you lose everything!
Cheers,
FiL
I was wondering how secure Drive really is when you hear about all the hacking. I will definitely invest in a USB flash drive memory and also an external hard drive. Belt and braces...
DeleteI have an external drive (don't trust the Cloud) and keep it in a fire-proof box. Keeping one with a family member sounds like a good idea too.
ReplyDeleteI too don't have anything saved in the cloud, not even photos. Thanks for reminding me that I need to do a back up, I do have an external hard drive but haven't gotten round to using it...my pc is 8 years old so I need to sort it out asap!
ReplyDeleteMy USB flash drive arrived this morning so have backed everything up and set a reminder for the first of every month. I will order an external drive when I get back from hols...a return to the Pembrokeshire coast and hoping for a slightly warmer spell of weather!
ReplyDelete