posted
So*, that's it. My hardrive is gone. Completely. Caput. Everything I had on it... AIM conversations, pictures, documents, anything I may have at any point saved is gone forever. And yes, that includes papers I was working on, that do actually have an impending deadline...
posted
((((Raia)))) Ouch, that does indeed suck. Next time remember to back up your stuff somewhere else. I have a gmail and a yahoo account that serve for that.
Edit: Are you sure there's nothing you can do about it?! There are quite a few programs out there that can retrieve lost data.
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Have you had it checked by a professional? Or at least a computer geek? I also wouldn't give up quite yet. I've seen the miracles that some people can pull out of their butts.
Much sympathies your way.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
The professional told me so himself, an hour ago. My computer is in the shop now, getting a new HD put on it.
Oh, and I forgot music, too...
Corwin, retrieval costs roughly $1,500. It's usually done by companies who accidentally lose every single file on every single client, or something, but not really done by private computer owners.
Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yep, I knew it cost a lot. A client's hard drive died, and data retrieval was going to cost him about $3500 US. He opted not to, despite the lack of backups.
posted
Tick off Tom Ridge bad enough and Homeland Security will fix your hard drive in a heartbeat Seriously, though, I will heed your cautionary tale and think about printing out everything I really care about.
Posts: 2010 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Or, you know, do backups. Regularly. And keep some off-site. And test them regularly to make sure they work.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
It would be very weird if you couldn't make your old drive a slave long enough to get most of the data off of it.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well I hope you like your new one! I have never had this happen, but fate is kinder to those who do not stand so high above the crowd (1000 camels!) get a CD burner and make hardcopy!
posted
I second the "that sucks" statement. I'm just waiting for the day that happens to me. What causede it? do you know? I'm gonna also second storm and say you should be able to slave it. (((Raia)))
Posts: 283 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I have a CD burner... I guess it's just that "This will never happen to me" attitude. *sigh* Maybe this will actually induce me to make backups.
(edit: Peter, they have no idea what caused it. Unfortunately. And it's beyond saving, they did lots of things to try and salvage it when I took it to the shop.)
posted
I once lost a hard drive that I hadn't backed up in some time -- and lost not only a few poems and a short story in progress, but also some of the earliest archived E-mails that my wife and I had exchanged.
Since then, I run a hardware mirror across two drives (with a software mirrored partition on each) and maintain a separate CD backup of all data.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm sorry your hd has gone the way of the paperweight.
Computer problems must be catchy - I had my power supply fail in my computer yesterday. Luckilly, I don't think it damaged anything on its way out.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I had this happen to me... at midnight... before I had to had in a vital paper... and I only had a printed copy of the work I had done four days before.
Nightmare. Lots of sympathy for you.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thanks, guys... my friend Bob claims he can work miracles and retrieve files from a dead HD. I'm desperately clutching at this straw, but my hopes aren't particularly high. If he does, I will promote him to St. Bob, Honorary Hatrack Techie, and let you all know how to find him. Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote: my friend Bob claims he can work miracles and retrieve files from a dead HD.
It's possible, deletion is a very complex mechanism, and it doesn't always work completely. I don't have the tools, though; so you have to go with Bob.
*Expects Bob_Scopatz to scream "It's about meeeeeeeeeeee!"...*
Posts: 2978 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
Okay... this happened to my husband about a month ago. He's a computer guru, so I'm always surprised when he doesn't know something...and he didn't know this (I found it out from someone online) so maybe the tech who looked at your computer doesn't know it either. Download Knoppix (a linux distro). It's an operating system that runs completely from your CD drive, so it can often see data on your harddrive that your computer otherwise couldn't see. It's used for restoring systems... and it's FREE.
posted
bob the miracle techie can also sing really well and looks good in chaps (maybe I'm too tired to be posting)
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
It really sucks, but look at the bright side: doesn't your computer feel roomier? All of that free space...
Sorry. I know that was annoying. There is a bright side to it, though. From this day on, you'll never forget to backup again - and I'm sure you'll have much more important documents to keep in the future. As a matter of fact, I'm going to backup all of my files right now.
Posts: 803 | Registered: Dec 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Quid: Problem not fixed yet. Computer being shipped from technician to technician. Apparently it's something as simple as just needing windows, but not a single person in this country apparently has time to install it. Grrr.
Yeah, it's difficult to get good computer help here, too. Luckily, I can fix most things software related, and what I can't fix, Fahim can. But the hardware end of things for laptops - well, that's a whole other issue. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well, my laptop is dead, and we still don't know if it can be fixed or not. It's a power supply problem in the computer - possibly a part of the motherboard. Despite being told three days ago that they'd know in 2 or 3 days, I was told today that they'd know in 2 or 3 more days. Apparently, this is what they do - keep promising it in a few days, but never actually getting anything done. My hard drive is completely intact - data all there. I have backups, but I prefer not to lose even a few days worth of stuff if I can avoid it.
So* tomorrow, Fahim and I are going to buy me another laptop. Because the way things are going, I doubt it'll be fixed before a week is up, and I can't wait that long without a functioning computer of some sort. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well, we went down there yesterday to pick up the data backup of mine that was supposed to be ready the day before that was delayed several times (2 or 3 more hours, it'll be done! No, no, very busy, will be ready in two or three more hours. Not yet, it'll be another two or three more hours.) Fahim then told them to pack up the laptop because, repaired or not, we'd be taking that, too. (They've been telling me, every two or three days, that they'll know what the problem is in two or three more days. But they don't actually do anything to find out what's the matter with the thing.)
So we picked up a new laptop yesterday, so I'm no longer going blind trying to use his old one with the fading display that I can barely read. I've spent all yesterday afternoon and evening and today applying windows updates (you think you're done, and there's six more. Those get done, and yep, there's three more. Those three get done, and there's 17 more. Sigh. Micro$lop at its finest.) And installing some other software, too.
Ugh.
Fahim has friends (buddies? Acquantances?) at his old place of employment who can fix almost everything electronic. Last year, they fixed my dead CPAP machine that I thought was not just sorta dead or mostly dead but entirely completely and totally dead, and it's been working fine ever since. It's conceivable that they may be able to pull off something similar with the laptop, too. We'll see. At least they won't keep us waiting a week to find out when we'll know if they've looked at the thing.
So the old laptop isn't fixed yet. It's still dead.
The Laptop is dead. Long Live the Laptop!
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm sure Bob would oblige. Would you like me to ask him?
But Compaq didn't give me my hard drive back (even though I asked them THREE TIMES specifically on the phone to do so), and by now they've probably thrown it away, and they get thousands of calls a day, so they won't be able to find it. So there's very little that Bob can do if I don't provide a HD for him to work with.
*stabs Compaq*
TL, I highly recommend backing everything up. Now.
Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I was going to say the same thing, Raia. TL, make a backup. Now! Clean your computer from all the things you don't need anymore and make a ghost, if you have the tools to do it.
Posts: 3526 | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm trying to avoid thinking about this but do you want to know what truly sucks? I used a filesplitter to move about 40 gig of files from my old computer to my new one, and I can't get these split files to merge back into their original form.
I'm working on 3 novels simultaneously and everything I have on ALL 3 novels are in those fricking files.
posted
Most of the rest of it is just music. But the books ... the thought of losing those books is killing me.
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Wall Bash]](graemlins/wallbash.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Seriously, though, I will heed your cautionary tale and think about printing out everything I really care about.
![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
![[Cry]](graemlins/cry.gif)
