Hatrack River Writers Workshop   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Writers Workshop » Forums » Open Discussions About Writing » Don't be like me, kids

   
Author Topic: Don't be like me, kids
cvgurau
Member
Member # 1345

 - posted      Profile for cvgurau   Email cvgurau         Edit/Delete Post 
I have come to warn you: terrible things will happen. Terrible, horrible, EVIL things the likes of which you've never SEEN!! Beware! Beware! The end of the world is coming!!!

Unless you have a back-up, I mean.

But let me explain.

I write all my stories on the computer in my living room. Since I live at home with five brothers, one sister, one mother, and five adult foster...um, adults, it's kind of hard for me to get any privacy. That includes the computer; it's not mine. It never was. Which means I have to share it with any and all persons who want to use it, whether for games or...games. So why am I rambling? you ask? So why do you care? Well, see, the thing is, with so many people in the house, I have no idea who BROKE my computer!! It's gone! I have NOTHING! All my stories! All my time! All those creative juices, flowing for naught!

It's! All! Gone!!

*sob*

So, the moral to this raging rambling of mine is to BACK-UP your stories, because I don't (that is to say, didn't, 'cuz now I'm going to back up EVERY word) and now, every single word I've written in the past year or so is gone. Kaput. Adios, amigo, sorry, but no reciept, no return. Come back next week and talk to my manager.


Eternally pissed off (but now a little bit wiser),
Cryin' Chris.

PS: If you see a guy on the highway one day, dirty, oily, with a shaggy beard and messed-up, torn clothes, and holding a WILL WORK FOR TIME MACHINE sign, written in bad marker on dirty cardboard, just stop and wave, won'cha? Cuz it just might be me.


Posts: 552 | Registered: Jan 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
reid
Member
Member # 1425

 - posted      Profile for reid           Edit/Delete Post 
I'm very sorry about your loss. This is a lesson everyone seems to have to learn once.

A suggestion to everyone, I email my draft to my work once a week. At work, I move the draft to a network drive that is backed up every 24 hours. This way I never risk losing more than a week's work, and if I have a great idea at work, my draft is there to edit.

Brian


Posts: 63 | Registered: May 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
Kolona
Member
Member # 1438

 - posted      Profile for Kolona   Email Kolona         Edit/Delete Post 
Ooooh, I sympathize with you, Chris...but I have to say I'm impressed. You write in the living room with 12 people in the house? I get annoyed if I can still hear the tv with the door to my study closed (read converted extra bedroom). Wow.

I'm also impressed with your account of your loss. I don't mean this like rubbing salt in a wound, but I enjoyed reading it. (The possibly inadvertent rhyme at the beginning reminded me of Gollum from LOTR.) It was entertaining. The account, not the loss! Make a hard copy for yourself and work it into a writing anecdote for a short somewhere. It may very well sell.

I would be cautious about taking your work to work, though. Some businesses might frown on that and some have policies that any work done on site belongs to them. I heard of a case years ago like that, even though the work was wholly unrelated to the business itself.

For my part, although I keep my work on discs, I found out recently that even they aren't fullproof. I didn't lose writing projects but, among other things, my husband's resume. For some reason, the disc went defective. Now I back up important things with two discs.

(I've never used CDs for my work because from what I've gathered, those that can be are not as convenient to constantly update as discs, and there's a limit as to how many times you can update them. Granted, I'm taking info I've gleaned from several people, so I'd like to hear from some computer pros here.)

[This message has been edited by Kolona (edited January 04, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by Kolona (edited January 04, 2003).]


Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jun 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
srhowen
Member
Member # 462

 - posted      Profile for srhowen   Email srhowen         Edit/Delete Post 
I have an auto backup that backs up to disk 3.5 every ten minutes. but even then I have lost stuff.

I am sorry for your loss.

Shawn


Posts: 1019 | Registered: Apr 2000  | Report this post to a Moderator
Kathleen Dalton Woodbury
Administrator
Member # 59

 - posted      Profile for Kathleen Dalton Woodbury   Email Kathleen Dalton Woodbury         Edit/Delete Post 
Condolences, Chris.

There is a way you may be able to turn this to some good, though.

One of the ways writers use to revitalize a story that has been edited to death is to write the story down from memory--without looking at the already-written version.

Granted, you lose all the great phrases and so forth, but as long as you remember the personalities of the characters and the events of the story, you can recreate what you did before.

Your subconscious still has the story in there somewhere. And there is always the chance that it will give the story back to you in a little better form for having been percolated in the deep dark reaches of your mind (as opposed to having been "set" in the relative "concrete" of the computer screen).

So when you're finished beating yourself over the head for this, sit down and see if you can wheedle those stories out of your brain again.

It can't hurt to try.


Posts: 8826 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!  | Report this post to a Moderator
JOHN
Member
Member # 1343

 - posted      Profile for JOHN           Edit/Delete Post 
It's stories like this that make me the paranoid freak that I am. I have one floppy disk with me current story on it, broken up into five files of about 30,000 words each. Someone told me not to save it all as one file, because it can get screwed up easier that way. Then I have it saved on the hard drive, but I work from the disk and don't save it to the harD drive as much as I should.

Hey, man tha fact that you can still talk and especially type after this tramutizing events is more than I'd be able to do. I just be rocking back and forth, sobbing uncontrolably, clutching the remains of the computer to my chest.

JOHN!

[This message has been edited by JOHN (edited January 04, 2003).]


Posts: 401 | Registered: Jan 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
Hildy9595
Member
Member # 1489

 - posted      Profile for Hildy9595   Email Hildy9595         Edit/Delete Post 
Oh, Chris, that really stinks! I feel your pain. When I was about to finish my senior thesis in college (a collection of short stories), it was back when no one had their own computer and we all had to take our little diskettes into a computer lab. One day, I popped my diskette in and the computer ate it. Really, completely, irretrievably ate it. It was the entire criteria by which I would be awarded Honors (or not) for the program and instead of months to work on it, I had to start over with two weeks to go.

I did it all again, using Kathleen's human memory method, but I learned (like you) the hard way) to always have a backup -- disk, secondary computer, jaz drive, hard copy--all of the above.

I think it was very good of you to share this with everyone as a cautionary tale...you may have just saved other folks from the pain you are unfortunately suffering.


Posts: 338 | Registered: Aug 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
cvgurau
Member
Member # 1345

 - posted      Profile for cvgurau   Email cvgurau         Edit/Delete Post 
I don't know, Kathleen. I'll be beating myself over the head for quite a while to come. In fact, it's getting pretty pulpy.

On the bright side, I may yet get back on my horse and begin typing anew (though my computer's still broken, I'm pretty sure I can dust of an old electronic typewriter and use it). On the not-so-bright side, I've been irreversably traumatized. Chances are, I'll never write again. But hey, at least I can still play the piano, right? (Insert fake smile here).

Hildy: yeah, i guess it was. I was mostly just venting (my brothers would probably have laughed if I'd told them...and that's as sad as losing the stories) but if someone could learn from my mistake...I guess it was worth it...sort of.

Kind of.

Maybe.

Still pissed off (but feelin' a little better),

Cryin' Chris.


Posts: 552 | Registered: Jan 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
HopeSprings
Member
Member # 1533

 - posted      Profile for HopeSprings   Email HopeSprings         Edit/Delete Post 
For what it is worth, they have this nifty thing at work called "salvage" - they can generally find what I think I have lost. I don't know if that's a function of individual PC's or if they have to be networked.

I am sorry for your loss.

I keep hard copy of everything as the final backup - it can get costy is terms of paper and ink but I feel safer that way.

Hang in there -


Posts: 70 | Registered: Nov 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
Hildy9595
Member
Member # 1489

 - posted      Profile for Hildy9595   Email Hildy9595         Edit/Delete Post 
Actually, Hope makes a good point. If your hard drive is still intact, someone may actually be able to retrieve the data. Check your local phone book for a computer doctor or someone who specializes in data retrieval...there may be hope for you yet!
Posts: 338 | Registered: Aug 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
Straws
Member
Member # 1559

 - posted      Profile for Straws           Edit/Delete Post 
A great and terrible crime! I remember when I was about ten with my first computer, and it up and died on me, carrying with it three years of my earliest works. Quite the tragedy.
Posts: 58 | Registered: Jan 2003  | Report this post to a Moderator
Chronicles_of_Empire
Member
Member # 1431

 - posted      Profile for Chronicles_of_Empire   Email Chronicles_of_Empire         Edit/Delete Post 

Yup - back-ups are essential - especially with web forums, as I found out in November. And typing is always fun with a baby on your knee trying to strike the keyboard!

However, all is not necessarily lost - I imagine your PC is repairable, but even if it isn't, and the PC is going to trash, I highly recommend you have the Hard Drive removed. You can reinstall it as a slave disk on a new machine, and recover your work.

Assuming it's not the hard drive that went.

Ask for more info - too tired to go into detail.


Posts: 286 | Registered: Jun 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
Rahl22
Member
Member # 1411

 - posted      Profile for Rahl22   Email Rahl22         Edit/Delete Post 
Chris,

There is very little I can say except to offer my deepest condolences.

Now I'm going to burn everything I have onto CD since you've scared the buhjeeses outta me.


Posts: 1621 | Registered: Apr 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
Straws
Member
Member # 1559

 - posted      Profile for Straws           Edit/Delete Post 
I didn't only manage to kill the harddrive, but many other parts all at the same time. It started with me managing to kill the crappy early form of Windows that I had wormed through every file, then went on to apparently some form of short that led to an internal fire. Or something. I really have no idea.
Posts: 58 | Registered: Jan 2003  | Report this post to a Moderator
Survivor
Member
Member # 213

 - posted      Profile for Survivor   Email Survivor         Edit/Delete Post 
Yeah...I think that backing up on CD periodically can really be worth it (particularly if you can get a pack of those "singles", which are more robust and more the right size for a few books with some pictures). I don't bother with re-writables, though. Just use a single write disk, and copy all your versions onto it (they're so dead cheap you can make 'em in triplicate and archive 'em in...a sock, I guess).

Hope is right about there still being...hope. If no one was bone headed enough to reformat (or physically damage) the hard drive, the files are highly likely to be recoverable by a knowledgable hand (in fact, even in the event that the hard drive has been reformatted and/or physically damaged, some data can be recovered, but this is pricey and dicey--they'll charge you several thousand dollars and recover...what can be recovered, which may not be much).


Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999  | Report this post to a Moderator
Hildy9595
Member
Member # 1489

 - posted      Profile for Hildy9595   Email Hildy9595         Edit/Delete Post 
Actually, that response came from me, Survivor, re: the hard drive. And Chris, I have a little more hope for you, assuming you still have the computer and it runs on DOS.

You may be able to access the directories from DOS, via the C:/ prompt. I won't go into specifics here, but my hubby, the computer geek, successfully retrieved all our important documents from our laptop yesterday via this method. This was after it committed hara-kiri and not even Windows would function. He recovered the data and stuck it on floppies, and we were then able to reopen and resave the docs on our desktop, safe and sound.

If you think this may possibly work for you, send me an email at hildy9595@aol.com and I'll have the hubby write out specific directions to talk you through the recovery process. With any luck, you will still have your docs and won't need to spend money to save them.

[This message has been edited by Hildy9595 (edited January 07, 2003).]


Posts: 338 | Registered: Aug 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
Amka
Member
Member # 1262

 - posted      Profile for Amka   Email Amka         Edit/Delete Post 
Dear Hubby: <big silly grin> Look what I got from work. I'm going upgrade your computer!

Me: Okay hun.

A few minutes later, guts of machine exposed.

Me: Did you back up?

Dear Hubby: No need to. Just turn off, change CPUs and turn on. Not doing much.

Me: Okay hun.

Few minutes later.

Dear Hubby: Hmmm, this is not working, your computer will not boot up. I think I'll backup now.

5 hours later: Your hardrive is fried, dear. It probably happened when I turned all power off to your computer, before I even opened it.

This wasn't totally his fault, it was only a 1 year old IBM hardrive that had a 5 year warrenty on it. It was good equipment. What seems to have happened is that when he shut all power down (even if your computer is 'off' there is a wee bit of power being used) some surge or something caused the head to jump. It was a total hardware failure. IBM has replaced the hardrive with a much better hardrive.

If my husband had thought to backup first, the first thing he would have done was turn of the power and remove the drive to use his CD burner to backup, with the very same result.

The whole upshot of this was: I lost a lot of work. A lot. What was most important did get saved (one thing was only hardcopy though) since I'd sent it to him to be printed on a good printer to send out to the magazines. And we got ME a CD burner in which I backup my important stuff periodically and which will be used for a complete backup the next time we fiddle with my computer.


Posts: 119 | Registered: Sep 2001  | Report this post to a Moderator
Survivor
Member
Member # 213

 - posted      Profile for Survivor   Email Survivor         Edit/Delete Post 
Why in the name of Moore's Law was he attempting to do a processor upgrade on a machine that was only a year old and still under warranty? (and of course, why did you let him?)

I've never done a processor upgrade in my life (I seriously considered it once, but the moment passed--and scratch building a system doesn't count either). As far as I'm concerned, if you expect to realize a substantial performance gain from the upgrade, then you should upgrade the motherboard and memory as well, as well as the video card at least, and at that point you might as well put them in a separate case and have two computers rather than one...

Hobbyists, Humbug! Give me a working system that can amuse me with actual games any day over a multi-dimensional puzzle box that costs hundreds of dollars to play with!


Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999  | Report this post to a Moderator
Amka
Member
Member # 1262

 - posted      Profile for Amka   Email Amka         Edit/Delete Post 
The last computer of ours that had a warranty was in, oh, 93 I think.

Our computers aren't static machines. We can hardly say we build from scratch, because any new computer we build has parts from the computer it is replacing. I guess we consider getting a new motherboard the qualification for 'new computer'. But it never feels like a new computer for me unless it ALSO has a new case, but that is usually what happens because often the old power supply isn't enough for the new motherboard.

I told my husband I would rather have had more memory. I knew that would boost my performance better. But he didn't get more memory from work. He got a CPU. They always test prototype CPUs because they create leading edge network clusters.

But I got a bigger hardrive as a result of losing all my writing. And a CD burner too. Thats a good thing. I think.

Back to the point: Actually, it all turns out well in the end. The novel I lost will be much better because of it. And the story I had to rewrite is already much better because of it. I figure the rest of it, if I don't remember it, wasn't interesting enough anyway. The only exception to this is some writing my children did on the computer, especially my daughter who is showing herself to be a very talented and witty poet. (My other daughter is talented too, but she did all her recreational writing on another computer) THAT may very well be the worst loss of all.


Posts: 119 | Registered: Sep 2001  | Report this post to a Moderator
Survivor
Member
Member # 213

 - posted      Profile for Survivor   Email Survivor         Edit/Delete Post 
Oh, I get it, the hard disk was a year old...I couldn't live like that. I really couldn't. Philosophically, I'm all for consoles. I really wish there was a line of firmware OS desktop consoles out there for me to select my next computer from...but there isn't.
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999  | Report this post to a Moderator
srhowen
Member
Member # 462

 - posted      Profile for srhowen   Email srhowen         Edit/Delete Post 
I have learned over the years since my very first computer a zenith 286, that you back up. I had a lap top that booted from a floppy and had a seperate floppy that you saved too. Yes, I am dating myself. I have lost things, unexpected crashes between backups--that's what led me to the system I use now and I back up anything in corel or word every ten minutes.

Not to be unkind but I wonder how people can not back up. There are so many places out there that tell you to back up your work, heck most programs when you install them tell you to back up your work.

I can only say---back up your work, even if it is printing it out, back up your work. Often, once a day even. At least then you only lose one days work.

It can be something as simple and scary as a virus as well, it doesn't have to be a computer break down.

Shawn


Posts: 1019 | Registered: Apr 2000  | Report this post to a Moderator
Survivor
Member
Member # 213

 - posted      Profile for Survivor   Email Survivor         Edit/Delete Post 
Holy Cow! You had a zenith 286? Was it the laptop? With the 10 mb hard disk or two 3.5 floppies? Ah...the glory days....

Oh, you actually say...it was the laptop without the hd option. Did it have a backlit screen that was all in shades of blue? I'm just waxing nostalgic, pay no attention to me.

And back up your work, all youse!


Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999  | Report this post to a Moderator
srhowen
Member
Member # 462

 - posted      Profile for srhowen   Email srhowen         Edit/Delete Post 
yes the lap top was that small screen with the backlit and everything shades of blue.

I also had a desktop that took up the whole desktop zenith 286. 5 inch floppy. Think it had a 250 mg hard drive and took like 10 minutes to boot, no mouse. Used Corel WP 4 if I remember right the blue screen with yellow text--the kind that burned into your monitor--and DOS shell.

Sheesh--- I now have a 17 inch viewable monitor, external hard drive 40 gig for backups, internal 40 gig hard drive, and 512 of RAM. LOL and am looking at a new computer come march.

We've come a long way baby--but I do so miss the blue screen and yellow letters.

Shawn


Posts: 1019 | Registered: Apr 2000  | Report this post to a Moderator
Survivor
Member
Member # 213

 - posted      Profile for Survivor   Email Survivor         Edit/Delete Post 
I don't, partly because I reset the prefs to get light gray text on a muted blue background (still could cause the dread phosphor burn-in, but was easier on my eyes). But mostly I don't miss the blue screen thanks to Microsoft's decision to immortalize it as the bane of PC users worldwide (thankfully with white text rather than yellow...or does it sound stupid to thank MS for anything to do with the Blue Screen of Death?).
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999  | Report this post to a Moderator
srhowen
Member
Member # 462

 - posted      Profile for srhowen   Email srhowen         Edit/Delete Post 
Ugh. I hate that screen! The WP screen was a slightly different color blue---hmm, ya know MS Word and WP will fight when you have them on the same computer---maybe MS made the Blue Screen Of Death just to make users hate WP?

Shawn


Posts: 1019 | Registered: Apr 2000  | Report this post to a Moderator
Cosmi
Member
Member # 1252

 - posted      Profile for Cosmi   Email Cosmi         Edit/Delete Post 
wow i feel young. the oldest computers i can remember had a greenish tint with white letters. i think they were Apples, but i can't quite recall... does anybody know the computer i'm talking about? for a while i've been curious to know how much memory those things had.

TTFN & lol

Cosmi


Posts: 160 | Registered: Aug 2001  | Report this post to a Moderator
Survivor
Member
Member # 213

 - posted      Profile for Survivor   Email Survivor         Edit/Delete Post 
Actually, the oldest "personal computer" I can remember was the Coleco Adam. Anyone else remember those? Wow, that was a long time ago. I don't even know anything about them. I'm going to look up some info on it...here we go, the Coleco Adam Computer page. Wow. I remember that we had a Coleco swimming pool too.
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999  | Report this post to a Moderator
srhowen
Member
Member # 462

 - posted      Profile for srhowen   Email srhowen         Edit/Delete Post 
Wasn't it the Coleco Vision or some such--haven't looked at the web site yet. But boy Pong sure was cool then wasn't it?

That old zenith 286 had 8 mg of memory. I don't remember what the laptop had, but it wasn't a laptop, it was a portable computer.

We still have a 486. LOL My son uses it like a word processor.

Shawn


Posts: 1019 | Registered: Apr 2000  | Report this post to a Moderator
Marianne
Member
Member # 1546

 - posted      Profile for Marianne   Email Marianne         Edit/Delete Post 
My first computer was an Atarii-back in about 1980. I did a little programming with it and played text games. Then I got an Apple II so I could play Zork
Posts: 173 | Registered: Dec 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
srhowen
Member
Member # 462

 - posted      Profile for srhowen   Email srhowen         Edit/Delete Post 
Speaking of text games --- does anyone remember a game called Hog Jaw Mansion? I loved that game. There was one thing though that we never got figured out---how to get past the cow with bad breath. I've done a search online and not found anything--if you played this and remember the game---please tell me how you got past that dang foul breathed cow!

Shawn


Posts: 1019 | Registered: Apr 2000  | Report this post to a Moderator
reid
Member
Member # 1425

 - posted      Profile for reid           Edit/Delete Post 
Timex Sinclair with TS 2020 cassette recorder and TS 2040 thermal printer. Greatness.

Brian


Posts: 63 | Registered: May 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
cvgurau
Member
Member # 1345

 - posted      Profile for cvgurau   Email cvgurau         Edit/Delete Post 
Wow.

I have no idea what you people are talking about.

....

....



Chris

[This message has been edited by cvgurau (edited January 15, 2003).]


Posts: 552 | Registered: Jan 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
Hildy9595
Member
Member # 1489

 - posted      Profile for Hildy9595   Email Hildy9595         Edit/Delete Post 
Great googly-moogly, text games! How I loved them!

The first computer I used was a TRS-80 (affectionately known as a Trash 80) and I played text based games way too much. Never got to the cow game...sorry! I can't remember the names of all of them, but I was really good at Mission Impossible. There was also some sort of space travel one where you collected artifacts from different planets and another where you were trapped in a house with a vampire. Ah, good times!


Posts: 338 | Registered: Aug 2002  | Report this post to a Moderator
Survivor
Member
Member # 213

 - posted      Profile for Survivor   Email Survivor         Edit/Delete Post 
Sorry, when I said, "the oldest "personal computer" I can remember" I meant my first contact with a computer that carried out office functions.

I remember the Vision too, I think...wasn't that the triagular one with each side having a controller intended for a different type of game? I loved the game with the stickman bouncing around the screen that you then shot with that impressive lightgun (I don't know how impressive the lightgun actually was, since I was very young back then).

I never got into text games, they seemed like a total waste of time to me...guess I'm not a left brained person.


Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999  | Report this post to a Moderator
Survivor
Member
Member # 213

 - posted      Profile for Survivor   Email Survivor         Edit/Delete Post 
No, that was an early Atari, I think....

If anyone want's to know what the heck we're talking about now, try http://oldcomputers.net . They have a lot of the classics listed and described.


Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999  | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2