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I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

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jaybird

jaybird

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Okay, 'fess up. Who missed me? Who even knew I was gone? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif

Hard drive failed a week ago. Finally up and running as of late last night. Lost EVERYTHING on this bloody machine. Files, family pictures, folders, articles.

Stinks to be me.

Anyway. HIYA!

Have pictures from the Easter Car Show Sunday. AS SOON as I can find the software to reinstall my digital camera, that is!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif
 
Glad to see you back and sorry to hear about your loss. An external backup drive is a very worthwhile purchase in case of this type of hardware failure. I backup my photos and files once per week.
 
Did you have to replace the drive? If you still have the old drive in it's failed condition, and you feel that the data is worth it, there are a number of companies that can recover the data off of damaged HDs. I have used a couple in the past at work. Mostly laptop drives that have come to a painful demise. ditto on the external backup. It can save a lot of headache.
Anyways, as long as it was your HD crashing and not you or your B!
 
Get a DVD burner. It is a great way to backup all of the data including photo's. Holds a lot more than DVD's. About four years ago I had a hard drive failure on the computer I use for work. Had one of those data recovery firms retrieve the data. They got most of it back. Cost me about $200, but was worth it to recover the data. That got me real interested in backup systems.
 
Welcome back!

Last thing we heard you were going to have the engine bay degunked and then you disappeared!

Thought maybe you were in hiding because the guy messed up and you messed him up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif

Bummer about your HD, but good to see you are back /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/savewave.gif
 
Yes, we DID miss you...read our posts full of concern /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Glad to see ya back! Now show us the pics... OIC there is another thread up there /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Bruce /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
Ugh.

smash.gif


Yes I KNOW I should have had the important bits backed up. I had started saving photographs to cds, but alas, didn't even make a dent in the pics I had saved on my drive. As far as articles I've written, business paperwork, etc. *poof* all gone.

I do still have the old hard drive. Actually the techyboy that worked on my pc has it. Since Windows wouldn't load, he used some cd and tried another OS. That didn't work either, and he finally used yet another to save what he could from the bad drive. OF COURSE (Murphy's Law #247) what he saved, for the most part, was insignificant crap. The critical stuff was sucked into the black hole somewhere.

Chris did keep the old drive and is going to work on recovering as much as he can (in his spare time, thankfully, not at $45 an hour any more) IF he can do it, I promised to burn him a copy of every Led Zeppelin cd and dvd I own. Fair trade for a Zephead, I'd say!

And thanks for putting it into perspective. It could HAVE been the B that crashed.

Oh wait, the B is insured...
 
True! Jim 67B has the right idea, though. I also have a DVD burner, and it is great. You can fit over 4GB on a blank, and the blanks are getting cheaper (some go for less than a buck a piece now). I got an internal multi format DVD burner on newegg.com for 90 bucks. It was an NEC OEM (not retail). It works great. whenever one of my systems acts up now, I just rebuild it. Everything is backed up and safe!
 
I have 200 gigabytes of data to back up so DVDs weren't going to cut it for me. Bought a 250gb external drive which is also nice because I can take everything (literally) with me on the road.
 
I use a program called Acronis TrueImage. It backs up my entire hard drive to a file that can be set up to span multiple DVD's. That way, when the system goes down I can reset it back to the way it was before anything went wrong. The restore only takes about 15 minutes and everything is back the way it was when you made the "image". Also, you can sometimes get a free copy of a "drive clone" program from the manufacturer of your hard drive.
 
both of those methods are a great way to back your system up. All of my work data is backed up at work, however, and since I do not back up the OS (I just rebuild that from the install discs), I do not have to use a large device like that, though I do plan on getting one soon, for convenience. There is another program called ghost, which works in the same way that TrueImage is described above. It is older, and therefore not as user friendly, but the results are great. Whatever method you choose, backups are a necessity these days.
 
FWIW - I crash my system fairly regularly (I'm an incorrigble tweaker). I've found that installing from the install disks takes many hours to do (even with slipstreamed disks). For me the imaging with Acronis saves lot's of time when I've got to reinstall - which makes it worth the $50 to me.

Caveat: This doesn't replace the need for regular backups of your important files - they're irreplaceable!
 
I personally do not like images, but that is just my preference/occupational hazard, but they do save a lot of work for you if you use them. I do recommend using one to home users that I do side work for, as they can save money in the long run.
 
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