Don't you hate computer crashes? Add your gripes here.

[artist4perry]

My computer at school crashed and all of my lesson plans disappeared and were deleted. A years worth! We have to turn in a complete copy of all of them to the office, and make a copy for ourselves to file by June 1. I have been typing my little fingers off. I am so sick of computer glitches making my life harder.

The computer was a "new one" they replaced my dinosaur with. I was not the only victim at the school. Many of our "new" computers did the same thing after only a month of use.

Add your hard drive/ mother board complaints here.

A lesson plan by the way takes me about 25 minutes to prepare. I have 5 preps. 5 different types of classes. Each class will have approximately 20 lessons in a year. That boils down to about 100 lesson plans a year. Sucks! 4 more school days. 4 more!

[steveo777]

One thing I learned is not to store important things on my main hard drive. I use a removable hard drive and I back that up often if I'm storing
things I can't live without. I keep an image of my operating system there and copies of all my device drivers as well. I can be back up flawlessly
in about 15 minutes. There is a lot of redundancy in my computers, but it has paid off.
You might get some removable storage to back your stuff up on.
I know it sucks.

[T-Bone]

The one thing our school PUSHED on us was the use of jump drives... Shit happens and you can never have enough backups for peace of mind.

[geminix]

www.carbonite.com


60 bucks a year and you can retrieve your files from any computer

[Don]

Amazon Cloud. 20 GB of free storage for a year with your 99¢ purchase of Born This Way.

[Rip Rokken]

My computer at school crashed and all of my lesson plans disappeared and were deleted. A years worth! We have to turn in a complete copy of all of them to the office, and make a copy for ourselves to file by June 1. I have been typing my little fingers off. I am so sick of computer glitches making my life harder.

Barring a physical defect with the read/write heads or a blown partition on the hard drive itself (and by "hard drive" I mean the small component inside the system that stores your data, not the whole computer which some refer to as their "hard drive", "modem", or whatever, lol). I'm guessing there was a 90%+ chance of easily recovering what you had stored there. Regardless, there is a 95%+ chance the school's I.T. staff doesn't know what they are doing.

The computer was a "new one" they replaced my dinosaur with. I was not the only victim at the school. Many of our "new" computers did the same thing after only a month of use.

What type of systems did they buy? With a high failure rate in such a short time, I'm guessing they either bought cheap models or inexpensive clone (not brand-name) systems. If they are clones but weren't cheap, then they probably got gouged, because there is absolutely no money to be made in building and selling clones anymore unless you mark them way up beyond their value.

If they still have your old PC Ginger, ask them what exactly was wrong with it and if your data can be retrieved. If your hard drive hasn't failed physically, it can be connected to your current system and the data transferred easily. Good luck!

[Rip Rokken]

Amazon Cloud. 20 GB of free storage for a year with your 99¢ purchase of Born This Way.

I know there are fans of the Cloud here, but Rip Rokken(TM) only supports local data storage, and physical media for backup (e.g., flash drives, external hard drives, DVD-Rs). If you go with the Cloud, you can kiss privacy and security goodbye -- assume it will be mined for marketing research purposes. Plus they make sure they aren't liable for losing your data either when their systems crash or get hacked into.

The Rip Rokken(TM) approach to protecting your data is fail-safe and foolproof -- "Trust No One".

[iceberg]

My computer at school crashed and all of my lesson plans disappeared and were deleted. A years worth! We have to turn in a complete copy of all of them to the office, and make a copy for ourselves to file by June 1. I have been typing my little fingers off. I am so sick of computer glitches making my life harder.

Barring a physical defect with the read/write heads or a blown partition on the hard drive itself (and by "hard drive" I mean the small component inside the system that stores your data, not the whole computer which some refer to as their "hard drive", "modem", or whatever, lol). I'm guessing there was a 90%+ chance of easily recovering what you had stored there. Regardless, there is a 95%+ chance the school's I.T. staff doesn't know what they are doing.

The computer was a "new one" they replaced my dinosaur with. I was not the only victim at the school. Many of our "new" computers did the same thing after only a month of use.

What type of systems did they buy? With a high failure rate in such a short time, I'm guessing they either bought cheap models or inexpensive clone (not brand-name) systems. If they are clones but weren't cheap, then they probably got gouged, because there is absolutely no money to be made in building and selling clones anymore unless you mark them way up beyond their value.

If they still have your old PC Ginger, ask them what exactly was wrong with it and if your data can be retrieved. If your hard drive hasn't failed physically, it can be connected to your current system and the data transferred easily. Good luck!

great advice from a man who knows. : ) (so it would seem)

[Rick]

Amazon Cloud. 20 GB of free storage for a year with your 99¢ purchase of Born This Way.

I know there are fans of the Cloud here, but Rip Rokken(TM) only supports local data storage, and physical media for backup (e.g., flash drives, external hard drives, DVD-Rs). If you go with the Cloud, you can kiss privacy and security goodbye -- assume it will be mined for marketing research purposes. Plus they make sure they aren't liable for losing your data either when their systems crash or get hacked into.

The Rip Rokken(TM) approach to protecting your data is fail-safe and foolproof -- "Trust No One".

I'm thinking of replacing my bought version of Windows XP with a pirated copy of Windows 7. I just feel like being an asshole today.

[S2M]

Amazon Cloud. 20 GB of free storage for a year with your 99¢ purchase of Born This Way.

I know there are fans of the Cloud here, but Rip Rokken(TM) only supports local data storage, and physical media for backup (e.g., flash drives, external hard drives, DVD-Rs). If you go with the Cloud, you can kiss privacy and security goodbye -- assume it will be mined for marketing research purposes. Plus they make sure they aren't liable for losing your data either when their systems crash or get hacked into.

The Rip Rokken(TM) approach to protecting your data is fail-safe and foolproof -- "Trust No One".

I'm thinking of replacing my bought version of Windows XP with a pirated copy of Windows 7. I just feel like being an asshole today.

I was thinking of doing that myself....downloaded the program for Demonoid, and downloaded Windows Easy Transfer for Windows 7....I'm just too chicken to actually do it. Something ALWAYS goes wrong when I try to be adventurous with my system....The last time it was fooling around with a registry cleaner...

[Rick]

Amazon Cloud. 20 GB of free storage for a year with your 99¢ purchase of Born This Way.

I know there are fans of the Cloud here, but Rip Rokken(TM) only supports local data storage, and physical media for backup (e.g., flash drives, external hard drives, DVD-Rs). If you go with the Cloud, you can kiss privacy and security goodbye -- assume it will be mined for marketing research purposes. Plus they make sure they aren't liable for losing your data either when their systems crash or get hacked into.

The Rip Rokken(TM) approach to protecting your data is fail-safe and foolproof -- "Trust No One".

I'm thinking of replacing my bought version of Windows XP with a pirated copy of Windows 7. I just feel like being an asshole today.

I was thinking of doing that myself....downloaded the program for Demonoid, and downloaded Windows Easy Transfer for Windows 7....I'm just too chicken to actually do it. Something ALWAYS goes wrong when I try to be adventurous with my system....The last time it was fooling around with a registry cleaner...

If you have the hard drive space to do it, maybe try installing it in a dual boot setup. That way you'll still have your old operating system to boot to if the new installation is problematic.

In fact. That's what I'ma do right fuckin now!

[JRNYMAN]

Amazon Cloud. 20 GB of free storage for a year with your 99¢ purchase of Born This Way.

I know there are fans of the Cloud here, but Rip Rokken(TM) only supports local data storage, and physical media for backup (e.g., flash drives, external hard drives, DVD-Rs). If you go with the Cloud, you can kiss privacy and security goodbye -- assume it will be mined for marketing research purposes. Plus they make sure they aren't liable for losing your data either when their systems crash or get hacked into.

The Rip Rokken(TM) approach to protecting your data is fail-safe and foolproof -- "Trust No One".

*Nodding...* You beat me to it Ripster. I was going to say the same exact thing you wrote here as well as what you wrote above regarding the data still being in tact and retrievable. It's a crying shame that the individuals hired for and tasked with the care and well being of the IT dept. at that school aren't able and/or willing to take fairly easy necessary steps to retrieve the info for these people rather than making them go through the unnecessary, pain-staking, and bullshit task of recreating the data. I'd be raising all kinds of Hell!

As a self-employed computer maven, I can tell you firsthand (and I know Rip will back me up on this...) that almost no-one backs up their data. Whenever a customer brings in a PC for repair which will require doing ANYTHING with the hard drive, the first question out of my mouth is, "How long has it been since your last backup?" And as soon as they reply with the answer I hear 99% of the time, "Umm... I've never done a backup." My next question is always, "Is there anything on the hard drive which can't be replaced should your PC experience a catastrophic loss of data while I'm working on it?" And as often as not, there's data that is irreplaceable which I then first must backup to removable media before I start working on the customer's PC. Don't get me wrong, it's a built-in, easy, extra $40-$50 which the customer really can't complain about - EVER - since I refuse to work on a system which contains one-of-a-kind/irreplaceable data without performing a backup first to protect myself as well as their data.

It's one of those things that makes you scratch your head wondering why almost no-one backs up their data at least occasionally, knowing that the possibility exists that the next time you turn on your PC may be the last.

To the OP...
I feel your pain and I share Rip's sentiment regarding the IT staff at your school. If they were paid well enough, possessed the skills and knowledge they should, and cared enough to do so, they could easily retrieve your data for you thereby saving you a TON of needless work.

Good luck!

Steve

[Rick]

Done. Not too bad. The tricky thing is, if you don't have another hard drive to put it on, you have to shrink your C: drive and add a partition. I used a program called GParted to do it. Worked really well. You can do it during the installation with Windows 7, but it won't let you choose how much you shrink the C: partition.

I installed the 64 bit version and I haven't found any compatibility issues yet. So far, so good. If it continues to run as well as it is, I may just buy it and do away with XP.

[steveo777]

Mass amounts of storage are so cheap these days that there is really no good excuse not to have a removable or second hard drive for your system.
I can personally remember spending almost $1200 years ago for a 750Mb hard drive. Today you can by 1TB (1000GB) for about $100. I have a WD
Passport 750GB USB hard drive that I paid under $70 for. I once lost over 20,000 MP3s due to a failed hard drive. Had I kept my important stuff on
separate storage, I would have never lost it. It was a valuable lesson to learn, but I HAVE LEARNED. I also do regular backups.

[iceberg]

Mass amounts of storage are so cheap these days that there is really no good excuse not to have a removable or second hard drive for your system.
I can personally remember spending almost $1200 years ago for a 750Mb hard drive. Today you can by 1TB (1000GB) for about $100. I have a WD
Passport 750GB USB hard drive that I paid under $70 for. I once lost over 20,000 MP3s due to a failed hard drive. Had I kept my important stuff on
separate storage, I would have never lost it. It was a valuable lesson to learn, but I HAVE LEARNED. I also do regular backups.

for my entire music collection that i value highly - i will never use online services.

it's another account to create and keep up with. i'd rather setup my own computer for remote access and buy my own domain name and be done with it. i can now access what i want where i want off what i have.

i have a 1 tb external drive i copy to quarterly (next 2 steps really cover emergencies) and (2) 1 tb drives mirrored AND i synch my entire music collection to the 24x7 server on a twice a month basis.

if i value it, i put it in more than 1 place. if it's critical, i burn it to a CD and put it away and check it yearly or so just to make sure. you can NEVER purchase the responsibility for your data to someone else. it's your data. learn how to protect it and keep it safe.

there is value to a cloud, but i prefer to keep my data to myself. i don't see a lot of value in running things online and ensuring not only is my ISP ok, but my online services are online too. until computing gets as reliable as electricity, keep what you value close.

[Rip Rokken]

I'm thinking of replacing my bought version of Windows XP with a pirated copy of Windows 7. I just feel like being an asshole today.

RIP ROKKEN(TM) has said for years, If Microsoft reeeeeeally cared about fighting piracy, they'd lower the cost of their software, like by 75-80%. If more people could afford their stuff, more people would pay for it, plain and simple. Do what you gotta do, ya know? Me, I endlessly demo new versions. Just haven't made a decision to purchase anything yet.

[Rip Rokken]

it's another account to create and keep up with. i'd rather setup my own computer for remote access and buy my own domain name and be done with it. i can now access what i want where i want off what i have.

i have a 1 tb external drive i copy to quarterly (next 2 steps really cover emergencies) and (2) 1 tb drives mirrored AND i synch my entire music collection to the 24x7 server on a twice a month basis.

if i value it, i put it in more than 1 place. if it's critical, i burn it to a CD and put it away and check it yearly or so just to make sure. you can NEVER purchase the responsibility for your data to someone else. it's your data. learn how to protect it and keep it safe.

there is value to a cloud, but i prefer to keep my data to myself. i don't see a lot of value in running things online and ensuring not only is my ISP ok, but my online services are online too. until computing gets as reliable as electricity, keep what you value close.

You and I are definitely on the same page.

[Rip Rokken]

*Nodding...* You beat me to it Ripster. I was going to say the same exact thing you wrote here as well as what you wrote above regarding the data still being in tact and retrievable. It's a crying shame that the individuals hired for and tasked with the care and well being of the IT dept. at that school aren't able and/or willing to take fairly easy necessary steps to retrieve the info for these people rather than making them go through the unnecessary, pain-staking, and bullshit task of recreating the data. I'd be raising all kinds of Hell!

[b]As a self-employed computer maven, I can tell you firsthand (and I know Rip will back me up on this...) that almost no-one backs up their data.

It's absolutely true, just as it's true that the majority of people don't practice solid password security. Most backup and security procedures are practically non-existent. On weak passwords specifically, I could go on and on forever. In general, the people who use family or pet names, maybe capitalize the first letter and tack a "1" on the end and consider that a "strong password", or write anything stronger down on a sticky note affixed to the bottom of their keyboard, are also probably weak on backup too.

This goes way beyond computers... it's an approach to life in general. We'll find that the people who are O.C. enough to create different strong passwords for every site, and who back up their data routinely, are also probably on top of insurance coverage, never forget to lock their houses or cars, and are careful with how their personal information is used online or to strangers. We're also in the minority, unfortunately, and when people are lax with security especially, it only exacerbates the threats because the cons continue to work.

I'm rambling at this point, lol... and I'm not judging anyone's intelligence by any means. It really has little to do with "smarts", but more to do with how we are wired I think. Some think ahead and take a more preventative approach, and some generally learn the hard way after a disaster. Both are equally valid ways of learning, and experience may make the dangers even more real to someone than one who acts mainly on theory or probability.

[JRNYMAN]

*Nodding...* You beat me to it Ripster. I was going to say the same exact thing you wrote here as well as what you wrote above regarding the data still being in tact and retrievable. It's a crying shame that the individuals hired for and tasked with the care and well being of the IT dept. at that school aren't able and/or willing to take fairly easy necessary steps to retrieve the info for these people rather than making them go through the unnecessary, pain-staking, and bullshit task of recreating the data. I'd be raising all kinds of Hell!

[b]As a self-employed computer maven, I can tell you firsthand (and I know Rip will back me up on this...) that almost no-one backs up their data.

It's absolutely true, just as it's true that the majority of people don't practice solid password security. Most backup and security procedures are practically non-existent. On weak passwords specifically, I could go on and on forever. In general, the people who use family or pet names, maybe capitalize the first letter and tack a "1" on the end and consider that a "strong password", or write anything stronger down on a sticky note affixed to the bottom of their keyboard, are also probably weak on backup too.

This goes way beyond computers... it's an approach to life in general. We'll find that the people who are O.C. enough to create different strong passwords for every site, and who back up their data routinely, are also probably on top of insurance coverage, never forget to lock their houses or cars, and are careful with how their personal information is used online or to strangers. We're also in the minority, unfortunately, and when people are lax with security especially, it only exacerbates the threats because the cons continue to work.

I'm rambling at this point, lol... and I'm not judging anyone's intelligence by any means. It really has little to do with "smarts", but more to do with how we are wired I think. Some think ahead and take a more preventative approach, and some generally learn the hard way after a disaster. Both are equally valid ways of learning, and experience may make the dangers even more real to someone than one who acts mainly on theory or probability.

It all boils down to laziness and inconvenience. A few years ago, I assessed the password/PIN number/passcode situation that had been established in and around my own household and was appalled at what I discovered to exist right under my very own nose. My wife and daughters had assigned pretty much the same PIN number/passcode to their bank accounts, the garage door opener keypad, email accounts, etc. And the cryptically brilliant number combination they chose...? Yup, a combination of birthday months and years - pure genius! Needless to say, I became very unpopular for a while when I created and assigned new codes for everything. As far as the lack of disciplined routines when it comes to backing up one's data, I believe there is no other reason for it than laziness. I mean what other reason could there be? And the most ironic thing about the whole conundrum is that the process has never been easier. It has literally become a "set it and forget it" situation.

My business has two locations, one of which is in a city populated primarily by retirees and senior citizens. The mentality and approach to computing in general is much different with the older sect if for no other reason than their fear of identity theft. They do very little online commerce and spend an enormous amount of their day shredding everything. However, the one thing I can tell you about my customers from this particular area is that they are nothing if not diligent about routinely backing up their data. And why...? Because the stuff on their PC's is, in their eyes, irreplaceable. We're talking about the cache of pictures of their children and grandchildren they've amassed as well as the hundreds if not thousands of forwarded email messages which they find amusing, interesting, relevant, etc. which, if lost, would be devastating to them. To you and I we say, "What's the fucking point?" To them it's important enough to protect against loss. I guess it all boils down to priorities and value.

[YoungJRNY]

One of the most significant matters of securing any computer is security and BACKING UP! It takes a few minutes (depending on the size of the hard drive.) I've had some buddies system crash and I saved many of their personal belongings doing last second disk-cleanup and system restoring to back as much personal data that was needed. Like RIP said, if you have an external hard drive or a hard drive from your other CPU, you can retrieve valuable data by simply installing your older hard-drive into your current system and transferring lost data that way or atleast what's still of use.

[S2M]

One of the most significant matters of securing any computer is security and BACKING UP! It takes a few minutes (depending on the size of the hard drive.) I've had some buddies system crash and I saved many of their personal belongings doing last second disk-cleanup and system restoring to back as much personal data that was needed.

Is this the same as periodically making a restore point?

[YoungJRNY]

One of the most significant matters of securing any computer is security and BACKING UP! It takes a few minutes (depending on the size of the hard drive.) I've had some buddies system crash and I saved many of their personal belongings doing last second disk-cleanup and system restoring to back as much personal data that was needed.

Is this the same as periodically making a restore point?

A system restore is basically a restore point to where the CPU was last up and functionally running correctly. An entire system back-up is simply retrieving all of the your personal files and whatever it is on that computer. In other words, it saves your ass. In theory they could mean the same thing when it comes to IT-lingo haha.

[Rick]

I'm thinking of replacing my bought version of Windows XP with a pirated copy of Windows 7. I just feel like being an asshole today.

RIP ROKKEN(TM) has said for years, If Microsoft reeeeeeally cared about fighting piracy, they'd lower the cost of their software, like by 75-80%. If more people could afford their stuff, more people would pay for it, plain and simple. Do what you gotta do, ya know? Me, I endlessly demo new versions. Just haven't made a decision to purchase anything yet.

Man, I'm kind of digging Windows 7. I've used XP since the earth cooled. It's a very nice upgrade. The version I have is Ultimate x64. That retails at $275 I see what you're talking about. Geesh. The Professional version is $115 though. That's more reasonable.

[steveo777]

I'm thinking of replacing my bought version of Windows XP with a pirated copy of Windows 7. I just feel like being an asshole today.

RIP ROKKEN(TM) has said for years, If Microsoft reeeeeeally cared about fighting piracy, they'd lower the cost of their software, like by 75-80%. If more people could afford their stuff, more people would pay for it, plain and simple. Do what you gotta do, ya know? Me, I endlessly demo new versions. Just haven't made a decision to purchase anything yet.

Man, I'm kind of digging Windows 7. I've used XP since the earth cooled. It's a very nice upgrade. The version I have is Ultimate x64. That retails at $275 I see what you're talking about. Geesh. The Professional version is $115 though. That's more reasonable.

Was Vista that bad? I haven't had any issues with it except Internet Explorer. I use Firefox and it works well.

[S2M]

How can I tell if I should get the 32-bit, or 64-bit version?

[artist4perry]

I got a new Dell. I mailed all the ones I retyped to my home computer and made 3 hardcopies of all of them for right now. They told me a system they have to back up files. Day late and typing fingers too short! Thanks for the advice though. I still have a mountain of stuff to learn about computers. I have tech training this summer. Maybe that will help some!

[JRNYMAN]

I'm thinking of replacing my bought version of Windows XP with a pirated copy of Windows 7. I just feel like being an asshole today.

RIP ROKKEN(TM) has said for years, If Microsoft reeeeeeally cared about fighting piracy, they'd lower the cost of their software, like by 75-80%. If more people could afford their stuff, more people would pay for it, plain and simple. Do what you gotta do, ya know? Me, I endlessly demo new versions. Just haven't made a decision to purchase anything yet.

Man, I'm kind of digging Windows 7. I've used XP since the earth cooled. It's a very nice upgrade. The version I have is Ultimate x64. That retails at $275 I see what you're talking about. Geesh. The Professional version is $115 though. That's more reasonable.

I was lucky enough (or unlucky enough, depending on how you interpret it...) to have beta tested both Vista and 7 and after the absolute disappointment at how and what Vista was, I wasn't holding my breath when we were selected to test 7. But, even in its very buggy RC1 phase 7 blew the shit out of Vista right from the get-go. I too have been an XP user and lover since its release waaaaaaaay back when so making the transition to 7 has been slow for me - I've been dual-booted since 7 dropped and have gradually eased over to spending more time in 7 than XP. Vista wasn't even a consideration for me. It's a nagging, whining, resource hog that tries to be everything to everyone at once. 7 on the other hand is smart when it needs to be without nagging you every time you move the mouse. It's pretty. It's -=FAST=-. It recognizes every piece of hardware you get near it - it won't support everything but it recognizes it nonetheless. It's got a lot of very cool things going for it. HOWEVER..... that said, I really think MS needs to get over itself and get a grip on their pricing. Even the beta testers had to purchase their Alpha release when it dropped - at a greatly discounted price, but still... I've beta'd every OS since Win 98 and have never had to pay for my personal copy of the OS until 7. Greedy bastards!

From a computer repairman's standpoint, Win 7 really makes things nice when it comes to diagnosing things. And Hell... most of the time, it's able to perform the repair itself followed by a reboot and it's good to go! The flip side though is it's a secure mother fucker! If you lock yourself out... you're out permanently! There's no hacking your way into a user's protected PC with 7.

Sorry for the rambling. Just agreeing with you.

[JRNYMAN]

I'm thinking of replacing my bought version of Windows XP with a pirated copy of Windows 7. I just feel like being an asshole today.

RIP ROKKEN(TM) has said for years, If Microsoft reeeeeeally cared about fighting piracy, they'd lower the cost of their software, like by 75-80%. If more people could afford their stuff, more people would pay for it, plain and simple. Do what you gotta do, ya know? Me, I endlessly demo new versions. Just haven't made a decision to purchase anything yet.

Man, I'm kind of digging Windows 7. I've used XP since the earth cooled. It's a very nice upgrade. The version I have is Ultimate x64. That retails at $275 I see what you're talking about. Geesh. The Professional version is $115 though. That's more reasonable.

Was Vista that bad? I haven't had any issues with it except Internet Explorer. I use Firefox and it works well.

OMFG yes! It was so bad and people hated it and complained so much that MS issued refunds for people who purchased the Vista upgrade and wanted to go back to XP! They've NEVER done anything like that. The "OS Revert" as they called it wasn't highly publicized and you had to submit a form via their site to get the refund but yeah it was that bad.

[YoungJRNY]

How can I tell if I should get the 32-bit, or 64-bit version?

It's what your processor can handle. Some operating systems can handle only 32-bit and some could handle 64-bit. 64-bit processors store much more speed of a system and can handle a good amount of RAM while 32-bit is so-so. Often you can use 32-bit on 64-bits but the drivers could get out of sync with each other & not run as properly as you'd like but you run 32-bit or 64-bit judging by your systems processor.

[JRNYMAN]

How can I tell if I should get the 32-bit, or 64-bit version?

Here ya go...
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... -questions