Just returned from a couple of days away and faced with a very busy week and a family get together here this coming weekend, I have an imminent hard disk failure. It hasn’t altogether give up the ghost but it’s most certainly exhibiting faults if I try to do anything more ambitious than emails or blogging.
Now I know this happens but it hasn’t happened to me before, so I have spent the day frantically backing up my hard drive onto any conceivable device that I have to hand.
The good news is that it is being replaced tomorrow after a diagnostic check by yours truly, and it may take me a while to sort myself out.
I may change my mind, but so far, the response to my phone call earlier today has resulted in a next day replacement service, so I’m quite impressed. They are arriving tomorrow to replace the offending article and let’s hope that my back-ups are all capable of restoration.
Is it Val’s birthday? If so, many Happy Returns, and have a lovely evening.
I hope to see you all soon, but probably not until next week!
Boadicea's Chariot 
And you will now back up regularly, won’t you? Computing 101, page 1, I believe.
Always do a back up at least once a week. Only do your files and settings the rest is a waste of time.
Good luck in the transfer over…
I do back up reasonably regularly Bravo, but at least I had some warning of the impending death of my hard drive so I didn’t have that much to do.
I have now ordered an external hard drive which I have been thinking about for a while now.
Rick, I know, but I had a month or so’s stuff to back up. I’ve been busy but I agree, files and settings.
I will do it more regularly now, I promise! 🙂
Thanks, Nym. I’m sure it will be OK, sob!
Most of my panic has to do with finding my router log in and encryption keys, so I can get back into my network. I have now found this so I feel I can cope!
This has happened to me lately, Ara. I’ve been pretty lax about backing things up as well – fortunately, some of my stuff is over on MyT. Good luck with it anyway 🙂
Hello Claire.
Thank you, I’m not so concerned with blogging but I do use my PC for “real life” and this is my main concern at the moment.
Eeewww. Not good. Good luck with it all, Araminta. 🙂
Yoo hoo, Araminta! – A big paw-over-the-head wave and a huge grin from The Cave. So where’s your August CW contribution for Pseu?
OZ
Thank you, Jan. I’m keeping fingers and toes crossed, but it’s been nice knowing you. 😉
Oz, my dear, I have to say that at the moment my August or august contribution is the least of my concerns, but I may make the deadline or alternatively I may never be seen again. Sob!
Look after Eff please!
C’mon, Araminta – Wot wud Monty do?
OZ
🙂
Monty is blooming useless at anything technical but he’s working on it while I just PANIC!
I know the feeling, Ara 😉
It happens Claire, but I try not to make a habit of it, but hell’s teeth! 😉
Hmmm! Methinks the Lady doth protesteth too much as the October (or was that Christmas, or was that her March birthday) deadlines for Eff’s repatriation loom ever closer. I have also been asked to point out that Auntie Bilby, whose own computeramable is presumably working perfectly well, is suspiciously quiet on this matter too.
OZ
It does, it does, Ara…I’m sure it will sort itself out soon. Funny how dependent we’ve all become on technology.
Hi Ara,
Have only had one computer meltdown in my life. Luckily, there was nothing of any substance on the hard drive. Since then, I back up all my i-tunes library, pirated movies (all clean, before you ask) and family photos (don’t bother about my blogs, they’re mince) on an external hard drive and I hope you retrieve all your valuable files and photos from the malfunctioning robot.
As an ultra cautious type of person I considered having two external hard drives in case one packed up but that’s ridiculous, isn’t it?
Good luck with everything, Minty.
Hasta la vista baby! Best wishes for the changeover.
It’s a feature of cyberlife that whenever one mentions a problem, there is a chorus of ‘Youshould’ve’! Hope you recover quickly, Arrers!
Good luck!
Yipee, new hard disk fitted at about five o’clock and I’ve been busy restoring all my settings and files.
It’s working well so far.
Thanks for all the best wishes, and Janus, you are so right!
Hello Ara. That was quick!
It was, and so far so good. It was relatively painless and I’m sort of up and running, but I still keep coming across third party software that I am missing, but it’s all working well so far; touch wood! 🙂
The support from Dell, I have to say has been brilliant, but the engineer was a tad surprised when he opened up the PC to replace the hard drive to find the whole of the interior colonised by spiders. He said he was used to dust but had never experienced cobwebs.
So it was a bit buggy but not the software variety. 🙂
Talking of spiders, I went to see a friend last night and on a visit to her bathroom discovered two ENORMOUS spiders in the bath. The sort my mother called ‘landcrabs’ for some reason. big hairy legged chaps (or chapesses)
Anyways I was able to remove the beasts (cup and paper method)and put them out of the window.
Had your spiders been trying to get on the world wide web?
We have a huge one and it was scuttling around here the other night. I normally don’t mind them; I think they’re quite sweet, but the big ones scare me for some reason!
Glad to see you’re sorted, Ara 🙂
Has your new computer a web cam for the spiders?