Computor Nightmare

[Guest]

Please learn from my experience...

 

My laptop contains all the business, PAYE, Registers,Childrens files (with photos)ETC

Fault in power lead PANICK

Battery backup lasts only minutes - try to save info to CD- doesn't work PANICK

 

Take it back to staples 10am next day ( guarantee runs out at 6pm phew :wacko: )

 

"We will have to send it off for repair" the helpful man said

 

" But--Data protection - everything is confidential" PANICK :rolleyes: :unsure:

 

"They won't look at the content" the helpful man said

 

" No, I can't send it away - what can I do???

 

"Buy a back up hard drive" the helpful man said

"You can download everything and plug the hard drive into any other computor (USB)"

 

 

£280 later my whole business is in a portable hard drive, my laptop completely cleared and sent off to the repairers.

 

3 weeks later I'm still waiting for it's return - but doing all my work from the portable hard drive on hubby's comp.

 

Lesson being HAVE YOU GOT BACK-UP

 

Peggy

[Guest]

Peggy - poor you! what a nightmare. Computers are fine until something goes wrong...and it always does. People should listen to your advice about backing up - very important. I hope your problem will be resolved successfully.

I'm in a bit of a mess myself all my files that I've amassed - planning, useful websites, information and some digital photos have all gone. My husband is a computer guy but HE has somehow lost everything yet it's only this one file I keep all my school info in. He tried to keep it quiet but I went looking for something today. I have yet to explode at him as I fear it would rapidly be followed by divorce . Maybe I should have a drink of the hard stuff to calm down or scream loudly in to a pillow.

 

mousebat

[Guest]

Peggy that is a nightmare! Fortunately my husband is fanatical about backing everything up on quite a regular basis so, hopefully, I should be ok. Like you all my stuff for pre-school is on the laptop! I would be in a real pickle if anything went wrong!

I know what you mean mousebat about husbands who mess things up! Mine does that from time to time but of course I can't be annoyed with him!!! He didn't do it on purpose-like I do if I make a mistake!!!

Linda

[Sue R]

Strange, that, isn't it!?

 

Sue

[Guest]

I back up everything on a separate hard drive but for some reason all that has gone as well - just my school stuff. I was thinking of putting everything on to disc just in case. Trouble is just in case has already happened. My soon to be ex husband if he can't retrieve my files has been using something called Active@Undelete - the ultimate data recovery solution but he's had no luck yet.

[Sue R]

Oooh dear!!

 

Hope the poor man manages something!

 

Sue

[Lorna]

My husband suggests you all get a copy of Norton Ghost.... Its not cheap... but worth evey penny.

 

You can take a ghost image of the hard drive and save it to cd or another hard drive and then when your computer goes loopy you can restore it to the state it was in at the last ghost image......

 

Hope everyone gets their problems sorted.... We have been there when one of our hard drives died and took the rest of the computer with it.

 

L

[Guest]

I'm suprised the rest of the country didn't hear me last night. It was midnight and I'd just finished a parents letter that had taken me ages to type - and then suddenly it went - gone forever - and I hadn't pressed a single key that I shouldn't have. Husband couldn't find it either and when he said those little words 'well why didn't you save it?' - well that was just too much for me to bear at that time of night - couldn't believe how distressed I got over losing one little letter - I really feel for those who have lost major stuff.

 

Hope you both get things sorted out pretty quick!

 

byeeeeeeee

 

janice

[Steve]

So you'll all be aware how I felt a week last friday when the whole database for this site disappeared, and I was scrabbling around trying to find out whether my last database dump had worked and whether it was safely stored?

 

And why I needed a very stiff drink when it was eventually back up and running?

[Guest]

we've also had a problem with our computer and had to set the time back to the beg of July which meant we lost all the files makde since. Oh the nightmare of life.

i'm not able to attach any files to the Forum now -keep message that the file is too big or not in a proper format. I wonder what's wrong. It was a word document of a Chrismas play

Can you come up with any suggestions? STEVE

 

Good morning!

[Steve]

Hi Leo -

Sorry to hear about your pc problems. I wouldn't have thought your computer was behind the inability to attach files here though.

 

How big (in KB) is the Word file you want to upload? There's a maximum upload size, but it's pretty generous - 1MB I think, so unless it's a huge document it should be ok.

 

If you want to send it to me, I'll have a look at it and try to upload it, to see if there are any other problems with it. If I can, then it will be your pc after all....

[Guest]

Thanks Lorna for your suggestion, but we're trying to recover lost data rather than make an image of it for back up which is what Norton's Ghost does. We have used it in the past but didn't think it was very good which is why we put everything on a completely separate hard drive now.

 

Steve - I had no idea! Poor you. I can totally sympathise with your need for a stiff drink.

[hali]

I back evrything up now after loosing a lot a year ago when our computer crashed

[Sue R]

I backup EVERY LITTLE DOT AND DASH!! When I was learning my Deputy job, millions of years ago, I struggled all afternoon to sort out the following weeks shifts, only to lose the lot as my finger was poised over the 'save' button, to a power cut. I even save when going along, as the 'time-save' or whatever it's called failed on that occasion! (Probably due to it being millions of years ago and a prototype computer! You know, the type you need a hammer and chisel for )

 

Sue

 

Oh no! Where did that last post go!!!

[Guest]

I think it's that old adage "It will never happen to me" heads in the sand type of stuff.

Comforting to know that I'm not the only one who loses things -in fact because I now have an extra hard drive I seem to be doubling or even trebling up on everything. Filing in the office or on the comp is another management skill I am forever developing.

 

My main worry was other peoples access to information when I had to send my laptop away (still not back and hubby's comp is SOOOOOO SLOW)

 

I shall now add this procedure of "clear all info from computor, in the event of repair" to my Data protection policy. Thats if I can find the file

 

Peggy

[Magenta]

Steve, I've had problems attaching files too! My attatchment thingy says maximum file size 1k!!!!

[Steve]

Sorry chaps. Bit of a hiccup on the technical front. Try it again - I think I've fixed it!

[Guest]

It's not always the old adage 'it'll never happen to me' - we've always had some kind of back up system since day one of owning a computer. It was just our bad luck that our back up system was affected to. There are no guarantees with any system you use to back up stuff it just lower the chances if you do have some kind of back up system. Even Cd roms can become corrupted ( especially if your children's friends use them as lethal weapons )

[Magenta]

Thanks Steve

[Guest]

Aagh, all your stories are going to kick me into backing everything up this afternoon.

 

I do save docs continually, but am not as conscientious about backing up everything regularly.

 

Going into a cold sweat at the thought of losing all my work here.....

 

message to self.............back up back up back up back up back up.......

[Guest]

Just over a year later since the first posting of 'backing up' your computer - oh how I wish I had read this last week to remind me.

Unfortunately my laptop was stolen over the weekend whilst the baby sitter was in. Police are involved but we are none the wiser.

 

Not only all my work over the last 6 years gone but a good deal of photos that I had meant to put on disc.

 

Please, please, please remember to back up. I wouldn't want anyone to go through the heartache I have this last weekend.

 

Gemini

[Sue R]

Oh, my heart bleeds for you!!

 

I suspect you are talking family stuff, as well as work!

 

Sorry, some of us are a bit fixated!!

 

I send my sincerest concerns for you - really do hope all comes right

 

Sue

[Guest]

Thanks

 

Yes work and home stuff. Photos of my last year of teaching hit me especially hard as it was my eldest daughters class and the day my laptop went missing I had spent part of it looking at photos thinking how the Mum's of my daughters friends would have loved to have seen some of the photos.

 

Also hard was the babysitters part in it all as she appears to have forgotten part of the evening through drink we believe. Very shocked at this as we had used her on and off for the best part of 3 years.

 

Going to take a long while to get over all this.

 

If only I could rewind time. Learnt a lesson the hard way unfortunately.

 

Gem

[Rea]

Well there's a job for tomorrow, learning how to back up. So sorry this has happened to you. I imagine part of your upset is the disappointment you feel towards your babysitter, what a terrible thing to do. Hope the police manage to find who did it.

[Guest]

Poor you, Gemini

 

It sounds as if you've had a horrible time.

 

I hope they find whoever has your computer and that everything will be intact.

 

Maz

[mundia]

yes this happened to me too gemini, mine went from school which was even more upsetting as there was no sign of a break in! I lost all my school stuff which I have to say was all backed up at home, but I lost a major and quite expensive piece of software, i was far more upse about that than the laptop!!

 

We were unable to claim as schools rarely insure laptops, can you ?

[Guest]

Gemini, I'm so sorry to here about your news and can't imgine how you feel.

I started this topic and now realise that my back-up hard drive is conected to my laptop all the time. If I was burgled I would lose both. So now I need to ensure back-up drive is not with my laptop ( unless using it of course) or I need to back-up my back-up.

I think we all need to consider data protection here, I now realise I must have security procedures in place. I don't know what information someone could get from my computor if they stole it, I expect they can bypass passwords

 

My insurance company ( through PLA) cover my computor at a cost of £35 per year.

 

Hope you get your laptop back, and I hope the people who took it have a very very bad day today, and get caught.

 

 

peggy

[hali]

so sorry to hear that horrible news, i do feel for you

[Beau]

Gemini,

 

What a dreadful thing. So so sorry. But thanks for the timely reminder - you might well have saved someone else from a similar situation.

[Guest]

Hi

Thanks for your thoughts. We are going to claim for my laptop off the house insurance. My husband had to go to the police station today to make a statement and they are going to put a press release in the local paper.

 

Not had a good week really with DHSS inspection, where they only focused on the things we aren't doing not all the good things we are doing with/for the children and also staff. The inspector called in again today to drop something off and so my husband has invited her back next week to tell her all the good things we are doing and she has agreed to come back!

 

She might have to wait before someone gets to the door and lets her in though!

 

Gem