That’s my new external hard drive there to the left. I’m using it to back up all of my music, lyrics, and writing on a regular basis-starting today.
I lost seven years of work on Friday night.
I had just finished recording a video for a guest post to a friend’s blog; I’d delivered a nice little talk and I was feeling good. I carefully saved the video-which is a bit funny given what happened next.
I turned, tripped over the laptop’s power cable, and pulled the whole machine face-first to the ground. The sad part is that I was planning to get the samsung battery replacement for my laptop, but now, it was a much bigger problem!
I attempted to revive the computer, but it wouldn’t boot my operating system at all.
The computer repairmen told me they thought they’d be able to recover my data, which gave me hope-but upon beginning work, they found that the drive had taken more of a spanking than they originally thought. This most likely means that my songs are lost forever. That being said, perhaps if I’d taken it to DriveSavers, the outcome may have been a more positive one.
Happily, my laptop only needed a new hard drive and OS installation. I’m using it to write this article now. I’m grateful for that much. Hard drives and other computer components are not hard to come by and are readily available on sites like Amazon. If you’re looking to get one yourself, it’s worth keeping in mind that you may be able to make a saving by using coupons from websites like Raise – view it for yourself to grab a bargain today!
Take a look at this list of what I lost, and think about what you could lose if an unexpected disaster wipes out your hard drive:
- 7 years of recordings and lyrics
- 89 pages of a novel in progress
- All of my collected writings (over 100 essays, stories, etc.) from 2004 forward
- Over 50 saved letters to and from my valued friends and contacts
- Pictures
- Over $100 in eBooks that I’d purchased over the last few years
- 30 pages of a new eBook that I was writing
- Myriad ideas and fragments
- Anything else that I saved and can’t recall.
Don’t procrastinate.
If you’ve got songs, lyrics, a music collection, pictures, etc. on a hard drive, back them up to another drive. Don’t stall on this-do it as soon as you humanly can.
I bought the hard drive on the left for my work and memories going forward, but as you can see there are some other, more colorful options available as well:
Click on a drive to view its details, color options, and pricing on Amazon.
I’m not above begging.
Look, I’d been procrastinating backing up my data for about three years when I dropped my computer on Friday night. I could’ve saved myself a lot of grief and money if I’d done the intelligent thing and backed up my work instead of putting it off.
It’s easy, it’s fast, and it protects your songs.
Be more intelligent than I was. Don’t wait for a disaster-click here to buy an external hard drive and back up your work.
Oh no!! Sorry to hear about your hard drive. 🙁 That sucks.
(But wow do you actually know any Hokkien expletives? I’d be impressed if that’s true! I wonder if you know the same ones I know. :P)
I started obsessively backing up when my previous laptop was on its last legs. It died eventually, and since I’ve gotten a new laptop I’ve been less diligent about backing up. Thanks for the reminder, though. Hope the computer repairmen manage to work a miracle!
I only know one Hokkien expletive, but it’s a good one. It’s an acronym. I’m sure you can probably guess which I’m talking about.
Back up your writing, Linda!
external hard drive is a good step, but you’re still vulnerable to fire, theft, etc. check out internet backup or storage services as well… it’s the only way to be sure.
I finally sprung for a “cloud” backup service earlier this year. It took a while for the initial seeding of all the files, but seems to be pretty stable. One neat feature – not only can you back up to the company’s servers relatively cheaply, but it allows you to back up for free to an encrypted space on your friends’ PCs as well, so you can have “local remote” and “remote remote” backups.
Hmm! Interesting. Given the speed and the zenlike calm that an empty hard drive gives me, the cloud has appeal. I’ll look into it.
Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that too, since stashing the external drive at another location isn’t really an option. Thanks for being my conscience, Molly.
Sorry to hear that.
Thank you Mona, but don’t be! It’s not exactly the worst thing that can happen to a person.
Really sorry to hear this. Going forward, you might consider a Drobo for local, Google Docs for free cloud, and Amazon S3 or Dropbox for paid cloud. For now, a stiff drink.
Thanks for the recommendations, Jeff. It’s been a harsh lesson, but there’s also something exciting about a completely clean slate.
You’re totally right. I have got an external drive, but I should backup more too
You’re totally right. I have got an external drive, but I should backup more too
Don’t wait until tomorrow! Do it today, Harald. Trust me. 😛