Socal Mom

The Very Last Post on the Dread Hard Disk Crash of 2008

How do you rebuild something that's been lost forever?

That's been my quest since I realized that the data that was on my computer is NOT COMING BACK.

The only thing to do is to start over, and -- without the baggage of having to live with bad decisions you made on previous computers (weird file setups, layers and layers of archives, etc.) -- you try to build it all better.

One thing that strikes me is how much quicker my computer is running now. The hard drive was probably already failing when I was at BlogHer, which is why I couldn't live blog LIVE over there and spent two hours after each session just fixing weird involunatry typos.

But I know part of my computer's slowness was due to all kinds of crap that various programs stuck into my startup routine, hogging my computer's memory and causing it to take a loooong time to bootup. I'm nipping that in the bud by going into startup every time I reinstall a program and removing all the extraneous bits I don't want as soon as I see them (because otherwise, I can't tell what they are or if I actually do need them).

And I'm going somewhat analog. Among the ton of BlogHer swag I received was a little black book titled the Internet Password Organizer. It's a simple idea - it resembles an address book with alphabetized pages. But instead of phone numbers, you record websites and passwords. When I saw it in the beautiful bag I received from Silicon Valley Moms Blog, I didn't think I would have a use for it, as I kept every password email I ever received in an Outlook folder and could do a quick search whenever I forgot one.

But I can't do that now. And a hard copy backup is starting to look good. So this book is my new right-hand (so to speak, as I'm a leftie). I'm not sure where I want to keep it -- don't really want to pack it in my laptop bag, so I guess it will stay somewhere in the house. I just hope I don't lose it!

Some of the files that were lost date back seven or eight years -- and if I really wanted THOSE, I do have old backups.

But the stuff that's lost forever is the material that has built up since I purchased this computer in 2007 - oh yes, and from a couple of years before that, because a few months ago the external hard drive I was using for backups had failed and I was TOO CHEAP to spend $100 on a new one.

I've learned that lesson. No more waiting around for help in repairing something as important as that.

Anyway, like I said - I'm focusing on rebuilding. My husband successfully managed to transfer all the media files from my iPod to a newly installed version of iTunes. I am now able to bore all of my friends with Series 4 and 5 of the British TV show Shameless ... and I can't use the "I don't have my iPod" excuse to avoid working out at the gym.

All my Playlists got lost in the transfer, but that's just a minor inconvenience among so many major inconveniences I am facing.

Like what to do about all the financial stuff that had been in Quicken. I need to pay bills today. I can download bank statements from the last few months, but don't know if I can get them dating back to the beginning of the year.

And there is the ever-present nuisance of hunting down email addresses that no longer exist in my contact list. If you sent me an email in the last couple of weeks and I haven't replied - or if I have promised a reply and you haven't received it... please accept my apologies.

Starting Over

A brief recap: On Monday, exhausted from BlogHer (and suffering from the onset of BlogHerBola Virus), I learned that a trusted member of my family was feeling even more sickly than I: My computer flashed me a message stating that my hard disk was about to fail, and warning me to back up my data immediately. Then it froze.

The following morning, I hied myself over to the nearest outpost of the Geek Squad, where a nice young man named Joel reassured me by showing me that he could see my data there on the disk, and he was confident he could get it all back.

You know where this is going, don't you?

I had been tweeting my whole Geek Squad adventure (what else are you going to do when you're waiting in line -- and after all, they reminded me a LOT of the Nerd Herd on the NBC-TV series Chuck, which made them seem like a lot more fun even though I am certain not one of them is a secret weapon for the CIA).

My Twitter friend Boriqua sent me a direct message, warning me that she and her husband had a not-so-great experience with Geek Squad service. I thanked her and crossed my fingers. At some point, you just have to have some faith. And I was feeling too lousy to do anything else.

I called Geek Squad back on Wednesday to find out if they'd made any progress. "We did your back up," I was informed by the woman who answered the phone. Now, they needed my authorization to charge me for a new hard drive, install and system restore. ETA: two to three business days. The earliest I could have my computer back was Friday.

So I made do. I commandeered my old computer (now ancient!) that I'd bequeathed my daughter when I purchased the current one. It's really only good now for simple web browsing, but at least I was able to keep up on my email (albeit using a clumsy web interface). I could not initiate a lot of email because the contact information was on the old hard drive, as were all my passwords. That's OK. It will only be a few days.

When I did not hear from them today, I figured I would call tomorrow (Saturday). Then, after dinner, I noticed I'd received a voice mail: It was an automated message from the Geek Squad, informing me that my computer was ready to pick up. And so I did, along with two backup disks on DVD and a box containing the old, failed hard drive.

I brought my computer home and booted up and discovered that "system restore" only refers to the actual Windows system (in my case, Vista - let's not go there, OK?) Fine. Having all my programs and files restored was too much to hope for anyway.

But then came the surprises. First, that the restored system didn't have any of the old wallpaper files. I know, that's not a big deal, but now my computer doesn't feel like my computer any more. It's got a weird picture on startup which I'll have to get used to.

And then I punched in the DVD that contained my backup files: They were completely unfamiliar. They weren't mine. They belonged to some guy named Jorge.

So I called Geek Squad back and told them my problem. The woman who answered the phone sounded panicked. I can understand that -- Jorge probably doesn't want some stranger poking around in his files. Neither do I. She put me on hold while they looked around the Geek Squad work area to make sure they hadn't given someone else MY disks.

"Come back in," she told me.

So I drove back to their store, waited in line (again!) and then waited longer at the counter while Joel double-checked to make sure that this time, I would be getting the right disk.

I was relieved to see my name on the folders when I got it home and booted it up.

And then, my relief turned to dismay. My folders were there -- but they're all empty. All that's on the disk are a few configuration files for a couple of my old programs. There are no documents. No spreadsheets. No emails. No Palm Organizer files. No photos. No videos. No music. No Quicken files. (AARGH. I just purchased $50 worth of British TV series and  hadn't backed them up and hadn't shared them with my husband. They are all GONE the next time I try to sync my iPod.)

Mind you, I knew this was a danger on Monday when my hard drive died in the first place. But Joel and his colleagues gave me hope. Not once did any of them say, "By the way, we got all the data we could, but none of it is very useful to you." They let me plunk down my money and come home (TWICE!) where I could have that disappointment by myself.

I called them back and complained about that part -- after all, it would have been nice to know that they were unsuccessful in getting back my data. And I will give them points for this: They refunded the $99 they'd charged me for the data backup. And they referred me to another Geek Squad store in Santa Monica, where they specialize in restoring data that's been through fires and stuff.

I'm not sure I even want to try. Even if they can get the data back, it will probably cost an arm and a leg. I might be better off giving the old drive to my husband, who is geeky enough himself to want to give it a try. It would cost less.

And on the bright side: The new hard drive is 70 gigs larger than the one that failed. And now that I'm working off a computer that has NOTHING on it, it's running like new again. I'm going to be very, very careful with which programs I restore.

And I'm taking Boriqua's advice and staying away from the Geek Squad.

Effing Microsoft

My loving husband was kind enough to overnight me my AC adapter while I was in Sacramento, so I was eventually able to access the Internet from my hotel room. Too bad the PTA Convention organizers kept me SO BUSY that by the time I got to my room each night, I was too knackered to log on. I still felt fatigued after finally arriving home on Sunday afternoon... and yesterday, I pretty much spent the day just catching up on home-related business (raffle tickets, bill paying, laundry, etc.) to think too much about this blog.

This is too bad, as I have much to report about the Convention -- the things I learned and the things I got to do. I will get to those in the next few days.

In the meantime, I have a need to RANT. You see, a funny thing happened to my email while I was checking it in my hotel room last week. One minute, I had a bunch of new emails in my Inbox... and the next minute, they were GONE. I wondered if my fingers had slipped on my touchpad, causing a mass delete of new emails. However, I noticed that there was also a phantom email in my Outbox: when I clicked on it, I got an error message telling me that it could not be displayed. And when I tried to delete it, I got an error message telling me it could not be deleted.

That's not all -- if I tried to send any other emails, I discovered that Windows Mail would not send them because the phantom email was blocking them in the queue. (I eventually figured out that I could get around that by using one of my other accounts -- but there are still some people I need to communicate with who won't know that webmaster @ darbypta.com is me, and I wanted my usual identity back.)

So today, I've been trying to deal with the problem, which a Google search revealed is a known issue with Vista's Windows Mail. And the good news is that I managed to get rid of the phantom email. The bad news is that in the process, I somehow managed to decimate HUNDREDS of archived messages I've saved over the last five years, including some important current ones.

So... if you sent me an email last week that I did not reply to, I apologize. And if I contact you asking for a copy of an email you sent me over the last six months, I hope you will understand.

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Thanks to everyone who responded to my email plea for help in fundraising for Megan's gym. I managed to meet my quota of raffle ticket sales! Of course, that air conditioner and the scholarships and other items on our wish list will be easier to obtain if the fundraising continues -- so, if you are so moved to help out by purchasing a $5 raffle ticket, please visit the PayPal links here.