I know - things COULD be worse!
>> Wednesday, October 21, 2009
I am really trying to keep things in perspective - we are all healthy and happy, we aren't facing an major financial crises, things are actually pretty great.
But I have spent the last 2 days AGAIN messing with a computer that is all screwed up!!!
A couple months ago I got hit with a bad virus. A bunch of money later, the virus is fixed. We think.
A month later - more problems - new (or was it the same) virus! Instead of calling Dell (aka New Delhi), we called a local technician. He recommended a complete strip and reinstall. The only definite way to clean a computer of a virus. A bunch of money later, the computer is fixed and actually working MUCH better than it has for months.
A month later (today) - BAD NEWS. I was trying to edit photos in Lightroom, the computer kept locking up, I had to keep restarting and I then I got some crazy warnings about Windows not able to load correctly. I eventually got it running but continued to have problems with Lightroom.
I called our local technician, again, he said "Doubtful it is a virus again based on the type of problems you are having (phew). But bring it in for a quick diagnostic". So Kallie and I took it in this morning only to have him *try* to turn it on But this time he gets some horrible booting error and NADA. A few tries later, his diagnosis -
YOUR HARD DRIVE IS DEAD.
I am sick.
Good news is it is under warranty so Dell will be replacing no charge.
Bad news, I lose EVERYTHING on that hard drive unless I want to spend $120 to recover it.
Good news, most is backed up.
Bad news, not EVERYTHING is backed up.
Good news, I have an external hard drive with all my photos.
Bad news, my (brand new) external hard drive is also acting wacky and may have a problem.
More bad news, SOME of my photos are not backed up on DVD yet (i.e. the edited photos) so I may be re-editing.
Some glimmer of hope - if the external hard drive is bad, I may be able to recover the data for not a huge amount of money.
The worst part of this is that these last few weeks have been my busiest yet. I have 4 unedited photo sessions and 2 more coming up this weekend. I have quite a few print orders I expect to receive soon. So this is the absolutely worst time for this problem. Although - what is a good time?
I hate computers. I hate how you get crazy errors, how you often can't even explain what your problem is or when it started. And I hate how much we (me) rely on these unreliable things during our daily lives.
OH - and completely unrelated good news - little white kitty is going to a new home in about 30 minutes. A co-worker of my husband's wants a cat. So I will be delivering the new bundle of joy quite soon!!!!!
Here's hoping for more good news soon!!!!!
6 visitors to our world:
Ugh. No fun. I had to do the rebuild thing a couple of months ago too, right after a big family beach session of course. Really scary when you start thinking about how much of your business is on your computer. I feel your pain!!
Sorry to hear about your pc problems. SO far my HP is great.
Glad Meow has a home. My Sis. just found a Meow that someone moved and took it and then decided they didn't want it anymore so they let it go. Sis. took it to the vet to get fixed and may possibly have a home for it already!
Ugh, sorry, Irene. This is a great reminder for me to do some backing up... but oh so not fun. Fingers crossed you're done. At least you've found a good local tech! (FYI when you do recover files, they come up as file1.xls file2.xls, etc -- or at least they did 10 years ago the last time I had to recover files. That was almost more painful than not having the files)
Hi sweet friend! Life is gradually getting back to "normal" for me so I'm hoping to be able to visit everyone more often.
Yikes! I can't even imagine how frustrating and scary it has been for you. Hope things improve quickly. This just reminds me how much I need to back up my photo files.
Hugs!
Kat
I am going through issues with my dell right now too. Thank God for the warranties--right?! We pay extra for the "your tech team" and get to speak to a real English speaking American when we call. The India help line is NO help. I am also getting a new computer sent to me. Mine was only 2 months old! It has had so many things go wrong they decided to just replace it.
Good luck on your computer!!
I miss your blogging.
HAPPY HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
Hugs!
Kat
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