platinum blonde life

Monday, December 12, 2005

"my motherboard, myself"

remember when carrie bradshaw discovers that her computer has crashed and she can't access any of her files!? remember when she kicks herself for not backing up any of those vital files, and the tech guy tells her that her computer has major issues???!!! Yea, who doesn't right? well, i can remember every damn line of that episode!! especially now since i relived this episode virtually line for line this weekend when my precious ibook, my one true love failed me. in the time i've had that computer i have never once

had a problem, glitch, hiccup, or even the slightest hint of an issue. i have poured money into it-- updating it with new memory, wireless cards, bluetooth compatibility, & the latest software & security updates. i have literally babied the computer, never once neglecting it. it was always in the best care and it has failed me for the first time ever. I've had it for almost three years (my warranty is up January 3, 2006!)

the blame game (aka my specialty)
I know I should feel lucky that this didn't happen a month from now right? Ok, I can see why you might think that, but what if I told you the only reason this happened is because my boyfriend JINXED me!!! Yep, it is true it is sooo all his fault! Okay, maybe that is a stretch, but he did Jinx me on Saturday. We were leaving the house and I had left my laptop on the kitchen table. He picked it up and was going to put it away. I told him to leave it there, and he responded by saying that it makes him nervous if it is just out in the open because if anything ever happened to it he knows I would probably go ballistic. While I acknowledged it was true I mentioned my warranty, and he said something about how it would be better if something happened to it now than later...and then we discussed what my warranty covered...obviously if it was stolen I would be out of luck. Still, we put the computer away and went about our "nice little Saturday." So, yes I believe that our discussion of the warranty jinxed me, so I'm sure he would argue that because I was admittedly the first person to mention the warranty that i in fact jinxed myself. While this is possible, since I don't recall knocking on wood or anything like that...but, I would argue that he introduced the topic of having some horrible computer crisis on the very day that it occurred and this, and NOT the mention of the warranty, is what jinxed me and my computer. If you dare ask me for further evidence I would point you to the facts as they lie: until that very day my ibook had no previous history or symptoms of problems.

back that @ss up
so what happens when you don't back up your files? please join me in laughing/crying hysterically at my blind faith in my invincible, unbreakable, & superpower wielding ibook. let's not even mention my "would never happen to me" attitude! i had last backed up my files in may when i did a clean install of Tiger OSX 4 on my computer. I moved those files back on my computer but I'm sure a lot of it remains. I obviously have a number of additional files (namely music & photos) on my computer since then. The majority of my pictures are safe because I luckily have a .mac homepage in which i frequently load and store photos on my idisk. THANK GOD I did something right! I knew I needed to try my best to get as many files off my computer as possible. This proved to be extremely difficult when my computer was only operable for 10 minute sessions before the screen began to go into a Matrix/CIA-esque frenzy and freeze up. I was able back up the majority of my videos. videos of my nephew baby j, and my puppy sophie. there were several short videos i wasn't able to back up because as I was burning a cd with those videos and a huge bulk of my photos my computer crashed during the transfer. It did this twice while i was transferring data, so I'm not sure how much of the data was successfully transferred. I did not back up my 2256 music files save for my purchased music and the cds I burned for my sister last week which I can assure you I have no qualms about indian giving those cds...she's my sister! sister's indian give all of the time! haha!!

prognosis: ugly
because i went with my boyfriend's fam to see Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan at Madison Square Garden yesterday, my boyfriend was forced to interrupt his Sunday football session and take my ibook to the intensive care unit and sign away the rights to strangle the techies if they erase your precious files. He is such a good sport for taking my computer in...but I still haven't heard from the computer tech guy about what is wrong with my baby!!!! I am bracing myself for the worst. I have never been without a computer ever! Even if they fix my computer and it comes back with a clean slate it just won't be the same. the good times just might be officially over.

lesson learned

backing up is time consuming and boring but just do it. even carrie winds up using the zip drive aidan buys for her! i know i'm not the poster girl of backing up my computer but i vow to back up every music file, every video, every document, and every photograph that i ever put on my computer from this day forward!! i know people who have religiously backed up their computers but have been faced with the dilemma of having their old files on an antiquated medium such as dozens upon dozens of floppy discs. Now the more likely is backing up on CDs...the best choice is backing up your files on DVDs if you have a DVD burner. They simply hold more files. If you own a mac I highly recommend utilizing the Application "Backup", the .mac accounts as you are given idisk storage (thankfully the bulk of my photos are there), and the most obvious your ipod. I enable my ipod as an external disk and store files on it. As long as they are stored in a place separate from your computer you are good to go. Having a backup strategy, proper labeling, backing up frequently & to multiple locations are all vital to a successful backup. You can avoid a dilemma like I just experienced.