I just needed to vent, sorry guys.

We had a power surge today and my hard drive went to heaven. Luckily I do pretty regular backups so most of my stuff is safe; the real pisser is I lost all my e-mail/address book. I guess the other pisser is I am on an APC too, but it didn't prevent the surge from killing the drive. Made for a long day!

Anyway, hope you're all out doing things that are more fun that re-installing Windows XP.

 

Sorry to hear Kevin. I can only imagine how frustrating you feel right now.

Have a drink and call it a night.

 

Sorry to hear, I recommend buying a HD just for backup. Leave it sitting in your case and when you're done backing up, just unplug.

 

Deane - sounds like a plan

mmagic76; I have a usb hard drive i use as a backup then unplug; so all my important documents, photos, mp3s etc were saved. I just totally forgot to save my emails and address book (since you have to export them). Oh well, live and learn. I am mostly back up and running, just need to rebuild the address book!

Have a good night guys

 

Yeah, it really sucks when you have a power surge... I remember coming home one night and I noticed that HYDRO was working on a few wires outside, it turned out they put a surge through the power. It fried my PS, luckily nothing else was fried.

When your HD fries, the most PITA thing to do is to install all the software you had before. Thats why whenever I have new software, I just put it in a directory of all the software I had b4 and if something happens, I'll just go into that directory and re-install everything I had. That way I know I'm not missing any software.

 

Is the drive spinning at all? If so, have you tried connecting it as a spare? Try rotating the drive in your hand while attempting to read it as a spare. I've had a number of drives that I've been able to get the data off of, by just having to hold the drive in a particular position for the entire read/copy process.

Good luck.

 

Kevin,

When you buy your new home, make sure it has a "whole house surge protector" installed at the Breaker pannel.

Its been shown on "Holmes on Holmes" a few times...

Sorry to hear of the crash

 

I feel for you Kevin... it's a real PITA.
There's always something you forget...
I went through that last month, except it was my MTBF time that punched the clock.
It just wouldn't go past the FAT sector.

&...
Also had a call from my daughter at school in PQ......
"daaaaaaad (in that penetrating sinusoidal tone), .....my computer won't boot".
...as if I could wave a magic wand over the phone.

 

Sorry to hear Kevin I feel your pain. Last year one of my PCs got infected by something the kids installed and I had to wipe it clean and re-install.

Since then I have created separate accounts for both boys and made them Limited so no installation access. Secondly, I bought an external hard drive for my photos, music and movies. Today I will do a complete data, e-mail and favourites back-up which is long since overdue, thanks to you for reminding me.

 

Yeah, Bill I saw that too. Must check it out since a problem like this would be catostrophic for me not having a clue about computers.

 

Hey

I did try connecting it as a spare, I tried it on another computer too. I tried a few SATA cables etc, the computers won't even recognize it as a drive; it doesn't spin at all.

 

What kind of drive Kevin? I had something similar happen twice, both times Maxtor drives. I have switched to a Seagate internal and have a Western Digital USB for backup. I create .pst backups of Outlook every month and store the file on my USB drive to protect my email addresses and folders. I have also installed all my program software and keys on the USB drive in order to speed up the process if I ever need to rebuild.

My MB went about 4 weeks ago and had to go through this. Fact is, I do a fresh install 2 to 3 times a year due to system drag with Windows. Keeps the pc running fresh.

 

It was a WD 320gb SATA; it wasn't the drives fault though, we had a pretty nasty power surge. Neither my APC or surge protector stopped it, I will have to look into one of those "whole house" protectors jobs.

I do the same with witha USB drive, just forgot my stinkin' e-mails and address book. Live and learn.

I'm actually messing around with Vista a bit, tbh I am not all that impressed yet.