Geek guidance: back up your files, photos, docs to an external hard drive
Some lessons are best learned by failing miserably. This is certainly the case with me; today, I discovered that that every photo, file, document, video and bookmark on my Mac Book is gone forever. GONE. FOREVER.
I should have been backing up my files to an external hard drive. Like this one, which I just purchased this afternoon.
The good news: the computer is saved and working beautifully. Gotta love those folks at the Apple Genius Bar. Turns out I had a "corrosive hard drive" and it just sort of gave out. When they restored My Precious, they did so free of charge! But they were not able to salvage any of my data. NONE OF IT.
(sigh)
So, ladies. Let my laziness be a lesson unto you: back up your files to an external hard drive and save yourselves the heartache of losing every digital photo since 2003. And your entire iTunes library. And copies of your resume. And your Christmas card list.
On the bright side, my old Mac Book is like new now. And all the repairs were under warranty. So I've got that going for me, which is nice. Still, I won't make this mistake again. I hope.
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Comments
That stinks, man! I have been meaning to do this. MEANING to--and yet--I haven't. I will now. Also worth noting that Comcast customers get free Norton Anti-Virus (I did install that) and free file back up. Haven't done that yet either, though. Why? I don't know.
Oh, sister. Go do it right now. NOW.
That is SUCH a bummer - the loss of data. I can't imagine, but I will most definitely let your experience be a lesson.
Wow, that's no fun at all. My fiance, who is infinitely wiser than me when it comes to computers, has his Macbook backed up on an external hard drive and has been telling me I need to do the same. But I just can't ever seem to get that thought in my mind when I'm at Best Buy. I've had laptop since freshman year of college, so your warning is coming at a good time...
Thanks for the comment, Tiffany! Indeed, hear the siren and head to Best Buy. I'm still in shock that everything is gone. (sigh)
...The external hard drive I'd set up as my official "Time Machine Back-up" for my iMac (aka - the nerve center of my existence) c-r-a-p-p-e-d out. Thankfully, I'd long been paranoid enough to intermittently direct back-ups to yet another mongo-huge-capacity hard drive (with a fire wire connection, originally purchased to store video edits so as to not burden my system). I highly recommend the piece o' mind of two layers o' protection! :)