"Clean up your computer files."
"Organize your computer files."
"BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER FILES."
Did I do all of the above? Nope I did the first two. I was in Ohio, and found some free time to back up my files. When I turned my computer on, I went to check my e-mail. Thats when "IT" happened. My computer locked up. I couldn't shut it down, I couldn't restart. So, I pulled the battery out. When the computer (Apple MacBook) came back on. I got some clicking sounds, some grinding and a gray screen with a flashing folder with a question mark on it.
I tried several times to restart my computer. I jumped on the internet from a friends computer to type in the symptoms to find a clue to what was going on. Nothing worked, so I returned to Arizona and went to the Apple Store. They looked at my computer and said the words no one wants to hear..."It looks like your hard drive is dead." AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
The repair guy told me he wasn't sure, but there was a good chance, everything on my computer was gone! He said he'd have tech look at it and give me a call to let me know. The next day I got "the call." My hard drive was replaced and a crack in my keyboard was fixed too. (Thank you extended warranty...everything was fixed for free) Bu, they couldn't save my files. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
After freaking out for about five minutes and thinking of everything I possibly lost, my calm/rational side took over. There was nothing I could do about the information I lost. I could only concentrate on what I could do. (no I can't build a time machine) I realized that I backed up files on my computer before I moved to Arizona. I also backed-up a few files on my jump drive. Any pictures I took from the last time I backed up my computer were lost. But I remembered I put all of my best pictures on my blog. I thought I lost a lot of my music, but wait, I saved all the new stuff on my IPod. Most of my speeches and presentations are on my website and saved with my friend Rodger. After thinking things through, I can recover 95% of what I lost. Wooooooo!!!!!!!
I'll be spending the next couple of weeks putting "humpty dumpty" back together, but I'm happy I'm not creating "humpty dumpty." Yesterday I went out and bought a external hard drive and some new software to help me back up my files every time I connect my computer to it. My lesson had been learned. I'm sharing with everyone here. If you don't have your computer files backed up, please do it now. I don't want any of you to have that AHHHHH!!! moment. If you're buying a computer, be sure to get the warranty!
