That's very painful... heartbreaking! Hopefully something will still be able to be restored. I use google drive to back up my stories and school work, though it's doesn't always sync well for some reason so I'm tempting to find an extra back-up.
i hope you [and everyone else here] now have a flashdrive that you keep inserted in your computer and have a way to automatically save everything you create on it [there are programs you can set to save every so many minutes]... i use dell's backup system that does it all for me... it's well worth the relatively small annual cost, imo... i also have all of my systems backed up on a flash drive... and all work on another one... redundancy in backups is the wisest course to follow, imo...
Your post has just made me eat humble pie, erebh. Firstly, I am so feeling your pain right now. Just two days ago I finished my first ever novel, and I'd be destraught if it went up in a puff of smoke. BUt here is how you helped me: I always keep back ups of my work on USB sticks, as well as having copies on my desktop, netbook and tablet, although they often tend to be at different points in their evolution. Now, for months and months my significant other said we should buy a good external HD to back up all our photos, videos and documents and I couldn't see the need. But, eventually he got one, then for a while kept on suggesting I move all my work onto it. also. I didn't see the need. I do now. Thank you. Also gonna transfer it to dropbox, which I use to keeep academic articles in anyways...
Thanks for all the kind words guys, it's weird but it's a comfort to know you feel my pain - no more crying, sell some stuff and get the drive read. For the guys who tried to give tech advice, the drive is buggered and needs to be worked on in a clean room by men in white coats, bit like me. So which ever God you guys pray to, remember my hard drive when you contemplate and maybe my files will magically reappear. Michael O....?
I am so sorry to hear you lost all that! That would kill me. I'd suggest using Gmail as backup, by emailing it to yourself (Gmail NEVER deletes emails and never deletes your account, no matter how long it is inactive, unlike other email services), using Gmail Docs, or using a Cloud server. It stores stuff in multiple servers across the nation, so you're pretty much guaranteed not to lose it. Also, hubby says Google does use Cloud servers for their stuff, so there's that as well.
mo... it's illegal, unethical and against site rules to post copyrighted work [in this case, lyrics] without citing the copyright-holder... unless, of course, you're really eric idle, in disguise...
This is why I back all my stuff up on a USB and external HD. Have had terrible luck with computers as well so it seems to be the safest option!
when i was at half of my book about two years ago and thought that i had back up in my aunts pc,i accidently plugged the wrong wires on to my hard drive and fried it. and it actually started flaring up like firework i was lucky it didnt explode now i write by hand, but i know the feeling its the worst think that can happen to someone.
Oh, I'm so sorry, erebh. I have no sympathy AT ALL for people who never bother to back up their work, but it sounds like you backed it up on two separate devices. What a total bummer. I do hope you can get it restored. Much good luck and good wishes to you. it's true 'they' can retrieve a lot from damaged computers these days, so hopefully you'll get lucky. I am totally paranoid about backing up, myself, GingerCoffee. I keep my writing on FOUR different flash drives (two to take with me, two left at home) and back up every time I make changes. I also print off every time I write, and keep a hard copy as well. Reason for paranoia? I lost some stuff a long while back because the files got corrupted, and I didn't notice immediately. As a result, I corrupted my backups as well. If I hadn't had the paper copies, I've have lost the lot. This is also why I back up in stages, date these stages, and don't change them. Email. Cloud. Paper copies sent to friends... hey, the tools of excessive paranoia are all mine! I have a Mac as well, and am considering using TimeMachine too.
Buck up guys. Yes, losing a ms is devastating for a writer, 'no one said life was easy' If losing quite a few thousand words is all you have to cope with, then thank your lucky stars, there are much, much worse things that could happen!
