Public Service Announcement.

BeastMaster · 11-05-2002, 04:45 PM

BACKUP YOUR FILES. Now.

I just had the scare of my life Sunday afternoon.

I finished the 8-page paper that was due Monday and could make-or-break that course, and decided that I could celebrate. So, I turned off the computer, and went out to a movie. When i came back, I tried to turn the computer on. Again. And again.

Please note that I am a writer and a student. All of my writing is done on computer, as are (at the moment) all of my school essays. All of my future is tied to the computer in some way.

Fast forward to Monday. The paper is now officially late, but my mom has come to town so that the computer repair guy could come without me having to miss classes. Turns out it was only the power distributor. All my files are intact.

As soon as I arrived home, I printed out the essay in question (it'll be minus 5% for a day late, but at least it won't be an "Incomplete"). Then I took a blank CD and loaded all of my text files. Then, and only then, did I relax.

I trust this is a lesson to all of you. Backup your files.

Rogue15 · 11-05-2002, 04:52 PM

another reason to get a

spoiler:
Mac

.

Pedro The Hutt · 11-06-2002, 09:46 AM

Why would I want to go to an americanistic fast food chain?

*Pad* · 11-06-2002, 12:33 PM

yep, i do that all the time backin up my files. i cant think of loosing all the stuff i got. and i think such problems also could happen when u have mac

Darth Simpson · 11-06-2002, 02:07 PM

LOL, Pedro!

BeastMaster · 11-06-2002, 09:49 PM

This computer (well, the processor) is new too; just got it last April.

Nowhere near ready to get another (don't know 'bout you guys, but for me, $$$ is an issue). Besides: Macs = waiting several months for "new" games to be adapted. They're not more virus-resistant, they're just a narrower target range.

It ended up being a blessing in disguise though. I (A) now have my critical files backed up, and have learned that lesson, and (B) it caused me to reevaluate my academic progress.

I've decided to forget summer school next year, and instead take a "real" semestre to finish my courses. In the best possible world, I'd have had to come back this summer to finish up a last "ENG 3***" course (to get my required credits). My C grade in CanLit last year means that that's probably a required do-over as well (I need a C+ average for the Honors Program), and BritLit was pretty much FUBARed even before the late essay (I'd have needed to ace the essay and the final in order to recover from flunking the midterm).

This way, I'll be able to actually write something this summer (a revolutionary experience for this [alleged] writer

), and I'll have a full semestre (September to December) to complete University.

Don't know why I was hurrying anyway; I should have one more year, no matter what the School Computer thinks. I'm a third-year, just with an assload of extra credits from transferring in from another school (which is why the Computer thinks I'm fourth-year).