Trials and tribulations

[caz963]

Gah - I have been computerless for best part of today. I've been having some problems with the broadband connection here for a few weeks; it's just taken to dropping in and out when it feels like it which is incredibly annoying when I'm in the middle of something. Also, the phone line has been playing up; having a conversation with anyone on the land-line has invariably led to me having to ask the other person to yell so I can hear them over the inordinate amount of crackling and hissing coming down the line. Of course the two problems are related, and no - and I count myself fortunate in this - it wasn't to do with the actual line (which would have necessitated dealing with bastard BT), but rather with the connections in the house.

To cut an even longer story short, my Dad came round earlier and we managed to sort it and so far - fingers crossed - its fine.

The other problem was with my laptop which kept dying on me for some unknown reason. Another long story involving much yelling and frustration but which again, seems to be fixed courtesy of a trip to the local laptop fixer (Dad, again).

I hate it when things like that go wrong. I mean, I'm quite capable of doing basic, routine things on computers, but when they don't work, I'm at a bit of a loss.

Luckily, I've learned the hard way to make regular and comprehensive back-ups - although the problem with that is that I now have four or five copies of certain files, which annoys me, because I like things TIDY, dammit!

*deep breath*

So before I roll into bed, I am going to try to resist the temptation to organise and re-organise and do something more constructive instead.

Like edit fic.

Comments

[hooloovoo_42]

Having a telecoms engineer in the family is very useful. I hope everything's behaving itself now.

[caz963.livejournal.com]

So far, so good. It's also useful that we only have 3 phone sockets in the house! Otherwise it could have been a much longer process.

[ilovehulajosh.livejournal.com]

Oh I hate ISPs and the people who work for them. B*tches the lot of them ;)

Hahaha

*wipes tear from eye and goes to see if wages are in the bank*

[caz963.livejournal.com]

Not my fault if angry LJ-ers beat you about the head because I should have been writing smut fic today instead of faffing about...

[ilovehulajosh.livejournal.com]

Haha they can get in line ;)

Seriously though hope the fic writing goes ahead ok.

Stupid BT!

[hooloovoo_42]

You called?

I demand pr0n.

[caz963.livejournal.com]

I was about to type "it's coming", but that seemed waaaay too obvious, even for me!

*snerk*

[kiss-me-cassie.livejournal.com]

I now have four or five copies of certain files, which annoys me, because I like things TIDY, dammit!

Oh, I know that feeling. When I was working on stuff at home on either a laptop or desktop and at work on my work comp, I'd have about 5 different files of the same thing going. It was a mess. Thankfully I have now (mostly) streamlined everything on the laptop with USB key backup. And that is IT.

[caz963.livejournal.com]

That's kinda my plan, too, except that the laptop gets pretty full with sork stuff, so I keep an "archive" on my PC as well. Trouble is, now I have a second laptop (the school's) which - though nice to have - is probably going to complicate matters!

[kiss-me-cassie.livejournal.com]

USB key. it was a lifesaver for me. Small and portable and good on any machine. :)

[caz963.livejournal.com]

I have 5 of the bloody things and still I don't feel organised enough!

I usually have one or two that have music on so I don't have to lug CDs around with me - I just emptied a couple onto the PC so now I have some spares. Thing is, I guess having moved around so much job-wise over the last 4 years has meant I've generated a LOT of documents, far more than if I'd stayed in the same place. Meh. It's just me being a control freak!

[digitalred93.livejournal.com]

I'm a backup fanatic, too, so I feel your pain.

Have you tried http://www.mozy.com? It's free for 2 gig and then you can pay for over that. I use the free version to back up correspondence, academia stuff and current writing projects.

It does off site automatic backups (you can configure to as many times a day as you want). I use that for my latest backup but I also have external hard drives and flash drives laying EVERYWHERE. Plus I'm OCD enough that every quarter, I do a DVD backup and put it in the safety deposit vault at the bank (in case the house burns down though with Mozy's, I could just retrieve off of there, too.)

Hope the insanity is settling down. How was the camping trip?

[caz963.livejournal.com]

I don't know how I'd cope with an external back up option as well! I have 3 hard drives on my PC, one of which I use specifically for back-ups, and every so often I transfer stuff (mostly work-related) onto it for storage. I have 5 USB sticks, various CD backups... I just never feel very organised!

Camping was good - the kids loved it and we had a good time; I'll post some stuff later. Unfortunately, I have to get some work done this week before Abigail's birthday and our next trip to Kent.

[digitalred93.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear the trip went well. I apologize for being out of commission so much this summer. The book deadline looms, I'm fighting a stomach problem which I'll share in September, once I know more. Suffice it to say, I've lost 15 pounds...which I really didn't need to lose. So obviously, something's up.

Seriously though, you should try and have at least one off site backup option. Things happen. Fires, damaged equipment, you name it.

Better to be insane and alive than sane and with no backups.

Also, consider a wireless backup -- that's my next purchase. I'm trying to find a PC version of Apple's Time Capsule:
http://www.apple.com/timecapsule/