Never in the 11 years that I have had a computer have I had to use my Recovery Disc to re-boot my computer…up until now! I heard all the horror stories about scrapbookers losing all their digital files & photos; documents and such but never realized the depth of angst that would occur if such an unthinkable act happened. Luckily for me about six weeks ago I purchased an external hard drive and began faithfully backing up my desktop and files. Even with my photos and files retrievable, I lost many small software programs that I had downloaded online over the three years I have had this computer. So after spending several hours on the phone with Dell tech support, he advised me to use my Recovery Disc and begin again.
Slowly I rebuilt my data base, adjusting settings to suit me and trying to remember all the tiny details of my computer world so that they could be restored. What a nightmare! Needless to say, I have begun a document listing all the programs that had to be re-installed to get me up and running again. When I could not find the exact moon phase calendar I had previously used I purchased one online and burned it to a CD. This is something I will diligently do from now on with online downloads.
Readers, if you do not have an external hard drive and have not burned photos or software to a CD…trust me…begin to do so at once. I can not number the hours I have spent to make things comfortable again for me! In addition to my external hard drive I now have an online backup service which was recommended to me by an acquaintance. The online server is called Mozy. I had several questions about starting up their service and I was very impressed with the customer service I received! I had follow up emails several days after my concerns were addressed to be sure all was well and did I have further issues that needed attention. I can highly recommend their customer service. Check them out if you have need of such a service, they are reasonably priced as well. With so much of our lives stored on computers it is foolish not to take every precaution to safe guard the information.
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