PC went belly up

[journeyman]

My Windows desktop went belly up yesterday with no warning. Backups of my novel exist, but worst case is the other work, including first five chapters of my new novel may be gone. I don't know yet what the problem. It may be the power supply. I'm praying that the hard drive is ok.

Please pray for restoration and wisdom.

[beckyminor]

Apr 28, 2010 7:38:56 GMT -5 journeyman said:

My Windows desktop went belly up yesterday with no warning. Backups of my novel exist, but worst case is the other work, including first five chapters of my new novel may be gone. I don't know yet what the problem. It may be the power supply. I'm praying that the hard drive is ok.

Please pray for restoration and wisdom.

Aaaak! What a horrible feeling, journeyman! Praying that whatever the problem, that it is easily rectified, and that it hasn't compromised any of your data on your machine. Keep us updated.

[metalikhan]

Praying for you, journeyman.

In the days before home computers, we had a litter of 10 hound puppies get loose while we were at work. They had a jolly day of Shred & Spread in our office. Lost a lot of writing (poetry, short stories, novel drafts) that day as well as personal papers.

They had fun -- but what a sick feeling to see the puppy version of a micro-cut shredder all over the room and down the hall. (Plus other organic messes.)

I was able to remember/rewrite about 65% of it. I told myself that what was gone forever probably wasn't worth trying to resurrect. But what I did recover actually turned out better than the original version I remembered.

Praying God's hand on your work and equipment and that, whatever was lost, He will bless you with even better than you hope.

[journeyman]

Thank you beckyminor and metaikhan. I'll let you know guys know how things turn out. I have decided to replace equipment and put in network attached storage for intermediate backup before moving stuff off-site.

I have access to forensics hardware to recover files on my hard drive if that is necessary. My fellow geeks are as perplexed as I am as to what is really the problem.

Metalikhan, that story is definitely an OUCH! I'm glad that you could recover/revise most of it.

My God will not abandon or forsake me. It does get interesting from time to time, though! :-)

[journeyman]

Good news! The drive is intact and I was able to get the files off pretty quickly. The PC appears to be toast. A search of the PC make and model shows that a number of folks ran into the same trouble. The manufacturer does not mention anything about the specific issue at its support site. I am getting a new PC and reusing the old monitor. I hope to revive this as a secondary machine for my daughter. Thanks for your prayers!

[beckyminor]

Glad to hear you didn't lose anything besides the machine, journeyman! Good luck with the resurrection.

[morganlbusse]

So glad to hear you were able to retrieve your files! When I switched computers, something happened to my files and they showed up as corrupted on my new computer. Luckily, my tech savvy husband spent an hour with my computer and all my backups and was able to fix everything (whew). So I know that gut wrenching feeling and the elation of having all your hard work back

[metalikhan]

Great to hear you recovered your files! Praise God!

[journeyman]

Thanks everyone! I should have the new PC delivered in the next few days.

[Teskas]

The best piece of writing I ever did was swallowed by the black hole of a PC system failure. Every time it comes to mind, I gnaw at my knuckles, so I was holding my breath for you journeyman. I am so glad to read your work was rescued and that a new computer is on the way. May God bless your writing!

[Christian Soldier]

Hmm.... Journeyman, if you would send me a PM or e-mail with the exact symptoms, I may be able to help you out there. Sorry about the delay, and it's great to hear that your work is safe!

IHS -- CS

[journeyman]

I sent you email. Thanks for the offer of help.