Computer Backup or Climbing Out of the Computer Crapper!

Climbing Out -- When You Realize That You're In Deep, What to Do to Get Out of the Crapper. If you can do one thing, and one thing only: Backup Your Computer!

If you have a problem with your computer, you do not have a backup, and you cannot make one, you have been flushed! So before you get to that point, even if you are circling the drain, do this one thing that will save you from every possible computer problem.

Change is good, right! Especially if you are in a bad place! In keeping with the metaphor of climbing out, I do have to say, sometimes we just find ourselves there ... in this case, all of us bloggers, and computer users in general .. where we do not want to be. So, how to jettison the bad and stay out of the crapper yourself? And what happens, if your trusty tool, your computer, isn't? So trusty, that is.

Everything was OK! But then ...

We don't even like to think about it. Your lifeline to the digital universe lets you down -- it's got a Virus or lots of 'em, it's making terrible noises and overheating, Java doesn't work and none of your Flash stuff will display, or suddenly it's HotHotHot! What will you do?

You can't ignore it; it won't go away. You ARE in the toilet. You need to know the quickest and least painful way to get out.

Well, you have 3 choices, actually. First -- You can pay to have it fixed, and put your baby with all of its delicate files and info into the hands of a stranger who will do God-Knows-What to it and will then return it to you. Whew! Stressfull! You are backed up aren't you???  Second -- You can fix it yourself. Well ... you can. If you can. Third -- Some combination of the 2, that is take some steps yourself, and let a pro do the rest.

Now, let me say this again -- You are backed up, right? 

If you are, great. If you are not, and you can still back up, do so, right now, with whatever backup tools you have. You don't have any???!!! See the article Computer Backup -- Simpler is Better in the Working Computers Blog.

A small excerpt makes an important point:

"having a boot or system disk clone is the single most reliable and speedy way to recover from a disk failure or even from an infection.

If your boot disk fails, you can boot from the backup disk. If your boot disk is infected (and you haven't cloned the infected disk to the backup), you can boot from the backup disk and scan and clean the original boot disk. If you lose a file, you can just go get it from the backup disk.
...
my favorite ( program that does disk cloning) is Casper (The Friendly Ghost) 7.0."

The other wonderful thing about such a backup is that it's cheap -- a 2 TB disk and the Casper Software will run you about $100 or maybe a little more depending on what you choose, and that's the cost of a diagnostic at The Geek Squad.

OK, let's assume you are backed up to a bootable disk. Hooray! 

You do, right?

Now, whatever the problem, and whatever course you take in fixing it, you are safe in the knowledge, that you are protected, every article, every email, every photo. And once your computer is fixed, you can boot it right up. 

So if you have just backed up, congratulations! You have pulled yourself out of the John Crapper! If you have been backed up all along, well, you were never there in the first place!

Who knows what's down there?

And don't let the Gremlins getcha!

Happy computing!


~Ted

I'm watching you!

PS Happy Halloween!
PPS Photo Credits: 
Man Getting Pulled In -- www.ebaumsworld.com
I Love My Computer -- sayingimages.com
Sloth in the Toilet -- various
Skull in the Toilet -- various

Here are my fellow Bathroom Blogfest participants. Check out their 'climbing out' posts, too.

Name	Blog Name	Blog URL
Susan Abbott	Customer Experience Crossroads	Customer Experience Crossroads
Paul Anater	Kitchen and Residential Design	Kitchen and Residential Design Blog
Shannon Bilby	From the Floors Up	http://fromthefloorsup.com/
Toby Bloomberg	Diva Marketing	Diva Marketing
Laurence Borel	Blog Till You Drop	http://www.laurenceborel.com/
Bill Buyok	Avente Tile Talk	http://tiletalk.blogspot.com
Jeanne Byington	The Importance of Earnest Service	http://blog.jmbyington.com/
Becky Carroll	Customers Rock!	http://customersrock.net
Katie Clark	Practical Katie	http://practicalkatie.blogspot.com/
Nora DePalma	O'Reilly DePalma: The Blog	O'Reilly-DePalma Blog
Paul Friederichsen	The BrandBiz Blog	http://brandbizblog.com/
Tish Grier	The Constant Observer	http://spap-oop.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth Hise	Flooring The Consumer	Flooring The Consumer
Emily Hooper	Floor Covering News Blog	Floor Covering News Blog
Diane Kazan	Urban Design Renovation	Urban Design Renovation
Joseph Michelli	Dr. Joseph Michelli’s Blog	http://www.josephmichelli.com/blog
Veronika Miller	Modenus Blog	http://www.modenus.com/blog
Arpi Nalbandian	Tile Magazine Editors' Blog	Tile Magazine Editor Blog
David Polinchock	Polinchock's Ponderings	http://blog.polinchock.com/
Professor Toilet	American Standard's Professor Toilet	http://www.professortoilet.com
David Reich	my 2 cents	http://reichcomm.typepad.com
Victoria Redshaw & Shelley Pond	Scarlet Opus Trends Blog	http://www.trendsblog.co.uk
Sandy Renshaw	Purple Wren	http://www.PurpleWren.com
Bethany Richmond	Carpet and Rug Institute Blog	Carpet and Rug Institute Blog
Bruce D. Sanders	RIMtailing	http://www.rimtailing.blogspot.com
Paige Smith	Neuse Tile Service blog	http://neusetile.wordpress.com/
Stephanie Weaver	Experienceology	http://experienceology.blogspot.com/
Christine B. Whittemore	Content Talks Business Blog	Content Talks Business Blog
Christine B. Whittemore	Smoke Rise & Kinnelon Blog	http://smokerise-nj.blogspot.com/
Christine B. Whittemore	Simple Marketing Blog	http://www.simplemarketingblog.com/
Ted Whittemore	Working Computers	http://www.kinneloncomputers.com/
Chris Woelfel	Artcraft Granite, Marble & Tile Co.	http://www.artcraftgmt.com
Patty Woodland	Broken Teepee	http://www.brokenteepee.com/
Denise Lee Yohn	brand as business bites	http://deniseleeyohn.com/bites/