A warning to everyone - I of all people should have known better and I'm sure my e-learning colleagues will find this amusing!
Two days ago, my laptop crashed (or at least I thought it had) - it would not boot up, no screen display - nothing. I realised that although I had been religiously backing up my files once a week onto an external hard drive, this does not allow me to view or access my files, only restore them to another laptop or computer. Big mistake on my part, not understanding the difference.
Fortunately, I have a Dropbox account but I had not been using this to keep a separate copy of all my documents, only my photos.
I discovered after a bit of trial and error that it was the power cable at fault, the battery still worked and the screen was ok. Therefore, thankfully, I was able to get my files back, but the few hours inbetween when I was worried about losing the files, which included all my MALIC documents, does not bear thinking about. First thing I did was copy everything to my Dropbox account and then create a work folder on the external hard driver and do the same. I now have them in two places and will update them regularly.
I won't be caught out a second time, but I wonder how many of you out there have been making the same mistake - please do a backup, especially of your mid term. Our tutor in MOD013 did warn us about keeping a copy but I failed to take note.
Two days ago, my laptop crashed (or at least I thought it had) - it would not boot up, no screen display - nothing. I realised that although I had been religiously backing up my files once a week onto an external hard drive, this does not allow me to view or access my files, only restore them to another laptop or computer. Big mistake on my part, not understanding the difference.
Fortunately, I have a Dropbox account but I had not been using this to keep a separate copy of all my documents, only my photos.
I discovered after a bit of trial and error that it was the power cable at fault, the battery still worked and the screen was ok. Therefore, thankfully, I was able to get my files back, but the few hours inbetween when I was worried about losing the files, which included all my MALIC documents, does not bear thinking about. First thing I did was copy everything to my Dropbox account and then create a work folder on the external hard driver and do the same. I now have them in two places and will update them regularly.
I won't be caught out a second time, but I wonder how many of you out there have been making the same mistake - please do a backup, especially of your mid term. Our tutor in MOD013 did warn us about keeping a copy but I failed to take note.
Yes, Back ups are vital. The Dropbox account and the use of an external hard drive are a fantastic opton when you simply can't afford to lose vital documents :-)
ReplyDeleteImportant lesson, luckily not learned the hard way :) Glad to hear your laptop is still alive.
ReplyDelete