{"id":20051,"date":"2014-04-23T19:11:03","date_gmt":"2014-04-23T23:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=20051"},"modified":"2017-12-29T02:15:51","modified_gmt":"2017-12-29T06:15:51","slug":"my-hard-drive-died-what-should-i-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/my-hard-drive-died-what-should-i-do\/","title":{"rendered":"My hard drive has died – what should I do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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My hard drive has died \u2013 what should I do?<\/h1>\n

“My hard drive has died \u2013 what should I do right now!? I don’t know what to do!”<\/p>\n

These were\u00a0the sounds the angry woman next to me at the Apple Store counter made, while crying about her hard disc that had\u00a0died.<\/p>\n

“But it was fine this morning!”<\/p>\n

My sympathy was\u00a0more with the blue-shirted geniuses who took her anger with a calmness that was impressive. My sympathy for her? Well, I just thought\u00a0to myself, “Now here is someone who doesn’t understand the concept of single point of failure<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Back your data up, all the time. Constantly. Back it up to\u00a0different devices and<\/strong> the cloud. A hard drive crashing should be no more than a minor annoyance. So if you’re running this risk of not having your data backed up, DO IT NOW. And get a system into place. Now. And I really mean, now<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

If you don’t know how, ask someone. The tools and software aren’t expensive or difficult to implement. But if you need help, ask. In other words, if you lose data on your hard drive, you have no excuse.<\/p>\n

Play this little game – if you had to run into your burning house, and grab two things (aside from your spouse\u00a0and kids\u00a0who are already safely outside), what would that be? If your answer is your computer and hard drives – well, then you might have to rethink your off-site back-up philosophy.<\/p>\n

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My hard drive has died \u2013 what should I do?<\/h2>\n

So what do you do if your hard drive died? Well, I suppose you try Google and then suffer the $$$ spendy consequences of not listening to everyone who has ever told you to back up your data, because your hard drive will<\/strong> die.<\/p>\n

Then, when you’re sorted out again, make sure you’re never vulnerable again. Here are some starting points, but there are numerous ways to go about it.<\/p>\n