My daughter Leslie says I’m getting old, and she’s right! There was a time that upon getting a new computer, I could not wait to dig in, to get it going and configure it. I would be voluntarily holed up in a room for hours, playing with it. Those days are gone.
Now, a new computer–especially a desktop–is an appliance, like a new washing machine. Computers are so integrated into my life that even a new one is no longer novel. I just want it to work so I can get on with all the things I use it for. (My Mac-user relatives will probably ask me again why I just don’t switch, but I still prefer the PC environment, and I’m even past the thrill of debating that topic. As Leslie said, I must be getting old.)
Several months before I retired, my main desktop computer refused to boot. Then, I didn’t have time to mess with it. I hired someone to get it working, but I thought I had a backup (image) that would let me easily restore it to exactly the state it was in before the glitch. The image was faulty, and I had to wait until after I retired to get everything set up the way it was before. At least I had a 2nd backup for my data.*
A couple of days ago, the computer glitched again. I have too much important stuff on it to take a chance on losing it, and it was 5 years old, so I headed to Costco for a new one. I think the new one will work out fine, but I spent a full day setting it up and transferring my data. Although I was able to use the site Ninite.com to install most of the useful utilities, I still haven’t finished installing some of the programs that I have found to fit specific needs. That will be today’s project. If I was still working, this whole process could have taken months.
*If you are not backing up, check out Crashplan.com or another online service. It is free to cheap, and it is automatic. Come to think of it, why can’t the NSA provide this service?
Sounds like a lot of fun there Commissioner! 🙂 But you are right…it is important to back up your files. I really need to take the time and do that myself.
Gina, if you use a service like Crash Plan, you don’t really have to take the time. Once you set it up, it will automatically back up your files in the background whenever your computer is on. There are even free versions of the service. Spend a half hour setting it up and you will eventually be glad you did!
Sounds like fun Rich! I would suggest downloading and installing a dual boot option with Linux Mint. That way is something happens to the Software you can boot into linux and get your stuff. As far as hardware glitches go with hard drives, well, back up back up and backup. Having important data out on the cloud, encrypted, of course, is a decent option, as long as the cloud is ‘hovering’ over the USA, is not a bad idea either. I also have a local drive i back up too and i keep a cloned drive of everything in the fireproof safe. Cant be too careful. So once you get the HD all set with your data and apps, buy another hd and use ghost or Acronis to clone the image to a drive you can squirrel away for a rainy day? It will only work right with the machine you have now, usually anyway so make note of the configuration you are booting too… work never ends with computers eh?