…not necessarily as I do.
It’s everyone’s worst (PC) nightmare – machine crash. A couple of days ago I suffered a corruption in the networking section of my XP install. My main, cannot live without, most important machine. It started off with a BSOD (blue screen of death) when changing network settings, then a loss of all network connectivity.
My own fault really. I was trying out some configurations for a client, in a hurry. So rather than be sensible and use a development machine, or even a virtual PC, I was using mine.
Fortunately, though, there are a few lessons I have learned in the past that make such events easier to overcome.
1) Backups
My data is stored on a server, so even if my machine is completely dead, I know I have a backup of all my latest files. This is always kept up-to-date.
I also have the luxury of full hard drive images, which I take weekly, so I don’t need to rebuild my machine. This time though, as XP Service Pack 3 came out recently, I thought it would be good to do a complete rebuild, which is why number 2 is so important…
2) Notes and copies
I keep a note of everything I install on my machine, in one safe place. This includes details of every licence key and software location. More and more software is sold as a download only, which is convenient for purchase. Just remember to make a backup copy of the file and keep the licence key in a safe place.
You should also keep notes of things like broadband usernames and passwords. It’s not much use keeping copies of emails if your email system gets corrupted.
Sometimes, taking that hour out to create the recovery CD you’ve always meant to create can make a very big difference.
A Microsoft Certified Professional with many years of large corporate experience and training, he now focuses on helping small businesses make the most of their IT.
- Font Test - March 30, 2022
- An open letter of apology to Anna Firth - November 8, 2019
- My story – being a mum to a colour deficient son - September 9, 2019
