When I got back from my Weekend with SWMBO, the first thing I did (after unloading the car) was to turn on my computer. Then I unpacked while it was booting up.
Only it didn't boot up. Instead, I got a message from Norton GoBack (which takes checkpoints during the time the computer is operating) saying that the last checkpoint was 4.3.2009 and the system date is 1.1.07 at 12:39 am. It asked me if the GoBack checkpoint timestamp should be updated, or the system date?
So I updated the system date (today at 5:26pm).
When I confirmed the new system date to be correct, I expected the system to reboot at the last checkpoint version.
Instead, I got a "Load Error! Press a key to reboot ..." error message on the Black Screen of Death.
Pressing a key returned:
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER
What boot disk? My puter has gone for 30 months without a hiccup, and now I'm dead Dead DEAD!
I have Norton 360, antivirus and GoBack installed, so I invoked GoBack on the reboot. The oldest goback checkpoint it was able to find was last Friday ... which was when I turned the computer off. I haven't turned it on between Friday Morning and Sunday Evening,'
Still, my desktop computer will not boot.
Fearing that it had something to do with either the Conficker worm, or the cable modem, I turned off my computer and also turned off (and disconnected) my cable modem "for at least two minutes".
Then I connected my laptop, which has not been connected to the Internet since last September, to the cable modem.
The laptop booted right up.
So for tonight I am able to post to the Blog, and also check my email.
Of course, not all of my bookmarks are available because they are on my desktop computer ... or they are six months out of date.
My agenda for the rest of the night is to (a) do whatever I need to do on my blog, (b) catch up on my email, and (c) disconnect my desktop and put it in the car so I can take it to the local Computer Doctor to see what can be done to 'fix' it.
The good news is, in the final analysis the worst that can happen is that I will lose a little data. Much of the data on my hard-drive is backed up on my external hard-drive.
The bad news is, I haven't backed up the hard-drive for several months. I've been unwilling to crawl under my computer disk to re-connect it, so I can't say that I have less than 1 month new data missing on my backup.
(My data is fully backed up at last monthly on my workstation at the office. I have my priorities.)
If there is a moral lesson here, it is that it is insufficient to have the resources to back up data. We also need to do the actual backup on a regular basis.
The only consolation I have here is that at least two of my 'favorite bloggers' ... Michael Bane and Xavier Thoughts ... have reported computer crashes lately. Both websites reported system outages lasting for several days. It isn't The Geek who experiences Schadenfreud when SHTF. [Shit Hits The Fan]
At least this disappontment provides another excuse for me not to complete my tax return for a few more days.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.
I really don't like my laptop, because the keyboard is so ... tiny. And the function keys aren't where they belong.
Still, I'll do my best to keep up, and to serve as a Bad Example to the rest of the world.
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