Deja vu all over again

Its all been explained and

Its all been explained and very well.

Ha..ha..

Well said "Ib M. Selectric". But what will happen to the songs. should anyone just sing and record them back???

Huh!

Why would anyone do work on a computer without first determining why the user wanted it done. Once you find out what is happening then and only then can you determine if you should do what they ask or recommend something entirely different. Especially when you're doing it for free.

Nature's way

Stop worrying folks, this is just Nature's way of eliminating data so it cannot exceed the amount of disk space available worldwide. When animals breed too much, they eat all the food and the population dies down as the weak die off. Its the same idea with too much data. The weak users lose their data and equilibrium is restored!!

New format wish list

I think I like the new format. I LOVE the fact that JIM leads in votes, with many on both sides! That's what he's all about.

But I would REALLY like to be able to mark comments as read, with unread being obvious, so I could spot them right away.

Although I like JIM's suggestion

I always create a little batch file for home users and either run it at startup or schedule it and it backs all their data up without them even knowing it unless it prompts them to load up a cd. Works best with two drives or a CD/RW. Helps when they call me next time when computer won't boot up. Most of them won't keep their anti malware software updated, sometimes they even disable or uninstall it. You have to be crazy to want to be in IT. I should have been a forest ranger.

Sounds like typical BestBuy/Circuit City mentality

All these places want to do is churn repairs and make money by proposing unnecessary repairs.

I just fixed a machine that didn't need more than a simple power-supply. The person had taken it to CC and besides the $60 diagnostic fee, they said she needed a new MB - $250. My simple $20 PS tester said the PS was dead. Replaced it. Ran the machine overnight. Problem solved.

Same with Virus/Spyware issues. I have a test machine that I keep updated with a swiss-army knife of AV/Spyware removal tools. I take the machines that won't boot due to AV/SW issues and slave their HD to this test machine and run all the scan and removal tools. I have fixed numerous machines this way, that places like CC/BB and manufactures "helpless desks in India" have said "just run the recovery process to put it back the way it came from the factory. Problem solved - user data lost.

If I ever need to do something more critical like a complete reinstall, first thing I do is attach an external HD and Ghost their HD or if that doesn't work, I slave the HD to my test machine and copy everything off, FIRST!

If these so-called repair places would just spend a little more time and effort to actually repair the problems instead of just wiping the machines back to their factory settings, their reputations wouldn't get such a trashing!

Deja Vu

I had a friend once that was asked to assist another friend with his computer, for a six pack. The assist began with drinking the six pack while working on the computer. He didn't ask about preserving any folders, presumed that had been done and just reinstalled everything!

About a year later we ran through this again with another problem. This time we knew to wait until after the work to reward the technician with his favorite brew. Withholding the reward did not help. Again, he failed to ask about preserving existing information, just started running through a new install.

What we have here is a failure to communicate!

Mulitple backups

I always suggest that people keep multiple backups in different locations. The trick is to make this as little of a pain in the posterior as possible.

I usually recommend an external hard drive like the Maxtor One Touch. Once it's configured, all they need to do is hit one button once in a while.

Then I recommend an online service like Mozy. Mozy can be run to do your backups automatically in the background. It gives a couple gig for free and it's relatively cheap for more, and it's encrypted.