Computer Woes: Near Disaster at Work

Photo from BRPoint.net

I'm regarded by my employers and coworkers as something of a computer guru. It is a title that I hold a little uncomfortably, as I tend to just stumble and bumble my way to a solution. But, I usually do find a solution. It isn't so bad to be regarded as something of a genius when you solve problems. It is altogether a different story when you are the cause of a problem.

On Friday, I decided it was time--with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up--to do a system backup. I plugged in our portable hard drive, and went to work. Since I was going to be leaving shortly after starting the process, I decided the most expedient way to proceed would be to blank the portable drive, and then start a fresh copy process. That was my first mistake.

Our files are stored on a drive designated as "Z:" and all the drive is used for is file storage. After plugging in the device, I mistook the Z: drive--designated in the computer (unbeknown to me) as "F:"--for the portable device. After the deletion procedure started, I noticed that one of our biggest folders on Z: had disappeared. Alarmed, I immediately stopped the process. Thinking I was utterly screwed, with a blank backup and a deleted source drive, I panicked.

I decided the best course of action was to leave without saying anything, and ponder what to do at home. I figured, why ruin the bosses' weekend, when I didn't yet have a plan of attack. I hit upon a quasi-solution while at home. This was an optimal situation for file recovery, as the drive in question had not been accessed for anything at all after the deletion, and is not used by the computer for any programs. I found an online downloadable program for file recovery that costs $40 a pop--a price I could definitely live with.

So, here I am at work on a Sunday. I found my situation to be a little less dire once I got here. The source drive is indeed trashed, though the file recovery program is in progress, and looks like it will work. I also found that I had not deleted the backup drive, which has files as recent as the end of September. Worst case scenario: we've lost half of our files since September. A pain, but an endurable problem.

I'm currently also copying the files from the backup device to my desktop computer to have even more protection, in case the file recovery doesn't work. And, I discovered an even older backup from November of last year on a separate computer. Cross your fingers for me, I just may pull this one off, and retain my title as computer guru.

Because of this situation however, my posting to this blog is likely to be very light today. But since I still haven't shaken a bad case of nerves over this situation, it may just be that I'll be back blogging today, if only to release some nervous tension!

UPDATE: It seems to be working, but (of course) not without a couple of hitches. First, the $40 activation only supplied me with enough "quota" to restore a minimal number of files. So, I had to purchase another $200 worth of storage space. Good news: It's now unlimited, and can be used for future unfortunate events. The second hitch is where to store the recovered files. Since there isn't enough space on the other drive in the computer, I have to carefully blank the backup drive, and put the files there. Whew! It may be almost fixed!

UPDATE II:

I'm $240 poorer, but the old backup has been re-backed up, the portable drive blanked, and the file recovery is now proceeding with gusto. It may be several hours until it finishes, and then I'll probably have to doctor a few of the folders. Then I will have to copy the backup drive back to the original drive. It may mean I spend all of my Sunday here, but I think in the end, all will be back to normal.

UPDATE III: The restore is almost complete, and amazingly enough--I really don't know how--all of the files seem to have returned to their rightful place. I'd thought I lost a large chunk of folders, and--yay!--they seem to have somehow survived. And the boss is going to cover the $240, amazingly enough. The program, if you're interested, is called VirtualLab. Be sure to just pony up the $200 the first time though!

UPDATE IV: It's 5:20 pm, and I'm finally home. I actually left work around 4:00 pm. At that time, the files seemed to be up to nearly 100% recovery. I left with my newly restored files being backed up one more time onto the portable storage device. Unless there's a fire, flood or someone blows up the building, all is back to normal.