My hard drive didn’t make it, there was a fatal error. It was quietly laid to rest yesterday in a private ceremony. Last minute heroics were unsuccessful in a valiant attempt to save the accursed device. Well, not by me, personally, but by the tech guy.
At the first sign of trouble, though, I did rush my computer over to him. In a panic-induced frenzy, I babbled an overwrought and greatly exaggerated tale of death throes and last gasps. The dramatic picture I painted, complete with wild hand gestures, elicited an eye roll and a mumbled, ‘sounds like a software issue’.
Software? Really? I started breathing again, shallow breaths, but breathing all the same. The hard drive was only a couple days old, mind you. The thought of buying another one, with labor costs, wasn’t even remotely attractive.
Hours later, the tech guy called with glorious news of corrupted system files; the drive could be resuscitated. My whole body unclenched. But, he warned, the drive would have to be wiped, I’d lose all my data. Big freaking deal, I still had back-ups from the first crash. Wipe away.
By that night, my computer was back on my desk humming happily. I reloaded software, restored as many bookmarks as I could remember, and loaded my data files. My computer was back and I could go back to avoiding my nemesis, the despicable touchscreen. Except it wasn’t and I couldn’t.
No sooner had I restored everything than my computer went all weird again. That’s technical language, went all weird. So I went commando and launched the Disk Utility program. Ha, that’d fix it. The program dutifully checked the drive and declared it ‘ok’, then proceeded to verify permissions or some such thing, but reported no valid packages. That’s when the computer started wheezing and shuddering; it gave a final feeble cough, sent a wisp of smoke skyward, and went toes up. Red type on the screen stated: Fatal Error.
Tears came to my eyes, a lump to my throat, and my heart fell into my shoes. Why, I asked? Why do these things always happen on Fridays? After five? Is there new legislation regarding disk failures? A new type of blue law? Well, step aside, this is an emergency.
I dashed off an email to Monsieur Tech Guy, lamenting the demise of my newly repaired hard drive. And on Sunday morning, this knight in shining armor, this beatific Prince Charming, replaced the failed drive with a working drive. For free.
Software’s been loaded, bookmarks bookmarked, and data restored. So far, so good. Although I noticed a curious and significant reduction in available disk space. Closer inspection revealed the replacement disk is 20gb smaller than the one I bought. And it’s used. Does the fact that this information bothers me make me an ingrate? A terrible person? I’m absolutely certain it makes me nervous.
Copyright © Publikworks 2011.
the whirly girl 
14 responses to “: there won’t be a visitation :”
R.I.P. Is there a charity donation set up?
Getting into a relationship with another hard drive right away is always risky. They never do measure up and it sounds like this one came from questionable origins.
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Hi, halfcnote! Risky is right. The first and second drives crashed within days, I’m on the third and last one. I’m hoping this one takes. Reloading software and data has been my full-time occupation, lately. Thanks for stopping by, it’s always good to hear from you.
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I’m a big dummy when it comes to this stuff. I wish I could throw out beep blippity beep bloop bam and it’d make sense and you’d do it and the world would be saved.
Instead I can only offer my sympathies. And encourage you to hit that tech guy with something hard and heavy. Like your used hard drive?
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Thank you for your sympathy, Angie. Before this is all over I will have lost what’s left of my mind. But that’s all right, I probably won’t even miss it.
It was awfully nice of you to commiserate with me. I appreciate it.
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OMG YES!!! You are back! Thanks goddess!!! That is the best news ever! Please tell your puter from me that he better don’t do that again or I’ll come over there and frie him personally. This tech guy better helps him with that task or I’ll frie him along with the puter. About the missing space . . . well, 20 gigs aren’t that much nowadays, at least for real puters, dunno about an Apple. If that harddrive is a 2nd hand piece I would worry, because then I would guess that these “missing” 20 gigs are still there just not working anymore. But oh well, for now we just want to be thankful to have you back with us. I was missing you and your posts very much!
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Hi, Min. I’m afraid this is going to be a mighty short stay; the newest hard drive is failing. And the computer guy is dodging my phone calls. This is a nightmare. I’ll keep you posted.
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Your story caused an immediate clenching as I thought of all the “stuff” on my hard drive that I haven’t backed up. Did I run a back up? Make a recovery disk? Nope. I know that disaster won’t happen to me. I’ve heard of hard drives crashing, but, I know it won’t happen to me. Right.
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Welcome back, Len, I’ve missed hearing from you. I hope your Santas and reindeer sold out at the craft fair. They were amazing!
Yeah, crashes freak me out. I don’t recommend them, not even if you’ve backed up all your data. You might be one of the lucky ones and never have a crash. I’m not lucky, I’m a sitting duck.
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I so enjoy your writing. You lost me on the 20gb stuff – I don’t do numbers let alone tech numbers. Still, I was riveted throughout the entire post. I hope you found comfort in sharing the story of the loss of your hard-drive with us. It will be missed.
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Hey, LD. You know I’m a huge fan of your work and your blog. You’ve developed such an interesting bunch of followers and commenters and amazing posts. You are my mentor, Lenore.
Thanks, I do feel a little better getting this off my chest, but I’m still scared. Yep, scared.
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You are making me NERVOUS! c
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I’m sorry, cecilia. I keep telling myself not to worry, but I can’t help it. Technology baffles me. You’ll be perfectly fine as long as you keep your files backed up. : )
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I would make me nervous too. You never know what for weird stuff was stored on that used disk. I would call the tech dude and tell him your findings. Ask for a replacement.
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Today I learned the new version of iTunes is incompatible with my operating system. I’m starting to wonder if this guy knows what he’s doing? I’m going to take your advice, Robert!, and ask for a new drive.
For the future, would it be easier to get an external hard drive and avoid all this? Or do I need an internal device?
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