My Computer Crashed

[keyodie]

sigh...

And if they use an advanced retrievement gadget thing, it would cost us 500 dollars. We don't even know if they'll find anything.

I lost lots of stuff. Brushes, fonts, old pictures (that aren't on my digital camera), the actual wmv files for my videos, chapters I wrote in advance for my story as well as jot lists and ideas, school stuff, all my programs, itunes (I don't know how I'm supposed to retrieve all the files and stuff, but I hope it won't be too much of a problem), the images, files, and folders for my website, and I don't even know what else.

I'll be getting a new computer, but it'll be a mac. All of my graphics look smaller on that computer, which sucks. The only reason we're getting a new computer is because macs are less likely to crash than pc's.

Which is why I havn't been on lately. I don't like to be reminded. I probably won't be on much in the future, either. Just wanted to let you know.

 

[GlassOnion]

The only reason we're getting a new computer is because macs are less likely to crash than pc's.

Well not really. They're just less prone to the things that make them crash (spyware, malware, etc). If you keep a PC clean of those things then you're fine. Or using Linux helps a bit.

But a Mac is just as prone to hardware failure as a PC is. They just have a snazzier advertising campaign.

 

[keyodie]

Oh, really? At Best Buy we were told that our pc's hard drive just stopped working and that it probably wasn't spyware/virus/etc. =/ Hmm. Well, I'll let my parents know... thanks for the info.

 

[Julie]

ahh Keyodie... I am sorry. That really sucks!
What exactly did your computer do? My dad just had a big scare with his...windows wouldn't start, and he got a blue page that said a certain file was missing or corrupt. He also had hundreds of pictures he didn't want to lose. He worked on it for 4 days, but got it working again. There was 4 pages of instructions on microsoft website in how to get his computer running again... He did have a computer whiz cousin to help him understand those directions though, they were on the phone for hours at a time over those few days. The first thing he did when he found his photos again was to make backup disks.

Best wishes,
Julie.

 

[keyodie]

Well basically, I was just doing normal stuff on the computer... and then the screen went black and some text showed up. I don't remember all of it, but somewhere it said "Deleting physical data" or some such thing.

 

[dirtmcgirt]

Well not really. They're just less prone to the things that make them crash (spyware, malware, etc). If you keep a PC clean of those things then you're fine. Or using Linux helps a bit.

But a Mac is just as prone to hardware failure as a PC is. They just have a snazzier advertising campaign.

I have to dissagree somewhat..

I do agree that hardware is hardware.. Failure can occurr with either..

What makes Mac what it is in the Operating System.. Windows cannot come close to being as advanced, yet simple, as Mac OSX. They are way behind.. I don't know if Mac is the most stable OS, but Windows is definitely the most unstable OS on the planet.

You know that blue screen of death that Windows users fear?.. Well, Mac users don't get those..

But seriously Keyodie, It is really unfortunate that your HD crashed on you.. May I suggest that when you buy another computer, whether it be mac or PC, that you get an external drive to go with it. Setup a backup schedule for all of your important data.. That way you will never have to deal with this again..

 

[96 GTS]

I have to dissagree somewhat..

I do agree that hardware is hardware.. Failure can occurr with either..

What makes Mac what it is in the Operating System.. Windows cannot come close to being as advanced, yet simple, as Mac OSX. They are way behind.. I don't know if Mac is the most stable OS, but Windows is definitely the most unstable OS on the planet.

You know that blue screen of death that Windows users fear?.. Well, Mac users don't get those..

But seriously Keyodie, It is really unfortunate that your HD crashed on you.. May I suggest that when you buy another computer, whether it be mac or PC, that you get an external drive to go with it. Setup a backup schedule for all of your important data.. That way you will never have to deal with this again..

No, Mac users don't get the BSOD, they simply get the spinning beachball of doom. The little waiting thing just spins and spins and spins forever. It's the same thing really, just gives users a lot less information. The only thing that makes Mac OS any good is that it's based on the Linux kernel, just with a lot of fancy graphics layered on top. Now, I do like Macintosh, and I would consider buying one myself, but this whole "MacOS is the God of operating systems," is BS.

A well taken care of Operating System is unlikely to crash, plain and simple. I've used hundreds of PCs over the years, and I've seen plenty of poorly set up Macs crash, and I've seen plenty of well set up, well cared for PCs run for years without a crash. Windows itself isn't an unstable operating system, 99% of the time Windows isn't even what crashes, it's a program that crashes, but has taken control of all the resources so the user can't do anything, Windows is almost always running just fine in the background.

What she suffered appears to be a hard drive failure, which no OS can prevent, when a hard drive decides do die, it dies, no matter what computer it's in. If someone at Best Buy was saying otherwise, it's nothing but a sell job to get you to buy a more expensive product, as Macs usually are.

Oh, and the whole thing about Macs being less prone to viruses and spyware is a load of BS. The reason they're "less prone" isn't because the OS is more secure, it's because no one bothers to write them for Macs. These days, viruses aren't about a programmer trying to prove a point. The vast majority of viruses infect computers so they can distribute spam and make whoever hired the virus writer some money, it would be absolutely pointless to write a virus that would only infect less that 5% of total computers, if Apple starts gaining market share, I guarantee you'll see viruses for Macs popping up.

I don't mean to sound anti-Mac, and I'm really not, as I said before, I'd buy one of the new Intel based ones, but I just wanted to clear up some common misconceptions surrounding them.

 

[Zoom]

I've had the BSOD pop up plenty of times on a Mac, usually as I was in the middle of a story that was due in an hour to make the press deadline.

I would try the retrievement thingy, just in the hopes they could get SOMETHING back...I lost 2 1/2 years of stuff on my old computer and I still mourn that fact to this day.

 

[RedHotDobe]

I love Macs, but hate when they crash. They just sit there.. and sit there.. and sit there... Or, as I've seen happen to other people while they were in the middle of working, it just restarts with no warning. This was in my computer studio class, and the teacher's solution, after having to deal with a very unhappy student who just lost all of their work, was to "save more often."

Sorry that happened to you. I had a computer crash years ago and lost all of my photos and artwork. I still have the hard drive, but don't have any way of retrieving what's on it.

 

[GlassOnion]

Oh, and the whole thing about Macs being less prone to viruses and spyware is a load of BS. The reason they're "less prone" isn't because the OS is more secure, it's because no one bothers to write them for Macs.

That's what I meant. It's the same reason Linux is a lot less prone as well. There's only a small fraction of Linux users compared to Windows users or even Mac users. But Windows users are by far the vast majority so if someone wants to create wide spread malignancy, they're not going to write something for Mac, and especially not for Linux.

You know that blue screen of death that Windows users fear?.. Well, Mac users don't get those..

That would have been a valid arguement about 9 years ago. I haven't had a BSOD in years and the only one I had in the mean time was because my memory was failing. Plug in new memory and no problems. I've had this same hard drive for 8 years. In that time I've had to replace two memory sticks, a motherboard, and a processor. And that's it. Not bad for an eight year period. I've upgraded my video card as well but it never failed on me so it wasn't really a replacement. And the processor wasn't either, it just couldn't fit into my new motherboard so I had to buy a new one.

At Best Buy we were told that our pc's hard drive just stopped working and that it probably wasn't spyware/virus/etc

Yes, they'll do that. Mine is probably starting to do that. It's been clicking recently so I need to swap it out soon. Which'll be nice because my current one only holds 80 gigs.

But a Mac's hard drive is just as prone to failure as a PC's. Macs are better at visual software (3d modeling, professional photoshop [it won't be big enough of a difference for just consumer use]) and the previously discussed spyware/etc issue.



But here's something you can try doing. It's worked for me before and is, really, a last ditch effort. But your hard drive has already failed so who knows.

Stick the hard drive in the freezer. This can cause the magnets in the hard drive to compress ever so slightly but it might be enough to get it going again. After that you won't have much time (about an hour) to back stuff up but at least you can recover something. Leave it in there for a half a day to a day.

I can't guarantee this will work, but it's worked for me and others before. Like I said it's a last ditch effort. It won't corrupt data any further.

 

[ToscasMom]

Well for starters, you probably shouldn't need a new computer. You can repair any malware or virus damage by reinstalling windows or hitting the Repair option when you put the CD that came with your machine into the drive. This is not uncommon stuff if you are not vigilant. By vigilant, I mean having an up to dat Antivirus software, a firewall, malware and adware cleanup tools such as Adaware and Spybot, and if you never do a good system cleanup of windows and internet temporary files. If you never clean up a mac, you could end up in the same boat. I am not a MAC fan. For starters, many sites still have trouble using MACs, software tweaked for MAC doesn't always do what it promises. But most importantly, your computer could very likely be saved for free by you if you were willing to do the task.

 

[ToscasMom]

Please do not tell me MACs are not vulnerable to failures. I have a friend who is in MAC hell right now. And i can't help her as easily because I am not a MAC person. I also know someone who has a hard time interfacing on the net with some sites, such as MSN message boards. As for Linux. It is a remake of Unix, which I programmed in for a fair number of years. It can and will have it's own set of systemic problems. And as for BestBuy, their job is to sell you hardware. Of course they are going to tell you your drive can't be saved.

 

[ToscasMom]

A well taken care of Operating System is unlikely to crash, plain and simple.

This is ABSOLUTELY the truth. Most crashes are user caused. That is, the user just tooted along and never did a thing to safeguard, protect, or clean up the machine.

 

[96 GTS]

Well for starters, you probably shouldn't need a new computer. You can repair any malware or virus damage by reinstalling windows or hitting the Repair option when you put the CD that came with your machine into the drive. This is not uncommon stuff if you are not vigilant. By vigilant, I mean having an up to dat Antivirus software, a firewall, malware and adware cleanup tools such as Adaware and Spybot, and if you never do a good system cleanup of windows and internet temporary files. If you never clean up a mac, you could end up in the same boat. I am not a MAC fan. For starters, many sites still have trouble using MACs, software tweaked for MAC doesn't always do what it promises. But most importantly, your computer could very likely be saved for free by you if you were willing to do the task.

Unfortunately, it sounds like her computer suffered a Hard Drive failure, there's really nothing you can do about it. It's a remove and replace kind of deal.

On the plus side, no more spyware to worry about

 

[GlassOnion]

I never said Linux didn't have its fair share of problems. It can't interface correctly with a lot of games and other programs made for other OS's, the community is trying to work ways around it and it's getting better almost daily but it does require some computer knowledge since not everything is automated (liked internet connections).

Anyhow all you need to do is buy a new hard drive and re-install windows. You should still have your confirmation key if you saved the package. If not, call tech support and they will find it for you (since you've already registered windows before). Buying a new computer will be much more expensive (~$600 for a low end machine, unless you're willing to build it yourself) than buying a new hard drive (~$100, and that's for a rather large one).

 

[ToscasMom]

On the plus side, no more spyware to worry about

ROFL! Thank heavens for new machines to put new spyware on! Did you have her try reloading windows? It's really hard to know for sure unless you were with the machine. No explanation of what "crash" means. Even if it is the drive, why buy a new computer? Just buy a new drive.

 

[ToscasMom]

GTS, do you have any good links on MAC crashes?

 

[96 GTS]

I don't have any crash links unfortunately, although Mac crashes are nothing to look at, they just freeze up and you have to unplug them.

BTW, it was her that said they were getting a new computer, I'd just get a new driver personally

 

[ACooper]

Oh, and the whole thing about Macs being less prone to viruses and spyware is a load of BS. The reason they're "less prone" isn't because the OS is more secure, it's because no one bothers to write them for Macs. These days, viruses aren't about a programmer trying to prove a point. The vast majority of viruses infect computers so they can distribute spam and make whoever hired the virus writer some money, it would be absolutely pointless to write a virus that would only infect less that 5% of total computers, if Apple starts gaining market share, I guarantee you'll see viruses for Macs popping up.

This is an excellent point

Unrelated point: Tosca, I am sick of my husband standing behind my shoulders when I am on Chaz and MOONING over Tosca's picture!! Geesh, you would think he is ready to propose marriage or something!! I think I will need to pm you my address so Tosca can send an 8x10 glossy for Orson & Kevin to fight over!!

 

[ToscasMom]

I know it was she. Seems senseless to get a new computer.