Are You Prepared For Your Computer To Fail?

All devices will fail

I know that is an unsettling thought, but it is a reality, and therefore it is important to figure out how you are going to deal with the situation BEFORE it happens.

If I prepare will everything be perfect?

Chances are it won’t be perfect, and you may even find more surprises that you never thought of. This article’s purpose is to help you to put together a plan that can help you in the event something crappy happens to your devices.

What happened?

A few days ago I contacted the company I bought my laptop from to let them know something strange was going on. I am supposed to have next business day service, but it took 3 extra days to get me back up and running. This drove me absolutely NUTS! My contingency plan, would have me back and up and running on Friday of last week. Potentially I would have lost only 1 day of work.

How come it took so long?

It started when the company responsible for my warranty didn’t send out the new hard drive in a timely manner. The part arrived on Monday (should have been Friday). The hard drive also arrived without an operating system (they were supposed to send a USB with the software), but the technician told me that all I had to do was call the company and I would be guided through the download and install. I began to erase the old hard drive (to protect mine and my customer’s privacy) The tech worked for a couple hours, then I tried to get the company on the phone for the software… at first they wanted me to wait until the next day! Okay now this was ridiculous… how can you leave a customer without a working product this long? Finally I was able to speak with someone that same day, unfortunately he was not as qualified as me (I ended up training their technician) and after 1 1/2 hours we realized that the download that he insisted would be the right one, didn’t even have the operating system on it! Guess what??? I have to wait again… he said they would send it out to me and it “should” be there tomorrow (which would then make it Tuesday). Thankfully the USB drive did arrive on Tuesday and I was able to get the operating system installed on my computer.

Sometimes things don’t go according to plan.

When I purchased my warranty they were offering next business day in home support, which I have had before and even used. I have in the past received EXACTLY what I paid for. This time it took 3 business days stretched over the weekend.

What have I learned?

I will never recommend that company to look after anyone who asks for advice. It was frustrating for me to have to go through all of these hiccups with all the knowledge that I have from working in the tech industry. I can’t imagine how horrible it would have been to go through all of this without the skills to problem solve on my own.

How can you prepare?

Here are a few things to consider:

1. What device will you use when yours is not available
2. How to mitigate data loss
3. What do you need to get back to where you were?

Backup device

Do you have an old device that you can use until you are back up and running? Perhaps there is someone in your house that you can share a device with until yours is ready? Usually I have an old laptop to use, but my last laptop has been working very hard as our TV streaming device and recently died too. I was able to borrow time from my family and their computers.

Can you work from anywhere?

What are your limitations? I can do a lot of things from any computer where I can log into Google. That being said, there are still things I can’t do without my data.. and this is where the next step is crucial!

Data Backup

You need to have a system in place that will back up your computer or mobile device. I use Allway Sync (yes I paid for the pro version – it’s worth it!). I have a backup drive that is dedicated to my system. With this system it is important to make sure it is running properly at all times, and that your backup drive is in good condition. If you notice that it is making strange noises or if you are unable to access the data, you need to replace it. ALL HARDWARE FAILS that includes your backup hardware.

My phone backs up to dropbox (all my photos, videos etc) and that dropbox is also on my hardrive and yes it gets backed up in the previously mentioned backup as well. My phone is logged into Google, so all my contacts and settings are backed up to Google. When I get a new phone next year it will be as easy as logging back into Google and dropbox and all my contacts, settings and data will be instantly restored. (No missing phone numbers or pictures)

Lists are important

There are a couple different ways to keep track of the things that you will need to get you back up and running to where you were before your fail. I personally like screen shots. I took screen shots of the programs that I had installed on my computer as well as a screenshot of my desktop layout as well as the programs that I had pinned to my taskbar.

You could choose to keep a running list of the programs and pinned items if you like that better, but find a way to keep track and update that information so that you have it in case you ever need it.

We hope it never happens to us

Let’s face it, we hope that our computer never fails before we decide it is time to replace it, but hoping it never happens isn’t going to save you if it ever does. Even with all this planning it took me over 5 hours just to restore the operating system and software that I needed to have on the computer. The data migration from the backup to my new hard drive took many more hours, but just think how much harder it would have been if I wasn’t prepared for this event.

Make your plan today!

You can’t wait till tomorrow, or when you have more time. Start putting your plan into place right now! What is your first step going to be?
picture credit: Copyright: Elnur / 123RF Stock Photo