Wednesday 20 July 2011

Down in the Dumps

I am officially down in the dumps.

No, dear readers, I've not been reduced to scouring our local dump for bits of tat - even I might draw the bargain hunting line at that (mind you.........).  

The thing is that I'm just not a happy bunny at the moment *sad face*.

I wasn't going to post about this as really I'd prefer this blog to be a bit of light-hearted fun,  but I would appreciate some sage advice and some kind words from you, dear readers.  Our computer hard drive is destroyed and Mr J and P and I are so rubbish at backing anything up that we've lost a lot.  And when I say " a lot " I mean ALL our photos from 2008 to now.  The most annoying thing is that our external hard drive that we had bought an age ago to back-up our computer hard drive is completely bloody empty.  Nothing on it at all!  Zilch.  Nada.  Nowt.  Blurgh!

Last week when I realised the enormity of it all, I could hardly sleep a wink that night as I kept remembering all the photos from all our trips that we haven't got anymore.  Aaaagh!  *sob*.

The man in the computer shop said he could do nothing for us but I've kept the old hard disk drive because one day scientists may discover a miracle cure for hard disk drive disease.  Here's hoping......

So since then, I've been over-compensating for our loss, and annoying all and sundry by taking too many photos. 

Oh dear, I really must get a grip.  It's not as if someone has died or is seriously ill but I do feel bereft.  I know we have our memories but what with my poor addled brain, my memory is a diminishing resource *sniff*.

So that's it, dear readers, I'm through with technology at the moment.   I'll be back when I'm feeling a little stronger *very sad face*.  After all, I've got a lot to report on:  jumble sale finds, a tea towel frenzy, a post on ridiculous obsessions - all of which are paling a little into insignificance at the minute, as I'm sure you'll understand.  TTFN. xx

45 comments:

  1. Oh thats so sad! ust awful for you!
    I don't think many of us do bother to back up our 'puters these days... no chance of pics still on the cameras memory card??

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  2. A couple of years ago the very same thing happened to me. I now not only store my photo's on my laptop but also regularly update my account at snapfish, they are great for printing cheap pics but also for just storing everything as a back up. I also have a portable hard drive that I'd like to say I back up regularly but infact probably only every 2 or 3 months. But at least if anything does happen I only loose a few months of pics. Hope someone comes up with a miracle cure soon so you can recover everything.
    Big Hugs
    Pene x

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  3. I feel for you, similar thing happened to me the other month, thankfully though hubby was able to rescue most of the photos, had a few weepy hours whilst I thought I had lost everything.

    Did the computer guy say what was wrong with the computer, I'm not doubting him but there is a computer shop near us and for £45 he runs a program you can download for free, they don't always get it right!

    My hubby is a total computer geek, could take one apart and put it back before he could walk type thing, I can ask him about it if you'd like, he's always ordering parts for other people and sorting them out! Hopefully he could do something for you.

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  4. Oh, I really feel for you. Technology is all very well most of the time, but when something like this happens it really is awful. You tell yourself it could be worse, but it does make you feel miserable all the same. Not sure I have any worthwhile advice. I have PicasaWeb on the computer I use most of the time, so when I open it up, it grabs any new photos I've downloaded. This is sometimes annoying, but it does mean (I think) that if the computer curled up its toes, they are safely tucked away elsewhere (and I suppose you can do privacy settings if you don't want the whole world to be able to gawp at all your photos.) Is it worth trying a different computer man?
    Hoping some sunshine comes into your day...
    x

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  5. Lost my whole Novel/comment I just wrote to you grr.
    Take 2
    You poor love Id be feeling sick too
    I spent alot of time today uploading to photobucket ( I am usualy very slack and forget to put on backup hardrive) My sis lost al her last daughters baby pics a few years back so I am a tiny bit more careful.
    Hope you feel better soon xxx
    (short comment this time)

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  6. Oh my lovely Loo, how awful! I would feel dreadful too in the same situation.
    I'm sending you many virtual hugs and much love.
    x

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  7. Oh no, that's awful, poor you Loo. Have you checked your sent emails? I use Picasa/Gmail to send all the good pics to Grandparents etc, and as I hardly ever delete my gmail they're all in there somewhere. Otherwise check with people who you might have emailed them to, or made copies for? Do you have to physically do something with an external hard drive then? Is it not automatic? How bloody annoying.

    My other half is quite good about periodically putting all our pics on CDs, should probably give him a nudge to do it again. I've not sent your kitchen implement yet, but I will when I get back, yo can work through some rage with it's chopping rollers! x

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  8. We can only learn by our mistakes, but I can understand the heartache of this problem, it is very frustrating and sad. Do you use Facebook? Would you not have uploaded some photo's on there? You also have some photots from your blog, I know it isn't quite the same, but it is a start at getting some of the photos back. Hope you get the problem fixed soon xxx

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  9. Poor you - computers can be so annoying! Could you get some photos off friends/family who were with you at certain occassions etc - not quite the same as your own photos but a start!

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  10. How awful, I feel for you. I think we've lost photos in a similar way too. I can only suggest trying another computer repairer - some of them will tell you it's impossible to fix in the hope of selling you new hardware.

    Really hope you get it sorted x

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  11. Hi Loo, I am so sorry that this happened to you...I know absolutely nothing about computers so I cannot offer any advice. I understand how cross and sad and frustrated you must feel and EVEN a tea towel frenzy would be poor solace...technology is a bit like that little girl - when it's good it's very, very good, when it's bad it's horrid!

    Take care, I hope you cheer up soon xxx

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  12. Oh sweetheart I do hope something can be done to recover them. Don't give up hope - a friend of mine thought she had lost all her photos but a VERY geeky computer guy she knows miraculously managed to get them back despite the computer shop saying they were gone for good. If only you lived closer I'd give you his number. I'm still an old fashioned girl and once I get to 100 photos on my camera I pop along to Boots and print them off / have them saved to a CD. Fingers crossed for you. M x

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  13. I'm so sorry, I can understand how upsetting this must be for you........most of my photos are stored with picasso and the personal ones are on cd's..............last year my daughters computer went down and she lost all her GCSE coursework, or so we thought.......OH took the hardrive into PC world and for a small fortune they were able to send it off and retrieve all her work, photos and other saved bits and pieces, it did take about a month and cost about £200.......but we thought it was worth it...........hope this helps, good luck,

    lily x

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  14. same thing happened to me the other year i was so upset about it, now i backup all my photos onto disk and get any really good photos printed as id hate to lose them again :(

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  15. Its OK to be down sometimes, specially with good cause.

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  16. Hi lovely Loo,

    If you use blogspot, as I see you do, then Picassa may well have saved all our photos automatically. Not only the ones from our blog but ALL of them.

    You can have a look by going onto your Dashboard, then up at the top click on My Account and then on the next page go down and click on 'Picassa Web Albums' (or something similar).

    It did with me - and then charged for it - which was rather annoying.

    but it might be worth checking.

    But before I gave you any advice, I should have given you a big hug. Sorry.

    *squeeze*.

    How completely and utterly awful for you. I'm not one bit surprised to hear that you're feeling down.

    Sarahxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  17. Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that. Really frustrating that the hard drive is empty too. I wish I had some sage advice for you but all I can offer is a weirdie internet hug. x

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  18. Loo, this is a terrible event!
    We love our photos because of the sentimental and emotional value that they carry. I'm so sorry.
    Something similar happen to me back in 2007, thank god that I did save all the photos in some good old disks as well as my old laptop.

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  19. Oh Loo i can understand how devastated you must be. I would take the hard drive somewhere else and see if it can be retrieved. Fingers crossed!

    x

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  20. I'm with Amanda on this one. I would get a second opinion with another computer repair person. A year or so back my computer crashed completely and I thought I lost everything. They were able to get it running just so that I could get my files back but it was a tedious process for them and probably not very profitable. I would keep asking around... crossing my fingers for you that it does the trick!

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  21. This happened to me once as well - its such an awful feeling when it does. Try and remember some of the events you took photos at and ask family members/friends if you can have copies of their photos - at least you would have some memories back.
    Liz

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  22. Oh no that's such a shame! I bet it never happens to you again. This is a reminder to me that I need to backup more regularly last time was probably before Christmas. Like Amanda said, don't give up on the hard drive. If you are planning on chucking it, get someone to have a last try to get them off.
    I will never have this problem with my kids photos as most of mine are 'real photos' in albums all over the house ~ I'm that old!
    Kandi x

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  23. I feel your pain, Loo, this happened to Jon's photos a couple of weeks ago, four years of India pictures, a Beetle and campervan restoration all vanished. It's heartbreaking isn't it?
    xxx

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  24. How horrible, and thanks for sharing this because I don't store my photos anywhere else and if something happened to my computer I'd be in the same position as you. So I think I'll start off-loading them to disc.

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  25. How frustrating - I wish I could offer some advice....cyber hug on it's way!
    x

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  26. oh Loo, i'm so sorry to hear that you've lost all precious memories that you keep in your computer, I had the same experience years ago and i was totally upset but i did recover just a few in some blog that i happened to have like myspace or flickr but i still lost alot! i mean hundreds of photos maybe more, all my memories when i was living in Singapore, nothing to show for it after that...then i learnt to keep some photos in a disc/dvds or thumb drive, so that way if my laptop/comp at it again and destroyed, I still have the discs ..i'm so sorry that it happened to you, i know how you feel and sadly there's nothing we can do about it but to start again with new memories *sigh*. like everything else, it takes time to get over it. sending you BIG HUGS!! xx Susan

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  27. That is sad. I have no techy advice to offer, not being very techy headed but it is a lesson to us all to back up our photos.
    ((((Hugs))))

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  28. Oh Loo, that really is such a dreadful thing to happen. I wish there was something that could be said or done to get it all sorted and things all tickety boo.
    Sending you a hug.
    Lisa x

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  29. Oh no loo thats a horrible thing to happen to you, completely understand how sad it must be, just thinking about all my little mans pics on my laptop that i would just cry to lose...must get myself an external hardrive. I really hope there is someone that can help and get those pics back for you. Sending you postitive techy vibes :o) Scarlett x

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  30. Loo you must be devastated, it really is an awful thing to happen. I've been through a horrible patch recently and know how you must be feeling, try and stay positive. Thinking of you at this difficult time.
    Loads of love
    Jo xx

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  31. Oh jeez, that's awful. I think only fellow photo obsessives understand the pain. I'm currently in "argh" mode due to saving months worths of photos onto an external hard drive and then totally forgetting the password for it :( It's gone off to a computer man to see if he can hack his way into it without wiping them all but I'm feeling very tense about it.

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  32. I kinda understand where you're at, I put some films into Boots once and they destroyed them loosing what might have been some good snaps from a holiday & my mum's 50th.

    You were right to keep the hard drive, you never know you might find someone who can salvage it. Forensic computer experts manage to do it when people try to destroy them (to hide evidence) so don't give up :-) xx

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  33. We had a similar situation the other year, so now I still toddle off to Boots and get the best ones printed off. One of my pals does a printed year book at the end of the year. xxxx

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  34. I'd be sad too, and certainly a very important lesson to the rest of us. Sorry to hear you've lost your photos, but you'll always have the memories and photographs in your mind xx

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  35. Sorry to hear about the photos, Loo - it must be very upsetting. We have an external hard drive too, but I have to keep remembering to back stuff up. Its something that could happen to anyone. :-(
    xxx

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  36. I am so sorry to read your post. I understand just how you feel, the other week when my laptop died all i was worried about was my photo's as you say they are hard memories for us all. But i think you are so right to get snapping away and start creating more happy memories because there will be plenty more to come and this time you will have them to keep. Big hugs, dee xx

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  37. I can offer no technical advice at all as I am basically useless when it comes to these things. When I left my partner a few years ago, I virtually just walked out with my clothes and a mirror that I whipped off the will on my way out!

    So I left behind over 15 years of photos which I still haven't got back, but you have years ahead to capture everything,and as you capture new memories you will feel better I promise!

    Hope the Norfolk air is a good tonic for you! Do try and get to Norwich and see Aladdin's Cave, and take your camera as I bet they'd be chuffed to have another blogger do a piece on them, especially one that has come especially to visit! There's also a tiny vintage clothes shop on the opposite side of the road called 'Retreat Vintage' and several charity shops on that road too, so it's a good little street for shopping/interesting stuff!

    xx

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  38. Oh no amor, you need to save importan photos on a disk. I do hate it when that happens.
    cant wait to see photos of your treasures and of you love.
    hope my Morrissey fotos cheered you up.
    hugs

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  39. That is such a bummer!
    No wonder you are upset!Thank you for your sweet comment.
    Virtual hugs!
    Rachel x

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  40. Very sad. Good idea keeping the hard drive though. I think you've learned your lesson though! I recently put together a photo album and realised I didn't have a single picture from 2008 because that year our computer died. meh.

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  41. So sorry to hear this Loo :( I just had a mild panic this morning when I realised my external hard drive had a big dent in it - luckily it still works but I'm going to buy another one as soon as payday comes because my EHD isn't actually a back-up - it's the only copy I have of photos from 2006. I have no advice at all I'm afraid, but it looks like you've learnt a lesson the hard way :( xxx

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  42. Oh, I'm so sorry! I just found out the other day that all of my Blogger pics were automatically saved to Picasa, since they're all owned by Google. I had no idea that happened! You might want to check your Google account and see if you can dig up some pics through Picasa...at least the ones you posted here. Big hugs to you!

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  43. Oh, that is very sad! Get someone else to have a look, there must be a way to retrieve them. I would recommend backing up photos on discs in future.

    Hope you have a good week.
    Barri x

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  44. Oh that happened to me too! We lost 3 years of photos, which is so painful when you have small people.
    We sent it to some magic man who failed to help.
    Everything is backed up and double backed up now.

    I feel for you
    x

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