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A crashed computer sounds like the end of the world but the 7 lessons I learned when my computer crashed will save you some headaches and could be implemented now to avoid some problems later.
Can we be real here for a minute? I live by my laptop, don’t you?
As a blogger my laptop is my lifeline. When it crashed I was discombobulated. I could not write posts, edit photos, or complete my administration duties in the blogging reciprocation group. The list goes on and on.
The black screen of death is truly terrifying!
However, I learned a few lessons while dealing with my crashed computer that I think are worth sharing. Hopefully, what I learned when my computer crashed will save you some headaches in case your computer crashes. A few of these tips could be used to prevent future problems.
7 Things I Learned When My Computer Crashed
- First, don’t panic! Definitely do not throw your computer across the room (even if you really, really want to). Take a deep breath. Turn your computer off. Check the power supply on your desktop and if you are using a laptop check to make sure all pieces of the cord are plugged in. After ensuring proper power supply, turn your computer back on and see if that helps.
- IT guys are your friends. If the “turn it off, turn it back on” didn’t help, then you need to take your computer to a trusted IT person and have them look at it. In my case my husband. For example, in this particular incident, the laptop screen was messed up not the hard drive. My husband was able to pull all of my files off of the hard drive and salvage everything for me.
- Cloud Drives are also your friends. I use Google Drive for my cloud drive. All of my notes, ideas, and drafts of my blog posts are in my Google Drive. This meant that when my computer crashed, I didn’t actually lose any of my writing. There are numerous cloud services out there, but no matter which you choose it will save you a lot of headaches!
- Get an external hard drive. I have no idea why I was not using one to begin with. External hard drives are not expensive and will save you a lot of stress. If I had been using one when my computer crashed, all of my pictures and downloads would have been backed up. So my husband would not have had to pull so much off my hard drive. Now I have an external hard drive to backup all my blog material that isn’t just text.
- Find something else to work on. While my husband was seeing if he could save my files, and we shopped for a new laptop, I worked on other things like taking pictures, writing notes for new posts via my phone, and catching up on my reading.
- Take a break. Sure, it’s not a planned break, but those few days of not looking at a computer screen allow you to focus on what is truly important. Plus your eyes will appreciate the rest too.
- Get out and do something. This goes hand in hand with number 6. The week while I was waiting for my new laptop to arrive opened up a lot of time blocks. Instead of blog stuff I took the girls places. We went window shopping and wandered around stores, to the playground, and did numerous art projects at home. Who knows, maybe you will come back with a great blog post or two from your activity. 🙂
After my husband secured my files and the worrying about them went away, I was able to embrace and enjoy my unplanned break. Then he got me a new laptop, and now everything is back to normal.
Seriously, guys, if you are not using some sort of cloud backup you need to be. You also should definitely consider getting an external hard drive. Those two preventive measures will save you lots of headaches and heartaches.
Well, those are the 7 things I learned when my computer crashed. So let me ask you a couple of questions. Have you ever had a computer crash? What lessons did you learn from it? Do you have any tips to add?
Have a great day!
Brandi
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