More I dunno

So, I bought this machine from Fry’s Electronics (bottom shelf stuff – C.H.E.A.P) It started with just 256M of memory – just about the minimum Win. XP needs to run. Memory used to be expensive, so in dibs and dabs, I added and replaced memory modules and now have 2G of memory on an AMD 2.8G Semprom processor. Not a top-level machine any more – it woulda been pretty OK in XP’s day and now it’s old and two operating systems out of date.  I bought it 06, I think.  It’s a dinosaur, really.

It works though.

Unless I web surf where I shouldn’t and click on some disguised thing online and accidentally "install" a program that took over my machine. I hold the power of death for this machine – it would not let me shut it down normally; it apparently erased all my files on the C disk, the system disk. I pulled the plug on the computer and restarted it in Safe Mode and could not find any of my program files, any of my pictures – nothing.

It was an oh shit moment.

Which continued when I realized that it looked like I would have to reformat the system disk and "start over". "No problem", I thought, "I have four hard drives on the machine nowadays, for just this sort of thing".

Reformatting takes hours. It takes hours more to download Windows Updates – my XP originally dates to 2004 or 5. It take more hours to reload programs – the camera software, the scanner (which had to be repeatedly installed to make it work). Drivers and software for the video card and the sound card… a couple of days of "work".

Ok, no problem, I’ve got multiple backups.

Except, I don’t. Out of four hard drives on the system, three of them are "blank". I reformatted the main drive and finally hooked up one USB drive, and, yay, most all of what I would really miss is there! I put a second drive in the machine two years ago – installed it in the computer, a disk twice as big as the system disk. Since it was in the machine, I made it the file of first resort – a complete back up of all the stuff I wanted to keep.

The drive read properties say the disk is 3/4 full, but I cannot see anything – it appears empty. It’s not, but it’s like the heads of all the stuff on it were cut off level and there is now way to pull them up.

Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhh shit.

It could be worse, yes, totally, but I have once copy out of four, so, it could be worse.

One disk has been completely reformatted. One USB drive has what looks like complete copies of my stuff. Two drives look like, but are not, empty.

WTF?

Now, I guess I like to think I know something about Windows and how it’s machine’s work. I KNOW I don’t really know shit, but it’s more than most people know, so I do my own IT work, and if I fuck up, well, it’s MY machine and my loss.

So, I got to poking around in the working of Windows search, and found all of my stuff has been remarked as "invisible". I think I can get all my stuff back, after hours more work.

Which is good, because the one USB drive that’s "clear" right now is not the most complete copy of my stuff – that’s the D drive, IN the computer.

I think I can fix this… and if not,well, it could be worse.

This is why I’m looking forward to a two thousand mile drive – I know I can do that. I HAVE done it. These computers are… pick an adjective and it applies at least some times, eh?

 

 

 

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