Friday, June 1, 2012

Preparing For A PC Crash - Part 3

This month’s article is the third in the series “Preparing For A PC Crash.”
Part One was posted on this blog in April 2012. Click here to view.
Part Two was posted on this blog in May 2012. Click Here To View

This article deals with one of the last two critical steps in preparing and recovering from a pc crash, which are,

  • When The Big Day Happens,
  • Recovering From A Crash.
Step 5. When the Big Crash Happens
Like the passing of the winter or the melting of the snows it is inevitable that your computer will in the future crash. How badly that affects you will depend on how well you have prepared for it. No amount of hand wringing, stomping your feet, or pointing accusatory fingers will help you in recovering from this event. Follow the five rules outlined below to maximise your recovery options.

Rule #1 - Don’t Panic. We do stupid things when we panic so hold it together and assess what has happened. Actions performed in panic mode may make the problem worse. Turn off the machine and leave it off for now.

Rule #2 - Relax and gather your thoughts. Make yourself a cup of tea and calm down.

Rule #3 – Don’t ignore the problem it won’t go away. In most cases if a computer problem is detected early the amount of information lost is minimal. This is not the case where the problem has been allowed to fester. In the more serious cases I deal with, where the problem has been festering for weeks or months, the information recovered is as low as 10% and in many cases 0%.

Rule #4 - Resist the temptation to reboot, restart your machine multiple times. Rebooting and trying the standard recovery utilities is not recommended! I regularly hear the following from customers “I turned it off and on rebooted ran the recovery and it seemed ok for about a month then it died”. Don’t take risks with your information.

Rule #5 - Contact a repair technician or if the machine is under warranty the supplier. I don’t know what it is about computers but everyone seems to know an “expert” who works for free. I am always amazed at how people entrust their computers and their information to the hands of the family wizard. As someone who sees the results of these “experts” daily my advice is to avoid this solution. It’s not a solution and in many cased it will come back and bite you. Whenever my car gives me problems I contact my car mechanic for the following simple reasons – he knows what he’s doing, he does it for a living, and I can rely on his experience and expertise to both repair the problem or advise me when it’s time to say goodbye to my car. Such is also the case when it comes to computer issues. Seek a qualified, experienced professional and not the cheapest one you can find!



Oliver Reidy is a computer technician and has been in the industry since 1981.Locally he is a member of Mebo (Meath East Business Owners) http://www.mebo.biz./