[NTLUG:Discuss] Needles in a haystack

[Lenrek Xunil]

On 1/7/07, Tom O <tomnsue at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> On Sunday 07 January 2007 10:18, Robert Citek wrote:
> > Lenrek Xunil wrote:
> > > My bro's wife asked me to look at the Windows XP PC.
> >
> > I read that sentence and immediately thought "Oh, no.  This can't be
> > good."  Sure enough, it got worse.
> >
>
> Reminds me of a T-shirt I saw someone wearing at the Sidewalk Sale that
> said, "NO, I will not fix your computer."
>
> If you continue, you will spend many long hours attempting to recover
> their
> data. You will not be successful to the degree they expect and sounds
> like,
> she will demand. Disappointment is already in their future.
>
> I would explain:
>
>        1. How they should backup their data in future to a USB external
> drive so
> this problem doesn't happen again.
>
>        2. Explain that HDD's do fail and their new drive will eventually
> fail and
> put them into the same situation they are in now unless they have a
> backup.
>
>        3. TRY to explain that if they had had a backup this problem would
> not now be
> a problem.
>
> After two weeks, chances are the data was not "mission critical" and they
> have
> already put in their important websites in Favorites, added their friends
> email addresses and gotten over the shock of "our files are gone."
>
> Long ago, I heard a saying that I did not understand, "No good deed goes
> unpunished." Today I know well what it means.
>
> I remind myself of that anytime I'm asked, "Hey, can you look at my
> computer?"
>
> Tom
>
> PS - be glad you are not married to this lady.
> --
> The best way to accelerate a computer running Windows is at 9.81 m/s²
> "Not as lean, not as mean, but still a MARINE."
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://www.ntlug.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss



Thanks.  That helped.  I also explained that the faulty memory was
corrupting the hard disk.  Fortunately, their most important files were on
the second partition and one particular file had been backed up.  I'll try
to pull the office docs that I can by quering the recovery folders, but they
don't seem to be as concerned with that as getting their computer back.