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View Full Version : Oh, misery. My hard drive failed.

fatnewt
10-01-2007, 08:13 PM
My hard drive failed on my PC so I've been running around trying to restore things.

Most of the work I do is frequently backed up, although I did lose a major design/content update for Game-Machines.com that I've been working on for the past month. That was upsetting.

But other than that, between Gmail, backups and hosted sites I have most of my work intact.

I don't have another Windows license at the moment, and I think the original disk for this installation is probably long gone (this was my parents PC with XP Media Center that I salvaged when their motherboard melted).

I'll probably go out and buy one, but for the moment I thought I'd take the opportunity to try out Ubuntu. I've always hated Linux on the desktop, but things seem to have come a long way since I last checked up on this stuff.

I'm in the process of installing package after package, wondering how much I'll miss Windows-only apps. I can't seem to figure out how to enable widescreen resolutions on here, either.

Any Ubuntu fans out there that can inspire me to keep going with this?
ses5909
10-01-2007, 11:36 PM
Sorry to hear about your issues. That has happened to me before too :(

If you do decide to stick with Windows, I would recommend looking into the Microsoft Action Pack. You pay $399/year for licenses (multiple) to all of their software (excluding vs.net) and OSs. It's a good way for a small business or a freelancer to have all of the software, yet still be legal.
fatnewt
10-02-2007, 02:51 AM
That sounds like a pretty good deal... I'll look into it.

I'm actually in the process of setting up a couple of machines here, and I do have an older laptop and my wife's PC on Windows so good advice either way. Thanks!
ses5909
10-02-2007, 09:25 AM
Here is a link for you:

Action Pack Subscription Standard Contents (https://partner.microsoft.com/40013779)
kimberlybarryd
10-06-2007, 02:14 AM
This may seem stupid but ftp'ed all my info to my web host. Hey i'm paying for it so why not. They offer 500gb.
JohnC
10-06-2007, 03:17 AM
Another option is using portableapps.com's Firefox 2 and keeping my Outlook data file in the same folder. I sync it to my USB as a briefcase before walking away, so if I'm anywhere my data's with me. This solves the 'must have, can't live without, Ms. Right Now' problems. Anything deeper I do what Kim does too.
fatnewt
10-07-2007, 06:03 PM
That's the good thing about Gmail -- a huge amount of work I've done lately is backed up (indirectly) in there, just because I've sent files to/from my clients.
kingjacob
10-07-2007, 06:39 PM
I save all my writing on gmail and a thumb drive so when my laptops drive failed it didnt hurt that bad but Ive been using the breezy badger version of ubuntu and I really miss XP but maybe fancy fawns better.
fatnewt
10-08-2007, 04:18 PM
Feisty Fawn is still working out for me. I even tracked down my install disc for Windows XP and I'm not reinstalling -- at least not yet.
kingjacob
10-08-2007, 04:35 PM
Feisty Fawn is still working out for me. I even tracked down my install disc for Windows XP and I'm not reinstalling -- at least not yet.Oops, I called it fancy fawn.

Does Fawn came pre-loaded with flash cause it was hell installing it on bb.
fatnewt
10-09-2007, 11:55 PM
Flash wasn't included I don't think, but it was easy enough to install.

One way or another I have it and my head doesn't hurt.