VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

Tom Greenlee

Well folks....in case any of you are lazy like me, take heed. I have always been slothful about backing my hard drive up. Yesterday afternoon, I got home from work and a thunderstorm was just moving in. I thought....haha, I'm a smart guy, I'm not gonna turn my computer on until this is over. (patted myself on the back for being smart). It turned into one hell of a thunder and lightning storm. At one point it was directly over my house (I'm at 9500 ft so practically in the clouds). A crash of thunder that was so loud, it was like a major explosion over my house. My wife and I and the dogs were lounging on the bed in the spare bedroom when it happened and it shook the bed. Simultaneously 5 or so huge bolts of lightning flashed right outside our house. Well...eventually the storm passed and we never lost power. I went to my studio and turned my computer on and guess what.....it won't even begin to boot. The power comes on, the fan starts humming...it checks the cd drives....then nothing....the screen stays black, the hard drive doesn't do anything (make any noises or the drive light doesn't flicker). That drive has EVERYTHING on it. I have no backup to start fresh with. My computer was powered off and connected to a surge protector as well. Apparently those things aren't enough to protect your computer from elctrical damage during a storm. I just wanted to share this story of stupidity so none of you make the same mistake. BACK UP YOUR DRIVES!
I am totally screwed. All my projects I was working on....all my recording software and plugins.....I'm using my wifes old computer right now, just to check my mail etc......anyway.....a word to all you wiser folks....I'm a convert....I'll be backing my drives up everyday once I can get a system back together again. Hope I don't get a lot of customers needing my services until that happens. Now....GO BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVES!
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TG2

"Communication without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communication is irrelevant."

Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
Former Commandant of the Marine Corps

Bruce · Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:51 am Post subject:

There's a chance, just a chance, that it's a temporary problem. Unplug everything associated with the computer, let it rest a while, and start over. Also check any fuses or circuit breakers in any part of that equipment.

You have a lot of fingers crossed on your behalf.

Bruce
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

Deirdre · Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 11:25 am Post subject:

Surge protectors only suppress spikes in normal transmission.
If you've got an electrical storm nearby, you have to UNPLUG your valuable stuff from the wall.

It looks like a bomb went off in Mission Control this weekend because I just backed up everything on my Powerbook and offloaded it.

I also decided to do a fresh install of system software, so I decided to do a fresh install of EVERYRTHING. What the hell-- but that's where the bombed-out look comes from-- install CDs and DVDs all over the place.

Life is grand. I don't have any long-term projects going on, so my weekend is free.
How Odd! I'm working in the yard today, too.
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DBCooperVO.com

glittlefield

Audiogal · Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 3:00 pm Post subject:

Tom, so sorry you had to go through this. Years before my VO biz, I lost a computer to lightning, as well as a small TV, & the garage door motor.

Afterward, EE Hubby installed this whole house surge protector: http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/jsearch/product.jsp?pn=091803 and he adds this comment: If you have an electrician install it, he will need to bring a new 20A double-pole breaker specifically for the brand of panelboard you have at your home or office. The protector requires a dedicated double circuit to protect both sides of the 240V line (this will naturally protect all the 120V branches).

We liked this particular model because it has lights on it to show you if it had to sacrifice itself in order to save your electronics. The light turns red if it blows up in the line of duty, & the unit has to be replaced. If you had damage, it comes with a $10K policy that covers your homeowner's insurance deductible. Well worth the investment.
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Mary

Tom Greenlee · Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 4:17 pm Post subject:

Thank You guys. I can't blame anything or anyone except myself. It was my own stupidity. I've been busy disassembling and cannibalizing my computer and disassembling my wife's old computer (now my new one) and re-assembling it with the cannibalized parts. It's working. I'm still using the 200 gig hard drive that it had originally, but I put in my 250 gig storage drive as the 2nd drive on this computer. It has all (or most anyway) of the backups of my programs on it and ALL the projects I've been working on. Now it's got a gig of DDR ram thanks to cannibalization. A 2.1 gig AMD Athlon 64 processor, ATI Radeon 9800 graphics card, the Creative X-fi Platinum sound card. I got my Adobe Audition 2 back and all my Waves plugins. It was already a USB 2 compliant computer so my audio interface works with it. It's gonna take a while to get all of my other programs installed and updated drivers etc.....but I can work now......I'm so happy. Glad I bought my wife a nice wireless laptop for Christmas, or this wouldn't be allowed to happen (me taking over her computer I mean). Thanks for the suggestions tho. I didn't read them until just now when I got the machine back up and running. But it's been very time consuming and a real pain in the keister. I've learned my lesson. Back up frequently and unplug everything when an electrical storm is near! Which is daily here. Thanks again you guys/gals....I love this board!
_________________
TG2

"Communication without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communication is irrelevant."

Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
Former Commandant of the Marine Corps

jayj · Guest

First post here, But I echo all the above. Surge supressors in reality don't do much. Ever see what a lightening bolt will do to a radio transmitter? I have...lots of molten metal. It ain't pretty.

Also, unplug your DSL, cable modem or land line modem. That can also be the culprit. Finally, I wouldn't gab on a phone or even a cell phone during a major storm.

Hope you get it all working again...I've been there.

Jay J.
Lansing, MI