My laptop that's dedicated for creation of my artwork crapped out on me this evening. The trouble started with the laptop freezing up, and I had to kill the power and reboot it to get it to work again. Fifteen minutes later, the laptop froze again, and I had to repeat killing the power and rebooting. The laptop would eventually get to where it would freeze every five minutes. The laptop screen finally went black, and vertically along the left edge of the screen, there is a bright red thin broken line that jumps up and down. I'm taking the laptop to a repair shop in the morning to find out what's going on with it. The laptop is a Dell Latitude, that I've owned for probably the past seven years.
Fortunately, I wasn't working on a drawing at the time. I was managing files, sorting them out on different flashdrives so each flashdrive would be dedicated to its own series, such as; Flashdrives for, Clarence Coyote and Project Courier Flashdrives for, Meerkat and Dr. Zander Rat stories Flashdrives for, Stories with Nico and Pancho Flashdrives for, Moyo and Jamila...mongooses Flashdrives for Badu and Adara...linings Flashdrives for, Gift drawings Flashdrives for, Miscellaneous And so on so everything is not mixed up, which would make files easier to locate.
Also Fortunately, I have a 2nd laptop I take to wi-fi spots. That's the one I do uploads from. However, the laptop that crapped out is dedicated for creating artwork only. It's never logged onto the internet. That one is the one that has: the program for my drawing tablet Paint.net Gimp
This is also the reason I store my files on flashdrives, and not in a hard drive or documents folder. You may have noticed I preach that when someone forever lost all their files in a hard drive that had failed.
I have over 50 flash drives with everything I've been drawing since 1994, including a pictorial manuscript I created in 1995, and a few dating back to 1991(the older ones being photos of old conventionally drawn artwork). I do have one drawing from 1973 on a couple of flashdrives, and it is posted on this site. It's this one:
This is the oldest surviving of my drawings, which now exists only digitally. The original paper hardcopy had deteriorated years ago.
I also strive to keep duplicate flashdrives in case a flashdrive quits working, I have backups. Some of my drawings have shared as many as seven flashdrives with other stuff that is also on multiple flashdrives. By the way, three different flashdrives presently each contain copies of my most recent submission on this site, Angry Mom Chasing Her Naked Son.
As for storing files on storage sites like Cloudfare, I've always considered that a Bozo No No. If a storage site is the only place you store files, and that site goes down, your artwork and stories go bye bye.
And ro think i.was crazy to keep seven swappable hdd s between three identical dell pc, s I have managed to archive almost 30 years or digital pics from a camera and a loi of physical scanned photos I am 100 percent on zip and SD card storage.
And ro think i.was crazy to keep seven swappable hdd s between three identical dell pc, s I have man
I use to use SD cards years ago. I've found out flashdrives last a lot longer. And there is a place to attach a luggage tag to them identifying what's on them
And as for disks...They never go bad unless they get scratched. However, not many computers have disk drives any more. I do have disks that contain older copies of what's on my flashdrives.
I use to use SD cards years ago. I've found out flashdrives last a lot longer. And there is a place
By the way...Last night, I counted my flashdrives I've accumulated over the past 10 years. I have a total of 79 flashdrives. If that many had to be purchased at the same time, the bill would be near $1,000. That doesn't count the few over those 10 years that went bad...Of course, that's why some of the flashdrives I keep have duplicate data from another flashdrive. Knock on wood, last night, a Lexar flashdrive I had for about 8 years started going bad, which had over 2,500 files on it. Fortunately, the same data is spread out over other flashdrives. When I plugged it into my laptop, a message indicated the flashdrive wasn't working. The laptop gave an option of repairing the flashdrive. The 1st attempt failed, though the 2nd attempt was successful. Even after that flashdrive was repaired, it took nearly an hour for all of the 2,500 files to pull up. Using keys "control" and "A", I then copied all 2,500 files from the Lexar to a new blank Sandisk flashdrive.
After the copying was completed, I tried to format the Lexar, and the laptop showed a message that said formatting the Lexar would cause the laptop to quit working...So yea, that Lexar flashdrive is going bad.
That will bring the amount of flashdrives I have from 79 down to 78...until the next time I buy a few.
One thing is for certain...A lot of flashdrives would have to go bad exact at the same time all at once in order for me to begin loosing files. The only other way of loosing my files would have to be things like a house fire, or a tornado, or a burglary, or an EMT attack here in Florida. And even then, copies of a lot of my older stuff is on disks at my place in Arkansas 1,000 miles away.
I've got luggage tags attached to most of them to identify what's on them. Flashdrives have a loop on the rear to attach a keychain and tag.
By the way...Last night, I counted my flashdrives I've accumulated over the past 10 years. I have a
Its good that you have the files on a separate media. That is a lesson that I have to learn but past bad luck prevents me from doing so (Had a flash drive with much of my work that I switch between PC and Mac and one day the flash drive failed, with 32GB of art and stories gone. And this is not the first nor the last...)
I have learned to buy several of the same laptop (actually NetBook) IdeaPad S10e and install one of them with a solid state drive. When one laptop fails, I transfer the drive to another. I got these units cheap on Ebay, like $12 - no or minimal Ram, no HD, but does turn on. I started out with 10, gave away 4 and down to my last 3. Common breakage: Screen hinge, Keyboard & USB failures, one had a CPU failure. So that's my history, taking the SSD from unit to unit when they fail.
Maybe you can do the same thing? Buy a couple of used Dells of the same model from ebay and swap the drive into them, so no need to reinstall software and OS from machine to machine.
I do not know how Technical you are, HD and RAM Swapping it easy that anyone can do it. But I'm thinking, sounds like the CPU failed and maybe, just maybe, it can be repaired in a future date. Back in the day Dell, HP and others had the CPU on a socket, and if it so in your case, as I'm guessing CPU Failure, just replace the CPU. The issue being that later units no longer have the CPU on a socket and would make this repair almost impossible for the average Joe out there.
Good luck to you. Mount that puppy on a wall and give it homage for the years of service it gave.
Its good that you have the files on a separate media. That is a lesson that I have to learn but past
I always have to have a laptop serviced by a tech when something goes wrong with it.
I may be good when it comes to welding, using power tools and building stuff, and building utility trailers, and repairing a car...However, I am all thumbs when it comes to knowing how to fix a laptop.
I always have to have a laptop serviced by a tech when something goes wrong with it. I may be good
Those are some great skills to have! Though I taught Computer Tech in my career, I learned many skills along the way, some of it by accident - LOL! My first attempt at a tune up ended up being a top end Overhaul as I removed the heads off the family station wagon and had to put together the engine before sundown... Thank god for old Chilton repair manuals!
Those are some great skills to have! Though I taught Computer Tech in my career, I learned many skil
I've replaced transmissions, had heads off of engines, added rear leaf springs to a pick up truck, rebuild distributors, replaced timing chains, did brake jobs, replaced clutches, replaced rear axle seals on a rear wheel drive car, replaced radiators, upgraded a 2 barrel V-8 to a 4 barrel including changing out the intake manifold, rewired electrical systems, replaced tie rod ends, changed out a steering box, replaced struts, added electrical accessories, replaced broken glass, spot welded a rusty pin leak in a steel wheel rim, changed out a steering wheel for a sport style one, changed out seats, Installed custom tail lights, straightened a bent in radiator wall. There were a couple of really older vehicles I had I actually fabricated replacement parts for out of steel stock. I even welded together from scratch a utility bed with 4 foot high walls and a hinged tailgate for an old heavy duty Dodge pick up truck I had. I had an old Isuzu pick up that I retrofitted a 5 horse power lawn equipment carburetor on. It got 42 miles per gallon with a top speed of 62 mph. Acceleration was pretty fair too. I drove that truck for several years. In an old 1978 Pontiac Lemans, I permanently removed the dash board, then rebuilt a new instrument panel and electrical switches. There was lots of room in the front seat. That was a car I fixed up to be like the cars in the Mel Gibson movie, Road Warriors. That car was really wild.
I've replaced transmissions, had heads off of engines, added rear leaf springs to a pick up truck, r
