Suddenly this afternoon, my laptop crashed. :-( No visible symptoms before it did that.. When I called up gateway and mentioned to them the error message during reboot, I heard that it could be a harddrive crash. When I asked the possible causes, I was told a) virus or b) long time running without turning off or c) turning on and off many times a day could have caused it. It showed some minor problems last month, may be I should have taken note seriously.
First time something like this has happened to any computer that I have worked so far. So I used to think "crash? nay, wont happen to me..". That didnt luckily prevent me from having anti-virus stuff and backing up my data. This crash would take a couple of good days off me when I need to load all the programs and stuff.
Any suggestions from you people how to keep the laptops safe? I am going to turn it off every night (I stopped doing it for the last 7-8 months). mm.. so, this takes me to my pre-laptop days. I have to be used to it for the next week or so. Let me see how it goes.
Update (Sep 8, 2:30 PM): No, that CANT happen to me.. it didnt !! One of the biggest mysteries in the recent time. I tried my luck again in the afternoon, and got the error message. Frustrated and all hope lost, immediately took it to my IT shop . One bloke, Matt Glover turned it on and IT STARTED WORKING !!! Seems like he has some magic hand! So, I am happy, very happy now. Thanks to all you people with your suggestions. I will implement it from today itself and hope to keep it alive as much as I can..
A few positives to come out in the last 24 hours of drama:
a) Always back up, back up. I was doing it every month. Now I would do every weekend.
b) I will get a spare hard drive from Gateway anyway, since I called them up yesterday itself.
c) I was thinking a lot about how I would organize my files in the new hard drive and had a plan. I would implement it anyway with this one, come saturday.
d) Some good suggestions from you guys and from other friends here.
18 comments:
umm,i had a problem with my laptop once, something went wrong with the lcd, so sent it and got it back fixed. but it doesn't sound like you have a hardware problem. my laptop is on most of the time, sometimes i shut it off. my only suggestion is for you to would be to always try to use it with the power supply connected, it will be a lot faster that way, and dont let your battery run out till the very end, and charge the laptop. charge it regularly. I read how laptops slowly slowdown, if constantly used only with the help of the battery.
Thanks, Nitin.. I also dont wish it is a hardware problem.. but when i told the Gateway representative about the error message ("Cant find the operating system"), he said the hard drive would have crossed. The IT guys in my department also said the same.
I usually never run the laptop with battery.. always power in. May be twice or thrice I would have run without power.. that too not for the past 6-7 months..
It seems strange that you never turned your laptop off, for the last 7-8 mths... a long gap, isn't it?
No, Ram.. appadi ille.. 7-8 months I would have turned it off about 3 or 4 times.. thappa?
laptops are pretty finicky.. there would be atleast 1 issue with my any one of my co-workers' laptops once a week..
i recvd. 2 brand new laptops (acer) for 2 of my co-workers. I setup one of them. The other one did not even boot up!.
I would suggest switch it off when not required, unless you are running/downloading something.
i am assuming u use windows and IE. make sure u update windows everytime there is a critical update. IE - well.. cannot saw anything. it is waste.
Deepak, I would surely switch off every night before I leave.. A lesson learnt. I use windows and mostly Firefox nowadays.. (remember ur help a few weeks back).. since then i have been using IE only for viewing tamil pages. My update is always pakka.. whenever it says an update is ready, i promptly do it.. still...
Dear GP, you can make auto shutdown if your system is idle for some time, say 1 hour.
right click at desktop screen
go to screen saver
go to settings
you will find all the options to turnoff your PC automatically.
Thanks Ram.. Yeah, I knew about it.. but didnt want to turn it off often too..
so gp, do you know what was the problem, if there was any?
No nitin... Matt said that probably my hard disk is bad and might crash any time.. so no idea ..
GP: ungala tag panten.. check my post for more info!!..
Deepak, enna dhideernu ivlo periya velaiyai koduthutteenga.. mmm... I will work it out on this weekend. Thanks for tagging..
So is it ok now?
I have a IBM THINKPAD...it has taken a lot of beatings, for the last 3 years..I don't turn it off..but it has solid anti-virus protection.!
Hmm..Computers are like pets..I dont know much abt computers..just using it just for chkng mails/browsing..yet,i wud have put recovery CD for abt 4-5 times till now..Need tips to safeguard it !!
Narayanan, that problem hasnt creeped up again.. so hope it doesnt resurface..
Prabhu, enna, romba naal achu indha pakkam vandhu.... mm.. everyone has their own comp problems..
GP, try to use Perfectdisk for defragmenting ur harddrive once in a while. its the best defragmenter, speeds up the pc, and arranges the files on the harddrive neatly.
Thanks Nitin, I will do it tonight. Time for that.
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