A Computer Catastrophe Interrupts Our Paperless Office

It feels like a week but it’s really been two weeks since my last posting. It’s not that I haven’t had anything to write about – I just got waylaid by a computer catastrophe beyond any I’ve ever had before.

Shortly after the last post, the hard drive in my desktop computer died. I spent two days in denial -- trying every trick I knew on getting a computer to respond -- but finally gave in and bought a new one. Being an optimist, I was pleased that the interruption was minor compared to what it could have been. I had run a complete back up of my files on an external hard-drive the day before the failure. All I needed to do was turn on the new computer and load up my software and files – not a major crisis. Well it shouldn’t have been a crisis, but then I pushed the envelope a bit too far.

Once everything including my data files were loaded, I purchased a software upgrade for Vista so I could run Vista Business and continue using my computer as my paperless fax. When I went to run it, the software notified me that a straight upgrade was not possible because the software was 32-bit and the underlying software was 64-bit. I would have to run a clean copy of Vista Business and in the process anything on my computer -- software and data files -- would be irrevocably lost. I didn’t see a problem because my software was still sitting on my desk and my back-up hard drive had my data files – I hadn’t done any work on the new computer yet. I didn’t understand that their reference to “software” included some that came factory-installed from the manufacturer.

I installed the Vista Business operating system successfully – or so the message on my screen said. So the next morning I reloaded everything I needed on the computer but found I couldn’t hook up to the Internet. Back in my denial mode I started thinking I could fix the problem by rebooting or seeing if our wireless router had installation software that would put me back in our private network. Nothing worked. This was Friday and I had been out of commission since the previous Sunday. My work was backing up on me and I felt a twinge of desperation seeping into my spirit. What to do?

I picked up the phone and called Microsoft for help. The first 4 people I explained my problem to were very sympathetic but all they could do was hand me off to the next level of technical expertise. Finally a very nice man explained to me that the problem was that I needed Sony to give me replacement drivers for 32-bit software – these are not part of Vista but software provided by the computer manufacturer. I called Sony to learn the bad news – there were no 32-bit drivers for my model of computer. Containing my frustration as best I could, I asked how I get the computer back to its original condition. They had recovery disks I could purchase so I ordered them and had to wait until Monday to receive them.

Having had two massive computer failures in one week was not to be the end of my problems. Once I got the computer set up again, I went to load my data files from my back-up drive. They had loaded earlier without a hitch but now my computer couldn’t sense the drive was there at all. Against all odds, I now had a failure in my back-up drive so my files were lost. Fortunately I had an earlier back-up on my laptop so at least I’ve only lost about 6 weeks of data.

In 2007 I set up a paperless office so losing data files is particularly difficult. There are no hard-copies for any of them -- which is why I keep multiple back-ups on different devices – to protect against a catastrophic data loss.
I’m up and running again but still haven’t solved my fax problem. Most of my work comes in through the fax and I hate the thought of wasting paper by going back to a standard fax machine. Right now I receive faxes through my laptop which has an earlier version of Windows on it. Then I use our network to transfer the faxes to my desktop. That’s awkward but functional for the time being. I certainly won’t try to upgrade my operating system again just to get a fax but I do miss the convenience of the faxes coming directly to my desktop.

A paperless office is wonderful once you get used to reading files on your display. I would never go back to a conventional office with filing cabinets again. But I will be more diligent in double-backing up my data. But, if the truth were known, I’d probably be in worse shape had I not been paperless. I may have run fewer back-ups -- knowing I could reconstruct my files from paper records.

We take technology so much for granted – it’s nice to have a reality check once in awhile to remind us how integrated our work and lives are with our computers. The computer and software manufacturers do so much to protect us from ourselves we rarely get into trouble. But when we do … it can be a real nightmare that can result in a lot of sleepless nights.