Redundancy in Business
Last week, I started having MAJOR computer problems.
I guess it was about time. I’ve got a Dell Inspiron 9200 laptop computer running Windows XP. The date this computer was shipped to me was February 28, 2005 — so it’s more than four years old, practically an eon in the world of computing.
To sum it all up, my computer slowed to a c-r-a-w-l. Programs started crashing repeatedly. Then the computer would completely lock up. It got so bad that “Ctrl + Alt + Delete” wasn’t even working. I had to do forced power downs, restart, and try again.
The strangest part of all was that I hadn’t installed any new programs, and I was running the same programs I’ve always run.
I took some intermediate steps to try to solve the problem. Uninstalled McAfee, XSitePro, and miscellaneous digital detritus.
Unfortunately, nothing worked. The problems remained.
So for a few days I worked on my wife’s computer, and transferred over any files I needed using my flash drive.
I bought my wife’s laptop less than a year ago for two reasons: 1) so she could have her own computer, and 2) so I would have a back-up in case something happened with my computer.
Since I run my entire business from my computer, not having a computer to work on is simply not an option.
I learned this a couple years ago when there was a recall on my computer. Turns out, there was a defect that caused vertical pin-stripe lines to appear on the screen. This had happened to my computer, so Dell offered to fix it.
The good part was I got a new screen out of the deal — for free. The bad part was I had to be without my laptop for nearly a week.
At that time, I still had my old Dell desktop computer, so it was my back-up. That’s when I realized how important it is to have some kind of back-up computer available when problems come up.
So now my rule is to always have two computers — plus a full back-up of all my files on an external hard drive. This has been my system for about two years now, and it’s served my well.
Ultimately, this past weekend I had to reformat the disk on my laptop and do a fresh install of Windows. It was a pain — not to mention time-consuming — but my computer is running way better now.
If there’s something I’ve learned from this experience, it’s that I need to have a better system for tracking software, both the .exe installation files, as well as the software keys. I didn’t realize how unprepared I was to reinstall software programs until now.
There are some pretty critical pieces of software I use that I simply don’t know how to reinstall without purchasing a new license. It’s not necessarily a bad thing — I’ll get all the most recent versions — but still something I need to be better about.
Key takeaways:
- Always back up your files on an external hard drive (or online data storage service).
- Keep a back-up computer handy in case of catastrophic computer failure.
- Develop a system for tracking software, licenses, and keys.
- Extra credit: Develop another system for tracking your user names and passwords — both for web sites and FTP accounts.
-Ryan M. Healy
