Disaster!

[Milliways]

Had a disaster yesterday, my computer contracted a virus and so lost all of my stuff, movies, music, pictures and all of my astro data!!

NOO, never mind will just have to get my butt in gear and do some work, more better data

Also i took my scope apart and cleaned the primary, i took it out of its cell, and put it in a tub with a dash of washing up liquid, then i left it for about 5-10 mins and then wiped the mirror with cotton wool (1 pass with each ball) then washed with de-ionized water so no residue is left.. all good !!

[Doc]

And remember to back things up Dave

Hope it all goes well.

[Milliways]

And remember to back things up Dave

Hope it all goes well.

DOH!

[Tim]

Oooops.

[michaelmorris]

Are you sure it's all gone, or is it just inaccessible? If you clean your system with good virus scanning software you may well be able to get some or all of your data back.

I back up all my raw imaging data and AVIs on to DVDs at the end of every imaging session. As soon as I finished the session it's roof on (observatory), start backing up data, then pack everything else away whilst the DVD writer is whizzing away. I also do regular system restore points and occassionally take a complete hard disk inage using Acronis Ture image on to a portable hard disk. I've only had to use an image file once but boy was I pleased I did. Complete C: Drive restored in just 15 minutes. (Data is all stored on a separate second hard disk).

[Macavity]

I must admit, even coming from a "System Managerial" background, I have never (remember to, be bothered to!) back up my OWN stuff. So Hey, "I can't talk".

I do endeavour to create a temporary "D" drive on the main disk... which is for "Temporary" stuff. Most of my important stuff (Programming source) is put on external / removable solid-state drives. I don't collect LARGE files (videos etc.), but would be tempted by a new "Terabyte" external drive, with perhaps backup, or RAID?

I do empathise with you though, Milliways - It happens to the best of us. Though I commend you on a positive attitude... and ultimately, a sense of perspective.

[LaVey]

Hi ... out of interest do you know what virus it was? Have you kept the drive as was.. as said above a good av might clean and restore some stuff - if not you could try to 'undelete' and clean. Do you use an antivirus?

Also as a good free backup solution i use G4U - its a full disk cloner... once a week I clone my entire drive to a second drive - nice and easy swap out if something goes awry.

g4u - Harddisk Image Cloning for PCs

[ZOG]

There is a program called recover my files that can recover data from even a formatted hard drive. Worth giving it a go ?

[dobserver]

Ouch, that's got to hurt, Dave!

Steph

[lulu57]

I'm so glad everyone else is giving you logical problem-solving advice.

I can give practical advice too: have a damn good scream and a cry before you set about starting again.

Let it out Milliways...you know you want to...

[TheThing]

Even if you were thouroughly fed up (and who would blame you!), Lulu's post can't help but make you smile!

[Milliways]

haha yep it did, i had a little scream over 3 bottles of wine! and a game of halo ODST cheered me up a treat