Been offline since Sunday

[Larry Kart]

Computer went belly up; now have a new one. Got my fingers crossed.

Sadly, I lost access to my vast (since 2001), searchable AOL email archive in the transfer of data from old to new computer (both IMacs -- 2006 and 2011 models).

[JSngry]

I was wondering, actually...so you don't have any email sent to you since Sunday?

[Larry Kart]

Yes, I do -- I read yours of a day or two ago and was able to reply earlier this evening.

[Dave James]

I'm sorry. What's your name again?

[mellowT]

Sadly, I lost access to my vast (since 2001), searchable AOL email archive in the transfer of data from old to new computer (both IMacs -- 2006 and 2011 models).

I take it you weren't running OS 10.5 or 10.6 on the old iMac with Time Machine? That's a shame.

[A Lark Ascending]

I've just been to the shops to get a paper, in case anyone missed me.

[king ubu]

I've just been to the loo...

[brownie]

I feel so relieved

[Larry Kart]

Sadly, I lost access to my vast (since 2001), searchable AOL email archive in the transfer of data from old to new computer (both IMacs -- 2006 and 2011 models).

I take it you weren't running OS 10.5 or 10.6 on the old iMac with Time Machine? That's a shame.

I was running OS 10.4.11. Tried to download some new virus protection software (Intego -- my old Intego version was about to expire), and though the guy at Intego who sold it to me said it would be compatible with my old OS, he didn't ask (and I didn't tell him) how much RAM I had. It wasn't enough, and the failed download tied up my computer in an unbreakable loop -- unbreakable even by the Apple store techs who transferred what data they could from my old computer to my new one.

The AOL archive thing I don't understand. I seem to have access to all the messages I've ever sent but not to any of the ones I've received over the years, which was a great searchable resource. That archive was somewhere at AOL, not on my computer. Any thoughts on how I might get at it again?

[Clunky]

Sadly, I lost access to my vast (since 2001), searchable AOL email archive in the transfer of data from old to new computer (both IMacs -- 2006 and 2011 models).

I take it you weren't running OS 10.5 or 10.6 on the old iMac with Time Machine? That's a shame.

I was running OS 10.4.11. Tried to download some new virus protection software (Intego -- my old Intego version was about to expire), and though the guy at Intego who sold it to me said it would be compatible with my old OS, he didn't ask (and I didn't tell him) how much RAM I had. It wasn't enough, and the failed download tied up my computer in an unbreakable loop -- unbreakable even by the Apple store techs who transferred what data they could from my old computer to my new one.

The AOL archive thing I don't understand. I seem to have access to all the messages I've ever sent but not to any of the ones I've received over the years, which was a great searchable resource. That archive was somewhere at AOL, not on my computer. Any thoughts on how I might get at it again?

I don't run anti virus protection on my Macs, is that a mistake ?

[Denis]

Something similar happened to me last year. I was running a laptop with Windows XP and AVG for antivirus.

The thing was getting to be quite slow. So I decided to change the anti-virus software to Avast. Well

what a mistake I made. While installing the whole thing it came to a scratching halt. Could not even stop it or kill the process.

The only way out was to hit the on/off button. So I did, but then it could not reboot. Somehow Windows was corrupted.

Luckily I still had the installation CD for Windows. Finally was able to get it running again but only after many long hours into the night.

Ahhh computer problems. We are now so dependent on them.

[Larry Kart]

Sadly, I lost access to my vast (since 2001), searchable AOL email archive in the transfer of data from old to new computer (both IMacs -- 2006 and 2011 models).

I take it you weren't running OS 10.5 or 10.6 on the old iMac with Time Machine? That's a shame.

I was running OS 10.4.11. Tried to download some new virus protection software (Intego -- my old Intego version was about to expire), and though the guy at Intego who sold it to me said it would be compatible with my old OS, he didn't ask (and I didn't tell him) how much RAM I had. It wasn't enough, and the failed download tied up my computer in an unbreakable loop -- unbreakable even by the Apple store techs who transferred what data they could from my old computer to my new one.

The AOL archive thing I don't understand. I seem to have access to all the messages I've ever sent but not to any of the ones I've received over the years, which was a great searchable resource. That archive was somewhere at AOL, not on my computer. Any thoughts on how I might get at it again?

I don't run anti virus protection on my Macs, is that a mistake ?

FWIW, the guy at the Apple store said that for my new IMac (and probably for many if not all old ones) it isn't necessary.

[BruceH]

Glad to have you back, Larry.

[ghost of miles]

I was offline from Friday evening until now due to a hard-drive crash, and it actually felt fantastic. Not the hard-drive crash, of course, but I found myself delving more readily into the books I have, more inclined to stay focused on ongoing projects, etc. The ironic thing was that I kept wanting to go online to tell everybody how great it felt to be offline for a couple of days.

[JSngry]

How'd that HD crash work out, anyway? Was your stylus truly gone, or were you able to recover something/anything/somehow?

[ghost of miles]

How'd that HD crash work out, anyway? Was your stylus truly gone, or were you able to recover something/anything/somehow?

HD's deader than your deceased artist of choice--our tech guy, PC Max, and Best Buy's Geek Squad haven't been able to get it to even spin. I could send it in to any number of Pentagon-type/Defcon 3 extraction places, but even a diagnostic test would cost about $60, and based on what I've heard so far, I'd probably be looking at spending $500 to get the data back. So I'm just going to sit on it for awhile, until perhaps the price comes down, or I win the lottery, etc. Most likely I'll just have to make the decision to let it go. I did find some of the original handwritten notes that I'd then transferred into the laptop, and some earlier versions of certain documents were on another computer I use as well... but I'd still say a good dozen or so docs that I'd really, really still like to have have gone missing, including about 10 pages of writing notes from the past two years.

[JSngry]

Well, that sucks. Worst-case scenario for real...

How old was this thing, anyway?

[ghost of miles]

Well, that sucks. Worst-case scenario for real...

How old was this thing, anyway?

About three years. I bought a new hard-drive with nearly twice the capacity of the old one, and I also bought an external drive that holds three times the capacity of the new hard-drive. When it comes to backing up, I'm going to have the fiery zeal of a new convert for sure...

Edited July 19, 2011 by ghost of miles

[JSngry]

I ask because my daughter had a Dell laptop about 5-6 years ago that went through 3-4 hard drives in about that many years. Some we could recover, some not. But the experience soured me on Dell laptops in general (that and how their heat dissipation is really...primitive(?) and how the solder on her power cord connection kept coming undone...they finally had to sent somebody to the house at their expense to make/get it right!).

Now, years later, I've got one issued to me by work, and the heat dissipation on it is really...primitive. The thing just exhales giant ejaculations of heat out the side every 10 minutes or so. Other laptops I've encountered don't do that, at least nowhere near that dramatically. Heat is not your friend, ya' know?

I love me some Dell desktops, but their laptops? I don't know.....