Man Down!

[Guard Dog]

Apparently a windows update came through last night and seems to have wiped out my machine. This means I will spend the next several days doing recovery.

At this point I have NO email or email history. There is a lot more I don't have too (like patience).

If I am not responding via email, this is probably the reason

 

[bonustreak]

DAMN! I will be here no worries;D

 

[dominique]

Hmmm, happened to me once before and the download is sitting here waiting to be activated - I better not and wait to see what happens .

I'll be around...

 

[Guard Dog]

It's more the fact that I run my machines in a Virtual Machine for safety (great good that does, huh??). My Virtual machine was running and Windows decided to close it down and reboot.

I swear I told windows not to do that, but apparently it decided it knew better than me what should be done.

So - Windows Update essentially shut down my Virtual machine, deleted the Virtual machine's hard disks, and rebooted the host machine (host machine is the laptop the VMWare Virtual Software is running on).

So - I think you would be safe letting the update run - if you have a basic setup or if you shut down your Virtual Machines manually first.

 

[Engineer]

That sucks!

Actually, my computer crashed Monday night, too. What are the odds? I don't think my problems are related to a Windows update, though.

One of my graphics cards died (the one that powered 2 of my 3 screens, of course), I'm getting warning messages about a broken fan, and for a while if I tried to run more than one application at a time, everything moved in super-slow motion.

Thankfully, I was able to back up all of my important files (work files, StatsRemote files, Firefox bookmarks, pictures, and music).

I'm thinking of switching to a Mac Pro. Heading to the Apple store later today to kick the tires before I order a custom-built one online.

Anyway -- Guard Dog, good luck getting things back in order!

 

[Bonus Paradise]

aww, sorry to hear that, hope you have all back soon.

There is a lot more I don't have too (like patience).

This sounds like me,

All the best Andy

 

[Guard Dog]

aaarrrggghhh!!!

Spent all day restoring backups... and it still won't work. Man - I hope I haven't lost 5 years of emails, correspondences, passwords, and more

 

[bonustreak]

I guess the system restore has not helped? Dave let me know what the mac is like okay. Ian got one and loves it!

 

[Engineer]

Dave let me know what the mac is like okay. Ian got one and loves it!

Will do... ;D

 

[Vladi]

From one who knows what you're going through .... once you go mac you cant go back

 

[Rhondagrace]

From one who knows what you're going through .... once you go mac you cant go back

ROLMAO!!! that's a good one Vladi! ;D;D;D

 

[Guard Dog]

It appears, at this time, that I will lose the following:

1. All emails from 10/3/2009 to present
2. All project documents from the same time frame
3. All website master files, including image files created
4. All serial numbers from software purchases
5. nearly half my passwords to affiliate programs as well as website installations
6. New updates to the core code of the AGD spider (i.e., lost the .Net Source code updates from 10/3/2009 onward)


And probably more that I cannot think of


Anyone who has emailed me or is waiting for a response will need to email me again. I will not have records of those conversations. I apologize for this.

Andy

 

[Rhondagrace]

Andy,

I'm sorry to hear this...I had a virus last year that wiped out all my saved data, so I understand how you feel.

 

[sjmorrow]

Hi,

not sure if I can help you with Windows - perhaps you can provide some more details on the actual update etc. It sounds very strange to loose so much through an update....

In terms of setup for the future I would recommend the following minimum setup for any business critical setup:

1 Windows Server with a quality Antivirus and Firewall. Ensure the setup has RAIDed harddrives - preferrably hot swappable. Setup disk checks and reboots regularly (don't assume a running machine is fine).

The purpose of the server is purely storage - nothing else - no games, no internet no hanky panky This is the way to keep it "safe".

In addition you can install a mail server application that will pull all the mail from your various accounts conveniently onto the server so you can retrieve it from your workstation. Again - as you are not working on the machine itself even a virus infested email will not bring any damage.

1 Mac Workstation - I use a mac to write documents, email remote access etc. works like a charm and on top of it I can access both windows and linux remotely without issues. Never had one issue and with its built-in Time Machine it can take care of almost anything for you.

I would not recommend a Mac XServer though - too much trouble.

I think one of the main issues most people have is that everybody makes himself an Administrator on his machine - this is a gaping hole in security. First rule is protect yourself from yourself.

The VM solution is fine - but not as a working platform - I would recommend it as a gateway - after all - you're doing it to protect yourself it means you must be willing to "throw it away" at a moment's notice.

Hope this helps anybody - perhaps more than what you asked for.

 

[Vladi]

RAID is not a backup solution. Don't make the mistake of confusing it with one. Otherwise you'll learn the hard way when you delete or lose some data that also gets deleted from your "redundant" disks.

If you want to do backups - copy your data to a completely separate machine and disk. Even look into using one of the newer 'cloud' services like amazon s3.

 

[sjmorrow]

RAID is not a backup solution. Don't make the mistake of confusing it with one. Otherwise you'll learn the hard way when you delete or lose some data that also gets deleted from your "redundant" disks.

If you want to do backups - copy your data to a completely separate machine and disk. Even look into using one of the newer 'cloud' services like amazon s3.

Hi Vladi,

you are right - it is not a backup solution - my mistake if that came across that way. It covers hardware redundancy only - which in my opinion is more frequent nowadays - also considering it is more likely that you will want to upgrade your machines.

In the end there is no limit upwards - you can add proper system partitions as well to abstract OS from Applications and storage to make them live through OS updates and upgrades as well as for travel - plug them into other computers etc.

I would not necessarily recommend Cloud storage - mainly for security reasons and I don't think I can backup 1TB of data every time. You would need a more continuous sync mechanism and encrypted communication.

Alternatively you could try some other tools like Norton but then ... the list is endless and it can easily get overwhelming.

I find the easiest solution are RAIDED hot swappable drives - I can unplug them anytime and store separately - remove during updates or upgrade etc.
It all boils down to protocol - the more strict and precise - the less likely you will suffer loss...

 

[lots0]

Wow Andy that sucks. Been there.

I spent a few hundred bucks on a couple of good quality 2T USB external HD's.
One of the best investments I ever made.
I use them exclusivly for backup and they have saved my ass a couple of times already.

I even backup the backups...

 

[Guard Dog]

These have been some awesome comments, thanks for that everyone.

I will say that I DO have a 1TB Terrastation, however, I have always had a problem backing up VMWare images when they are in a running state. That has been my main problem.

RAID - I don't have that either and should have it with a hard drive crash, but if I do proper backups - this shouldn't be necessary. While RAID would be more current, it would only help for HDD failures.

So - I need to find a good backup solution and maybe do like Lots0 says... backup the backup