Some Distressing News from Race Control

Liz · 21 Sep 2002, 18:26 (Ref:385465)

Last night we had a monster storm and among other things we had a big power surge. When I switched on my computer this afternoon I got a message that says "Primary Hard Drive Fail" Or something similar. I have not fully figured out what this means yet, but one of the things it seems to mean is that I can't access any documents that were on that drive until I can scrape up the money to have someone look at it.

The main thing it means is that all the Fantasy Champ Car Grid records are on that drive. I can continue for this season as I have a set of forms on the laptop, or I think I do, but until I get this problem solved, none of the previous records are available and none of the background stuff.

Computers are a mixed blessing at best.

macdaddy · 21 Sep 2002, 19:00 (Ref:385476)

Sorry to hear that, Liz. Really am. I had a feeling that it may storm last night (call it "old bones"), so I unplugged before leaving for work. I learned my lesson two years ago when the hydro pole in our front yard got struck by lightning, and we lost our receiver, CD player, EQ, two VCR's, and all phones. Thankfully insurance took care of everything, they didn't even try to screw us. But as for your situation, I've got a gut feeling that you may never be able to get back into your C-drive. (Man, I hate to say that and hope I'm wrong). Insurance should take care of the actual hardware, but that's not going to help you retrieve your files. That sucks. If you can, take solace in the fact that the processor is still intact.

tanalised · 21 Sep 2002, 20:33 (Ref:385528)

Sorry to hear that Liz.
Have suffered 3 previous hard drive failures myself. No fun at all.

muggle not · 21 Sep 2002, 20:36 (Ref:385531)

I, also, am very sorry to hear of your troubles Liz. Let's all take a lesson from it and always unplug the computer anytime we know of a storm coming. I lost a treadmill this spring and it cost me a small fortune to get it repaired. Check to make sure that the insurance premiums do not go up more than what the cost is to have the computer repaired.

Liz · 21 Sep 2002, 21:09 (Ref:385552)

I was afraid that might be the case. Fortunately that machine has two hard drives and the other one still works, so I have not lost everything, just everything current. Besides which I have put a lot of stuff on the laptop or on disks. So it could be worse.

I was just shutting the computer down, because the thunder had started up, when the power went off, surged back on, and went off again. I think when it came back on was when the machine got fried. FORTUNATELY I have an industrial-strength surge protector for the television and sound equipment, so they did not suffer. I'm going to see if I can find one to use for computer equipment before I am much older.

The storm was a very quick one but was like being in a sudden hurricane -- the street in front of our place flooded and a lot of trees blew down. And people kept driving as if they were on the last lap of Le Mans! With no traffic lights and a flooded street!

macdaddy · 21 Sep 2002, 21:18 (Ref:385565)

Know what? When I lost my stereo equip, the circuit breaker on the "surge protector" didn't even snap. The TV and cassette deck survived, but I lost all confindence in the SrgPrtctr. Funny though, the damage to the pole just yards from the house suggested that we got blasted pretty hard, and yet not one fuse or circuit breaker went out. Our neighbour's house sustained considerable damage, even to the point of requiring a new hydro meter because theirs pretty much exploded. So I guess I was lucky. Now I'm rambling.

Liz · 22 Sep 2002, 01:57 (Ref:385691)

I don't know where it hit -- I heard sirens for about half an hour tearing by the front but never found out where they were going. The last time we had a power out, in my old neighbourhood, lightning struck a gas main and caused an explosion and fire. That was scary -- we thought it was a bomb! And when you're in a high rise that is not the sound you want to hear.

The SP did just what it should have done in the case of the TV; I saw my parents' TV after it was hit by lightning and it was scattered all over their front room, so I decided the extra $150 was worth avoiding that.

Liz · 22 Sep 2002, 05:00 (Ref:385713)

Found the spreadsheets! They were in some bizarre AOL file. So I have points current up to Road America and can fill in the others from archives on this site.

Whew!

tanalised · 22 Sep 2002, 05:32 (Ref:385715)

Hooray! Now I know this is an inopportune time, but can you tell me why Team tanalised scored only 5 points at the last race when Pat C was 3rd and Dixon 12th?

BootsOntheSide · 22 Sep 2002, 11:47 (Ref:385829)

Great to hear that Liz, i lost my hard drive back in March, with a huge MP3 collection, lots of university work and my saved Championship Manager game, so I know what its like. Good luck in getting it all sorted out.

Speedworx · 22 Sep 2002, 13:08 (Ref:385870)

Sorry to hear that Liz. I had to have a new motherboard after a thunderstorm, I not have a surge protector.

Liz · 22 Sep 2002, 13:46 (Ref:385883)

Tanalised, I have no idea in the world what the reason for that was. It's probably the same problem that GoFaster had though, depending on what order your drivers were nominated.

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