Back on the bench......
Feb. 29th, 2004 02:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1First the good news: On Thursday afternoon, I was able to finish the retro benefits database I was working on, and I have another satisfied client who would like to bring me back for one week next month for further work and enhancement.
And now the bad news: On Thursday evening, I powered down my home computer after running it "topless" for nearly two weeks. (The cover was off of the case to minimize heat and dust buildup.) When I tried to boot up again, I got a message, "Unable to find OS". Great. I ran a diagnostic diskette and everything reported OK. But when I ran the Data Lifeguard utility from diskette, I got a run-time error. I spent most of Thursday night and a good chuck of Friday trying to fix it. This was not the way I wanted to spend my Friday. I suspected I had a corrupted master boot record, since the drive and the data appeared to be OK, but I had no way of getting to it. I also spent time on the phone with the hard drive manaufacturer's support team. On the fourth call after establishing a case number, I found someone who told me that the Data Lifeguard utility software doesn't recreate master boot records, it only backs them up and restores them from a previous backup, and that I should take the computer to a place that does data recovery. As it turns out, the local computer shop where I get my systems and hardware does data recovery, and so I schlepped the machine over there, along with the old data. I hope they can fix it quickly. The worst case scenario is that I lose the last two weeks' worth of email and files. But I'd rather not lose that info if at all possible. In the meantime, I'm using my laptop as my primary machine.
And since I don't have another contract task lined up, I'm back on the bench again until my keepers find me some more work. This is not good for my credit record or my peace of mind.
Email list update: I also called my ISP's support line on Friday. Their support rep said that an admin would get back to me in email when it was fixed. And they did, on Friday afternoon. No explanation as to what happened, no apology from the admin, just the standard "let us know if you have any further problems". I give them low marks on "Customer Care". I expect better because I know how to deliver better. Time to let them know how I *really* feel, or to start looking for an ISP who knows their customers and cares about them.
And now the bad news: On Thursday evening, I powered down my home computer after running it "topless" for nearly two weeks. (The cover was off of the case to minimize heat and dust buildup.) When I tried to boot up again, I got a message, "Unable to find OS". Great. I ran a diagnostic diskette and everything reported OK. But when I ran the Data Lifeguard utility from diskette, I got a run-time error. I spent most of Thursday night and a good chuck of Friday trying to fix it. This was not the way I wanted to spend my Friday. I suspected I had a corrupted master boot record, since the drive and the data appeared to be OK, but I had no way of getting to it. I also spent time on the phone with the hard drive manaufacturer's support team. On the fourth call after establishing a case number, I found someone who told me that the Data Lifeguard utility software doesn't recreate master boot records, it only backs them up and restores them from a previous backup, and that I should take the computer to a place that does data recovery. As it turns out, the local computer shop where I get my systems and hardware does data recovery, and so I schlepped the machine over there, along with the old data. I hope they can fix it quickly. The worst case scenario is that I lose the last two weeks' worth of email and files. But I'd rather not lose that info if at all possible. In the meantime, I'm using my laptop as my primary machine.
And since I don't have another contract task lined up, I'm back on the bench again until my keepers find me some more work. This is not good for my credit record or my peace of mind.
Email list update: I also called my ISP's support line on Friday. Their support rep said that an admin would get back to me in email when it was fixed. And they did, on Friday afternoon. No explanation as to what happened, no apology from the admin, just the standard "let us know if you have any further problems". I give them low marks on "Customer Care". I expect better because I know how to deliver better. Time to let them know how I *really* feel, or to start looking for an ISP who knows their customers and cares about them.
