My Computer Crashed, The Hard Drive Was Wiped, and I Didn’t Freak Out — Here’s Why
The fear of loss is a very powerful motivator.
It keeps us holding on to what we have, taking measures to protect ourselves and our loved ones.
But when we are faced with actually loss, it can be a a terrifying experience…
Even if the loss is your computer data. Think about it…
Downloaded emails gone. School or work documents disappear. Music library erased. Hundreds of memories captured in images or video erased. Notes, downloaded files, and appointments are wiped out.
I’m getting chills just thinking about it.
It’s a real risk when we rely on digital systems… they can fail. Especially if it’s all on an old hard drive.
My hard drive was recently wiped because of some crazy computer problems, but I didn’t lose anything important.
And not because I don’t keep anything important on my computer. My life is almost entirely digital. I rely on technology for just about everything!
I survived because my documents, notes, pictures, videos, calendars, todo lists, web bookmarks, and more are securely stored in the cloud in various online services that I access from my computer.
Use any of the below apps and you’ll not only be safer in case of a computer meltdown, but you’ll also be able to access these items from any other computer!
CALENDAR
I use the built in iCal app on my Mac, which syncs via iCloud to my iPhone. I was also able to access this from iCloud.com
Another great service is Google Calendar. Plenty of great features here, and I also use it from time to time.
WEB BOOKMARKS
A web browser can store a lot of info… bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history.
Google Chrome is great for this. Just sign in with a Google account and it’ll automatically save all of the above. And when you login from another computer (or your smart phone), it’ll bring in all of your saved data so you feel right at home.
TODO LISTS
For all my work projects I use Asana. It’s a great app that allows me to record all my projects and next steps for the various areas of my life. Also syncs to my phone with an app.
Another option is the built in Reminders on a Mac or Tasks within Google Calendar. Both options sync to phones too.
NOTES
Evernote is my digital brain.
Everything I need to keep track of that’s not in my calendar or todo list is here. And I do mean everything. Notes from client meetings, ideas for future projects, reminders to myself, audio notes, receipts, and anything else I want to get out of my brain and into something that can’t forget.
Evernote syncs across all devices so I can access my brain whenever I need to. If there was any app I couldn’t survive without… this would be it.
DOCUMENTS, FILES, ETC.
For everything else, I’ve got Dropbox and Google Drive. These can pretty much be used the same way, and are very similar in a lot of ways.
You can download a program for either service so that a folder on your computer is constantly synced to the online version.
I do that so all important files are backed up and accessible from anywhere.
I not only got my hard drive wiped, I ended up getting a new hard drive shortly after. So I went through this reset process multiple times, and it was relatively low stress because I had these and other systems in place with all my info.