Just need to vent a worry!

[TraceyHand]

Thank god for laptops (even if it is old and archaic!)
Our PC, which has been playing up for about a week now, died this morning.

Won't start up, isn't even recognising the hard disk drive (although it is finding the removable hard drive) so it's not picking up Windows XP or anything.

EVERYTHING is on there. I attempted to back everything up yesterday because I could tell things were getting worse (call it a hunch!) but it was playing up so badly that I couldn't get a backup to work, or the CD writer.

I'm fairly sure it's got some sort of virus and am just hoping to goodness that the computer shop can at least retrieve my 2 copiesof Actinic catalog (V5 and V6) and any of my other business stuff. So much for my recently purchased copy of Norton Professional 2004 (supposedly all-singing, all-dancing)

Meanwhile, I have orders for both businesses that need processing that I cannot do due to them being on the PC. IF they cannot retrieve the info today, I'll have to call the customers (thankfully, I can login and retrieve their contact details through the WorldPay info online) and explain the situation (probably costing me more money in "keep-the-customer-happy" discounts!)

IF the shop can retrieve my website folders, I can run the catalogues on the laptop (albeit with the speed of a giant tortoise.. ) so PLEASE everyone cross their fingers for me because, if they can't, I'm well and truly BU&&ERED.

I'll have to make any updates to the websites (including ALL stock added, photos taken etc) that I've done in the last month or so all over again as it's been some time since I used the laptop. Days and days and days of work. I'm not even contemplating that scenario!

So, if you have a religion, please pray, if you don't, then all crossed fingers and toes will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for "listening"
Tracey (on tenterhooks now and dreading the phone ringing!)

[brian.mc]

fingers crossed

Tracey

All our fingers are crossed for you!!

I hope the computer shop recovers your files, and if they do, the very first thing to do is back them up! It's not till something goes wrong that we realise the importance of regular backups. (It's happened to me in the past!)

You've got a laptop and a removeable hard drive, so there's plenty of options available.

Your Actinic License allows you to install the software on two separate computers, so long as only one copy is in use at any time.

You could install Actinic onto your laptop, for example, and then take a snapshot each day - or even more frequently if you prefer -it only takes a couple of minutes - and import it to the laptop. That way, if your main machine crashes, you can immediately start using the copy on the laptop. The only problem would be locating orders downloaded since the last snapshot was taken.

You can have a copy of the customer's email receipt sent to your email address, which would let you access details of any missing orders quickly. This can be done in Business Settings|Ordering|Miscellaneous.

Anyway, best of luck!
Brian