My Computer Decided To Teach Me A Lesson

Well, I decided yesterday to invest in a piece of writing software that I saw someone recommend. I ordered it, and they were kind enough to e-mail a downloadable file link so that I wouldn't have to wait for the CD.

What does impatient Cara do? She happily clicks on the link and downloads the file. Guess what happens? Yep, my whole laptop goes caput. Finit. No more.

Now, this is where the confession comes into play. I can't remember the last time I backed up my writing files completely. To say I freaked is putting it mildly. To make it even better, the customer service department of said company isn't around to help.

The good thing is the laptop is up and running once again. So here are the lessons I learned from this experience:

1. Back up everything. I had quite a few of my completed works saved to other devices in one form or another, but nothing in one compact spot. I know. Feel free to say it. I'm an idiot.

2. Dell rocks! They helped me even though it really wasn't their problem.

3. Automatic system backups that I'm too tech challenged to know exist are amazing. There are a few things in the world that need to remain mysteries. This is one of those things. I may not have backed my files up, but my laptop is apparently smarter than me.

4. Patience is a virtue. Now I'm not about to test my luck with that $150 software program and try and download it to my laptop when the CD arrives, but perhaps it actually works. Maybe the uninstall file isn't corrupt and maybe it won't delete all of the registry keys or whatever it deleted. But I'm not about to test my luck.

I'm chalking this up to a very good lesson learned and thanking the magic elves in my laptop and the wizards at Dell for saving my proverbial ass.

Have a good night everyone. And don't forget to back it up.