Any techies out there

[Mellow]

Ok dropped my laptop .....it rebooted a couple of times, then went out came back tried again....its DEAD!  The light comes on......plus the orange warning sign for low battery and it dies.

Im thinking Ive killed it .....anyone else done this?  Ive rung round a few repair places.....even went to one today (wasted taxi journey it was shut despite my only ringing an hour before.....aaaagh)  That put me in an even worse mood........(currently using my friends archaic laptop whilst shes at wrk)

So now I'm worried a) that the repair guys will see all the naughty stuff on there and b) I'll lose all my pics (yep you guessed it been meaning to save them elsewhere but nevegot round to it)

[xw5]

Are you in London? I am no longer there, but I can suggest a couple of people to ask.

The information on your disk is probably still readable even if something else is fscked, but this is the time to think where else those pictures are.

[ParisB]

Try taking the battery out for a bit  then starting it up again 

Ok dropped my laptop .....it rebooted a couple of times, then went out came back tried again....its DEAD!  The light comes on......plus the orange warning sign for low battery and it dies.

Im thinking Ive killed it .....anyone else done this?  Ive rung round a few repair places.....even went to one today (wasted taxi journey it was shut despite my only ringing an hour before.....aaaagh)  That put me in an even worse mood........(currently using my friends archaic laptop whilst shes at wrk)

So now I'm worried a) that the repair guys will see all the naughty stuff on there and b) I'll lose all my pics (yep you guessed it been meaning to save them elsewhere but nevegot round to it)

[Mellow]

Are you in London? I am no longer there, but I can suggest a couple of people to ask.

The information on your disk is probably still readable even if something else is fscked, but this is the time to think where else those pictures are.

Unfortunately not about as far away as you can get - Scotland.  Yeh I asked a techie mate of mine in Portsmouth and he said same about the pics.  He also said it may be something like the connection between the lead and laptop, as it was plugged in when I dropped it......or something big like the motherboard.

How do you mean where else?  Well I think I know what u mean but not sure!!

[Mellow]

Try taking the battery out for a bit  then starting it up again 

Yeh tried that made no difference    Gonna take it toanother repair place tomorrow

[Rooby]

Hi Mellow

just so you know - the Techie repair blokes will have seen far far worse than a few pictures of you, even if they are hardcore. Your average computer geek sees an avalanche of porn all day every day so as long as its legal (ie not paedophilia/bestiality or Extreme BDSM etc) then they wont even glance at it.

I appreciate that you will still be stood in front of them in the shop, and possibly blushing, but dont panic. What you do is legal, and owning pictures of yourself is legal and their opinions arent relevant as YOU pay their wages...

Also, I hate saying this as I know you're in a panic at the moment - but a portable hard drive to back up to costs way less than ?50 and would keep all your data secure in case this ever happened again...

R xx

[Mellow]

Hi Mellow

just so you know - the Techie repair blokes will have seen far far worse than a few pictures of you, even if they are hardcore. Your average computer geek sees an avalanche of porn all day every day so as long as its legal (ie not paedophilia/bestiality or Extreme BDSM etc) then they wont even glance at it.

I appreciate that you will still be stood in front of them in the shop, and possibly blushing, but dont panic. What you do is legal, and owning pictures of yourself is legal and their opinions arent relevant as YOU pay their wages...

Also, I hate saying this as I know you're in a panic at the moment - but a portable hard drive to back up to costs way less than ?50 and would keep all your data secure in case this ever happened again...

R xx

Yes I bush easily   And always the way isnt it you don't get your ass into gear till an accident happens or its too late!  Yep portable hard drive shall be my next purchase

[River]

Have you checked that the plug, plug fuse & power lead  (both ends, if it unplugs from the power adaptor) are plugged in.
It sounds like your machine is ok but it has run out of battery power.

[Mellow]

Have you checked that the plug, plug fuse & power lead  (both ends, if it unplugs from the power adaptor) are plugged in.
It sounds like your machine is ok but it has run out of battery power.

I know thats what I thought,  but have checked and triple checked all that.  I'm thinking (and my techie mate) that it may be somehow something in the plug/fuse etc could've gotton damaged in the drop and therefore won't connect and so it looks like exactly what you said

[ana30]

I had something very similar happened to me. I stepped on  the cord (by accident) while my computer was charging  and the plug outlet on the back of the laptop got damaged. This stopped the battery from getting charged which caused the laptop to stop functioning. So every time I tried to turn it on I got the "no battery power" red light. So I took it to the repair service and they  changed the whole plug outlet piece on the back  of my laptop (it was broken). Now it works perfect but I must have payed like 200 pounds for the bloody joke.

[Mellow]

I had something very similar happened to me. I stepped on  the cord (by accident) while my computer was charging  and the plug outlet on the back of the laptop got damaged. This stopped the battery from getting charged which caused the laptop to stop functioning. So every time I tried to turn it on I got the "no battery power" red light. So I took it to the repair service and they  changed the whole plug outlet piece on the back  of my laptop (it was broken). Now it works perfect but I must have payed like 200 pounds for the bloody joke.

Yes I stepped on the cord too thats what bought the laptop crashing down, sound like a very similar outcome......aagh I hope its not that much to repair!

[Rooby]

And always the way isnt it you don't get your ass into gear till an accident happens or its too late!  Yep portable hard drive shall be my next purchase

We're all the same I nudged you about it but after I posted I checked and its 7 months since I last backed up. Buying the Portable Hard Drive is step 1, remembering to use the damn thing is step 2!

R xx

[Anika Mae]

It took me years too. Fortunately for me my computer has behaved, while people I know have had disasters every now and then that kept reminding me to sort it out.

I know some of you are Mac users too and you guys have no excuse for not backing up. You already have the Time Machine program, you just need to get that hard drive, plug it in, run Time Machine, then leave them to it and your data will be backed up every day.

Rooby, I'm sure you can get some PC software to keep your backups up to date too.

[xw5]

Unfortunately not about as far away as you can get - Scotland.

Oops, sorry - this is what happens when I am doing SAAFE on the phone and am thinking of someone else whose user name begins with M

How do you mean where else?  Well I think I know what u mean but not sure!!

Camera memory cards (never delete a file from them you might ever need again - if they fill up, get a new one), email attachments, websites etc etc.

It took me years too. Fortunately for me my computer has behaved, while people I know have had disasters every now and then that kept reminding me to sort it out.

I know some who, every time a 'friend' of his has a disaster, says something like 'Thank goodness nothing valuable was lost - if there was anything valuable, you'd have a backup!' I am always surprised to see him still alive and not stabbed to death.

I know some of you are Mac users too and you guys have no excuse for not backing up. .. I'm sure you can get some PC software to keep your backups up to date too.

The problem with TimeMachine and the programs it copied from is that if your house burns down or all your computer gear gets nicked, you've probably lost the backups too.

The answer - assuming a decent internet connection that doesn't mind you uploading lots of data - is an online backup service. They can afford better systems than the rest of us. A variety of them exist, with various good and bad features. The best make the process utterly automatic and transparent: if something changes in your files, it's uploaded within a couple of hours if the computer is online, without you having to do anything.

The one I use is Diino - no discernible limit on how many files you can back up, works on multiple computers, works with external drives and USB sticks, works on Linux, Macs and Windows plus has Android and iPhone clients. diino.com will charge you $49/year, while diino.co.uk will charge you ?39/year and diino.something-else will do it for 39 Euro - it's the same service in each case. (I used to use Carbonite for the same sort of price, but it is tied to one computer, only wants to do certain disks, and is one of Mac/Windows only.)

Alternatives, some of them free for 'small' amounts of data, exist. I know several people who pay to have Picasa back up all their photos in a similar fashion.

[River]

Have you checked that the plug, plug fuse & power lead  (both ends, if it unplugs from the power adaptor) are plugged in.
It sounds like your machine is ok but it has run out of battery power.

I know thats what I thought,  but have checked and triple checked all that.  I'm thinking (and my techie mate) that it may be somehow something in the plug/fuse etc could've gotton damaged in the drop and therefore won't connect and so it looks like exactly what you said

Put a mulitmeter on the little plug which goes into the laptop to see if there is any voltage 14-20 volts normally.
If not, change the fuse in the plug.
If you don't have immediate multimeter access, change the fuse anyway.
Or go to Maplin and ask them nicely to check your existing power unit.
If it's dud they'll sell you a new one and their prices are ok.

When you plug the lead into the computer, do any lights on the computer change?