I had a computer crash today that resulted in a total loss of data. Worst part is I started getting error messages from my back up drive about a month and a half ago saying it wasn't connected even though it was, and have been putting off calling tech support about that. So, now here I am with backups only up to November 1. Tech support can send my computer out to a company that can retrieve all my data for $1500, but I'd have to get approval that would most likely go to the president of my division. I do log my progress on projects on a shared server so I at least can inventory what I'm missing and go back to my vendors and freelancers to see if they could resend their work. This option would potentially save face for me in my department, but if even 2 freelancers/vendors didn't save their work, it will cost me more to have someone redo the work than the $1500 to retrieve my files. It is an in between time so I would estimate there are about 10 files I really need to retrieve. The rest would be more of an inconvenience (lost e-mail conversations I might want to refer back to and work I did on my own that would take a long time to rebuild) than lost money.
I lost all my email this last week and had it restored. The conversations, files, etc. in my email are so important for my daily work. The way my work desktop is set up, I cannot save to personal files, so everything is on the network.
It wasn't your fault or due to your negligence that your computer crashed. This "maintenance" is part of your company's overhead, so I can't see how you could be viewed unfavorably over needing to resolve a situation out of your control.
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"Fashion can be bought. Style one must possess." ~ Edna Woolman Chase
I'm just worried they will ask why I didn't deal with getting my backup drive fixed sooner. I was just so busy that it kept falling to the bottom of my "to do" list. The tech support guy said I should just say that I thought the backups were working all that time. That might work as the business manager and my manager know I am dedicated to backing up because I actually tried to campaign for a drive with more space when I first started.
It turns out that my back up was not even backing up my files. I had a backup from 11/23 with only about 10 files in it, making it worthless. I told management and they are trying to get the computer company to pay for it since I'm under warranty. Either way, we will have the transfer done and nobody faults me.