How can I be so daft? – It isn’t hard
Yesterday, I was thrilled to collect the hard drive from my old iMac. This was the drive that held five years (and more) of all my files and programmes. I have been waiting patiently for Apple to say it was ready to collect. “Once I get my hard drive, I can get myself all sorted out on my new iMac” I kept telling Mo. “Until then, I can’t really get going.”
We picked up the old drive from the Apple Store and went straight to PC World to buy an enclosure (Apple don’t sell them). We were greeted by a young chap who looked like Eric Sykes (British comedian) and sounded like Tommy Cooper! He was a bit of a comedian himself, but I expect that was inevitable really. He finally sold us an enclosure and we set off home.
Once home we followed the very brief instructions on how to wire it up. I plugged everything in and switched it on. The light came on and quickly went off again. We took it to pieces and tried wiring it differently, as the instructions were so vague we were not totally sure it was correct. Still not working.
I contacted a very clever PC man called Jeff (View From The Clouds) and emails flew back and forth while he very kindly tried to help me out of my predicament. Unfortunately it seemed that something was faulty, and we would have to go back and see Mr Eric Cooper, or was it Tommy Sykes?
It ended up with us getting our money back, even though they said that the enclosure fired up for them. I was now a little worried that it may be the hard drive that was faulty after all, so we went to the Apple Store, and they said that if we couldn’t get it to work with another enclosure they would return the costs for the drive removal. We set off to the only other shop we could think of, to buy another enclosure. On the journey I started to think (shame I didn’t do that sooner – much sooner!) Did I really need what was on the drive? What IS actually on it? You know, questions like that.
“Don’t worry Mo” I said out loud. “I will take the drive back to Apple and get a refund” Mo looked a little confused – not too confused because she knows me.
“I’ve just remembered. I didn’t use the internal drive for many of my files. I used an external one, and in any case, I always backed up my ‘home’ folder, so I will have everything on my backup drive.” (For those that don’t know about Macs, the ‘Home’ folder holds pretty much everything, except applications!) “We might as well go home now.”
Mo: “I’m already going home.”
She had turned around as soon as she heard my ramblings on what was, or wasn’t on the hard drive. She knows me too well. She hasn’t moaned at me once, for all the running around she’s had to do.
What is my excuse for my stupidity and total waste of time? None really.
We’ll probably take the hard drive back, get a refund from Apple and pretend that these last few weeks didn’t really happen.
For those of you that like Tommy Cooper, and just to show you that some people make a fortune out of being as daft as me, here is a little clip for you.
.
Stumble it!
Subscribe by Email
Ruth
| 7 February 2010 at 15:02
I very much appreciate you giving me Tommy Cooper because I was feeling frightened by all that talk about drives and boxes. I’m afraid I would be in sad shape if I had to do anything like that myself. I’m glad you didn’t have to go through with it.
Cooper is beautiful! So fun, love those wisps of hair, that daft smile, that goofy humor. Whoopee!
Ruth´s last blog ..complexity
Jeff
| 7 February 2010 at 17:15
I’m so sorry your enclosure didn’t work out, it’s really not supposed to be that complicated! One thing I’ve learned though about computers over the years is that you can’t trust them to do what you want them to do – ESPECIALLY when it’s important.
Good luck. I’d hang on to that hard drive anyway until another day when you can try it another enclosure (maybe at the Mac store again). You never know what’s still on it that you might need someday.
Jeff´s last blog ..And if we’re lucky, Debby Harry and Robin Leach may show up!
LadyBanana
| 7 February 2010 at 22:24
Uhh ohh… well I guess you just gotta laugh..
LadyBanana´s last blog ..5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake
Jaffer
| 8 February 2010 at 4:12
I have an external drive but I think I’ll need another one soon !
Lesson learned: Never share your external drive with a sibling or any other relative especially if they come from the father’s side !
Thanks for the giggles
Liudmila
| 8 February 2010 at 12:15
You can be sure, you are not alown.
I’ve never thought to use the hard drive as a closet… I would use an external disc in this case. Y gave me a good idea for my phots…
Liudmila´s last blog ..The Miracle Of Healthy Birth
beetle
| 8 February 2010 at 14:04
Ruth: Mo and I have always upgraded hardware inside our computers. Usually with no problems. Not so this time though. Tommy Cooper is one of my all time favourites
Jeff: Thanks so much for all your help. I have decided to keep hold of the drive and try another enclosure. Mainly because I am nervous about parting with a drive that has all of my important, personal details on it. What if it were NOT faulty and it got into the wrong hands? Silly maybe.
LadyBanana: You certainly do have to laugh at me sometimes
Jaffer: Oh I don’t let anyone touch my computer or any part of it, for those reasons
Liudmila: I had never thought of it either. If they hadn’t suggested it at Apple, I would have just thrown it away!
Barb at WillThink4Wine
| 8 February 2010 at 18:26
I don’t do any hardware. I have a computer guru for that. Thank Heavens!
That comedian was hilarious! I wish there were more like him!
Barb at WillThink4Wine´s last blog ..The sun rises
meleah rebeccah
| 8 February 2010 at 20:17
Oh man, sorry the enclosure didn’t work! That stinks.
But this made me laugh out loud: “We’ll probably take the hard drive back, get a refund from Apple and pretend that these last few weeks didn’t really happened.”
Ahahahahahahahahahah!!!
meleah rebeccah´s last blog ..Doing Things Differently – My Week In Review
beetle
| 9 February 2010 at 2:02
Barb: You know, sometimes I think that hardware is easier than software! At least it’s kind of hands on. With software it all goes on behind the scenes
Meleah: I’m glad it made you laugh. I laughed about it too
Swubird
| 10 February 2010 at 5:57
Babs:
Me too. I started putting everything on an external drive a while back. Then I back that up on a DVD. I’ve lost too many files in the past, including a book I was working on. You can’t feel much more depressed than losing about 75 pages of a book.
Happy trails.
Maureen
| 10 February 2010 at 14:25
Oh Babs, there are many times, sadly I wish I could “pretend that these last few weeks didn’t really happen.”
If it were only that easy…
Hilarious though! I must admit I only recently backed up everything to an external drive too. Previously I had always backed up to CDs and then DVDs. This is so much easier! Doh!
Maureen´s last blog ..Blog Candy!
Jay
| 11 February 2010 at 2:20
Oh, Tommy Cooper! He always reminds me of my Dad – Dad LOVED Tommy Cooper! He used to laugh so much!
Mine’s all backed up on to an external drive, too, but I still worry! And I will admit to you that I’m confused just reading your post, so if there’s no hope for you, there’s none for me either! LOL!
Jay´s last blog ..ABC Wednesday with the greyhounds – D
beetle
| 11 February 2010 at 19:35
Swubird: It must have been awful, losing your book!! I’ve lost quite a bit over the years, so I try to have two backups now, whenever possible.
Maureen: The trouble is that those “pretend that these last few weeks didn’t really happen.” times are getting more frequent with each year that passes!
Jay: I have to say that I don’t know anyone who didn’t love Tommy Cooper. Sadly, they don’t make ‘em like that any more. We have always upgraded our own PC’s. Installing hard drives, DVD drives, memory upgrades etc., but when it comes to what’s compatible with what, we’re totally lost!