Life Preservers

Computer Tips

Having a really rough couple of weeks. Long freak out short, I am in the process of breaking in a new computer. The catalyst for this new purchase was not joy. It was not a budgeted, planned upgrade. It was a horrible surprise. It was, in that way that only technology can be, completely unexpected, stunning, and mysterious. My work life existed. And then it didn’t.

In an effort to shift my energy away from fervently wishing I could go back in time to when I wasn’t sitting in a corner mumbling stupid-stupid-stupid while self-flagellating with monitor connectors and USB dongles, I thought I’d jot down a few thoughts to help others.

Here are my top 10 tips for having a computer:

1. Do backups.
2. Do more backups.
3. Back up your backups.
4. Back up everything, not just files but the entire system.
5. Apple has an app for doing this automatically. When you first attempt to set it up and realize it requires other equipment to activate, go buy the equipment that very moment. Do not think, “Oof. I’ll figure that out later” and then wait 4 years to realize you never figured it out.
6. When a help-line person suggests that you could erase your hard drive to fix problems, think long and hard before saying, “Okay.” And then think again.
7. The vague idea that you are pretty sure you had your applications backed up is not proof of any kind that you have your applications backed up.
8. When you run regular backups of all of your home folder, it does include any of your applications. You dumbass.
9. It’s probably a good idea to store the licenses for your applications in a different place from inside a folder within the applications themselves.
10. Run backups before a help desk person suddenly hands you off to their supervisor.

In short, my friends, stop whatever you are doing right now and consider what you might lose if your computer disappeared from your desk.

Do backups. They’re a life saver.

February 8, 2022 at 10:14 am 1 comment