Don’t Forget to Backup Files!

Over the summer, I was taking an Intro to Computing (C++ programming) class at City College. One Sunday morning in the middle of the summer semester, I awoke at 5am due to a pesky mosquito. Unable to fall back asleep, I checked my phone and found my friend in China was on AIM.

I couldn’t keep up with with the conversation on my phone’s keyboard, so I turned on my Mac. It started up normally but when I tried to launch iChat, it gave an error message about not having permission to open it. I found other programs were doing the same. I tried a few tricks, including Repair Permissions, but nothing seemed to work. I didn’t want to restart the computer before saving my files so I connected my Mac to my external hard drive, but my Mac did not recognize it.

I had no choice but to restart and hope for the best. It turned on but only got to the gray screen with the turning gear and hung there. I thought I would try my Windows partition (since I had Boot Camp set up) but that also failed to start. Ubuntu’s Live Disk option also didn’t work.

I finally gave up trying to save my files and decided to reinstall OS X but even that was not successful. Out of options, I scheduled an appointment with the Genius Bar. At the Genius Bar, they were glad I tried the basic steps already. In the end, the Genius Bar representative that worked with me deduced that my hard drive failed, which meant I had to leave my Mac with them for repairs. I panicked. How was I supposed to do my homework for Intro to Computing without a computer to compute my code?

Backing up your files is important. All the papers and lab reports saved on your Mac that you put so much effort into could be lost in a matter of seconds by a coffee spill or a fall from a desk.

I was going to lose some of my files, but luckily most of them were safe on my external hard drive. If I didn’t back up regularly, I would have lost a year of my college work. That’s why I constantly stress the importance of backing up.

Replacement parts are also expensive. Since we are all covered by a three-year AppleCare plan, take advantage of it while you can. A Genius Bar visit and replacement parts would have cost about $200 without coverage.

I somehow survived a week without my Mac and was reunited with it the next Sunday. I was able to restore my files, settings, and applications using my Time Machine backup on my external hard drive. Time Machine is the automated backup program that is pre-installed on your Mac. To set it up, just go to System Preferences and select the Time Machine icon for more information. While it seems like another mundane task to complete, backing up files now will save you a lot of pain and worry later.