Are You Prepared For A Technical Fail?
Technical things go wrong all the time as more of our tools require technology. Recently my hard drive went and within 12 hours my Droid. Thankfully the Droid was repaired quickly. It was due to a power surge from a thunderstorm. Are you prepared if one of your gadgets goes down for a few days or longer?
It really got me thinking. I can do most things with my Droid or Tablet but not all. I cannot get images into blog posts or new products onto websites (yet). This was not the first time nor will it be the last that this will happen. I wrote about it on one of my first posts as a hurricane was close to the coast here last summer.
Things I’ve learned so far
- Back up everything – Always back up your blogs via the export button and save separately.
- Back up all your files onto a flash drive or even twice on 2 different flash drives for extra security. You never know when one of those delicate flash drives will break too. You could also burn them onto a disk.
- Passwords- Never store on your computer, type them on word document, print out and keep somewhere safe. You should change passwords often as Sonia from Logallot just wrote in her last post at Logallot about passwords and staying safe online.
- Work ahead of time – Have blog posts in the making – so if you are down and need to edit or just hit publish it can be done from other devices.
- Know where you can go to borrow – I’m taking classes at a local college part-time so I could use their computer lab if necessary. I could also borrow my dad’s if I could get him off it – LOL.
- Phones – Be sure your contacts are saved via your cell phone provider. Love that service. Who keeps numbers all written down now? (That could be Plan C)
- Get fun flash drives like these below – How could you forget to do a backup with these fancy gadgets?
Of course I like this idea from Her Social Network over on Twitter:
@lisapatb Computer problems are so not fun.Had them last week…Debated on fixing the computer via backing the car up on it!
— hersocialnetwork (@hersocialnetwrk) June 25, 2012
Yes, technology can sure get frustrating when it’s not working. But having a back up plan ready for when things go wrong can make that time period a little less daunting. I’d love to know what you do when you are down with your technical tools for your website or blog.
Do you have a back-up plan for a technical fail?
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About Lisa
Helping Others to Thrive Online Through Social Media, Blogging and SEO. What good is knowledge if you cannot share it with others?
20+ years experience in marketing/advertising with 3 years experience blogging, social media and SEO.
17 Responses to Are You Prepared For A Technical Fail?
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This is so helpful, because honestly I am not prepared. But I definitely need to be. I just got some new flash drives over the weekend, so I need to make a concerted effort to actually use them.
Stopping by from SITS.
thedoseofreality recently posted..WOULD I PAY MONEY FOR THIS: Swimming In the Deep End
Yes I need to get extra myself since one broke moving the laptop one day and forgot it was there.
CRY, CRY, AND CRY AGAIN if my stuff fails! haha Been there when my old laptop went up. Good thing, I did have the important stuff saved on a stick. Now I have a external portable drive that I back up everything with. I move it from my laptop to my netbook and love it! If the cellphone goes, I’m lost! It’s my life line, however, I do have a back up blackberry at home that I could use temporarily.
So sorry about your hard drive. It does totally suck when that happens. We are sooooo dependant on these things!
Hi Lisa,
Other then making backups of my blog to various places – on local drives AND the internet – I have 2 phones. Without a phone I’m dead. lol
Lisa,
Yea…I have had several computer issues. Viruses, etc…It’s not fun. And I have literally wanted to beat my computer with my bare hands at time. There’s nothing like technical problems to make you need anger management.
But I do have several hard drives. After the Burnet Fires here in Austin, TX. I learned quickly how important it would be to have everything you need backed up. We have two external drives. One in the house, one that I carry around in my purse. I keep it with me incase of anything. You never know if you won’t have the chance to go back home again in an emergency. As a mom who cherishes videos and pictures…I always back up, save, and resave.
Thanks for the tips!!! Great advice. A must do before putting the car in reverse. &;)
Her Social Network recently posted..4. HER Not So Secret Music Obsession Giveaway! (psst, it’s pink and an ipod nano)
That’s a good idea too – external drives. I may look into that one next. Is it that light you can carry around?
My external fits right in my purse, along with my Fire.
Different than a zip drive Brenda?
Thankfully, I haven’t had too many issues like that, but its always better to be safe than sorry. I back up my site once a week and this gives me the peaceful sanity I need. I had a friend lose his site and he didn’t know why on Blogger once and he was a complete wreck. The bad part is that he didn’t own his own content sadly and Google controlled that for him. Still trying to him on WordPress, but he won’t budge. Thanks for the tips and reminder Lisa!~
You are lucky Sonia! I back up daily now. Even blogger – you can export the entire site so if it goes down, re-start with everything. I had to do that with this blog about a month ago and it was wonderful to have.
Thanks for the reminder. I am so not prepared! I really like the guitar flash drive – so cool! Stopping by from SITS.
Raquel recently posted..DIY Mason Jars for the 4th
Thanks Raquel, definitively something to think about!
I can sympathize Lisa… I’ve had my computer crash and then no power or internet for over 14 days due to a hurricane. It’s NOT fun being down.. I learned early on to backup up not only my blog but my computer. I do it weekly and transfer everything to an external hard drive.
I did keep all my passwords in an excel spreadsheet but as time went by, I just had so many to deal with. I have my main sites that I use a lot still in this file but I have a program that stores mine online, not on my hard drive. This helps for when I’m on any other compute, I can still access all my passwords.
It’s never fun being down. What did we ever do without phones and computers? I tell you one thing, I never want to go back to those days.
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..How To Build Successful And Profitable Relationships
Wow 2 weeks Adrienne, you must have gone nuts. I hope the rest of your home was okay from the hurricane. Do you feel safe with passwords stored online? I’ve seen those advertised and cringed thinking if they got broken into. I almost can’t remember what it was like before all this technology.
Yeah, actually after 6 days my Mom and I went to stay with my brother who loves further out and had power. I was able to get back online but by that time it had been 7 days. Not fun at all and the catching up I had to do. Dang!!!
I use a service called Last Pass and I’ve been thrilled with it. Of course, my password to get into the account has to be strong and I’ve been using it now for about two years. I LOVE It because I can access ALL of my passwords through just logging in. You can set it so that it won’t automatically log you in to any of the accounts, that’s up to you. It’s really cool so I definitely recommend it. Just from my own personal experience.
Thanks Lisa!
Adrienne recently posted..How To Build Successful And Profitable Relationships
Hi Lisa,
this is something that I’ve been thinking about lately. Although I haven’t had much trouble in the past this is something that every professional should be aware of: security. It is never fun to lose your work!
Mariella Lombardi recently posted..30 Women With Sexy Abs Dance Around Me
Hi Mariella, most people don’t think of it until it happens and then it’s too late. Always best to save your work so it doesn’t get lost.