I have 13 published novels and have published short stories in 22 anthologies. I have also written over 20 articles on writing, some of them published here on this website, and others published in Writer’s newsletters and on-line blog posts.,
The Crash
I recently had a major computer crash and lost everything… pictures, email, address book, documents… I had backed up my stories and manuscripts and some writing articles on flash drives and thought that was sufficient, but didn’t consider backing up emails, address book or pictures or all articles.
Restoring the Information
We purchased a new computer and began the process to retrieve my lost material.
I retrieved my stories and some articles from the flash drives and actually found a few email contacts on them as well. The ideas below pertain mostly to retrieving pictures, email addresses and written articles that were lost. Perhaps one will be helpful to someone who has suffered a similar loss.
Ideas to Restore Lost Material
- If you have saved material on a flash drive, carefully evaluate and download that information into your repaired or new computer. Be sure to establish a ‘back-up’ plan to prevent a repeat disaster, i.e. In the Cloud or other location.
- If you have a website, check all content to see if anything you previously published pertains to lost material you might want to down load to current computer. Many websites also have pictures on top of your article. If you put a personal picture on that article, you can capture it and return a copy to your new “pictures” file.
- Check any online location where you established an email directory to download information to friends and family. I found a number of emails on Jackie Lawson Greeting Cards location. You might want to research Facebook or Instagram. Perhaps there is a way to retrieve previously posted photos you might want to retrieve.
- Most people have I-phones that hold a zillion pictures (which I don’t) that can be recaptured into your computer.
- Contact any newsletter or blog post where you may have submitted material. They may still have copies in their files that could be sent back to you.
- Post a note on your Facebook or Instagram page, explain the issue and request friends send you their emails and phone numbers.
I’m sure there are other ways to relocate lost material, but these are the few that have worked for me. I’m still working on it. Good luck. If you have any other ideas, feel free to share.