I was working away at my desk the other day when the screen froze on my desktop PC. It was a minor annoyance, happened before, so I forced a quit and logged off. Trouble was, when I tried to log back on, I was denied access. Log-in not recognised, the message said.
Suddenly I had no means of accessing my work. Usually when this kind of thing happens, you can simply switch off and on, but that didn't make any difference. As the sole user of the PC, there was no alternative log-in, just a blank refusal to let me in. My PC, my friend, had disowned me.
A few moments of panic ensued. Was this the sudden, unexpected crash that would destroy all my work? Why hadn't I backed up any files in the past six months? Surely there must be a way in?
There was a way back - otherwise I might not be typing this now - but it was not easy. Using a laptop I searched for the solution, to find that this is a 'common' problem with Windows. News to me! The most popular solution involved starting the PC in Safe mode and then altering a Registry setting. It took at least ten attempts even to get Safe mode, before I found the precise time to press F8 during the reboot. I delved deep into the Registry, found the relevant box, and set it to zero. I rebooted. It didn't work.
Another suggestion was to reset the computer to a previous time, also from Safe mode, and restore the system to how it had been 24 hours earlier. To my enormous relief, the PC whirred a lot, sprang into life and suddenly my home screen appeared. It had done the trick. I was back in business.
If this strikes a chord with you, I can strongly recommend the series of articles on keeping your writing safe which is on the Edinburgh Non-Fiction Writers' Group website. The 'Stranger than Fiction' group, which I have enjoyed attending from time to time, is a mightily useful forum for peer review and for exchanging exactly this kind of advice for writers, many of whom are self-employed and don't have access to corporate IT departments to fix things.
The lesson, of course, is never to take your computer for granted. They can get sick, just like us humans, and they can die. It was a lesson well learned for me.
Suddenly I had no means of accessing my work. Usually when this kind of thing happens, you can simply switch off and on, but that didn't make any difference. As the sole user of the PC, there was no alternative log-in, just a blank refusal to let me in. My PC, my friend, had disowned me.
A few moments of panic ensued. Was this the sudden, unexpected crash that would destroy all my work? Why hadn't I backed up any files in the past six months? Surely there must be a way in?
There was a way back - otherwise I might not be typing this now - but it was not easy. Using a laptop I searched for the solution, to find that this is a 'common' problem with Windows. News to me! The most popular solution involved starting the PC in Safe mode and then altering a Registry setting. It took at least ten attempts even to get Safe mode, before I found the precise time to press F8 during the reboot. I delved deep into the Registry, found the relevant box, and set it to zero. I rebooted. It didn't work.
Another suggestion was to reset the computer to a previous time, also from Safe mode, and restore the system to how it had been 24 hours earlier. To my enormous relief, the PC whirred a lot, sprang into life and suddenly my home screen appeared. It had done the trick. I was back in business.
If this strikes a chord with you, I can strongly recommend the series of articles on keeping your writing safe which is on the Edinburgh Non-Fiction Writers' Group website. The 'Stranger than Fiction' group, which I have enjoyed attending from time to time, is a mightily useful forum for peer review and for exchanging exactly this kind of advice for writers, many of whom are self-employed and don't have access to corporate IT departments to fix things.
The lesson, of course, is never to take your computer for granted. They can get sick, just like us humans, and they can die. It was a lesson well learned for me.
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