...End of line: Updated - Dead as a Doornail
kyoto kid
Posts: 40,571
..so today I found that my library drive (D:) failed completely. With the crash it too six years of my life in characters and scenes ofr my story with it. Some may wonder shy wans't it backed up. Well I am poor, I worked in a jpb that payed crap wages, and am now having to "survive" on Social Security.
I did try to backup the drive when I got the m,essage that it might fail, but I had to delete backups from my old noteboos to make room. Unbfirtuantely afterwards, the backup file was nowhere near as large as it should have been (1/3 of the actual space the data took oup on the drive), and I received an error message that not all files were not backed up.
So basically everything I did over the last dsix years is hosed, which includes characters and scenes for the story I have been working on.
I am thinking of chucking this all as wel las the story I have spent years on writing.
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So sorry! I hope you find a way and the will to continue on. That's devastating. :(
Bring the drive to computer repair, maybe there is something that could be done. When my drive failed, they fixed it and I have recovered everything. It did cost quite a lot, but of course worth it.
I'm so sorry to hear this Kyoto :( I hope that you will be able to get back on your feet after this and continue onwards, but I totally understand if you choose not too. Things like this can be devastating *offers many hugs*
Such a tragedy! So sorry.
...not at my age I won't. I am not about to start from ground zero again. Did that too many times.
....I cannot afford "professional" service. Also, when the FAT sector is hosed, the drive is a doorstop, there is no recovery of files.
...were I younger this would not be as much a setback, but being in my 60s and looking at the years it will take to recreate all the work I lost just isn't encouraging any more.
I'm so sorry Kyoto Kid. Drive failures are always devastating, and even more so when you lose the fruits of your creative endeavors. I hope with the passage of time, you will come back from this and be able to enjoy working on your story or a new story.
One of the rare things you have is your experience and sensibility that can't be "erased". So may be the new works you'll do will be better than the old ones anyway. And it is always fun. Below some links that I hope may help you.
https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva
https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
..hard to say at my age. I've spent over a decade at this and already weathered one HDD failure that killed a lot of my work.
I cannot afford to have state of the art hardware as before I retired I was working a job that paid crap wages and now am living on Social Security. I actually had to delete other backups form the external drive I have to attempt a backup of the D: drive this past Sunday When the backup file was 1/3rd the size of the data on D: I knew something as wrong.
If I still could draw and paint, this wouldn't be an issue. This was only creative outlet I had after arthritis took traditional art and performing music away.
This is purely academical now, but - how big was the drive? It would have been a good idea to either burn the data onto DVD's, or upload it online.. or even ask if someone has an old one they dont want.
It truly is priceless.. so everyone should learn from this. Back up your stuff!
..the drive was a 1 TB and I didn't have the capacity to back it up (also had too many DVDs go south on me over time). I also don't trust leaving my copyrightable material on cloud services considering all the hacking that occurs.
1Tb drive on ebay - $35.99.
Not looking to make you feel worse or anything, but that's the price you put on 6 years of work.
...and most likely that is "used".
I also don't do eBay as they require a PayPal membership.
...but a moot point as it doesn't bring back the years of work for my story that I lost.
That's my point though, I'm saying anyone reading this who hasn't backed up their stuff either ever, or in a while.. to do so. Storage is pretty cheap these days, so theres really no excuse.
Again, with all due respect to your current situation.. but if you'd have just takent the chance with online storage (even uploading it encrypted) it would have saved your skin.
..it wasn't when I built my system.
I've dealt with hacking before and that pretty much turned me off form putting my important data on someone else's server.
Also the job I was working at wen I built my system paid such crap wages (took me 18 months to save up for all the components) I had to choose between the company sponsored health plan or a monthly transit pass so I could get to work and keep my job. Now I am on Social Security and getting less than 1,000USD a month to survive on (my rent alone is 50% of my benefit cheqiue and where I live is supposedly "low income housing").
Sorry to hear of your data loss. I've recovered files from broken HD before if it is a controller board those are replaceable. if it is a head crash sometimes you can replace the magnetic wand arms and heads and recover some data. I would look and see if you have a local computer club or linux club most tech heads will do favors for beer or takeout if you get to know them. Hope something works out for you. Best of luck
well if you do decide to chuck it all in
there is the small matter of what you are going to do instead
your DAZ content is still all redownloable, you could use it as an opportunity to systematically organise everything in view of a new project one day
Right, but people expand or upgrade as they go along don't they? I never started with massive hard drives, I've changed and swapped them out as I've needed to (and as the price goes down). Also, swapping drives like that every 2/3 years helps with the chances of drives dying after years of use.
Was the data encrypted though? I mean sure, yea, you *could* get hacked... the same way I *could* get run over.. life is all about chance. But even if the account did get hacked what would they do with the data (I'm not talking about storing your bank details.. but specifically the work you lost)? Nothing most likely, if anything the data would just get trashed. The sad alternative to taking that chance though is now you've lost it anyway.. so.. which option turned out riskiest?
Sorry to hear that kyoto kid. I remember when, after a month of hard work on a deadline project, the drive crashed. That was horrible... ever since I back things up, if only the most important bits on a usb drive. I like that in the case of Daz duf files are small in general makes it easier.
Hope you find the heart again to begin afresh.
Btw there is this http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ , even if it is the master record thats been damaged, parttial recovery might be possible. Helped me once, worth a shot.
...this is the FAT sector judging by the "ticking" sound when the system boots up and the fact the drive is not even recognised by the system BIOS. . If that sector is hosed, there is no way to recover data.
...but it doesn't help with all the years I spent creating the characters and settings that were lost.
As to what I would do, probably hang out at the pub more watching sports and watching Russian dash cam videos on YouTube to hopefully feel better about myself..
..I and others on DA dealt with "art theft". Not about to have someone rip my story ideas and images off so they can make money off my hard work and then turn around and try to sue me when I try to release it.
Apologies, But I have grown up and lived on the po side of town". Were it not for degenerative crippling arthritis. I wouldn't be in this at all and still be doing all my illustration work by hand..
I struggle to understand your logic I'm afraid.
People will rip stuff off.. just look at the piracy we deal with. Does that stop us? No. Is the world just? No.. none of that is a reason not to back up your lifes work... and like I said, since you didn't take that chance to use the free online services to store your data, you've fallen on your own sword really.
Here's to a fresh start, with multiple, validated backups! :)
...I cannot afford an attorney to go after someone else who most likely has more money to do so than I do. The situation has become incredibly corrupt (at least where I live) and if you don't have the money to fight it, you lose.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but we're dealing with a really far fetched 'what if' scenario here?.... if you uploaded your data to the cloud, then if the account was hacked, then if the person unencrypted it somehow, then if they then pitched the idea to someone to get it printed, then if they tracked you down, then if they tried to sue you for copyright.........then, you'd not have the money for an attorney?
?
...If I tried to to publish my story, yes, most likely they would sue if they were making money off of it as where I live the system is incredibly corrupt. Considering I barely make it month to month on SS, I could not afford an attorney on my own and civil cases like this are usually not accepted "pro bono".
Just look at how Disney comes down on fan art.
Also the legal system between the UK and US is very different.
However, this is all water over the dam.
When I built my system, there was no "cloud storage" and components (like drives) were expensive. Also I built my system on a shoestring budget as my old notebook couldn't run Daz 4.0 without crashing. I have been on the low rung of the economic ladder pretty much all my life. It was a serious savings project to get the components I needed to build the system I have during which I had to forgo other things in life (including scrimping on food) to do so thanks to the lousy wages I was earning. An extra drive for backup was a major expense which on my meagre income was extremely difficult to manage. Some people don't realise what others sacrifice to support a creative outlet, particularly when health issues take what they loved away as they have for myself. I would love to still be drawing, painting, as well as playing piano and violin as those were such a "tactile" and personal means of expression. That is now gone for me so 3D art is the only outlet I have left. Sadly, it is a very costly medium to be involved in and as I have seen, prone to mechanical flaws that are outside the artist's control.
the point is moot.
there is no backup. there is no encryption. there is no hack. nothing has been stolen, just eroded.
technology ages and dies. that is the nature of the beast.
it's the risk we take when we don't use virus protection, don't back up, and/or don't upgrade.
time to just move on.
The lesson is GO NOW and stop waiting for a perfect moment.
A friend died and with him went a bunch of his music and dreams.
Tomorrow isn't promised, so go today. Restart your novel and release it as you go along.
Remake ONLY THE ASSETS you intend to use NOW. Since you have a very general outline, you can pretty much recreate the whole thing slowly AS YOU GO ALONG.
You don't need to recreate SIX years worth of work. You need to release chapter one and only worry about who's IN CHAPTER ONE.
Use your actual release date as your copyright. The fact of it arriving in stores or wherever you intend to push it to - is your proof of ownership.
You'll eventually find out that the stuff sitting on your hard drive or in your mind or in your sketchbook doesn't count.
And being older should tell you not to waste any more time "planning" and "preparing" and get to finishing and releasing.
This is probably a blessing. You might have spent another six years getting your story "ready" and doing even more un-needed world-building when you could be building your readership and fanbase.
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And as a business minded person, how can you work that long and not have tried to capitalize?
Finances come from GoFundMes and KickStarters and everything else. If you had been sharing it and building your fanbase and supporters, THEY could be buying you a new hard drive and video card and whatever else you tell them you need.
So the next (and better iteration) you need to do it the right way and again ---
if you truly spend six years working on this, you KNOW the MAJOR details.
You can easily start releasing chapter I without a plot-hole.
You can.
And you should....and if you don't have a major marketing plan or publishing deal, you need to do this on your own.
And start yesterday. It's silly to not play your first ballgame until the parking lot is perfectly paved. You pay for the asphalt with the revenue from season I tickets and fans will gladly park in a dirt lot as long as the games are fun to watch.
You need to get out of your own way and maybe this is the big push you needed to get past that eternally-getting-ready hurdle.
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And if you were going to spend ANOTHER MONTH getting your stuff together and now you decide to actually release some finished work, you will actually BE AHEAD of where you were before. This is a win, win situation.
You put all of this on a GoFundMe or Kickstarter and share some work and finished elements and I guarantee, you'll get more support than you have now.
And now that you know a huge part of your world, take a step back and focus on the best parts and start there. Get to the meat and create a blockbuster chapter one and get busy.