Friday 10 April 2009

Ma, someone ate my files


We came back quite late last night after tahlil at Malaysia Hall. As usual, before turning in, I checked my emails. The laptop gave the usual friendly and chirpy jingle before I signed in. Everything seemed fine. Then I looked at my desktop. The usually cluttered desktop with all manner of files, folders and documents and programmes seemed unusually tidy. There were two rows of icons; mozilla firefox, YM,Web n Walk Stick Manager and FileZilla Client among the most important ones for me. The rest - my writings, precious pictures, invoices, work - archives of work - all gone.

For a while I sat on the bed thinking they would reappear when I restart the laptop. It didnt and I was seized with panic. Husband and google came to my rescue and I had to spend £41 (with VAT) to get a programme that undelete deleted files. Throughout the night, I undeleted deleted files and saved them onto discs as advised.

Oh, how I took things for granted!
Pix from TechTips.com

40 comments:

The Ceramic Designer said...

what actually happened kakteh? assm..

Anonymous said...

Oh dear me! did you manage to find out what caused all those files to be deleted on the first place? Thank goodness, whatever PC monster that was, didn't gobble and corrupt your hard disk, too. Wow!

Memorable trails... said...

Oooo..ada rupanya ya kak teh, program to undelete the deleted files..
I ni tang2 pc backward sikit.Anyway it s good that you got all those precious things back.
Great day!

ray said...

Komen Pak Malim, kucing ray yg alim.

Nasib baik la, kucing tak pandai guna komputer, kata Pak Malim sambil naik komuter. Kalau tak, panic jugak, kan, kalau jadi macam ni. (Kelihatan Pak Malim sedang berenang di Tasik Chini).

Kak Teh said...

CD, it must be virus or something. I had earlier downloaded a freetrial software. And i uninstalled it as soon as I couldnt use it. Menyesal tak sudah.

Andrea - I certainly hope not. I have most of the files on discs now. I will know what I have lost when I cant find what I want to use. Time will tell. But this software that I have, i can use foever as I had already paid for it. £41!!!!!

Kak Teh said...

Madam Gold, Kak Teh pun tak tau abt these programmes. But thanks to my husband who patiently googled and downloaded the programme. I dah macam nak menjerit!


Pak Malim, inilah gejalanya teknologi, kata kak teh sambil berus gigi. Kita sering diperhamba dan terlalu bergantung padanya , keluh kak teh sambil pakai bedak nyonya.

Roti Kacang Merah said...

alin pun pernah kena gitu (files deleted), kakak.

but that was almost a decade ago, back when i wouldnt know if such program existed.

i learnt my lesson well -- do not clutter thy desktop, save important files on D-drive instead of C-drive, and backing-up in external hard-drive.

i certainly learnt the HARRRRRRD way. Lost ALL sentimental photos, letters, music and all. huak.

Kak Teh said...

Roti, nowadays I depend on google so much. Anything technical that I dont know, I google - and everything starts with How to....
Now I know - i will have back-ups and backups.

i couldnt bear the thought of losing precious pictures. as for work,invoices, luckily I usually copied them to another email. and they are all there.

Pi Bani said...

I always remind myself to have backups of all important files. But tu lah dia, sometimes bila kita lengah sikit, masa tu lah virus nak datang attack...

Kak Teh said...

Pi Bani, most of my work ada backups. sebab i always send a copy to another email. BUT yang tak ada back up - pictures and some jottings. Now, I have learnt through hard and expensive way.

Ms B said...

I take it for granted cos my office does that on daily basis for my work laptop. Need to do the same for the personal pc too.

Btw, mom is in town and saw GUIT. She's tryng to read it, in between our outings of course. She asked how did I get it signed. :D Will be away for the weekend, across the channel island.

IBU said...

Salam Kak Teh,

It crossed my mind, eh... ntah2 orang lain punya notebook kot? ekekeke...

But since you managed to find some deleted files, so it's yours for sure. ehehehehhh...

Hope you'll find them all soon. Invoices yg penting tu kak Teh!!!!

Unknown said...

Oh dear Kak Teh...I hope all is well now. Take care and hope you and yours will have a lovely weekend.

Salam from Penang.

tireless mom said...

Hi Kak Teh

Alhamdulillah you manage to recover the files. I will panic everytime I misplace any file, yeah talk about being organised! Inikan if the file disappear, menangis tak berlagu.

Argus Lou said...

Oh, goodness! Thank God you could get back the precious files, Kak Teh. Nightmare of writers, this.

Kak Teh said...

Ms B, am glad your mum is here, can keep you and lil B company. Have a good time and hope to meet up with you soon.

as for the backup and computer security, I have done that once in a while but the virus are always one step ahead.

Kak Teh said...

Ibu, haha, it did cross my mind. I stared at it for a long time. then i realised how serious it was.

I am not quite worried about my invoice because I usually copied them to another email - so i have a record.

Paula, thanks and have a good Easter weekend!

Kak Teh said...

TM, memanglaaa menangis tak berlagu. especially bila hilang gambar2 sentimental. So that is why sanggup berkorban £41.

Argus, it is indeed a nightmare. My laptop is just a year old. and it has given me so many problems.

mamasita said...

Hai KT!
Glad to hear your 'whatever' has been sorted out.I don't know much about this computer stuff.So nak komen pun takut tersasau pulak! haha
Hope you punya backup system eveready lepasni ye?

Kak Teh said...

mamasita, i had to learn the hard way. tapi bila switch on computer berpeluh jugak laa takut ada yang hilang.

mekyam said...

omg! what a bummer for you, kt.

could it have been the "conflicker worm"?

Ida Hariati Hashim said...

Salam Kak Teh,

Eeee..cerita pasal files hilang ni boleh buat gaduh husband and wife!

When my hubby was in Egypt, I decided to do some clean up of the system, lepas tu habislah pic dia training Aikido with some foreign instructors in Paris kena clean up sekali. Haiyo, when I told him, member punya la marah..sampai dua minggu I merana dia tak email or call..punya la marah..ahahha.

But now dah ok..but tak berani nak clean apa-apa dah..takut derhaka nanti..hahhaha

Take care, sis..it is spring time now..(time ni la I selalu bersin..achoo!)

Awang Goneng said...

Just for the record, folks: I don't do Google but I Scroogle. Go here to find out why:
https://www.scroogle.org

Word verification: Worionc

DrSam said...

What a day Kak Teh! Luckily your beloved hubby is around and the damage control was done very quick.

Losing the hardware is one thing but to loose all the 'sentimental' items in the computer, it will surely spoil my whole appetite the whole week.

Have to be extra careful and vigilante to the cyber threat, even blog can disappear into thin air..pufff! So now it become my routine to back up almost all my work in some place that is considered safe.

Have a nice day Kak Teh.

Kak Teh said...

mekyam, conflicker worm? i had to google and see what that is..but whatever ate up my files i know is certainly a worm. I wish we have easier solutions, the way our parents dealt with cacing during our childhood. I have run several scans and tests and everything seemed to be fine. And so far now - everything is back to normal.

Ida, ooooh,..samalah but I wouldnt touch his files in the computer sebab kalau usik papers yang atas meja pun dah kena warning.

Kak Teh said...

er, ehem, AG, yes, I google and you scroogle. Will google scroogle to see what that is all about.

Dr Sam, I have since found a less painfull and less expensive way to recover files. All you need to do is go to back up and restore centre on wondows and then click restore files. Alas, i have already spent £41!

Mama Rock said...

isnt it scary? i'ld go crazy if it happens to me...same like if i lose my contacts on my cell!

Honeytar said...

I know how it feels Kak Teh! Lucky you got it recovered (tho' flushing down £41!). For all you know, the one selling the software is probably the one who created the worms!

I lost my laptop on 1st Feb'09 and at that spur of moment, all I think was my SEVEN years worth of files, photos and hard work!

I just pray to God and redho, if it's not meant to be then be it. Suddenly, God gives me this idea to call my IT savvy nephew.

"By any chance, did you have a backup of my hard disk?" I asked. I couldn't believe it when he said "YES!!!".

He got a Terabyte external drive and out of the blue came to visit me 3weeks before the theft. Did all the backup without my knowledge and label my file as "Lifeline".

All in all, I just lost only one month's work. I have hard copies of all the invoices but I lost one freelance job I did on "project cashflow" for a friend. Still I got a lot to be thanked for!

Lesson learned. Yes I have external drive for backups now. :)

mekyam said...

kt [and tabik cik kaleh to ag!],

my hub kata scroogling is googling ninja style, i.e. searching with more stealth and discrimination.

i suppose it's not for the likes of kita2 pengguna internet marhaen yg not so canggih at roaming the net like wira mangga dgn ilmu sarat di dada.

maklumlah most of us tak kuasa nak menjason-bournekan diri. toksah kata nak plan our moves and hide our tracks, everyday when we open our net portals, we just jump into netland mcm into our own backyard or mcm nak gi kedai simpang.

sarung slipar jepun pun kalau teringat. silap2 hari kaki ayam jer most of us masuk internet [agaknya tulah terkena cacing!]. lepas tuh terus selamba jer p&c'ing (point&clicking) as we lollygag around, langsung tak kisah abt whatever "malwotsits" that could be lurking in the byways.

i kekadang tu berambi gak lah, what with h constantly throwing the grits of doubt into the oyster of my simple faith (in the internet), tapi taklih nak sustain such a-retentive good habits.

most of the time, i just cross my toes [sbb i touch-type, so need all 10 digits], seru nama the supreme dewa of the internet mcm sir tim (sir tim berners-lee) and just p&c away. ;D

Kak Teh said...

Mama Rock, very the scaryyyyy!!! Nowadays, when i switched on my laptop, i dah nervous in case anything happens. Kita sudah diperhambakan teknologi.

Honeytar, I wish I have a nephew like yours. That will save a lot of anguish. Oh btw, we were looking through arwah's old album and saw a very young honeytar - pointed out to me by Tok Din. Of course Tok Din masa tu pun mudalah kan?

Kak Teh said...

Mekyam, apa benda scroogle tu pun kak teh tak tau. But i do find that everything at all that I need to know, I google - the how too phrase has never been so helpful. It has helped me with a lot of technical work. Alhamdulillah.
The same with looking at time in different parts of the world. All I wld do is type, Time now in Timbuktoo and I will get it.
Tapi tu laaaa, nampaknya tak payah bergerak langsung laa...just exercising my fingers.

red said...

kak teh...

close call it must be eh?!
.
.
.
.
get a MAC™, kak teh..!!

Kak Teh said...

red, lamanya tak nampak! What is a MAC?

red said...

just for kak teh...
http://www.apple.com/mac/

http://www.apple.com/getamac/faq/

i'm a MAC™ convert... ;-)

i'm here, http://www.flickr.com/photos/red406/ ...jemput la datang... i'd be honored..

Salt N Turmeric said...

I can imagine Kak Teh kecut perut tengok all files are gone! Nasib baik dapat diselamatkan. I pun have a feeling that the same ppl selling the undelete deleted file software are the same ones creating that virus. :(

Kak Teh said...

red, i have always admired your photographs! thanks for the link.

farina, memang kecut perut - and it happened tengah malam. kalau siang, i cld have saved that £41 because a friend knows a simpler way to retreive files.

Honeytar said...

OMG Kak Teh! HOW did it get in there??? (muahahahaaaa...)

Kak Teh said...

honeytar, i didnt recognise the slim, svelte you. Tok Din who was also a shadow of his present self pointed it out to me. It must be some gatherings that we malaysians tend to do when we meet up.

Kenny Mah said...

Oh gosh... now that is scary! I best backup my files now before something similar happens. Thanks for sharing your experience, Kak Teh.

Kak Teh said...

Kenny, with masterpieces like yours, you better have a back-up!!! see you sooon, very sooon!