Computer Crash of 2008

Well, my PC has crashed over the weekend, and I don't know if it was fatal yet as far as genealogy was concerned.

If you've ever had a crash, you understand the sinking feeling in my gut right now. Even with backups, you never can recover everything.

About 5-6 years ago, I had a crash and lost quite a bit of pictures and a couple of months of data that I had input into FamilyTree Maker. After that experience, I became more diligent about backing up my family data.

I love the benefits of technology and computers to organize and disseminate information, but hate the reality that data can be lost. The same could happen to paper files in a flood or a fire. I'm convinced more than ever that I need to share more data, make more copies and send to libraries, etc. so that in the event of a catastrophe, all is not lost.

Update 7/1/08 : My hard drive lost its' partition, so it was a total loss. Fortunately, my database files were backed up at WorldConnect and I had burned CDs of most of the family pictures, etc. You can believe that I will be even more diligent about backing up my data in the future.