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So here's the situation...........................

  • Yeaster
  • 06/05/2010 02:11 AM
  • 3507 views
I've been very quiet about this project as of late -- and for good reason. Up until now, I was unsure of its fate. Here's why:

- Last month, it was a typical Saturday morning. I came back home from my morning jog and proceeded to bullshit around on my laptop before I started to do something productive.

Enter my nephew

In an effort to get him out of my room, my laptop falls off of my bed and everything turned black. Cue internal panic. I turn it off and turn it back on in hopes that it will boot up normally.


It didn't.


I tried everything I could to get it to boot up, watched every youtube tutorial/googled every possible combo of words and still nothing worked. I figured if I turned off my laptop and wait until the next morning to turn it back on, it'll magically return to normal.


It didn't.



It then become clear to me - after hours of googling - that I fell victim to the Black Screen of Death. I've dropped my comp in the past so I know if it ever dropped again it would be a done deal, and sure enough...

I'm usually good at backing up my data, but I began to feel too confident and I haven't updated my flashdrive since very early March.




This game wasn't created in early March.



After googling some more, I learned that it was possible to extract data from a dead hard-drive. Buying a new laptop was no problem -- I just wanted my data back. The most IMPORTANT thing on it was my screenplay called "The Unseen" that I started in my screenwriting class. I've been writing it since March and I'm really proud of it. My classmates absolutely loved it and my instructor pulled me aside after my last day of class and said that I had a lot of talent, and encouraged me to keep practicing and to pursue it as a career option around a year or so later (which was my original plan anyways, but still, it's great to hear that you have a lot of potential from a working filmmaker--especially one not easy to please). Also, keep in mind that I was 84 pages in and probably would've finished it within the next two weeks before the revision process. I didn't care about ANYTHING else on that drive, but if I could get that script (as well as my older script, Goblin, that I just revised and my older ones that I began to transfer from Microsoft to Final Draft), I would be........... if not happy, then less depressed.

Anyways, I took my computer to BestBuy in hopes that the geek squad could retrieve the information from the drive. I explained to them what happened and they were fairly confident they could do it.


They couldn't.



So I'm driving back home feeling completely negative. I didn't want to give up the fight -- that's just not the kind of guy I am -- but I literally had no idea what to do next. I refused to accept that I lost all of my data, however...that was a reality I was going to have to deal with. *sigh* What was one to do?

Well, out of nowhere my dad started talking about data recovery services and that I should look around online for a good one. "Man, whatever" I thought. I mean seriously, how convenient was that?? I haven't heard of anything like that before until that moment. I didn't think my dad knew what he was talking about (I love him dearly, but when it comes to computers, he's been wrong more times than he's been right!), but hell, I I figured it'd be worth a shot.

So that night I googled some more and found DriveSavers, inc. They had good reviews (had to make sure it wasn't a scam first) and so I gave them a call. They said they had over a 90-something percent success rate, but it would cost me a minimum of $1,500 to recover my files.


I hung up the phone.



I googled some more and found Gillware. I did a background check and they had glowing reviews from past costumers, so I gave them a call. Their success rate was about the same and they charged a maximum of $670 if successful. I was desperate and told them I would send them my drive, and the next week I did.

The two weeks that followed were weeks of inner pain and turmoil. I was in a sour mood the entire time (please note, that when I'm upset about something -- I never show it pubicly nor do I take it out on other people--what happens is that I get insanely tired and can't focus/be bothered to do anything---only sleep). I was so far gone that no Kylie Minogue song could ever have cheered me up.

Fast forward to last week, I get a call on my cell from Gillware. They tell me that they were successful in recovering 99.6% of my data.

Cue (internal) shouts of joy


...Which promptly ended once I had to pay the $670 in full (of course after using their FileViewer to verify which files they were able to save--which was, like they said, everything).

I finally received my data back today which spans across SIX DISKS (x.x), but I don't care, I'm happy. The Unseen is there as well as all of my other scripts.

I checked to see if this game was retrieved and it was -- fully intact but nonfunctional! =D
Luckily, that problem was solved after starting a new project and pasting all of the data onto that one. I also had to re-paste the graphics and the music since Gillware effed some of them up.

Anyways, in conclusion, this game was SAVED and everything WORKS, so I will begin working on it again shortly.

*sigh* I learned a valuable lesson. Update regularly. Luckily it wasn't fatal but it sure as hell was costly, combined with the price for the new laptop I bought. I'm pretty going to give God the biggest THANK YOU prayer ever tonight.

I don't expect anyone to read this lol, but I just wanted to get it off of my chest.

Good night!

- Gary

Posts

Pages: 1
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
This is the best "I lost my game in a hard drive accident" post ever.

Keep working! Go! Reach for the hellmouth!
Haha, that was unlucky. Then lucky, I guess.
Nice to know you're still working on this.
Holy crap, scary situation there.
Once, I was making a pen and paper game and something similar happened to me...only, I couldn't get the data back. Still, I've revised and started it over recently, so no big deal. Glad you got it back!
comment=33111
This is the best "I lost my game in a hard drive accident" post ever.

Keep working! Go! Reach for the hellmouth!
Hahahahaha thanks for the comments guys. I really appreciate all of them.


You have no idea how stressful these last 3-4 weeks have been. I tried not to make a big deal out of it or think about it too much, but still, I'm glad it's finally over
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
I guess that's another remember to back up lessons! Good thing you could afford to pay to get your info back.
This is the most expensive RM game in existence now, you do realize this, right?
lol Yes. It was also the most expensive thing I've ever paid all at once.


Luckily, my dad taught me at a young age the importance of saving money, but still.... I used 90% of my paycheck and I never do that. :\

Then I stupidly bought some shirts from Levi's right after. Ugh. *shakes head*
lol I just bought a 400 dollar guitar pedal knowing fullwell i hafta get some new clothes and shoes, I know how ya feel.
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