NOTE: I originally posted this about 2 weeks ago. My friend (mentioned below) begged me to take the post off of ActiveRain because... believe it or not... the crud-person who stole his laptop computer contacted him via e-mail! And there was a chance he could get his computer back! So... the following post was removed in hopes that this crud-person could be located, without seeing any details if said crud-person clicked on the 'ActiveRain' link in the browser. Sheesh. I post it here again because many have not seen it, and there was some good info about laptops, theft, and backup strategies. - Jim
Got a call yesterday from a fellow Real Estate agent - and the news was not good. He'd just got a shiny-new Dell laptop computer last July, and it was stolen. Sheesh. Fortunately, his insurance will cover most of his loss. Unfortunately, he lost about 3 years of Real Estate data. Ouch.
Some of the details about his experience are important, some are not. Theft happens. But over the course of our half-hour phone call, I pointed out several things, and want to pass those along:
1) Copy files, instead of Moving files. When he bought this laptop, he used a local 'expert' to help him move his data from his office Desktop computer, over to his new Laptop computer. The keyword here is MOVE. This 'expert' actually MOVED the files from the desktop to the laptop - which means that as the files were moved, one by one, the original files were DELETED from the desktop computer! To make things worse... my friend had no backup copy of his original data files. The only copies left in the world were on this laptop. And I mean everything: all e-mail correspondence, contact names and phone numbers, the works.
When you transfer files from one hard-disk drive to another, NEVER MOVE those files. Instead, COPY them. That way, you're left with two copies of each crucial file: one on each hard-disk drive. This is super important in the event of a power failure or computer crash: either could permanently render your data files unreadable. Don't ask me how I know: it's embarassing.
2) If you have lost files on your computer, because some moron MOVED the files, instead of COPYING the files, there's still hope. There are software products out there that can recover the files that were deleted from your hard-disk drive. Two products come to mind: PC Tools File Recover, and WinUndelete. Good stuff.
3) Always put your important data files in your 'My Documents' folder. That makes it easy to create backup copies of your important stuff. (See #4, below.) If you use Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express for your e-mail, be aware that the 'data files' with all of your e-mail messages are buried deep within Windows folders, and are difficult to find. You can change where those data files are stored, but it's complicated. With Outlook or Outlook Express, check the online help for more information (which is just about useless). Do a Google search on "Outlook Data Backup" for useful information.
4) Buy an external hard-disk drive. Get a USB-2 drive, and one that's bigger than the internal drive of your computer. These are overall cheap: like, less than $200. Plug one of these into your computer, you'll be prompted to ... do many things. Choose to 'open the contents of this disk in a new window' or something like that. That's what you want. And then:
5) Copy your data files onto your external hard-disk drive. Just drag-and-drop the icon of your 'My Documents' onto the new blank data window of your external hard-disk drive. Simple, easy, and slow, but free. There are software programs that can automate this process, but they cost. If you have a lot of data, it's probably worth what they charge. These backup-software programs can also help you with other data (such as your Outlook e-mail), which may make them worth the price of admission.
6) Make a written copy of the 'Identity' of your computer. Okay, common sense tells you to write down the serial number of your computer - desktop or laptop - right? Right. That will help law-enforcement folks find your computer and return it to you if it turns up one day in the 'evidence' room at the PD. But there are two other crucial numbers that can help identify your computer - if it is used on the Internet after its stolen. These are the IP address, and the MAC address. Both of these numbers are embedded in the circuit chips of your computer, and are every bit as unique as a fingerprint. Getting these numbers is a hassle, but worth the effort. do a Google search on 'finding IP Address' and 'finding MAC address.' You'll find procedures for both. Write these numbers down: they positively identify your computer on the Internet if it's used after it's stolen. Right? Right.
7) Check eBay.com Most detectives with local law-enforcement view eBay.com as the "biggest fencing operation in the world" (their words, not mine). If your computer is stolen, do a search on eBay.com for the same make and model number showing up 'for auction' in your local area. You can even configure eBay to alert you when the same make and model shows up on a new auction. Cool You might be eBay-surprised about how dumb most crooks are... you may well find your lost computer up for auction in a few days!
8) Insure your computer. Yeah, you might have homeowner's insurance that will cover a stolen laptop. But what's the deductible? Fact is: if you're in business and rely on your computer, you can't wait to find out replacement terms, costs, etc. For example: State Farm will write a specific-item policy for ... like a laptop computer ... for about $50/year. Not bad. And they'll cover it if it's stolen, thrown overboard (I'm on a sailboat as I type this), or run over by a car. If you're a Real Estate agent and depend on your laptop, you need to buy a policy like this.
Well... Long and rambling, but I hope that I've helped. Useful replies and comments are welcome. As usual, check our website: PreviewHomePro.com.
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