Lost Writing Files

[LJCC]

I have two laptops and a desktop. An old 2011 late Macbook Air, a 2018 Mac Pro desktop I use for work, and a 2022 Macbook Pro .

I normally write on the 2011 Macbook Air. For some reason, that laptop has had all my writing resources since I started writing on it since 2011. And I've always felt comfortable with the fact that sometimes my writing feels magical for some reason when my interesting ideas come up when I write on that Mac devise. I tried writing on the desktop; it feels like I'm writing for a London Op-Ed feature article, and it feels too professional. Then, on the bigger, newer laptop, it feels like I'm writing shite—like I have no creative juices. I tend to just google shit and watch Netflix.

I have a feeling that bigger screens feel too big for my mind. I've written under the sheets with the older laptop with nothing but the laptop keyboard and screen lights, feeling like it's nothing but me and my characters; it feels very intimate. I've typed while sitting down in a corner. I've written things while sitting under the stairs. And with how small the laptop is, it allowed me to be versatile compared to lugging around a 16-inch laptop, wherein putting it on my lap feels like I'm literally carrying a child.

So three days ago, my smaller, older laptop died. I accidentally unplugged it and left it overnight, and it died. It gave the three beeps of death. It's never been unplugged for 5 years since the battery's already consumed itself (it's a desktop at this point with 16 minutes of battery life), so it's always been plugged.

Then I was sitting on the edge of my bed and cried for a whole hour—bawled for an hour really. It was surreal; the tears just came while I was literally eating an apple, and my mind was like, "Oh shit...my old laptop finally died," like nothing major had happened, then bam! It's like denial for the first minute, then came the realization that I've lost an old friend (like I wouldn't normally cry for inanimate objects—I'm not a nutter), and then I cried for my stories now forever lost:

Stories for GA:

• Mr & Mister Danvers Book II = 50k+ words
• The Longest Third Date = 40k+ words
• Derek's Bachelor =  180k words
  • It's a romcom I have yet to trim and edit cause I was focusing on the first two books.

And three finished novels and other stories I've written in the past.

Have you guys lost any writing files in the past? I don't know how I'll be able to rewrite these; there were 8 years in the making.

A part of me is itching to write and test the fates since I still have my mind, like I could still write the essence of them. A part of me is telling myself to quit for several months and then buy a hard drive that auto-backups shit every night.

Edited December 30, 2023 by LJCC

[drown]

I'm so sorry this happened to you

Right now this is still very raw to you. And if you decide to rewrite, it can also be a cathartic experience.

All doesn't have to be lost. Depends on a lot of factors how hard/easy it is to recover files, like if you had FileVault active on the 2011 MacBook Air. Chances are the SSD is still working and there's just some other fault on the device with your data fully intact. 3 beeps on an older Intel Mac sounds like a RAM issue. I don't want to give you false hope and I'm not sure advice is right at the current moment. I apologize. If you need someone to bounce ideas off of, feel free to send a PM.

I never lost any writing, dating back to the times I wrote in WordStar on a 286 PC my dad bought from a guy that did the PCs at work. Then again, my body of work is minuscule and decrepit. It still means sooo much to me.

Again, I'm so sorry.

[lawfulneutralmage]

Yes, I have lost files in the past ... that event triggered me to look for backup solutions.

I hate "cloud", but there is an end-to-end encrypted service from https://mega.nz that I use. All my data exists mirrored on two computers and that cloud service. As it is encrypted, the provider cannot read/analyse it.

As for your case, the data is most likely still on the harddisk of the laptop. That the laptop went the way of all earthen things has not necessarily destroyed the data on the disk. It is possible to extract the laptop harddisk from its case and connect it as secondary to the desktop and read the data from there. I just got a friend's data back from exactly such a laptop death.

If you have a friend who builds their own computers, ask them. If you really want to, visit your local computer store around the corner, they might be able to help.