I have my computer back ... yay ... ?

[Pixelated]

It has a new hard drive that, I'm told, will have me zooming along the information highway at Warp 10 or thereabouts.

Unfortunately, they could not transfer anything from the old hard drive. So I have lost a shedload of memes.

On the bright side, if ever I have $500+ just sitting around collecting dust, there is a lab in this city that can recover it all for me ...

[Kristev]

Are you happy or sad?

[earl colby pottinger]

Will you start to make backups now?

[csquared]

$500? Damn. That is dirt cheap. Last time I tried to recover a drive, it cost 2k to be told they couldn't.

If the drive isn't making weird noises, look online for a used version of the same drive. Swap the circuit boards.

[Arcus]

If the drive isn't making weird noises, look online for a used version of the same drive. Swap the circuit boards.

If you do, make sure the board version is the same and even the firmware version (if it shows anywhere on the drive.) The same model of drive could have slight differences that make the circuit board unusable

[Pixelated]

Are you happy or sad?

Wait until tomorrow when I actually try to hook the thing up ... since I'll have to start all over again with downloading browsers etc. etc. etc.

Will you start to make backups now?

YEA VERILY. This is only the second or third time I've done this ...

Can't decide between some version of "the cloud" (Google? Apple?) or just a backup hard drive. All opinions welcome.

$500? Damn. That is dirt cheap. Last time I tried to recover a drive, it cost 2k to be told they couldn't.

If the drive isn't making weird noises, look online for a used version of the same drive. Swap the circuit boards.

I should have been clearer: their work starts at $500.

Also, to csquared and Arcus, I wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to start doing that. If I knew somebody around here who could do it, I would get them to do it for me, but for me to try it myself ... I might just as well put the old HD down in the building parking lot and run over it.

[RealUnimportant]

Can't decide between some version of "the cloud" (Google? Apple?) or just a backup hard drive. All opinions welcome.

I don't know if Apple's version is available for Non-Apple users, but it's only really intended for backing up stuff that's shared across your devices anyway, like photos and music. Backblaze gets a lot of good press, and if you watch much streamed content you may be able to find deals; they've sponsored the latest episode of Critical Role for the first time in a long time, so when they comes out on YouTube later today you could get a discount code then. Pick and choose what's backed up, and what to download, or if it all goes poof and the drive crashes again they can send you the whole lot on a returnable external hard drive.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Can't decide between some version of "the cloud" (Google? Apple?) or just a backup hard drive. All opinions welcome.

There is only one correct answer to that decision. Both.

[Nunavut Pants]

Physical storage is cheap. Heck, TB thumb drives are like $30! That'll store a bunch of your data, though not the OS or apps/programs.