Won't be seeing much of me...

[Weltall]

Originally posted by geoboy
I always unplug my computer before I go on vacations. I built it myself and bought all the parts online. I'd be happy to give some advice to anyone else interested in doing that.

Anyway, did you leave your computer on when you went on vacation, Weltall? There's no other possible way sectors could be damaged by a surge unless the computer is on. If this is the case, then those damaged sectors are easy to fix and does not require a new hard drive. (it does matter how important that data on the drive is to you, though ;) )

When a computer is off, however, it's usually the modem, power supply or motherboard that succumb to lightning's woes.

And now it's time for my creepy lightning story. I used to have one of those electronic battleship toys. When you turn it on, it plays a little jingle and a voice says "prepare for battle!", or something like that. Well, during a strong thunderstorm, a huge bolt of lightning struck just yards from my house. After the deafening roar, I heard the "prepare for battle" from my electronic battleship. Mind you that the electronic battleship uses <i>batteries</i> and was no where near an electrical socket. It definitely freaked me out, because I swear my hair was standing up a little bit.

I did leave it on, for my sister was definitely wanting to use it. In fact, I almost never shut it down unless I know a storm is coming. Apparently she knew but couldn't get to it in time.

And, the stuff on my hard drive (thousands of songs, my game, my novel) are things I can't bear to lose, so formatting is not an option. :)