The only thing worse than your computer dying...

Day 3 of installing software. I spent the entire night last night essentially getting Windows 7 x64 up to the latest patch level. SP1 + 200 hotfixes. Ugh. Today is installing Kontakt 3-4, Battery 3, Alicia’s Keys, and Komplete 8-9.

Don’t foreget to back up along the way> I use Arconis True Image and back up after the Windows install with all updates (no hardware), then a version with all drivers, then a version with all programs so i can always save a ton of time if I have to re-configure.

Well I’m of two minds regarding this. I don’t put any critical data on the OS install disk so if I have a hardware failure it’s almost preferable to reformat and reinstall to clear out any crap that I’ve downloaded along the way only to discover that I didn’t like it, did an uninstall, and had remnants left behind.

I won’t deny, though, that in spite of the great care I take to ensure that my hard drives are always well taken care of and have only had one incident to date of a failure (see below) I shouldn’t tempt fate and instead get Carbonite or something.

The incident, by the way, was on an external drive. The circuit board in the enclosure went bad, which caused the hard drive to lock up mid-write. The drive itself was fine and required some coaxing but I eventually got every file off of it, installed the drive itself as an internal one, repartitioned / reformated, and then copied the files back.

Speaking of which, has anyone had experience with Carbonite on their Cubase machine? I realize that it supposedly backs up during idle time. Have you seen any issues with increased latency, sample dropout, etc. using Carbonite?

On the other side, my rebuild included a Blu-Ray writer. So technically, I could backup just my music folder to a single Blu-Ray data disc and save the subscription cost.

I found something even worse than this: when your vindictive batch of an ex-to-be wife decides to confiscate your computer because she’s 3 years old and thinks that acting out like this is worth the criminal complaint I’m about to file against her tomorrow. That’s gonna look reallllll nice if our divorce goes to litigation. :confused:

Bummer! Real bummer.

Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt.

Sending much aloha and support.

Good Luck mom ami.
{‘-’}

I took her car key in response. It’s a lease, and it’s in my name. The look on her face when she went to leave to go workout last night was priceless. My lawyer has written hers demanding the computer back. I gave her back the key.

Ah, these are the things that make lasting memories… :laughing:

Wait, is this still your first wife or did you just get rid of your 2nd?

This is why I never married.

Not marrying = “I win”-button for life.

In the process of divorcing the 2nd. No need to get into details other than I got tired of making excuses as to why I should continue to put up with the excessive (not meant as an exaggeration) crap and stay in the marriage. If you have to make excuses for mediocrity then something needs to change: the marriage, or your marital status. My marriage didn’t change after 3 attempts at therapy, so I decided to go the other route.

My first wife and I have remained incredibly close friends even to this day. I brought my youngest to Long Island on Saturday to have dinner with my oldest, my ex-wife and her husband. We all had a great time together.

I’m a little late to that particular party, but I will be joining it and hoisting a mug with you as soon as I’m able.

Ah right, I got confused then. Sorry for asking, that wasn’t really necessary :wink:

You live in a clean country, of course you can say that

I found out from her yesterday in advance of the discussion I intend to have with my lawyer today (the 2nd one on this topic) that my computer is in the hands of IT Forensics specialists. I have no idea what they are expecting to find. Not only have I never engaged in criminal activity, but this computer is literally 2 weeks old. The C: drive was reformatted completely (see below); the F: drive is a brand new device (but there was nothing of interest on the old F: drive either - mostly my Cubase projects and sample libraries); and all of the divorce related materials I have is on a NAS which she neglected to take. Even if she did take it, there is nothing on there illegal. (But it would be a violation of attorney - client privilege.)

I realize that files can be undeleted, but since the C: drive is where the OS is and, after reformatting, I reinstalled a bunch of software (Cubase, Komplete, etc.) the disk space that was freed as a result of the reformat has likely been overwritten. Regardless, there was nothing to hide - I’m simply addressing the inevitable statement people in here would have made that reformatting means nothing, which is true for the most part.

I’m not concerned about what they may find. But I am livid that my civil rights have been violated. She claims that the computer was purchased with “our” money and, therefore, it is marital property. My rebuttal is that the computer was new; she had no account on it; so while the hardware is marital property the data is not. Her lack of access enforces the expectation of a right to privacy and in the absence of any evidence that would indicate criminal activity of a nature that would allow them to circumvent the need to obtain a search warrant, her team is perpetrating the crime of an illegal search.

Let me add that the finalization of this divorce cannot come quickly enough.

As a follow-up, I just spoke with my lawyer who said that my computer is in their possession, and they have requested permission to examine it. My lawyer told them no. I will be meeting with him this afternoon to discuss this further.

I still find this whole incident to be both funny and lamentable.

Holy crap, Larry!

Heh. You and I are going to need to do some serious drinking at some point soon after all of this is over. :laughing:

Indeed, holy crap man… wishing you a speedy recovery

Wow - that is freaking crazy. I would be less than amused if my wife ran off with my computer!

-Tom

This morning inspiration struck and I developed (in my head) a full song structure for a jazzy version of Let It Snow.

No computer. Dammit.

So I go rummaging through my storage bins to find my old Tascam US-144, install the drivers, install Cubase, then plug it in.

Bam! BSOD!

Ugh…so cycle power and try the USB port on the docking station (this is my work laptop). BSOD again.

Lather, rinse, and repeat…five times.

Screw it. I put away the Tascam interface and sulk.

About an hour later, I get incredibly stir crazy so I decide to leave the house. I end up going to the bank to deposit some money and realize that it’s on the way to Sam Ash. :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: My friend and former bandmate, Matt, is the guitar tech there and I haven’t seen him in a long while.

Verbose story telling aside, I walked away with a Focusrite Scarlet 18i8 (already 20% off and today was an additional $50 off); an MXR Carbon Copy; and an MXR Super Badass Distortion. Once the divorce is complete my wife will take her father’s pedals and amp away in addition to his 79 Strat and 81 Ibanez. And I needed to get over the $450 threshold to get the “18 months, same as cash deal.” I replaced two pedals, got a much better portable interface, and it will cost me $30 per month.

Plus, I get to give my Tascam to my daughter in hopes that she won’t have the same trouble as I did. She’s finally starting to compose her own tunes on the piano, and I hope she catches the recording bug. (I also hope I have a Cubase LE CD lying around somewhere.)

Very long story short: I think I managed to give my wife the middle finger today without breaking the bank.

Sahweeeeet!