My Lenovo ThinkPad W520 workstation will be out of service for at least four days.
Granted, that includes Saturday, Sunday (today) but I had things to do. My warranty provides onsite, next business day service. That would mean Monday but ... the technicians are booked. I get to wait until sometime on Tuesday.
What Happened?
When I startup my computer, an error message saysDetection error on HDD1 (Ultrabay HDD)I have two fast internal 500 GB hard drives configured to act like one huge hard drive (RAID0 striping). This high performance option writes portions of a file to each drive at the same time. This helps when editing video and doing other disk intensive tasks. (Another option is RAID1 mirroring which puts the same files on two drives. This is safer because if one disk stops working, you have a backup.)
There is likely a problem (in decreasing order) with
- the connector between the hard drive, Ultrabay and motherboard
- the motherboard
- the hard drive
Why So Slow?
If next day repairs aren’t available, that means- too many defective machines and/or
- too few technicians
Don't Panic
I can't afford to be out of service for days. Thanks to pre-planned redundancy, I'm not. The cloud is the main reason. That's where I have key files (Dropbox), email, contacts, tasks, etc. I can access them with my iPad, netbook and smartphone. Multiple Internet connected devices provide cheap insurance and more productivity.I can keep working with my netbook for simple tasks requiring Windows. For instance, I composed/posted a blog post and podcast 153.
I'm definitely less productive but reasonably functional. I can catch up in other areas, such as thinking and creating more content. Phone calls and meetings aren’t affected.
Can't Do
I can't work on two PowerPoint presentations. One is for a live session in three months but the organizers want a draft to start the slow process of applying for Continuing Education credits for attendees. The second is for a live presentation this Thursday.I can't work on video. I wanted to practice editing and publish at least one. That's one of my Pick Four goals (see Reach your goals with Pick Four from Zig Ziglar and Seth Godin).
Don't Know
If a hard drive is defective, I will lose some files. Mainly raw video. The core files are well-protected by Dropbox, SugarSync, JungleDisk and an external hard drive.Why aren't the video files backed up? Uploading to online storage is slow and bandwidth caps get in the way. I could have local backups but was compiling all video in one place first. Also, my backup drive is nearly full.
Next Time
I don't want a next time. Here's what I could do- have another computer, rather than a netbook
- have real-time syncing to an external hard drive (in addition to overnight incremental backups)
- read the warranty fine print
In the unlikely case that I lose anything, the damage will be limited. If you are not using Dropbox or SugarSync, do consider them.
Links
- How Lenovo put attention ahead of trust (new)
- The magic of Dropbox for sync and sharing
- Boost productivity: Three gadgets that get work done
- Get ready for your video debut
- image courtesy of dinostock