LMMS • Forums

My laptop (that I use LMMS on) recently suffered a total hard drive failure. I tried doing a clean install of Windows, but to no avail— the disk was dead for all practical purposes. So I installed an SSD (would highly recommend, but that's not the point of this topic). Aside from the general annoyance of not having a computer, I also lost all of the files I had (about 3 years worth), including all of my LMMS files. That's around a hundred or so project files, a few times that in samples, several VST plugins and effects, and of course countless hours of work.

The moral of the story here is BACKUP YOUR FILES PEOPLE if you value your hard work on LMMS, not to mention any other important files you have. This is especially important if you have an older hard disk drive, which tend to fail quite randomly as they get older. Whether you use an external drive or cloud services, I would recommend storing files in at least one location aside from your main drive.

While I'm at it, and although I said I wouldn't promote this: GET AN SSD! They're not that expensive nowadays, and they are sooo much faster than disk drives (I'm talking several times faster read and write speeds). Even better, since there are no mechanical moving parts, they are quieter and more durable than HDDs (as well as more energy efficient).

All of this might just be common sense or obvious to you computer people out there, but for the uninformed, I highly recommend backing up your files.

Snarf wrote:My laptop (that I use LMMS on) recently suffered a total hard drive failure..........
All of this might just be common sense or obvious to you computer people out there, but for the uninformed, I highly recommend backing up your files.

Oh boy.........so sad to hear you went through that kinda crap.
Reading stuff like that is scary.
And to make matters worse, for me, the PC I'm using is kinda old.

To add on to what you said, always write down your Synth sound presets too.
Any time I make a synth preset, that sounds really good, I write down how to make it, in my notebook
and store it in a safe place.

Also, back up multiple copies of your Lmms projects, on many different flash drives etc.
trust me on that one. As you make many tracks, copy to another or many portable drives etc. immediately.

I hope that helps.

Snarf wrote:My laptop (that I use LMMS on) recently suffered a total hard drive failure.

Now you may already have disposed of the crashed disk, but i like to tell you anywhitch that a 'total' wreck of a TRADITIONAL HD-drive, does not exists. The disks information is preserved on the plates, unless a mechanical malfunction has 'shaved' the surface away, and literally destroyed the plates physically. That is very very uncommon!
So the fact is, that if you have files that are so important that you are willing to have your drive recovered, you can find several companies that does that. The price is ..steep, but if the files are invaluable, then the price should not chock or keep a person back. The keyword is data-recovery ao hard-drive-recovery

https://www.google.dk/search?q=harddisk ... sAGdhpXIBQ

They 'simply' moves your plates from the dead drive, to a modular diskdrive, and copy all your files to a SSD or USB.

There is a proverb that 'covers' this:
Real men do not backup! They just cry often.

musikbear wrote:

Snarf wrote:My laptop (that I use LMMS on) recently suffered a total hard drive failure.

So the fact is, that if you have files that are so important that you are willing to have your drive recovered, you can find several companies that does that. The price is ..steep, but if the files are invaluable, then the price should not chock or keep a person back. The keyword is data-recovery ao hard-drive-recovery

There is a proverb that 'covers' this:
Real men do not backup! They just cry often.

I'm aware of these services, but it's definitely not worth that much money. I still have the old disk, but I don't really know what to do with it now.

I still have the old disk, but I don't really know what to do with it now.

I'd put it in an external hard disk case and try to get to the files via USB.
Is the disk still spinning? Do you get any sounds or LED indication from it at all?