Today, my brother deleted all traces of the novel I've been working on for three years from my laptop. The reason? When I was born "I stole all of Mum and Dad's attention." He's 24. FML
I agree, your life sucks (45815) - you totally deserved it (3161)
On 08/05/2009 at 4:30pm - misc - by frustrated - Ireland (Dublin)
uh... not funny!
also, there's a thing called back-up. i would've thought you'd keep back-up of something that important! also, check that there is definately no way to recover the data. if you don't know how to do it yourself, go get a specialist or something if it means a lot to you.
Get a recovery software such as http://www.z-a-recovery.com/. It'll drag back deleted files from your hard drive, from SD camera cards, and any other media. Good luck
A good way to backup your files is to upload them to your email and make sure you don't have your password saved on that computer.
#66 Stop being a jerk, His bother was obviously jealous that he was better, btw OP, I say check for back-up files, there are usually some stored.
ohh goodddd. PLEASEE JUSSSTTT STOPP IT ALREADYY!! i never "feed the trolls". i keepit to myself but its getting SOO annoying. its not even funny. now i could see if you were one of those funny trolls who say funny things kidding around, but you are just obnoxious. if this is what makes you happy, then its more of a FYL AND the OP's .
#89 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:00pm by HopelesxRomantic
The reason why he didnt get enough attention is because he is dumb, he should have stolen your book and sold it. then it would be a a real fml. It would be good to get another draft in . . 3 years really? and you didnt back it up. your laptop could have gotten destroyed and the same thing would happen.
#121 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:15pm by Imawhalerider
Too many negative votes, comment buried. Show the comment.
YDI for whoring yourself to your parents.
#139 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:05am by kingofstuff
people aren't all cautious like you, you know #65 ¬¬
Unlucky OP :/
#161 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:43am by xChrista1xx
#68 already told you how to fix it, so YDI for being a newb.. because even I knew this, and I know jack **** about computers...
#185 - On 08/06/2009 at 7:08am by MrWombastic
If it was reall important you can buy some data recovery software or have it recovered professionally?
#220 - On 08/06/2009 at 11:41am by esquared77
He deleted "all traces" of the novel. Maybe he figured out where the back up files were and deleted them. It's probably possible for him to make it impossible to recover the files if he knows enough about computers (Though I doubt it, he couldn't really be that smart.)\
FYL for sure, even if you get the files back your brother is still a fucking douchebag.
The problem is that his brother was able to delete all traces. If he had made proper offsite backups that one should make for something that important, his brother wouldn't have been able to touch them.
It is not a matter of caution, Christal, it is a matter of common sense. You do not put all your eggs in one basket if that basket is prone to, say, catching flame or being carried away by a hungry hen hound, because that is the nature of a flamable wood basket full of tasty eggs. Conversely, computers are volatile devices which are prone to damage and theft. If you have data you do not want to lose, you back it up. It has nothing to do with caution and everything to do with whether or not you are using common sense.
#253 - On 08/08/2009 at 11:33am by buzongtang
Reload your pc from the last checkpoint. It loads your computer back to that date so you can have everything that was lost. I did this when I lost all my songs and saved me from redownloading 2000 songs again ( from iTunes )
Just because someone is "challenged" doesn't mean that they're an ass...
#124 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:18pm by Irony_and_Ivory
i agree. people use those terms wayyyy too loosely. they also say stuff like "retarded" and "mentally challenged" and its offensive to people who really are.
#137 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:03am by giggity0giggity
You know, I don't think there are many people with mental disabilities browsing the internet who are going to be offended by the use of the term 'challenged'.
#214 - On 08/06/2009 at 11:27am by NotAnotherOne
lololol, sibling rivalry.
Even if it's going to take a lot of work to get all of it back, think of it this way: rewriting the whole thing may give you a different perspective and end up improving your writing. A blessing in disguise :)?
#4 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:11pm by CyclonePsycho
I don't know about you dude, but if it was me in the OP's place, I'd bless the brother in disguise too, but using a baseball bat. D:
I myself was thinking crowbar, but good suggestion. :D
#99 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:19pm by thatonesinginkid
Your comment is full of Win. I actually laughed out loud, on a public bus. People stared O.o
OP - I feel so badly for you, it happened to my sister too. Only it was on a computer that fried in a power outage (flash lightening storm) :(. Maybe you can still run a recovery program?
#103 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:35pm by simplesimplicity
No...way! I'm working on a book myself. I was worried about something like this happening to me, so I saved multiple copies in different locations. I hope you have it printed out. You (or you could hire somebody) could just copy and retype it.
I'm writing a book too. It's called "Joe Blow Writes a Book, But Everyone Needs to Know About It, Even Though It's Substandard Writing"
In return, put a pillow over his face because "He's sucking up all the good air."
#7 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:16pm by redbluegreen
http://www.officerecovery.com/freeundelete/
Try this, it has saved me many times.
#9 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:17pm by featherman
he doesn't seem smart enough to know how to securely delete it. If she's smart enough to recover it, then the problem will be solved.
#45 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:55pm by ForestFire0
ahh what a little bitch. I'd have strangled the fuck if he deleted anything I've been writing for that long...no matter the reason. The best of luck to you recovering any of those files!!
It's okay, please give him the time to heal from his childhood trauma. 24 year-olds need some tender loving too. But the novel... Lol :) Hope you have a good memory ;)
#12 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:22pm by Kiwi_Splash
got a compelling protagonist, do you? with lots of um, obstacles? for him to overcome?
#73 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:00pm by fretforyerlatte
To #8-
moron, when your brother is 24 years old you think that might not be a problem anymore, jesus. And it doesn't even say his brother was living with him, he might have been visiting.
ummm, do you know what it's like to go through that as a child? i would consider doing the same thing if it bothered me as much as it did when i was younger. i'm so sorry, but i can't say i blame him.
#15 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:24pm by xkaitlinwhitex
Yeah actually. You get over it. And even if you don't get over it, that's no excuse to completely delete something that your sibling has been working on for years.
#37 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:46pm by SomeonePosting
# 15 Its because you're jealous.
The green monster is never good, you can't side with him, its not right. :|
For being 24, thats REALLY immature and they should be old enough to say fuck it and not destroy someones hard work over jealousy.
It's not like the kid asked to be born. He should act his stupid shit out with his parents, not his sibling.
I agree with #15; All of you fucktards here have no god-damned fucking idea of how it really is to go through all that as a child. Sure, I don't hate my brother anymore, and I certainly wouldn't go deleting his shit, but if you've never been through this, then I'm sure as fucking hell you have no clue what it's like.
So yeah, fuck your novel, it probably sucked ass anyway and you'd end up rewriting it. Your shitty writing can be reproduced; his feelings were forever scarred for all we know.
And no, #115, holding a grudge doesn't make you mentally challenged, because when you hold a grudge, you hold it in your heart, not your mind, you little fucking piece of shit.
#130- it's not the younger siblings fault for being born, blame the parents for having the child..
andd have you EVER considered anger management?? You've kinda got some problems buddy.
Lol no, #131, I'm actually a pretty relaxed person, but reading this made me remember my unfortunate childhood. That said, my brother and I are now best friends and he'll be going to my college as a freshman, and hopefully we can take some classes together so he can do my homework and stuff LOL. So yeah, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. I guess it didn't for OP's brother.
ccyto, you have some serious problems. I'm a middle child, and my sister stole all the attention. It's called having a younger sibling. Unless your parents locked you in a room and fed you feces and allowed your younger sibling to come in and drop kick you whenever they wanted, your anger seems a little uncalled for. Are you saying that every person who wasn't the youngest in their family or an only child should be allowed to go around with all this rage bottled up inside from twenty years ago, and have an excuse to do anything they want because they didn't get all the attention? Boo hoo. Seriously, you need help.
#144 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:46am by adelaide_evening
I am a middle child, and I have no memory of ever feeling that my younger sister stole any attention.
Well, she got given my old blanket, and I was annoyed, but other than that... I was never angry with her. WTF.
You were never Jealous of your sister, is that what you meant to say? Because if you really did mean you were never angry at your sister I'm going to call BS.
However, I CAN believe that you were never jealous of your sister. I can only remember once when I was jealous of my little sister, but I can think of a whole host of times when I have been angry with her.
#259 - On 08/12/2009 at 9:23am by boatkicker
You deserve it for not having remote backups. Backups exist because goofy shit like this happens.
#17 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:27pm by GorillaSalsa
okay well, i probably wouldn't go that far. i wouldn't clear the recycling bin. the most it would do is give you a good scare.
#19 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:27pm by xkaitlinwhitex
YDI it a little for not backing that shit up. That's THREE YEARS of work, and you didn't save it somewhere else? Fail.
Hahahaha! I was going to say the same thing!
THREE YEARS of work and you don't have it backed up anywhere? Epic Fail!
These days I thought it was pretty common knowledge that everyone should back up any kind of important documents, just in case - you never know what could happen!
#33 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:38pm by studentwoes
BACKUP! You only had ONE copy of your novel? You should at LEAST also have it on a flashdrive, or maybe an internet storage site.
Anyway, the OP totally stole this from Little Women. Fake!! JK...
Your brother is a dick. But you should already know that and have a password on your computer. Also, they make these newfangled things called CDs. You can store things that you really don't want to lose on them.
#23 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:31pm by doloreshaze
I know, right? CDs? WTF!? Or, like, flash drives? Or portable hard drives? Feeling retro? Floppy disk! If you're serious about this novel thing (just like everyone else on the internet, it seems) you should really back your shit up. A lot. In multiple places. So, although your brother is a tool, YDI for being a little docile.
#180 - On 08/06/2009 at 5:52am by redwaterlily
YDI for not creating a backup and password-protecting important data. Computer security is *not* this difficult.
#26 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:32pm by deaditegirl
Damn, I would be more than frustrated.
What a jerk move.
But yeah, backing that up would have been a beuno idea
YDI for not have a back up copy.
On the bright side however, it probably would not have been published anyway.
wow, that's some serious passive aggressiveness there. I used to feel bad about teasing my younger siblings, now I feel a lot better about that, haha!
I'm sure there's a way to recover it.
Lol, #13. Best Famliy Guy episode ever.
Well, for one, your brother sounds like a whiny baby for doing that.
Secondly, I hope you learn now to ALWAYS keep a backup of something on a flash drive, and that you should keep it somewhere that he would never be able to find it.
#31 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:35pm by kennythedude
run an undelete dumbass. there's plenty of cheap undelete programs that work well, and even a few free ones.
#32 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:36pm by ajlardner
Oh geez. FYL, I can't even begin to imagine how livid I would be if somebody deleted my novel, particularly for such a pathetic reason.
Your brother needs a serious punching. And therapy.
Hopefully you'll be able to get it back.
#35 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:43pm by clockworklolita
Wow, that really sucks. I wouldn't say YDI for not backing it up in this situation, because your brother has some serious issues and anyone with even a semblance of maturity wouldn't do something like that. But not having it backed up probably isn't smart, and you never know when something else could happen, like your hard drive dying or something. In which case I'd be less sympathetic. So you really should back stuff up more often or make a hard copy if it's that important to you, and add a password to your laptop if you don't have one.
#38 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:47pm by de_fenestration
this is a fyl for having a brother idiotic enough at that age to do it but... If you didn't have bachups he deleted as well when you've worked on something that long then HELLO!!!!!
hehe i moderated this one ;P and that sucks man too bad for you
#40 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:50pm by xFYL_Hahax
FYL for having a bitch of a brother, but YDI it too for not having a backup of something so bloody important.
looks you got some more material for you novel. you know the one you have been working on for 3 years. maybe uh incorporate some real life expierencrs into it. everybody learns that the heros journey isn't always a happy one. oh I look forward to reading it.
let me guess the title is "faster then the speed of love"
#42 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:50pm by Nightfallz
harsh you should have backed up your work though. also password protected your pc.
#44 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:53pm by zerocool3397
If my brother ever did that.. I would kill him. I've been working on a novel it's taken me two years.. now I'm on the second book in the series. *Sighs.*
#48 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:01pm by trust_no_1
i don't understand why some people think that they deserve unfortunate things like this happening to them.
#49 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:04pm by raseanador
how do you know they didnt.."my brother deleted all traces of the novel..." the OP could have backed it up in a bunch of other locations..and he deleted all of them.. :p
#58 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:20pm by live1laugh2love3
so your brother thinks you stole your mother and your father's atention? easy to fix. and a good way to teach the little fucker a moral. find out all the little things the rat bastard has been up to that mom and dad would disaporve of. smoking pot, driving drunk, ect. ... then leave clues to his asorted acts all over for mom and dad to find. suddenly your brother is not missing out on atention from mom and dad, because now he has ALL of it. the moral? becareful what you wish for. you just might get it.
#56 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:17pm by TaishoArcanix
"The Irish do not have so much a sense of history as a sense of grievance."
J. Lee
I'm Irish, and in all modesty, I must say I bear a magnificent grudge.
#116 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:03pm by drimpossible
And we have an added bonus--famous tempers. I think its the hair.
#127 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:22pm by daydreambeliever
Dude, it's so easy to recover that stuff, just go to the control pannel, hit ctrl + F and switch the search to local hardrive C, unless he deleted it from there too, in which case that sucks, FYL.
#59 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:24pm by origin242
thats pretty pathetic...
you can still get your novel back though ;)
try and download a program called file scavenger. it can bring back deleted data.
also you can ask your i.t repair shop if they can get it back for you :)
Best of luck
If it was 3 days worth of novel that got deleted, that's excuseable. Three weeks worth? thats fine too. I backup monthly, on the first of the month. I know what its like to lose an entire months worth of work. Computer crashed on the last of the month, the day before I was going to backup my stuff again. Lost 89 pages of one novel, plus the first few hundred words of a few other new ideas i had kicking around.
Even if it was 3 months worth of work I'd understand. I know some people that back up every 6 months. But really, if you dont back up at least that often then my pity level drops. However, if it's your first time I sorta understand. We learn best from experience. I started backing my stuff up after my cat deleted one fo ym stories prancing across teh keyboard when I was 12.
OP: that sucks. How much was it you lost, anyways?
#70 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:47pm by boatkicker
Really? I hope you put a cap in that bitch's ass, IRA style >.>
#71 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:51pm by iGreen_Day
The problem witht hat it is that most publishers will not look at something aleady pubished on the internet. It's not a formal publishing, ut its still there for people to read, and for searches to index, etc. If OP was planning on publishing fictionpress is not the way to go. If you're not planning on publishing and just want to write it then by all means, go fictionpress. I go there now and then with short stories. :)
#202 - On 08/06/2009 at 9:18am by boatkicker
You deserve it if A) You arn't smart enough to backup on an external drive and B) You arn't smart enough to know that anything can be recovered.
#78 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:15pm by fashionistabec
While aren't is the correct conjugation of the words are and not, arn't is a common shorthand version of aren't and in my field of work I use shorthand constantly throughout my work week. So, when I am in a hurry I sometimes use shorthand instead of the full word, even if unintentionally.
I apologize that you think that the use of shorthand is akin to not backing up an entire novel where someone else could not destroy it and also not having the good sense to even search for "file recovery".
#155 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:21am by fashionistabec
Funny, omitting one letter to save time, but posting an entire reply to justify doing so.
#211 - On 08/06/2009 at 10:47am by ohnoyouDINT
On that instance I did not do it to save time, I did it out of habit.
#230 - On 08/06/2009 at 5:00pm by fashionistabec
it's not really an FML. I mean, your brother is a douche but it's easy to recover those files. If you don't know how, just go to a computer store and ask one of the specialists.
If this had been my FML, it would have been about ten times worse, because it would have ended "And I am getting the death penalty for violently murdering my brother."
#85 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:40pm by HarrietPotter
O.<
Death.
To That Child.
I'm sorry, I cried enough when I lost the work I did on my novel when I was fourteen (I was almost done!!), but that was my own fault. Seriously smack him. Kick him in the nuts, do something for revenge! Ohh tell your parents. My little sister used to like unplugging my computer while it was on, and I asked my mom to make her stop because it could make me lose all the work I had done, or mess up my computer really badly. It worked rather well actually.
I'm sorry about you losing your hard work =( I'd give you a hug but you're too far away.
Okay, well if your brother is childish enough to do something like that for a ridiculous reason, then he probably forgot to delete the copy in the recycling bin. go check, just in case. then restore it, and viola! you got it back! and if not, punch his peanut sized brains out till he pees himself. just kidding... sorta ;D
(and might i suggest a password from now on?)
#91 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:03pm by HopelesxRomantic
I would've killed the jealous fucker. No matter how angry you are, don't mess with that shit.
My advice? After you run an undelete and restore that work, give him a cameo in your book in which he gets raped in the ass with a rusty chainsaw.
This is the precise reason that I handwrite everything before I type it. Sure, notebooks are not indestructable, but my book of three years' work is in a bunch of notebooks, on two different computers, three flash drives, an external hard drive, and on the internet. I would feel eternally empty if I lost it. I also find handwriting very good for a writing technique. It's almost a rough draft so I can edit things that sound dumb as I type it up. A win-win scenario. I've lost writing before, and it's not fun, but maybe rewriting it will help you grow. You already know the plot, and that's the hard part! I frequently rewrite one of my short stories and every time there is a noticeable improvement. Keep your head up! Keep writing.
the purpose of notebooks is defeated once you write more than you've typed, you lend the handwritten copy for someone to read because it's more than the typed, and then they don't give the notebook back to you. this situation happened with a series i was writing -- i'm missing most of the first story (it was completely done...i only have about four chapters left that was posted on a site since my old laptop's hard drive died) and the first part of the second story in the series. pretty sure i lost the notebook the other part of the second story was in as well.
the person i lent the handwritten copy to decided to hand it to someone at my work (because i was really pissed at him for personal reasons and he decided it was okay to trust some random person with my precious stories), who never gave it back to me. i'm still really really upset about this because i loved the story/series and so did a lot of my friends. i'm too upset over it to rewrite.
FYL to the OP, especially because you probably had it backed up and your brother got to it, since you said "all traces of the novel".
#158 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:25am by LeCielNousAide
oh a novel?
hows that novel working on?
stewie griffin
#96 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:10pm by need4speed0829
That's unfortunate. At least you can restore it from the backup you made.
#98 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:15pm by p00p0ster0us
I totally agree!
This COULD be the worst thing to happen. Money can be re-earned without much difficulty. That amount of work cannot. You should have backed it up,OP. I'm working on a novel, and it is backed up almost every day. However, there is software to easily recover files, so I think you'll be fine.
#179 - On 08/06/2009 at 5:37am by divineinstrument
Yeah, like some others have said, you can still get a lot of it back. Just invest a little money in getting a pro to recover it. Good luck, and keep a freakin password on your computer, man. With a brother like that, who needs an anus.
So go get one of your backups! You do have backups, don't you? Surely you aren't dumb enough to have been working on something for three years and not have several backups of it... ...right?
#104 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:36pm by theintrollama
He's got issues, but YDI for not having a copy (or 2 or 3) somewhere far away from that nutter.
#106 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:40pm by Roofus
plexico, don't you think it's time you got off the internet and found some lame dogs to kick?
#110 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:49pm by gwenhwyfaer
Pen and paper? That's just as likely to get lost or damaged. OP's brother would have just set it on fire.
wow. time to kick some ass! I'm sure there are some backed up files somewhere. I don't know how many times my time capsule and time machine on my mac has saved me.
#109 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:44pm by inside_joke
wow.... that's just, wow. does he have a prized possession? if so, i believe you know what needs to be done.
#111 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:50pm by thellamanator
my husbands sister does evil shit to him all the time for the same reason... except she was born second, her parents just didn't like her.
#112 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:51pm by 110879
Congrats on another Irish FML getting published! Yay this only like the 11th lol ^^ We need to have more!
Even if he did have backups, he clearly didn't have the proper offsite backups one should have for something so important, so the YDI is still warranted.
that is a step above sibling rivalry. that's cruelty. holding a grudge for however many years is something a mentally challenged person would do. i am 13 years older than my sister and everyone gave her all the attention when she was a baby but i didn't mind, it wasn't her fault and i don't hold it to her now. wow. and did you check your recycling bin (the one on the computer, not a physical bin)? your brother obviously has some issues, he wouldn't think to erase it from the recycling bin after deleting it. if he did, there is software you can download to recover erased files. it seems tragic at first but you just have to know what to do.
#115 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:59pm by triplethreat13
As a fellow aspiring writer who can sympathize with your plight, allow me to offer you this advice on how to deal with your brother.
Sacrifice him.
Sacrifice him with fire.
Sacrifices make everything better! Remember, when in doubt, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice.
#118 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:05pm by MURPHYCHACHO
Officer, I swear, this is just your everyday, run-of-the-mill, sacrificial offering. Nothing to see here, carry on...
#128 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:23pm by Irony_and_Ivory
This is when you go and burn down his room. lol jk. Think of it this way, at least you're not as immature and stupid as he is.
I think there's a way to make computers and their files go back to the way they were at a certain date. You might want to google that.
#125 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:19pm by anneboleyn
There are programs out there that you can use to undelete files, just search for "undelete files" under google. Also, you can take your hard drive to a computer technician to restore files.
#126 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:20pm by jadedbastard
There are several ways you could have prevented this from happening. You don't deserve this, obviously, but you should have known better...
#136 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:03am by roundnproud
YDI for not backing up.
But I can relate to the brother thing; my sister still holds the same grudge against me. When I was born, she and my brother weren't friends anymore and Mama started calling me the same pet names as her. *sigh*
All the same, it's not healthy and your brother should probably talk to someone about it.
#141 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:09am by plethora
Don't you keep back ups on CD and/or on an external hard drive that you store away from your computer?
#142 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:24am by GriefBacon
GO TO THE RECYCLING BIN ON YOUR DESKTOP!!
if he's that much of an idiot then he wouldn't have been smart enough to also delete from there.
-Hope i helped :)
#146 - On 08/06/2009 at 1:10am by miichellemaniac
YDI. Backup EVERYTHING that you could possibly use. If you've been working on it, on the same laptop, for 3 years there's bound to be a hardware failure that would wipe it out soon anyway. Consider this a lesson.
Oh, and by the way, if he just deleted it, there is software you can use to recover deleted files as long as that area of the hard drive hasn't been written over yet.
#150 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:00am by dfreeland311
(in the words of Stewie Griffin) you writing a little novel there are you? hows the novel coming along? etc etc
Download and install Recuva - as long as you haven't overwritten that hard drive space, you should be able to get it back.
that's horrible :(
but oh my god, back things up. i've lost wayyy too many files from not taking the time to do this. back up once online (just by sending stuff to yourself via email works great), once on a flash drive or external hard drive, and once on a memory device that you give to a trustworthy someone else!
i hope you can get it all back :)
... Beat him to a pulp. If my brother had pulled that, I would probably have snapped and set all of his possessions on fire, and my novel is only around 90000 words so far (disclaimer: I have severe issues of the mental kind and wouldn't recommend actually following my advise).
Good luck recovering it. Time to check your backup devices, every friend and beta reader you might have sent text parts to as well as your sent mail history, and so on.
#157 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:24am by suchacreep
a great way for a fresh rewrite of your novel... I guess it was only a first draft since you didn't have backup. it propably sucked anyway. lol.
#159 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:29am by beertime36
You should throw his stuff off the top of Blarney Castle. ;)
Then make a wish that he doesn't find out!
#162 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:50am by xxXChiiXxx
Hahahaha someone's been holding a grudge. FYL, but far out that's funny.
#164 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:11am by wibble28791
whoa wtf is his problem? idk about macs but a pc has a function called back date that can bring your files back unless he disabled it deleted the back up points your computer makes
I hope you can read this OP, but:
YOU HAVE OPTIONS!
1) Go to Staples and pay a lot of money but get the files back.
2) Download a free tool called Restoration and maybe get the files back.
3) Try other recovery software.
DO NOT LET YOUR NOVEL DISAPPEAR! AND MAKE SURE YOU SUE YOUR BASTARD BROTHER!
(BTW YDI for not putting a password on your computer.)
#166 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:17am by InfectedWithDrew
I have notebooks full of lyrics so I sympathize. Get my album on iTunes, search for ILL Legitimate or YouTube swannybrasco
#167 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:29am by FlaminYawn
This isn't about you or your personal advertising space idiot. This is about the OP and their problem
So... You've been working on a novel for 3 years and in all that time, you didn't back up anything of it? Wow.
your damn own fault if you didn't make back-ups, and btw, it's impossible he just did it cause of attention-stuff when you were young, except if he's handicapped or autistic.
What you should do tho: Get his laptop and shit on it, then close the window :-)
#169 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:31am by quirinus
Which is why you save your novel to your own email every now and then.
#171 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:32am by egaonogenki
Yeah - backups, for sure. And printing. And emailing to oneself. You can even create a whole separate email account just for that purpose. Flash drives, external hard drives, safes, floppies even... I mean, come on.
See this is exactly why you should save your stuff on a flash drive or something
#173 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:45am by thepunisher
I believe you can still get it back if you do a system restore - I believe this returns all files to how they were on a specific date. Don't take my word for it, but it's better to check than to sit around feeling like shit.
#176 - On 08/06/2009 at 4:01am by Nometet
Another learning experience. There's a reason why businesses invest so much time and money in back-up technology. If you are doing any work on your own PC that you would be devastated to lose, take regular back-ups. If you don't want to buy a commercial package you could simply burn your working folder onto a CD every week. You can always re-install software, it's the data you created that you need to save.
#178 - On 08/06/2009 at 4:25am by wellinever
It says that the brother deleted ALL traces, for all you know they backed it up in many places.
#183 - On 08/06/2009 at 6:51am by FreddyLunch
If he did proper off-site backups, there is no way his brother could have touched them. The fact that his brother did delete all traces necessarily means that he didn't have proper backups.
If i was you i would just punch your brother until he gets the message, get a baseball bat or brass knuckles if you have to!
#184 - On 08/06/2009 at 7:05am by Bedford_Sparkz
To all those saying "maybe the OP did back it up"; it doesn't count as a backup if it's on the SAME COMPUTER.
There's no reason not to have a dirt cheap USB memory stick on your keychain and keep a copy on there.
oh man, that sucks so hard. your brother's a moron. may I suggest never talking to him again? and everyone who clicked YDI are assholes.
Geek Squad will charge you $80 an hour for a $10 an hour tech whose last job was at Taco Bell. Take it to someone who knows how to locate the on button.
#194 - On 08/06/2009 at 8:17am by ohnoyouDINT
so i've been reading some comments on here and i've learned everyone on here is acting like they keep every file of importance on their computer backed up on a "dirt cheap USB memory stick on your key chain" i don't understand why everyone pretends that they are smarter and safer than the OP who obviously could not have seen that coming...
#190 - On 08/06/2009 at 7:52am by Gregiscool
Greg is not cool. Greg is dumb. Greg doesn't realize that having an offsite backup of all important data is akin to wearing a condom: You just do it. Greg will have an unhappy life and an untimely death because Greg does not believe in safety.
Poor Greg.
#195 - On 08/06/2009 at 8:19am by ohnoyouDINT
3 years and you never bothered with a back up? Well, you learned your lesson.
#192 - On 08/06/2009 at 8:05am by JanisEvans
you can still get it back but you need a program for it.
http://www.jakeludington.com/ask_jake/20060713_recover_deleted_files.html should work.
#203 - On 08/06/2009 at 9:29am by krissmundur
Wait a sec'.... You've been working on it for three years... And the ONLY place where you saved it was your laptop?? Dude, that's kind of stupid... Laptops are really not reliable -especially after three years of good and loyal services...-
YDI!
Next time you'll know : when it is something as important as that, you save it on :
- your laptop
- an external hard drive
- your emails
- PRINT IT every few months if you don't want to buy an external hard drive
FYL though, because it sucks.
Oh, and your brother needs a therapy. I mean, really. It's funny cause usually, when you're twenty or so, you blame your /mother/ for all the problems you ever had in your life.
Deleting your work was really immature and stupid... If I were you, I'd punch him, or kick him in the balls. You're not going to solve anything like that but damn, it must feel quite good aftewards.
Agreed, or even more simple, he could just email it to himself.
#221 - On 08/06/2009 at 11:42am by origin242
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!
Guys.
What if the op is Stephanie Meyer?
YOU'RE TELLING HER HOW TO GET THE SpARKLY FAIRIES BACK!!!
BAD THING! BAD THING!!
#205 - On 08/06/2009 at 9:50am by SierraStabler
RECUVA!!!! Use RECUVA!!!!!! Download it -- it will save your life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FYL because I know how it is to lose a novel you've been working on, but also YDI for not having it backed up on a jump drive or disc somewhere.
So? Restore your backup. With *free* solutions like mozy and crashplan so simple to setup, and the commercial solutions so damn cheap these days, there is absolutely *no* excuse to not backup anything even remotely important.
If you didn't have a backup of the file you have been working on for 3 years, you must not have thought it was important.
#209 - On 08/06/2009 at 10:33am by ozymandias
Actually, most computer automatically backup
my HP has a recovery D Drive, when a virus deleted my passkey for Vista, I booted the Recovery Drive and everything i deleted in the past month reloaded onto my computer.
#210 - On 08/06/2009 at 10:34am by musicpirate456
That right there, is an ass-kick-worthy offense. Beat the tar out of him. With a baseball bat. With nails in it.
Call his girlfriend, fake a voice, and tell her if your brother is home.
"Today my girlfriend broke up with me because some jerk called and asked for me in a sexy voice when I was at work. The one who called was my brother and he did it because "I take all the good loking girls". FML"
#222 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:33pm by fawfulster
I might understand how your brother feels, and I've actually... ripped up my own brother's homework at times.
Age doesn't matter, except that it gives you a better understanding of what to fuck with if you want to make an impact.
Really, depends on how much of a douche YOU are if you ever want to see him "grow out of it." I would hope that by adult age, now, though, you're not. So FYL, next time make back ups, and password protect your laptop. If you do get it back, don't mention it. Maybe your brother feels satisfied now that he thinks he's got you.
#223 - On 08/06/2009 at 1:30pm by DameGreyWulf
First of all your bro is retarded,
second of all Just recover it,
unless its been over written or erased with file shredders
it should still be there.
yeah. my dad lost the first 3 chapters of my novel ( AKA, the ones i send to agents and publishers) and i almost clawed his eyes out.
your art is like your baby, guys. strong feelings there, strong feelings.
#226 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:27pm by skittleface
I'm also a writer, so I'm quite sorry for you. However, I find it a little hard to believe that, over the course of three years, you never thought to back it up. I back up my work twice a day in two different locations so that nothing like this ever happens.
ehh don't worry about it. you read it over and realize it was horrible and start over again. I erased every bit of the novel i was working on for years. still .. beat up your brother. a lot.
#228 - On 08/06/2009 at 4:40pm by HeyThereGorgeous
I agree with a lot of other comments that there is probably a back-up file or a way you can restore it...you can also maybe have a computer specialist come look and see if you can get it back. But, definitely, FYL- as a writer myself, I really understand how it important it must to you and the work and frustration that is put into writing a story. I really hope you get it back.
uurgggh, I know all too well how infuriating brothers can be, and I feel for you dude...especially if this brother of yours happens to be an older brother
#233 - On 08/06/2009 at 5:54pm by fatpeepsRfunny
That's not necessarily true. While it's certainly worth a shot, it's possible his brother used a secure delete that overwrites the file with random data rather than just dereferencing the files. Even if he didn't, every time he uses his computer he's risking losing the data forever, if the space where his files are gets reused.
That said, it definitely can't hurt to try and see what comes up. Maybe he'll get lucky. At the very least, I bet he can recover a good deal of it if he hasn't been stupid about it. Of course, given his total lack of proper backups, maybe he has been stupid about it.
judging by the brother's reasoning, I'm sure he's not bright enough to do that.
#254 - On 08/08/2009 at 3:37pm by DoubleOBond
I hope you have managed to take advantage of some of the recovery tools people have mentioned here. My favorite would have to be recuva at http://www.recuva.com/ (windows only).
Don't use your PC., if its been deleted recently its pretty easy to get back. Theres even a load of free programs online that can get it back. Just a FYI
First I was going to say the novel probably sucked, but then I noticed you're from Ireland.
You're all fantastic writers.
You work on something for three years. You decline to make a backup copy. And you let your hateful brother have access to your laptop.
Sounds like you learned an expensive, but valuable, lesson. And yes, you totally deserve it.
The magical thing about a Windows hard drive is deleted files are not actually deleted immediately after you "delete" them. They actually continue to sit on the hard drive until they are written over by other data. As long as you have not put anything huge on your hard drive after the fact, then it should still be hanging out on your hard drive. However, it is waiting to be wiped and replaced by new data so act fast. There are programs and IT professionals out there that can do that sort of thing. Also, have you ever heard of common sense? Backup and encrypt your crucial files next time. And put a damn system password on. That should have been obvious to do from the start. Data gets lost, corrupted, and deleted all the time, with or without the help of vindictive family members.
But honestly, you are his brother. You have access to his personal/identity information and you know all of the things he cares about, where he hangs out, what he likes, and what he likes to do. You could choose to literally and quite easily destroy his life, or, at least put him through a little pain for his trespasses. I mean, at least fuck with him a little bit. There are a lot of things that fall under the prank category which could seriously inconvenience his life. But that would be declaring war, and war is messy. Unless you move on him like a ninja, with speed and stealth under cover of night where he expects you least. :)
#252 - On 08/08/2009 at 11:18am by buzongtang
is it that novel you've been working on for three years. you know the book. a little life lesson. a little beginning middle and end. friends become enemies enemies become friends everyones a little better for the experience. - stewie griffin
#255 - On 08/09/2009 at 4:23am by Andyangels27
You might be able to recover it, assuming he didn't destroy your laptop...
#262 - On 08/17/2009 at 1:26am by gonnaworkmagic
Spy sappin' mah pc! Seriously, though, that was a not-kablammo move on his part.
To all of the "ydi for not backing up" crowd: he said all traces. What if the brother happens to be good with computers/otaku/a 1337 h4xor that happens to have jealousy issues? Sounds like he lives under a rock from his reasoning, so he may not have better things to do. Socially tactless? Definitely. 1337 enough to mess up your day? Perhaps. Either way, I'm surprised no one's considered if he's a hacker.
Okay, firstly, otaku and good with computers are entirely unrelated to each other, so I have no idea what that's doing in there. Secondly, we're talking about a novel three years in the making. This is something that should be backed up in _at_least_ one of three manners: given to your lawyer, put in a safe deposit box, or stored online using a secure storage service of some form. I don't care how 1337 of a hacker you are, the last one is the only one remotely possible, and even then, in this day, it's pretty much only possible if you give him direct access to the account in the first place.
Who puts an unfinished manuscript in a safety deposit box or gives it to their lawyer? I don't care how long you've been working on it, unless you're worried about someone taking it, copyright infringement shit, why bother? And the only time you have to worry about that is if you're already a big name in writing or you don't stop bragging about how great your book will be.
THat said, it is good to have backups in a lot of places. I have the regular copy on my computer, and I back up in two or three places most of the time. A Cd, my email, and a Flashdrive. The flashdrive only has my most important things, adn I carry it with me on my keychain.
#266 - On 08/20/2009 at 2:54pm by boatkicker
Offsite backups (preferably in multiple) are a good idea. Period. For an (presumably not rich) individual, I listed your best options. *Most* people would go with secure online storage. Okay, actually most people are stupid and don't do offsite backups. But most individuals who do would go with secure online storage. But if you're not going to do that, safe deposit box or lawyer are the way to go, hands down.
Note that I'm not saying to do this for everything. This is for the truly important things you can't stand to lose. Like a manuscript three years in the making.
YDI for stealing all of mum and dads attention, and also being a baby.
#268 - On 08/31/2009 at 5:56am by xFazedFX
Ugh, I know how that feels, I was writing a couple of my first novels when my computer melted... and my computer melted because my house burned down, so my story is a bit different.
