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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

#4312285 (271)

I agree, your life sucks (45815) - you totally deserved it (3161)

On 08/05/2009 at 4:30pm - misc - by frustrated - Ireland (Dublin)

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Comments

dude that sucks

#1 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:08pm by ms33

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.

#65 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:39pm by purple5

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

#68 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:40pm by Pb2Au

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.

#69 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:43pm by JibJib

#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.

#74 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:06pm by ugotmilk

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.

#246 - On 08/07/2009 at 4:31pm by Fourty

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.

#247 - On 08/07/2009 at 6:11pm by zargon

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

Ah... that kinda sucks

He's really immature!

#263 - On 08/17/2009 at 6:46am by Dazzleness

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 )

#272 - On 02/27/2010 at 7:03pm by noobgang7

Delete that fucker from your life. If he hasn't got over it by now, he never will.

#2 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:09pm by aback

Oh wow. Is he challenged? FYL :/

#3 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:09pm by mercyFML

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

At least extremely immature

#140 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:08am by narsty

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

Spending time on FML *is* a mental disability.

#217 - On 08/06/2009 at 11:32am by ohnoyouDINT

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:

#51 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:05pm by Moemoemoe

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

And that' s why I have a password on my laptop.

#5 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:12pm by alex_vik

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.

#6 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:14pm by JTMan95

everyone is working on a book

#46 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:00pm by geesquared

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"

#52 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:08pm by wbrycem

win

#138 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:04am by giggity0giggity

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

that comment is pure win

#145 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:55am by tpag3r

Password protect your stuff when you live with siblings. YDI for not knowing any better.

#8 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:16pm by Luckster

http://www.officerecovery.com/freeundelete/

Try this, it has saved me many times.

#9 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:17pm by featherman

You can probably recover it w/ the right tools, unless he was a complete dick.

#10 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:18pm by Sic62

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!!

#11 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:19pm by pandaloop

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

How you uh, how you comin' on that novel you're working on? Got some characters, a little epilogue?

#13 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:24pm by Poonheart

Lmao, family guy ftw!

#24 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:31pm by jivealive_5

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.

#14 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:24pm by _Akward_

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

Dude...he's 24 years old....you think he needs his bottle too?

#18 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:27pm by Luckster

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.

#60 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:25pm by paperboat

It's not like the kid asked to be born. He should act his stupid shit out with his parents, not his sibling.

#61 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:25pm by aback

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 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:27pm by ccyto

#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.

#131 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:34pm by blonde45

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.

#135 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:02am by ccyto

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.

#181 - On 08/06/2009 at 5:59am by PennyAnna

goddamn thumbsuckers.

#193 - On 08/06/2009 at 8:16am by ohnoyouDINT

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

FYL. he has some serious issues

#16 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:26pm by Piejamas

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.

#20 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:29pm by wordly

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

hahaha damn that sucks. I'm sorry maybe call the geek squad? it could still be on the harddrive

#21 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:30pm by aresgirl

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...

#22 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:31pm by letitbe56

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

Did you check your recycle bin, perhaps?

#25 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:32pm by AAAAHHHH12

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

#27 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:32pm by kelbelle

YDI for not have a back up copy.

On the bright side however, it probably would not have been published anyway.

#28 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:33pm by FarSide

great thing about computers is you can restore to a few days back ;) and recover the files

#29 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:34pm by rustyrox

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.

#30 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:34pm by kawa

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

Wow, that sucks...however YDI for not having it on a flash drive.

#34 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:39pm by fmah_life

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

Try recover it.

But no backup. Ugh. Duh.

#36 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:45pm by CamH

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!!!!!

#39 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:49pm by kaelendra

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.

#41 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:50pm by saze

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

That wouldn't be a title... a writer should know at least that 'than' would be the proper form.

#88 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:59pm by GabriLee

family guy..duh

#108 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:41pm by cheer_leader247

He was probably doing you a favor, your writing was most likely doomed to fail anyways. :)

#43 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:51pm by a2z029_

harsh you should have backed up your work though. also password protected your pc.

#44 - On 08/05/2009 at 7:53pm by zerocool3397

OMG ! that SUCKS ! R u sure he's 24 ??

#47 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:01pm by amys

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

Did you use Ctrl Z ??

#53 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:10pm by suxattimestobme

Ruin his life IMO.

#54 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:11pm by lolwatlol

You totally deserve it for not backing it up in at least one other location.

#55 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:15pm by freddie

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

Because his brother wouldn't have been able to touch proper off-site backups.

#174 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:48am by zargon

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

Good call!

#215 - On 08/06/2009 at 11:29am by NotAnotherOne

Wow. It's true, the Irish really do hold a grudge forever. I thought that was just a stereotype.

#57 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:20pm by EMR

Some of us do. :]

#76 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:09pm by manoverboard

"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

YDI for not backing up an important piece of work.

#62 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:26pm by shadowsurfr1

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

#63 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:31pm by rippa86

FYL, http://mozy.com/

#67 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:40pm by tuntis

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

What, you mean blow up a church?

#119 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:07pm by drimpossible

Only if it's Protestant.

#129 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:25pm by daydreambeliever

Use a program like Recuva to try to recover the deleted files (if it's a PC).

#72 - On 08/05/2009 at 8:59pm by hbk2369

@72: I concur. Use Recuva and get it back.

#170 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:31am by Westy543

That's why I put my book on fictionpress.com. :]

#75 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:07pm by manoverboard

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

BACKUP anything of any importance.

#77 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:11pm by Qup

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

You're one to talk, AREN'T you?

#84 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:34pm by elliekinslurvsya

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

YDI it for stealing your parents' attention. He was there first.

#79 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:15pm by dienda

You never heard of backups?

#80 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:24pm by Nemephosis

Hmm.. Someone needs to make a Mediafire account.

#81 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:27pm by Austinw80

WOW.......that SUCKS!!!! i sre you can find some computer savvy guy to retrace it on your harddrive

#82 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:32pm by summer66

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.

#83 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:34pm by Xrailer

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.

#86 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:46pm by CFR

yikes! hopefully u have backup.

#87 - On 08/05/2009 at 9:55pm by vespero

SYSTEM RESTORE FIXES THE PROBLEM.

#90 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:03pm by FMLsguitarist

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

Ydi for not puttin a pw. But WTF is wrong with him

#92 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:04pm by KiddNYC10

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.

#93 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:06pm by Lythiaren

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.

#94 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:07pm by GabriLee

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

go set his computer on fire and kick him in his tiny little nut, the fuckin cockbag

#95 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:08pm by dacman48

oh a novel?
hows that novel working on?


stewie griffin

#96 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:10pm by need4speed0829

YDI. Back stuff up if it's important. Especially if so important so small.

#97 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:11pm by kentt

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

I vote encryption.

#100 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:27pm by SUSAltd

kill him.

#101 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:30pm by etantao

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.

#102 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:34pm by wordgirl

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.

#148 - On 08/06/2009 at 1:49am by CFR

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!

#113 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:53pm by AnneFTW

YDI for only having one copy.

#114 - On 08/05/2009 at 10:57pm by Travel

"all traces"

OP may have had multiple backups, but he went after everything just to be a dick.

#123 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:18pm by mezentius

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.

#175 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:50am by zargon

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

#117 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:05pm by drimpossible

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.

#120 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:09pm by Bumlove89

kill him?

#122 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:15pm by touchableturtle

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

YDI for not having multiple disc & paper back ups.

#132 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:37pm by namelessfew

time to smack a brother out

#133 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:52pm by lafraz

this would be funnier If u were older then him

#134 - On 08/05/2009 at 11:57pm by master565

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

Yr bro is a dickhead, but didn't u back it up?

#143 - On 08/06/2009 at 12:37am by suri23

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

kill your brother then yourself

#149 - On 08/06/2009 at 1:56am by shotlilaussie

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

Kill him.

#151 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:01am by Ozotorka

Total YDI. Any time you lose data it is your fault. Backups are cheap and easy.

#152 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:09am by gozar

(in the words of Stewie Griffin) you writing a little novel there are you? hows the novel coming along? etc etc

#153 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:12am by dmipotc

Download and install Recuva - as long as you haven't overwritten that hard drive space, you should be able to get it back.

#154 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:14am by Don

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 :)

#156 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:24am by jmeg

... 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

Ydi cuz I like turtles

#160 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:29am by coheedandcambria

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

#165 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:16am by cr1sis

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

#201 - On 08/06/2009 at 9:04am by padfoot

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.

#168 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:30am by Bleep

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.

#172 - On 08/06/2009 at 3:44am by Me27

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

i think you should put his name down, for the human depopulation list.

#177 - On 08/06/2009 at 4:09am by akiro525

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

YDI for being so idiotic you didn't back any of it up.

#182 - On 08/06/2009 at 6:47am by Rixxieee

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.

#232 - On 08/06/2009 at 5:53pm by zargon

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

What a dick....

#186 - On 08/06/2009 at 7:13am by Gy7

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.

#187 - On 08/06/2009 at 7:15am by musu

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.

#188 - On 08/06/2009 at 7:36am by kewl92

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

memory stick? ^^

#189 - On 08/06/2009 at 7:45am by Georgia795

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

I would fucking beat him up..

#191 - On 08/06/2009 at 7:54am by ola100

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

Obviously YDI for being Irish.

#196 - On 08/06/2009 at 8:21am by ohnoyouDINT

#196, don't be so rude?

#197 - On 08/06/2009 at 8:25am by Jessey

uhhhh......Internet!

#198 - On 08/06/2009 at 8:34am by ohnoyouDINT

He wants attention? Kill him, he'll be the center of attention at the funeral.

#200 - On 08/06/2009 at 9:00am by padfoot

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.

#204 - On 08/06/2009 at 9:48am by xFaust

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#206 - On 08/06/2009 at 10:06am by Lonely4

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.

#207 - On 08/06/2009 at 10:11am by nemo3590

I'd beat him to death with a fucking shovel.

#208 - On 08/06/2009 at 10:23am by Fibericon

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

I'm not gonna lie that's hilarious

#212 - On 08/06/2009 at 10:49am by neonokku

Your brother needs to grow a pair

#213 - On 08/06/2009 at 11:17am by g33ktr0n

That right there, is an ass-kick-worthy offense. Beat the tar out of him. With a baseball bat. With nails in it.

#216 - On 08/06/2009 at 11:29am by Pururun

I look forward to reading it.

#218 - On 08/06/2009 at 11:34am by ohnoyouDINT

words cannot describe how hard i just laughed.

#219 - On 08/06/2009 at 11:35am by muffinsareyummy

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

YDI for not knowing how to get it back

#224 - On 08/06/2009 at 1:31pm by bkmjet

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.

#225 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:26pm by WithS

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.

#227 - On 08/06/2009 at 2:59pm by Bobby64

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.

#229 - On 08/06/2009 at 4:49pm by owtom78

So you work on something for 3 years and keep no back ups? If this is even real, YDI!

#231 - On 08/06/2009 at 5:04pm by ThePhenom

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

system restore

#234 - On 08/06/2009 at 6:35pm by smithersss

What a pussy. Seriously the OPs brother needs to grow a sack.

#235 - On 08/06/2009 at 9:53pm by Dukedj

You can undelete man, your stuff isn't gone yet.

#236 - On 08/06/2009 at 11:57pm by DoubleOBond

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.

#239 - On 08/07/2009 at 2:06am by zargon

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

YDI for not backing up your stuff.

#237 - On 08/07/2009 at 12:13am by spillproof

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).

#238 - On 08/07/2009 at 1:51am by cpuwhiz11

STUPID WOMAN AND THEIR COMPUTERS

#240 - On 08/07/2009 at 5:59am by Allord

What a Fucking douchebag! You should go kick his ass!

#241 - On 08/07/2009 at 7:30am by Hunter329

WTF?!?!?
0_0
aaaaagrrrrr!!
n he's 24 ?!?!!
-_-'

#242 - On 08/07/2009 at 8:19am by Lou_0

Provided he's as mentally challenged as you make him out to be, you can still recover it all...

#243 - On 08/07/2009 at 11:00am by Sturmeh

I have no sympathy for someone who doesn't back up their files regularly. It's not like it's hard.

#244 - On 08/07/2009 at 11:28am by aerin

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

#245 - On 08/07/2009 at 3:22pm by RobbieIrl

if undelete doesnt work sue him

#248 - On 08/07/2009 at 7:22pm by alex4home

i'd kill him.
then get it back x]]

#249 - On 08/07/2009 at 7:42pm by soccerchick02

First I was going to say the novel probably sucked, but then I noticed you're from Ireland.

You're all fantastic writers.

#250 - On 08/08/2009 at 3:55am by dcstream

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.

#251 - On 08/08/2009 at 4:11am by thugbert

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

fucking sue your brother, i dont care if hes your brother, i mean three years

#256 - On 08/09/2009 at 5:57pm by DomyDamsy

Sometimes family members are the most evil and the most juvenille people in the world, trust me.

#260 - On 08/13/2009 at 12:07am by LadySpaz

Someone needs to grow up. Though this will be a reminder to back up all your work.

#261 - On 08/15/2009 at 3:09pm by KennEH

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.

#264 - On 08/19/2009 at 11:03am by itak365

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.

#265 - On 08/19/2009 at 6:00pm by zargon

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.

#267 - On 08/20/2009 at 4:51pm by zargon

YDI for stealing all of mum and dads attention, and also being a baby.

#268 - On 08/31/2009 at 5:56am by xFazedFX

YDI for not undeleting.

#269 - On 09/06/2009 at 2:21pm by Nanda

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.

#270 - On 09/20/2009 at 8:03pm by Jerro893

Here's some advice. Backups backups backups.

#271 - On 01/01/2010 at 5:46pm by ysuke04

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