Today, my external hard drive broke. My husband tried to fix it, and the computer told him he needed to format it. Apparently he didn't know what formatting does, so he did it. I'm a wedding photographer and had a full summer of unfinished wedding photography on there. FML
Collection
Halloween
A failed costume, stolen candy and a very real scare: Halloween, the one night when fear is allowed.
Today, I lost two terabytes' worth of photos to a friend's incompetence. He said he could save me some money and fix my slow computer for free. He ended up wiping the hard drive, and along with it, my photography portfolio from the last five years. FML
Today, my husband accidentally erased some pictures from our hard drive. No worries, nothing major: just everything from our wedding and the birth of our first child. FML
Today, I deleted a load of junk that was messing up my mother's computer. I don't know how I'm going to tell her I accidentally wiped out all of her wedding photos. FML
Today, while trying to fix a corrupted USB hard drive with my wife’s computer I accidentally wiped her laptop drive instead of clearing the external drive. I’m not allowed on her computers anymore. FML
Today, my computer stopped working. Me, the technology challenged one, decided to do a system recovery on it hoping that I could make it better. Turns out, system recovery means deleting all the files off the computer including family photos, music and assignments and starting fresh. FML
Today, my computer crashed and lost all of its data while I was making a back up. FML
Today, I got home from a family trip to Disney World. I had taken nearly 300 photos of our trip on my new digital camera. As our car pulled into the driveway, I was using my camera to try to delete one unflattering shot of me. I accidentally deleted every picture off the memory card. FML
Today, I was transferring video from my camera to my laptop so I could start editing my film project. My wife’s badly behaved dog decided to barrel through my office, knocking everything over. Screen shattered, camera broken, video files corrupted due to the cable coming out mid-transfer. FML
Today, I found an old USB drive and spent an hour trying to open it because I was sure it had important files on it. It contained one blurry photo of my thumb and a Word doc titled “Do not open", which was actually blank. FML
Today, I was trying to turn on my computer and couldn't. I spent twenty minutes trying to figure out what was wrong when I finally called my husband for help and made him leave work. He came in, looked at the wall, and plugged it back in. The look on his face said it all. FML
Feel like sharing it with the other FML users?
Thanks, your FML was submitted, and will appear in the moderation queue soon!
Top comments
DQ2011 0
it's savable!!!!! don't do anything else to it and google how to recover data!!!
Cinn_fml 23
If your husband doesn't know what 'formatting' means, why was he the one attempting to fix it? Also, as you had important files on there, it might have been worth calling someone who was paid and qualified to do it. And this is what backing up is for.
Add a comment · Reply to
You must be logged in to be able to post comments!
Comments (195)
JBetterton 0
wow. fyl
mfmylifesrsly 30
your husbands an idiot
wafflez333 0
your moms an idiot
ItsMOMnotMUM 0
I agree with 12, 7s m is an idiot
nosajb23_fml 0
I agree with 14, I agree with 12 that 7s m is an idiot
heidelbergmeme 5
I agree with 12, 14, 26, that 7 mom is an idiot
skroal 7
You should've put everything on a backup disc if it was that important. YDI
takeapieandrun 9
YDI for relying on your husband for technological issues when your career depends on it. Not to mention it's just plain stupid to not backup your files.
buzz18 7
Ditto ^
aardvarkish 17
I abstain.
KiddNYC1O 22
WTF! ydi
mrmystery96 0
I agree with 54. we abstain.
alliewillie 22
you left your career and all those peoples memories on one computer (knowing they glitch all the time) without any kind of backup? YDI. but F the peoples lives who trusted you with precious memories.
twinny_sc 13
I'm Switzerland.
Igor_g5 0
I agree with 51,26,14 and 12 that 7's an idiot.
Trupe 3
I agree with kanye west. George bush hates black people.
DoubleA329 1
I think OP's husband works at BestBuy
benny2465 0
7 so not knowing computers makes you an idiot? so I guess 70% of the world is idiots then
mfmylifesrsly 30
well he's more of an idiot for doing something that he didn't what it did
ItsMOMnotMUM 0
but not as big of an idiot as your mom!
cstrat 0
70 is right. You're irresponsible and unprofessional. Change the business cards to "unprofessional photographer". Be sure to provide prompt, full refunds. You should have the money from skimping on equipment and expertise.
mshoes12346 3
that makes me an idiot than.. 7.. but ops hubby is kind of idiotic for doining something wen he didnt kno wat he was doing which shows hes too lazy to figure it out.. dont feel bad 7 ur not an idiot
knightknight 0
so op take your external hard drive to a REAL computer expert, and they can try to rebuild your data. it will be expensive. the data is still there, but there is nothing "pointing" to it. good luck!
2staffi 0
no you are the idiot. no wait, she is the idiot. no you, no she… you both are idiots!
UpYoursInAdvance 0
102 And you've never made a mistake??!
markwritesmusic 0
128 Everyone makes mistakes. But most of us that make mistakes don't have our careers riding on those mistakes. She should have taken it to a proper professional technician. If that were me, I wouldn't have even trusted myself to fix the damn thing. he's exactly right. she is unprofessional and deserves whatever she gets. Don't give me that "but everyone makes mistakes!" garbage. It's a cop out.
andruha1123 5
you can still get your data back, as long as you don't start writing new files on the disc that was formatted.
missyelle 0
ever heard of making a back up?
wilcas713 0
YDI for not having a back-up. i have like 3 backups of everything in my computer.
Unbannedban 0
move away
blankaex 0
OP, you!'re an idiot. You obviously knew how "smart" your husband is with computers, and you still let him "fix" your external hard drive? And to everyonr going "make a backup, stupid OP", an external hard drive is usually the backup. The files should be on a computer's internal hard drive. If they aren't, OP is an even bigger idiot.
ThatRawr 0
why the hell would you want help from someone who doesn't even know what formatting is?
lone_wolf81 0
don't let them bother u , they r the idiots.
libertarian 0
Everyones grilling op fir not backing up her files. it was on an external drive. although I don't get why she had such a back log of photos. I'm sure most had to have been printed or copied to the clients already.
st0815 9
So? An external hard drive is not backup. Having data in two places means you have a backup. Don't tell me that's difficult to understand. I don't blame anyone for messing up with their own private data because they are too lazy to make backups. We all make mistakes, it happens. However for a professional photographer, knowing some basics about backups and putting in the effort to make sure the data is safe - that's an essential part of the job.
Griggy 0
You know there is such a thing as googling how to format the hard drive.
rkcraig53 0
I agree with 79. but everyone hates black people! just ask 79. A Negro friend of mine told me HE hates niggers, "Because a ****** will always steal my stuff!" fyl
Lmoconley 4
Basically... I work for a small chain of computer stores.. and yeah in that case the greater majority of this world = idiots... NICE...
cstrat 0
128 yeah, I have, just not one so easily preventable and so catastrophic to so many people and the core of my business.
thatonek1d 0
FYL. shoulda taken it to the Apple store. they know what they're doing.
legoman213579 13
41 did u read it it said it was backed up on the external hard drive
chatterbox72 0
yeah, fyl
MagneticGuitar 0
Erm, heard of backing up?
Sarah6244 0
Thats horrible! fyl. i guess you need to find a new job....
sampimpinthug 0
not really, use easus recovery tool and it will bring everything back even after a format. I went through the same experience and used the tool and got all my assignements back.
fiend619 0
Nooooooo I sent it first at the exact same time this is BS!
DQ2011 0
it's savable!!!!! don't do anything else to it and google how to recover data!!!
ForestFire0 1
That's true. Try Recova. But still, what kind of shitty wedding photographer only has one copy of important files?
Igor_g5 0
Seriously. This stuff is that important and you don't have at least two copies? YDI SO MUCH.
Wederoney 16
Exactly, if you format your hard drive, you don't delete the data itself, you just delete and create a new "register" that tells you where the data is located on your hard drive... i think.
weinerdog 2
correct! If you want to really blow you data away google 'boot and nuke'.
TheIrishJaneDoe 9
Agreed with SOMA. Even if OP just lost edits and has originals, there are too many easy ways to prevent this to not say YDI. You ought to have at least one hard copy (DVDs, memory disks, etc.), one web-stored copy, and whatever you need on your hard drive. That's just basic common sense, particularly when dealing with brides and weddings. On a personal note, S especially DI if she offers those black and whites in her packages-- the ones with a single object, like a bouquet, in color. Those need to go the way of that early 90's laser backdrop. You know, the one with the weird pastel-yet-somehow-neon pink and blue colors. Ugh!
kimbaheartsyou 0
Oh God. That was like, lesson 1 in my first year Photoshop subject. I wanted to punch myself in the face. I think around 90% of wedding photography I've seen is beyond tacky.
rowerforlife 0
omfg! what a moron!! fyl. :(
buckin_fitches 0
ydi for being a wedding planner and ruining peoples lives
ChibiChibi_fml 28
They said wedding Photographer not planner, they are two different things.
darkmis1 18
What cave has he been living in?
ChibiChibi_fml 28
I have to say that sucks but you still kind of deserve it for not having the photos backed up some where else and also for letting your husband try and fix your external hard drive when he is clearly not qualified to do so.
emenesso 13
Go to google and search for "Hard drive data recovery" and you'll see some sites that can help you out. All formatting does is remove the "pointers" to where the files are, not the files themselves. All your data is still there, you just need to get the "pointers" back. As long as your husband didn't do a zerofill or smash the hard drive against something you'll be ok. :)
Luke16eirb7deneuwn1 20
or open it. Or pull a strong magnet over it