What if your computer is broken or dead in this pandemic!!!

[emonuzzamanmd]

Imagine you got some emergency tasks in schedule for some busy clients. Suddenly you see your only computer/laptop is dead, is not working!!!

You cannot go out because Virus spread out in your area very badly. Every store is closed and no online service available.

How do you handle this situation?

[prestonhunter]

??
Just use another one of your computers.

Or borrow a computer.

[mwiggenhorn]

Buy a computer online.  I never go to a store to buy one.

[florydev]

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Md E wrote:

Imagine you got some emergency tasks in schedule for some busy clients. Suddenly you see your only computer/laptop is dead, is not working!!!

You cannot go out because Virus spread out in your area very badly. Every store is closed and no online service available.

How do you handle this situation?

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I have other computers I could use.  I backup my work through a variety of means so I could switch computers.  If I didn't have another computer I would have to go buy one.

[colettelewis]

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Md E wrote:

Imagine you got some emergency tasks in schedule for some busy clients. Suddenly you see your only computer/laptop is dead, is not working!!!

You cannot go out because Virus spread out in your area very badly. Every store is closed and no online service available.

How do you handle this situation?

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_______________________

MdE, are you describing a hypothetical situation or a real one? If it's hypothetical, and you only have one computer, then I think you should contact family and friends to see if you can borrow one, in case yours packs up. 

If the situation is for real, and you really cannot order a computer online, then there is no real answer. The only way to get through it would be to contact a mod here and ask them to set your profile to private and ask them to contact your clients. And after that - just grin and bear it - not easy. I would go into meltdown for sure. 

[boshoffirene]

This happened to me towards the latter half of last year. I managed to contact my clients via email on my husband's work laptop and just explain what was happening.

I managed to get a new laptop within three days and do some major catching up.

As to connectivity issues, I had this issue last week. There was no internet in my area - not only my service provider but others as well. Our whole area was just dead.

So, after the two days it was down, I sent my clients my apologies plus the reason. They understood because they know my work ethic and I have worked with most of them for quite some time. 

[petra_r]

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Md E wrote:

Imagine you got some emergency tasks in schedule for some busy clients. Suddenly you see your only computer/laptop is dead, is not working!!!

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There would never be a situation where I would have an "only laptop"

I murder laptops. No, honestly, I do. I went through a period where my laptops lasted 7 months on average.... 

So last year I invested in a nice big Desktop Mac which is difficult to pour wine or coffee or orange juice into. I also have a spare Windows laptop that kind of works, and a very old Windows all-in-one that's ok for most work, just a bit slow, an iPad Pro with proper keyboard and an iPhone. There is also a laptop graveyard in the bottom of my wardrobe. May they rest in pieces.

When your business depends on having a computer and an Internet connection, you absolutely have to have a spare (or two if you are like me) of those.

[a_lipsey]

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Petra R wrote:

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Md E wrote:

Imagine you got some emergency tasks in schedule for some busy clients. Suddenly you see your only computer/laptop is dead, is not working!!!

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There would never be a situation where I would have an "only laptop"

I murder laptops. No, honestly, I do. I went through a period where my laptops lasted 7 months on average.... 

So last year I invested in a nice big Desktop Mac which is difficult to pour wine or coffee or orange juice into. I also have a spare Windows laptop that kind of works, and a very old Windows all-in-one that's ok for most work, just a bit slow, an iPad Pro with proper keyboard and an iPhone. There is also a laptop graveyard in the bottom of my wardrobe. May they rest in pieces.

When your business depends on having a computer and an Internet connection, you absolutely have to have a spare (or two if you are like me) of those.

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I don't murder them, but I do have two laptops (large and small), a surface pro, and an old chromebook and old windows laptop as well. I have different size machines so I can work from anywhere. I decided I never wanted a desktop again, which is why I have a larger, higher capacity laptop that docks on my desk to multiple monitors. The small laptop I take to client meetings (although haven't had to do that since COVID started), and the Surface Pro I originally got so I could run around during the day and do things but still work. I had this idea I'd go sit in a beach front cafe and work...also pre-COVID. 

But like you, I have murdered a couple laptops so I always have a back up that I maintain with the setup I need, so I don't miss a beat with work. I think maybe that should be in the newbies top 10 tips - have a backup plan! lol

[richard_wein]

I must lead a charmed life. I've never yet had a computer (or disk drive) die on me. And I've been using computers since before Windows was a twinkle in Bill Gates' eye. 

[a_lipsey]

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Richard W wrote:

I must lead a charmed life. I've never yet had a computer (or disk drive) die on me. And I've been using computers since before Windows was a twinkle in Bill Gates' eye. 

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Maybe you just treat them with more respect than some of us (as my cheeto dust covered fingers type this to you - just kidding, I don't eat cheetos). 

[petra_r]

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Richard W wrote:

I must lead a charmed life. I've never yet had a computer (or disk drive) die on me. And I've been using computers since before Windows was a twinkle in Bill Gates' eye. 

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I've come to the conclusion that I simply must not have laptops.

The combination of being naturally accident prone and the habit of always having a huge mug of coffee and/or cold drink and/or wineglass next to me means that laptops *WILL* die. They can only handle so much coffee/wine/orange juice.

If and when I eventually kill the keyboard of the iMac, it will be much cheaper to replace than a laptop.

[astepanov83]

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Petra R wrote:

I've come to the conclusion that I simply must not have laptops.

I on the contrary choose only laptops. I can live in more than one place during a year. A tower is not a solution for me: I don't want to carry it with me, I need to keep it always on, not possible to fix if it's hung, internet is not always good enough for remote access.

A year ago I bought a powerful and expensive laptop. Upgraded it up to 128gb RAM and 3TB SSD. Very happy with it. I already dropped it twice, but it's still alright. Only sometimes turns on on its own when the lid is closed.

If it dies, you will all know about it when you hear cries from the sky. It will be me. The laptop is not sold anymore here. An expensive and a rare model. When I bought it, I taught myself not to put mugs and anything liquid near to it. **bleep** may happen though.

My daughter put several Frozen stickers on it. Now it's the fastest and the most beautiful too.

[a_lipsey]

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Aleksandr S wrote:

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Petra R wrote:

I've come to the conclusion that I simply must not have laptops.

I on the contrary choose only laptops. I can live in more than one place during a year. A tower is not a solution for me: I don't want to carry it with me, I need to keep it always on, not possible to fix if it's hung, internet is not always good enough for remote access.

A year ago I bought a powerful and expensive laptop. Upgraded it up to 128gb RAM and 3TB SSD. Very happy with it. I already dropped it twice, but it's still alright. Only sometimes turns on on its own when the lid is closed.

If it dies, you will all know about it when you hear cries from the sky. It will be me. The laptop is not sold anymore here. An expensive and a rare model. When I bought it, I taught myself not to put mugs and anything liquid near to it. **bleep** may happen though.

My daughter put several Frozen stickers on it. Now it's the fastest and the most beautiful too.

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I'm curious make and model?

[astepanov83]

https://www.msi.com/Laptop/GT63-Titan-9SX/Specification

Mine is 9sg modification

[lysis10]

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Md E wrote:

Imagine you got some emergency tasks in schedule for some busy clients. Suddenly you see your only computer/laptop is dead, is not working!!!

You cannot go out because Virus spread out in your area very badly. Every store is closed and no online service available.

How do you handle this situation?

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I go work on my gaming PC or get out my laptop.

[unbeaten_sales]

You stay calm and allow the hard moment past.

Or you exchange your well-filled refrigerator for a pc from your neighbour.

[colettelewis]

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Mbotidem E wrote:

You stay calm and allow the hard moment past.

Or you exchange your well-filled refrigerator for a pc from your neighbour.

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+ 1000 

🙂

[luce-neidert]

I have an extremely old desktop computer I would hate to replace (I'm an extremely sentimental kind of person), but I can see that someday I will need to.

Last year, I've decided to buy a laptop. It's not as nice as my beloved old computer, but it saves me from worrying too much when my dear old computer acts up.

[lucioric]

In my country, Office Depot is considered essential, so it was open even during the complete quarantine time. During that time, Other stores, that had essential sections, had their electronics section closed, but nowadays, that the epidemiologic semaphore is in orange and not in red, you can in those stores buy in the electronics sections. Nonethelesss, I would prefer to choose the computer online preacefully at home, by the phone or in a lended computer, and only go to the store to ask for it.

[jokerette]

My desktop croaked about a month ago (mobo issue.) Had to use the emergency laptop until the new tower got here - worst comes to worst, I have a couple of old (working) desktops because I also have that it's gotta-be-new-and fast thing.

If you're for real (the OP) and the shipping from TN isn't too awful - that's on you! - I'd be happy to send you one of my old fellows.

[mwiggenhorn]

I have an inexpensive HP laptop that's about 4 years old.  It has a big monitor and I love it dearly.  Sadly, it's aging and I went online to look for an additional laptop.  The selection is pretty weak and expensive now, due to all the distance learning/ home schooling.  Sigh.  Maybe Santa will bring me one...

ETA - my current one is kinda heavy.  Since I travel by air and since I had shoulder surgery in March, I need to find something that is lightweight to shlep on and off planes and such.

[georgejonesiv]

I own 5 laptops and several desktops. At some point over the last 10 years, every one of these machines has been the one I've used for my clients on Upwork, even my lowly Dell Mini 10 netbook and my 2GHz P4 have served me well in a pinch. 

The one thing that I started doing that allowed me to get up and running extremely fast on a new machine, is I started doing all of my work in Virtual Box VMs. Generally speaking if something happens to one machine, I can copy the whole VM folder to a thumbdrive or external hard drive and drop it onto another machine and be up and running again very quickly. This has saved my butt on more occasions than I care to even think about. I do have a VM server, but it's in storage right now. With that I just need the VM client and I can just work from any of my machines at any time as long as I'm at home. 

Multiple machines is really the way to go though. 

[bruce_dodds]

Whatever the situation, if you can't do anything about it there is no point in fretting.  Easier said than done, that's true.

I would explain the situation to clients via the Upwork phone app. Say you will be back as soon as you can.

By your profile, it looks like you may live in Bangladesh.  If so, your options for computer purchase / delivery may be limited.  Judging by your hourly earnings, it might be a challenge to afford a backup computer.

Once you are squared away (you may be already), consider raising your rate.  You are top-rated.  But then, I don't know much about the going rate for those kinds of services.