Sometimes it happens slowly, and sometimes it hits us before we know what's happening. Either way, the end never comes easily - at least for mere non-tech-head mortals. One day we boot up our computer and we hear a "weeee, weee, weeee" sound. No, that noise is not normal. That's the sound of our hard drive screaming in pain. If your computer whines like a blender that won't blend because it's too full, then the end is very, very near. "Imminent" and "danger" are the two words that come to mind.

If you're lucky, the computer may boot and you may have just enough time to rescue email addresses, favorite files, and other paraphernalia you've collected over the past one to three years. I say one to three years, because that's about as long as a normal hard drive lasts. Of course, you may just boot up about once a week. In that case, your hard drive may last a decade. You may still want to read what will happen to you before 2013, and how to lessen the grief process that accompanies the death of our hard drives. This includes how to handle the panic that may occur when you suddenly realize you can't access your online portfolio from home.

This is the voice of experience speaking. Trust me. I've lost at least a major portion of my life twice, and I'm about to go through another overhaul. As a result of these adventures, I know to back up my work to disks other than my hard drive. However, when kids and deadlines are beating on your door, the back sits patiently and seems to say, "Don't worry - I'll be here when you get back." The back up is like that person you should have married after high school - you know - the one that lacked spark and pizzazz, but who would outrun ferocious tigers to save you from disappearing down that Amazonian waterfall?

Besides becoming best friends with my back up process (although I still wouldn't marry it), I've learned that hard copies are good, too. No sense in backing something up only to find that - three to five years later - no software in the world will open that file. Of course, if you're really obsessed with your work, take your most important papers to a safe-deposit box.

After I'm assured that all important information is saved daily, and that extra-important information has been printed and filed, then the hard drive can do whatever it wants, right? Not. I've learned just how much I depend on my computer, especially my online access. I love email, because I don't have to talk. Conversations can be ended or initiated at any time, without fear of disturbing the other person (of course, this depends on the email content). Plus, online shopping, searching, and entertainment are all right there at the tips of my fingers. Once this goes, I go through a period of re-adjustment that would frighten the hardiest psychologist.

Of course, my worst fear is loss of access to my online portfolio and all that goes with this activity. Remember those email alerts I wrote about last week? Gone. What about the ease of purchasing or selling equities online? Gone. How about the capabilities of researching that company web site? Gone. However, in spite of the loss of these conveniences, all is not lost. These suggestions might ease your fears if you're considering maintenance of an online portfolio, and it might help you experienced pros remember what you need to do in case you have a hard crash:

1. No matter what you might think during this time of unusual stress, your portfolio will not get lost. Your equity information and your securities are safely stored far, far away from your hard drive. No worries.
   
   
2. Of course, Internet access always seems to stall or break down at the precise time we want to purchase or sell equities. It helps to remember that we're not daytraders. We are long-term buy and holders. However, there are times when it would be beneficial for our piece of mind and for our long-term goals to purchase or sell a stock immediately, if not sooner. What to do? There are several options available from BUYandHOLD, and you can find this information on their "contact us" page. Here, you will find a handy customer service number (toll-free), and two separate addresses to handle correspondence. You might want to print this page and keep it in a safe place.
   
   
3. Next, go to the BUYandHOLD help desk and peruse your options. Do you see anything here you might need if you lose access to the Internet? Find it and print it out. Here, you can also find how to fund your account with direct deposit. This little tool helps ease your mind about getting your payment in on time, whether you have Internet access or not. You can also find numbers to halt regular "window" or real time trades. It won't hurt to print out these pages, also. The more you know, the less stress you'll feel during a hard drive dive.

For those of you who feel smug about owning two or more computers, a warning: you could lose all your computers at the same time because of viruses or other catastrophes. Also, be aware that BUYandHOLD can be accessed from any computer, but we may not be able to conduct transactions from, say, a library or school location to our online account. But, once we have all this information stored, backed up, and printed out, we can rest easy. After all, we're survivors.

Until Next Week,
Linda Goin