... Before you all get worried, I'm talking about computer crash, not accident crash. 

Last week we were innocently playing computer games (a kiddie one, Dora the explorer I think, downloaded from HP games)  and BAM frozen, tried the miriad of ways to get it to unfreeze, and finally had to turn the laptop off completely.  Turned it back on and it wouldn't reboot, just stayed on the black 'compaq' page and then turned itself of and back on again over and over.  Went into F10 menu and tried to find the start in safe mode thingy but nothing there. tried to put it back to default for the start up, nothing.  Tried to use the diagnostics whatumacall it but it couldn't find the tools to scan the computer.  Last resort rang my brother, he told me to try starting it without the battery in, and no still nothing.  Rang HP about it , they picked it up Monday, rang to say it had to have a complete system restore, (as if I didn't by now know that was coming!!) And got it back yesterday, I think they may have replaced the Hard drive altogether. 

Any hoo, as I speak, or write as the case may be, I am redoing the whole years planning, which I stooopidly didn't back up to the external harddrive.  I'm reinstalling everything, trying to remember passwords, which, I also stoooopidly didn't write down in hard copy and just saved in code on the computer. 

Now this may seem silly, but I think it was a blessing in disguise, I mean I have to rewrite everything (luckily I did previously save some bits to the external hard drive from last year, so I'm not starting from now where), but it means I have to simplify things, our internet favourites was wiped, but really who needs to save EVERY interesting blog you come across?? Or every maths game site, or online dictionary site, in my homeschool favourites I was up in the hundreds, with the sites I'd saved, and really didn't need.  I had things saved to the computer that I 'might' need in the future, and at the moment I really can't remember anything I really needed now that I had on there, the only things I really will miss is the Living books for the ears by the Erkstines, http://www.homeschoolradioshows.com/ but even they have archives that, I think, you can access most previous downloads. 

So really did I need all that clutter?  And yes thats what it was clutter.  Cyberclutter I call it, doesn''t take up as much physical space, but virtual space, umm, several wardrobes full!!

Now if my blogs were suddenly wiped of the face of the earth, well, that would be another story...

...Night.