Where are your boot discs?
Computer boot discs. Usually the question is, “where did I put them when I created them years ago?” and since then you have relocated both your home and office. When you need your boot discs you need them now.
Get yourself a small CD holder (10-12 CD’s will be ample) and put in there the boot and recovery discs for your machine and any software that you consider essential. What is essential will vary depending on what software you use most. It could be the Microsoft Office suite or it could be Open Office with Mozilla Thunderbird and Lightning. If you can make a second copy of these discs and put them in a safe place. If you use a portable then carry this small number of discs with you when you travel. You should then be able to fix most problems on the run. In the case of Microsoft Office you may find that it is essential to have the disc with you to install some extra part of the package that is not installed as default.
Armed with these discs you should be able to overcome a failure of the machine to boot up. Hopefully you can reboot the computer and back up any changed files. If you are away from home then it is far better to be able to sort out a problem temporarily and then get a permanent fix when you get home afterwards than have to take time and effort to get a fix in a strange place.
Also these boot discs can help you restart your computer when it has been damaged by a malicious program. Make sure that the boot discs are not R/W discs so they cannot be written to once they are complete. Be careful if you think that your computer has been compromised by a virus or malicious program, and seek the advice of your anti-virus supplier.
