The Universe is having a laugh. I try to laugh along but I need all energy I can summon to stay calm...
This post is meant as much for you, as it is for me ( to vent, order my thoughts and keep my calm ).
My nearly 4 year old laptop is - and has been - my entryway into / access to all my crypto ( and a big part of my life ) since I started using it.
In fact, I bought it when I got into crypto ( May 2017 ) and I started blogging for crypto a month later. This has been pretty much my life ( aside from moving countries in 2018 ) since then.
FYI: crypto is my income, my work ( as well as play ) and - being more of an introvert than an extrovert - this space forms a huge part of my ( social ) life. I wake up to it and go to bed with it.
Although I‘m working on my first ( to be released ) book - more on that in recent posts- and hope to make money with my writing outside of crypto too in the near future , right now ( and since 2017 ), all my money comes from active and passive crypto income streams.
You Can Not Pass!
As soon as I felt my portfolio was about to grow to a substantial amount, last year, I got more serious around my laptop ( or I should say password ) security.
I installed a password manager. Since then, in order to access most of my passwords ( for crypto ), I need to log into the password manager first. Yes, I‘ve got that main password backed up offline and stored in my brain‘s memory.
I also have a backup of most of my crypto keys, either offline or in a less saver space ( screenshots in the photo library on my phone - don‘t try that at home! )
Note to self: make another offline backup off these and delete those pics.
Thanks to the above, I was able to log into Hive though and continue posting from my phone after my laptop stopped charging ( more on that in a bit... )
Wallet Access...
Accessing my crypto wallets is a little more complicated though, without my laptop. I‘m on Coinbase, Exodus, Ionomy, Hive / Leo and Binance and I have some funds on my Ledger Hardware wallet.
I can still access all these wallets ( although I need a laptop for my Ledger ) but one important thing has gotten a little more complicated: Binance smart chain farming.
Farming Life
I got into the latter about a month ago and it was about to change my life. I have been setting up a serious ( almost ) passive income stream, thanks to Leofinance and its recent CUB token but, a week and a half ago, my laptop‘s battery emtpied out and no matter what I tried, it didn’t start charging.
I wrote about this recently in raspberry pi - an in(cr)edible little robot
I finally received a new charger yesterday and although it charges, another unforeseen issue popped up. All of a sudden, my laptop can’t find or access my internal harddisk any longer and, no matter what I tried, I won’t get into Windows.
You‘re funny Universe!
I just realize that, lately, I have been telling people that I‘m tired of Windows and now it prevents me from accessing this OS, the only one I‘ve ever used at home ( since the early 90s ), at all.
Hahaha!
I could make this a very long post but I‘m typing this on my phone and I think I made my point.
A friend - the same one who discovered that I needed a new charger - is gonna take a more thorough look at my laptop. I still hope it’s just a connection issue. Perhaps a little cable inside got unstuck.
Worst case scenario, I need a new harddisk. This would mean that I might lose access to some crypto funds but, I‘m pretty sure, that I can access most, on another laptop or once I‘ve got a new harddisk.
Next time I‘ll make sure I‘ve got a way to reboot Windows with a backup drive ( my laptop doesn’t have a CD/DVD drive ).
I Have Leveled Up
One thing I‘m feeling pretty good about though is that this whole situation hardly freaks me out these days. It‘s similar to, for instance, possible doom scenarios concerning my house ( that‘s for sale since November ).
I have asked myself several times:
How would I feel if I‘d lose all my things due to a fire?
( fyi: fires aren’t uncommon in this area of Portugal. The last, huge one, took place in October 2017 ) and I came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be devastated. It would be tough to lose my laptop though.
Anyhow, I want to end it here, on a positive note. I feel that there’s a serious chance that my friend can fix the issue. I will make sure to take better security measures from now on.
If not, it’s really not the end of the world and I‘ll still get myself a Raspberry Pi.
I didn’t even mention the two 10 year old, hardly functioning external harddisks that I have and tried to use - in vain - to boot from. I believe I have a harddisk backup on one of those, as well as a backup op my
Password manager‘s files on a USB-stick but I‘m not 100% sure.
Things will work out eventually, one way or another:<)
So what about you? Do you backup? How well is your crypto protected? How would you feel if you lost it all?
I‘m looking forward to reading your story in the comments...
I have two backup drives (containing an entire home backup and separate project and photos backup even though they're also contained in the home backup) that take turns spending some downtime at my aunty's place and a NUC which contains photos and project (yes there's a few redundancies, have learned from having lost a lot of things XD).
Hive is pretty much the only crypto I have unless those second layer tokens which I'm barely aware of count x_x
Good luck with the laptop and the Pi and stuff :D
Thank you :<)
I guessed you were the kind of person to take backing up stuff seriously.
In all honesty, I don't feel I'm missing much of what I might have lost ( not sure what I've got left on my ancient ext harddisks and whether they still work ) but those crypto keys sure made me sweat a little. Just posted an update/ sequel haha
Only recently (last few years). And not seriously enough, if I was really serious I'd have at leaast daily backups to some external server somewhere. Which did cross my mind but it would have to be a vpn because I'm paranoid and I don't have the money for that XD
Although I think all the time that l have my management covered well as that it should work when having a fire or something..that is the tricky thingy about crypto. It could all go to shit and I am kot sure.
Hopefully it will function good enough to get it back all fast and grt yourself a decent laptop dude!
Thank you Karin. My phone is getting prehistoric too ( from March 2017 ) so it's suffering from me overusing it at the moment.
Sometimes I‘m nostalgic to the analog times, without all these devices that are almost like an extra limb nowadays ;<)
I'm sorry to hear you still haven't been able to resolve your laptop issues. I keep my fingers crossed 🤞
I can do more myself to protect my crypto, it's on my do-to-list but not completely ticked yet. Should get to it asap.
Also, I have been considering farming myself but so far I haven't really researched it enough. Doing a lot of taxation research atm...
Thank you. Just posted an update ;<)
Feel free to DM me for any farming questions.
argh, it seems your laptop really gives you a hard time :(
These are the moments when you realize if you really have a working backup solution. Fingers crossed your friend can fix it, or at least help you get a last copy of your data . How are your plans with the raspberry going, will you give it a try?
I appreciate your concern. Just wrote a follow up that answers your question. I am starting to realize more and more how we are / I am relying on technology these days.
Hope you get access again sooooooon, to everything your heart desires.
I told you when I lost 1k to enjin wallet....currently worth 3k+ i think. lol! a gift to the godz
R.I.P. harddisk.
It seems like I have most stuff backed up somewhere. I can handle this!
I know drugs are decriminalized in Portugal, but does that mean someone could legally grow cannabis in this area?