Don't Go! P-L-E-A-S-E

My laptop is trying to die...I think.  The wireless has been acting up, and recently, I found that my DVD drive had bit the dust.  Ugh!

I wish I could say that I always back up my writing each time I sit down to work...but I don't.  In fact, before I learned the laptop was experiencing difficulties, my back-up habits were, at best, extremely sporadic.  I recently went online to a fellow writer's site and it appears that she recently experienced what we all secretly fear...a crash.  So several days ago, I sorted my files into those that were vital and those that are expendable, and I 've been making almost making a habit of backing up those important files.

The problem isn't with the writing files, which are fairly easy to copy over onto a thumbnail.  The problem is with my accounting files (which I do in my other-non-writing-life), Quickbooks backups, etc.  Those babies take forever to copy and download...at least on my system.  Believe me, the last thing I need is to lose a client's files!

But I'm rambling (again).  My real issue is a laptop that may be on its way out.  It's only a couple of years old.  How long are these things supposed to last, anyway?  Surely one should be able to stretch three or (gasp) four years out of a piece of equipment.  That's the real problem though isn't it?  Nothing seems to be made to last anymore.

Well, at least I know what to ask Santa for.  And while I'm at it, maybe an external hard drive, too...for backing up the system.