How I Accidentally Lost 30 Great Photos Forever

Posted on February 12th, 2009. Written by Rico.

• Let the computer recover from your mistakes
• Trust but verify

So what does this have to do with photos and deleting them?

Yesterday’s coverage of HP’s wireless printer launch event could’ve been more bongga. That is if I included the 20 or so pics I took of the event, featuring models in skintight white outfits, dancers wearing glow-in-the-dark skeleton uniforms, proof of HP’s healthy marketing budget, and of course, pics of the HP Photosmart Premium Fax All-in-One in action.

And all of that was lost, thanks to some carelessness on my part.

After transferring the photos to my computer from my camera (through an SD card reader), I uploaded them onto this website, preparing them for publication. Confident that everything was ready, I deleted my copies on the computer and on the SD card. Not just move them to the recycle bin mind you, but delete them by holding down Shift while pressing Delete. Imagine my horror then when I found that the pictures did not successfully upload after all!

What I Did Wrong

I did not use my computer’s ability to recover from mistakes. Instead of just pressing Delete, I hastily did the Shift-Delete thing, which as mentioned before, really deletes the selected files.

This has something to do with my OC nature. When I want to get rid of a file, I unconsciously want to destroy it. It’s a bad habit; I should learn to let the computer protect me from stupid mistakes, and use the damn recycling bin.

I assumed that everything was working properly. Ok, I’m not saying gadgets are disasters waiting to happen. But even in when not in front of a computer, productive people make sure to trust but verify. When using the computer, this means being comfortable with the whatever system: trust that it will let you do what you want to do. At the same time, always verify that the results are to your satisfaction.

In my case, I should’ve made doubly-sure that my photos were really ready for publishing, before even thinking of deleting my photos. I arrogantly assumed, thanks to a quick glance, that everything was in order. My tremendous mistake!

Hopefully, this little story will help you in the future. Again, to recap: Take full advantage of a computer’s ability to recover from your mistakes, and trust but verify.

(stylized 3D recycle bin icon from gh33da.com)