Unnatural disasters

Never mind late planes and bad hotels -- the road warrior's real nightmare is an epic tech meltdown. Here's a survival guide.

Problem

Lost files or hard-drive meltdown

Solutions

1. Rescuecom ($88 to $118 an hour)

Got a virus or a busted hard drive? First, call the hotel front desk. Many major hotels will "lend" you a member of their IT staff, if they can spare one. Alternatively, Rescuecom can send a tech agent to wherever you might be, often within an hour. Hourly fees range from $88 to $118.

2. PlumChoice ($90 an hour or $25 a month)

If your computer can still connect to the Internet, try PlumChoice. It has 180 service technicians who charge $90 an hour to fix the problem remotely while you watch the screen. Travelers can also purchase a monthly subscription for unlimited PlumChoice remote help.

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.