BACK UP YOUR FILES

[Print Star 0]

I just lost everything today to a huge storm. The last 2 years worth of downloading, node editing, tracing, vectorizing, everything! Take some advice and back up your files. NOW!!! Go ahead RIGHT NOW!!! You will be sorry if you don't. I am phisically sick!! Starting over just seems too much!!!

[move]BACK UP YOUR FILES NOW!!!!![/move]

[bayshorecreations 30]

I know your pain! Happened to me once and now I always back everything up.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

exactly what happened? If the storm fried your motherboard, the files may be recoverable IF the hard drive wasn't damaged. It's fairly easy,too.

[tory 0]

Sorry, I know that sinking feeling. Last year I lost my hard drive and thought I lost everything. I was in a panic but fig I had nothing to lose so I took it into Best Buy, they were able to salvage ALL of my files. Worth a try

[CyberChuck 4]

I use a laptop, so even a sudden power outage doesn't affect my files (battery kicks in). And I always save my files to a removable usb hard drive (500 GB for $119 at Best Buy) that I connect when working - the rest of the time it is safely in my briefcase.

Charlie

[Brandon_Davis 1]

Print Star do you still have the failed hard drive??? I was a data recovery expert in my past life, I can recover your hard drive maybe..?!?

[nonabelle 5]

yea, i learned that lesson twice, back to back. man i know how u feel. i now have a back up drive. luckily on one of those disasters a friend was able to recover most of the files, but not on the second time around.

[Guest kenya]

I know the feeling also............... NOW I back up everything weekly onto a 300 gig external hard drive.

Which really helps also, when I go back & forth between my 2 computers. 

[#D-zine# 2]

I have ran an external for years now.  Everything important is on this thing!  Plus, going from pc to pc with all your files is a snap.  :)

[Guest round2racing]

Yeah, that's great and all, but I have a problem with externals.

I had TONS of files that I put on my external.

Then I dropped it.

It powers up, but the hard drive won't turn.

SOOOOOO......now I have lost all of those files.  I had put them there to save room on my laptop.

I dont' guess any of you would have any advice for me, would you?

I hate to lose those files....

[BannerJohn 1,324]

by powering up do you mean that the led comes on? Or do you hear anything?

[sarconastic 29]

I do a triple duty backup. I have a free program called Bacula that backs up daily, weekly and monthly to another computer in  my house. Then I also back up to an external 500gb HD. and as a major backup. Once a month I burn everything to several DVD-RW's to make a hard copy.

Most PC crashes can be recovered. Even if it won't boot, it is possible you may be able to put that drive on another PC that will boot as a slave and access the data. I have even gone so far as to take the cover off a drive that would not spin up, have it hooked into a PC as a slave. power up the PC and then spin the edge of the platen manually to get it going, then dump whatever data is on the drive fast if it stays up.

Safe is way better than sorry..

Kevin

[Guest round2racing]

There is power going through the little board.

The blue led flashed slowly, which means it is in Standby.

The hard driver never starts whirring......

:'( :'(

[Guest round2racing]

I was told by a "tech", that the hard drive is jammed and that it needs to be freed.

Apparently, when I dropped it (from 1.5 ft), it jammed the hard drive and it needs to be opened.

I can open it, I have the tools, but I am scared to death to do it.

[sarconastic 29]

main thing is do not touch the shiny flat disks in side the cover, that is where the data is written to. remove the small torx screws that hold the cover on and remove the cover. put on some type of rubber surgical glove and put you finger on the edge of the platen disk and try to move it back and forth gently. if this is free then you may have the head arm jammed. this is the arm that swings out over the disks kind of like an old record player. you can try to move it manually with your finger but don't press down towards the disk, you can scratch it. Sometimes you can free this stuff up and it will work again, but do NOT rely on it for more than the time you get it running. Have a way to save your data off of it immediately.

Kevin

[BannerJohn 1,324]

For really effective and fool-proof back-up, use an online back-up service. There are several..and they are reliable. You can evern set your computer to automatically back up certain files every night while you sleep.

Me, I have several computers that I use for back-up but really imporant stuff, I email to myself and let Google (gmail) store it for me. They have a  7.5gb limit but I have been using it for 3 years and am only at 21%.

Carbonite is my favorite and for $55 a year it will automatically back up your data (no limit).

http://www.carbonite.com/

[Guest round2racing]

I am going to try sarconastic's directions.

If I can get it to go ONCE, I will put everything back on my hard drive and then upload the crap to an online back up service, or burn them to DVD's.

I just want to salvage it.

There are pics of my mother (RIP) that I scanned.  I have the originals locked up, but I like looking at them and since I didn't want to keep handling the originals, I scanned them.

[tlzimmerman 11]

For really effective and fool-proof back-up, use an online back-up service. There are several..and they are reliable. You can evern set your computer to automatically back up certain files every night while you sleep.

Me, I have several computers that I use for back-up but really imporant stuff, I email to myself and let Google (gmail) store it for me. They have a  7.5gb limit but I have been using it for 3 years and am only at 21%.

Carbonite is my favorite and for $55 a year it will automatically back up your data (no limit).

http://www.carbonite.com/

This is what I run....for 5 bucks a month....worth every single penny and then some.  I love my carbonite  Years worth of pictures (over 140 gigs) and all my important files are securely backed up to them, and about twice a year I back up to DVD just in super super case their redundant datacenters get destroyed simultaneously from godzilla and a meteor.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

Mr Leo Laporte recommends carbonite and that's all I needed.

[tlzimmerman 11]

I work on computers and internet tech support for a living...just to restress what has already been said in the beginning of the thread....back ups of anything you don't want to lose are necessary.  If you only have it on one drive....its not a matter of IF you will lose it...but WHEN.....we get 5-10 people a week that are simply crushed they lost everything.....so be prepared. 

Online backup cannot be beat for ease of use, set the program and forget about it...you are protected!

[ms_sign 5]

Mr Leo Laporte recommends carbonite and that's all I needed.

Leo is a cool dude. I got to meet him once before I moved to Texas. Back when I worked in San Francisco.

[BannerJohn 1,324]

Mr Leo Laporte recommends carbonite and that's all I needed.

Leo is a cool dude. I got to meet him once before I moved to Texas. Back when I worked in San Francisco.

Lucky! I met Dolly Parton once..hardly the same though/

[sarconastic 29]

I'm an IT tech for a non-profit company, and I can't get behind the online backup services. We have to follow a lot of Regulations from a lot of different agencies, HUD, DIA, State agencies as well as federal, and they ALL religiously deny us the use of anything where the company transmits personal information across public internet tunnels. Even if we use Encryption they say no. There is just no absolute way to guarantee that those systems will not be hacked or your data intercepted. I can monitor my system and see if I have been compromised, or if someone is trying to compromise me.

I guess for pictures and things like that, I wouldn't worry too much, but i am backing up my taxes, paid bills, and tons of other personal information i do not want out there on a public server I have no control over. You can accomplish the same things using the steps I posted, and with a one time investment. no monthly fees. Most if not all external drives have a pretty decent backup solution piece of software that can set and forget. Do the DVD backup and put it in your Safety deposit box and your covered in case of catastrophic failure.

I realize everyone love of these services, mainly because of ease of use, but really do you want to risk it?

Kevin

[BannerJohn 1,324]

I'm an IT tech for a non-profit company, and I can't get behind the online backup services. We have to follow a lot of Regulations from a lot of different agencies, HUD, DIA, State agencies as well as federal, and they ALL religiously deny us the use of anything where the company transmits personal information across public internet tunnels. Even if we use Encryption they say no. There is just no absolute way to guarantee that those systems will not be hacked or your data intercepted. I can monitor my system and see if I have been compromised, or if someone is trying to compromise me.

I guess for pictures and things like that, I wouldn't worry too much, but i am backing up my taxes, paid bills, and tons of other personal information i do not want out there on a public server I have no control over. You can accomplish the same things using the steps I posted, and with a one time investment. no monthly fees. Most if not all external drives have a pretty decent backup solution piece of software that can set and forget. Do the DVD backup and put it in your Safety deposit box and your covered in case of catastrophic failure.

I realize everyone love of these services, mainly because of ease of use, but really do you want to risk it?

Kevin

you make some good points..but following that line of logic...I couldn't use online banking, online bill paying, ebay,paypal.,Amazon...or for that matter anything that requires me to imput any personal info. The government may be paranoid,but not me.  Hmm..seems to me I've read about Government agencies being hacked as well,so I guess nobody is really safe.

[sarconastic 29]

Your right John, but in the event of Money, transfers, from your bank and from bills that are paid online there a very strict set of regulation in place that make sure they are using specific encryption methods and that they are monitored and tracked. There are not any regulation in place that require these online backup services to do anything but back up your files. When anything is breached or close to breached they are required to install updates that comp for this.

Your correct in that no computer is beyond being hacked into. The majority of guys like me that work on systems for a living could probably get into 80% of the computers in the country if they had a mind too. (that is changing more and more with better firewalls on home systems BTW)But the remaining 20% are in that category of "don't touch those, cause they take you away" computers. The guys hacking those are either kids, with a mission get a rep, or Thieves or terrorist types in others countries either trying to shut the system down or steal a butt load of money. and of course the simple PO'd ex employee wanting revenge.(which makes up a LOT of the hacked systems.)

Kevin