Issue 35.10
I am sure some people get annoyed with me always telling you to have a backup of anything important. How critical this is was brought home again to me this week when one of my best clients called and said their older files which they had archived on an external hard drive had been lost. Things would have been fine except for the fact that they had erased those files from their main hard drive so the only copies were the ones on the drive that crashed. Luckily, I was able to retrieve some of the files from the crashed drive. Unluckily, I have been unable to retrieve some of their important documents and pictures – files that were both important and valuable.
One way to protect your data is online backup. Many companies from Dell to Qwest and others offer online backup services. Most of them have a limit of anywhere from 2 to 10 gigabytes which is fine for your business documents. However, if you have a number of photos, music files or especially video files, this can be extremely limiting. For example, 10 gigabytes will only hold 3 full length movies.
Two of the best online backup companies are Mozy and Carbonite. Both run about $5 per month and both back up your files quietly while you are using your computer as usual. They can slow your system down somewhat while they are running, but mostly do their work while your computer is otherwise idle. On the newer faster machines, you won’t even notice they are there unless you need them.
In both cases, when you set the program up, it will automatically catalog the files in your Documents file and your Pictures file as well as a few other locations. These files are automatically backed up. If you have things that you want backed up in other locations, you will want to add them to the catalog if necessary. This is also true of files such as programs, archives (compressed files) and installation files. Those files are not usually backed up. The thinking is that you would have the disks to re-install if necessary.
The two services are very similar and both seem very reliable. There are a couple of differences that I am aware of. Carbonite has a new feature with which you can access your backup from your iPhone, iPod touch or Blackberry device. You can even download specific files to view them with a free app.
Mozy has a feature that I personally like even more. It will backup some types of external hard drives in addition to the internal main hard drive(s). This is a feature that would have helped my client quite a bit.
In any case, devise your backup strategy with these things in mind and be sure your files exist in at least two places (I like three). At least one of them should be off-site in case of fire, lightning, flood, etc. An online backup system fills that requirement. You could also do a weekly backup on an external hard drive that you keep off site (like in a safety deposit box). And, like I always say – always have a backup of anything important.
Shaun McCausland has been in the computer industry for 29 years (locally with Musicomp & Bits ‘N’ Bytes) and currently does in-home and on-site computer consultation, service, training and repair. If you have questions, you can reach him at 668-7118.