Back Up, Back Up, BACK UP!

[+Dave]

 

Only you can prevent data loss.

 

I have backed up my stuff today. Have you? I still have my shovel!

[+EricJ]

I take it you want us to back up our stuff right?

[+Dave]

Whatever gives you that idea?

[+EricJ]

Dunno man, just had a inkling, not sure why...

[eraser_tr]

My Windows XP drive died Saturday. Windows 7 and my other drives are just fine, but I lost everything I've done in photoshop and 3dsmax to this crash.

 

And I've already been smashed in the face by a shovel back when we had 15 feet of snow...

[Lexx_Luthor]

The List

 

 

76.IAP-Blackbird

Deleted game

No backup

 

 

Bongodriver

Hard drive crash

No Backup

 

 

eraser_tr

Hard drive crash

No backup

 

 

Okay who's next?

 

 

All this in one week.

Dave, you gotta do something.

[+Dave]

I'm trying Lexx. What is that saying, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink.

[Lexx_Luthor]

Dave, how do you back up your stuff? Maybe the water smells sour to them, too much work right now, like "backup is nice," but someday, just not today.

 

UKPilot was right in the other thread -- doing anything is better than nothing.

 

eraser, you still have Windows-7. Do you have a spare flash drive you can plug in your computer right now, before you lose your Windows-7 drive?

 

Its a start. Look I'm weird. I've always wheeled and dealed at screwdriver shops and computer shows and I get my backup hardware for dimes on the dollar, and sometimes for free, in original box or shrinkwrap, but unmarketable because they are years old. I've got so many backups of different styles, its gotta be overkill. But then, I am Compiler of The List.

 

Most would have to pay more for similar backup security (UKPilot was right here also). I suppose most here don't open their boxes. If so, the USB flash drive may be the "easiest" way to get them into a baby's first step backup habit. I use DVDs some, but they are distatsteful (to me), so the flash drives could be a good way to start people out, and might be more "fun" -- less hassle -- than DVD. At least you can get flash drives in much larger capacity than DVDs, but they start getting expensive, and they may not be reliable for very long term storage. But baby steps comes before a Marathon.

 

OCZ makes a one-of-a-kind unique USB flash drive called Rally2 in various capacities. It has a huge insanely bright orange LED light that stays ON all the time, and only flickers during activity. It illuminates a darkened room with eerie orange glow. It gives good visual feedback to using the otherwise silent drive, and gives feedback to NOT using it -- the light goes on when plugged in, and stays on until used when it flickers like a strobe. As far as I know, this one model is unique in its LED light. I've got a ton of them. A "fun" LED lighted flash drive might provide the honey sweet to get people started.

 

Is this Correct Thinking?

[jomni]

I'm no modder but the mods that I use are all backed up in an external HDD (at least).

I did this primarily because when you install a new patch, there's a lot of ini editing done to "re-activate" the mods.

The back up helps if I forget to do the proper sequence of "renaming the mod folder, running the game, and renaming the mod folder back to original."

 

But again, even these external HDD's will die. Sometimes even before the main HDD of your PC. But at least I'm redundant for now.

 

 

[+Dave]

For immediate back ups I use a 500GB external go drive. That backs up my laptop. For my desktop I use 2 external drives and do a double back up. I have alot of files and it takes time but I just drag and drop and walk away. Then after that I will burn all to several dual layer DVD-R's. Make for a lot of disks but my stuff is safe.

[eraser_tr]

My windows 7 drive is brand new. My XP drive was 9 years old and wasn't terribly surprised about it. Not a huge deal, as that drive was mostly junk I never did anything with, I stopped putting stuff on there a while back when I first got the feeling it was on its way out.

[Lexx_Luthor]

So eraser you don't have a flash drive laying around. How bout some DVD disks? A brand new hard drive has not yet decided to be a bad sample or one that will last 9 years.

 

 

And don't lose the DVD disk. Another one just joined The List, but not tragically.

 

 

GMagos

Lost one backup DVD

No further backup

Rescued by Wrench

 

 

eraser_tr

Hard drive crash

No backup

 

 

Bongodriver

Hard drive crash

No Backup

 

 

76.IAP-Blackbird

Deleted game

No backup

 

 

Okay who's next?

[jomni]

I thought Combatace got hit as well.

Home screen is blank.

Edited March 24, 2010 by jomni

[xclusiv8]

I thought Combatace got hit as well.

Home screen is blank.

 

Yeah i noticed that aswell. I thought maybe it was my browser or something but since it happend to you aswell it must be something on the server.

[+Dave]

Erik is doing site maint. He announced it at the top of every forum.

[eraser_tr]

Now nothing is booting. It's looking like the motherboard is bad, so my data is probably just fine even on the XP drive, just the replacement is 5x more expensive

[+Dave]

How are all you doing on getting stuff backed up? Have you all backed up today? Only you can prevent data loss.

[ezlead]

Did it all 2 weeks ago.

I just RAR it up and burn it to CD's.

I got about 10 CD's full.

Whatever I don't have is what is here from last 2 weeks.

[Lexx_Luthor]

 

Only you can prevent data loss.

 

Add that to the Smokey pic.

[MaverickMike]

Just backed up my computer now. Thers around 2Gig of important documents and work etc that I need to keep. The backup itself was over 50GB however.

 

Yeah you guessed it, the rest was TW stuff

 

Mike

[DaniloE31]

Wouldn't it be nice to mention here the brand and the model of the failed HDs???

Data loss after a 9 year duty is fine, but noone wants to buy an HD who dies even before its first birthday.

[UnknownPilot]

Wouldn't it be nice to mention here the brand and the model of the failed HDs???

Data loss after a 9 year duty is fine, but noone wants to buy an HD who dies even before its first birthday.

 

 

Consumer level drives are a commodity. As a Tech, and personally (even as a net admin when dealing with cheap (ie, entry level, aka consumer level) desktops), I have seen roughly equal life/reliability from all the major names - IBM, Maxtor, WD, Quantum, and Seagate. I've also known people in the industry that have jumped from type to type seeking more reliability and finding no real improvement.

[Canadair]

It is not just hard drive crash. My laptop was stolen with the grand total of about 70 gig of multiple installs,

Thank god I had made a back about 4 months before the theft. Even with the help of friends( THANKS spillone104) it took me about a month to recover everything and get back to a status quo ante install.

Don't just back up

Back up often

[Lexx_Luthor]

It is not just hard drive crash. My laptop was stolen with the grand total of about 70 gig of multiple installs,

Hard drive loss.

 

Its all about the hard drive.

 

Which reminds us to make multiple independent backups and store them in more than one place. Theft or Fire can cause hard drive loss, including backups.

 

If you live near a Georgia Swamp where that B-47 and F86 collided (both pilots from Mississippie ), keep your backups well out of state -- if you Believe, as there is some debate over the B-47 being armed. Might want to keep backups of yourself out of state, at least after they turn 16 - 18.

[+Dave]

Bump