Community weekly poll: How often do you back up files that you consider important?
- 10/12/06 3:26 PM
Second Copy is Great
by Fredmoore - 2/28/07 7:41 AM In reply to: Second Copy for frequent backups by MartySBMarty forgot to mention that Second Copy can be set to backup files as soon as they change and to keep several back versions of them. This avoids the nagging "file is in use" message. I leave my PC on & schedule a backup of all my data files every night to a second hard drive.
Daily backups software
by newfedra - 3/8/07 3:31 PM In reply to: Second Copy for frequent backups by MartySBI have found this amazing program called 'Daily backups' that helps me with the backups. The program is here for free: http://www.soft.tahionic.com
What it does? You set some folders and it will copy those folders on a different drive/partition every time the computer starts.
Nothing fancy, but very handy and useful.
Frequency of backups?
by MartySB - 2/4/09 9:11 AM In reply to: Second Copy for frequent backups by MartySBI use different frequency (of backups) for different directories / files. I backup my Outlook.pst files once each morning. I backup my main work file folders every two hours throughout the day. Some other backups are created at 4pm when I start to get ready for my shutdown. I have a couple of directories that are backed up only when I manually start the process with SecondCopy.
The "every couple of hours" backup is about right for me. Every month or so, I thank myself for having backed up throughout the day, as I delete some excel rows that I wish I had back... I just jump over to my flash drive and copy the backed up file back to my laptop and voila! I'm back in business!
Sequentially
by ahg - 10/13/06 9:00 AM In reply to: How often do you back up files that you consider important? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Critical files are backed up instantly to a second HD.
All documents files are backed up weekly (after clean-up) and my entire C drive is Ghosted monthly to a third HD
The latter is perhaps an overkill with XP restore points, but if "C" goes, so does the restore capability. Better safe than sorry 
Never, never, never! trust a hard drive.
by vidyman - 10/13/06 9:01 AM In reply to: How often do you back up files that you consider important? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have discovered the best way to back up, is to not trust the hard drive at all. Maybe I’m too old school but I consider the hard drive a work space not a storage area. So when I’m finished with a project I burn it to disk. The music files in my hard drive are only there to feed my iPod. Any thing I buy from the music store goes straight to a AIFF disk. The photos only stay in the computer long enough to be cropped, fixed and printed and then straight to a DVD Rom. Now here is where I’m really anal, video projects not only get burned to a DVD they also go back to tape. Maybe this is just a habit I pick up when a Gig was considered a big hard drive, but I’ve never lost anything.
Modern hard drives are much more sturdy and reliable
by powersville21 - 10/13/06 9:18 AM In reply to: Never, never, never! trust a hard drive. by vidymanHard drive reliability has improved immensely in this decade. Many manufacturers now have standard 3-year warranties. As I noted above, my hard drives have been running for close to 4 years now without any problems. I still prepare for the possibility of a hard drive failure, however, by using multiple drives.
Adequate ventilation using a larger computer case (if you build your own computer) and a fan in front of the hard drives that blows cool air over them are almost requirements to ensure a long life for hard drives. Once that's done, the drives should last a long time. Most computer parts fail because of overheating/poor ventilation problems.
A small program called HDD Health (available as a free download) monitors the temperature, seek time performance, seek error rate and about a dozen other items related to your hard drives. It detects variances from the average readings, thereby alerting you to possible imminent hard drive failure. Most hard drives don't suddenly fail one day. They start exhibiting problems days or weeks in advance. HDD Health can increase that warning time and let you know if it's time to make a full backup or replace the drive altogether. The program takes advantage of the S.M.A.R.T. features that have been built into most drives manufactured over the last 4 or 5 years.
Even if you don't use hard drives as backups, I'd recommend that everyone use this nifty little utility to monitor the health of their hard drives. It doesn't cost anything.
Spyware and pests have improved too.
by R. Proffitt - 10/13/06 9:25 AM
In reply to: Modern hard drives are much more sturdy and reliable by powersville21
Given most owners have the occasinal slip and press the delete key (oops) then return key not to mention the all time best spywares we've ever seem, to trust your files to only be on a hard disk is...
Pick a fun word.
Bob
Everyone should be using antivirus/security suites anyway
by powersville21 - 10/13/06 9:59 AM In reply to: Spyware and pests have improved too. by R. Proffitt
Every user should have a modern, updated antivirus/antispyware security suite, and that includes Mac users too.
As I said earlier, I would never rely on just a single hard drive. Even if someone has old versions of documents on a DVD-R, how does that help them if they accidentally hit the delete key and lose all the updates made since their last backup? The solution I mentioned above (Almost immediate backups) means that I will never lose more than a few minutes of new updates. And I noted that except in the case of fire or flood, it's highly unlikely for two modern hard drives to fail simultaneously. I also posted about HDD Health, a free utility that keeps me informed on minute changes in drive performance that can indicate imminent hard drive failure. I'm not foolish enough to think that one single hard drive is sufficient to safeguard my documents.
And recordable DVDs and CDs are not really effective long-term storage options. At least not from what I've read. One can't record them, file them away and expect them to be readable years down the road. Maybe in an ideal world people would use both an external hard drive and recordable DVDs.
There are a few disincentives for many people to use recordable DVDs. First is their relatively small size. Many people now have tens or even hundreds of gigabytes of files because of photos, MP3's and digital video. Even a dual-layer DVD won't fit all that data onto a single disk. Many people are not going to be patient enough to sort through their files and separate them into different folders to be recorded onto different disks.
A second problem is the limited life of recordable DVDs. They don't last nearly as long as pre-recorded DVDs because they use ink to record the data. If someone has their data stored on 10 separate DVDs, they will have to re-record that data onto 10 separate DVDs in just a couple years (preferably sooner). That takes some organizational work.
A third problem is the tediousness of creating a full set of backup DVDs. Unless one happens to be one of the very rare individuals with a recordable Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive, one will have to use multiple DVDs to backup data, at least if you have a lot of video and audio files and most of us do these days. The pain-in-the-*** factor turns off many people from making regular backups. It's not smart to hold off on making backups but it's a sad reality with many (most?) computer users.
Internal and/or external hard drives are relatively easy to use, even without dedicated backup software. Is it the perfect solution? Probably not. But I find it to be reliable and very convenient. Recordable DVDs are not such a great solution either and most home users aren't going to be buying tape drives. I agree that everyone should be backing up their data. It's also good to keep in mind what people will actually do. And many of them won't be making yearly sets of DVDs for all their movies, photos and music.
I already explained that I back everything up on a second internal hard drive AND I plan to make occasional full backups on another external hard drive. I used to make backups on CDs but the tediousness of the process made me give that up very quickly. Even with DVDs, I would have to use several disks to store everything and then I would need to make regular backups of those backups because those disks won't last forever.
Modern day pests seem to trump modern day protections.
by R. Proffitt - 10/13/06 10:05 AM
In reply to: Everyone should be using antivirus/security suites anyway by powersville21
I'll sum it up in one phrase.
"Zero day exploit."
While you claim CD/DVD is not good in some way, it beats the alternative of total loss.
Bob
I don't see the difference
by powersville21 - 10/13/06 12:43 PM In reply to: Modern day pests seem to trump modern day protections. by R. Proffitt
Well, that may be true and all, but I don't see how the decision to use CDs/DVDs or an external hard drive makes a difference in that case. I doubt most people that use DVDs for backups do so on a daily basis. If a zero-day exploit hits, they would lose all their current data just as easily as someone who uses an external hard drive. It's a simple matter to disconnect the external hard drive and re-connect it only when making backups. The disconnected hard drive is perfectly safe against any temporary attacks. If the internal hard drive goes down, that drive can be repaired and reformatted. Then the data from the external drive can be transferred back over.
In addition to software protection, all broadband users should be using a router/NAT firewall. Yes, it's not the same as using those $500+ professional firewalls, but even the cheap $40 models effectively hide one's computer from the prying eyes of Internet hackers.
To be clear, I am not arguing AGAINST the need to backup data. I am only pointing out the real-life problems of recordable DVDs/CDs and the tediousness that leads many to fall behind on any backup plans.
I also wonder how many people bother to test their backup DVDs. I know from personal experience that a significant percentage of recordable disks are basically junk. Since the prices are so low, many people won't complain. If someone saves a year of work on a novel or their trip of a lifetime photos on a DVD, they may assume that the DVD is fine, when their are pretty good odds that the DVD isn't fine. There are also glitches that occur during the recording process, and again, most people don't bother to check.
DVDs can work but the vast majority of people I talk to have unrealistic expectations about DVDs. They don't check the copies they make to ensure that the transfer process has been successful and they don't update/duplicate those disks on a regular basis. They are not really appropriate for long-term storage.
Beware of writeable CDs/DVDs!
by powersville21 - 10/13/06 9:05 AM In reply to: How often do you back up files that you consider important? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Just a cautionary note about relying on writeable media as long-term backup solutions: According to some reports, writeable and rewriteable CDs and DVDs are not effective long-term storage options. Unlike pre-recorded CDs/DVDs, DVD-R's (I'll use this shorthand to cover DVD-R, DVD+R, RW and the different recordable CD formats too) store data using an ink medium. The laser in your DVD drive alters the ink inside the DVD to record the data. This ink is not as stable as the process used to "stamp" out pre-recorded DVDs.
I haven't seen many long-term studies and given the recent development of DVD-R technology, there probably aren't many such studies. Shorter studies and anecdotal evidence suggests that DVD-R's may only last a couple years. Some cheaper brands may only last a year before the ink degrades.
If you do use DVD-R's as backups, never rely on just one copy! They are inexpensive enough these days that you can afford to make 3 or 4 backup copies on separate disks. Once you do that, I would consider making replacement DVDs every 6 months or so. DVD-R's sell for less than $1 each so this isn't really an expensive solution.
As I noted above, I use hard drive backups. Yes, hard drives aren't 100% reliable but modern drives are fairly sturdy. If they survive the 1st 2 months, they'll probably survive for at least a few years after that. Mine have been running for close to 4 years now. With adequate ventilation and cooling (this is vital!), most new hard drives should last just as long.
No matter what backup solution you use though, never rely on just one backup. Like Andy Grove used to say "Only the paranoid survive" or in this case, "backup data from only the paranoid survive."
CD/DVD
by hillhopper - 10/14/06 8:41 AM In reply to: Beware of writeable CDs/DVDs! by powersville21I suggest this URL for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD/DVD_burning
DVD+R is very reliable
by Species8472 - 10/15/06 10:14 PM In reply to: Beware of writeable CDs/DVDs! by powersville21I have had only one DVD+R lose one file,{over 5 yrs. old} on one disk of 12. Because I use Quick Par on my archives, I didn't lose the data. Quick Par reconstructed the file.
I had to select 'Other' --
by MichieS - 10/13/06 9:15 AM In reply to: How often do you back up files that you consider important? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
because none of the other selections fit how I back up.
My answer would be 'whenever I feel it's necessary'.
Usually that can be every week or two (for a backup of most key files -- emails, downloads, stuff I wrote, etc). But it depends entirely on how much 'stuff' I feel is in need of protection at the time.
However, it can also be 'right now' -- for example, I just copied all photos from my two digital cameras onto my hard drive, so as to clear the media cards for vacation. I immediately copied those to a CD (about 530MB worth. 200 for the new photos, and the rest duplicate backup for older photos). Next data backup (in week or two) will again include these 'recent' photos, for a second backup set of them.
This latter backup will also include all new photos taken on my vacation.
One thing to point out is duplicate (at least) backups should be in one's plan.
I also had to select other
by Merrily - 10/14/06 2:20 PM In reply to: I had to select 'Other' -- by MichieSI am now working on a new hard drive after previous one died. I suspect it died in the throws of a backup effort. I had backups of certain folders, files in My Documents scheduled for weekly backups using Microsoft's backup program from Windows XP for home. Sometimes it ran and other times it just seemed to time out. BUT when it ran I had to have it put the backup on my hardisk and then try to remember to move it to a CD or multiple CDs. Well, after a while the backup files were taking a lot of space until I got to copy them to CDs ... etc. I think I was either doing that or had recently finished and the whole thing died. I'm now afraid to backup until I can figure out a better way!
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