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Computer Crash Scare!

MrsPeel

MrsPeel

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Pollywog
Joined
May 7, 2012
Messages
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I just had the most horrid scare....
which I think was a sign for a few things, like a call for my attention to the fact that my desk/bedroom were in need of a deep clean up, that I need to turn the computer of the plugs once in a while, and that (most important of all) External Hard Drives do NOT last forever...and one should take some provisions when it is going into the third year, more or less....
here is what happened and a question.....

I have two EHD (external hard drives) where I store all my kits, some photos, I have the whole history of our lives in the hard drives in photos...

I'm on Mac, so when I am scrapping for challenges or not one specific kit new release, I would go search there.
I type, say: prd_ or etc_dan_ and it would bring up all my kits from Pink Reptile or Etc by Danyale....
well....
I was looking for a template, I always keep the tiff files so I can choose, then I grab the pngs to actually scrap.
I typed, as usual: tiff
It only gave me 10 folders.... from the 1992 items I know come up when I type that.
I tried again, from a different location in finder...same.
Then I went to the actual folders, some are in folders name like for example: 2015_KITS> TO USE> so I went to this folder....
NOTHING.
same with many other parts of one of the EHD...
I really really panic.
I have online back up, but I have been told not to rely solely on that.

I know Aaron (Sir Scrapalot) has made a post about that (I think there is even a blog post) but have any of you who have online back up have any other form of back ups?
I find that backing up to an EHD takes time, slow down the machine and if I take it of the automatic back ups (because it slow the computer down) I end up forgetting....
is there anything else?
 
Gosh that is scary! Seeing the drive is empty?! I would cry. Also, I fear for this. My EHD sometimes randomly disconnects to my laptop. Which is obviously not a good sign.
I'm in the same situation about all my photos and scrapbooking stuff on an EHD. Also I have automatic online back up service. Also I don't have any other back up system in place.
I thought the online back up was enough. Now you're telling me it's not?

I have no idea what is a good extra back up system for me because I'm lazy with these things. I like the idea of having things really well organized but that's just not my reality. I have a system where I download stuff to my laptop first and then after I've used it move it to my EHD. But I probably do that every 3-4 months. So if I have to do an extra backup myself it will probably gets done maybe twice a year. (Thinking positive here)
I have no idea what to do either. I'm gonna follow this thread.
 
I only do online. I've had to restore before and it hasn't been a problem. I don't have the space or money for an extra EHD anyway.
 
:( Oh no, new computers when you were not planning for it it's not a happy moment.
 
Which online do you use Lorry? I'm using an EHD and would prefer to have it backed up somehow. Thanks!
 
lorryfach said:
I only do online. I've had to restore before and it hasn't been a problem. I don't have the space or money for an extra EHD anyway.
Click to expand...
Lorry: the EHDs I have are NOT back ups...... I used them because my computer was so full, I store photos and kits and LOs in the EHds. I can grab stuff any time from them , is like an extension of your computer, and they aren't as expensive as a computer.....
I bought the first for £50, lasted 5 years, the second and 3rd (which I have now and using) cost £70
As for space...if you are talking about space as in the house, my EHDs are the size of a paper back and go standing up, just like books...so not much space.
I do not use them for back up, just as storage as my computer doenst have enough space and the memory is dying.
I download kits, use them, then move them to folders into one of my EHD's.
My back ups are done with Crash Plan and yes, I also never had a problem restoring but have heard stories that made me come and ask.....plus I had a problem with Backblaze a couple of years ago, just before I moved to Crash Plan....and it was their fault that I had not been backed up for 2 entire weeks..... they froze my back ups, long story...
carilyne said:
Which online do you use Lorry? I'm using an EHD and would prefer to have it backed up somehow. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Carrie: most of us use Crash Plan, they are amazing. I had Backblaze but they dont give you live time assistance and I needed to install/re install...so I went to Crash Plan, they have a chat online and guide you for anything you need....


Bernie: I wish it was the whole EHD...is just folders... some of them are there, which makes me even more spooked :(
 
Thanks I'll check it out. Makes me a little nervous as I had one EHD die. Now I'm searching for a kit that I've used and can't find. Hopefully it just got missed on transferring files and on the old computer.
 
I was using Backblaze, but when I had an EHD crash, I was frustrated because I didn't realize that I'd have to pay for the drive that they would send with my backed up info. It was $189 and worth it, but still frustrating when I pay for the subscription to back up as well. If I didn't have over a TB, it would have been less, and/or you can download individual files for free, but there was no way I could download every file on my EHD. Another frustration is that they burned the data to the drive they sent. So I couldn't use the space remaining, nor could I save/resave the files. So I had to buy an additional EDH to replace my other and then transfer stuff that I needed to be able to save/resave.

I just signed up for iDrive through a referral from Jaimee. It is an online backup and the plan I got allows for up to 1 TB of online storage. The thing I like about that plan is that I can actually access it from anywhere, so I wouldn't have to take my EHD with me to the beach. I could just download individual files from my account.

My laptop is now dying... and my desktop is pretty much dead. I'm hoping for some good deals around the holidays so I can get something that works. :/ But at least I've backed up everything so far.
 
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I don't have any online back up... i have stuff saved on two different EHDs at this point. I want a third, off site copy at some point. I'm not 100% certain I didn't lose anything when my laptop died. I know I was missing one thing, which I recovered, but haven't noticed if I've missed anything else. Since I'm now back to using the main computer, my process is to download, save a zipped copy on one EHD, save a zipped copy on the computer, and an unzipped copy on my main EHD. So I have 3 copies, but my computer and bigger storage EHD are not organized. Whoooops!
 
I also use CrashPlan.

I understand your EHDs are not for backup, Cyn. I guess I'm just thinking, what else besides online backup is there? Other than CrashPlan, what would I do? It would basically have to be an EHD. I already have a storage EHD, and it's small and inexpensive, but even that is a PITA because I have NO SPACE. Dealing with yet another one as a backup solution would be such a huge pain I know I would never actually use it, so what is the point? If I can't trust online backup then I guess I am screwed.
 
i generally backup my entire laptop online - it reminds me once a month although i confess i do not do it that often. my laptop is also fairly new - i try to budget for an upgrade every five or six years - that way the expense isn't so shocking. i have a 1T internal and a 1 and 3 T EHDs. i back up "data" to the 3 T and Zip files to the 1T. i"m only screwed if everything, including online fails at once.. every year i do migrate the previous years data to the 3 T to make room to work on my laptop.
 
I saw you mentioned this on facebook. I've been thinking about file backup as well lately. We had a fire alarm scare in our house the other day, and it made me think about the safety of my files. Not cool. I need to fix it before I regret NOT fixing it.
 
yikes cynthia. i hope you get it figured out. i know your mac has been giving you fits a lot lately. but when folders go missing that is scarey! i'm not help on the backups ... i just have the EHD and really should think about getting Crash Plan or similar. good luck, keep us posted!
 
Right now, I have it all on EHD's. I am doing my back up's more often though especially after the hard drive failure this summer.
My computer is dying, and once I get a new one, I'll be signing up for CrashPlan. I'm thinking I might get one on Black Friday. Have to talk to over with DH!
 
So I use BackBlaze and now all of you are scaring me. I remember BackBlaze not properly working and my files not being backed up last year too! And having to pay extra for file restores? That's not the deal I thought I made. Sigh. I hate that I have to go through so much trouble and money to make sure my stuff is safe.
 
I use Backblaze. I did have to do a total computer restore and opted for the long, slow FREE process. Everything came back to my new laptop. I do back up parts of my hard drive to EHD's especially ACDSee periodically. I figure they are for quick restores if something goes wrong. I need to get a new one with more room. The online is cheap insurance.
 
I use backblaze and technically idrive (I bought the year through JJ's promo, but I don't like it) I also have 2 ehds - a 3tb and a 1.5 TB.
Backblaze backs up everything-laptop and ehds and dropbox folder and idrive folder. Idrive has some photos on it (it takes forever and backs up at such a slow speed that it still has not backed up all my photos). I really just use the Dropbox-like portion of idrive.
My 1.5 TB is my currently working on stuff,and I use it as an extension of my computer memory, like you Cynthia. My 3tb is my on-site backup. About once a month I download everything new from the 1.5 TB and my laptop to the 3tb. Some stays duplicated, like photos. Some I'll delete off the 1.5 TB like some kits and psd's. {I save psd's at least until I print.}
When my laptop had to be reformatted this system was great. I didn't have to download a lot from backblaze just recent stuff. I was able to transfer stuff from the ehd on site.
I am persnickety though, and go on about once every week or 2 max and make sure that photos are uploading to online, and I'll download a few every month to make sure it's working.
 
Well, I guess I have had everything in the past: when I was transfering my photos to an EHD in 201&, my EHD went dead. I hooked up my other backup and guess what??? It also went dead!!!!
I had luckily most of them on a 3rd EHD, but lost the babyphotos of Maxim and our summervacation that year. Well, I also lost my music, my scrapping stuff etc with the drives going dead on me.
But to be honest, all my tears were all about my lost photos....

I have now 4 hard drives and started a backup on Crashplan. Loading up all the photos take like forever, but I'm determined to get everything back up there.
To me, I can not even think about the fact that I would not get my files from there if I lost everything on pc or EHD's....

I would go nuts I think...
 
Ugh... computer issues of any kind suck! Hang in there Cyn! (*Hugs*)
 
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