Fashion Girls

Belts and Suspenders

Today, we went shopping for an external hard drive, so that I can back up my entire computer (not just the novels, which I keep on a memory stick.) After having checked out potential drives (and a new laser printer) at several stores, we ended up at Micro Center, a gigantic computer store that is well-stocked, with superbly helpful staff. After one salesperson had helped us with a couple of purchases, he gave us his business card - complete with a bar code, so that he could get the commission on the sale. (At the checkout, they zapped his card, along with our products.) I was impressed - it was a good way to handle the awkwardness of commission sales (and we left with the card, in case we have problems after purchase.)

So, now my entire computer is backed up. If we need to flee in a hurry and can't carry the computer, or if the computer hard drive crashes beyond recall, I'm good to go.

Am I totally paranoid? What backup measures do the rest of you use?

Mindy, pleased to have married a home installer of hardware and software :-)
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Posted on Feb. 20th, 2006 at 10:16 pm | | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

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[info]naomikritzer

After hearing Maxine Hong Kingston tell the story of losing her manuscript (computer, printouts, and all disk backups) in the fires that swept through Oakland in the early 1990s, I am a huge believer in off-site backups.

I e-mail my works-in-progress to my father to save on his hard drive. I've also occasionally sent things to my own Gmail account. I try to remember to do this every week or two.
Posted on Feb. 21st, 2006 03:41 am (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

[info]mindyklasky

Interesting - I haven't tried any of the off-site services. I already have my stories off-site; I keep them on a memory stick that lives in my purse. (When I'm home, I risk the dual loss, but my purse would be the first thing I grab, fleeing...)
Posted on Feb. 22nd, 2006 07:13 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

[info]naomikritzer

Hmm. I would highly recommend considering some sort of arrangement for offsite backup that does not rely on grabbing anything at all on your way out of your house -- a CD-ROM left at the office, the trunk of your car, or a friend's house would suffice.

I was once shown a video that shows how quickly a fire spreads once it gets going. (And if you're asleep and being woken by a smoke alarm, it's definitely at that point already.) I was completely freaked out by how fast a fire can go from "yikes, that's a fire" to "blazing hellish inferno." Admittedly, this was a fire safety video and its entire purpose was to encourage a certain degree of paranoia. Still.
Posted on Feb. 22nd, 2006 08:35 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

[info]lyshara

I've had my computer reduced to a paperweight before, so I can say that paranoia is much better than lost school papers, projects, and pictures. I thought I was going to die when I lost everything. >.<

Now I send things to a Gmail account and have an external harddrive. The latter I forget about sometimes since Gmail is easier to deal with.

^_^
Posted on Feb. 21st, 2006 04:02 am (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

[info]mindyklasky

I set up my external harddrive to back up everything every night, when I don't have to worry about it.

My problem with relying on Gmail is the "little stuff" - the email addresses and other stuff that floats on my hard drive, outside of the writing files.
Posted on Feb. 22nd, 2006 07:14 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

[info]kristine_smith

Flash card or memory stick. I alternate between a laptop and desktop, so the books are saved on both. *And* I recently purchased an external hard drive, and have all the books, stories, ideas, etc backed up on it as well.

I tried electronic backup via .Mac and Backup, but for some strange reason, backups I can't see don't register with me. I feel as though they're out there ?somewhere? and may not be there when I need them.
Posted on Feb. 21st, 2006 05:20 am (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

[info]mindyklasky

I *do* worry about restoring data, if I ever need to... But not enough to have a test run!

(BTW, I found the email from LJ alerting me to an earlier message of yours - it had ended up in my "junk" mail folder because it happened to use somewhere in the message the words tr ans fer (without the blanks) and millions. I think that my junk screen on sff.net might be a tad too sensitive :-) )
Posted on Feb. 22nd, 2006 07:15 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

[info]kristine_smith

I've heard complaints about the sensitivity of SFFNet spam filters before. Whitelisting the message in question usually works, but some folks still find that important mail gets chuted into their Junk folder.
Posted on Feb. 22nd, 2006 07:43 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

ceolnamara

I don't back up, much. I have a copy of one of the stories I was working on on my LJ somewhere, and my music is all on a separate hard drive, more or less. But I got a 100 gig drive for Christmas that I haven't touched yet (so that I can back up the lot). I've been spoken too sternly about my laziness.
Posted on Feb. 21st, 2006 08:05 am (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

[info]mindyklasky

I have nightmares about everything crashing and my staring at the untouched box, just waiting for me to use...

(Fortunately, Mark set everything up for me, and I didn't have to think about what was being done :-) I'm *so* spoiled.)

Posted on Feb. 22nd, 2006 07:16 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

ceolnamara

ah, there's no one to do that sort of thing for me. i've begged my dad, but he loves to tout learning experiences. the one person i think i could rely on to help me out lives in alexandria. drat him.
Posted on Feb. 23rd, 2006 04:55 am (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply

[info]lizziebelle

Isn't Microcenter great? I always had good luck with them. I love that they have a whole room for Macs, and people who know what the heck they're talking about. :)

I post my short-stories-in-progress to locked posts on LJ. That way, I can (theoretically, at least) work on them elsewhere. :)
Posted on Feb. 21st, 2006 03:32 pm (UTC) | | Thread | Reply

[info]mindyklasky

Yeah, that Mac room is going to be the financial death of me :-)

(I'm a Windows gal, but Mark is a Mac-addict.)
Posted on Feb. 22nd, 2006 07:17 pm (UTC) | | Parent | Thread | Reply