Comments on: The world’s simplest computer crash recovery plan

By: Dean Rieck

Dean Rieck — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:11:07 +0000

Bradlee,
I’ve restored from Carbonite with no hassle at all. Not sure what sort of backup or restore would *not* be an exact replica of what you lose. That’s the definition of a backup, an exact copy of your files.

By: Bradlee TheDawg

Bradlee TheDawg — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 05:09:17 +0000

I actually wrote and published this same piece… a dozen years ago. No online backups back then, but the text file part is identical. Glad you came to the same realization.

BTW- Mozy also puts dots on your files. I use both of them, and here’s the difference. Carbonite is much simpler to use day-to-day… but it is a nightmare to restore files from, unless you’re doing an exact replica of what you lose. If you want to selectively restore just one or two folders – you can, but it’s a huge hassle. Mozy is less transparent (more like a regular “scheduled” back-up service… but the restore routines are much more user-friendly. Pick your poison, they’ll both get the job done. A third option is Dropbox.com.. a little more money but much more flexible than either Mozy or Carbonite. Instead of just backing up – it syncs files between multiple computers and you can actually work with the online versions day-to-day. It’s my new favorite by a mile.

By: Computer meltdown: 5 lessons for copywriters

Computer meltdown: 5 lessons for copywriters — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 10:03:35 +0000

[...] glass-is-half-full fashion, Sally wrote a fantastic post about it. This is a nice sister post to my computer crash recovery plan I wrote about in [...]

By: 32 essential tools I use to run my copywriting business

32 essential tools I use to run my copywriting business — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:03:44 +0000

[...] – James at Men With Pens turned me onto DropBox when I wrote about creating a computer recovery plan. This is a cool little application where you can drop any file and have it instantly backup online. [...]

By: John Tucker

John Tucker — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:21:52 +0000

Backing up is so important. I get called by people all the time that have no backups and have just had their hard drive fail. People lose so much yet it is so easy now to have a backup plan. Both of the service you mentioned are good, although I tend to favour Mozy for the simple reason that they offer DVD/HD restores. The more ways you have to get your data back the better and the option to be able to order a DVD/HD restore is a much better option if you have a large restore that you need to do. .-= John Tucker's last blog ... Mozy Valentines Special =-.

By: BrianJUY

BrianJUY — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:46:04 +0000

Dean… I’ve felt your pain. My wife got me a MacBook for Christmas 08… On Jan 18th 09 I got “the white screen of death”… I took it in to the Mac Store and they said it was because of corrosion so it wasn’t covered… that computer was brand new and I treated it like gold (jackholes)…

Because I already transferred everything from my PC to MacBook, wiped my PC clean and sold it… I had to buy another computer… I went ahead and got another Mac… and I bought a Mac Time Capsule (1TB)… It backs up everything on the hour every hour… and it’s an outstanding wireless router too… Then I went ahead and hooked up a 1TB HD just to make sure I had enough memory… The cool part is, it also works with PC…

It’s just another option for people who have trust issues with using online services.
.-= BrianJUY’s last blog … Top Secret Way of Getting High Quality Authoritative Backlinks =-.

By: Dean Rieck

Dean Rieck — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:22:54 +0000

James:
Oh, sweet. I’ll have to check out some of those tools. Dropbox looks especially cool. I solved the password problem by using a pass phrase. It’s a sentence that only I know (mwahahahaha) and then a bit at the end for each online service I use. So I can remember all of them instantly. As for bookmarks, I use Xmarks which syncs my laptop and desktop.

By: James Chartrand - Men with Pens

James Chartrand - Men with Pens — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:53:11 +0000

I so hear you on this one. I’m pretty good with backups. I have disks, an external drive, flash drives… So one day I got cocky and thought, “Time to wipe my computer nice and clean. Let’s reformat.”

Now, I know how to do this. Back up everything, get a doc of passwords, etc, and go. One shiny new computer. And when I went to unzip my backup to get the goods that I needed?

Corrupt. 9 months of digital life, gone.

So I got smart. I got Dropbox and didn’t skimp on the small package. I set it up so that EVERYTHING syncs up automatically without me having to remember. (Put your My Documents folder into Dropbox, period.)

Then I got Lastpass. Free. And all my passwords are now online, secure and forever mine.

Then I got Diigo. Free. No more lost bookmarks, ever. And I can import them back into Firefox if I want.

And I use Gmail, all the time, so all my email is fully online.

I am one digital rockstar now, man. Crash away.
.-= James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog … The Princess Bride Guide to Copywriting =-.

By: Lorraine

Lorraine — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:10:59 +0000

Sorry, brain freeze clearly set in. I meant Evernote–I use this free software app for just about all organizational tasks: daily to-do, important lists, swipe file, bookmarks, saved tweets, etc.
.-= Lorraine’s last blog … Hire an Expensive Copywriter—and Start Saving Money =-.

By: Dean Rieck

Dean Rieck — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:00:01 +0000

Lorraine:
What is Evergreen?