OT Nightmares of the Modern Age

[Farrell]

There are a number of ways to back up computer data. One drawback of networking two computers together is that fire, flood, or theft where both machines perish will still result in total loss of data. For several years now, I have been backing up my critical data to an internet backup service.  http://services.online-backup.com/overview.asp  I think I pay $10 or $15 a month and back up everything I need. I just click on backup at the end of the day and it automatically backs everything up - usually in just a minute or two. I have also tried downloading my data just for the heck of it to make sure everything can be retrieved - it all seems to be there. So I'm pretty safe for lightning, fire, theft, hurricane, tornado, avalanche (I'm quite concerned about that you know) - you name it! Just another way to do it.

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sarah Fox" <sarah@gendernet.org>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 10:34 AM
Subject: Re: OT Nightmares of the Modern Age


> Hi Alan,
> 
> If I understand correctly, Bill Gates automatically reformatted your
> secondary hard drive for you???  (How nice of him.)  Depending on how
> important the contents are and how much work and/or money you want to put
> in, there are ways to retrieve the data.  It's not pretty, but there are
> professionals who do this very thing (disaster recovery specialists or hard
> drive recovery specialists, I think they're called).  There may be some
> do-it-yourself software packages you can buy for this purpose.  If you're
> lucky, you'll get back most of what you lost on that drive.
> 
> For the future, I've found the very best solution is to use your last
> generation of computer, blow a bundle (maybe $100) on an enormous hard drive
> that's at least a few times larger than the one in your main machine,
> install that HD in your old machine, network the two machines, and only use
> the old machine for backups.  That is, don't even run it otherwise.  (The
> HDs will last virtually forever that way.)  Then do backups through the
> network while you sleep at night.  Do them alternately -- Backup A and
> Backup B.  Overwrite the oldest backup (say, A) while keeping the prior
> backup (B) intact.  The next time, overwrite B while preserving A.  That
> method would have saved you, because Bill's software would have been unable
> to turn on your backup server and format its HDs through the network!  This
> method will also save you in the event of a lightning strike that toasts
> your main machine, HDs and all.
> 
> My data have always been critically important to me, so I've always been
> rather anal about this stuff.  I've never lost anything too important yet,
> in over 25 years.  (And yes, I still have programming I did back in 1977 --
> on a Wang Z-80!)
> 
> Peace,
> Sarah
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <tune4u@earthlink.net>
> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 12:19 AM
> Subject: Nightmares of the Modern Age
> 
> 
> > Lost my secondary hard drive this morning. Bltzfghbppppp .....
> >
> > Family finance data ...
> > Family pictures ...
> > All business correspondence, forms, etc. ...
> >
> > ... gone.  Just little blips in data heaven.
> >
> > Thanks for the bug in an otherwise pretty darned good system (XP), Bill!
> >
> > My message:
> >
> > Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up!
> Back
> > it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it
> > up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it
> up!
> > Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up!
> Back
> > it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it
> > up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it up! Back it
> up!
> > Back it up! Back it up! B A C K   I T   U P !   ... 'till the cows come
> > home.
> >
> > Other than that, life's a peach.
> >
> > Alan Barnard
> > Salem, MO
> >
> > Gory details: Internet Explorer got all screwed up, wouldn't work right.
> > Tried to reinstall latest version--Microsoft product downloaded from
> > Microsoft site into Microsoft operating system. Got a Microsoft message
> box:
> > Product doesn't pass our digital signature logo something-or-other and
> WILL
> > NOT BE INSTALLED. (!)
> >
> > Backed up everything from C: drive (primary, has operating system) onto
> > drive E: (the soon-to-be-obliterated drive). Ran System Recovery that is
> > supposed to set up the C: drive exactly as it was the day I took it out of
> > the big box.
> >
> > Didn't change ANYTHING on the C: drive. All the stuff's still there, all
> the
> > programs on it run, and Internet Explorer is still hosed. But it did wipe
> > out the E: drive --- Very perverse: Some folders remained, some were gone
> > and almost all folders were empty, wiped slick. Ran data recovery software
> > and disk maintenance software ... nada.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> 
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