Q: What's worse than your computer crashing?
A: Your computer CRASHING and LOSING ALL YOUR DATA...every stinkin' bit.
This has happened to me twice in the past two years. You'd have thought, after number #1 crash, I would have backed up EVERYTHING, EVERY TIME I went to log off. But, oh no, I have that "I'll do it later" mentality. And, of course, later never came. I'm one of those naive people who thinks "It won't happen to me." But guess what? It does and can.
Recently, one of "My Three Sons" mentioned he had bought an external hard-drive to backup the data from his 
laptop. We chatted back and forth about it for several weeks until I eventually BIT the bullet and ordered one. My external hard drive is an IOMEGA and can hold a million-trillion-zillion GIGABYTES (GB) (well, maybe only 250GB). It comes with a USB cord, so I can plug IT into any computer. And it's only about 6X4 inches. (It's the cute PINK square-ish thing to the lower right of my laptop). I'm not suggesting any particular product, only telling you what I have).
Here's what I can do with IT:
- MOVE/SAVE DOCUMENTS/PICTURES/VIDEOS, etc TO IT
- MOVE MY 'FAVORITES/BOOKMARKS' TO IT
- MOVE ALL PERSONAL "STUFF" TO IT
- BACKUP EVERY THING FROM MY LAPTOP TO IT--THE ENTIRE SYSTEM
- TAKE IT TO ANOTHER COMPUTER AND UPLOAD ANY OR EVERYTHING FROM IT
- IF MY 'PUTER CRASHES, AGAIN, I CAN PLUG IT IN... AND VOILA', MY STUFF IS RETRIVED & I WON'T HAVE TO BE RESUSCITATED.
...BUT I didn't stop at the IOMEGA. I also bought a little JUMP-DRIVE (stuck in the left side of my laptop, very small) that has 4GB (that is a LOT), so I can keep it on 
my key chain. I use this when I don't need my IOMEGA, or don't need to back up my entire system. The JUMP DRIVE is only about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide.
Here's what I can do with IT:
- TRANSFER/MOVE/SAVE FILES, DOCUMENTS, PICTURES, VIDEOS onto IT
- PLUG IT IN TO ANY OTHER COMPUTER WHICH I USE AND RETRIEVE ANY INFO I NEED FROM IT
- OR, UPLOAD INFO FROM IT TO ANOTHER COMPUTER.
- TOSS IT INTO MY PURSE
I'm sure (if I read everything in the instruction manual for these items) they do MUCH, MUCH more.
All I can say is, THANK GOODNESS I now have a BACKUP PLAN!
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Having lost some of my data last year after a crash, I can not agree with you more that backup should be an automatic process donw almost every week. You wont know what its worth until it happens.
I admit - I don't back up nearly as much as I should. Recently my coveted database had issues, and thank God I backed it up about a week before so I only had to enter a few new contacts. Otherwise I would have been out of MONTH'S of hard work. An odd side note - I had my laptop stolen from a real estate office's parking lot a few months back - and I had to spend days just to get back to where I was. Of course some of my work was lost forever ... BACK IT UP everyone. It stinks to spend time doing it, but the alternative is FAR worse !!
Oh Kat. You are making me nervous. I have yet to purchase the back up hard drive. Budget constraints!!
I must do it soon,
Ken
and I hope soon is not too late.
James: And nowadays, with all the new gadgets at our disposal, it is so easy. Thanks for commenting.
Steve: I am so glad you had backed up your stuff.... we get so busy, I know, backing up is vital. Think of our client data base, alone. YIKES. Thanks for stopping by.
Thank you for this very timely advice -- my computer is "acting up". I'm off to save!
I also learned the hard way. Now I have a hard drive back up on every one of my computers. Norton Ghost has saved me more than once.
Ken: Get on it my friend... you never know when Murphy's Law will knock.
LI: Good idea.... Hurry.
Michael: ANother good option. Thanks!
Kat,
GREAT advise! This has happened to me once before and I was NOT a happy camper! Thanks, you just reminded me that I need to back up everything, as I havent done this in several months! By the way, I like your cute picture of the computer with one of my favorite pages pulled up on it! ;)
Michelle; Thanks... now go back up your "stuff."
Word of warning here.
You are learning to depend on yet another device that can easily fail.
You need to look into data redundancy. In a general sense of the word. You need data stored across several platforms. You should in your home and office computers have a Raid 1 setup installed. If you aren't sure what that is then you should consult someone who is. In this day and age it would not cost much and from what I can tell from what you have lost paying a slight bit more for redundancy wouldn't hurt you.
Furthermore to expand on that word, store your data on something else. Do you have an office server? Could you store data there? Chances are the IT person in charge has already set this up as a redundant server so your data will be safe.
Putting all your eggs in one basket which an external drive basically can be does nothing to prevent further failure unless you literally have an exact copy on both drives which I doubt (no one does) you keep.
Check into a service called drop box. It's free. You can put important files online and share them between computers. It's basically an online hard drive.
You want more fail safe measures?
You can do the obvious like literally back things up... burn them to disc etc. you should have a disc copy of all your data. Do this once a week. There are many programs and settings you can do to remind you.
The greatest thing you can do is redundancy. Having your important data stored in many locations. I keep mine in 3.
What's the worse that can happen?
Contrary to popular belief it doesn't take a miracle to recover data from a hard drive. In fact it's pretty easy. There are many programs that can do it. I recently posted a free open source solution for this problem.
Kat.. I have had this happen about 8 months ago.. Ewwwww. Just this week I was having issues with my pc once again and lucky for me I was able to back up my files on my external hard drive. Then I crashed my pc back to the factory settings and re-loaded and now all seems to be fine
I am a huge fan of my external hard drive. I just bought my husband one. I take it with me more than I lug a laptop. I learned the hard way too - I lost photos of a homecoming and a graduation. OUCH! So now I have two backups of everything!
Shane: WOW; THANKS for your lengthy, wordy, helpful advice. I have to agree on one point: do NOT put ALL your eggs (or data) in one basket.
I'm not a computer "Geek" as you can tell by my post, nor do I try to "act" like one. ....I'm a down to earth, write it as I see it, kind of BLOGGER.
Roland: Computers can drive us to .... well, pull our hair out, I guess. Glad you got your data back! Thanks for commenting.
Jo: I LEARNED the hard way, also. But at least we learned, right? Thanks so much for stopping by.
Oh gosh do I need that reminder - I had Staples wipe out my hard drive - earlier this year - when I took it in to do some repairs to my cd rom.......what a nightmare - all my photos.......files, taxes, you name it..........I did get a nice new sony viao for the trouble, but frankly I'd rather have my info back! And now I have to do what you did - and the pink is hot!ie?
Kat, thanks for the reminder. My computer was struck by lightning twice within 3 months of each other. It's hard to run a business from home while your computer is being repaird for 3 weeks. I only had it back from repair for a few weeks when it was hit again. Thankfully we had purchased the extended warranty and they were able to retrieve the info for a small cost. It is about time for another backup!!
Wow, you really convinvced me to do this. I've really been remiss in not considering it sooner.
Good Reminder KAT, I think we all need to remember to do this. I save all of my work on my flash drive and leave a copy on my home computer and my personal folders at my brokers office. That way if the flash goes, I can buy a new one and still have my data on my computer and the office computer. If my computer and flash go, I still have it on my brokers computer, etc...
I use Acronis to back up externally. I tried Mozy online and it never worked. So far so good with Acronis, I just got a new computer and we backed up the old on it, then transferred it over to the new one, from there. I plug it in most nights and feel safe.
I use the flash drives to take files back and forth to the office.
I just bought one of those too, it is great, thanks for the tip!
Hi Kat,
Where were you two months ago....like you, I lost everything! Thanks for sharing, I will look into this for sure! :)
Just to add some dollar figure to the damage done by NOT backing up your hard drives...I lost my main hard drive earlier this year. The last time I backed it up was a year earlier. A lot had happened since then, with my level of real estate activity, in addition to regular life stuff, so I lost a LOT of scanned documents, pictures, etc. I wasn't too disappointed with the loss of the hard drive, in the sense that it gave me a good excuse to get a new PC (Dell 2.4 Ghz Quad Core PC). But, in order to get my data back, I sent my hard drive to a data recovery company. Anyone wanna take a guess at what that costs? Anyone? $1,300! Well, I now subscribe to Dell's Datasafe online backup service, which updates every Monday morning (or when I initiate it). Never again. Never again.
Liz: I UNDERSTAND.... Dell has done the same to me. Their only answer to any problem is, "WIPE OUT EVERYTHING!" My external hard drive come in many colors... Thanks for commenting.
Michele: Lightning? That is scary. You really need one of these gadgets! Glad you stopped by!
Diane: You're not alone... we all get remiss.
Michael: Save your stuff in several places... great point! Thanks
Missy: There are so many different kinds, aren't there? As long as we have one, any one, I say. And FLASH DRIVES (or Stick as I call mine) are AWESOME! Thanks for sharing.
Mary: Good going! And you're welcome. Thanks for stopping by.
Eric: $1,300 to recover your data? WOW, maybe I am in the wrong business! That is horrible.
for $60 you could purchase a 2nd hard drive in any computer you use. With a basic knowledge of windows you can make it into a raid 1 setup which puts the data across both drives. Thus if one fails you have it on a 2nd drive. You can purchase a 3rd drive to do other more secure methods still. its not hard to do and is a failsafe. you dont need to worry about any other backups because you already are doing it automatically.
paying 1300 for data recovery is about normal but I am sorry because you could do it for free. There are 2 open source free programs that can recover data after a format or after a hard drive failure. I am sorry more people dont know about this kind of stuff. I guess I should write a post. Alot of computer tech people take advantage of peoples ignorance. It isnt fair. The standard rate for doing simple things that anyone can do is scary. It often is more than an attorney charges because somehow it seems more mysterious.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery software! It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting a Partition Table). Partition table recovery using TestDisk is really easy.
Notice the word free. Its not hard to do this stuff. In fact I would cancel that Dell service. Why not just go with a 2nd hard drive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148134
for less than $200 you could have 750gb of space in a raid 1 setup and never have to spend another penny worrying about backing up your data.
If you have 250gb or less currently use this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148316
thats only 65 bucks with free shipping and you never have to depend on a service that is basically scamming you since you could do this yourself.
Kat - I use an external hard drive and my computer is backed up to it once a week automatically. There is nothing more frustrating than losing data. I also have another hard drive on my machine (there are two) and I save data (mostly photos) to that one. I am glad you have a back up plan now.
Shane: You'd be much better off writing your ownpost and including those links. If you're techy, I'd suggest doing that for your fellow Realtors and, or, clients.
However, as I've said BEFORE, I AM NOT promoting any particular product, only stating what I USE.
Thanks.
I just wanted to further explain what I was trying to say. Sorry if it sounds too techy. It really is quite simple and I am not trying to distract on what you said but highlight the importance of your post and try to strengthen it. The product I mentioned is open source and a community built project. It is free and not a company or for sale.
I use an external hard drive and drag/drop all data there.
The Outlook.pst file is all of my outlook settings and database.... i save it all over the place should disaster strike.
External back up is an excellent tool and everyone should have one, however, what would happen if you had some sort of disaster? Fire, Flood, Hurricane, Tornado. Hopefully you would think to grab the external back up and take it with you. But, if you didn't then what?
I use and recommend to all my clients that they use Carbonite on line back up. For approximately 50$ a year it continuously backs up my system and I never have to do anything. I recently purchased a new laptop and was able to log on to Carbonite and download all my files onto my new laptop.
You can access Carbonite from anywhere. If for example you are out of town and you need a file you can go get it by logging onto Carbonite.
You will also want to consider keeping all your software programs and program ID numbers in a safe location should you need to re-install.
Here is another neat trick, if you are aware of a storm approaching, i.e. hurricane, grab your desktop computer tower and put it in the dishwasher. Yep the dishwasher, it's waterproof and somewhat insulated and will keep your computer tower realitively safe.
Shane; We all love your help and advice... REALLY, I just thought you might want to write a post (maybe a techy one) for yourself. THANKS for the help.
Tom: Yes, drop and drag, it is. Isn't it easy??? Love it. The easier the better. Thanks for sharing that point.
Laurie: That is an excellent POINT and I'm going to look at it today! We can't have our "stuff" in enough different places. AND LOVE the dishwasher tip!!! THANKS so much!
Kat,
I love the signature, is that new? I too have a back-up hard-drive after dumping 5 years of data and having to recreate the wheel it seemed prudent! Excellent idea to share as we all tend to forget how much time it really takes to create our data and data bases!
I have a couple of external back-up drives. I just bought a new system that will allow me to image my drive and retrieve it remotely. That way if I am out of town I can still get access to it.
Cat: Nope, it's almost as old as I... well, not quite. Sometimes I just forget to use it. Thanks for stopping by, my friend.
Randy: Thanks for sharing. I also like Laurie's (above comment) idea.
I just bought an external drive about a week ago and love it. A year ago I had both my laptop and desktop crash within a week of each other. I needed a computer so bad I was forced to go with VISTA. My new laptop still does interesting things that I had to get the backup. Now I just have to find an auto sync program.
Man that would be tough, Good thing I don't use a computer ( a pad and pencil) HA HA that would be funny. I ran across a older gentleman must have been 90 well maybe 70 anyway he actually doesn't have a computer and manages to sell 0n average 25 homes a year. He even told me he has the listing agent write the contracts and then he turns it over to a title company / lawyer and that's it.
Kat - I learned this the hard way last year! I now have the keychain memory stick and the external hard drive!
Kat - Good for you. I once lost my entire customer contact list! Bummer ! 15 years worth gone!!!! I still had all my past invoices but what a pain that is to start over to compile that back on my 'puter. I have backed up some things on my 4 GB flash drive but I still need an external hard drive also. I'm going to buy it this weekend now. Thanks for the reminder Kat.
Dan
I'm a Carbonite lover too - All my computers are backed up somewhere else....
You just never know -
Kat, it was just 4 months ago that I went through the exact same thing – what a nightmare and time thief that was. It took so long to get my new computer, then I had troubles with it (a bad memory card was shipped out). But I did learn that you can encapsulate your hard drive – which I did – and eventually I was able to save my important docs. But thanks for the reminder – I’m backing up on an external as I type this response…
Raleigh Realtor – Pamela St. Peter
Don't make the same mistake one of my Associates did and that was back up his laptop to an external drive but carry that drive in the same laptop case so when it was stolen the thief had both sets of data and he had nothing.
As suggested by one of the earlier comments I have mirrored my laptop hard drive by network to one of my office machines and still use an external drive to back up files.
Back up often as often as possible. Make it part of your computing routine because you can never be too careful.
MSN has a great tool called SyncToythat expedites the process. Another process I used for sometime was syncback both are freeware and don't be fooled by the name, very powerful programs.
Kat, I've had three hard drives crash over the years. I'm totally committed to backups now...
I have had several hard drives crash Kat...there's a great guy here in Crestline that can save data. he's saved me tons of money and my pics, music, and docs TWICE now. i still haven't bought an external, but I know I need to. Call me and I'll let you know who this secret man is!!!!!!!
Connie: I also have Vista. At first I resisted it and wasn't willing to give it a shot.... BUT I now love it. Glad you like your external hard drive! Thanks for sharing.
Charles: LOL. Hey, we have some oldie, but goodie Realtors here in the hills (mountains)...and MANY won't go near a computer. Amazing, isn't it?
Pippa: Me, too, about learning the hard way....I've done that my entire life. LOL
Dan: For sure, get one (external hard drive), you won't be sorry.
Susan: I have bookmarked that site and will be checking it out. Sounds great.
Pamela: Thanks for that information... that's what we do here, share.
Dave: THAT is HORRIBLE--I feel for your friend!
Brian: Why is it that we are crashing more and more? Must be a good reason, somewhere.
Amy: THANKS SO MUCH!
Kat thanks for generating this wealth of solid gold info. If there's anything I've learned over the years, it is to back early, back up often, and back up redundantly. Nevertheless, I've learned a bunch more here today. And I'm bookmarking this post!
Kat, I wrote about this very same thing last month.
Gena: I bet there are many bloggers who have written about it.... in their own voice and experience.
Funny how this has happened to so many people, yet there are thousands who still don't back up their data.... like others here, I learned the hard way! Never again will I not back up my data!
Thanks for the post!
Bob
Bob: Lessons learned the hard way usually stay with us, don't they? Usually. Thanks for stopping by.
The easiest way to back up is to get a Carbonite.com account, for $49 per year. They also back up 10 "previous versions" of every file on your hard drive.
Plus, it is online, so it is "off premises", in case you have a physical issue (flood fire theft), works in the background, and requires virtually no thinking or scheduling.
Simple. One of the best thought out tech solutions I have ever used.
Dick: I just learned about Carbonite.com since writing this post. Sounds wonderful and I plan on getting it soon. Thanks much.
A good reliable cheap way to make sure you are backing up EVERYTHING you need is MOZY. It is an online system that will back up your entire computer for you automatically and will be saved on secured servers, it only costs $5 per month! I like this method as I am not able to remember to back up daily.
I owned a hard drive remanufacturing business for over 10 years and can tell you that I have seen the unfortunate people who upon losing their data go to plug in their external hard drive to find that somehow it has been corrupted too. If you do find yourself in trouble you can usually have data recovered but please beware of the corner computer repair shop, if they don't know exactly what they are doing the can do more bad than good. Spend the extra money and have the data recovery done by a professional, many times all you get is one good shot and getting your data.
If you end up in this predicament try ECO Data Recovery out of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. This is all they do and from what I hear they are very good at it. Even Microsoft has used them!
Greg: Thanks for your advice and suggestions. Looks like we have quite a few good options. Thanks again. We ALL appreicate it.
Yep; if you have important data, it needs to be protected and backed up, period. Thanks for the excellent post and for commenting on my blog:)
I use carbonite.com to back up my desktop and laptop. It is like $100.00 per year and they back up EVERYTHING.
DJ: You're welcome and THANK YOU for stopping by.
Vanguard Commer: I have heard that several times on this post and I am excited to check it out. Thanks.