# back up, back up, back up



## corkyb (Apr 25, 2009)

Vernena or anyone,
Can you tell me what are the online back up companies you mentioned a while back?  I think there were two.  I can't find the thread.  I have a Mac Book Pro and it keeps getting very loud on me all of a sudden.  It's 2.5 years old and I don't have a thing backed up and I'm getting panicky.  Thanks for your help.
And is it really just as easy as plugging in an external hard drive?  Somewhere around here I have one that i bought on sale and never opened.
Paula ny, thinking I better do something soon


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## Reyn (Feb 10, 2009)

I have heard great things about carbonite.  But I don't really know much about it.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I use Mozy Home for my Macbook Pro, its not bad. the initial upoad takes awhile. 
If you're in a hurry the fastest would be to plug in your ext hard drive and let Time Machine go to work. I do both and use Mozy as offsite backup


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

It is indeed as easy as plugging in an external drive. It _should_ wake up Time Machine, and Time Machine will ask you if you want it to start backing up.

My hard drive started making clicking noises in 2007, and I waited too long and it died, along with everything on the hard drive. Took me weeks to rebuild the vital data I had on it, and a few years of history were lost.

Carbonite is my preferred online backup system. Best insurance you can buy for $5 a month. But Carbonite will take days to copy all of your data in the background.

In the mean time, if you have a thumb drive or another computer on your network, make copies of your most vital files right now.


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## corkyb (Apr 25, 2009)

OK, I just read some about carbonite, but can't tell if it will back up all of my email.  I have tons and tons of email.
Thanks for your help.
Paula


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## cheerio (May 16, 2009)

Reyn said:


> I have heard great things about carbonite. But I don't really know much about it.


Ive only heard radio ads for this


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I've been using Carbonite since November. It took about 5 weeks to back up ~80 gigabytes of material, but keeps up nicely with the day-to-day changes. I like it.

I use Carbon Copy Cloner for my backups to local drives.

Mike


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

corkyb said:


> OK, I just read some about carbonite, but can't tell if it will back up all of my email. I have tons and tons of email.


Depends on where you email currently resides. What application are you using for mail?

If you are using Apple Mail, all you have to do is have Carbonite backup the following folder:

user/Library/Mail


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## Blanche (Jan 4, 2010)

I purchased an Acer Aspire Easystore H340 with the Windows Home Server Edition on it. This is overkill most likely for a single system but it made my life so much simpler -- it is wonderful. It rates right up there with my Kindle for ease of mind. We have three computers and all three are backed up to the server every night using the software that shipped with the device. The server also shares all our photos/music. My husband runs his own photography business so needed additional drive space with a secure backup. I received the unit and had it plugged in and working on the same evening. It backed all three computers that same night as well. I only paid $400 for it at the time. I added the extra storage after I received it as it only shipped with 1TB. My husband says it looks like a miniature black refrigerator as it is a 2" X 12" X 12" cube. Have had it online and working for just over a year now. I would consider it overkill for a single system but for a single data storage/backup solution for multiple systems, it has proven itself.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-AH340-UA230N-Home-Server/dp/B001WGX15W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1269304731&sr=8-1


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

I just use macs time machine and a 1T external drive.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

Literally just last night I experimented with a company called Zumo, that makes files accessible from my computer or from my smart phone. They may be suitable for you, and one gig of storage is free:

http://www.zumodrive.com/

A second gig is supposed to be available for free if you take a test over some of their advertising, but I haven't tried it yet.


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

A free option for saving a small number of files is DropBox.

A free account will give you 2GB of storage space. The nice thing is that you can access your DropBox from any computer or iPhone.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

You can also get 2gb at mozy.com for free. I do use Mozy, but I don't really recommend them. It took me 4 months to get my initial backup completed. 

Time Machine, on the other hand, is fantastic. Run out to best buy and grab a hard drive and turn on Time Machine in your preferences and you're good to go.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> A free option for saving a small number of files is DropBox.
> 
> A free account will give you 2GB of storage space. The nice thing is that you can access your DropBox from any computer or iPhone.


I've been using Dropbox for a few months now since I read about it here on KBoards. I like it for keeping some of my files backed up and accessible to my three computers and online. Also, if you refer someone, you get another .5 gig...I referred my husband.

Betsy


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

Blanche, thank you for mentioning the easyStore. I was looking for a new file server just these days and had not stumbled across the easyStore before. Looking at it, though, it seems to be exactly what I need, so thank you very much!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm very intrigued by this also as I have a huge archive of photographs that I take both for the quilting business and the family and a sizable iTunes library, and three computers that I use routinely depending on my purpose. I have to pay for the iPad and accessories first though.  So it's on my wishlist, but definitely something I'm going to get by the end of the year after I sell a few more quilts.









(--added KB image link to use so that when I do get it, KindleBoards will get some credit!)

Betsy


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

I just ordered my easyStore server. Kind of curious how it'll work out. I hate Windows computers but this one looks like it fits my bill perfectly, so we'll see. With my Amazon Prime shipping it should be here on Thursday.   Did I mention that I love Amazon Prime?


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

Got the easyStore server earlier this week and set it up. This thing is pretty cool. I'm, not a Windows fan at all, but I liked the ease of use this server offers. Totally easy to set up and administer. Almost immediately I was ready to copy all the contents from the old server over and switch all my computers over to use the new one. Very nice.

Now, if only the had an administration client for the Mac for this thing, I would be perfectly happy.


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## Blanche (Jan 4, 2010)

Guido Henkel said:


> Got the easyStore server earlier this week and set it up. This thing is pretty cool. I'm, not a Windows fan at all, but I liked the ease of use this server offers. Totally easy to set up and administer. Almost immediately I was ready to copy all the contents from the old server over and switch all my computers over to use the new one. Very nice.
> 
> Now, if only the had an administration client for the Mac for this thing, I would be perfectly happy.


Great! I was hoping you would find the setup as easy as I did. I like the "hands off" maintenance. I sometimes forget to logon to check it until I see it has a red light flashing on the front. And usually all I need to do is reboot it because it received a windows update that requires a reboot. I am running 2 Windows XP laptops, a Windows 7 Box and a Vista box and all are connecting/backing up to the easystore unit. Sorry about the Mac administration client


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## tecwritr (Oct 28, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I'm very intrigued by this also as I have a huge archive of photographs that I take both for the quilting business and the family and a sizable iTunes library, and three computers that I use routinely depending on my purpose. I have to pay for the iPad and accessories first though.  So it's on my wishlist, but definitely something I'm going to get by the end of the year after I sell a few more quilts.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You can purchase a 1 terabyte external hard drive for less than $125 and a program called Acronis True Image Home 2010 for less than $50.


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

My next backup system will be a Drobo.... I will wait to buy it probably until I get my house sold:


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## vermontcathy (Feb 18, 2009)

I work in the tech field, and just a reminder - if you're backing up to an external hard drive or server or whatnot, you should think twice about storing the original data (your computer) and your backup data (the external drive) in the same house. What if there's a fire? What if someone breaks in and steals all your tech gear? What if there's a massive power surge (ie. lightning) and it fries both your computer and your backup drive? Flood? You get my point. It may sound paranoid, and I had a coworker say to me, "If my house burns down, my data will be the last of my worries" but wouldn't it be nice to know, even if your house burns down, that your data is safe?

I have an external drive and I keep it at work, and just bring it home once in a while overnight to back up everything (and the entire time it is at home, in the same place as my laptop, I'm aware of it and thinking, "If there's a fire, grab one or the other!")


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

^^^ Agreed. Which is why I use Carbonite as my external backup.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

tecwritr said:


> You can purchase a 1 terabyte external hard drive for less than $125 and a program called Acronis True Image Home 2010 for less than $50.


Thanks, I'll look into that...will it automatically back up my three computers without hooking each one up individually? I'm looking for something that will protect me from myself.  I already have a 1 TB external hard drive, and back up my data files to it periodically. EDIT: It looks like I'd have to get 3 licenses? So that's $150 for the software, still cheaper than the server. Something to think about.

I also use backups to the Internet for my critical files, to take care of an offsite backup.

Betsy


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## sjc (Oct 29, 2008)

Pidge comes through again!!
I'm going to start a "Just ask Pidgeon tech thread" 
And...for each question she answers; she gets a free kindle book 
A true technological genius...Betsy is another one...2 smarties...
Makes me want to go back to school...though I'm currently enrolled in a quilting class. 
Kudos to Pidge and Betsy


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## Rhiathame (Mar 12, 2009)

I use SugarSync and love it. I have it not only backing up my three systems but also also have it syncing key files between all three systems. This works incredibly well for my school work because I can start something at the office duing a break and I don't have to worry about emailing myself the file because it is already synced to my home pc within a minute. 

Alli


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## tecwritr (Oct 28, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Thanks, I'll look into that...will it automatically back up my three computers without hooking each one up individually? I'm looking for something that will protect me from myself.  I already have a 1 TB external hard drive, and back up my data files to it periodically. EDIT: It looks like I'd have to get 3 licenses? So that's $150 for the software, still cheaper than the server. Something to think about.
> 
> I also use backups to the Internet for my critical files, to take care of an offsite backup.
> 
> Betsy


I just checked the web site and you would need a license for each PC. I have a wireless router and the router as a place to attach a USB external hard drive to it. Any of your PCs that can connect to the wireless router can also use the hard drive


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks, things to think about!

Betsy


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

Yeah, well, you guys are talking about backup solutions. I was actually looking for a file server and the easyStore fit the bill perfectly. I just have to find a way to get rid of the McAfee software on there. Haven't figured that out yet and it is annoying that it keeps raising alarms that my system is not properly protected etc.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

And I'm looking for that, too, which is why I keep coming back to the Easy Store.  I am phasing out McAfee for the very reasons you are stating... there must be a way to put a different virus protection on there.

Betsy


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

I had been using McAfee while I was still using PCs, but the software is such a horrible performance sink that it's not even funny any more. On top of that, at the time, I had a number of virus encounters that McAfee flat out didn't recognize, even though they were well-known old viruses and trojans. So, in a word, I simply don't trust them any more.

Apart from that I really don't need virus protection on my file server. I have virus protection on the few remaining PCs in the network and all the Macs don't do viruses.


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