Stacerella

Goddess asked me to do a post on how to back up, so here goes. There are a few easy, simple ways to back up files that anyone can do provided they have the drives and media to do so. And if you don’t have any of these basic materials, you need to haul ass to a local computer store to get yourself some, pronto! (Try to support the little guys in the process, ‘kay? We thank you for your patronage in advance.)

Temporary Backups: Some of least expensive, fastest ways to make backups are also the least permanent, but they are very effective in short-term use. I don’t recommend relying solely on any of these, but I do recommend you use them in conjunction with other types of backup media styles.

1. USB Memory Sticks - a.k.a. flash drives, thumb drives, match sticks, memory keys, etc. The names are interchangable, the physical case size and look can vary from brand to brand, but there is only one method of use: copying the files you want backed up by highlighting them and dragging them from one drive folder to another on your PC. These mini storage drives are just that, mini storage drives. Their sole purpose in life is to allow you to transfer copies of files from one location to another, or in other words, from one computer to another that aren’t networked. They are meant for temporary storage only, but I have know people who have lost their memory key long before the little charge inside dies and they lose their copied files. Do not make the mistake of thinking you will lose yours before it dies; when you do, the memory stick will die before you get a chance to lose it. Typically this kind of small storage container comes with a lariat attachment that you can click onto either a long neck lariat or a keychain. We currently stock 1G, 2G, 4G and 8G memory sticks. The average PC user won’t need more than 1G to back up their small data files, a few folders of photos and a small collection of music. If you have more than a gig of music or pictures alone, go with the next size up. These media are super affordable (we sell the 8G for about $90 right now), therefore there is no excuse not to get one anymore! The average lifespan of one memory stick (no brand specified) is roughly that of a floppy diskette, the media it was designed to replace, up to five years, but we have heard of dead memory sticks after a few months. That’s just the way it goes, therefore they should never be considered permanent, or even semi-permanent. I would use it in conjunction with CDs or DVDs I’d burn copies of my files to.
2. External Drives - a.ka. second hard drives, USB drives, external hard drives. The names are interchangable, but there is only one way they work: a second hard drive is physically screwed into a chassis case that comes equipped with a USB plug to hook up to a PC, brains to run the drive after the PC recognises the drive, and a power adaptor to plug into an outlet so it can be powered. We recommend using an an imaging software to back up your whole hard drive - not just your personal files. This is a much more effective use of an external hard drive. The drive will initially need to be partitioned when it’s first plugged in, much like a brand new floppy disk needs to be before you can save files to it, and after that, it can simply sit where it is on the desktop and act as a storage bin. The inheirant flaw with these devices is that it’s still mechanical, just like regular hard drives inside PCs, therefore they are just as apt to die from failure, too. Even more so if you’re moving it around a lot, using it as portable storage for your files. Hard drives, in general, don’t like much movement, but a big hard drive can take a bit more mobility than a small laptop drive can. Those are so fragile I don’t think I would ever trust one, and yet we have customers come in almost daily talking about using them. Again, like the memory stick, I would only consider this kind of media as a temporary backing up device solution. I would use it in conjunction with CDs or DVDs I’d burn copies of my files to. The prices for external drives vary depending upon the size of the hard drive you chose to purchase (currently we stock 80G, 120G, 250G and 500G drives - the biggest being priced at $125 for a SATA drive type), but the chassis cases range from about $18 and up. Still rather reasonable and feasible for most budgets. We also source out 1terrabyte drives from time to time for customers with special business backup needs like, for instance, digital photographers and hardcore iTune addicts, but we also get a lot of businesses that want to back up their whole servers on a regular basis and need a lot of bin storage space, so these are ideal for them. The average user probably won’t need more than an 80G external to back up their personal files, photos, and music.
3. FTP’ing Files - From time to time, inbetween burning backups of my personal files, I have been known to upload certain photo folders to our server using a FTP software that allows me to see and locate files and download them back down when I don’t need to keep copies on the server and would like to have them on my PC again. This is only for those who have access to a server to upload unlimited files for short term storage needs.

Semi Permanent Backups: Well, as permanent as you can consider a lifespan of up to 15 years roughly, that is. But, still, very affordable, very easy to use and far more reliable than the other two temporary methods already outlined.

1. CDs/DVDs - this type of media will allow you to burn personal files only from all kinds of programmes, music and photos (DVDS are great for all of those plus videos and movies). Very affordable to purchase, very affordable to use on a very regular basis, and very readily purchased from all kinds of stores. There is no excuse, kids!!! We sell cakes of 50 CDs starting at $15 and going up a few more dollars for DVDs. The only thing you will need to have to do these kinds of backups is a burning software. We recommend Nero a lot, but it’s not free. But, worth every penny you spend on it. You should be burning backups of your files as often as you are comfortable with depending upon how often you create or modify your files, or depending upon how healthy you feel your PC is at any given time. I personally do backups roughly every four months, but I do more surfing than creating so I don’t need to worry that much. However, if I were creating work for a business or client, I would be backing up far more frequently than that, let me tell you. All of the files that are truly important to me for work are at work and are imaged to our server nightly, and all of the files that are truly important to me at home are already backed up on temporary devices till such time that I do a burn session to back them up more permanently. I have been known to back up every three months, and I have been known to back up every six months as the years have gone by, but never have I ever gone without my files. There is always a copy of my CDs kicking around my desk at all times. You should take out the same insurance policy. Trust me, the stress and heart attack you will feel when your PC is sick just isn’t worth it. Taking a few minutes to burn backups is, however. How exactly you create your burn session will depend upon what burning software you chose to run on your PC. I don’t know how to burn in all of them. Sorry.
2. Ghosting/Imaging Software: There are many companies who wisely chose to purchase software to ‘ghost’ or ‘image’ their whole server to backup storage bins nightly. These are companies who cannot afford to lose any of their important data files. The various software out there today is readily available so there simply isn’t any reason or excuse not to employ this backing up system. For the average PC user at home, this is overkill, unless you run a small business from home and need to be back up and running within 20 minutes of drive failure.

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I hope that helps some of you to understand just how important backing up files really is and how easy it is to figure out a method that will work best for you on a regular basis. Like I said under CDs/DVDs, all burning software isn’t created to work the same way, therefore I can’t help you with how to burn. The software you chose, if it’s worth its price, will help you figure out how to create and burn a session very easily by walking you through the steps before you burn to your first disk media.

(Information in this post is subject to proofing and correcting by the PC guru himself, so don’t panic if any of it changes suddenly on the fly. He has 20 years on me where computers are concerned.)

Christmas, for Joe and his family and me, is done. Over. It all went down last night, and aside from some annoyances, it went well and was a nice time had by all. We started yesterday off with Joe sleeping in (always a nice thing for him) and me in the kitchen baking the last batch of cookies of the season.

I saved the best for the last, too. I chose to make a phenomenal orange pistachio icebox cookie (let me know if you want the recipe) as the last gift for my MIL and my BIL, and they smelled so good, from the bedroom Joe was crying out, “Yummmmmmmmmmmm…” When I gave him a small sample, he declared them fucking awesome and stated he wanted to make love to the raw dough so that when the cookies grew up and came out of the oven, they would love him as much as he loved them. *LOL* And there was something in there about having his way with the dough too, but I forget. I’m still trying to block it out. I love my whackjob husband. Hee.

Oh, and because we work together now and Joe has very little free time at all, he didn’t get to buy me anything, BUT he did infect my computer massively with some very awesome trojans and worms by sticking his USB stick into my ‘pooter’s open port!! He must have spent close to three hours deworming my poor ‘pooter.

Sing it with me: “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a very nasty PC STD.”

How did he manage that, you ask? Well, we had a customer this week with the same massive infections and Joe used some software off his memory stick to fix that computer, and that in turn infected his memory stick, but he didn’t realise it till it was too late and my anti-virus software started squealing like a stucked pig. It was truly gross.

And I didn’t panic. Not once. Wanna know why? I.BACK.MY.FILES.UP. Regularly. There isn’t anything on Lilly that I can’t get back from my backup CDs in a few mintues aside from the original software.

Well, we’re off to do some shopping for little ole ME now. Christmas may be over for us, but my birthday is just around the corner, and Joe has some credit cards burning holes in his wallet. Let the spending begin, baby!!! First up, new socks. Then a new flannel robe. And perhaps some new tops. I might even splurge and get myself a metal cookie press if we can find one in the stores at this late date.

Anyway, if you’re still around and reading this crappy post, all the best to your and yours for a lovely, warm, safe, laughter-filled and cozy Christmas holiday. The same applies for your New Years as well.

*smooches*