Sad Computer Story

["E" Sharp]

I have been accessing my email on my Iphone and since I do not know yet how to delete the previous texts when rreplying from my phone, I apologize that I am not able to delete them yet.

 

I think I fried my HP mini when I spilled some juice on it and although it lights up and all but the screen is black.  I have looked at some fixes on google and as soon as my husband recovers from his broken hip and resulting surgery, or my son takekes pity on me and takes a look at it or I might have I take it to Staples to have them look at it and see if it is work fixing. 

 

Also, my laptop is not functioning very well at all these days, and I am waiting for my son to take a look at it, and since my birthday is just around the corner,  I might be in line for a new laptop in which case I will not replace the mini.  The only thing that scares me about a new computer is how to transfer all my Ancestry information on to it.  It has XP and I would be going to Windows 8.  I have just figured out how to sign on and get mail from my spouse's computer so that will take care of my mail problem for a while.

 

So, even if you have 2 computers, don't ever think they both won't go out at the same time.  I do have most of the information on my backups.

 

"E"

[robertjm]

Sign up with SpiderOak, one of the original cloud backup systems. You get (at least) 2gb of storage free, and can set it up to automatically back your system up at a certain time of day. This way, your records are backed up outside your house. More space is available at a charge, if you need it.

Robert

[bndzim...@comcast.net]

I have  Seagate FreeAgent Go 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive to back up all my computer files.  It's set to backup once a day in the early a.m.  This way I have all my data backed up and I don't have to pay some service to back up for me.  the devise is 5"x3"x .5", nice and small.  There are newer units on the market.  cost is between $80 and $100.00 depending on the size you need.  Most services run about $100.00/yr. for 100gb of storage.  Anyway your own portable external hard drive is another option.

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[robertjm]

That's certainly an option, and I've even got several of those laying around myself. However, not to sound snarky, but that does you little good if your house burns down, is broken into or the drive goes bad. I've had the latter happen on an external drive and even if it's under warranty, the manufacturer won't try and recover your data for you, which could be an expensive proposition.

Things like research and program data backups are fairly small, being text. You can backup quite a bit within 2Gb, not to mention some of those companies will run specials on backup. I've been able to parlay freebies up to about 8gb on Dropbox by allowing them to automate a backup of digital photos taken on my smartphone to my folder on their servers. Once those pics are there I can even delete them, yet I get to keep the extra space. Win-win IMHO. You DON'T backup things like the operating system or program files. You just chalk those up to sweat equity if you have to restore a computer because you if you have a new computer, you're probably going to have a different configuration anyways.

You could maintain several external drives and then rotate them out of a safety deposit box somewhere. A little extreme? For most of us probably. However, I shutter to think of the catastrophe of losing a lifetime's research like Doug Holmes or Rosemary Capodicci might have (to name just a coupe off the top of my head). Decent sized flash drives can be had for around $30, or less, these days,and are small enough to fit on a key ring, so they'd certainly fit in the smallest of safety deposit boxes.

At the very least, print out your Family Group Sheets for your entire program in pdf format, and store that in the cloud somewhere. You'd have to key it all in, but at least you have it all to look at!

Robert

[pi...@dholmes.com]

Hi Robert,

Yea, I've lost some research worth maybe a week or a month and that alone is terrible, to say the least.

One thing I do, since I have a website, is upload critical data to a private folder on my website. I use GoDaddy and even though it can be many GBs worth, there still seems to be always room for more. I don't know if there is a limit.

A cousin of mine said he backs up data to an external drive and then rotates it to one he keeps in his car. I didn't start this idea yet, but sounds good to me.

I do use three external drives and back up everything there, too.

The main point is to start making back-ups on a regular basis. I back up my genealogy program files every time I exit the pgm. That might be 10 times in a day.

It's sometimes more convenient to just leave it running, but that has sometimes caused data loss when power goes out, or something like that.

So close it and restart.

And it's also very convenient to leave the computer on for days at a time, but Windows systems start running slowly and things get corrupted.

So rebooting daily is best and things run faster.

This is such an important topic. Nobody should ignore it or you're playing with fire.

I think it takes one large loss of data for people to really change their bad habits. I know that's what happened to me in 1997. I year I remember because I noted large data loss in my files - notes on individuals I had been gathering for years. They were suddenly gone one day. These were notes and not the family trees, so I just had to start over again for many people.

Doug da Rocha Holmes
Sacramento, California
Pico Genealogist
916-550-1618

www.dholmes.com

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[Bill Boyd]

This may sound extreme, but perhaps my backup plan can provide some ideas. I back up to multiple devices on multiple schedules to ensure I can recover. Not all work reliably. My 4tb RAID 5 NAS is awaiting a replacement unit now. Truth is, every computer component will fail at some point. The key is to have enough redundancy so that no one failure takes you down completely.

1. 2 TB WD My Book (USB)
2. 4 TB iOmega NAS (raid 5)
3. 32GB SD flash. Just leave in SD slot in computer.
4. 32GB waterproof USB. I take this with me when traveling. Plugged in before trips to get the latest.
5. 300GB SentrySafe (water/fire resistant) USB drive
6. Mozy cloud backup
7. Once a year gold DVD's

A backup program backs up and encrypts to all devices except the last three. I use program backups for FTM and Quicken to the SentrySafe and Mozy does its own thing.

It may seem extreme, but I live in the flood planes in Sacramento. I've had drives go bad and backup programs scramble data. Storage is cheap.

Oh, if you are going to leave a device in a car, remember two things:
1. Most devices aren't made for the extreme temperatures in cars.
2. Encryption is important since your car or its contents may get stolen.

I would go with a relative. I have made copies of the DVD's and kept them at my mother-in-law's house, but I've been bad at this lately.

Bill

[Cheri Mello]

Bill Boyd says the same things Dick Eastman writes about in his genealogy newsletter.  And not only is it about the back ups.  After you back up, CHECK the back up to make sure you did it properly.  You may THINK you've backed it up, but when you bring it back into your computer, you find out it's not done correctly.

And pick something (such as the 1st of the month) to do your back ups.  Do it monthly at the bare minimum.  I think Doug says he does his daily if he's been working on genealogy that day.
Cheri Mello
Listowner, Azores-Gen
Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada