The important thing is to PLAN AHEAD. Your back up is not complete if it’s not:
1. Automatic (Use Time Machine and this point is covered)
2. Redundant (Double your back up with a clone of your data or use an off-site back up and this point is covered)
3. Off-Site (Take your double back up off-site or get Mozy or CrashPlan Pro and this point is covered)
If you’d like to sign up for Mozy or CrashPlan Pro, we have links to those services, including the hard to find free 2GB Mozy account. We also strongly recommend LoJack for Laptops.
http://www.macmedics.com/mozy (Use code “BESTOFMONTH″ for 10% off paid service)
http://www.macmedics.com/crashplan
http://www.macmedics.com/lojack
We’ve been over this before, but here on the front lines of data loss we see this just about everyday. It’s senseless the number of pictures, school papers, financial and business documents, and music get lost when a back up system can be had for as little as $129!
You need to make your back up system automatic, or use a program like Time Machine. That’s the first step. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY can keep up with a “manual” drag-n-drop back up! To boot, quite a bit of the data loss we see here at MacMedics happens when someone copies over important data during a drag-n-drop Finder copy. Sometime, folks think they have the data copied, but something goes wrong and they just end up with an alias, then they go and delete the original data, because they think they just copied it.
The second step is to regularly test that back up to ensure your files are there and you’re able to grab them anytime you need them. There’s no such thing as a “Set-It-And-Forget-It” back up system. You can check you Time Machine back up by holding “OPTION” when you click on Time Machine menu icon. This will “VERIFY” your current back up to ensure it does not have a problem that is detectable by the built-in check.
Also, don’t forget that Time Machine hard drives, AND Time Capsules live a hot and hard life. The Time Machine process is tough on hard drives, so after three or four years of loyal service, you should retire your Time Machine hard drive and turn that drive into a backup of your backup.
If you need help getting your back up set up, our advice is free, and we have external portable and desktop hard drives in stock!
If you have data you care about it needs to be backed up! Just because your computer is new or you just replaced the hard drive offers you very little protection. Hard drives can die at any time, and in fact there’s an increased risk of that occurring in the first 30 to 60 days of a hard drives’ life.
See our website http://www.HardDrivesDie.com for more info on “retiring” older drives and ensuring you have a safe back up.
The pictures we take are the most cherished and valuable items on most computers. Make sure the pictures you take this year make it onto your back up system as soon as you import them onto your computer. Also, as an added tip: Don’t have iPhoto delete your pictures off you camera. Leave them in two places, in iPhoto AND on your camera until you have them BACKED UP. You ALWAYS want to have your valuable data in TWO PLACES at all times.
Be sure to read the Blog clipping we link to titles “The 9 things we wish we did before our house burned down” You can find that here.
