DISQUS

Emily · 7 months ago

That is so sad : ( But sometimes it takes "natural dissasters" to teach us the fun lessons in life. I have an external hard drive, and I love it. I just keep it with my dissaster kit in my closet and whenever I need to back something up I grab it and then put it right back where it was.

Darlene · 7 months ago

I had heard all the horror stories of online scrapbookers, of which I am one, who lost everything when experiencing computer problems. Once I went to digital photos I 'knew' I needed an external hard drive but just kept putting it off. About 8 weeks ago I found one on sale, bought it and backed up my computer. Less than 3 weeks ago I had computer problems that forced me to use my Recovery disc & it wiped my computer clean! I sat in panic thinking of all the things I would have lost! So much preparedness information as well as personal things. I am still finding software that I had downloaded online but never bothered to back up on a CD so I would have a 'hard copy'...trust me.. do it! Anyway...even with my external hard drive I decided to use Mozy; mostly because of Jodi's recommendation here. I signed up and began the backup process. It seemed to be taking a long time, which I had been advised of when registering. But to aleave my fears I emailed Mozy support. I had a prompt reply to my question plus I asked a second question...Mozy could not have given better customer service! I had several follow up emails..."Were all my concerns addressed, did I have any further issues that they could help with and to never hesitate to contact them with any problems or questions". This excellent experience with Mozy makes me feel confident that my files are doubly protected. Thanks Jodi!!
And PLEASE if you are not backed up and protected do it immediately; nothing will make you cry like losing precious information/photos/records would do.
Best to All,
Darlene

Joyce · 7 months ago

Thanks for sharing this.:) We have had a couple of crashes in the past too. Not fun.

Nice meeting you, Mike!
Joyce

Jean Colarusso · 6 months ago

You were so right! I love that ... but sad for your husband and his files. Now that your husband has been a guest blogger he is sure to be hooked!

Michael · 6 months ago

Thanks for sharing but don't lose hope. There are companies that can easily retrieve your data from a crashed hard drive. It isn't cheap but if the data is important to you it can be recovered.

Also while saving online is a good step, it is only a middle step. The "cloud" can go down as well, so you save online and then you backup offline. That way even if the "cloud" goes down (i.e. your online storage) you still have an accessible backup.

Jodi -- Food Storage Made Easy · 6 months ago

Michael, we looked into trying to retrieve the data and they said it would be $1400 to try to get anything off of it. The company Mike works for decided the files weren't worth THAT much. I agree with you about having an alternative backup offline as well. Mike actually did have some of his personal files backed up but his disc drive has also recently stopped working. So much for that unbreakable Mac eh? I hate backing up to discs so at least Mozy keeps me somewhat covered if I accidentally wait a few months or years in between my backups!

Cari · 6 months ago

Here's my own computer emergency horror story.... I too, use a mac and have never had a problem. I keep everything on my computer, and as a graphic designer, even all my client artwork files are there.

Well, when I received my first babysteps checklist and it said "don't skip backing up your computer on Mozy" I thought I was fine, because I have an external drive to back up. In this story, my unbreakable Mac was just fine. It was the double deadbolt on my back door that was broken. We came home from a day trip to find our home had been broken into and they had taken my laptop, my husband's laptop and two work computers, and the backup drive. All of our data was gone forever.

Thankfully, I had recently saved the past 6 years of photos onto CDs, so I only lost this last year of photos (the whole life of my baby, now 10 months old). The computers were not worth that much but we lost hours and hours of work and so many photos that cannot be replaced. I never thought this could happen to me. But I will be backing up my computer from now on! Love this site. Thanks for all the great info.

Cari · 6 months ago

One more thought... I can't remember if this is in the Emergency Binder or not (my links and downloads of the first several babysteps e-mails were lost too!). You might want to consider keeping serial numbers, a photo, and receipts of your jewelry and high-end electronics/computers/valuables in the event of a home theft or fire/water damage for your insurance. We spent days trying to look up this information so we could file with the insurance company. Since this happened to us, we've heard of so many others who experienced home invasions. It's much more common than you might think, and in nice neighborhoods too.

Sandi · 6 months ago

"...I happily agreed to let her sign up for Mozy." Really? I hope this was a slip of the fingers.

Jodi -- Food Storage Made Easy · 6 months ago

Not sure what you mean by this ... if you think it's weird that he is "letting" me sign up for something? My husband and I are on a tight budget so we discuss all expenditures big or small. When I told him about Mozy he agreed with me that it was a good idea for me and that I should sign up. I think that's all he was saying here. Hope that makes it clearer!