Online backup

[mjbjr]

I currently use a 2tb internal drive for backing up music,pics,movies etc etc.I also use carbonite to back these same files up as a precaution.But ran across this today from them.

"9. Can I use Carbonite to free up space on my hard drive?

No. Carbonite is online backup – not online storage. It is meant to be a backup of the files that are on your computer – not a place to store files in order to free up space on your hard drive. If you remove any file from your hard drive, we wait 30 days for you to recover it, and then we delete that file from our servers, too."

The odds of me losing files is probably extremely low,but has happened.I somehow lost all seasons of andy griffith show and took for ever to find them again since carbonite deleted them on their side.Is there another way to backup these files and they not be deleted if i delete them on my side by accident?

I currently have 1.34 tb of space left on my internal drive,243 gb backed up on carbonite with another 64 gb remaining to be backed up. Renewing carbonite in Sept is an option but looking for something that will keep it regardless of if its deleted on my side.

[mdulrich]

Burn to DVDs

Mike

[n5ims]

Get an additional hard drive that's external to your computer (actually two or three to rotate would be better) and back up your files to that and place it into a safe deposit box (or other safe location that's not too close to your house). Your files will be available if your computer crashes, a virus wipes out all of your files, or even a meteor smashes your whole house to dust.

With multiple external drives, you would make a backup and take it to the bank, bringing the old (or oldest if you have more than 2) back home. (Need a quick file that's rather old, get it from the local copy.) When it's time for the next backup, repeat the process with the local copy. You'll always have your files available even if the worst happens. Just time your backup tasks to minimize your loss of important files.

Also plan how you want to backup your files carefully. If you only want a true backup (the files you have are what you want to keep and those that you delete you want gone) then a simple copy of your current drive (or better yet a true backup program, which will often allow even the OS to be restored) will work. If you have files that you still want to keep, but may have deleted them to free up space you'll need to make your copy process aware of them so they're not wiped out with the next backup process.

Another tip is to make sure your disk is as organized as possible. If you save files whereever they land it'll be more difficult to automate the process. If you're careful and keep them in specific folders, you can more easily automate that process (especially with files that you want to keep on the backup, but not on your computer's drive, but still only with careful attention to where you place them and/or how you name the folders).

[kb2vxa]

What he said, only a simplified version. My backup is a 2tb USB3 drive and the backup software Acronis True Image that put compressed images of two internal drives in two separate folders along with last month's backups in two more folders. I just delete the contents of the old folders, move the contents of the new folders into the old ones, and run backup again creating new files in the new folders. I copied some folders uncompressed for ready reference so I don't have to do a complete drive restore to recover them. That drive is so HUGE I have plenty of room to spare.

Now to the really important part, to me renewing Carbonite is NOT an option. Can't you see that red flag staring you in the face? How does Carbonite know what's on your computer??? SPYWARE! There's no guarantee you won't be spied upon by another off site backup company so if off site storage and/or backup is what you want keep another USB drive off site in a secure location.

As for Carbonite, I'd JUMP to removing all traces of installed software which goes beyond the usual removal tools, more often than not they leave things behind. Find the folder (C drive by default) the installer created and take note of its location, it may have the name of the parent company so you may have to look inside "the usual suspects" to identify it. Then use your removal tool and check if that folder is still there with some contents left behind, if so delete it.

BTW, it's wise to familiarize yourself with your drive contents so you know what those folders are and what's in them. No harm looking, it's tampering that does the damage.

[Scan-Denver]

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