Computer down

[aelfie]

I got the BSOD when I booted my computer last night after dinner. Oh Man!

My computer has been doing a long slow slide to death, it didn't surprise me, but the suddenness irked me.

Especially since I hadn't backed up in like a month and I had a buttload of stuff I'd added to my hard drive.

I spent the next 45 minutes trying to boot in safe mode, booting Joe's computer so I could access the network terrabyte hard drive (and failing), trying to find out what I hadn't backed up, and successfully uploading all the pictures to an online service (the really critical files, everything else is recoverable, annoying, but recoverable).

Joe eventually got home, got the backup thingy functioning, and I spent the evening backing up everything else. I even remembered to back up my bookmarks!

So we are down to one functional computer. Joe will attempt to beat my computer into submission this weekend, and if unsucessful, I'll get a laptop.

Comments

[urbear]

Sorry to hear about this. My whole career revolves around backup applications, but I'll spare you the smug lecture about regular backups.

Next best thing to a traditional backup is an online backup application. I'm compelled to mention my own employer's product, Norton Online Backup, but there are others that work well too. Some of them (Mozy, for example) offer a free version with limited storage space; that may be enough to keep you happy. I use NOB, of course, and it works beautifully... it's very simple to set up, totally automatic and completely unobtrusive. These applications protect just your personal documents, not the entire machine, so recovery isn't quite as fast as a conventional backup would be... but at least you're in no danger of losing anything irreplaceable.

[aelfie.livejournal.com]

I've been looking into those online services. If I get the new computer, it comes with it for a year (but I'll keep it up after that). It always makes sense to me to have offsite backups. Now to convince Joe of this.

But, since we have the networked drive thingy (Made by Buffalo) what I really want is a program to use with the dumb thing. Something that will automatically do backups of designated folders. Is there such a thing?

[urbear]

Oh, sure. You're talking about a classical backup application. Again, I'm compelled to mention one of my employer's products... Norton Ghost. It can back up to your Buffalo network attached storage device, can be set to run on a scheduled basis, and can use disk imaging to create a backup that will recover everything on your PC in one step. I can get it for you for $15, if you like.

Another popular choice: Acronis True Image. But there are literally hundreds of backup applications, of varying degrees of reliability and usability. There's a good chance that the Buffalo device came with something, or that some other bit of hardware came with a backup app.

[aelfie.livejournal.com]

I'll take a copy of your product and we can call it a Yule present if you like! =)

[urbear]

Sold! It's ordered and on its way. Bizarrely, our internal sales process results in a physical box being shipped rather than a simple download, so it'll arrive via UPS ground. I'll send you the tracking number as soon as they generate it.

[mollygm.livejournal.com]

Well, Joe knows that putting all your personal, important information online just invites thieves, right? Oh, Joe...