It's International Data Backup Day

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/17/2005 10:18:24 AM · #1

Ok, I made that up.

But why not? Let's declare at least two times a year, to do full data backups. Starting today, May 17. The next one will be November 17th. Yes, twice is not enough, but it's better than zero, which I am sure, is the number of full backups done by many.

Why not join me?

Details (if you don't already have your own backup process): I am using Nero Backitup, which allows me to easily select a "root folder", and backup everything underneath, automatically spanning CD-Rs or DVD-Rs as you go. I backup data only. If my hard drive goes, I'm going to have to reinstall applications and the OS, but that's something I have original discs for and don't need backups. (Nero Backitup is an application within the very nice Nero CD Burning ROM suite).

Further, you might consider making two sets: one for offsite, and another for onsite. For those of you who prefer to use "extra" hard drive backups--remember, keep one of those offsite, should something unthinkable happen to your apt/house.

Lastly, I catalog my CDs when its done using "WhereIsIt"? That way, I can open the catalog, quickly see where a particular file is backed up (how many times, which set it's in, where the set is, and even see a thumbnail and description).

So please, give yourself a present on "international data backup day" and backup your data. You may thank yourself someday

...this has been a free public service announcement...

Edit: deleted redundant text.

Message edited by author 2005-05-17 10:33:37.

soup

Canon EOS-30D

05/17/2005 10:23:14 AM · #2

i have full confidence that my system will not fail !

joking of course. it's too nice out today to spend it all spinning CD's

strangeghost

Canon EOS-7D

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

05/17/2005 10:24:24 AM · #3

Good idea. I just did a full backup yesterday. With hard drives as cheap as they are today, there's no excuse not to be backed-up.

I run mine once a week, usually on the weekend.

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

05/17/2005 10:26:40 AM · #4

Originally posted by soup:

it's too nice out today to spend it all spinning CD's

So true. I back up once a week myself. I never do a full backup though. Software I can reinstall. I use a little program called syncback and have set it up to back up my e-mails, bookmarks, and photos on a weekly basis at a certain time every week on three seperate hard drives. It does it for me so I don't have to think about it.

If you are interested in such a program Syncback is free and it is here.

//www.snapfiles.com/freeware/system/fwbackup.html

third one down.

Message edited by author 2005-05-17 10:28:19.

justine

Canon EOS-50D

05/17/2005 10:28:18 AM · #5

Originally posted by strangeghost:

Good idea. I just did a full backup yesterday. With hard drives as cheap as they are today, there's no excuse not to be backed-up.

I run mine once a week, usually on the weekend.

In the interest of education..
What software do you use?
What all do you back up?
I'm always afraid I won't back up the one file I'll need or
I'll sit and spin while backing up things that aren't needed.

Canon EOS-20D

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

05/17/2005 10:28:34 AM · #6

Good idea. I am horribly bad at backing things up properly, even after having lost everything on the first computer. I'll get on that today!

05/17/2005 10:31:45 AM · #7

I should clarify that syncback doesn't backup my e-mail and bookmarks. I do this myself to one drive then syncback does the rest of the work for me. It sync's all three of my hard drives with what I select with the same thing. Basically though you can set it up to do this when you are not there and it can mirror a whole drive if needed. I backup my photos, e-mail, contacts, bookmarks, and any personal files. No need to backup software that you can reinstall imo. Also I do a backup DVD once a month to keep off site.

Message edited by author 2005-05-17 10:39:52.

Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX Diagonal Fisheye for Nikon

05/17/2005 10:36:38 AM · #8

I edited my text below to emphasize the "offsite" backup (that's actually what I am doing right now, not a regular full backup). If something unthinkable were to happen to your house or apt, you don't want to lose your data. The hard drive failure or virus is more likely, but the offsite backup is insurance against a total disaster.

muckpond

Nikon D200

05/17/2005 10:39:36 AM · #9

i use dantz retrospect for backing up.

it's kind of over-the-top for home use, but it's what i use for work and it made sense to keep working in the same tool in both places.

what i like most about it is that it will compare the backup catalog with the drive that it is backing up (i have it set to back up just my "My Documents" folder, which includes all of my pictures) and only backs up new files or those that have changed since the last backup run.

i'm still having a difficult time cataloging all of my photos into related groupings. i have been trying to do that with ACDSee so they are at least generally grouped, but i have yet to find a tool does what i want.

what i would like is a tool that allows me to catalog my photos (with subjects or keywords or the like), keeps a thumbnail on my hard drive, and lets me note WHERE the photo is stored (i.e. "Photo Backup Disc #13") in my personal backup collection. if anyone knows of a tool similiar to this, i would be forever in your debt.

rob

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

05/17/2005 10:40:44 AM · #10

There are also website pay services so you can upload to them and they keep a backup offsite for you. Don't have any links though.

strangeghost

Canon EOS-7D

05/17/2005 10:42:37 AM · #11

Originally posted by justine:

I run a Mac household (4 networked Macs) so my software probably won't help you, but it's a shareware program called "Sync" that works like a dream. Fully customizable, can run scheduled backups though I don't use it that way. Great program for something like $20.

buzzmom

Panasonic DMC-FZ20

05/17/2005 10:43:11 AM · #12

is it really???? great!!! i was waiting for today....

buzzmom unplugs cpu...puts it in closet next to the ones from years past...runs out to computer store buys new cpu and plugs it in

yipee a fresh 80 gig!!!

Message edited by author 2005-05-17 10:43:53.

thatcloudthere

Canon EOS-1D

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM

05/17/2005 10:45:24 AM · #13

Originally posted by muckpond:

what i would like is a tool that allows me to catalog my photos (with subjects or keywords or the like), keeps a thumbnail on my hard drive, and lets me note WHERE the photo is stored (i.e. "Photo Backup Disc #13") in my personal backup collection. if anyone knows of a tool similiar to this, i would be forever in your debt.

Yeah, me too...sounds simple enough, doesn't it?

I just bought a DVD burner last night...I backed up all of my Europe photos onto a DVD (almost 4GB) and then realized I still had another 80 or so photos on the card in my camera! So after 2 hours of burning I realized that my 'archive' is incomplete!!

Oh well...by the way, is it normal for it to take 2 hours to burn 3.8GB of data on to a DVD?

05/17/2005 10:47:51 AM · #14

For muckpond:

Whereisit?

Shareware, so you can try it. It's not an image cataloging program, it's a backup cataloging program but it does thumbnails for images, as well as descriptions embedded into other files.

I have many terabytes of discs cataloged with it, and it's never failed me. Been using it for 5+ years. They update it monthly, and the updates are free and easy.

buzzmom

Panasonic DMC-FZ20

05/17/2005 10:49:03 AM · #15

i dont think it should take that long to burn it...is your usb port maybe not 2.0??? and by the way I went silver camera too...can i join the club????

05/17/2005 10:56:18 AM · #16

Mike: What speed is your DVD burner? What software are you using? Hopefully, not Windows XP's built in packet burning (treating the DVD as a regular disc). Packet (incremental) burning in my experience is a risky proposition for the data already on the disc.

Check out the free 30 trial of Nero burning suite (www.nero.com).

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

05/17/2005 10:58:49 AM · #17

Originally posted by thatcloudthere:

Oh well...by the way, is it normal for it to take 2 hours to burn 3.8GB of data on to a DVD?

Man I burn 2gb last night and it took about 5 min. using nero

Message edited by author 2005-05-17 10:59:02.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

05/17/2005 11:00:29 AM · #18

USB 2.0 - 4.7GB in 12 minutes, 30 minutes for burn and verify

(1.8 GHZ cpu, 256MB RAM - these may be factors in the speed of the burn as well)

thatcloudthere

Canon EOS-1D

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM

05/17/2005 11:04:18 AM · #19

Originally posted by nshapiro:

It's up to 8x...my laptop is a few years old and doesn't have USB 2.0, I don't think.

The burner came with Nero software which I used to burn the DVD. It said the estimated time was about five minutes but the 5 minutes went by and it ended up taking over 2 hours.

!?!

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM

05/17/2005 11:11:02 AM · #20

Originally posted by thatcloudthere:

Are you using 8x or better media? DVD burners detect media speed and burn at that speed. Also, USB1 can be slow. And if you have nero set up to cache the data on hard drive first, that adds a lot of time. With burners that have buffer underrun protection (most DVD burners do, I think), you can turn off local caching in Nero.

If that doesn't help, use the Nero "toolkit" if you have that, including Nero Drivespeed, to test your drive and make sure it's configured right.

thatcloudthere

Canon EOS-1D

05/17/2005 11:12:43 AM · #21

Also, I bought the DVD burner because my hard drive is full. Out of 30GB, it has about 150MB of free space left. I'm not kidding!

Everything is running slowly right now...would this affect the burning time as well, I guess?

kawesttex

Apple iPhone 11 Pro

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/17/2005 11:19:37 AM · #22

I use an external DVD burner also on my older laptop, no USB 2.0. But I bought a 2 port PCMCIA card USB 2.0, works great. About 8 to 10 minutes for 3.5 gig.

(edit) Added amount of time to burn

Message edited by author 2005-05-17 11:24:19.