I have a what I thought a pretty good backup plan. I use Crashplan ( free and highly recommended) www.crashplan.com to backup my files to an external drive. This works well and I occasionally test the backup by restoring individual files picked randomly and opening them.. I also use a copy program that copies all my working files ( My documents folder) to another external drive. This copy program runs everyday at 7am, it generates a log file and emails it. The email subject is (failed) if it doesn’t work, so I assume that it is fine until I see error email.
I was looking for a file copy program for a customer and came across Microsoft SyncToy, I tested it and it’s pretty good, but it reported a few thousand files that we newer on my computer than on my external drive. I thought buggy Microsoft program and promptly forgot it.
Boredom snuck in the other night, nothing on TV, Foxtel cancelled so no 200 channels of Trash, I started to do some routine IT maintenance. Checked the emailed Logs of the copy program and it reports everything fine, no files copied.
Hmm Interesting, check the logs a few days earlier, the same result, check back a month, the same result. What’s going on.. I made a new file in the my documents folder and then ran the file copy program, reported success, but the new file was not on the external drive?
Went to my Tech toolkit. Karen’s Replicator. www.karenware.com this program works great and has saved my butt a number of times. I ran that and “Karen” discovered a few thousand files NOT copied. Dump copy program and use Karen’s Replicator, System back to copying and backup tested and passed.
People ask me about backups every now and then, I ask them a few questions. What is the threat you are protecting against? How old is your computer? The threat is usually computer failure. That’s an easy one. Buy a big drive and use Crashplan. Test once a month and be vigilant to any messages you get from Crashplan. If theft is the concern, a big drive and use Crashplan and have it backup to the cloud, or another drive that you lock up somewhere or take off site.
Why do I use a copy drive as well? Added security, photography is my addiction and I have thousands of images and adding to them all the time. The external drive is a quick and easy way to have an exact copy of a file. VERY occasionally I have damaged the original image and then grab the additional copy to replace it.
What is the moral of the story? You are wasting your time unless you test backups and file copies regularly.
Email me with your backup strategy. mc@thin.com.au I would love to see what other people do!