Re: OT: Backup Software Recommendations

Thus spake Rudeney <rudeney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> :

Ms Simba wrote:
Backup Software

I went and bought an external drive with 320 Gigs from Target. Now I
want to backup most of my hard drive onto it. I am running Windows
2000. What software is relatively cheap (under $99), easy to
understand, and a good product?

I called today to a data recovery place in Minneapolis about getting
the photos of my hard drive that crashed in 2005. They told me that
the price would start at about $800!! I asked them about the places
that advertise doing it for $300. They replied that these places use
software to try to retrieve the data and that by trying to do this
with software that there would be a possibility that this could harm
my "crashed" hard drive even further.

So again any recommendations for backup software?

Just a few comments:

The drive you bought from Target may come with its own backup software.
Most all Western Digital drives do, and it's pretty decent, although
it seems to lack one feature, which is the ability to boot from the
external drive and perform an automatic recovery. Still, it's easy to
use and works well so that your data is protected.

You say your hard disk "crashed"? In my experience, modern hard drives
really don't crash in the old traditional sense. Usually, the failure
is software related. Some part of Windows becomes corrupt. In this
case, the drive can often be connected to a working computer as a
secondary drive and the data can easily be recovered just by copying the
files. The second most common hard drive failure is with its onboard
controller circuit. If the drive does not "spin up" at all, then it's
likely that this is the culprit. You may be able to buy a replacement
board, or, buy the exact same hard drive and swap the boards. Often,
this is all those expensive recovery centers actually do. If the drive
makes a lot of unusual noise, then it could be a bearing or servo
failure, in which case it can often be repaired, but only by those
expensive services.

A spindle bearing is normally considered a non recoverable defect. It
can only be corrected in a clean room and by that time the cost is so
high you might as well have bought a couple of dozen drives. But the
failure is obvious for at least a week in advance, sometimes as much
as a month or more.

I did have one disk crap out after sitting around for three weeks. It
was pretty old to begin with and wouldn't spin up. But if I tapped it
a few times when I turned the machine on it would come right up. But
this is a non recoverable error and you should pull off everything on
the drive. Or plan on whacking on the drive every time you power up.


Finally, as for saving your precious data, all I can say is one copy is
not enough, and two probably isn't either. I'm not sure how many backup
copies will be "enough", but hopefully you'll never need to know that.
Here's what I do. First, I have a removable hard drive that runs a
weekly backup of all my critical data. Then, about once a month, I copy
my critical data to DVD-RAM discs and store them in a fireproof safe
designed for computer media. I figure if there is an emergency where I
have to evacuate my home, I can just grab the removable hard drive and
run. If I don't have an opportunity to do that, then I have my backups
in the safe. I use DVD-RAM because it is much more reliable than CD-R
or DVD-R media. Those type have no error-correction, where DVD-RAM
does. Of course you'll need a drive capable of writing DVD-RAM media.
Also, if you intend to store these disks in a safe, make sure it's rated
for protecting computer media and/or photographic negatives. Most
fireproof safes are designed to keep paper from combusting, but may get
hot enough to melt plastics.

I have a DLT drive. 25 GB on a tape. Fortunately, I only have about
600 GB, which I back up once a quarter. Everything else is
incremental.
--
dillon

Elvis is still dead
.

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