Carbonite back up: Anybody tried Carbonite? I paid the $60 and thought everything was fine, then reformatted my hard drive. They restored everything except my photos! :thumbdown:...

DJ Mills Loc: Idaho

Anybody tried Carbonite? I paid the $60 and thought everything was fine, then reformatted my hard drive. They restored everything except my photos! :thumbdown:

Meanwhile their Help department has been unresponsive.

AK Dreamer Loc: Alaska & Nevada

Yes...lost everything and all was restored within 24 hours. Had to re-install my programs but all documents and photos restored by Carbonite. I still utilize an external hard drive as well.

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

Your best bet is keep your $60 and invest in an external USB hard drive for backup. I use two internal hard drives and everything from one drive is mirrored on the other. Carbonite has many complaints and they are not responsible if they lose everything for you. Remember the old saying .... if you want it done right, do it yourself.

Read this review --> http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Carbonite

Just my two cents. lol

Paw Paw Bill Loc: d

I use Carbonite without any problems. Carbonite only backs up the folders that you have specified. I select all my folders. If you generated a new folder for your pictures without selecting it for Carbonite backup, you could potentially lose those. If you create a new folder inside a Carbonite selected folder then it gets backed up.

wcobon Loc: Chester County Pennsylvania

I use Mozy. I've had it for a little over a year now and although I have not had the necessity to use it, I'v'e had no problems or glitches. I researched Carbonite and found that they had some issues, that's why I went with Mozy

CamObs Loc: South America (Texas)

I use a RAID system with 2 backup drives. Don't trust "the cloud".

rpinnell

I have used Carbonite for about a year now on my home PC and my laptop. I also have it on the 2 computers at work. I can access any of the files from any computer which is very helpful at times. Carbonite doesn't back up all of your files unless you specifically set it up that way. I have 2 internal drives on my home PC and put all my music and pictures on one drive Carbonite has backed up almost 750Gb on this PC alone. I still use a USB portable for some stuff but I feel very safe with Carbonite. I have always been able to search and find what I am looking for on my backup with them.

tinosa Loc: Grand Rapids Michigan

Carbonite saved thousands of my photos a few months ago when my hard drive died. I can understand not wanting to trust ones precious data to an outside source, in fact I now backup my stuff to an external drive AND carbonite. Lightning strikes can jump surge suppressors and houses are destroyed by several natural causes.

ThePapaJohn Loc: All over the world.. Currently WA

tinosa wrote:

Carbonite saved thousands of my photos a few months ago when my hard drive died. I can understand not wanting to trust ones precious data to an outside source, in fact I now backup my stuff to an external drive AND carbonite. Lightning strikes can jump surge suppressors and houses are destroyed by several natural causes.

Hitting the nail on the head! 3 Copies for me. Working Directory, External Hard Drive and Online = OFF SITE backups.

If you setup Carbonite correctly, your data will be backed up. I use it to give me that final check.

After a buddy's house burnt to the ground (along with his external hard drives and computer) I can't stress the importance of having your data in two different locations. Carbonite can give you that extra location ~ again, set it up correctly.

I don't trust all the reviews from just anyone ~ sometimes a competitor posts to pull the overall stats down / someone that doesn't want to admit that they made mistakes blames it on the product / etc.. If I'm seeing a negative review, that does make some clear points of fault, I check to see if that person has reviewed anything else ~ sometimes the true colors can be seen.

Kinda like a Canon biased guy slamming Nikon, or a Nikon guy slamming on Canon... There are Pros and Cons to each... Same thing goes with Carbonite and other "cloud" services..

Coops Place Loc: Chicago Area

My grandson's laptop was hit by a virus. Lost everything. Had to re-install windows 7. He had about 120 gigs of stuff (music, pictures and whatever). When I downloaded the stuff from carbonite, I couldn't find the pictures. I know that I had them, because of the volume added to the laptop hard drive. After working with carbonite, I found all the pictures as they were all hidden. I understand a few things about administrative rights and permissions with windows, but working my way through this issue was a pain.

I personally have all my pictures and personal stuff backed up on two separate hard drives. These hard drives are on only during backup. Someday, I may regret not having an off site backup.

drobbia Loc: Near Middletown, CA

100% agree -I dont trust "the cloud"for my photos - for images sold or on going project I make a copy on disk as well as external drive and put the disk in fireproof protection - TG

authorizeduser wrote:

Your best bet is keep your $60 and invest in an external USB hard drive for backup. I use two internal hard drives and everything from one drive is mirrored on the other. Carbonite has many complaints and they are not responsible if they lose everything for you. Remember the old saying .... if you want it done right, do it yourself.

Read this review --> http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Carbonite

Just my two cents. lol

wingincamera Loc: Spanaway, Washington

I don't use Carbonite or the cloud, just two external drives for backups.
One problem I heard about using cloud type backups is to check your internet provider and know if there is any band width restrictions for uploads or downloads.
There was an article in the paper about a user who used one of the cloud type back programs and he exceeded his allowed band width and his provider terminated his contract (read the fine print). A few years ago one of my friends posted something on his web site that got sent around the country with everyone linking to it and he experience over a $1000.00 in charges for excessive band width use.
Just something to know about.

gjtoth Loc: Louisville, Kentucky, USA

I have two back-ups to external drives and have a webhost which I use for backing up my photos, my gallery, run a forum, and other stuff. My stuff gets mirrored every night, automatically, by using a simple script. The webhost costs me $45 a year and I have unlimited space. They, in turn, back-up to redundant on-site servers and off-site servers.

artfuldiver Loc: Clearwater, Florida

I keep all my pictures on an external HD and back that up with 2 other external HD's and just run a back up on the oldest every Sunday night but am considering buying software to to the B/U automatically.....Just my 2 cents

DJ Mills Loc: Idaho

Thanks for your thoughts. $60 a year is not too much for something that works (Carbonite), but it has really been a hassle. I think I am finally finding my old pics. An external hard drive sure sounds attractive. I'm not sure a hard drive PLUS some off-site service don't make the best combination.