I'm crushed & need recommendations please (Page 8): I use DROP BOX which is cloud based and it is free.

Old Tom Loc: South Fort Myers

I use DROP BOX which is cloud based and it is free.

shelty Loc: Medford, OR

When I come back from a photo shoot, the first thing I do is copy them on a dvd. I also have two back-up drives - one external and the other internal.

wlgoode Loc: Globe, AZ

PAB20 wrote:

Thanks SharpShooter. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

Recently, another poster (my porous memory won't let me credit the poster by name) suggested a technique I like and plan to copy. Fire and theft being the main risks: use a small external drive inside to back up photos, keep a larger (1TB) in a shed away from the house. Periodically bring in the shed XD, copy the inside XD back ups to it and return it to the shed.

TGanner Loc: Haines, Alaska

I do not know if this suggestion has been made (I don't have the time to review 8 pages of comments), but I had a similar situation once. and found if you put the hard drive in the freezer and get it really cold, the disc will shrink enough to start moving again, and you can start recovering files before it warms up enough to start jamming again. It took me a few runs, but I got my data out, and learned the value of redundancy.

Bpace Loc: Alabama

DVD is a good option but it does depend on the quality of the DVD.
I would avoid CD's , they dont last as long as DVD or Blue Ray and only hold about 700MB.

If you are starting from scratch and prefer disc storage consider a Blue Ray drive.

For hard drive based storage consider a Mybook network drive, Access it from any computer on your network or internet.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047FL85U?tag=comff-20&tag=comff-20&tag=comff-20&tag=comff-20&tag=comff-20&tag=comff-20
Or
Mybook Duo (raid)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AGI7I2O?tag=comff-20&tag=comff-20&tag=comff-20&tag=comff-20&tag=comff-20&tag=comff-20

Good info here:
http://superuser.com/questions/625720/best-media-for-long-term-backup-without-access-usb-key-vs-dvd-vs-sd-card-vs-hd

ebbote wrote:

Put them on dvd, they will last forever.

wlgoode Loc: Globe, AZ

TGanner wrote:

I do not know if this suggestion has been made (I don't have the time to review 8 pages of comments), but I had a similar situation once. and found if you put the hard drive in the freezer and get it really cold, the disc will shrink enough to start moving again, and you can start recovering files before it warms up enough to start jamming again. It took me a few runs, but I got my data out, and learned the value of redundancy.

Makes sense. Because I live in a mountain valley in AZ at about 4000', I don't worry about humidity. Although we have 4 seasons here it almost never goes below 20 degrees F for a few hours at night. Opinions?

msettanni

TGanner wrote:

I do not know if this suggestion has been made (I don't have the time to review 8 pages of comments), but I had a similar situation once. and found if you put the hard drive in the freezer and get it really cold, the disc will shrink enough to start moving again, and you can start recovering files before it warms up enough to start jamming again. It took me a few runs, but I got my data out, and learned the value of redundancy.

Amazing. . .How the hell did you figure that out?

Anna Loc: Lexington Park, So. MD

rfazzi wrote:

What's the consensus regarding flash drives for photo back up? Rich

I am hesitant to store anything I need in years to come
on a DVD since most laptops already do not supply a reader.

(Remember the ever so popular Iomega Zip disks ? Now try to find a reader, grrr).

I see a future without virtually (no pun,grin) any hardware. Now you already use "Office" from the cloud without purchasing the actual software.

PS: Flash drives will hopefully have a longer life span since USB drives are being updated as increased storage demands faster speeds.

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

I use three (3) external hard drives and back up to all three when I back up off of the computer.

bkerrell Loc: Las Vegas, NV

I use CD's, DVD's or you can save to .. ro you can even get 23 gig of data on a 'Blu-Ray disk. They are a safe 'storage media'..It might be a lot of disks, but they are safe and permanent..
Just a thought ...

cruizer Loc: Bucks Co., Pa. (USA)

Check out Carbonite for automatic online storage and backup...sign up, pay the subscription amount (reasonable IMHO)...then forget it unless you need to restore your files

PAB20 wrote:

I'm crushed as all of my photos, which were stored... (show quote)

KVM

Ok, where do find JimmyDrive? I could not find it on the computer.

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

BigBear wrote:

In addition to external drives, we back up to a Time Machine which is a router with a 1 TB drive.

Time Machine and Time Capsule are convenient and easy to use, but not "industrial strength" backups. When they fill up, they start throwing the oldest stuff overboard. A better solution is an external drive and Retrospect software (which works cross-platform, both Macs and PCs). When a Retrospect drive fills up, you get the option to add a second, third or whatever drive. Nothing ever gets thrown away. I've recovered 10-year-old files with Retrospect, and also recovered all the data from a Windows PC's backup drive to a Mac. Took all of a 10-minute phone call to make certain of the procedure to recover cross-platform.

Los-Angeles-Shooter Loc: Los Angeles

Pepper wrote:

Keeping in mind that I know very little about computers I have mine backed up on DVDs. I don't know if that is a good thing or not but thats what I do.

It's a good idea if you use archival DVDs. Lousy idea if you use ordinary DVDs. A really atrocious idea if you use the house brand of DVDs from Fry's; I have seen those start to self-destruct in as little as a few years; they are truly astonishing garbage.

Bpace Loc: Alabama

I had a similar experience years ago with Compusa CD's, the metalic layer would start flaking off after a few months in storage (indoor).
Or try http://www.mdisc.com/what-is-mdisc/

Los-Angeles-Shooter wrote:

It's a good idea if you use archival DVDs. Lousy idea if you use ordinary DVDs. A really atrocious idea if you use the house brand of DVDs from Fry's; I have seen those start to self-destruct in as little as a few years; they are truly astonishing garbage.