Brief Break for Scans and Backups
How do you deal with digital disaster?
The first of the month has arrived, and it's time for me to take a brief break from the action and slip into maintenance mode. I have a whole laundry list of things I have to do, from verifying PayPal and charge card activity to scanning the computers for malware. That list includes cleaning junk out of the computer and fixing registry problems - or rather, letting CCleaner take care of it for me. I also back up the websites (those that aren't on WA) and make sure the computers here are also backed up as well.
The scans routinely turn up some bit of funk or another, but for the most part the computers are kept safe from malware by a firewall, Malwarebytes, Avast, and a few other gatekeepers.
My worst enemy (and highest risk activity)
Keeping the computer safe from me is another matter entirely. There have been more that a few instances where I've done some iddy-biddy (IDBD) thing to a website which brings the site down, crashing the whole thing about my head and shoulders.
Of course it has to be the site that's making the most money.
Of course it has to happen at precisely the time of day when the site's earnings are highest.
Arrggg! I think back... what did I just do? What could have caused this disaster?! I go into emergency think tank mode, hastily throwing fixes at the site - to no avail. Then, in a moment of clarity, it comes back to me - I have a site backup! It's a simple matter to blow away every file on the site and upload the backup. Presto! Relief washes over me - one of the best feelings in the world!
Murphy's Law at its best
Then there's the occasional hard drive that makes a little chirping noise, and you know your day is going to tank. Sure enough, moments later the screen goes black - or blue - it doesn't matter. You're hosed.
Once again, if you've got the base covered, you're golden. I keep a relatively recent backup of the hard drives, and make sure I can actually boot off the backups in a pinch. It's a bit of a pain to have to work off an external hard drive (s-l-o-w), but you have the makings of a recovery at hand.
How 'bout you? Do you practice safe computing? Have you got a backup prepared in case disaster strikes?
Recent Comments
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Dennis, nice and funny blog post, can you help me backup my computer,lol. ... just kidding. Yr picture of toilet rolls is very funny. :)
Thanks Jewel. I don't look forward to the first of the month, when I tackle scans & backups - so I thought I'd have a little fun with it!
Dennis
Dennis-Can you point me to somewhere I can learn to do a complete backup of my computer? I have a backup I keep updated of my WA website but guess what it is on my computer. Then how do I run a backup if my computer has crashed? I know nothing about this stuff. I was at my sons house the other day and he was looking at my website and guess what he said. Dad with all that work you have done you better back up your computer. He threw me a 16GB scan disk and that was all he said. Not wanting to show my ignorance I said you bet. So that is two people in the last few days that have mentioned this. Now I am paranoid I have to learn what to do.
Just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean the universe isn't laughing at you behind your back.
But I would be asking myself "Am I being given a message?"
Right Chris. The universe has forced me to develop a sense of humor.
Somehow that's sad...
Dennis
My apologies for adding to the paranoia Tracy! Unless you have almost nothing on your computer, 16GB won't handle a complete computer backup.
Let me know what kind of computer you're using (Mac OSx, Windows XP, Windows 7, etc.), and we'll sort out how to start making backups.
Just post a note back here and we'll go from there. It's not hard at all - it's just something many people let slide - until it bites them in the butt!
Dennis
My apologies, it's my sad sense of humour.
Getting back to your question, Prestones has covered the issue of the chip being too small. There are numerous backup options available to you.
My preference is always "the cloud", something like Google Drive (which you get with a gmail account, but I can't recall how much space you get) or Sky Drive (similar comment) or Dropbox. You need to Google these options to see what they offer.
If you want/need local and physical then my choice would be a "portable external hard drive". Get them on Amazon at stupid money (eg 1TB for $40 or 2TB for $60)
Dennis and Chris_ Thanks for the replies will try to get back here this evening to talk more. Dennis I have an HP computer with windows XP Vista. We talked a while back I had the web shield virus I posted about. Computer runs fine now that is gone. Later guys thanks.
Hi Tracy - Double check if you would. Your HP should be either XP or Vista - they're two different operating systems.
Let me know...
Dennis
Dennis- Sorry it took so long to get back to you, long day. Vista home premium is the operating system
Hi Tracy -
You'll need to get an external hard drive like the one shown at http://goo.gl/JedLuz Note that I'm not endorsing that hard drive, I know nothing about it. It seems like it should fill the bill though.
You'll also need to find out whether your version of Vista Home Premium is 32 bit or 64 bit (if you don't know already). Go to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/827218 and scroll down the page a little less than half way. You'll see a section titled "Automatic version detection results" which will tell you what you've got.
Next go to https://goo.gl/wss2Q9 and download the correct version of SyncToy (32 bit or 64 bit). Install SyncToy according to the instructions on that page. Note that you won't be able to boot your computer from the backup made by SyncToy. If your hard drive crashes, you'll have to buy and install a replacement internal hard drive for your computer and re-load Vista Home Premium before you can restore all the files and folders from the backup on the external hard drive. Also note that if your backup is very old, it won't help a great deal, since any recent work won't be on your backup, which is a drag. Only the files that pre-date the day the backup was done will be on the backup and available for restoration. Bottom line: back up fairly frequently, and certainly not less than once a month.
To make a backup, set up SyncToy to "Echo" the files on your computer's C drive (on the left side of SyncToy) to the new external hard drive (on the right side of SyncToy). The first backup will take a while (perhaps overnight), because SyncToy has to copy all the files on your computer over the USB cable. Once the first backup is done, subsequent backups will be much faster, since SyncToy only has to deal with those files which have been added, deleted, or changed.
Let me know how it goes!
Dennis
Dennis-Can not get SyncToy to download have tried three different sites. Will have to try again tomorrow.
... hate it when that happens. Perhaps try FileHippo at http://goo.gl/paFMmB
Best of luck!
Dennis
Great humour as always....do you offer all of the above as a service to you WA friends????
It's why I love my ChromeBook. No hard drive to go wrong. Everything in the cloud, accessible from anywhere and any device.
Just as a personal note, Sandi (my better half) was a drama teacher through high school and college, and loves collecting movies and TV series on DVDs.
I have to say - it is nice watching without commercial interruption. The down side is that it takes a *lot* of time to back them all up to hard drives. There are now nearly 10,000 titles in her collection!
Sadly, there isn't any SSD (in my price range) that can accommodate that much storage. Using the cloud is a possibility - but I shudder to think how long the initial back up would take. I think I'm pushing 8 terabytes now.
... come to think of it, I think I'm jealous of your ChromeBook!
Dennis
Sandi (my better half) is heavily into drama and music and all things creative, so she uses a Mac, and we use Time Machine to back up her machine. I guess you would consider her very right brained.
On the other hand, I'm very left brained - into the sciences. Despite our right - left brain disparity, we like a lot of the same things.
When you think about it, all our common interests, combined with that right / left brain symmetry thing we have going on makes it sound like we're sharing a brain!
Ouch - Dennis
Yes, maintenance is a must, I've a go to guy when I get those black outs if needed. The best thing I did was to invest in 4 mobile hard disks, one terabyte each. So I do rest quite easy.
blessings to you......
Shirley
"Go To" guys (or gals) that are good can be rare as hen's teeth, Shirley.
Count your blessings... and thanks for passing some this way!
Dennis
Hey, you, get out of my mind. It seems like we use some of the same tools, Dennis. After looking at your second image I just had to take a photo of my 'smallest room'. Is having 3 backups paranoid? ~Marion
I call our 'smallest room' the Oval Office - given the resemblance of the throne therein. I understand they also have an Oval Office in Washington DC :)
Dennis
Hey, I feel your pain!! Backups are essential!! I only keep four backups going at a time - call me paranoid but I have been doing computer systems work for almost 30 years and once you have been bitten by the blue screen of death you learn....
Hopefully, after the wailing and the gnashing of teeth quiets down, the idea of having a backup or two begins to take root.
Been there, done that, got the tee shirt...
Dennis
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Thanks for the share!
Sami
You bet Sami!
These are the mundane tasks (but very necessary imho)!
Dennis