Nick, I have worried about the loss of my data as well and have searched for an economical solution. For me, losing a device (e.g., by a crash or by theft) is not nearly as critical a loss as losing my data. Hardware can be replaced. Lost data, likely, cannot. But losing a hard drive also means the loss of your applications (not just data), which would have to be reinstalled unless you have a reinstallable image of your hard disk, including the operating system. I have lots of applications, some of which are just downloads with not associated physical media, which is fairly typical now.
My solution, after doing the trade-offs and comparing reviews, was to go with NovaStor's NovaBackup <http://novabackup.novastor.com/data-backup-products/pc-backup-software/> (a new startup I think) for an introductory price of about $50 for the software, but including a year's worth of technical support. What I liked especially is that they will help you set up a schedule of backups as part of the service over the internet--this support takes less than an hour. This service is not like Carbonite or CrashPlan where your data (not apps) gets backed up to the cloud, though that would be just another layer of protection. This solution is just the software to back everything up to *wherever* even Dropbox, software you will own forever (i.e., a one-time cost). I chose to back up my data and my hard disk image to a USB-connected 2 TB hard disk <http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Portable-Hard-Drive-WDBU6Y0020BBK-EESN/dp/B00DULWSXI?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s02> that I purchased from Amazon for $75. NovaStor will even help you create a boot "disk" on a flash drive if your hard disk actually crashes. Everyone should have a boot disk to recover from a corrupted operating system. However, even in this seemingly robust set up you will still be vulnerable to the so-called ransomware attacks--which are on the rise--where everything (apps and data) local or connected by a network or by USB--gets encrypted. The survival strategy for this kind of attack is to have an image stored offline [unconnected]. For this, NovaStor will show you how to save an image on a flash drive away from the attackers. High-capacity flash drives are quite cheap these days. I back up a new image to my USB-connected hard disk every week. I roll off another image backup to the offline flash drive every so often, just to be sure. In order to have NovaStor continue with support after the first year, I suspect I would have to shell out another $50, but I am not sure that I will need this. This solution is just backup software. But if it works and you have your backup schedules set up, what more needs to be done? The updates would need to be fantastic! Hope this addresses your question. Be assured that I receive no compensation from NovaStor for this review. 😊 This solution just seems to "answer the mail" for me at least. Cheers, Robert On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 9:31 PM, Nick Thompson <nickthomp...@earthlink.net> wrote: > Hi, Michael, and others, > > > > I would happily spend the money to have somebody do it for me, but I > cannot give up my machine under the current circumstances for the 3 or 4 > days that the services require. I am thinking that if I follow Jack’s > instructions, I can swap out the new hard drive and see if it works. If it > doesn’t, I am no worse off. The transfer of files could be done > overnight. > > > > All my data is up on Carbonite, but the last time I had to do this, it > took two days to download over an Ethernet connection. > > > > Nick > > > > Nicholas S. Thompson > > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology > > Clark University > > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/ > > > > *From:* Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] *On Behalf Of *Michael > Stevens > *Sent:* Tuesday, April 26, 2016 10:48 AM > *To:* friam@redfish.com > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Friam Digest, Vol 154, Issue 18 > > > > Nick, > > If you wanted to transfer only “files,” like the text of a paper, > photographs, a spreadsheet, etc. there are plenty of ways to do that. (You > probably know this, I’m not trying to insult your intelligence!) However, > if software is involved, e.g. Word, Excel, etc., I think it’s much more > complicated. What you have heard about an image is correct, but I wouldn’t > recommend that as a do-it-yourself project, particularly in a distracted > state of mind with family troubles. There are just too many little things > that could go wrong. My advice is to hire someone. Price range would most > likely be $100 - $150, but that’s only a guess. > > Best of luck, > > Mike Stevens > > Berkeley > > On Apr 26, 2016, at 9:00 AM, friam-requ...@redfish.com wrote: > > > > Send Friam mailing list submissions to > friam@redfish.com > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > friam-requ...@redfish.com > > You can reach the person managing the list at > friam-ow...@redfish.com > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Friam digest..." > Today's Topics: > > 1. Sober, clear advice needed (Nick Thompson) > > *From: *"Nick Thompson" <nickthomp...@earthlink.net> > > *Subject: **[FRIAM] Sober, clear advice needed* > > *Date: *April 25, 2016 at 11:17:38 AM PDT > > *To: *"Friam" <Friam@redfish.com> > > > > Hi, everybody, > > > > A substantial family calamity occurred in Massachusetts on Friday, on the > same day that a technician who replaced my motherboard here warned me that > my hard drive is on its last legs. I have a new hard drive sitting on my > desk from HP and HP will come install it, but under my circumstances I > cannot afford any break in my communication with My People in > Massachusetts. > > > > Here is where I need your advice. I keep being told that it is possible > to make an “image” of one’s hard drive. I imagine this means, I pay a > hundred bucks for a black box, I plug the black box into my computer, I let > it whir for a night, and then there is a copy of my hard drive on the black > box. Then, when my present hard drive dies, I have HP replace it, I plug > the black box into the computer again, let it whir for another night, and > when I wake up in the morning, resume my life exactly as it was. > > > > Is such a thing possible? Could it be done by a “citizen” (as Owen calls > us) who is much distracted by other things. Can you recommend a particular > black box. One problem that DotFoil has suggested is that my old hard > drive may have errors on it, and that transferring an “image” (if such a > thing is possible) will transfer those errors, with possibly fatal > consequences. Should I perhaps run error correction software somewhere in > that process. > > > > Please advise, > > > > Nick > > > > P.S. Everybody’s safe. > > > > Nicholas S. Thompson > > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology > > Clark University > > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/ > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Friam mailing list > Friam@redfish.com > http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >
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