Backup Strategies

[TromboneAl]

This is the Trash-80 I was thinking of:

IIRC it was really heavy, but had something on the bottom that you had to get to now and then.

And of course, this was the first "computer" that I used:

 

[Danny]

This is the Trash-80 I was thinking of:

IIRC it was really heavy, but had something on the bottom that you had to get to now and then.

And of course, this was the first "computer" that I used:

yeah, think that was later maybe the Model III I had the II...looking at all this old computer porn and typing on my laptop jogged a memory - remember the Osborne - you could travel on business with it! :

 

[pfpelican]

the C:\program files\. I'm not sure what's in there, is it the program files themselves, or files created by the programs? If my system crashes, I assumed I would have to reinstall all the original programs.

yes...it's the program files. Backing these up doesn't do much good. You will have to reinstall the programs themselves if it crashes.

 

[dex]

Al,
Have you looked into getting a google account? You could upload the files there via a add on program of Firefox.

 

[Martha]

Al,
Have you looked into getting a google account? You could upload the files there via a add on program of Firefox.

Dex, could you explain more what you are talking about?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1593

Another option:
GMail Drive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Note that when using googles office apps, you can save files in the google space so you can access them anywhere.

See docs and spreadsheets, etc.
More Google Products

 

[Dawg52]

Very nice. I just set up an account with Google and uploaded some files through FireFox. Not hard at all.

What about security? Do you feel ok about uploading financial information to Google's server?

 

[HFWR]

First computer: TI 99/4a
Upgrade: TRS 1000EX

 

[bssc]

Al,
Have you looked into getting a google account? You could upload the files there via a add on program of Firefox.

I send to my hotmail account emails with files I need backed up. I then move the emails to a folder called backups.

On the other hand, I tried to find an actual file folder here at Megacorp and was unsuccessful. I guess no one uses them anymore.

 

[Danny]

Very nice. I just set up an account with Google and uploaded some files through FireFox. Not hard at all.

What about security? Do you feel ok about uploading financial information to Google's server?

I moved all my critical word & spreadthe***t docs up to my google account also

 

[Bimmerbill]

My first PC was a Commodore 64, complete with casette tape drive for storing info. I remember springing for the $200 for a 5.25 inch floppy drive and thinking it was uber...

Then I upgraded to a Commodore 128 in college. Complete with 300 baud MODEM!

 

[TromboneAl]

I use GMail, and I I've found that having all my email online is a problem when our Internet is down. Anybody use the software that allows you to download all your gmail mail to your system as a backup?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I would imagine that security of your google based files is somewhere between lousy and awful. I also think i'm probably not that interesting an entity for someone to snoop through my files. I wouldnt put account #'s and passwords there. But most any other personal material is okay.

Google tends to want to help you to share your information to others for [-]purposes of sucking everyone into the google empire[/-] beneficial reasons. Its some of that 'excess sharing' that sometimes exposes your data to others.

Oh, and so far my first computer could crush all of your first computers.

 

[Danny]

I would imagine that security of your google based files is somewhere between lousy and awful.
Google tends to want to help you to share your information to others Its some of that 'excess sharing' that sometimes exposes your data to others.

Oh, and so far my first computer could crush all of your first computers.

I believe you about your first computer, but where are your facts that backup your claims about Google's security and sharing personal docs? I mean if there is some credible evidence about an event that happened, I want to know. Wasn't google the one that refused to share personal info with our wonderful Justice Dept.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

What? You think I make this stuff up?

Off the top of my head, google's had at least two big problems. One was the "google desktop" which was scrounging up peoples files and exposing the data on googles servers without letting the users know such a thing was even happening, and the other was exposing peoples personal google calendars to anyone on the planet, again without notifying the user.

Google admits Desktop security risk | CNET News.com
Corporate data slips out via Google Calendar

Theres a pretty good reason why most of this stuff has "beta" stamped all over it.

 

[Danny]

What? You think I make this stuff up?

Off the top of my head, google's had at least two big problems. One was the "google desktop" which was scrounging up peoples files and exposing the data on googles servers without letting the users know such a thing was even happening, and the other was exposing peoples personal google calendars to anyone on the planet, again without notifying the user.

Google admits Desktop security risk | CNET News.com
Corporate data slips out via Google Calendar

Theres a pretty good reason why most of this stuff has "beta" stamped all over it.

Ok thats not good, What about stuff stored in Documents & Gmail? Thanks

 

[bpp3]

Oh, and so far my first computer could crush all of your first computers.

My first computer was a VAX 11/780. Ok, it wasn't mine personally, but it was the first one I used full-time for programming (Fortran), word-processing (Digital Standard Runoff), e-mail, and games (VT100 version of Space Invaders). (Prior, limited experimentation with PETs, Apple IIs, and PDP-11s doesn't count.)

But the first computer I actually owned was a Tandy Color Computer. Or maybe it was the VIC-20.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'd treat my gmail and google documents as open files. As far as I know, all the data is transmitted unencrypted and I have no idea how its stored.

My first computer was a VAX 11/780.

My name is written inside the very first vax 11/780, along with all of the other vax and vms developers who contributed to it.

So I touched it before you did

 

[HFWR]

Oh, and so far my first computer could crush all of your first computers.

Come to think of it, crushing would have probably been an upgrade...

 

[W2R]

I'd treat my gmail and google documents as open files. As far as I know, all the data is transmitted unencrypted and I have no idea how its stored.



My name is written inside the very first vax 11/780, along with all of the other vax and vms developers who contributed to it.

So I touched it before you did

WOW!!! That is pretty impressive. I feel like I just met one of the Beatles.

 

[HFWR]

WOW!!! That is pretty impressive. I feel like I just met one of the Beatles.

Ringo?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Nah, I just wrote a couple of device drivers and worked on the boot up interface.

Inside each 780 was a little pdp-11 (an /03 if IRC) with an 8 inch floppy that loaded the 780's microcode and started it. Since I was the resident PDP-11 guru (I did a lot of RSTS and RT-11 work), I got hauled into that.

And I was the only guy around stupid enough to not step a foot backwards when Cutler asked who wanted to port the PDP-11 2780/3780 RJE code over.

 

[bpp3]

So I touched it before you did

Yes, I remember. Figured you'd appreciate having contributed to my early [-]corruption[/-] education.

But I'm really jealous of your PDP-8 and SoonToRetire's Imsai 8080. What I wouldn't give for some toggle switches and blinkenlights. Even better would be one of those Star Trek-y PDP-4s. Swoon.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

Let's take a step back to a time when computers were....well...not like they are today..

Is it wrong that I immediately recognized the game on the screen?

My first PC was an Apple ][+ when I was 9.

Google mail is designed to provide you with context-appropriate ads, so I wouldn't put anything private there. Besides, last I looked the Google GMail "filesystem" was a 3rd-party development, and I wouldn't count on Google keeping GMail compatible with it.

Any backup needs to be tested occasionally or it's likely worthless. I've seen quite a few times where backup tapes/CDs/floppies/whatever couldn't be read when needed.

I don't have a designed home backup plan, but my photos are copied to a web server in another state for sharing purposes. I suppose it doubles as a backup. I back up "My Documents" occasionally to another PC or a DVD. Aside from the photos I haven't made efforts to backup offsite yet. I personally wouldn't bother with imaging and backing up my PC.

I think if I were to make and follow a backup plan it would involve keeping all my important stuff in a subfolder of My Documents and cloning/mirroring/syncing that subfolder to another PC or external drive. Photos would be in a different folder but also cloned.

Actually I'm thinking I should probably vet the photos for the good ones, make a DVD and pass it out to family. There, distributed backups.

By the way, it occurs to me that written/printed documents will likely outlast any PC media we have today.

 

[Danny]

I think if I were to make and follow a backup plan it would involve keeping all my important stuff in a subfolder of My Documents and cloning/mirroring/syncing that subfolder to another PC or external drive. Photos would be in a different folder but also cloned.

Actually, I do have a pc sans keyboard & monitor that I've networked and have sent my Red Rover docs over to. problem is I haven't refreshed it for a while, but if the house goes in the next global warming spawned tornado - could be a problem. I think the best if I could figure it was secure would a web based storage - they most likely have redundancy in their backups and it would be accessible hopefully only by me anywhere.