(This is a stream of consciousness where I explore why I haven’t backed up my data. This proceeds in stages, with evolution to the next stage only because the writing of this comment forced me to keep going. Thus, it’s a data point in response to this comment.)
Back up your data, people. It’s so easy
Interesting. I have a very dense ‘ugh field’ around backing up my data, come to think of it. Based on this population of one, it has nothing to do with not trusting the salesperson, or not being aware that my hard drive is going to fail.
… in fact, I know my hard drive is about to fail (upon reboot I get those dooming system error messages that cycle, etc.) and has occurred to me several times I might want to back up my data. Yes, there’s some important stuff I need to back up.
Maybe the hurdle is that most stuff on my computer is useless, and I don’t want to prioritize the material. I just want it all there if I need it, so I wish my computer wouldn’t break.
Since I know my computer is likely to break, or in case the power goes out or I accidentally close without saving, while working I save files electronically very frequently, and I make hard copies if there will be any pain within say -- 72 hours—of losing a particular document. The pain of the loss of anything later than a few days is discounted. (Is that hyperbolic discounting? Or just akrasia, as another commenter suggested?)
But I do know I won’t spend 20 minutes tomorrow investigating how to back up my hard drive. I know someone will say it is “easy”, but there will instead be some obstacle that will mean my data won’t actually get backed up and I’ll have wasted my twenty minutes. Right?
… OK, fine. (sigh) Let’s suppose my budget is $20 and 20 minutes. What should I do?
(reading online)
...OK, I buy a hard-drive, connect it with a USB, and drag and drop the files I want to save once the computer recognizes the device. Although I still need to determine which folders are worth saving, and this is a continuous, ongoing chore, there are some folders I know I need to save right away. I should go ahead and store those.
(I’ll report back tomorrow whether this back-up actually happened.)
Let’s suppose my budget is $20 and 20 minutes. What should I do?
Others have mentioned Dropbox, but it’s so wonderful I’ll mention it again. Dropbox. It’s almost as awesome in its just-works-ness as Time Machine (Apple’s awesome backup solution). Free up to 2GB, $10/month gets you 100GB. Runs on everything.
Note that Dropbox isn’t designed as a backup solution, it’s really for sharing files across multiple devices. It only preserves the current version of a file, so offers no protection against deleting a file you didn’t mean to. As soon as you edit a file, the changes are uploaded to the Dropbox cloud.
A point to remember is that every backup solution protects against some threats but not others, and you have to decide what you need to defend against. I have a Time Capsule (external drive for Time Machine backup), but it’s in the same room as the computer, so it provides excellent protection against disc failure or accidental deletion, but none against theft. So I also have an external drive that I plug in once a week and the rest of the time leave hidden elsewhere. If the files on your computer are your livelihood, you need an off-site backup to survive risks such as your house burning down, or serious burglars doing a complete house clearance.
Although I still need to determine which folders are worth saving, and this is a continuous, ongoing chore
A backup solution that presents a continuous, ongoing chore is not going to work. It has to be something that once you set it up, Just Works. I don’t know if there’s anything as awesome as Time Machine in this respect for Windows. Ideally a solution should automatically backup everything, except possibly some things you specifically exclude. If you only back up things you specifically decide to, you will inevitably leave things out, that you’ll only discover when you need the backup you don’t have.
It only preserves the current version of a file, so offers no protection against deleting a file you didn’t mean to. As soon as you edit a file, the changes are uploaded to the Dropbox cloud.
Dropbox actually does version control, which has saved several files I’ve accidentally deleted or overwritten. It’s only up to 30 days, though.
I take it you’ve got a Windows or Linux machine? Because if you have a Mac, there’s a much easier solution. Edit: I mean easier than a continuous, ongoing chore of deciding what files to save, drag-and-dropping stuff, etc. You do still need to buy a device, though. For a $20 budget I recommend this 32 GB USB flash drive.
I have a Windows machine, but I know there are automatic back-up schedules that can be done. I just don’t want to do it… I don’t want to think about a complex automatic process or make decisions about scheduling. Trying to pinpoint why … it feels messy and discontinuous and inconvenient, to keep saving iterations of all my old junk.
it feels messy and discontinuous and inconvenient, to keep saving iterations of all my old junk.
When dealing with old data, what I find most stressful is deciding which things to keep. So as far as possible I don’t. It’s a wasted effort. I keep everything, or I delete everything. It doesn’t matter that there’s gigabytes of stuff on my machine that I’ll never look at, as long as I never have to see it or think about it. Disc space is measured in terabytes these days.
Typically when I change machines, the data from the old one goes into the /old folder on the new one. You get a nesting hierarchy and down at the bottom there are some files from many years ago that I would need to get a simulator to even read :-/
So that’s what I am going to do. I actually ordered an external hard drive, and every few weeks I’ll back up my hard drive. The whole thing (no decisions).
I also understand that I don’t need to worry about versions—the external hard drive just saves the latest version.
I also talked to a friend today and found out they backed their data regularly. I was surprised; didn’t know regular people did this regularly.
Backups aren’t about saving your old junk. Backup are about saving everything that you have on your hard drive in case it goes to the Great Write-Only Memory In The Sky.
If you’re talking about staggered backups or snapshots, their usefulness lies mostly in being a (very primitive) versioning system, as well as a possible lifeline in case your data gets silently corrupted and you don’t notice fast enough.
Well, the way it works on the Mac — and I’m only describing this because I speculate that similar, if not quite as awesome, solutions exist for Windows — is this:
Scheduling: backups happen every hour if the backup drive is plugged in; or, whenever you plug it in; plus, you can trigger them manually. You pretty much don’t have to think about it; just either keep the thing plugged in (easy with a desktop), or plug it in once in a while.
Multiple iterations of your stuff: there’s a “history” of backups, maintained automatically. You can go back to any backed-up prior version (to a certain point; how long a history you can keep is dictated by available storage space). The interface for restoring things hides the messy complexity of the multiple versions from you, and just lets you go back to the latest version, or any previous available version, sorted by time.
With good backup software, it’s really quite smooth and easy. The process is not complex; decisions to be made are minimal; your backup feels nice and non-messy; restoring is easy as pie.
Unfortunately I can’t recommend good Windows backup software, but maybe someone else can chime in.
(This is a stream of consciousness where I explore why I haven’t backed up my data. This proceeds in stages, with evolution to the next stage only because the writing of this comment forced me to keep going. Thus, it’s a data point in response to this comment.)
Interesting. I have a very dense ‘ugh field’ around backing up my data, come to think of it. Based on this population of one, it has nothing to do with not trusting the salesperson, or not being aware that my hard drive is going to fail.
… in fact, I know my hard drive is about to fail (upon reboot I get those dooming system error messages that cycle, etc.) and has occurred to me several times I might want to back up my data. Yes, there’s some important stuff I need to back up.
Maybe the hurdle is that most stuff on my computer is useless, and I don’t want to prioritize the material. I just want it all there if I need it, so I wish my computer wouldn’t break.
Since I know my computer is likely to break, or in case the power goes out or I accidentally close without saving, while working I save files electronically very frequently, and I make hard copies if there will be any pain within say -- 72 hours—of losing a particular document. The pain of the loss of anything later than a few days is discounted. (Is that hyperbolic discounting? Or just akrasia, as another commenter suggested?)
But I do know I won’t spend 20 minutes tomorrow investigating how to back up my hard drive. I know someone will say it is “easy”, but there will instead be some obstacle that will mean my data won’t actually get backed up and I’ll have wasted my twenty minutes. Right?
… OK, fine. (sigh) Let’s suppose my budget is $20 and 20 minutes. What should I do?
(reading online)
...OK, I buy a hard-drive, connect it with a USB, and drag and drop the files I want to save once the computer recognizes the device. Although I still need to determine which folders are worth saving, and this is a continuous, ongoing chore, there are some folders I know I need to save right away. I should go ahead and store those.
(I’ll report back tomorrow whether this back-up actually happened.)
Others have mentioned Dropbox, but it’s so wonderful I’ll mention it again. Dropbox. It’s almost as awesome in its just-works-ness as Time Machine (Apple’s awesome backup solution). Free up to 2GB, $10/month gets you 100GB. Runs on everything.
Note that Dropbox isn’t designed as a backup solution, it’s really for sharing files across multiple devices. It only preserves the current version of a file, so offers no protection against deleting a file you didn’t mean to. As soon as you edit a file, the changes are uploaded to the Dropbox cloud.
A point to remember is that every backup solution protects against some threats but not others, and you have to decide what you need to defend against. I have a Time Capsule (external drive for Time Machine backup), but it’s in the same room as the computer, so it provides excellent protection against disc failure or accidental deletion, but none against theft. So I also have an external drive that I plug in once a week and the rest of the time leave hidden elsewhere. If the files on your computer are your livelihood, you need an off-site backup to survive risks such as your house burning down, or serious burglars doing a complete house clearance.
A backup solution that presents a continuous, ongoing chore is not going to work. It has to be something that once you set it up, Just Works. I don’t know if there’s anything as awesome as Time Machine in this respect for Windows. Ideally a solution should automatically backup everything, except possibly some things you specifically exclude. If you only back up things you specifically decide to, you will inevitably leave things out, that you’ll only discover when you need the backup you don’t have.
Dropbox actually does version control, which has saved several files I’ve accidentally deleted or overwritten. It’s only up to 30 days, though.
I take it you’ve got a Windows or Linux machine? Because if you have a Mac, there’s a much easier solution. Edit: I mean easier than a continuous, ongoing chore of deciding what files to save, drag-and-dropping stuff, etc. You do still need to buy a device, though. For a $20 budget I recommend this 32 GB USB flash drive.
I have a Windows machine, but I know there are automatic back-up schedules that can be done. I just don’t want to do it… I don’t want to think about a complex automatic process or make decisions about scheduling. Trying to pinpoint why … it feels messy and discontinuous and inconvenient, to keep saving iterations of all my old junk.
When dealing with old data, what I find most stressful is deciding which things to keep. So as far as possible I don’t. It’s a wasted effort. I keep everything, or I delete everything. It doesn’t matter that there’s gigabytes of stuff on my machine that I’ll never look at, as long as I never have to see it or think about it. Disc space is measured in terabytes these days.
In case this wasn’t clear, for the benefit of any Mac users reading this:
Time Machine makes all these decisions for you. That’s one of the things that makes it awesome.
This.
Typically when I change machines, the data from the old one goes into the /old folder on the new one. You get a nesting hierarchy and down at the bottom there are some files from many years ago that I would need to get a simulator to even read :-/
So that’s what I am going to do. I actually ordered an external hard drive, and every few weeks I’ll back up my hard drive. The whole thing (no decisions).
I also understand that I don’t need to worry about versions—the external hard drive just saves the latest version.
I also talked to a friend today and found out they backed their data regularly. I was surprised; didn’t know regular people did this regularly.
Backups aren’t about saving your old junk. Backup are about saving everything that you have on your hard drive in case it goes to the Great Write-Only Memory In The Sky.
If you’re talking about staggered backups or snapshots, their usefulness lies mostly in being a (very primitive) versioning system, as well as a possible lifeline in case your data gets silently corrupted and you don’t notice fast enough.
Well, the way it works on the Mac — and I’m only describing this because I speculate that similar, if not quite as awesome, solutions exist for Windows — is this:
Scheduling: backups happen every hour if the backup drive is plugged in; or, whenever you plug it in; plus, you can trigger them manually. You pretty much don’t have to think about it; just either keep the thing plugged in (easy with a desktop), or plug it in once in a while.
Multiple iterations of your stuff: there’s a “history” of backups, maintained automatically. You can go back to any backed-up prior version (to a certain point; how long a history you can keep is dictated by available storage space). The interface for restoring things hides the messy complexity of the multiple versions from you, and just lets you go back to the latest version, or any previous available version, sorted by time.
With good backup software, it’s really quite smooth and easy. The process is not complex; decisions to be made are minimal; your backup feels nice and non-messy; restoring is easy as pie.
Unfortunately I can’t recommend good Windows backup software, but maybe someone else can chime in.