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RV-Dreams.com Home -> RV-Dreams Community Forum -> Community Chat -> "Life" Happened Again - Learn from My Mistakes
Post Info TOPIC: "Life" Happened Again - Learn from My Mistakes
Terry and Jo


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"Life" Happened Again - Learn from My Mistakes
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Sometime back, I experienced an event with our remote hard drive that really had me concerned.  As it turned out, it was only the controller, instead of the hard drive itself, so a new enclosure with controllers fixed the problem and I didn't lose any of my data, including 2 years of vacation photos that I had never backed up to other sources.  When I wrote about it in my blog, I referred to that hard drive as "Life" because all of my data for a number of years of research was on that drive and was in danger of being lost.

Well, another "Life" had a problem last week.  I was in the process of copying a few folders at a time from that external hard drive with the intent to place them on an internal hard drive.  During that process, possibly because I chose folders that were too large, my computer locked up.  If you are really interested in the details, check out my blog posting for September 8 at the following link:

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Now, the purpose of this forum comment is to remind everyone to BACK UP EVERYTHING, including one's internet bookmarks.  Because of the problem described in the above link, I've lost ALL of my internet bookmarks.  About 4 years or so of saving internet sites in my bookmarks is likely to be gone forever.  Jo is going to take the old internal drives to work and see if her "gurus" at work can salvage any of the data on the two drives.  We replaced both because we weren't sure of which drive, if only one, had crapped out.

If they cannot find the "missing" bookmark files on those drives, I will be reduced to tears and long hours of pouring through countless old forum posts to get some of those bookmarks back.  You would think that the spouse of an IT professional would know better.  God help me when we actually get to traveling.  Who knows what I'm apt to leave behind at campsites and RV parks.

So, do what you can to "back-up" your bookmarks.  If you know the file holding such things, copy that to another drive.  If not, one might have to open each link, copy the web address from the address line and save it on something like a Word document.  Then, save that document on more than one drive.

Don't imitate me, folks.

Terry



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Terry and Jo

2010 Mobile Suites 38TKSB3
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bjoyce


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Maybe you need to install XMarks - http://www.xmarks.com/ .  We use the sister program Lastpass to manage our passwords on multiple devices, i.e., computers, tablets and phones.



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K & E


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I've begun saving my favorite websites to folders on Pinterest. That way it's "in the cloud" and if something happens, you won't lose them. Pinterest is not just for crafts and recipes.

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Fergizmo


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And www.dropbox.com is great for remote storage of files. It's free too.

Edit by moderator: Activated link.  Terry



-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Tuesday 16th of October 2012 10:39:35 AM

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Technomadia


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Great reminder, Terry - thank you for turning your own reminder into a positive one for everyone else. And an important one for all of us nomadic types too.. when you're traveling full time, you're also putting all your eggs in one rolling basket. It can also make the back-up process a little more challenging to find a routine that is workable and gives you multiple options.

We actually just wrote a fairly extensive article about this... and if you're looking for ideas, it may be helpful:

http://www.technomadia.com/2012/08/tips-for-backup-and-online-security/

 

 - Cherie



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Cherie (and Chris) / Our blog: Technomadia.com

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TXRVr


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For RV life, I prefer a USB flashdrive rather than an external HD used for backing up data. They are easy, convenient, portable, and one can drop several into a fire proof safe. I also have a second back up system that is cloud storage.  The annual cost is minimal considering the retrieval manhours one would spend if data not backed up were lost.

Lots of good info in your article Techomadia. Hopefully, everyone will take a look at it.  Not backing up one's computer data is kind of like not following the RV checklist. Sooner or later you're going to leave the antenna up and be very sorry.

 

 

 



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Terry and Jo


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RV checklist????

Terry

(OK....just kidding.)



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Terry and Jo

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bjoyce


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A checklist reduces the number of checks you get to write.

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Jack Mayer


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I use Google + (Picasa) for my photos that I really care about. That way they are about as protected as you can get. And it is easy for others (who I choose) to see them. Convenient and Free.

I also back up to an external hard drive (USB) periodically (once per week) AND I have a NAS on my network that is 4 terrabytes of mirrored storage (2T mirrored - two drives). My external hard drive (USB) is kept in the truck. And important documents are kept in Google Drive as well, and automatically synched. So I have a number of backup methods in place.

I also use Xmarks and Roboform and Lastpass (don't ask why two password managers, it is temporary). I also use Chrome which allows me access to my bookmarks on all devices.

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rockyroad


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Terry I dont know if this will help but everytime I have computer die I yank out the hardrive and connect it to a cable lilke this and usually can recover my data unless its the hardrive itself. Its call a IDE/SATA to USB cable. I think Best Buy sells them too.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=2020

Edit by moderator: Activated link.  Terry



-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Sunday 21st of October 2012 01:23:50 PM

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Red Wolf


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smileI've been trying to clean out my garage and shop. I wish it were as simple as this...smile



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"I'm a slow learner, but to make up for it, I forget real fast."
Terry and Jo


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Well, since this topic came back up, I'll update the informatin.  We found that the drive that was bad was one that actually had very little data or anything else on it.  The "C" drive was still good, so Jo bought another small enclosure for the laptop hard drive and I was able to retrieve my bookmarks.

Now, if I could just get caught up with reading everyone's blogs that I had been following.

Thanks for all the ideas, Everyone.  I really appreciate it and some steps will be taken to back up the bookmarks.

Terry



-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Sunday 21st of October 2012 01:24:42 PM

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Terry and Jo

2010 Mobile Suites 38TKSB3
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2019 Ford Expedition Max as Tag-along or Scout

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Alie and Jims Carrilite


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Another idea for bookmarks is to do a copy and paste into an e-mail. Send it to your wife or whoever and save it.

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Lucky Mike


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I have a bad habit of writing bookmarks down in a log book...I started doing this when I was computer illiterate (not much has really changed).....but in my past 2 crash and burns I could get back what I needed in a hurry anywhere.

I do it to all my passwords too for internet site memberships.....as long as they dont follow my finances or personal credit info.



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MarkS


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I like the idea of an off-site backup like one of the backup services but would be concerned that in an RV you might be someplace where Internet access might be limited. With the price of external drives being so low I would suggest mirroring your data on a second external. Use one external as frequently as you need it and a second for safe keeping. They usually come with backup software that "should" make the process nearly painless. You might consider a network based external that would be operational all the time and stored in a closet so you don't even have to connect it. We have one that sits under a desk autonomously. We can access it from any computer in the house and my daughter can access it from Florida too. You don't have to set it up with Internet access. We just did it because we could.

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