What software do you use to backup your photos?

[rcrsn51]

I m really concern about the idea the same happened to me

read this article:

http://www.legalnomads.com/2010/09/help-me-get-my-memories-back.html/comment-page-2#comment-16006

so what do you use to backup your photos guys? do you do it?

[daisybeans]

I would recommend you yo use ZenOK Online Backup 2011 (http://onlinebackup.zenok.com/) you select the important files you want to save and also keeps earlier versions of your files, so you can always go back to a previously saved file or document. I downloaded a while ago to use it with my bussiness. it works great.

[daisybeans]

sad story by the way...

[-EOS-]

Copy and Paste to a external Hard Drive.

Others will most likely chime in about how you should have 3 copies of every image and where each copy should reside...

[egordon99]

Robocopy

[saintseminole]

No special software needed. Your computer came with all the software you need to backup any files (including images.)

It's actually hardware that you need to buy. Either an external hard drive, or CDs/DVDs, or both.

With an external hard drive, you can simply copy-and-paste from one drive to the other.

With a CD/DVD, your computer has built-in recording software for those media.

How many copies should you have? That depends on how important the images are to you. Personally, I have three copies of each image (external hard drive, DVD, and online backup).

[Agent 655]

I would second just an external HD. You can get a Terabyte for under $100 now days (often MUCH less) and it is simple to do. Just make sure you either remember to do it, or use software to automate it (many of the drives come with their own).

[wagon4ever]

I use Crashplan. It lets me backup automatically to an external hard drive and to my computer at work. It also lets you backup to your friends computers over the internet. If something fishy happens it sends an email to my phone. http://www5.crashplan.com/consumer/features-tour.html

[Mark1]

Sync Toy 2. It is basically a glorified copy and paste but keeps track of what is new and changed, and only syncs that. So it backs up with only a few clicks.

I agree with having the data in 3 places. But I am starting to hear of as many CD/DVD failures as I am hard drive failures. Some DVDs have become unreadable in as little as 5 years.

[thedge]

Multiple backup locations. Primary storage spot is a RAID5 array of enterprise grade SCSI hard drives (Lightroom runs well on 5x 15,000RPM hard drives on a server grade controller :cool: ). Being server grade, they are less likely to fail than say, a hard drive from that POS company Seagate :rolleyes:. From there, they are mirrored to a RAID1 array on a different controller card, and to two USB hard drives which are locked away in my house when im away. The purpose of two RAID arrays is that even a good RAID array still has a single point of failure, the controller card (or in the case of most computers, the motherboard). A failed controller card usually means the array is lost, and all data contained on it. Only a RAID1 array (two drives mirrored) is easy to recover. RAID0 (non RAID, striping), RAID5, and all others are hard and expensive to recover. This is the most common mistake of RAID arrays, people assume their data is safe even though it isnt. RAIDs are redundancy and/or speed, not backup. I have all this in place for my other documents. I dont yet have an off site backup setup, uploading 200+ GB will take a while once I do.

None of my important data gets trusted to a single place for very long. And now will never get trusted to a Seagate product or an Apple product. Not even unimportant data gets trusted to either of those LOL.

[ShotByTom]

My first home computer was a Commodore 64 and I used a cassette tape for data storage! Since then I've never bought an assembled computer and have used whatever hard drive was on sale when I put together my computers. I have never had a hard drive fail, crash or malfunction. In fact, the only problem I have ever had was when I broke a pin in the IDE connector and had to order a new PCB board for it.

I'm not saying that hard drives don't fail...I just don't think it's common. I have 2 Tb of internal storage and 2 TB extenal, and I use a 500gb external HD to keep a 3rd copy of my photos, and I keep that HD at work.

I currently use Copy/Paste to back everything up, but would love to have a program that does it for me.

Can anyone confirm that copy/pasting jpgs will reduce the quality of the file each time you save it?

[Mark1]

Can anyone confirm that copy/pasting jpgs will reduce the quality of the file each time you save it?

It is not a copy/paste type of save that is harmful. That is a perfect copy. But if you open it in an editor where the program re-compresses on save.... That is the problem.

[moose1971]

my 2cents...from experience. When you buy an external HD, go for quality. It may cost you a little more but you get what you pay for.

[n0w0rries]

I recommend iDrive (https://www.idrive.com/?p=pacsyn)

Using that link gives me credit for referring you.
You can get 5GB free, or 150GB for $4.95/mo or $49.50/yr
They keep 30 versions of each file, have a nice web interface, it's a pretty smokin deal.

I do IT consulting and all my business customers use it for backup now. Very cheap and reliable and safe, because it's offsite.

The problem with backing up at your house is if it burns... all your copies are gone unless you keep one offsite. If you think about $50/yr that's dirt cheap for that kind of insurance and protection.

[Jeff]

SyncBack software. Easy to mirror folders, drives, etc. So after I edit images it deletes, updates, adds the images to the external drive.


http://www.2brightsparks.com/downloads.html

[azpix]

my 2cents...from experience. When you buy an external HD, go for quality. It may cost you a little more but you get what you pay for.

In your opinion...what is quality?

[n0w0rries]

I know you're not asking me about quality, but your best bet is to go to Amazon or Newegg or other popular website with reviews and good customer service, and read the reviews. Pick one that has a lot of reviews that are mostly good.

Quality varies from year to year and device to device. WD used to be the name in quality, but when I was shopping 2GB drives I went with Samsung, too many people saying their WD drive arrived DOA or died within a short amount of time. When you consider how much time you spend installing an OS or the cost of replacing lost data... $10 or $20 is nothing.

[moose1971]

In your opinion...what is quality?

Personally I like western digital I have 2 500 gig wd's a comstar 80 which has never had problems and is 6 years old and a hp personal media 500 which kinda scares me sometimes. One day I plugged it in and said it was empty worried I restarted the computer and it went back to normal but scared none the less that 400 gigs of music photos and business backups were gone

[TTk]

my 2cents...from experience. When you buy an external HD, go for quality. It may cost you a little more but you get what you pay for.


+1..;)