How Long ?

Gomar wrote in post #12579943
pardon, deleted from what? A hdd, ok possible. but not from a DVD. Did you email the pics to them?
My bro lost his wedding DVD of photos and video. He didnt want to get a 2nd copy as photog wanted too much $$$. Ifcourse, he ended up losing his wife 2 years later anyway, so no big deal.
About 80% of people I know got divorced, so I avoid weddings like the plague. I'd rather spend the money on a trip to Vegas than seeing cousins I cant tolerate sitting next to.

I didn't ask. I'm assuming they no longer have the CD and the files went missing from their computer. I know they moved around the time they asked for it so I'm guessing something happened in the move.

Wow, 80%? Marriage clearly isn't important amongst your friends and family so I don't blame you. My family is the opposite. I'm the oddball. Of course, my family has a thing for Vegas weddings so maybe that's the key!

i actually had to hard drives go to sh*t this winter. WD 2tb drives.
the first one was only a month or two old, and WD replaced it.

the replacement lasted all of 18 hours. all data was lost both times.
now it sits in the box on a shelf

luckily they were just backups, but it sucked. and i've used a ton of WD harddrives with no problems either!
i've put the same data on seagate 2tb drives since and have had no issues (knock on wood!)

moral of the story, don't put all your eggs in one basket!

bigarchi wrote in post #12581876
i actually had to hard drives go to sh*t this winter. WD 2tb drives.
the first one was only a month or two old, and WD replaced it.

the replacement lasted all of 18 hours. all data was lost both times.
now it sits in the box on a shelf

luckily they were just backups, but it sucked. and i've used a ton of WD harddrives with no problems either!
i've put the same data on seagate 2tb drives since and have had no issues (knock on wood!)

moral of the story, don't put all your eggs in one basket!

That sucks! I'm probably paranoid but I double backup. Each season has it's own hard drive and then we have a central hard drive that everything gets backed up on. And I keep them in different places.

bnlearle wrote in post #12582159
So are you saying you have the images on three different drives or on two?

Images are backed up on two. Technically they are in three places- computer, the dated hard drives (2007, 2008, 2009, etc.), and the central one.

PeaceFire wrote in post #12574586
My March '08 clients contacted me in June of '10 saying they accidentally deleted half of their wedding pictures and were wondering if they could be replaced. It was nice to be able to say "of course" rather than "sorry, don't have them anymore".

I have to ask, I hope you don't mind. I also consider it perfectly acceptable to say you don't care to answer; it's your business! Did you charge them?

mathogre wrote in post #12582779
I have to ask, I hope you don't mind. I also consider it perfectly acceptable to say you don't care to answer; it's your business! Did you charge them?

Nah. At that point they had referred two weddings to me and a hand full of portrait sessions so I found it more valuable to replace them for free and keep them happy then to charge them to replace only 50 or so images. I also didn't have it anywhere in my contract or communication with them that images weren't replaceable so I wouldn't feel right charging.

Now, however, I not only have it in my contract but I send a form along with each mailing telling clients to back-up their images immediately because a replacement will come at an expense. So if someone comes to me next year with missing images I would charge.

PeaceFire wrote in post #12582825
Nah. At that point they had referred two weddings to me and a hand full of portrait sessions so I found it more valuable to replace them for free and keep them happy then to charge them to replace only 50 or so images. I also didn't have it anywhere in my contract or communication with them that images weren't replaceable so I wouldn't feel right charging.

Now, however, I not only have it in my contract but I send a form along with each mailing telling clients to back-up their images immediately because a replacement will come at an expense. So if someone comes to me next year with missing images I would charge.

I knew it.

I understand the next part, but for good people who aren't misusing you or didn't misuse you and may actually help you with referrals, I really like what you did for your March '08 client.

I never get rid of my files. My desktop computer has two hard drives (one for programs the other for data). I keep about two years of work on the hard drive and weekly back up my files to two external USB hard drives. As the main hard drive fills, I transfer the files that are about two years old to DVD (two copies made) and store in a safe place. Every now and then I'll get a call for a replacement file or set of files and the people are very happy to have them available.

I still have 30 year old negatives I may have to be categorized as a hoarder