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Cowracer
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# Posted: 12 Jun 2017 09:47am - Edited by: Cowracer
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First rule of data storage is "Back up your data", right. But how many people ever actually do it? And how the hell do you back up a 2TB drive unless you have another 2TB drive?
Now, I am fanatically religious about making sure I un-mount my USB based memory (thumb drives, cameras, HDD, etc.) before unplugging them, because you may get away just yanking the plug out 99 times out of 100, but that one time will ruin your day. But I never planned on the power going out at work one night. Of course, my drive was plugged in, and of course, this was the ONE TIME that actually mattered. It wound up corrupting the file system, leading the disk unusable. Those of you near STL might have heard the tiny clap of thunder that was my ass-cheeks slamming closed when I realized how hosed I was. Bear in mind that the actual files were still on the disk, its just that the computer could not access them. (for those of you technical types, the file system would show RAW instead of FAT32). I had about 80 full length HD movies, TONS music, all my templates for my cornhole boards, a writing project I am working on, and most damning, all the family photos for about the last 10 years
There is a couple utility programs that sometime can restore things. TestDisk7.0 is a very good one. EaseUS also is pretty good. But neither of these would help. I even tried booting up the PC with Ubuntu (Linux) on the recommendation of a friend, and it could see the drive. It would show me details like file system, size, partition name, etc. But would not mount the drive. As I was contemplating Hari-kari, I desperately was trying anything to see if I could get back my data. After much trial-and-error, and some pure luck, I found that if I change the file system to one called MS DATA, TestDisk7.0 could see all my files. I still could not restore the drive, but what I could do is use the copy function in TestDisk7.0 to move my files to another disk.
I wound up buying another 2TB drive. It was cheap at only like $80 at Office Depot. The actual copying was ponderous and aggravating. I had to copy each directory and sub-directory over one at a time, and I had to make each directory on the new disk before copying. Testdisk7.0 runs in a DOS window, meaning its controlled by keystrokes, not mouse. The 'copy selected files' command is Shift-C, but ctrl-C closes the program, meaning I booted myself out of TestDisk accidentally about 10 times. It took all weekend to get everything I wanted off the old drive. Not all the time was spent infront of the computers. I would set it up to copy all the files in a directory, and come back in an hour or so, and set up the next one if it had finished. No matter. I would have walked round trip to Memphis if it meant getting my files back.
The Moral of the story is "it CAN happen to you". USB drives of unfathomable size are cheap. (FYI a TeraByte is roughly 1000 Gigabytes. To put that in perspective, a full on 1080P HD Hollywood movie usually runs 4-7 Gigabytes). Buy one and back up your data. My original drive has been reformatted and is now plugged into my wifi router. I am in the process of setting it up as a networked storage, which will automatically sync with the new USB drive and keep my files backed up.
If your files are important enough to save, they should be important enough to back up.
Tim
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 12 Jun 2017 10:46am
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That sux Cowracer, sorry to hear it happened to you but still alive & healthy and now the Digital Housekeeping forced you to do some sweeping... dang digital rodentia...
I would like to add a comment on this topic. A UPS that even provides 15 minutes of full power up (pc & Screen) can be a serious life saver. Not only will it condition the power flowing through it, so brown outs & spike/surges are eliminated while protecting your delicate electronics, the UPS Software can properly shutdown the PC after a time threshold.
Some might say... BUT I'm offgrid and on batteries ! Ok, that's a UPS of sorts but what happens when the batteries discharge too much (let's hope they don't)... Well. it's a piece of mind thing isn't it.
I have always been a fan of APC (American Power Conversions) Uninterruptable Power Supplies from way back but they have stayed quite expensive. I have 2 of the smaller APC units.
REF: http://www.apc.com/shop/ca/en/categories/power/uninterruptible-power-supply-ups-/comp uter-and-peripheral/_/N-a4lk5l
Another Brand which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND is CyberPower which produces excellent UPS systems that are well priced and their software works perfect as well... These have a few extra features that APC does not in the more affordable products... My main Computer System is protected by a CyberPower 850PF and it's terrific to have backing me up, including the satellite modem.
REF:
https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/
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Wilbour
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# Posted: 12 Jun 2017 06:56pm
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The only important files of mine are mp3s and photos. Well there are a few other documents. I use Google Drive so I can access my music from anywhere. If you create a google drive on your PC then anything you store in that folder is automaticaly uploaded.
I saw that Cowracer was using a 2T drive. If that drive was indeed full then perhaps Google Drive is not economical.
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NorthRick
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2017 12:58am - Edited by: NorthRick
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Quoting: Cowracer And how the hell do you back up a 2TB drive unless you have another 2TB drive?
I have a 2TB USB drive that I use to backup my main hard drive. Here's the thing, except when actually backing up, that drive is unplugged from both power and the USB. It can't get hacked if it ain't online. It can't get corrupted by a power surge or outage if it ain't plugged in.
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Cowracer
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2017 09:29am
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Quoting: NorthRick I have a 2TB USB drive that I use to backup my main hard drive. Here's the thing, except when actually backing up, that drive is unplugged from both power and the USB. It can't get hacked if it ain't online. It can't get corrupted by a power surge or outage if it ain't plugged in.
That's the usual method of using USB hard drives, and they work very well in that respect. However, my 2TB is my "working" drive. I take it back and forth between a few different computers. Like I said, my old 2TB has been configured as a pure 'backup' drive, and the new one is my 'working' drive.
I'm still working on setting up the auto sync between the two. Just need to find some time.
Tim
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Jabberwocky
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2017 10:03am
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My PC is aging, but it was worth about $3K when I built it. Definitely worth the piece of mind to attach a battery back-up. I have a Cyberpower UPS and it has done its job when necessary many, many times.
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rvneil
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2017 08:00pm
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Also, you should consider storing (at least) one of your backups off-site, in case someone breaks in and takes all your computer equipment (including your backup disks), or your place burns to the ground.
I was a system administrator for a while, so I'm paranoid about having enough backups. My laptop is backed up to an external disk that's kept in the cabin (for convenience, if I accidentally erase a file), another disk that's stored in my truck, a flash drive that's stored in my mini-van, and another disk that's in my RV trailer. They are all encrypted, so even if someone steals one, they can't get at my data.
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