I routinely make backups of both my web sites (and their associated databases) and my home computer files. By “routinely”, I mean every single day. I not only have one backup of each important file, however; I have three!

I keep one complete backup on an external hard drive that simply plugs into any computer via a USB cable. Since it’s portable, I can take it and run with it anytime I need to.

I keep one complete backup “in the cloud” by backing up everything to an off-site, web-based system.

And I keep one non-complete backup on a tiny USB flash drive. I can’t fit everything on that little flash drive, so I put just my very, very, very most important documents there. Since it’s only about the size of my thumb (which I assume is where the nickname of “thumb drive” came from), I can easily transport it at any time.

So, why be so diligent with backups? Let’s consider just the following scenario.

If your home were destroyed by lighting, or fire, or other natural disaster tomorrow, would you be able to put your life back together? In a week? In a month? Never?

Just in the U. S. alone more than 50,000 homes are completely wiped out each year leaving families without their precious photos, insurance documents, passports, wills, legal papers, tax records, birth certificates and other essential files.

These documents and files are the essential paperwork you need to put your life back together quickly to recover from an unforeseen disaster. Where are you storing your own vital documents? Are they accessible to you anywhere you happen to be?

What happens if your computer is destroyed? While I always have my portable backup options available to me, they could be destroyed as well. Then what? Well, that’s where the “in the clouds” online backup service comes in handy. There are several choices, and I’ve covered some of them in the past. There’s one that’s fairly new to me, however, and I wanted to mention it here today, mainly because it has features I’ve never seen before.

My-personal-files.com is an online safe deposit box service.* This service allows you to access your stored files anywhere in the world you happen to be, from any computer or mobile device with an internet connection. That’s not so different than many of its competitors, but one thing does set it apart from the others. It has options that enable you to backup important documents that you don’t have digitized, and can’t easily convert to digital format.

I lived through Hurricane Katrina, so I’ll use a hurricane as a good example of how this might be useful. Let’s say you were one of the unfortunate hurricane victims. Your home is gone. You are forbidden from going anywhere near your neighborhood, let alone your city. The photos of your house and household possessions (that the insurance company will need to process your claim quickly) are gone. Your children’s baby photos are gone. Your passports are gone as are copies of your insurance policies. If all those files backed up to an online account, you would be able to print out copies of them from wherever you were. Imagine being able to show your insurance agent a copy of your homeowner’s policy and pictures of your home and its contents within minutes – even without access to your own computer. Think about how secure and confident you would feel when the world around you is in chaos.

When was the last time you felt that secure? Knowing that you could recover all your vital documents in a matter of minutes gives you peace of mind and control. You feel confident that you can recover from disasters and thefts easily and quickly. That kind of power should be in everyone’s digital arsenal. But not everyone who lives through a hurricane or other natural disaster has their important documents in a digital format. Not everyone even has a computer or online access!

As an example, when Katrina was on its way to our area, we did our best to pack up my elderly in-laws, and send them to safety. There was no time, however, to find and pack up their important documents, and they didn’t have a computer. So, how could we have gotten those documents backed up to an online service? That’s where my-personal-files.com differs. They have special plans that enable you to fax or mail document copies to them. Once received, they will digitize the documents, and send the digital copy back to you via email. Once you confirm that you’ve received it, they will destroy your papers in their secure document destruction facility. Obviously, you’ll need access to a computer to receive the email, and to access the files online. In our case, we could have had our in-laws prepare well in advance of any pending disasters, and we could have asked them to get their documents digitized and emailed to us. We could have then backed them up safely for them.

They weren’t as prepared then, but they can be now. It’s nice to know there are options out there for backing up important documents, even when those documents aren’t yet in digital format.

So please…backup. Backup often. Backup regularly. Backup everything that’s important to you. Don’t let anything get in the way, not even the fact that some things aren’t already digitized. There are ways to backup everything these days. My-personal-files.com is one way to ensure a little peace of mind, no matter what happens.

*

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Backup, Computer storage, Data security, insurance documents, online safe deposit box service, Remote backup service, usb flash drive
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Oh well, I’ll just use my brand new Lexar USB Flash Drive as a backup drive. For now, I’ll just copy my Documents folder over to the flash drive once in a while, and I’m also backing everything up nightly to Mozy Online Backup, so that should suffice.

I wish the Portable Apps idea had panned out, but I think my workarounds will work fine.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2007. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: backups, drawbacks, Mozy, online backup, portable apps, slow, usb flash drive
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First head on over to PortableApps.com. You’ll be able to get just about any type of software, ALL FOR FREE, and all available as a small portable application that you can take along with you wherever you go. There are lots of choices. You can either just grab their suite, which comes with the most popular apps ready to go, or you can pick and choose.

I’m starting with their Base edition, which gives me just the essentials with the PortableApps menu, backup system, and utilities. Then I downloaded the following apps that I either use on a regular basis (the full editions), or will use just because they offer a portable edition.

7-Zip (open .zip files)
FileZilla (FTP)
Firefox (browser)
Thunderbird (email client)
Gimp (image editor)
KeePass (password manager)
Miranda (Instant Messenging for MSN and Yahoo)
OpenOffice (Open source alternative to MS Office)

There are TONS more apps to choose from, and you can get all the information you need about it all on the PortableApps site. If you need even more portable apps than that site offers, you can see a larger list here, and a list of portable games here.

I’m looking forward to trying this out. I’d love to be less dependent upon my computer’s whims. I’d also love to be able to take all my important apps, settings, and data with me when I travel. We’ll see if this will work for me or not.

Have you tried this? If so, please let me know what you think. If not, and you decide to try it along with me, come back and let me know how it goes.

© Donna for DazzlinDonna, 2007. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: First head, image editor, Miranda, password manager, portable apps, PortableApps, thumb drive, usb flash drive, Yahoo
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