Best Way to Backup Files

[EyeswideopenParticipant 2930]

Hi brothers;

I have been out of the technology game for about 10 years – my laptop is almost that old and on it’s last legs. Since the advent of the current generation of t.v. bases game system, I have not kept abreast of hardware/software concerns.

I am looking for recommendations on how to backup my files. I have an external HD that I use and update regularly. I am working with windows XP and Windows 7.

Is there a way to format my HD so it will be compatible with future versions of Windows and Mac OS at the same time? I am looking for flexibility. I have about 2TB of personal files (pdf, jpg, etc) that are platform independent. I want to ensure that I have access to them in the future.

Thanks

- Marriage is described as an institution. You would have to be crazy to be commited to it. -"If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal. Not people or things" Albert Einstein

[Anonymous 42]

Good question Eyeswideopen, I’m on the exact same systems too and updated XP to 7 and added ram, but the motherboard mfg. say the new memory is compatible but reality says it isn’t (working on it).

I think as long at the drives are NTFS on the new stuff (gee what’s that?) maybe it’ll work. My stuff was state of the art with chips for software that hadn’t been released. I f~~~ed with my dead IEEE (firewire) on XP with no success, I found out it was the last packets of updates that made it go dead (sniff sniff, smell motivation?) Perhaps on 7 it may work and I’ll produce content on my UT channel.

I don’t see why an external HD would not work once the software is loaded.
Good thread, I’d keep my ear to it but my email address is on the other machine out of service, and I don’t want MGTOW email going through a google address. I’ve been flying blind here for a couple weeks.

[GoneSoloParticipant 119]

To format for both, use MS-DOS (FAT)

http://osxdaily.com/2012/04/22/format-drive-mac-pc-compatible/

I would recommend two drives to be sure, but a complete external clone of your current working drive and system is a good idea. If you have a problem in the future, at least you will have a complete clone to work and copy from.

[MonkeyMindParticipant 5340]

External HDDs are the easiest option.

I manually back up my files every few months onto two external HDDs so i have at least 2 backup copies of everything. I had a 2TB HDD die on me recently so it was a good call not to trust putting all my eggs in one basket.

Ideally, the HDDs should be stored in seperate locations in case of a fire.

[sidecarParticipant 35837]

The “best way” depends on what you want to do with the backup. Do you just want a snapshot image of your current system before dumping it all back onto a new machine? Or do you want a live backup system to preserve your up to date data pending the inevitable SHTF crash? Do you need to be able to take your data with you while traveling, or can it stay at home?

Without knowing the answers to these questions, I would say the most flexible option for all three would be one or more networked drives. With that you can copy all your data to the networked drive for safe keeping. Or you can move all your data to the networked drive and work form there. Or you can schedule regular backups from your laptop drive to the network drive. Or do some combination of the above. And if you make sure you pick a network file sharing system that’s compatible with both windows and mac you won’t have to worry so much about future compatibility because the file sharing software will take care of that for you.

Oh, and when I say networked I don’t mean “cloud” storage on the internet. I mean a hard drive connected to your home network. F~~~ the cloud.

GoneSolo wrote:

To format for both, use MS-DOS (FAT)

If you go with FAT make sure it’s FAT32, and be aware that it can’t handle files larger than 4GB or volumes larger than 2TB.

[DarkRyuParticipant 2354]

An external hard drive is best. Cloud backup sucks ass and is expensive. Don’t go to Mac. They’re overpriced and EXTREMELY expensive to fix ($40 repair on a PC can be $1,200 on a Mac). F~~~ that s~~~.

[RennieParticipant]

If you have an external HD, don’t turn it on and off all the time, or you may find one day that it doesn’t come back on. Cloud is out of the question – due to security and control issues.

My backups are in zip files, with SHA-256 CHECKSUMS of the files in the archive and the archive itself. The archives are stored on computers that are physically isolated from the internet and optical media. Thinking of getting a BluRay burner instead of using DVD’s though.

In the future it won’t be necessary to do the manual checksumming thing anymore, since file systems like HAMMER2, ZFS, BTRFS and REFS will all do it for you automatically and invisibly.

[sidecarParticipant 35837]

Rennie wrote:

My backups are in zip files, with SHA-256 CHECKSUMS of the files in the archive and the archive itself.

You might consider switching from ZIP to RAR. A checksum by itself only tells you your data has been corrupted, but can’t get it back for you. However RAR can include recovery records that use an error correcting code to let you restore corrupted data. It makes your archives slightly larger, how much larger depending on how much potential corruption you want to be able to recover from, but that’s a small price to pay for getting your data back in the event of media failure.

You can also create recovery files for ZIP archives using a tool like PAR2, but a one-stop solution like RAR is more convenient.

[coolthingy450Participant 1223]

This is just my 2 cents.

Fat32 works across almost all the OS I’ve seen from MS, Apple, to Linux.

I currently have three external hdds. I back them up in rotation every month. A tenth of my files are archived in zip, and tarb~~~~. It’s the files I don’t touch. The rest I just leave plainly as it is, Although that may be a bad idea long term. I’m not sure if file deterioration will incur long term. But then again, these are files that are constantly changing or accessed anyways.

I don’t like the idea of making a snapshot of my OS to be frank. To be on the safe side. If I restore, or set up a new OS on a computer. I just install Arch manually on the CLI with a list of configs and programs to set up.

Rennie wrote:

If you have an external HD, don’t turn it on and off all the time, or you may find one day that it doesn’t come back on. Cloud is out of the question – due to security and control issues.

My backups are in zip files, with SHA-256 CHECKSUMS of the files in the archive and the archive itself. The archives are stored on computers that are physically isolated from the internet and optical media. Thinking of getting a BluRay burner instead of using DVD’s though.

In the future it won’t be necessary to do the manual checksumming thing anymore, since file systems like HAMMER2, ZFS, BTRFS and REFS will all do it for you automatically and invisibly.

Good advice.

It’s the same with a incandescent light bulb. What shortens the life span is not the usage, but the constant on and off that puts strain in the filament.

There is a reason why the oldest long incandescent bulb has been around for a 100 years. It was made to be simple, and I guess people didn’t bother to turn it off to begin with

Actions have consequences and consequences have prices. Cause and effect at work.

[coolthingy450Participant 1223]

Eyeswideopen wrote:

Hi brothers;

I have been out of the technology game for about 10 years – my laptop is almost that old and on it’s last legs. Since the advent of the current generation of t.v. bases game system, I have not kept abreast of hardware/software concerns.

I am looking for recommendations on how to backup my files. I have an external HD that I use and update regularly. I am working with windows XP and Windows 7.

Is there a way to format my HD so it will be compatible with future versions of Windows and Mac OS at the same time? I am looking for flexibility. I have about 2TB of personal files (pdf, jpg, etc) that are platform independent. I want to ensure that I have access to them in the future.

Thanks

Here is what I would suggest.

As others here have mentioned. The best way for backing up would have to be by using external HDDS for files that are archived or otherwise. For OS backup you could try to use clonezilla to creating a snapshot of your system, but do read carefully into how to use clonezilla so you don’t end up with a mess on your hands. And lastly, If you want to back up your files to the cloud. It would be best to set up your own server over using someone elses server. When someone says back up your files into the cloud. It really means you are renting server space to someone who has no problem opening the door to your files, unless you encrypt it. In which case, you can set up a nas server.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage

I hope this post is clear. I’m beat from work.

Actions have consequences and consequences have prices. Cause and effect at work.

[Anonymous 11]

As an IT guy who handles Enterprise backups for a living using expensive equipment and software, I recommend eliminating the human factor as much as possible.

OSX’s Time Machine is the best example of an Id10T proof backup for home users. Also, I will give Windows 10 very good marks for its built in backup capability though I curse it in other areas. Microsoft’s basic backup technology is actually pretty good these days.

You want both bare metal restore capability as well as constant file level backup with media rotation and off site storage. Always monitor your backups too.

I did a job for a guy who got hit with Cryptolocker, and his cloud backup company failed him badly. Luckily for him, I was able to decrypt his files after v1.0’s encryption had been cracked.

Also, a lot of this crypto crap looks for mapped drives and network shares so beware of external hard drives and network backups.

Always, keep an offline backup with rotating media.

Rennie is spot on about not letting hard drives sit idle.

[Anonymous 42]

coolthingy450 wrote:

It’s the same with a incandescent light bulb. What shortens the life span is not the usage, but the constant on and off that puts strain in the filament.

There is a reason why the oldest long incandescent bulb has been around for a 100 years. It was made to be simple, and I guess people didn’t bother to turn it off to begin with

113 years, here’s the story.
Allot of great info for us using antiquated systems. A ton of my stuff is on zip, didn’t know about the other options, thanks guys, as usual, helpful, but I’m cheap f~~~, I’m still f~~~ing with my IEEE and think it’s working but now the camera has an internal bad connection (from hitting all branches when I go skiing) gotta get a Go-pro!

[RennieParticipant]

Speaking of antiquated systems. Some of my backups are on SGI Octane’s – MIPS and IRIX.

Anonymous wrote:

Also, a lot of this crypto crap looks for mapped drives and network shares so beware of external hard drives and network backups.

Always, keep an offline backup with rotating media.

Rennie is spot on about not letting hard drives sit idle.

It’s not just the cryptocrap, conventional malware has been jumping onto open network shares and plugged in devices for some time now.

That’s the reasoning behind physically isolated machines that don’t use architectures or operating systems that are commonly attacked – that virtually eliminates the risk of getting any automated malware in there.

Over the years I noticed when the computer was turned on and off it seemed to fail much more often, but when it was allowed to run (despite consuming more power) the failure rate was far, far lower and often I had time to notice when something was going wrong – before it came terminal. Some of the computers I have running around me right now are between 10-20 years old and they still work.

[Anonymous 11]

I have a 2001 iMac that still works. I power it up about once every three months. I remember one incident where my former employer had an old accounting machine that sat for 5 years in a closet unpowered. They asked us to power it up and try to retrieve some data for them.

I turned on the switch and pop go the capacitors on the motherboard with that wonderful smell they emit. Once we told them how much trouble we’d have to go through, they decided the data was not that important.

This new zCrpyt s~~~ is a spreader. It does not even seem to use an exploit. They just run UnpaidInvoice.exe after extracting it from the zip file. I think that if they even bothered showing users file extensions they’d still click on them. Microsoft uses this user behavior to spread Windows 10.

[EyeswideopenParticipant 2930]

Thanks for all the input.

– I have been rotating media. I also use Teracopy to do crc checks on my files when I use the send to command in Windows to copy to the HD.
– I backup about 1/month and keep multiple dated versions as storage is cheap.
– I even mix media – some solid state and external disc based HD.
– My problem is that I have long file names with deep sub folder separation. I know this will cause problems in Mac based OS. I just hate windows 10. Love XP and windows 7.
– Very afraid of loosing tons of family pictures and travel pictures. Plus I have many professional files and records.
– Thanks for the input.

- Marriage is described as an institution. You would have to be crazy to be commited to it. -"If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal. Not people or things" Albert Einstein

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