May 07, 2005 07:53 pm what do you think is the best way, coco?
Word Of WARNING!!!
Posted on May 07, 2005 07:41 pm
cocofromscotland
Hello!
Member Since: Jan 12, 2004
Hey Guys
OK, here is my little insightful pearl of wisdom offered to all who care to listen.
I am kickin on (tho not yet 30) but for a LONG LONG Number of years, Ive been dealing with computers. For almost as long, Ive dealt with and loved music.
Now, I am also at times, a smartass and to smart for my own good. So, the point I will make here comes from HARD LEARNED LESSONS over the last week and last few weeks and months.
****************** BACKUP ALL YOU HAVE *************
This CANNOT be clearer. Recently I (almost) lost all my business stuff from my PC due to my own stupidiity.
Last week I lost 14GB worth of live recorded gig - which I got (most of) back and currently am fixing/mixing.
I CANNOT STRESS ENUFF - dudes, if ye care for yer spare time and dont want to waste as much as me of late, BACKUP yer stuff. Get a good app, make a wee process for yerself and stick to it.
*** DONT GET CAUGHT OUT LIKE ME ***
Its always better to learn these things from someone else...like me. So, get the songs, audio, files, etc BACKED UP and dont be foolish.
I can testify to losing stuff and its bloody hard to fix (Im currently relying on bled mics to fix backing vocals which I lost from the big gig I done last week)....DONT MAKE MY MISTAKE.
You have been (Friendly) warned...
Take it easy guys
Coco.
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May 07, 2005 08:41 pm There are possibilities of recovery lost data. If you’re going to lose money as a result of the lost data then, so long as there is minimal or no physical damage to the HD, most of it can be recovered. Even if you have re-formatted.
However the more you write to the disk the harder this becomes.
If it’s that important I’d buy a new HD (‘s) and send the old ones of to a professional recovery place.
It’s cheaper to specify the exact type of data you want recovered (rather than a complete restore).
It’s NOT cheap but I’ve used this service before when a server blew up at my old work. It’s very effective.
May 07, 2005 11:33 pm If it doesn't exist in 2 or more places then it doesn't exist at all...
May 08, 2005 05:05 am Yah, I should clarify a bit here: I got the data back both times, with most all the gig data but the end of the backing vocal file was corrupted.
Alas, not bad from about 40gb - to have less than 1gb corrupt is sure as hell lucky. So, no need to do any more recovery but cheers for the words Bleak - appreciated.
Forty, I suggest what I will do from now on is do some big data dumps to DVD periodically, say once a month. When we consider we can buy 100 blank DVD's for less than £20 ($40) - one per month to back up your audio is not much. Use the same file structure and just make a backup copy of your audio files i.e. whatever app you use - copy the data generated, documetn files and the raw audio tae...safest way.
The other option is to buy an external HD and just dump the image once a month...surely a good idea tae.
I read (during my studies and attempt to retrieve) that it takes around 8 over writes to truly cleanse a disc. That said, thats the US Security protocol (dunno aboot the UK) for official secrets stuff. Personally, if I were them Id just take the HD and burn it...aint nobody gonna recover much from a burnt oot lump of metal :-) !! hehehe.
Anyways, tis true yuo can reformat and still get yer data - AS LONG AS YOU DONT WRITE OVER IT !! So, if ye do lose stuff, dont write to that drive if at all possible. I was lucky - mine was on its own dedicated audio HD...
Moral here is : BE CAREFUL and make copies of yer important stuff. Dont get complacent like I did - I got it back but it took a WEEK and a LOT of worry and uncessary stress.
Sermon over...go forth and make audio!!
Cheers
Coco.
May 08, 2005 09:10 am I have an old post around here about when I accidently fdisked an entire session.... 100% recovery though :)
May 08, 2005 09:10 am Yeh, for home use I agree about backing up to DVD!
Coming from a corporate side of things, backing up to tape everyday would be tops! I wonder how much you could get an old DAT (data) for these days.
Even JAG in its day was ok.
Poor ZIP drives! :( ..... Once were warriors!
May 08, 2005 05:06 pm Ya even the 250mb Zips are now pretty much about as much use as a floppy was 10 years ago.
I usually back up to removable drives and pull them so they arent spinning when the project isnt being worked on. But ya for archiving, the DVD is the best investment I made, thanx to dB.
I would love to get my hands on a Travan or similar drive for complete system back ups. In my case I think a 120g HD in the swap bay might be enough to do a good back up. It would take me a week or more to reinstall everything if I had a system drive failure.
May 08, 2005 06:06 pm On that same note Noize, I bought a copy of Ghost and created an image of my system once it was totally tuned. If I were to ever crash the system, I just use ghost to reimage it. Takes about 10 minutes if your going from an image on an alternate drive to the main drive. This is the single best investment I made for system recovery.
May 08, 2005 06:12 pm The only downer part of a ghost idea is that many of us change out parts periodically...thereby making the ghost out of date. Typically that's just a simple driver change so it's usually not a big deal, but that is why I gave up making images of my computers, cuz parts change too often.
I have been using my DVD for backup more and more. 4.7 gigs is a lot, now the dual layer DVD's are getting cheaper as well, and they are 8.5 gig...w00t.
As far as recovery goes...I have a friend that work in a bank as a service center manager, and when they dispose of hard drives, they doa zero-byte write and drill a whole through the platters of the hard drive before disposing of it...
May 08, 2005 06:23 pm i use my 2 maxtor usb hard drives as backups and also burn dvd's..works great, im really anal about backups :) ive been burned a few times.
May 08, 2005 08:04 pm Ya philthy, I do like the ghost idea. But like dB, I am constantly haveing driver changes, software updates. Adding or deleting software packages. And now doint beta work, it is even cumbersome because of changing out software at least once a week. So though it is a great idea, I dont know if the time invested would save me.
But I guess one could do a save and at least have most of the major system settings and software in that ghost image.
May 08, 2005 09:18 pm I swear by ghosting! I'd rather go through the hassle of a few updates than have to start from Scratch.
May 10, 2005 04:45 pm I've got 3 hard drives. One 80 GB internal for my programs, another 160 GB internal for recording projects and files, and an external 160 GB for backing up the internal 160 GB. I've gone through 2 of the external ones in a year (which were fortunately covered by warranty), so it's a good thing I was only using them for backup and not writing directly to them.
May 10, 2005 04:56 pm I am as guilty as anyone in regards to backups... or should I say "lack of backups". I try to put all of my stuff onto DVD but I only record for a hobby so if I were to lose a few weeks worth of work it is more of a disappointment than a loss of income.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that you must get a copy of your backup off-site. Think of where you would be if there (heaven forbid) was a fire or theft. Insurance will get you a brand new system but that won't dry the tears if you can't get your priceless mixes back.
May 10, 2005 10:16 pm Hey, Beerhunter's singing my tune.
I've had backups, stuff on different machines even, but if it's in the same house (building), then fire can wipe it all in a hurry. Luckily, not much couldn't be re-created, but there's a few songs that I've only got the iffy mastered job of on a CD. no tracks left of any of it.
Big bite in the butt was about 4 or 5 years of digital pics. I've been procrastinating burning them onto CD, but didn't get to it. They'd have burned in the house fire anyway, so if you want to keep them, store them offsite.
Sure seems like a cheap and easy investment now, hindsite being what it is.
Thanks for the thread Coco, always good to have a heads-up.
May 11, 2005 07:06 am Aye - nae worries PJK...I live and learn (usually the hard way) - if others avoid the pitfall - all the better.
Nice one..BACKUP dudes - in Whatever way ye like...jut mind and do it!
Cheers
COco.
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