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Thread: New PC after 10 years!

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853
    Seeking opinions or suggestions on the best way to back up files on a Win-10 PC.

    For my old XP machine I used Norton's Live State Recovery which created an image backup every week. My external HDD had room for 3 weeks of ghost images and took about 30 mins per week to do this. As it turned out I never had to use it -- like any kind of insurance -- you hope you never need it. I recently purchased a 1TB external HDD for backups. I'm not sure if I need any additional software since it looks like Win-10 has some built-in utilities to back up files AND create an image or ghost backup. What do fellow members do to protect your files?

    I've seen ads on this forum for Carbonite. Is this method effective way to protect all your files and is it cost effective?

    Thanks.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  2. #12
    I use Carbonite and really like it. The version I have backs up all your personal files. I think there is a plan that also does the system files if you like, but I assume you made a thumb drive backup of that (it's a Windows 10 feature). So I use my external hard drive, rarely, to create snapshot backups and keep those offsite, but I rely on Carbonite for keeping me safely up to date. Also, Carbonite allows you to access files from a different computer if you want (through a web interface). Oh, and there is a plan that will include external drives if you like. The biggest drawback I could think of is if you have a marginal internet connection. Obviously the backup process has a lot to do (but it is outbound, vs. inbound). Special tip: I turned off the option to have Carbonite display little yellow or green dots on files/folders to indicate their backup status. It's fun to have it on for a while to see what is going on, but it can slow down Windows Explorer as you open folders with lots of files.

    Here is the link: Carbonite Online Backup
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853
    Thanks Dave. Yes, I already made a thumb "Recovery Drive" with necessary Windows file to boot the PC if needed. Just today I created a Windows-10 thumb drive with ISO files in case I need to reinstall windows. I had to log into my Microsoft acct to download a utility that would do this. Then the utility downloads Win10 and puts it on either a DVD or thumb drive with necessary boot files (needs at least 3 gig space). Years ago when you bought a PC you got the operating system on CDs in case you had to reinstall the OS. Cost cutting I guess.

    I'll check out Carbonite for sure. My internet svc with Comcast is much better than what I had with ATT. I now get 30 MPS download speed and almost 6 MPS upload. I think that should be good enough. ATT was only giving me 2.3 meg down and 256K upload speed.

    Thanks again.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  4. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by RickF View Post
    Years ago when you bought a PC you got the operating system on CDs in case you had to reinstall the OS. Cost cutting I guess.
    I'm sure that's the reason, but I don't like it much! Also, creating the backups yourself, whether on CD/DVD or thumb drive, is time consuming, and it is wisest to do it just when you really want to USE your new computer, not to mention install all the programs or utilities you want to use.

    Quote Originally Posted by RickF View Post
    ATT was only giving me 2.3 meg down and 256K upload speed.
    In my case, I pound on Carbonite harder than most. When I do audio editing, Audicity creates hundreds of files, and longer files create hundreds of megs. That would take a LONG time to upload at 256k! High speed is way more fun! Carbonite doesn't back up videos by default, but you can change that setting; I have some video folders that I DO back up that really chugs the bandwidth, too.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Central North Carolina
    Posts
    2,369
    I'm now running Win 10 Professional, and have just spent a month doing a thorough trial of CrashPlan (recommended by a fellow band member who is an IT professional as well). I'm very happy with it, even over our very slow (3 MB) DSL link. The user interface is pretty good, and it seems to function flawlessly in terms of its features. There is no limit on the amount of storage it provides. Price is $59.99/year for each machine on the individual plan, and I've subscribed both my wife and me to it. A 30 day free trial is available so that you can see how it works and how you like it. I would design/implement some parts of the UI differently, but in all honesty it seems like a very good product. Their support is rapidly responsive and good.

    When I did a comparison of the available alternatives, Carbonite and CrashPlan were my top two candidates. I chose CrashPlan based on some of the features. But either would be fine.
    Last edited by ghmerrill; 07-09-2016 at 04:28 PM.
    Gary Merrill
    Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
    Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
    Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
    1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
    Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
    1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)

  6. #16
    I went with Carbonite because of a Kim Komando recommendation, but CrashPlan sounds good, too. Here is the link (it is part of the affiliate network I belong to, as is Carbonite):

    https://www.crashplan.com/en-us/
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853
    Thanks Gary,

    I'm checking out several options. I just watched this informative review that may be interesting to others: (scroll down some to see the 7 minute video. The reviewer mentions both Carbonite and CrashPlan.
    http://www.cloudwards.net/review/carbonite/
    Last edited by RickF; 07-09-2016 at 05:29 PM.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853
    A couple of weeks ago I decided to try Carbonite. So far I really like it and it's working great. I've never used the cloud before but thought it was time to get with the 21st century. They use 128 bit encryption so the files should be safe. They have phone support and online chat support which works really well. I had to use the chat twice already. At first I didn't see any files in the backup folders from my iPhone or iPad so I asked for help. I found out it takes a little over 24 hrs for those files to show up on your phone or tablet. All is fine now. Then today I had a pdf on the desktop that wasn't backed up. When I right-clicked on it, Carbonite wasn't offered as a choice to tick it to have it backed it up. Chat explained (and showed me), that sometimes a file gets saved as a 'temp file', so it won't be backed up automatically. Since this pdf was important to me, she showed me to right-click, then compress it (zip it), then extract it took care of that.

    I signed up through the banner here on Dave's forum. Don't know if he gets anything from that action, but thought it would be nice if he did. The $59 for the year included two extra months, so not bad at all. I really like the fact that if I'm away from home I can access a file from my PC that has been backed up by Carbonite. Pretty neat.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

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