[AT] Update - Laptop hard drive

[rlgoss at twc.com]

IMHO, a natural disaster of some nature is still our biggest problem when it comes to backup information on computers. To me, that means DON'T PUT IT ALL IN JUST ONE PLACE.  I see no reason for backup of programs.  They get updated so frequently that it becomes a meaningless exercise. Data and images are another matter, and I advocate multiple copies of all of it -- separated by as much geographical distance as you can find.  To that end, I have been putting copies of images in one of the JPEG formats, and printed documents in true PDF format for years and sending it out to others (family members, collectors, fellow genealogists, etc) on thumb drives.  At this point, I have distributed over 450 copies of all of the Power King literature I have collected all over the country, and have distributed 100 copies of a complete collection of genealogical material in a similar manner.  To my way of thinking, this is the cheapest and most effective insurance that can be found for making sure that the material does not disappear. True PDF files (ones that follow the Adobe standards) can be loaded, opened, and manipulated on any computer operating system, e-reader, Android, or smart phone.

Larry
---- Mike M <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote: 
> Just wanted to give an update on my laptop hard drive. I ran every check 
> suggested, and my hard drive checked out fine, so I decided to wipe the 
> drive and reinstall windows 7, its much snappier now.  I have all my 
> files backed up to Carbonite, so I thought reinstalling would be a snap. 
> I double checked to make sure all my important files were there, and 
> backed up, and they were.
> I wiped the drive on the 17th, and reinstalled Windows on the morning of 
> the 18th, and then started my back up. As of today I am only at 61% on 
> the backup, with pictures being the big hang up. I took Charlie Hills' 
> advice and bought a 2TB external hard drive, and will use that for my 
> back ups from now on. It will pay for itself in less than a year, and I 
> will be able to back up my computer, and my 2 daughters computers on one 
> drive. I have to believe USB 3.0 is faster that my download speed.
> 
> Mike M
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