Home data backup

[Harlan Huckleby]

I just had a 1 TB MyBook drive die. It held a ton of stuff collected over past 5 years that I will miss, especially my ginormous music collection. I sorta have most of it in other formats, but the hours spent collecting and organizing... Very painful loss. I do have more important stuff double-backed up to thumb drive.

I think home backup drives are an illusion. Unless you invest in some expense redundant system, you're waiting for disaster.

I think I will invest $7 per month in Microsoft's 1 TB cloud backup, which includes subscription to their Office software. I don't need Office, I've migrated to the slightly clutzy Office Libre freeware.

Do you backup your computer stuff to thumb drives, or some other system, or are you flying commando?

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-cloud-storage-price-google-drive-dropbox-icloud-one-drive-2014-12

[mraynrand]

I stopped backing up years ago. When my computer died recently, I just paid the NSA $500 dollars to restore all my files from their facility in Utah.

[mraynrand]

BTW, really sorry to hear about the loss of your stuff. It's pretty awful when you lose data like that.

I use Time Machine on Mac and some old futzy Norton utility thing on my PC. Self back up to two drives at work.

[pbmax]

It might be worth having that drive checked out. A My Book has its own power supply if I am not mistaken and its not robust. The drive itself might be fine if connected to a functioning system. There are also a few inexpensive fixes to bad drives that will allow data to be recovered easily. Most controllers can be swapped without having to pull the drive apart.

If you have to pull the drive apart in a clean room and read individual platters or replace drive heads, it will be expensive but they will be able to tell you that upfront. I can give you a couple of names if interested.

[Harlan Huckleby]

It might be worth having that drive checked out. A My Book has its own power supply if I am not mistaken and its not robust. The drive itself might be fine if connected to a functioning system. There are also a few inexpensive fixes to bad drives that will allow data to be recovered easily. Most controllers can be swapped without having to pull the drive apart.

I'll tell you my tale of woe: I moved the MyBook from a Win XP computer to a new laptop. Windows detects the drive, then runs install software off the drive. It asked me during install if I wanted to update firmware. Not being the brightest bulb on the tree, I said "sure, what can possibly go wrong?" (My thinking was a firmware update might be useful for interaction with an OS that came along 5 years after drive was loaded with software.)

So the install program fails - turns out Western Digitals firmware update was highly unstable in past years, and that old software is running off the drive. My firmware is trashed - drive unrecognizable by any computer, any WD utility. I'm fucked. Lots of people were screwed by this in the past.

I took at shot at buying a SATA-USB 3 enclosure. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GAML7OK

The drive was extracted from the MyBook easily. That generation of MyBook does not encrypt data. I really should be golden. I was certain I'd be able to read data off the drive.

It doesn't work. I was shocked and disappointed. Don't know why. A data recovery company is going to charge at least $300, more like $500. I can't imagine what is going on there with that drive - could it have been harmed by a firmware update process (I assume to controller board separate from drive)?
Did it suffer coincidental death - it is a bit old.

I guess I'm letting it go. Thanks for your thoughts.

[woodbuck27]

http://www.businessinsider.com/best-...-drive-2014-12

" It's important to keep in mind that pricing isn't the only factor you should take into account when choosing a cloud service. "

Harlan: What happened to you and losing all that stored music is a bummer. Like you I'm big on music. It's a large part of my personal life ...... a hobby that is central to who I am. I've collected over an entire adult lifetime a library of eclectic choices. In the event of a loss...... God forbid. The price in terms of my personal cost and times spent assembling it all would be enormous.

I would take pbmax's advice and look for a solution with his assistance if that meant recovery. We have some very bright people as members of Packerrats. We've all kinds of personalities and states of mind.

Now this is off topic but RE: a pet peeve of mine and computing:

I don't get it with Microsoft.

What's with their attitude to be parental and even invading our Computing Life whenever MS feel the need; to over step boundaries? Mae and I returned to our normal computing life after months away in a different world at our country home in New Brunswick. A world free of such, unless you must have total internet access and therefore make all the necessary and more costly arrangements. We use a simple option. The IPhone option for those times that either of us must access ie banking, E-Mail , set Pro Pickem' options or.... come here for an update or a good read. There's often something unusual going on @ Packerrats with it's assortment of personalities.

On returning to our Winter home early this month (Dec). My PC was dragging it's ass. I was getting screen whiteouts....long stalls and well .....BS. I've an XP Program and using the PC for basic access. I performed some analysis and discovered that Microsoft had taken the liberty to install two FAT programs. I didn't care why they were now on my PC? I didn't request them nor knowingly allow their installation. I'm guessing it's simply a part of Microsoft's routine practise to give us MS System users.... Updates. Great if your PC can handle such. Mine's older more weary. Aware of it's personal limitations....through it's limited brain ....... that's mine.

Of course 'the Fat Boys' got the boot but why does Microsoft take such liberty and in the process make my computer life less that desirable? I know that anything on our computer is accessible now. Those that use their PC for important and personal filing are vulnerable to invasion (s) of their private matters.

I wasn't Microsoft to request access as I see the need not any other way. Is it possible for me to enjoy that personal privilege?

[mraynrand]

My Commodore 64 is still running strong. It is phat.

[HowardRoark]

My system is working great.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Harlan: What happened to you and losing all that stored music is a bummer. Like you I'm big on music. It's a large part of my personal life ...... a hobby that is central to who I am. I've collected over an entire adult lifetime a library of eclectic choices. In the event of a loss...... God forbid. The price in terms of my personal cost and times spent assembling it all would be enormous.

Well, I didn't really lose everything, it still lives on thousands of CDs and thumb drives and etc. But I lost countless hours of work organizing and separating wheat from chaff.

I have an insanely large collection of Xmas music, and I was just getting ready to select and transfer some jolly jolly tunes to a thumb drive for this week's background. Then my Clark Griswold moment came.

[Harlan Huckleby]

My system is working great.

[pbmax]

I'll tell you my tale of woe: I moved the MyBook from a Win XP computer to a new laptop. Windows detects the drive, then runs install software off the drive. It asked me during install if I wanted to update firmware. Not being the brightest bulb on the tree, I said "sure, what can possibly go wrong?" (My thinking was a firmware update might be useful for interaction with an OS that came along 5 years after drive was loaded with software.)

So the install program fails - turns out Western Digitals firmware update was highly unstable in past years, and that old software is running off the drive. My firmware is trashed - drive unrecognizable by any computer, any WD utility. I'm fucked. Lots of people were screwed by this in the past.

I took at shot at buying a SATA-USB 3 enclosure. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GAML7OK

The drive was extracted from the MyBook easily. That generation of MyBook does not encrypt data. I really should be golden. I was certain I'd be able to read data off the drive.

It doesn't work. I was shocked and disappointed. Don't know why. A data recovery company is going to charge at least $300, more like $500. I can't imagine what is going on there with that drive - could it have been harmed by a firmware update process (I assume to controller board separate from drive)?
Did it suffer coincidental death - it is a bit old.

I guess I'm letting it go. Thanks for your thoughts.

Ouch. The firmware for the drive probably is for the controller but I am not an expert on this.

But what you need is someone who has fiddled with them enough to either swap out the controller OR install older firmware to the existing controller. The Recovery company will charge you a fortune as you reported. You might get an independent service place to give it a go. But its a non standard kind of fix, will really depend on the individual you are talking to.

I know a guy who does this all the time, but he is in Marshfield.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Ouch. The firmware for the drive probably is for the controller but I am not an expert on this.

But what you need is someone who has fiddled with them enough to either swap out the controller OR install older firmware to the existing controller.

When you say "controller" you must mean the circuit board that is attached to drive. I had assumed that the firmware was a MyBook thing, on the Mybook circuit boards. But the behavior I see does suggest it is firmware on the drive itself.

Maybe I can find somebody here in Madison to swap-out a controller board. Or maybe WD would do it.

[Harlan Huckleby]

The firmware is on the drive. This company swaps controller boards pretty cheaply:

http://outsourcedatarecovery.com/hdd-recovery/?gclid=CPrk5t7D8skCFYVFaQod3FwJiw

[SkinBasket]

I sent a physically broken drive to a place in Madison once. They couldn't fix it, but they could fix the corrupted drive I had pulled out earlier that had about 80% of the important data on it. Cost like $600, but for what we recovered it was worth it.

I can't believe anyone keeps anything important on their hard drive anymore. What is this, like 1998? I just email important stuff to myself. The government's going to look at it the same there they would a cloud service anyway.

Gillware, that was the name of those queers. The ones that took my money.

[pbmax]

Gillware will definitely do that and it will be expensive.

I wouldn't feel comfortable with a company off the Internet that I didn't know, so I guess it depends on what kind of testimonials you can find.

My bet is there is someone local, thought I confess, its not a sure thing. Last drive I had trouble with the service place referred me to Gillware.