Note: This column represents the opinions
of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
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How good are your backups?
Do you have a plan organised to fix up your computer system(s) should
something awful happen?
How long will it take you to fix or reload all those programs and data
that currently reside on your multi-gigabyte hard drive?
Do you have any real contingency plans in the unfortunate event that
disaster strikes?
Check Out The Aardvark PC-Based Digital
Entertainment Centre Project
Updated 2-Dec-2002
And are your backups actually going to be any use to you?
The reason I ask is that there are probably a huge number of people who
think that simply copying a few files onto a CDR at the end of the day
or every Friday afternoon is sufficient.
Bad news folks, in these days of digital rights management, registry-based
configurations, downloaded software and other "smart" designs and bits of
code, simply having a copy of your data files may not be enough.
Do you, for example, have safely stored master-copies of all the software
you've purchased online?
Don't simply rely on downloading such programs again if your hard drive packs up
or you're hit by a virus/worm infection. Chances are that the version
you're running is no longer current so your activation key won't work if
you download a new copy. That means forking out extra money.
You have kept a copy of all your software activation keys somewhere safe
haven't you? Only having them stored in an email on your hard drive will do
you no good at all will it?
Unfortunately, some downloadable software doesn't allow you to make a master copy --
forcing you instead to use a small "loader" program which then automatically
downloads and installs the actual code without leaving a trace of the
uninstalled files. Restoring programs like this can be a real pain -- especially
if they also install a number of DLLs or create hidden/system folders on your drive.
And have you actually bothered to check that those CDRs you burnt last week,
last month, or last year, are still readable? Despite the claims made by
manufacturers, CDRs don't last forever and if your CDR drive isn't 100%
compatible with the media you're using, or the disks are stored incorrectly,
the data may become unreadable within a surprisingly short space of time.
Finally -- don't be tempted to use CDRW media for critical backups.
It's widely appreciated that CDRW media often fails well before the 1000+
rewrites claimed for it. Given that CDRs cost less than $0.50 a piece, why
risk using CDRW media that is guaranteed to be less reliable?
And remember that Mr Murphy is eternally vigilant. The better your backups
are, the less chance there is that you'll need them -- but slip up for
a moment and -- well you know what will happen.
Have your say
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Although the very kind folks at iHug continue to generously sponsor the
publication of Aardvark, the bills still exceed the income by a fairly
significant amount. It is with this in mind therefore that I'm once
again soliciting donations from anyone who feels they're getting some
value from this daily column and news index. I've gone the PayPal
way of accepting donations because the time involved in processing a bunch
of little credit-card billings sometimes exceeds the monetary value they
represent. Just click on the button to donate whatever you can afford.
NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally donate twice
what you were intending :-)
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