Online Backup Services

[PhotoshopScrapper]

Mozy also has the little green check marks to indicate when a file has been backed up, orange to indicate the file has changed since the last back up, and red to indicate when if a file has never been backed up. In addition to this, you can have the Mozy backup show up as a HD in your explorer window and browse through it whenever you want.

 

Char, what do you plan to use the desktop computer for? If you don't have any plans of using it, you could always take the HD out of the machine and buy a case for it. IF you do that, you will have just made yourself and EHD . You will need to format it though so as to wipe all the software off it or you won't have access to all the space on it.

 

I've had Mozy for a year now (just renewed my subscription). I went with them specifically because I was tired of waiting for Carbonite to support EHD back ups. I have had 2 problems where the back ups weren't getting done and both were fixed quickly with help from their online support.

 

I also have Acronis. I purchased that recently because I needed a bigger internal HD for my laptop. Using Acronis, I backed up everything on the laptop to my EHD, then uninstalled the small (80GB) hard drive and installed the new (320GB) hard drive in the machine. Using Acronis, I restored the back up (had to modify the partition size) and I had my 'new' laptop up and running in a few hours. Doing it this way was SOOOO much easier than installing all the software by hand.

 

My next step is to set up Mozy so that it backs up my Acronis file from the EHD as well. That will mean I have a complete copy of my internal HD on an external drive for easy accessibility AND I have all the files and that copy backed up off site as well.

 

I didn't used to be so fanatical about back ups ... honest. However after reading horror story after horror story about people losing their precious files, I decided it was time to take care of backing up. I have never had a hard drive crash on me before but there is always a first time. Thanks Ro for the push!

 

Denise

 

Thanks for the info about using an existing internal hard drive as EHD. I was planning on linking it to the cable and installing it as a secondary drive in my newer computer. I'm going to look into your suggestion.

 

Naomi,

 

When you buy the case for the hard drive, make sure you buy the appropriate size (3.5" for desktop HD and 2.5" for laptop HD). You'll also want to get a case with a fan and make sure you know if the HD is an IDE or SATA HD (if it's a relatively new - as in the last 3 or 4 years - computer, it's probably a SATA HD but you should look at it to make sure).

 

If you want more space, you can just purchase an internal desktop HD and a case for it as well ... instant external HD at a cheaper price. I just did this and picked up a 1TB HD for $120 and a case for about $30 from Newegg.

 

Good luck.

 

Denise