GeekSugar

Ask a Geek Girl: What's With Carbonite and Should I Sign Up?

GeekSugar — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:05:32 -0700

Dear GeekSugar,
My mom called me the other day freaking out about a Carbonite commercial, saying I should back up my photos before disaster strikes. I've actually seen the commercials late at night (I have to admit, I find them pretty funny), but can't really wrap my mind around why the service is. I have thousands of photos stored on my laptop and do worry it will quit on me one day and I will be left without copies. Should I use this service? Thanks for your help.
- A Fellow Geeky Gal

Dear Fellow Geeky Gal,
I pleased to hear I'm not the only person who is endlessly entertained by late-night cable commercials! You ask a great question because I've been seeing the company name everywhere. Carbonite is a web service that claims to "automatically and securely back up the irreplaceable contents of your computer" for the yearly cost of about $55. It works for PC and Mac users, but has slightly different set up depending on your system. To find out if I think you - and other readers like you - need it, read more.

Before you sign up, I'd suggest perusing the Carbonite website and looking at the demos to see if it fits your lifestyle. Everyone's backup needs are unique. I like to be selective about which files I backup (I only save the most important stuff like pictures, a small number of documents, and music I can't live without), so I don't need the "automatic" program to do it for me. Given you seem most concerned with backing up your photos, I think you should investigate a photo-hosting service before you back up your entire computer and then come up with a plan for backing up your important files. I adore Flickr ($25 a year) for its networking, geotagging, and general photo fun, but also use Picasa for its free simplicity. If you want to back up more documents, check out my guide to backing up data for a peek at a few devices that may be more cost effective for you. You might also check out MobileMe, a service that allows you to sync all your photos, email, calendar, contacts from your Mac (iCal, iDisk, Address Book, and Mail) or PC (Microsoft Outlook) to your iPhone over the air (it costs about $100 a year).

Cheers to planning to back up your data, not matter which route you pick! Anyone who has ever lost their hard drive or even a few files can tell you it's a devastating experience.

Even the geekiest of us have technical breakdowns. There's no question too easy or too techie, so join our Ask a Geek Girl Group and share your concerns and quandaries. Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

How Many Flash Drives Do You Own?

GeekSugar — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:05:26 -0700

I'm all "keyed up" over this keyring flash drive. Get it? Keyed? Anyway, I have a thing for flash drives, but my problem (which I'm sure most of you can relate to), is that the things are so small that I end up misplacing them. And let's face it - if I've backed up some important docs on there, that's really not a good situation to be in.

But if I had this LaCie Iamkey 4GB flash drive, then I could back up that important content from my laptop and I'd always know where it is. Well, unless I lost my keys that is.

I know I've got a whole drawer full of flash drives just waiting to be used, so it had me wondering - how many flash drives do you own?

One of the Best Geeky Scenes From Sex and the City

GeekSugar — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:02:05 -0800

Did you know that Tuesday was "National Clean Out Your Computer Day"? The day devoted to deleting old emails, cleaning up your desktop and backing-up old files to make room for new ones?! Considering backing-up my data made my New Year's Resolutions list this year, maybe it's time I put my new eGo Portable Hard Drive to the test and "back-up!"

The other day Yum reminded me of this hilarious clip from Sex and the City and it brought me back to the good (or not so good) days of laptops crashing and zip drives. The best quote would have to be at the end of the scene with Carrie saying, "After all, computers crash, people die, relationships fall apart. The best we can do is breathe and reboot. And when that fails a little gizmo called a zip drive can provide a surprising amount of comfort." Ain't that the truth?!

And so, I must ask, when was the last time you backed-up?

Use Microsoft SyncToy to Backup Your Data

GeekSugar — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:08:34 -0800

Just picture it... You are up in the middle of the night finishing off a project, which of course is due tomorrow. All of a sudden, your screen goes blank. You ctrl+alt+del a hundred times, restart your laptop and there it is... the infamous blue screen. Remember when Carrie's laptop crashed on Sex and the City? Heart wrenching! With so many sources feeding your laptop with data (your digital camera, e-mail, cell phone, portable media player, camcorder, PDA) it is essential to use a program such as the SyncToy for Windows XP, which can help you copy, move, and synchronize different directories.

Download the SyncToy PowerToy from the Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP website.

Geek Tip: Backup Your Data With Mozy

GeekSugar — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:26:38 -0700

If you don't have the time to run out and buy your own external hard drive (or the patience to figure out how to format it) you can keep it simple sister, and back up your docs and data with Mozy. You probably have a ton of stuff floating around on your computer that would be a heartbreak to lose, and a back-breaker to retrieve. In other words, it's not cheap.

With Mozy, you don't have to worry about all that cause you can back up your data in a super-secure online storage system that is free up to 2GB, and only $5 a month for unlimited storage. Did you catch that? Unlimited. And when I say secure, I mean banks, high-profile companies, and even a few Hollywood studios use it to back up their important data. Live off of your laptop? Do yourself a favor and leave the external drive at home and back it up online.

T-Mobile Sidekick Owners May Not Get Their Data Back

GeekSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:50:53 -0700

Over the weekend, T-Mobile experienced a server failure from its data server provider Danger, which is a subsidiary of Microsoft (umm, I'm already suspicious of a company that has a server named Danger!). Servers go down all the time, but T-Mobile has announced that it is unable to recover personal data stored on Sidekicks.

T-Mobile is urging Sidekick customers to keep their devices turned on, keep it connected to a power source, and to not reset it or remove the battery. Unlike BlackBerry owners that can backup their data using RIM's desktop manager or with iTunes for the iPhone, Microsoft didn't have a backup program or export tool for the Sidekick, which means many Sidekick owners are furious with T-Mobile right now.

Did you lose your Sidekick data from this major outage catastrophe?

Do You Store Your Contacts' Data Anywhere Else?

GeekSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:47:05 -0700

Last weekend's server crash resulting in T-Mobile Sidekick users losing all of their data left a lot of Sidekick users understandably angry. At first, T-Mobile considered recovering the lost data unlikely, but now it seems that most of the data has been recovered and will be restored to Sidekick users shortly.

Part of the problem: Microsoft offers no digital backup for the Sidekick. My iPhone's address book is backed up on my computer, but (similar to my Moleskine addiction) I also keep a paper address book for important phone numbers - just in case. What about you? Do you have your contacts' information stored somewhere so you won't lose it?

Daily Tech: Let Amazon Back Up Your Hard Disk

GeekSugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:00:47 -0700

If you tend to worry about losing data, Amazon now has a backup service where they will upload your physical hard drive's contents to the Amazon cloud (their servers). They also have a cost calculator to determine the price. - Digital Inspiration
Screenshots have surfaced of the iPhone's rumored push notification system that is scheduled to come in the iPhone 3.0 release this Summer. - MacRumors
Yikes! A protection official for Germany wants Google to erase certain Google Street View images. - USA Today
Dell's new durable, colorful, Latitude netbooks may be targeted to students, but they aren't exactly the most practical devices for afterschool wear and tear. - Engadget
AT&T is considering offering cheaper data plans for its smartphones, including the iPhone. - Wired

How To Backup Data On A CD

GeekSugar — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:00:54 -0700

Remember in Sex and the City when Carrie's laptop crashes and everyone keeps asking her - did you backup? Anyone who has a computer and anything important on her hard drive should always do regular backups and many of you have sent me e-mails asking how to do this so I thought I would give you a step-by-step guide. While it may seem easy as pie to some, there are plenty of people out there that still avoid saving - just ask Carrie Bradshaw. There are many ways to do a backup, including using a CD, zip drive, external hard drive and the web. Here are step by step instructions to help you do a back up on a CD.

For steps, read more

Check your computer configuration and decide what you need to back up (whether that be word documents, contacts, or images).
Determine the amount of CDs you will require for all the data you want to store. A CD can normally store 650 MB of data.
Sort the data and insert the blank CD in the drive. Write the data that you want for the backup in the CD by copying it.
Use the CD writing wizard or CD writing software.
Write the title on the CD so that you know what is stored on it.

Geek Tips
Be sure to do a backup regularly so that you don't risk losing data.

Try another backup option like an external hard drive if the amount of data is too large. For example, if you want to backup videos or music.

Geek Tip: Use Skydeck to Back Up Your Cell Data

GeekSugar — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:33:04 -0800

If you're a heavy cell phone user (or someone who may use your cell as your only communication device), then you may have contemplated the fear of either losing your phone, or having it crap out unexpectedly. What are you to do without your contact lists and text messages? I mean, who remembers actual phone numbers anymore? Certainly not my boyfriend as I found out recently.

Creating a backup (like you would for your computer) seems like a pretty great idea, just in case. This is where Skydeck comes in. Signing up for a Skydeck account means you get a backup of your data in a web-mail like interface where you can find your important numbers, read texts, and even make calls (for a charge) if you are ever without your cell. Skydeck puts me more at ease, since sometimes I can be a total worrywart about losing my precious handset. Who wouldn't?!