A brief guide to BACKING UP YOUR PHOTOS!!

  • Thread starter reddeathdrinker
  • Start date
R

reddeathdrinker

Guest
Please back your photos up - there are too many threads about dead hard drives and data recovery already!

Backups - how many times have you wondered how safe your photos on your PC are? This is aimed at the average Windows PC-user, wanting to backup their digital photos - there are other methods, but the aim here is for simple, safe, and reliable. Same principles may apply to Mac users, but the aim is "Keep it Simple, Stupid!"

What are your options?

1 - A physically separate hard drive installed in your PC.

2 - An external hard drive

3 - DVDs


And now the explaining.

1 - If you have a laptop, or a shop-bought PC, chances are it only has one hard drive. This may show up as 2 or more drives in "My Computer" depending on the partitioning (how the drive is divided up). If you were to copy your photos to another partition on your hard disk, and the drive fails, you've just lost both copies... A separate hard drive installed in your PC is much, much more desirable. At the time of typing, a 500GB drive is under £50, and a 1TB drive is under £80. If one drive fails, you still have a copy of your photos on the other. Replace the fried drive, and copy the photos over.

2 - Nothing could be easier than an external hard drive. Plug in the power adaptor (3.5" drives) and the USB cable (2.5" & 3.5"), and you've just added more storage space. Keep a copy of your photos on your PC, and a copy on the external drive. Or only plug it in to backup your photos, then unplug it and keep it somewhere safe. Prices are not much more than an internal drive.

3 - Burn your photos to DVD. Blank media prices have plummeted, so for a few pence per disk, keep a copy on DVD as well.


For methods 1 & 2, there are some handy bits of software to help you backup your data, but the easiest and simplest I've found is Microsoft's own SyncToy


There are several more advanced options as well, such as off-site backups, where you upload your photos to a remote server, and NAS (Network Attached Storage), which is basically an external hard drive that you plug into your network, rather than a USB port.

And I'll say this before anyone chimes in: RAID is NOT backup! Simply put, although the chance of data loss due to drive failure is reduced, data loss due to viruses or user errors, e.g. overwriting a file or deleting it, is not. If a file is deleted or overwritten the RAID array cannot be used to retrieve it. The file is gone. When a file is deleted it is deleted from all the drives. When a file is overwritten it is overwritten on all the drives. This is why a RAID array is not a backup solution.

Please share your own hints, tips and solutions!

My backup system is: PC with 400GB & 500GB internal drives, and 500GB and 1TB external USB drives. Copies of photos are held on 500Gb internal, and BOTH external drives.
 
What about getting viruses. If you backups were on 2 physical hard drives within the same PC, couldn't you lose both to a virus?

Unfortunately my method of backup at the moment is a program called 'SyncToy' which syncs the contents of a number of folders across to my second hard drive. It's a very useful program, like if you have work/school work on a pendrive, you can use it to copy work done at the computer to the pendrive, or work done else onto your PC for backup purposes. The unfortunate bit is it is susceptible to viruses.

So arent the only convenient, safe, backups onto an external drive or NAS? (dvd's seem like far to much hassle to keep updated imo)

p.s i've got 250Gb and 400Gb drives which both hold my photos (and other valuable stuff)
 
I don't see why having an external hard drive would make a difference to a virus. The PC sees it as just another drive, therefore I'd expect the virus to as well. I do need to work out something better.. I don't have the capacity on my internal disk to store all my pics. They are all on an external disk and some are backed up to DVD's. I need a new external to back up the current one I think.
 
Aye, but you could leave it unplugged when you aren't actually backing up, should have mentioned that.

(suppose you could do that with an internal but a little more hassle and more prone to the OS eventually complaining)
 
Blue Eagle said:
What about getting viruses. If you backups were on 2 physical hard drives within the same PC, couldn't you lose both to a virus?
Click to expand...

jgs001 said:
I don't see why having an external hard drive would make a difference to a virus. The PC sees it as just another drive, therefore I'd expect the virus to as well.
Click to expand...

Blue Eagle said:
Aye, but you could leave it unplugged when you aren't actually backing up, should have mentioned that.
Click to expand...

I did cover that angle when I said: "Or only plug it in to backup your photos, then unplug it and keep it somewhere safe"...
 
Interesting

To a techie numpty then - does SyncToy simply update the changes or the whole thing?

Being a techie numpty I tend to back-up everything to 2 external HDs, then copy the lot again every week even though sod all has changed sometimes. What I'd like is a simple program that only backs-up the changed images/folders

Is SyncToy such a tool? And is it EASY!!! :LOL:

DD
 
The two thing I took into account when deciding on back up solutions was, its great having them backed up for viruses, but what about fire and theft. I have one under my desk with a kensigton lock on it that is used for everyday backups, the other I use for monthly backup in the fire safe in a safe place so dont be lazy back up and remove it away from the main computer!

Michael.
 
Reddeathdrinker - Well said and defined. Its not only here people don't backup the number of people who come into the office with corupted drives with valuable files on at work with no backups.

Drives will fail
 
Thanks:)
 
Don't rely on backing up solely to one dvd. CDs and DVDs can and do fail over time - personal experience here. I use two different brands of dvd, as well as using two hard drives (in addition to the one inside the pc). I keep one of the dvd copies and one of the hard drives in tupperware containers in my detached garage.
 
Try using an on-line back-up service like Carbonite as one of your options....

Carbonite is only £25 p.a., and there's no limit to the size of the back-up.

On the negative side, it takes an age to upload your stuff and it doesn't back up external drives. It caused crashes and slow running on my PC but since re-installing the software everything has been fine.:)
 
I think only one back up is a bit risky too! I use an external HD (soon to be upgraded to NAS and hidden away in another room) and also an offsite back up, Mozy, it is just like carbonite.

The initial offsite back up does take a while, I also imagine that downloading to 40Gb back up would take a while too, although you can cherry pick what you want to download. Which is where the on site back up comes in, easier to back up to and restore from, but is obviously at more risk of fire/theft.
 
I have an external hard drive that I back up to using synch toy and it lives locked in my desk draw at work in case of fire of theft at home. I take it home once a week and run a synch which usually take less than a minute and I only delete images from my memory cards once I have a copy on my PC and a copy on my backup drive.
 
Yeah, that's another important one, keep files on your cards until you know they are saved on the hard disk and properly backed up.
 
i would recommend NAS to anyone, i use it and the drives are away from the PC. they can be used in seperate rooms, connected from offsite and easily accessible.

they can fail but having data mirrored over to another real time is great, means adding a new drive and rebuilding the NAS but you dont lose data. hopefully i wont have to find out though

as said to, make sure pics are on a PC before formatting cards, i always copy pics across but dont format the cards until the next time i use them when out, so then i know i have copied over the pics
 
a1ex2001 said:
I have an external hard drive that I back up to using synch toy and it lives locked in my desk draw at work in case of fire of theft at home. I take it home once a week and run a synch which usually take less than a minute and I only delete images from my memory cards once I have a copy on my PC and a copy on my backup drive.
Click to expand...

:puke:

Thats some seriously safe backing up.

whitey said:
as said to, make sure pics are on a PC before formatting cards, i always copy pics across but dont format the cards until the next time i use them when out, so then i know i have copied over the pics
Click to expand...

:plus1:
 
I had the worst of luck and will be taking your advice and not giving it back!

1 1/2 years ago i deleted a folder on my computer, this folder contained 5 folders and about another 6 branching off of each one of them, as a result i lost about 700+ photos, including ALL of my photography, 2 family holidays and some other sentemental scans.

One of the wost days of my life.

Take this advice seriously people!
 
GeorgeFirth said:
I had the worst of luck and will be taking your advice and not giving it back!

1 1/2 years ago i deleted a folder on my computer, this folder contained 5 folders and about another 6 branching off of each one of them, as a result i lost about 700+ photos, including ALL of my photography, 2 family holidays and some other sentemental scans.

One of the wost days of my life.

Take this advice seriously people!
Click to expand...

Erm.....you could have got them back you know....
 
a1ex2001 said:
I have an external hard drive that I back up to using synch toy and it lives locked in my desk draw at work in case of fire of theft at home. I take it home once a week and run a synch...
Click to expand...

That's a nice neat idea that doesn't sound too much hassle. Am hoping to get one of those WD Passport drives for xmas, so think i'll adopt a similar backup plan. At the moment, my backup is non existent. But then again, I wouldn't be too bothered if I lost the last 6 months images. Would mean I could have fun taking them all again, and hopefully make sure they're better second time around :LOL:
 
68lbs said:
That's a nice neat idea that doesn't sound too much hassle. Am hoping to get one of those WD Passport drives for xmas, so think i'll adopt a similar backup plan. At the moment, my backup is non existent. But then again, I wouldn't be too bothered if I lost the last 6 months images. Would mean I could have fun taking them all again, and hopefully make sure they're better second time around :LOL:
Click to expand...

It works really well for me and isn't a major hastle as I carry a laptop to and from work every day so once a week I just pop the external drive in the bag on my way out of the office. I like the peace of mind it gives me knowing that if my PC was pinched I would loose nothing of value (My backup also includes all the documents on my PC). I've had a couple of friends loose PC's to thiefs and it was never a problem getting the hardware replaced by the insurance company sadly though they can't bring back your holiday snaps or family photos.
 
The only slight flaw with that is the 1/7 chance that if something happened to your computer that it would be time when your back up is with it.
 
GeorgeFirth said:
I had the worst of luck and will be taking your advice and not giving it back!

1 1/2 years ago i deleted a folder on my computer, this folder contained 5 folders and about another 6 branching off of each one of them, as a result i lost about 700+ photos, including ALL of my photography, 2 family holidays and some other sentemental scans.

One of the wost days of my life.

Take this advice seriously people!
Click to expand...

Blue Eagle said:
Erm.....you could have got them back you know....
Click to expand...

Most people don't realise that when you delete a file you do not actually remove the file so until you overwrite the data it is still recoverable quite easily.
 
PsiFox said:
Most people don't realise that when you delete a file you do not actually remove the file so until you overwrite the data it is still recoverable quite easily.
Click to expand...

Which is all well and good, unless your PC has written something over all, or part of it...
 
All my backups and photos are stored on my nice Hp G4 server that I got from work. It has 170GB raid 5 with a LTO 1 backup tape holding 200GB

sorted :)

Mike
 
Found this thread through a link in Reddeathdrinker's sig. Thank you so much for pointing me in Synctoy's direction. I always backup my pics every month to a 500gb portable HD but always dreaded it. Synctoy is so simple I wish I'd found it months ago. May even backup more frequently now. :)

Thanks again Red. (y)
 
Why would a virus affect a second drive in a PC? I can imagine that a virus may take out the boot drive but feel that you'd be pretty unlucky to lose the files on the non boot drive. I'd be inclined to disconnect the data drive when the virus was identified and clean the primary, then reconnect the data drive and run the Av on the data drive.

I tend to mirror my data from primary to both an internal and external drive and back up really important files to optical media.

It is important that you spend a reasonable amount on continuity - if you rely on an on-line backup how do you know if your files will be looked after? Do you see thumbnails of images? What happens if they go bust without notice/get a nasty virus/suffer an EMP?

Keep your PC patched, get a decent firewall (and understand how to use it), get AV and update and run scans on a daily basis. Don't put all your eggs in one basket and you'll be fine. Fingers crossed.

Chris
 
There's nothing wrong with RAID 1, mirroring as it just mirrors one disc to another. Striped RAID 2 etc is faster but you'll lose data if a drive goes down. Many home PC's support RAID1. Just don't get confused with the other RAIDS.
 
how about backing up the lightroom database, and sidecar files, and also, what about offsite backuo, and testingthe efacacy of backups

On top of that, what about the expected lifetime of the media you are backing up too?
 
I had a hard drive go 'pears once' and lost all my pics, it will not happen again!
My pics are saved on my PC and further saved(copied) on to two additional internal hard drives for pics only. THOSE drives are then copied to an external hard drive and the external one is copied to DVD's every month and the whole thing does not take up that much time!

You would be forgiven for thinking that is way over the top:nuts::wacky::nuts: but I don't care, I will not be losing any more pics!:D
 
My system is pretty much inline with the other serious backup systems described.
I don't use DVD - quite simply I have too much data to put on DVD and they detiriorate over time.

1. Internal drive with my images on is seperate to my system drive.
2. NAS with mirrored drives in the garage (Seperate building to the house) which gets written to after each series of images i downloaded and converted.
3. eSATA drive on the desk that I plug in each week to backup.
This way my images are on 4 different drives and the chances of loosing all 4 are remote.

Point of note to raid users - check the manual for your raid array specifically about what happens if a drive fails. Some raid arrays start building the data backup on the remaining drive(s) as soon as failure is detected and if you run out of drive space then it is very bad news. My external NAS drives are never allowed to go above 50% capacitity (Both drives are the same size, if they weren't then it would be 50% capacity of the smallest drive).
 
The joy of having an external drive, kept safely away from everything else.

I was burgled over Xmas, lap top & camera, amongst other things stolen.

Hard drive kept elsewhere in the house. I only lost one set of photos which I'd taken a few days before and not got round to backing up. I had though uploaded compressed versions to Flickr so have still got reasonable copies of those as well.

The hardware has been replaced, the memories wouldn't have been.
 
Last week, the old Ubuntu PC that we used for email (IMAP), file sharing, web pages and the like went very badly wrong. It had two IDE drives, both of which were corrupted by the failure. Even if we'd had a RAID1 array, I fear we would have lost the data.

I spent most of last Sunday trying in vain to recover data (mainly stored emails).

Thankfully, we didn't lose any pictures as they are on a Windows XP system.

I thought we had a fairly foolproof system - but I was proven wrong.

What we have now is a new PC running Ubuntu 'Intrepid Ibex'. It's got two HDDs - an 80GB system disk and a 750GB file disk.

The backup regime I'm building is as follows:
Use rsync to backup the drives on the Windows PC, Linux system, netbook and Kiasmum's laptop to the new server

Weekly - use a 1TB (Maxtor basic) drive to take a physically separate backup. Again, using rsync.

The benefit of rsync is that once you've done the first big backup, any subsequent backups are of just what's changed. You can opt to remove deleted files from the backup if you want to, but I think that's a bit risky.

Finally, whenever we import photos into Lightroom, the raw images are automatically backed up on to a separate 500GB drive attached to the main Windows XP machine.



When funds permit, I will add another disk to the ubuntu server and probably set up a RAID1 array - or I could just use it for more backup storage.
I'll also buy a couple more big USB external HDDs so I can rotate the backups and maybe store one off-site.

So, hopefully, we have belt, braces and a piece of string to hold everything together.

It's the first time we've had such a major failure. The upside is I have a new server which takes faster SATA disks and it was good fun building it up. The downside is the pain of spending hours trying to recover data and not knowing whether you will be successful.

Next steps will be an image backup of the system disk in the XP machine. Though I need another HDD for that...

So take heed to reiterate what's already been said- make sure you back up any important data and keep a copy on a physically separate medium.



You know it makes sense!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top