Need recommendation for online backup please!

[Tasya]

I just ordered a new beast of a desktop (massive gaming rig) and we are giving my laptop to my husbands mother. I need to get everything off it in a matter of a few days since we are leaving for a trip to Michigan and will hand off the laptop then.

I know a lot of you use carbonite...how do you like it? Will I be able to use it to backup everything from my laptop and then install on my new computer? I do have an EHD that I backup all my pictures/scrapbooking supplies to, but would like to have a backup for my backup.

Thanks for any info!

[anke]

If you want a backup for safety and just in case, carbonite or mozy both are great. Mozy backs up EHDs also. If you want to transfer things, I would not recommend them, but an EHD. They are just too slow, the initial backup will take weeks and to reinstall them will take the same if not more time.
As a backup for your backup they would be great (but your backup would have to remain attached so that Mozy can always read them, otherwise they will get deleted from their backup) Does all this make sense?

[Tasya]

Thanks Anke! Yes, that all makes sense. I have most of my pics burned to CD's (about 90%) so I think with the time constraints I'll just finish that up, backup to EHD, then use Carbonite on my new comp once it arrives.

[earlofoxford]

I use Carbonite and like it.

[maureenreynolds]

My dh got Crashplan, and I have no opinion about it one way or the other. It does take forever...esp when I keep adding content! like uh...supplies..and the layouts. I have +278GB, right now, and have 148+ done which includes two weeks where I was not home and on this computer. I will estimate that I am averaging 100GB a month being uploaded.

[Ron V]

Been using Carbonite for 2 years. no problems. Love their iPhone app. Also impressed with their live phone support. Reps seem knowlegable. Seems like good solid company.

[anxela]

I use mozy, and I'm ok with it. I've been looking into Crashplan, which has a less expensive solution for restoring if you want them to send you the files on an EHD. All options have free restore if you do it through the internet. Crashplan offers a free backup solution, to back up your data on a friend's computer. You could buy your friend an EHD and back up to that to have an off site backup. The great part about that, is that there's no need for a time-consuming initial backup, if you live close enough to just drop off the EHD with the files you have right now at his/hers house before starting the later backups.

[anxela]

I just did a test restore from Crashplan. It is really great. You can have it restored to it original location, or to your Desktop (your choice). You can also choose to restore the most recent backup, or a previous backup. You also choose whether to rename or replace the existing file (if any) in the restore folder you choose. I will probably move all my online backup to Crashplan.

[Christinas]

internet is unfortunately too slow here for me to consider online backup... It would take years ! I have several EHDs which I keep in several locations but still looking for a better way to organize my back up.

[cheska99]

I've used Carbonite for years now with no complaints and have retrieved files from it. I thuoght about switching to Mozy when I wanted to back up an EHD, but Mozy said it would take 2 months for my initial backup. So I just had a 1.5 TB internal drive added to my machine which Carbonite backs up. In other words, they will back up more than one drive, but not if it's EHD.

[Scrapbird]

I don't think you can ever tell how well online backup works until you have to RESTORE. I had to do just that with Mozy this summer, and I am now using it as a last resort emergency backup. It took weeks to download everything, and I discovered too late that all my contacts, emails, fonts, and brushes were lost.
When you have Mozy installed, you can right-click on any folder and choose the option to have it backed up by Mozy. I manually did this with every folder after learning the hard way.
I now have a huge EHD on my desk, and do regular backups to it. Mozy is set to do an automatic backup every day.
I hope this helps . . . the only good thing I can think of to come out of the enormous hassle and headache of my hard drive crash is that maybe I can help someone else avoid it!!

[anxela]

Originally Posted by Scrapbird

I don't think you can ever tell how well online backup works until you have to RESTORE. I had to do just that with Mozy this summer, and I am now using it as a last resort emergency backup. It took weeks to download everything, and I discovered too late that all my contacts, emails, fonts, and brushes were lost.
When you have Mozy installed, you can right-click on any folder and choose the option to have it backed up by Mozy. I manually did this with every folder after learning the hard way.
I now have a huge EHD on my desk, and do regular backups to it. Mozy is set to do an automatic backup every day.
I hope this helps . . . the only good thing I can think of to come out of the enormous hassle and headache of my hard drive crash is that maybe I can help someone else avoid it!!

Yes, it's important to remember to back up those folders... About brushes, I keep them in their original folder, and have them backed up. The fonts, on my mac, are kept in two different folders, one shared font folder, and one personal fonts folder. I have to look into this, because if I hadn't had my Time Machine backup, I would have lost the personal fonts...

The nice thing about gmail, for instance, is that you can set it up as an imap account. That way, your emails are always kept on their servers, even though you can view them on your computer as well.