Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Wish I Knew Wednesday

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Today's Wish I Knew Wednesday is pertaining to securing your documents.

There are lots of options -- I've heard of e mailing your manuscripts to others, printing them out, saving them on a disc or thumb drive.

All fine options.

But there's a better one -- and it's free!

Mozy.com

Now, I'm not at all affiliated w/ Mozy -- get nothing from recommending them other than the satisfaction of helping a friend.

Mozy.com allows you to back up 2 gb of data for free. If you choose to back up more, it is only $5 a month (I happily paid that).

Why?

Well, Mozy will do automatic back ups of your work several times a day. I never have to remember to back up my work, my e mail, my blog -- Mozy does it two or three times a day every single day.

It's super easy, too. Just go to Mozy.com and sign up for a free account (you can always upgrade later). Their site walks you through everything, makes it super understandable and starts immediately. If your computer crashes for any reason you don't have to pay for expensive data retrieval. Mozy has it all for you.

No more worries.

Tell Me do you Mozy? What is your manuscript protection plan? Have you thought about the importance of this? Have you ever lost manuscripts? Who out there is hosting their own Wish I Knew Wednesdays? Let's share our knowledge and help each other out :)
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34 comments:

Kelly H-Y said...

Really?! That sounds cool ... I'll have to check it out!

Anonymous said...

I haven't had a ton of experience with Data retrieval (my husband is a computer wizard) but I see the need for Mozy. I think I'll check it out. Thanks, Tess!

Davin Malasarn said...

Thanks for the tip, Tess. I remember hearing about these types of sites on NPR awhile back. Though they are good sites, there was one downside to them--and for the life of me I can't remember what that downside was. Maybe security breeches? Sorry, I'm not sure.

I tend to back up my work by emailing it to myself and sometimes by emailing it to others. If my computer crashed, I probably wouldn't have the most recent draft, but I'd have one that was close to it. I don't know if this is good or bad, but I try not to get too attached to any of my manuscripts. I try to tell myself that my best ideas are yet to come, so it's never the end of the world if something were to disappear. Luckily, nothing has yet. :)

Nayuleska said...

I use a friend's online storage facility. And google docs.

JKB said...

Tess, can you email me when you get a second? I'd like to ask you a question. :-DD

Thanks!

Susan Fields said...

I write on my laptop and copy the files to the main computer. I should do it daily, but I don't always remember. Mozy sounds really cool - I'll have to check it out. Thanks, Tess!

Anonymous said...

backing up ms seems to be a bit of a topic on blogs this week - I've never heard of Mozy - will have to look into it. How secure is it?

Guinevere said...

Backing up is always a great subject! I lost 13 hard-won pages of story when I was about 11 (back when computers used DOS) and it was devastating. However, while I have a system in place I'm bad about using it - sometimes I forget to back up for months. We have a network drive set up so I can use the wireless internet to back up all files. If I remember.

I might have to check out Mozy too -- just to have another way to backup, especially if this might be less effort on my part!

Wendy Paine Miller said...

Totally new for me. Glad to have read this. You are good for that...giving us valuable info.
~ Wendy

Corey Schwartz said...

We use Mozy! (Thanks to my smart hubby).

Tess said...

Good discussion this morning - thanks for coming over.

Security is the main issue on these sites, but we have come light years towards making it very safe and secure compared to years ago. Mozy's site has a good q/a on this issue. check it out and see if it meets your standards. I was pretty impressed.

Janna Leadbetter said...

I don't, but I've seen the commercial for Mozy several times of late. Coupled with the fact that you're posting about it now, maybe that's a sign I should go for it.

And thanks, Tess, for the Christmas cd! :)

Tabitha Bird said...

No, I don't Mozy. My hubbie backs up my work at his work. This works for us... did I say 'work' enough? :)

Linda Kage said...

I've never heard of Mozy. But I think I'll check it out now. Thanks for the tip.

Mary Aalgaard said...

I have done the email thing and printed docs. I play to mozy on over and use this back-up system. Thanks so much for the information!!

Lynnette Labelle said...

Too funny. We just started saving all our info on Mozy about a month ago. Wouldn't go back now.

Lynnette Labelle
http://lynnettelabelle.blogspot.com

Susan R. Mills said...

Thanks. I hadn't heard of Mozy. I've checked into other online storage services, but not this one. I'll go see what it's all about.

Cindy R. Wilson said...

Mozy sounds cool. I've never heard of it before. I usually use a zip drive and have my manuscript save on more than one computer. But still...sometimes I worry :)

Tina Laurel Lee said...

Good reminder! I back up with cds, with a extra hard drive and by emailing. I go in phases where I do it all the time or I forget and don't do it for months. Mozy would be a good idea because then I wouldn't count on my own unreliable head! Thanks.

Amy Allgeyer Cook said...

Because I have my company's architectural drawings to back up too, I back it all up every Friday to an external hard drive. But if I finish a major revision or a lot of work to a ms on Tuesday, I usually email it to my three email accounts.
I've looked into online storage, but my architectural files are HUGE and most free services don't offer enough space.

Tere Kirkland said...

Never heard of Mozy, but that sounds perfect for my needs. I've been looking for other back-up alternatives.

Thanks for the recommendation!

Paul Greci said...

I've never heard of mozy, I'll check it out.
My current plan:

Back up to an email account my most recent draft of each ms.

Back up to two USB's. One in a fireproof safe.

(Whatever I'm working on, I save to a USB throughout the day.)

And coming soon. Back up to my wife's computer.

Oh yes, I keep the most recent printed version of each manuscript.

Crystal said...

Thanks for this tip, Tess! I'd never heard of Mozy, but it sounds kind of cool! For the present, I email myself a copy of the manuscript when I've done a lot of revision and I also try to print out a copy of my latest revised scene or chapter. And, I know this is probably way old-fashioned, but I also tend to write all my revisions in long-hand first in notebooks & legal pads.

I'll definitely have to check Mozy out soon . . . :)

Elana Johnson said...

Mozy is great. I just started using it on my new PC. For a mac, people should try iDrive. It's free up to 2 Gig and just as amazing.

Jody Hedlund said...

So far I've been using the flash drive. I have my book on it, and save onto it at the end of every day. Would I need more than that? And what is the downfall of a flash drive as opposed to Mozy? Just curious.

Tess said...

Such great input - thanks for all the suggestions and opinions. As for Jody's question (I think that was the only actual question) - the only downfall of a flash drive is your remembering to do it or losing the flasdrive. Not huge risks, but Mozy or other online data storage sites take both those elements of risk out.

And - a question of my own for those of you who email to yourself ... what would happen if your email acct was hacked? happens more often than I think people realize -- especially if you travel and use public wifi. Just thinking....

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

Tess, that sounds really cool! I'll have to check it out! Thank you!

Lisa said...

Thanks for the tip, Tess. I usually just email my ms to myself. I always intend to do it more often, but only get around to it twice a month. One would think I would be more diligent about this, having lost 150 pages of my first novel when my computer crashed. This was over 10 years ago, and it was devastating! I had a hard copy of an earlier draft, but so much was lost that I couldn't figure out how to get back into it. I never finished that novel.

Like Davin, I now try to remember that my best work is ahead of me. Still...I think I'll check out Mozy. Thanks, Tess

PJ Hoover said...

Very nice! I do offsite backup with Carbonite. I back up everything. All the pics. Videos. Books.
It's great!

Jackee said...

This is exactly what I've been looking for. Thank you!

lotusgirl said...

Mozy sounds great. I'm going to have to check that out. I use a flash drive and I have a time machine (external hard drive) for my mac. I also periodically send the manuscript to my daughter using email.

Jill Kemerer said...

Oh, I back up my work! I'm super paranoid. And my computers crash often...

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tamika: said...

I do back up my work, but I'm open to adding other sources to the effort! Thanks so much Tess, you always manage to give such helpful information.

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I'm asking my Most Educated Computer Nerd Husband what his opinion is. He is an expert in retrieving lost computer files & such, so backups are his middle name....I'll get back to you on his thoughts.