Off site backup

I've been reading several threads in other forums where members talk about losing their work or how paranoid they are about backing up their work.

I am surprised to see that nobody seems to take advantage of automatic off-site backup services that are offered by several companies on the web.

There are a few that offer limited amounts of backup for free. I am using a service that automatically backs up my files twice a day for free. The limit is 2 Gb. My PC is fairly new, so I don't have a lot of junk on it and ALL of my files total less than 9% of the 2 GB allowance. I tested the recovery process and was able to recover a file in less than 3 seconds.

If people are interested in a link to the site I'm using, reply, and I'll post it. Otherwise Google Free off-site backup services and you are sure to find one. The software is easy to install and your files will be up securely backed up and encrypted, at an off-site facility the day you decide to install the free service.

I cannot tell you how secure I feel now that I know that my work is safely stored in an off-site facility and it is backed up automatically, whether I'm working on it or not, as long as the PC is on and connected to the web (sleep mode is OK).

I was emailing copies of my MS before I got the off-site backup service. I will continue to do so. And I have a flash drive, but I often forget to update that version, which is the main reason for the AUTOMATIC feature.

I use mozy.com. The free 2 GB convinced me to try them.

ETA: It's a nice feeling to run my cursor over their icon and see "Files backed up X hours ago."

I haven't seen Dropbox but it sounds very similar to the Mozy service I'm using. The install was a matter of clicking a few buttons and answering a few questions. The only maintenance I have is curiosity. I hold the cursor over the icon to see how many hours it's been since the files have been backed up. I tested the file retrieve function. It was simple and took less than 3 seconds.

maestrowork said:

What are the privacy policies and issues for these online services?

Click to expand...

Mozy offers two ways to encrypt your files. You can encrypt through your own software, or you can use their encryption. The files are encrypted while they are stored at their site. (I have no way of verifying that - it's just what they say in their literature).