What do you use..? [backing up your work online]

Super low-tech, but I just email the MS to my Gmail every so often. Then I can get it from anywhere.

kuwisdelu said:

Dropbox.

If you can install it on both computers, just save the files like you would regularly, but within the Dropbox folder, and they'll automatically get uploaded to the cloud for backup and also synced between both of your computers.

If you can only install it on one (e.g. locked down work computer), then at least you'll only have to manually retrieve and upload it when you work on one of them, and on the other computer you can work without having to worry about it, and it'll backup to the cloud automatically.

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Yep. This is me. My work have it blocked. It's a great help.

I have a USB stick, and I always email my work to myself no matter how small the update.

If I know I'm going to be traveling, I upload to SkyDrive on my Hotmail account. Beats emailing to myself as I have thousands of emails which one day I'll clear out...

WaveHopper said:

If I know I'm going to be traveling, I upload to SkyDrive on my Hotmail account. Beats emailing to myself as I have thousands of emails which one day I'll clear out...

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Traveling. That's an important point. Public WiFi hotspots, way too many of them, don't employ an encrypted wireless network. Someone watching packets can listen in and obtain data. I don't do anyplace that affects my pay or my bank account while on a public WiFi that didn't require a password (even if the password is freely given).

I love Dropbox. I save everything there. Then I have access to it on my phone or my iPad.

Scarlett Metal

Skydrive. It works perfectly with MS Office. I only use a jumpdrive for transportation. The things not only fail too often, they also wear out.

But I also back up all writing folders to DVD at the end of the day. It just takes a minute, and the extra security is nice.

I send to Google Docs if I want to use a computer that is not on my home network or on my Nook Color. I also have an external hard drive that I save to at critical moments and after I finish a draft. Mostly I have that because I live in a hurricane region. So when I need to boot, scoot, and boogie, it isn't feasible for me to take 4 computers with me. LOL.

I save my work to my computer, a flash drive, email it to myself, and post it to my private Dreamwidth account. You can make a post of over 50K words on that thing.

I tried TeamDrive (http://www.teamdrive.com), which is a DropBox wannabe. There is a portable app (http://portableapps.com/) version of it, so you can carry it with you on a USB stick along with an office suite.

Alas, my little Netbook chokes on it, leaving very little CPU to do anything else. I'm back at using DropBox.

-cb

Another vote for Dropbox, although I also can send it to other computers via the handy network thing-y my husband set up for me.

The nice thing about Dropbox is I don't have to plan ahead to get the files onto whatever computer I'll be using--I just boot up, get an internet connection, and the files blithely show up on their own.

Fallen said:

Dropbox here too. I don't even have to remember to save. I also email to myself with finished pieces.

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This is exactly what I do too

I use Flipdrive - it's free.

I also save to my hard drive and USB daily.

Recently lost both my external hard drive and laptop hard drive (crashed within days of each other like an old married couple) so it was a good thing my manuscripts were on Flipdrive and my good, old, USB.

Dropbox user here; I prefer it to all the other alternatives I've tried because it works across the three major platforms and is pretty simple to use. I also have used Ubuntu One, which works much the same, though it still lacks a working OSX client. I do P7Zip my work folder, with a strong password, then encrypt that zip file with GnuPG before dropping the file into my Dropbox. This way I can feel pretty safe with my work in the cloud. Might be a bit excessive, but that's how I roll.

I save it constantly, two copies. Have emailed it to myself, saved slightly older versions to cd, and always copy it to a flash drive (easiest!). It's not going on any one else's computer - and the only clouds I know of are cirrus, stratus & cumulus. =)

+1 to Dropbox over here too. It's so easy, automatically syncs everything from my phone, tablet, to computer. It's great.

My basic technique is simple, and I've used it flawlessly for years. (Guess that's jinxed it now)

1. Every time I complete a passage of creative work, I back up using Scrivener's backup. My schedule is based on my loathing of repetitive work.

2. Because most back ups from within applications are limited, several time each day I use Scrivener's Compile to dump an RTF copy to an external portable drive. I time-stamp this file so I can easily manage the chronology of the compiled files. This gives me the flexibility of having copies I can use in most word processing applications on most computers.

3. Also several times each day I burn a copy of the latest Scrivener backup + the RTF Compile to a CD. At the end of each month, or more frequently if I get nervous, I finalise that CD and start a new CD.

Sounds complicated, but actually takes less time than it took me to write this post.

I just email my novels to myself. Nothing fancy.

Ubuntu one Like dropbox it automatically uploads your documents, but you get 5GB instead of 2, so that's a huge plus.

I ended up losing about 5 years worth of work once when my computer (IT WAS A DELL BY THE WAY AND YES I'M STILL BITTER ABOUT IT) committed harakiri. Now I have not 1 but 2 flashdrives plus I email a zipfile to myself practically every week. Plus I also upload a new zipfile on my dad's computer once every few months. I'm never losing another piece of work again, no matter how crappy it is!!!!

Dropbox. Love it. But I do also occasionally email things to my husband as my proto beta-reader, which is a further back up.

Dropbox, mostly. If I had a private SVN I'd dump it there but don't and can't really afford to rent the webspace to host one.

As for safety, I figure my WIPs aren't that valuable anyone's gonna go pick them from dropbox. It's way easier to scam people out of credit cards than get a WIP published.

Exactly. Also, if someone did magically publish my MS and make millions of dollars before I do, I have so many drafts saved and people I've sent it to that it'd be fine.

Dropbox, for the reasons everyone else has stated. Very easy to use, accessible from any PC / device.

Dropbox, Dropbox, Dropbox. I just love it. So much better than USBs because I can still lose them, and e-mailing documents to myself continuously can be quite tiring, especially when you are playing with more than draft.