Your home computer, back it up now

I use PC matic it only Fifty Dollers for five computer . So fear no ploblems on my end. Just a thought.

Good advice.

All our computers are automatically backed up.  We have a mix of Mac and Linux machines.

Got a 2TB external HDD coming in anticipation of Windows 10 (thank you Amazon prime day). It is great practice to back up your computer regularly, you never know what can happen. 

If you are using a local back up drive then you need to disconnect it after a back up. Otherwise its files will get corrupted along with your primary drive.

Pete

Even though this is not strictly about trains, we all obviously use computers here so I'm going to let this thread stand for a while.

What Diesel Dan has said in his post is critically important.A huge part of your LIFE is on your computer. Family and train pictures, videos, important financial files, legal documents, emails...they are all a part of our on-line lives now. IF they are all lost, that becomes major problem and a huge heartache as well.

The backup solution which we use here at OGR is I-Drive. This is an on-line, OFF-SITE backup solution. Every one of our computers is backed up every night to our I-Drive account.

The fact that this is an OFF-SITE solution is critical to a successful backup program. It does you no good to back up to an external hard drive on your desk if (God forbid) your house burns down. That hard drive will go up in the fire and everything will be lost. By backing up to an OFF-SITE location via the internet, no matter what happens, your backed up files are safe and sound. We have been using I-Drive for many years. It has saved us several times when hard drives have crashed.

You can back up 5 gigs of files free at I-Drive. A 1 TERABYTE account (that is 1,000 gigabytes) is only $44.62 a year. That is very cheap insurance.

I have no connection with I-Drive other than being a very satisfied customer. We don't get any referral fees or any other consideration for recommending I-Drive.

Good advice above.

I routinely have 6-8 copies of everything on 2-3 computers and 3-6 external drives in 2 different geographic locations.  Redundancy and diligence has saved me from a losing anything now with the loss of a laptop hard drive and a desktop hard drive.

Knowing that I cannot afford to lose files forces a very structured diligence in maintaining back-ups.  It's worth the time and energy invested!

Clearly, the advice for regular backups is very sound advice, and most computer users don't follow through.

I have multi-layer backup, the last line of defense is the NAS (Network Attached Storage) in the basement in a fireproof enclosure.  I use three different NAS boxes to accomplish the backup, and all of it is automated so that it happens whether I think of it or not.  I believe the automated backup, be it local or off-site, is key.  It's just too easy to forget as time goes on.

Bill Henning at Hennings Trains recently got hit with the Cryptolocker, and indeed everything was gone!  Be careful out there, they are coming for you!

Thank you for your advice!

AG

Always good advice to periodically back-up your information!

In the past, I have had good luck with Hitman Pro to delete ransomware.  The way it works is that on a working computer, download Hitman Pro to a flash (thumb) drive.  The key then is to get the infected computer to boot from the external drive rather than its internal drive.  You can buy a yearly subscription to Hitman Pro that covers 3 computers, or download a 30-day trial for free!

Its not only viruses that cause our computers to crash, sometimes files get corrupted and the computer wont boot correctly.  Had to reload the software on this computer last year and my computer at work has crashed several times (they keep replacing the hard drive on that one.)

Jim

Jim, Hitman Pro, or for that matter, any other AV product, is useless once CryptoLocker, or other similar encryption malware, has encrypted the files.  The ONLY way to get the files back are to have the encryption key.  Since most of these attacks are done using human engineering, they normally skip right around most AV or Spyware products, in essence, you invite them in.

My father had this happen to him as well.  Unfortunately he always had his USB backup HD plugged in… and it encrypted that data as well.  We nuked the drive and he had to start over.  

We use a stand-alone external hard drive for all our photos, files and such. And it stays unplugged until we need to open or save something.

We had an issue recently where our computer got caught in an endless loop of:

update/update didn't work/delete what was updated/restart/update - and it never ended.

I had to re-set the computer to our earliest default setting. I lost some fonts I'd uploaded and a few small things, but re-loading the Norton and applications we had already on it (only three, but I always pay extra for the discs just in case of something like this) were the only real issues, which weren't big problems. When I went looking for the fonts I'd lost, I save copies of each of them so I wouldn't have to go hunting for them again later, just in case.

I'd have lost countless photos and files had all that been on the hard drive. I'm so glad my wife insisted it all go to that drive a few months ago (and yes, I told her that at the time).

We also turn on the computer to use it, do so, then turn it off. We never leave it running. I'd be lying if I said I knew either way if that'd actually help.

But someone uploading malware that encrypts everything? Man, that's a new one on me. Sounds like nobody has a fix for that right now.

The other part of doing a backup is to also try to restore information.  I've seen backups that look like they are working but when you try to restore there is nothing there.  We put small text files on the original drive and then try to restore them just to check the backup.

Gene Anstine

even worse, the feds are now cracking down on these people. when they are caught, all the keys are destroyed or lost.

I put this on my Mac for free. I researched it and installed it after Comcast sent me a message. I run the program periodically now. So far it detected and rid me of 2 "Phishing" things and 1 Trojan. It also disallows dubious places when surfing. One time I was redirected and it was obvious something happened during a Google search. . I can not speak for a PCs, I never had one. Since a lot of the hackers are overseas,I don't see the government having much control. The mac seems to have a lot tighter security. Installing 3rd party software is like pulling teeth sometimes. 

LINK

Dale H

Decisions..Decisions..Decisions, which one do you want? I-Drive Cloud, Microsoft Cloud or one of the services offered by the larger computer manufactures. Some start at $5.00 per month, others $7.50 plus. The choices are almost unlimited.

an off site backup location is part of the program. you can get an external tera bite hard drive for under $100, that would be my first step. I like having things within reach.

This is what I use. Manual or Auto Backup. Time Machine is used for Auto Back up.

I have been backing up for years. I do send some stuff, off site.

• See photo below.

  Click on photo to enlarge. Gary    Cheers from The Detroit & Mackinac Railway

Also an iDriveuser here. The nice thing about iDrive is that they charge one annual fee for all of your devices (rate is based on storage rather than devices like Carbonite). I got the basic (1TB) and have the photos and documents backed up. What's nice is that each device is a separate folder and you can off-load to another machine. I opted not to do a drive image backup since the data is what's more important. Came in handy when I bought a second notebook. I just set it to restore the data I wanted and left the computer running overnight. Put it on the wife's notebook (and will also put it on her phone) so hers backs up regularly. It will also support image backups to external drives.

Another thought is to set up a network storage at the house to save copies of your photos, documents, videos, etc. and run an automatic off-site backup on that one rather than the individual notebooks. Procedurally it's a bit more involved, but it creates two sets of backups -- one local and one off-site.

Backups are critical; however, if a virus gets hold of your computer you can still be toast. Even with Mirrored internal hard drives, External RAID array, my computer still could be hit by your bug.  I have my important files in two other RAID arrays (one at my son's house and one with my wife at her summer place). Additionally, I have my best photos off site at the smugmug photo site. The safest point of view is to verify that the sites you visit have the addresses you expect (do not hide the addresses in your browser).  Additionally, if you question an email, examine the header information before you open the file (makes the assumption that email content is not automatically opened - e.g. do not utilize the preview function.)  If you have a question call the originator to see if they sent the file to you before you open the email.

John, I know that the OP talked about encrypted ransomware, but not all ransomware is encrypted, some just created hidden files that rewrite some of a computers current files.  I have successfully used Hitman Pro on non-encrypted ransomware.  Sorry for any confusion my post may have caused anyone.

We talk about back-up copies of data, but if you need to reinstall software you also need a copy of the operating programs as well.  Most computers come with software pre-loaded and is great insurance to pay $10 for a back-up copy or make one yourself when you get a new computer.

Jim

I don't worry about installing from scratch, I have an image backup that runs automatically once a week, and I keep them four deep.  If I have a total crash, I have multiple system images to pick from, 15-20 minutes and I can be back from a total crash or dead disk.  I happen to use Acronis True Image, but there are many other options.  The prospect of starting from scratch and rebuilding the entire system and all the applications is not one I care to face unless it's really necessary.

And if you back up to an external hard drive, be sure to disconnect that external hard drive when not doing back ups. I left mine connected and the virus got into it as well. Everything was lost. Everything.

I have just a few more comments about this discussion.

First, those advocating IDrive or any other cloud service for backup are putting their personal data at some risk of exposure either while being transmitted or while sitting in the cloud.  Yes, those providers may have better security than the average home user, but as someone previously mentioned, many security breaches are caused by what humans do or don't do, and those operations all employ humans.  Further, no system is 100% secure.

Second, if hit by a ransomware virus, don't bother paying the fee.  All too often, the fee has been paid, and no "key" is received.  Consider your data and programs gone and save yourself the fee.

Third, much of the backup advice given above is sound.  Use multiple backup devices, keep them in separate geographic locations as remote as possible while still being convenient, and try to use disk imaging software to make disaster restoration as easy as possible.  There is a lot of Open Source software (usually free) that will accomplish the goals you choose, and good multiple terabyte hard drives can be obtained for less than $100 if you look hard.

However, always remember that any hard drive is subject to failure, so don't expect those portable drives to last forever.  Also, be sure to test the restore function of any backup software you choose to make sure you don't encounter a "glitch" when you really need to restore.

Chuck

Hence the recommendation for multiple copies of backups on separate physical media.   Truthfully, your data is probably as likely to succumb to disk failure as a virus, you need to have protections for both scenarios.

I offer the following link after reading about the cryptolocker "ransomware" on Wikipedia:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28661463

In a nutshell, supposedly this operation has been broken and the decoding keys have actually been available FREE to users whose files were encrypted since last August.

But, I'll be backing up my files more often from now on.

My interpretation is that the "private keys" that were discovered are only of use to those people who were affected by the original Cryptolocker malware program prior to August 2014. Those people (like the original poster) who have been affected by the several versions of copycat malware programs that continue to be developed and distributed after August 2014 are still out of luck.

Totally agree. Sound advice.

But since we blew away our Microsoft products and installed Ubuntu/Linux we have had zero viruses, crashes, spam mail or other PC problems. And pretty much flawless recovery from anything like power surges. No more MS browsers or email, either.

Lots of good advice here, and I'm glad Rich is letting this topic stand since without a working computer, you can get on the forum.

I recommend having at least three copies of data.  One is the original on you computer, one should be on a NAS or external hard drive, and one in the cloud somewhere or offsite.  By data, I mean important documents like your will, family photos, family videos.

For photos and videos, I use google photos which is free and unlimited storage in the cloud.  You must of course have a google account which is also free.  Photos will be downsized to 16M Pixels and videos downsized to 1080p assuming your camera can take larger picture sizes and 4K video.  No smartphones can at this time, but some SLRs can. 

For important docs, you can also put them in google drive which is also free up to 15GB of data.  That should be plenty for critical docs of an individual or a family, but you can pay to buy more if you need it.

There is also other data backup solutions like carbonite, but that is not free, but works well for many people.  Just don't try to back up your entire computer.  Only your data. 

As for your computer, if you don't want to reinstall the OS and all the apps over  should something bad happen, you can make backup with software like Acronis True Image which costs $50 or some other commercial or free solution.  You will also need media to copy the images to like dvds or cds, or send the files to a network assessable storage (NAS), or external drive.

Many new laptops, by the way have a restore image feature built in, that will reinstall windows back to the day you got it. After use use the option sometimes from pushing a special button or triggered from the bias, you will then have to reconfigure windows the way you had it, reinstall all the updates, and then add your software and data.

This may be fine for many people who don't care and can't be bothered with a backup solution.

I am not affiliated with google, carbonite, and acronis, but want to pass on my recommendations.  I personally use google photos, google drive, and Acronis True Image to cover my family with good results, and I sleep easy at night since I know these solutions work for me.

I have an iMac and a Mac Time Capsule back up.  IT FAILED and left me with a real mess.  I lost most of my documents including a dozen unfinished manuscripts and about 75% of my photos.  I've been year trying to reconstruct and salvage this stuff.

I no longet rust just one back up system.

Tom's post brings up a point. I have never used backup software. I just don't trust it!

I'm not keen on having my backup data compressed either.

I "hand copy," if you know what I mean, important stuff to several drives. This does make backing up more laborious and we all know that means it doesn't get done as often as it should.

Also as a photographer, I have many, MANY, GBs of data to back up. I can't say it's a really happy situation but those programs that supposedly back things up with a single click seem not to be a solution for me.

And there are two, and only two, kinds of hard drives. Ones that have failed and ones that are going to fail!

Since I have called on my backups several times, and never been disappointed, I actually do believe in backup applications.  I use several different types of applications to accomplish my backup.  Cobian is a free program, the other two I paid for.

Beyond Compare

Cobian Backup

Acronis True Image

Each program offers different and complementary capabilities.  I've used all of them for many years in many versions, so my trust is somewhat justified in that I've many times accessed the backup data successfully.

I also use Acronis True Image on several computers and it has worked perfectly. Before using Acronis I use a program called GR Backup that also worked great. For those of you that want an uncompressed backup this program will do it. It normally backs up to a zip file but can be set up to do a full copy. Its advantage is you don't need the backup program to get at the files.

Ron

Cobian Backup also uses ZIP format, and you can readily access the files.  It also has a pretty sophisticated scheme of doing interspersed full and either incremental or differential backups.  For my project folders and My Documents, I have it running every day doing a differential backup and then doing a full one every 10 days.  By restoring two ZIP files, I can have all the files back, the last full backup and the last differential backup.

you should have read your posted article, the site has been decommissioned.

too many copy cats.

fireEye

Dan:

If you don't mind sharing, which virus software company said "we're aware of virus X, but have nothing to stop it"?

That's sort of appalling and would lead me to more or less scream, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot am I paying you for?"

Thanks.

Steven J. Serenska

I am a Data Protection Solutions Architect by trade. If anyone here has any questions or needs advice you can feel free to email me. I will gladly barter for trains ;-)

Dan:

Thanks again for posting this and thanks to OGRR for allowing it.

I had signed up for Amazon's S3 cloud-based storage service in November but I found the interface difficult. I even used the S3 Sync program to help make sense of it, but I couldn't get that to work either.

Well, I just revisited S3 Sync and all is well and all is backed up.

Do you know what the deciding factor was?  I thought about the fact that I have spent hundreds of hours working on my layout plan in RR-Track!  I thought, shoot, if I lose that, I'm dead.

For those who aren't familiar, Amazon's S3 product is dirt cheap and, with the S3 Sync software can be scheduled to run at any time.  S3 will upload only those files that have been changed or added since your last Sync up, so it doesn't even take forever.  The cost of storage on Amazon is $0.60 per month for 10gig, so it's a no-brainer.

Thanks again for lighting a fire under many of us.

Steven J. Serenska