Safety Net
When spyware/adware/malware crap invades your computer you have no choice but to retreat. So retreat I did, to the land of the kids’ desktop computer. Luckily I was able to have it all removed today for a fee of $200 and a mere 2.5 hours out of my day. It was no where near as amusing as this experience, but it still warrants a mention.
Last night when I was panicking over the state of the laptop, I emailed myself oh justabouteverythingI’deverwritten to my gmail account. I back up onto jump drives, but I find that emailing myself not only makes me feel popular but safe. How many things do that? Because remember (although I know you know) that your email really isn’t on your computer. It’s somewhere else but don’t ask me where. I know that my entire ms sent to myself in gmail is snug as a bug in a rug and that I could go to the Galapagos Islands and still be able to access it, if they have wireless there.
So email is my safety net of safety nets when it comes to my writing.
What’s yours?
And if you want to tell me if you’re a fearful parent, or a fearful person in general, click here.
Have you tried cloud computing websites that offer storage?
Try:
http://docs.google.com
https://www.acrobat.com/?app=share&si=1
http://www.officelive.com/
http://www.openoffice.org/
http://drop.io/
Thanks David. I have no idea what they are. I am the anti-tech. I like my email method. But when I grow up, I’ll give those things a try too!
Thanks!
For my last birthday, my DH got me a little independent backup system, like an extra hard drive. It copies everything as I go. (If I was home, I’d look at the box and tell you the name. grr). Sorry about your laptop surgery, but glad he’s gonna be okay.
I use flash drives, but I’ve also started using this program called Dropbox, which allows you to access your files from any computer that has Internet. Not only does it keep your files in their ORIGINAL form, but it also saves them AFTER you’ve made updates!
It’s fantastic if you’re in the revising stage of a WIP and want to add something back in that you’ve already cut. You just pull up the older version of the file, and–voila!–there’s your old work.
Just go to http://www.getdropbox.com and you can download it for free. Good luck!
Angie, I’ve seen those little external drives. I like things that work like magic. You know, without me doing anything.
LC, that sounds like it might be up my alley, I’ll check it out. I still like my email version of backup!
I’m so like you, I use my email too! LOL! It’s great isn’t it? heheh! The best part is when i send it off to my proof readers I can still pull up a copy of it in my sent folder! Hahaah! The best thing is, it’s free! I so love email. And I can’t even begin to wrap my head around just how everything is transferred and where it’s stored and I. I just prefer to use it and enjoy! LOL!
Jenni
I email it to myself AND use a flash drive. Just to be extra safe. I have little worries about hotmail crashing someday and losing that form of backup.
Dropbox. I do nothing, and it not only automatically backups everything I tell it to, instantly, but it synchronizes it on different computers.
The best thing is that it creates “revision histories.” So, on my WIP, there are now 212 “histories.” So I can call up my version from half a year ago, if I want. If I delete something, I can undelete it.
It’s totally awesome and hands-free.