Carbonite To The Rescue!
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Late Saturday night my home PC started acting up, and when I rebooted, neither Zone Alarm Pro nor NOD32 would run. Attempting to run either just put the PC into a loop that required a reboot. Starting in safe mode without either security program (and the DSL modem unplugged) resulted in things working just fine - all of the foregoing indicating the likelihood of an unwanted addition to my collection of applications.
After several attempts to repair the XP installation, I just reformatted the C drive and reinstalled Windows, SP2, and several thousand updates. (Well, it seemed like several thousand…) Needless to say, all the data on the HDD went south. I mean, that was the whole idea!
Not to worry, though… I’ve got Carbonite in addition to other backups. I took the opportunity to allow Carbonite to run through its paces. I set it to restore the non-system files on C, and let it run. I already knew it that works well for individual files and folders.
Eight hours later I was convinced I’d never be without Carbonite or a similar program again, even with other backups operating. Everything is back exactly as it was. I did have to re-install quite a few programs, because Carbonite won’t mirror system files (at least in its present incarnation). All my photos, documents and similar files - including archived executables from My Documents - are back good as new. Just cranked ‘er up and let ‘er run - literally a three-click operation, once the system was back up and running.
Amazing!
If you don’t have a backup system in place, or if it isn’t automatic, do yourself a favor and give Carbonite a look. Just go to the site and read the FAQs. (There’s a technical FAQ, as well. These folks don’t hide anything much.)
Tell you what - even though I have most of my stuff backed up to removable media, not everything was backed up, and reloading it wouldn’t have been a three-clicks-and-watch-football operation. Despite the naysaying of some readers, online storage of my backup and my writing is worth every penny it costs. My apartment could have burned down, and the most inconvenient thing about losing the PC would have been having to order a new one, which I’m doing this week anyway. In fact, that would have been less trouble than re-installing Windows.
At 13.67556468 cents a day (USD), Carbonite’s about as cheap as any insurance you can buy, and it’s “set it and forget it.” Yes, I know you can get a USB 2.0 external drive and set it up to do automatic backups - but they’re still in the same room with the computer. What about fires or theft? If you live in Florida, as I do, what about lightning? There’s no UPS or surge suppressor (that you can afford) that will protect your system from a strike on the house wiring.
Security? Carbonite uses 1028-bit encryption. I know that’s not very secure if you have a few billion years and a couple dozen supercomputers, but It’s good enough for me.
You do need broadband.
[tags]backup, carbonite, bill webb, bill’s web, computer failure[/tags]
10 Comments
David Friend
November 27th, 2006
at 6:38pm
Bill: I’m the CEO of Carbonite. Bob Frankston, one of our investors, forwarded me your blog. Thanks for the kind words. BTW, if you buy the 2 year subscription for $89.95, that’s only 12.3219 cents per day. If you buy now, your subscription will encompass a leap year February, so it’s even cheaper.
You can now find Carbonite on the shelves at all Staples stores, CompUSA, J&R Music, Amazon, Download.com, and many other retailers, in addition to our web site where you can get a free 15 day trial.
Thanks again for the nice write-up and I’m glad we were able to get your data back.
Dave Friend
Urban Underbrink
November 28th, 2006
at 5:49am
I make an full image backup on Win XP once a month using BING. Information I don’t want to lose is on a different drive and gets burned to CD along with my favorites & email addresses. If anything even seems suspecious, I will restore from my last backup.
BING will span DVDs but does take longer than True Image. Of course you have the backup verified on DVD with BING. I think a Blu-Ray DVD burner would be a good idea if you have lots of data to back up.
Bill Webb
November 28th, 2006
at 6:18am
You don’t seem to get the point, my friend. This column, and the information on it, is for non-geeks. The people who will benefit from Carbonite are people who wouldn’t have the faintest notion of what you are talking about.
I use other backup methods, similar to those you mention, and use Carbonite for insurance. However, after seeing how well it works, I’m seriously considering giving up everything but my OS mirror and my slipstream disc.
clifnotes
November 28th, 2006
at 10:56pm
Good article Bill. You’ve almost got me convinced. I’ve got a 250mb USB drive that I use for backups, but it looks like I may have gotten off cheaper using Carbonite.
Have fun!
Clif - freewarewiki.com
BIll Webb
November 30th, 2006
at 4:34am
You know me, Clif. I love that online, off site stuff. I have a removeable hdd too, but it’s vulnerable to many of the same things that can affect the PC, from malware to catastrophe. For five bucks a month, I’ll keep Carbonite. In fact, it’s important enough to me that it was a factor (albeit fairly minor) in my deciding to stay with a Windows machine on the pending upgrade.
Regards to Becky. Are you guys coming to FL this year?
Bill
Carbonite user
March 22nd, 2007
at 9:49pm
I have been unable to connect to the Carbonite server for 3 days. Tech support has failed to respond to my email. I thought it might be my Zone Alarm firewall, but even with it turned off, I still cannot connect to their server to resume backing up. I already paid for a 1-year subscription; as a result, it appears they are in no rush to resolve my problem.
Carbonite user
March 23rd, 2007
at 9:24am
I apologize!!!
I just got an email from Carbonite. They said that the problem may be due to my internet connection being slightly unstable. Since I was able to connect to the internet, I assumed there were no “stability†issues. However, when I followed the customer support advice and reset my cable and modem, Carbonite worked fine.
Sorry for that previous email!!
Email that was sent to me (today) from Carbonite:
“Carbonite needs a secure connection from your computer to our servers in order to process your backup properly. Occasionally, your Internet connection may be slightly unstable. This is usually not noticable in your web browser or other Internet applications (other than perhaps a slight decrease in speed) but it can delay or prevent Carbonite from backing up until corrected. In most cases, restarting your computer and your cable or dsl modem (and router, if any) will reset your Internet connection and will allow Carbonite to continue properly.â€
Peter
October 4th, 2007
at 5:59pm
HI Bill,
Just want to point out your final sentence commencing with “Security?”, isn’t very useful, or accurate, even. 1028 bit encryption? A billion years? If you’re going to make such a flippant statement, you should check your facts first.
There is an issue with Carbonite security, and that is that your private key is stored with Carbonite. So Carbonite employees can decrypt your data. And if Carbonite is compromised, then the bad guys can too.
Bill Webb
October 5th, 2007
at 8:20pm
Peter:
Since you are obviously an expert, perhaps you would care to discuss the matter in detail.
Bill
Bill Webb
October 5th, 2007
at 8:28pm
In any case, the statement is accurate as I made it. Where the key is stored has nothing to do with the security of the encryption itself. Either you trust someone, or you keep your data to yourself totally.
See my article: http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/windows/2007/09/14/the-last-word-mine-anyway-about-security-on-the-internet-and-web