Update/ missing manuals

[Arthur Entlich]

You guys are great!

Before anyone else sends me links and names of data recovery programs, I
want to explain why I can't use one.

Unfortunately, the sequence of events which occurred makes them not
usable in my situation.

In a nutshell, I needed to compile some DVD image files on my hard drive
to copy them to DVDs afterward. I was very tight on HD space, so that
is why I removed (what I thought was) the backup email file temporarily.

By the time I became aware I had removed the wrong email set, I had
already used the HD space to create the DVD image file, which used up
almost all the extra space on that drive partition, so there was no
point in trying to recover the files as they had been written over
substantially.

So, that's life, and I have learned a lesson or two. Again, thank you
for your assistance, and I only wish it were that simple!

However, the good news is I have already received two of the four lost
articles from helpful people here.

I am still in need of the following, if anyone can help:


The Epson Wide Carriage Cleaning Guide - anything newer than 2/4/09

The Epson 3000 Cleaning Guide - anything newer than 4/12/09

Thank you all for your great suggestions, I only wish I could use them
in this situation, but sadly it is too late for a data recovery program,
painfully....

Art

 

[John McWilliams]

Glad you are almost complete on this, Art. I'd suggest that you'll save
yourself a lot of time going forward if you backup to hard disks
regularly, saving DVDs for critical material from time to time.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Of course, you're correct, and I'm always telling people to do exactly
that, but... the back up just got away from me., I have 4 computers
here, all with different information on them, so it is time consuming
trying to keep up with it.

It all takes time, and this is the first time I really lost an important
chunk of information in over 25 years. And it wasn't a virus or a
trojan, it was my own not paying enough attention to the directory names
I had assigned the two email archives.

Oh well, live and learn, I guess...

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

Thank you all for your great suggestions

Are you opposed to another one?

I'd like to suggest the use of FreeNAS and rsync to back up your
computer on a regular, rotating basis. If you were to set something up
like this, it can save you having to think about making backups.
(Meaning that backups get done instead of being pushed down to the
bottom of a long list of things to do...right up until it's too late.)
rsync was developed for use with *ix systems, but Windows versions are
available as well. DeltaCopy is one that I've used and found to work
pretty well.

If I'm not mistaken you're very much into the reuse of older
technology and keeping it out of landfills, so this might be right up
your alley.

My FreeNAS system is a repurposed HP Vectra VA Series 6/200 MT Pentium
Pro (!!!!) with 192MB of installed RAM. It's probably also the only
Pentium Pro in the world with a SATA add-in controller in place to
drive the 500GB Samsung EcoGreen hard disk that stores my rsync
backups. If you would happen to be interested in knowing more about
it, information is here, including the original reason I put it
together: http://greyghost.mooo.com/timecapsule-vs-freenas/ .

You can find information concerning the configuration of rsync for
Windows and FreeNAS here:
http://dailycupoftech.com/windows-backup-with-rsync-and-freenas/

Later, you can do other things with rsync, including the cloning of
the storage disk in a FreeNAS machine to an external drive or even
another machine on a network.

William

 

[Max]

Hi!


Are you opposed to another one?

I'd like to suggest the use of FreeNAS and rsync to back up your
computer on a regular, rotating basis. If you were to set something up
like this, it can save you having to think about making backups.
(Meaning that backups get done instead of being pushed down to the
bottom of a long list of things to do...right up until it's too late.)
rsync was developed for use with *ix systems, but Windows versions are
available as well. DeltaCopy is one that I've used and found to work
pretty well.

If I'm not mistaken you're very much into the reuse of older
technology and keeping it out of landfills, so this might be right up
your alley.

My FreeNAS system is a repurposed HP Vectra VA Series 6/200 MT Pentium
Pro (!!!!) with 192MB of installed RAM. It's probably also the only
Pentium Pro in the world with a SATA add-in controller in place to
drive the 500GB Samsung EcoGreen hard disk that stores my rsync
backups. If you would happen to be interested in knowing more about
it, information is here, including the original reason I put it
together:http://greyghost.mooo.com/timecapsule-vs-freenas/.

You can find information concerning the configuration of rsync for
Windows and FreeNAS here:http://dailycupoftech.com/windows-backup-with-rsync-and-freenas/

Later, you can do other things with rsync, including the cloning of
the storage disk in a FreeNAS machine to an external drive or even
another machine on a network.

William

Yea, there is no shortage of solutions. You have to remember to follow
through on them. Hard drives and storage are cheap. On my towers I
keep the sides off so I can swap in hard drives to clone to. On the
laptop I clone to a 200GB USB drive. The target drives are never
online an subject to a virus. If your system is protected and you
don't cruise porn sites, you are probably not going to get infected
anyway.
Art already has an online backup in the form of his followers.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

Hi!


Are you opposed to another one?

Not at all. I will look over your suggestion below and see if it will
work for me. The issue with all back up systems is to make them as
idiot proof (read: lazy or distracted people like me won't neglect using
them). Any system that takes the thought out of it is an improvement
over those which require direct involvement of the operator. I will
definitely need to do something. Losing 6 months of email was not fun,
and I haven't fully realized the consequences!

Thanks, I will read your comments when I am more awake (I'm just now
going to crash after an all night session), so I can absorb it better.

Art

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

Not at all.  I will look over your suggestion below and see if
it will work for me.  The issue with all back up systems is
to make them as idiot proof (read: lazy or distracted people
like me won't neglect using them).

That's what a backup system simply must be. Otherwise, backups just
don't get done no matter how good your intentions.

What I've got going now with FreeNAS and rsync requires no involvement
from myself, it is fully automated. I have plans to invest in some
external hard disks that I will rotate offsite. Although that will be
a manual process, I will have another rsync job scheduled between the
currently existing FreeNAS box and another one in a house next door. A
high speed wireless link connects the two houses.

I can say that FreeNAS running on an older computer is much more
reliable and feature-filled than *any* sort of NAS device you can buy
in a store. (And most of the premade ones are disappointing.)

That should be pretty darn fault tolerant and foolproof. Plus, there's
little cost to doing it outside of the hard disks needed.

 Losing 6 months of email was not fun, and I haven't fully
realized the consequences!

No, data loss is *never* fun. Back in 2004, I lost almost all of my
data to a flood: http://greyghost.mooo.com/04flood/

We really did try to have a sense of humor about the whole thing:
http://greyghost.mooo.com/04flood/before/DSC02255.JPG
http://greyghost.mooo.com/04flood/before/DSC02257.JPG
http://greyghost.mooo.com/04flood/before/DSC02272.JPG
http://greyghost.mooo.com/04flood/before/DSC02260.JPG

(all of those show my brother and all are about ~500KB in size except
for the last one, which shows my computer room)

Even my backup tapes went under. It was only by luck that I found
copies of a lot of things or hard drives that lived just long enough
to get the data off of them. I've kept the other waterlogged hard
drives in storage since then, thinking that one day when I have just
tons of money (oh yeah right!) to throw at the problem, I will send
them off for data recovery.

Sorry, I got a little bit off the topic there.

Good luck in finding a backup solution that meets your needs. If you'd
want any further information, do not hesitate to send me private e-
mail. The reply-to is no good, but you can send mail to wct <atsign>
walshcomptech <dot> com.

William