carbonite

[GRIMJIM]

If anyone is thinking of getting this, here's a link to save a few bucks.

http://www.offers.com/carbonite/online-backup-r/?path=sfw-cnrl-gls-100c1a

[Graybeard]

So what you're really doing is giving ALL your files and perhaps keystrokes on your computer to some outside outfit you know nothing at all about and who will perhaps give the government access to it all. Why would you do that?

[GRIMJIM]

Never looked at it from the conspiracy angle. I just don't want to lose everything if/when my computer crashes.

[Graybeard]

That's what back up hard drives are for either inside the computer case or an external sitting on your desk.

[drdougrx]

Hi....I agree with GB...but...my 80gig external HD just went belly up bacause my desktop had a virus...I have about 25gigs of family pics on both and can't get access...hope they are still there.....now what???

Took the back up to my friend whose director of IS for my company...he does all that forensic stuff... hopw he can retrieve.

[Graybeard]

That should serve as a warning regarding both your online surfing habits and that your current virus protection program is not adequate to the task. Still most times someone whose really good at this computer stuff can retrieve such data thru most such crashes.

These days thumb drives are growing larger and larger in capacity while being physically no larger or not much larger in size. They might be a good and relatively cheap option to look into for something as valuable to you as family photos. They will work with any computer so the crash of one has no impact on them like it can with hard drives thus no recovery methodolgy is needed, just plug it into another computer and go. I suppose tho they like any other could be ruined if you connect them to a computer that is currently infected so it would still behoove you to be sure you're clean before using it in a computer.

I use AVG and Ad-Aware and they've kept me safe now for quite a few years and seem to be protecting even my youngest son's computer and he goes lots of places on the internet he really should not. Matt also thinks highly of Avast and has gone to it for his computers and being careful of his surfing habits is not even a thought it seems.

[drdougrx]

Thanks GB....my daughters are always look'n up this and that.  Lord knows the stuff they bring in.  We have NORTON antivirus and ...  i just don't know....

[Graybeard]

I left Norton and McAfee both many years ago. They just do not keep up with what's out there anymore. Once they were good but their day ended years ago.

When we first switched to AVG it was being updated for new viruses almost daily and some days more than once. We still had Norton at that time and it updated at most weekly. That's a lot of new junk we were unprotecte from with Norton. As soon as it expired it was deleted and I'd never again trust a computer to either of those old companies. There are far far better out there for free than those two you must pay for.

Get AVG or Avast or both if they are compatible which I'm not sure about and also put Ad-Aware on as it catches stuff AVG doesn't that's also harmful. Running either AVG or Avast and Ad-Aware should keep you as protected as you can be when folks using the computers just aren't careful as they should be of where they go. They've even kept our youngest son Phil's computer clean now for a long time and believe me that's a chore to do.

[drdougrx]

Will relay the info to the family CEO, IS Director and overall ruler of the drdougrx clan....my lovely (and she is!) wife!

[bigbird09]

I know this is old, but I have a knack for digging out old posts,  anyways, Carbonite is a online back up "cloud".  Your information is as safe there as it is sitting on your desk.  Also what happens if you have a fire,  your desktop and your external are both gone and now you have lost everything.  Really the best thing to do is to back up stuff you cherish such as picures and stuff on an external and even to a cloud program like carbonite.  Important documentation I would recommend to print paper copies and keep them in a fire box somewhere if they are that important.  If someone wants your information they are going to get it, idc what you have for firewalls and such,  the pentagon gets hacked almost regularly ( remember all that ssn number that got released a few years ago)?  Also as for AV's I would recommend AVG or avast as well.  Norton has just become a resource hog for no more than what it does.  The last norton Program I had in '08 was Norton 360 after doing a scan when it was almost expired I had over 1,000 adware, malware, and spyware hits on superantispyware.  Since then I ran avira for a short while which is also free and is ok, but I didn't like the layout scheme of it, so I switch to avast and haven't looked back.  I did a scan the other day with superantispyware (first one since early 09) and I only had like 300 hits, mostly tracking cookings and low risk stuff that isn't really all that harmful just tracks your surfing habbits so they can customize the add that you see on most webpages.