Yes, it happens to us all- Failing Hard Drives! Much to the chagrin of both my assistant Katrina and myself, on Tuesday we were struck by the Hard-Drive-Fail-Boogey-Man. When rebooting the computer that scary message appeared telling us that we could go no further.
But, we’re making it through this “disaster” with very little sacrifice because I have a very rigorous backup program:
- I have a laptop computer (or 2nd computer) that allows us to still get work done while the desktop is in the shop. – an essential backup system for any business owner, I would argue.
- I use Dropbox.com to sync all files across both computers, so we have full access to every file that we would normally use both from my laptop as well as from any internet connected computer in the world! (Meaning Katrina’s home computer as well :).)
- I use Mozy.com to AUTOMATICALLY and DAILY backup both the desktop & laptop. So, even if the hard drive had completely lost all it’s data (which I’m pleased to say it didn’t.) The Mozy servers would be able to recover all our files up through the previous day.
Planning for such disasters is part of modern life. How are your backup systems? How much time would you lose if your hard drive crashed today? Maybe it’s time to get yourself prepared for the day this might happen to you.