Saving your Work

Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1624 Location : UK

Sue,

You should always make backup copies of your work. The easiest way is to buy a USB Flash Drive:

http://www.everythingusb.com/hardware/Storage/USB_Flash_Drives.htm
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Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Subject: Re: Saving your Work Mon May 19, 2008 2:18 pm

Yes, and they are very handy for transporting stuff from one computer to another.

And would survive a computer crash. But it your computer is stolen, or damaged in a fire of flood or something, the flash drive would go with it.
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Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1624 Location : UK

That's not very savvy. The advantage of flash drives is that they don't need to be plugged in permanently. The storage is so great these days, you can update once a week and keep a copy of everything stored on your computer. After updating, remove the flash drive from the computer and keep in your purse or pocket. To be extra sure, have two flash drives, one to keep with you at all times and one stored at home.
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Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Subject: Re: Saving your Work Mon May 19, 2008 2:53 pm

Yes!
That is exactly why I make several copies!

When I was in school I wrote a psychology paper and lost nearly the entire report when our nephew crashed our computer. I had to rewrite the thing because I failed to save it.

Lesson learned. The hard way.

Since I am always wandering, and I am not really paranoid, just realistic, and know unforseen things can occur .... anyway, I know truck drivers who have had their trucks crash, get broken into, and catch fire ... and I've read of those who have had their trucks stolen.

So, yeah, I keep a flash at home that I update when we take our home time. And I have three flashes I keep on the truck, two are in my computer bag, but one of them stays with me ... just in case.
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~ JoElle Martín ~

http://www.dreamersforest.com

Subject: Re: Saving your Work Mon May 19, 2008 4:26 pm

I am super paranoid about losing my stuff (which comes from having lost some stuff) and also tend to be very thorough about backing up. I back up my PC and laptop on an external drive (getting cheaper by the minute at places like Costco), but I also rely on paper copies as a just in case--as in just in case the electronics all die, or get nicked--I did get my computer stolen once. Crap. I also like paper in case of a copywrite challenge, because the lawyer was really happy that I had stuff that was printed and dated, although they are smarter now and more capable with electronic copies. I went through that about 4 years ago and I think that I only succeeded in winning the case because I had a very efficient back up, so I think that is the key--just keep backing it up, somewhere, no matter what, and if it's electronic make sure no one else can break into it.
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Pam Robertson

http://andthebandplayedonmylawn.blogspot.com

Subject: Re: Saving your Work Mon May 19, 2008 8:57 pm

Sue, you might want to consider the flash drive option. I have stuff on CDs and on flash as well. The flash drives are so handy and inexpensive, it is silly not to use them.
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Zada Connaway
Mother's Journals: parts 1, 2 and 3 ISBN # 1-4241-6969-0

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Two Star Member Joined : 18 Mar 2008 Posts : 48

When a writer friend had a house fire and lost a huge collection of books, pulp magazines, and other treasures--along with 2/3 of a novel in progress, which existed only on his computer--I went out and bought an 8gb flash drive. Now I back up onto that every day at the end of my working day, and take it with me every time I leave the house. It wouldn't save my books and other possessions, but at least it'll save my works in progress, and all the previously published stuff that's still on my hard drive.

Jeff
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Subject: Re: Saving your Work Mon May 19, 2008 10:19 pm

Thanks so much for allllll the input!!!! I will check into a flash drive for sure.

I am working on an iMac Tiger. Is anyone else working on a mac? Will a flash drive work with one?
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Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1624 Location : UK

Sure will:

http://www.welovemacs.com/appenfldr.html
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Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Subject: Re: Saving your Work Mon May 19, 2008 10:28 pm

Thanks, Shelagh. Going to check it out now and then have to get hubby's supper. It is almost 5:30pm here and damp so guess I should have supper on the table for him. At least I got writing done today!!!! Yippeee for me!!!!! Ha ha ha
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Subject: Re: Saving your Work Tue May 20, 2008 1:18 pm

Like JoElle, I save everything important three ways - on a CD, on a Zip disc and on a floppy disk. For the most vital I use a backup CD and keep a hard copy, of course.
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Subject: Re: Saving your Work Wed May 21, 2008 12:07 am

As many have already stated, the number one way to prevent the loss of data is to make multiple copies of it. It is also important to keep copies of the data in multiple locations. I have some data backed up on CDs and some on paper hard copies. To protect my important works from dasaster, I've got a fire and water proof safe. Some of my favorite photos are quite heavily backed up. I've got copies of them on my computer, on CDs, on memory cards, paper prints and photo books in the safe, and backup through multiple online photo programs. Back up your stuff, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Subject: Re: Saving your Work Wed May 21, 2008 12:40 am

I save everything so many times, it is insane. In addition to flash drives, I save a final copy on a CD (which I put in my security box at the bank), plus I have an external hard drive where I save copies of everything. In case I had to pick up and leave (storm pending, terrorist attack, ice cram run), I can grab the hard drive and my laptop.

I like the online site idea, though. Living in Florida where the occasional hurricane rips through and ruins stuff...well, you could understand why I back up so much! It's always a good idea to have a copy somewhere else.

The more I can undermine Murphy's Law, the better.
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Southern fiction with a madhatter twist...
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Subject: Re: Saving your Work Wed May 21, 2008 12:53 am

That's not very savvy. ????????????

I REALLY don't understand that. I have a couple of flashdrives, including one with program on it that emulates a computer so I can run mail programs and such off it.

But the idea that it's not a good idea to also back up on internet is odd.

Maybe I didn't make myself understood. Because loading to internet doesn't require any local power source or plug in at all. Your files are on a drive in a remote location.

Your HOUSE could blow up and you could go anywhere in the world with an internet connection and download the files.

It's a really, really good way to backup with extreme security and access. It's one of many options, and using more than one is a good idea...but it's my main one because it has huge advantages over storing on local media.
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Subject: Re: Saving your Work Wed May 21, 2008 1:06 am

It's good to have paper copies of your works as well as digital ones, just in case there's a global digital apocalypse, such as a solar flare, electromagnetic pulse, or nearby (a relative term) gamma ray burst that fries all the computers (fortunately, these events are not likely). It is also good to have hard copies of your works to protect them from technological obsoletence, because CDs and flash drives will probably be obsolete some day (though we probably have plenty of time and it is always possible to move the data onto newer storage media). If you really want your work to last forever, or a few thousand years (whatever comes first) there's a product called HD Rosetta. It's made by Norsam Technologies, who claims it can preserve documents for more than 1,000 years. Basically, they etch microscopic pictures of pages of text and photos onto a metal plate. They claim to be able to get up to 100,000 pages on a two inch disk. I don't know the price, but it's probably not in the realm of "cheap," unfortunately. The website is www.norsam.com