Tuesday's Tip - BACK IT UP!!!

I had a little scare on Monday. Upon booting up my 5 year-old laptop I had no internet. Okay. That's happened before - no biggie. But wait - no sound either? The message said the "audio service" was not working. Strange. Also, the button to toggle the wireless adapter on/off didn't respond. Hmmm.

I knew what to do - RESET!! Nope - didn't fix the issue. I started to get nervous. Next I did a hard reboot - power off, AC adapter out, take out battery, press power button for 30 seconds. Reverse steps to power back back on. Nope. No go. More nervous.

I wasn't too upset about my data as I follow the 3-2-1 back up plan espoused by Thomas MacEntee. The 3-2-1 strategy means having at least 3 copies of your data, 2 of which are local but are on different devices or mediums and at least 1 copy offsite.

Copy 1 is actually my original data which I back up once a month to my external drive - copy 2. Just to be extra safe, I also copy my most important files to my Google drive. I also have automatic backups to the cloud using the iDrive service. (More about that later.)

So , again, not too concerned about my data. But - I really was in no position be dropping $400 for a new laptop (yeah, yeah, I know - get a Mac.....) and I certainly was in no mood to deal with all the transfer of data required with a new machine. What to do.....

Last ditch effort - I did a system restore. Crossed my fingers and left the house so I wouldn't be tempted to mess with the restore until it was finished.

Came home an hour later. Voila!!! Back in business!! Dodged that bullet!! So, for now, all is well. If you haven't taken the time to back up your data, DO IT NOW! Yes, it does take some time. But it takes way less time (and money) than what you'll be dealing with if you don't.

By the way - if you're interested in an offsite backup service, I've been happy with iDrive. You can use it with ALL your devices so that's pretty cool. I don't have any connection with them (financially that is), but if you want to try it for one year for 90% off  ($6.95) you can take advantage of the deal offered through Thomas MacEntee's Genealogy Bargains website.

Good luck!