Data Backup Day: Be Prepared

The first day of every month is Data Backup Day.

This past Saturday morning, I woke up to a very unpleasant feeling. My computer wouldn't boot up.

Using my cellphone, I found a step-by-step guide on what to do.

1) I ran Disk Utility, and 'repaired' the disk.

It wouldn't reboot.

2) I restarted in 'Safe Mode.'

It wouldn't reboot.

3) I restarted in "Single User Mode," and entered: fsck -fy until I received the message "the volume...appears to be ok."

It wouldn't reboot. (But I did enjoy the geeky thrill of taking my Mac to a unix command line.)

4) I reinstalled the OS. [In years past this would have meant searching for the install disks. Now the computer downloads the software over the internet.]

It rebooted! What a relief. The next step was taking the computer to the "Genius Bar" at the local Apple Store, and I am glad that I was able to avoid that. For now, at least. The computer is only three years old, so hopefully she has a few more miles in her.

Throughout this ordeal I wasn't nervous about my data. It's backed up regularly through Apple's Time Machine. I knew the last full backup had taken place Friday evening, so there would have been no lost data if I had to erase the drive and restore from the backup. That's a good feeling to have.

Image Source: "The First Page," by Émile Bayard (1837-1891). An illustration for the novel, Ninety-three, by Victor Hugo.

Émile Bayard's best known illustration is his image of Cosette sweeping the floor of the inn, for the novel, Les Misérables.

Data Backup Day: My Data Backup Plan

In the GeneaBloggers Community, the first day of every month is Data Backup Day.

For most of my backup needs, I rely on my Mac's Time Machine software, installed on an external hard drive. The software takes care of itself, every hour making an incremental backup of any and all changes, allowing me to go back in time an hour, day, week or month to see what my computer looked like then.

But there is still the slim possibility that my computer and external hard drive could be destroyed simultaneously. (A fire? I live in St. Louis, and know that it was a fire here in town that destroyed most of the 1890 census records.)

I store copies of several important files "in the cloud" using both Dropbox and Google Drive. I also have more than one Google Gmail account, and have mailed important documents to myself, storing copies in both email accounts.

Whatever means you use, it is important to have a plan, because otherwise it is too easy for important data to be lost in a computer crash.

[The image is a modified version of Winslow Homer's Blackboard (1877)]

Data Backup Day: Accidents Happen; Be Prepared

The first day of every month is Data Backup Day.

Accidents have been known to happen. We can't predict them, but we can be prepared for them.

Digitize your source materials, and back them up regularly.

Image Source: "The First Page," by Émile Bayard (1837-1891). An illustration for the novel, Ninety-three, by Victor Hugo.

Émile Bayard's best known illustration is his image of Cosette sweeping the floor of the inn, for the novel, Les Misérables.

Data Backup Day: Have You Made Copies?

The first of every month is Data Backup Day.

Be certain to make copies of those precious documents.

Image Source: Two Sleeping Children, Peter Paul Rubens, 1612-1613

Data Backup Day: Digitize Your Records

The first day of every month is "Data Backup Day"

For a genealogist, "Backing up one's data" can include asking yourself whether or not you have any important photographs or paper documents that could be converted into data.

This makes it easier to share the documents with relatives, as well as helps preserve the documents (if the data is backed up on a regular basis.)

Image Source: A Scholar, Rembrandt, 1631.

Backup Day: Don't Forget!

The first of every month is Data Backup Day

Don't forget!

(Image Source: Vincent Van Gogh, At Eternity's Gate, May 1890)