What if you’re in a situation where you feel a drive failure could happen at any moment, but you simply don’t have a means of backing up the drive? I saw this recently with a system that had become too unstable to get through something as disk intensive as a backup; the system died each time someone tried to record files to a CD-R.
In a situation where you have a small number of files you desperately need to save off the hard drive, copy them to a floppy disk or a Zip disk. If you have access to a file compression utility like WinZip or FreeZip, archive up to 1MB of files and send them to yourself in an e-mail; don’t retrieve that e-mail until you come out on the other end of your drive problem. Most web-based e-mail sites allow for file attachments.
If the PC with the failing drive is on a network, move as many important files to a drive on another system where you have access (the drive or folders on the other PC gives you share-level access to save files to them).
Online Backup Services
Online backup services provide you with an account and special software or a browser-based interface for uploading files to their storage servers for an annual fee. The goal of these services isn’t to upload the entire contents of your hard drive but to store strategic files that you can’t afford to lose or that you want stored in a second location accessible through the Internet. Many business travelers subscribe to such services so that if something happens to their laptop while they’re on a trip, they can always log onto the backup service from a borrowed PC or laptop from virtually anywhere and grab the files they need. The following sites provide online backup storage:
@Backup (www.@backup.com) You download and install their software, which provides an easy-to-use interface for uploading files to their storage servers. Pricing here starts at an annual service fee of $49.95 for 50MB or $995 for 2GB. At the time this book was being prepared for release, @Backup was offering a 30-day free trial with annual signup.
Virtual Backup (www.virtualbackup.com) Virtual Backup offers a Simple Plan that allows you to store up to 50MB of files at an annual rate of $39.95 or 100MB for $79.95 a year. Like @Backup, they offer a 30-day free trial.
A Quick E-mail Trick
Here’s a quick trick I learned when I was rushing to secure a really important document for work on a drive that sounded like it would grind itself to death at any moment.
If your word processor or other application has a Send To feature on the File menu (Microsoft Word is one program that has it) and you currently have access to the Internet, send a copy of the file to yourself through e-mail directly from the application.
Let’s pretend I’m furiously trying to finish this chapter on a PC where the drive appears to be having problems. Naturally, I don’t want to take the chance of losing the work, so I would take these steps:
- Save the most recent version of the file. If that’s not possible, proceed to step 2.
- In Word, I choose File Ø Send to Ø Mail Recipient (you can also choose Mail Recipient as Attachment, if preferred).
- When my e-mail software opens, I address the file to myself and click Send. (If you used the Mail Recipient as Attachment option in step 2, you’ll have to specify the name and location of the file you want to send.)
- Later, once the hard drive crisis is corrected or from another PC, I retrieve my e-mail and my attached file.
Once your important data is saved in a retrievable format, it’s time to start checking the source of the hard drive problem.
