One More Reason You Need Computer Backups

Think it's time for another post about computer backups. Car was broken into & husband's laptop stolen. He doesn't backup. So sad! — Direct message I got today on Twitter, shared with permission

The person who sent me this message also said, in another Twitter message: I worry about computer dying & don't think about theft. But people have computers stolen — or leave them behind in taxis and airplanes — all too frequently.

Here's the story of what happened to author Neil Gaiman — who, fortunately, did have backups in place:

On a trip with his daughter visiting college campuses, Neil had fallen asleep mid-flight and forgot to remove his MacBook Air from his seatback’s pocket. By the time he had returned home and realized his Mac was missing, the airline’s lost-and-found office had closed. When he called back in the morning, the Mac was still missing.

In full-on panic mode, Neil contacted the Code 42 Support team. He had been working on a few confidential pieces that he hadn’t emailed to anyone. In Neil’s mind, they were potentially not backed up. CrashPlan to the rescue!

Not only did CrashPlan have backups of everything he did up until he got on the plane, CrashPlan also retrieved his data in time for an important upcoming presentation.

And here's author John Scalzi, who lost his computer just a few days ago:

My absence from the Internet was a bit longer than I had anticipated today, for one genuinely depressing reason: I left my travel bag in the taxi that took me to my hotel from the airport, and that bag included my computer and some other stuff (including my car key).

However, it seems like he's mostly OK on the backup front:

Almost everything I had on the computer was also redundantly stored elsewhere, so I have lost no work.

And here's a sad story from a bookstore that thought it had backups, but didn't:

I'm writing to you on behalf of the Concordia Community Solidarity Co-op Bookstore, an independent, not-for-profit cooperative bookstore located in Montreal.

This wonderful "little store that could" was robbed this past Sunday night (May 13th 2012) - someone or a group of someones, smashed a window in, and stole our computer. ...

We would really really appreciate our computer back. Even if its just to borrow it to copy the files on it. See, our ENTIRE inventory and records are on that computer. Which means HOURS and HOURS of lost work, and HOURS and HOURS of work we will have to re-do. We will have to close the store to get this work done, at a time when we can't afford to close the store.

So if you're not yet backing up your computer, please do something about that, right away.

And that backup that the bookstore thought it had, but didn't? That will be the subject of my next blog post.

Related Posts:
Backup Your Data - Avoid Heartache and Pain
Sleep Well at Night: Have a Good Backup Strategy

Credits: Photo by charamelody, found on Flickr, licensed through Creative Commons.