Monday, October 17, 2011

A Lesson Learned: Backup! Backup!





It was an expensive lesson.  It's been several months since I last backed up my small external Seagate 500 GB drive, which contained all my photos,  and it was high time that I did it again. But when I tried, the drive would not register  on my computer no matter what. It was only 20 months old and had never given me any problems before. It's still under the 5 year replacement warranty but Seagate takes no responsibility for lost data. Instead it offers a data recovery software for $99, a pretty steep price I thought and it took me a while to convince myself that I really really wanted those photos back.  


The software worked and I got everything back. I don't mean to let it happen again. From now on regular backups and always to two separate locations in case one of them fails. What a hassle! 


A balancing act



The mallards are enjoying their new wetland pool on a cornfield





A bright wind-swept day at the nuclear power station in Vernon. i looked for A. Pipits on the adjacent cornfield but found none.


Not far from our house is the Scott Farm which grows and sells heritage apples.







It was the location for the movie "Ciderhouse Rules" based on John Irving's novel of the same name. The is the apple pickers' bunk house where much of the action takes place.






A Great Blue Heron enjoying a tranquil moment at the farm pond.



I am flying back to Germany tomorrow to see my sister and brother with their families, and my mother who will be celebrating her 100th birthday. So no posts for the next couple of weeks.


Thanks for your visit to my blog. I always love to read your comments.







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13 comments:

  1. theconstantwalkerOctober 17, 2011 at 4:51 PM

    I am so pleased you managed to save all your images Hilke.. just a shame you had to pay.

    Please give your mother my best wishes... what a fantastic milestone to reach.

    Centurians in the UK get a card from the Queen do they have something similar in Germany?

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  2. DaveOctober 17, 2011 at 6:09 PM

    good news in the end but yes a lot of hassle. I love the old barn.... talk about character.

    100 years not out is very very impressive.

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  3. eileeninmdOctober 17, 2011 at 6:24 PM

    I am so happy that you were able to save your photos. I back up my computer on a regular basis. Cool shots, love the barn and the apples look delicious.

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  4. GuyOctober 17, 2011 at 10:36 PM

    Hi Hilke

    Wow what a milestone, it is lovely that you can go back and share that special day with her. And that was great news about your photos you had invested so much time in them.

    Regards
    Guy

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  5. UnknownOctober 19, 2011 at 8:51 AM

    Great you got them back. I store to DVD, and external hardrive. I think heat is a killer on external hardrives.I also think storage is not what it's cracked up to be. Give your mother our wishes from Canada. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  6. Jen SanfordOctober 19, 2011 at 10:36 AM

    Oh man, my computer just broke so this post is all the more relevant to me... I regularly upload my favorite photos to Flickr but there are tons more I hope someone can get off my hard drive. Have a safe trip!!

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  7. ReenaOctober 20, 2011 at 10:19 PM

    Love those barn photos! Outstanding!

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  8. AndyOctober 20, 2011 at 10:45 PM

    Stopping by for a visit :)

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  9. LarryOctober 21, 2011 at 8:42 PM

    Interesting- Ciderhouse rules was a slow movie but I liked it a lot. I'm sorry about your hard lesson. I don't have that problem because not many of my photos are worth backing up.

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  10. Adam TiltOctober 25, 2011 at 5:10 PM

    You can never have too many back-ups. I'm constantly making sure that I have back-ups of my back-ups as the thought of losing everything is too much. Very glad to hear that you got everything back.

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  11. jeanlivingsimpleNovember 3, 2011 at 9:58 PM

    You have reminded me that I need to get another back-up for my photos.

    I like the Ciderhouse photos.

    Happy Birthday to your Mom! Hope you have a wonderful trip.

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  12. ChrisNovember 7, 2011 at 4:02 PM

    Wow 100th birthday for your mom, wow, happy birthday to her and yes back-up is essential and I need to do the 2011 one for me soon ;-)

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  13. Kathie BrownNovember 9, 2011 at 11:14 PM

    Hilke, I almost lost all my photos once. thankfully they were recovered, but I paid about $300 to have a tech come do it! then, my computer memory got full once again and so I had to hire another guy to fix the computer and add more memory. I also now have my photos backed up at his office and in two other locations. I also have a Seagate and he just got it working for me again, so... we will see what happens. Digital takes up less space than film but at least you always have the negatives! Glad all went well!

    ReplyDelete

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