Online Back-up service?

I wasn't sure which forum this should go in -- so if this is the wrong one -- I'll follow wherever the mods take it.

I've became curious about on-line back-up services but I haven't found any that seem reliable. Looking at the user reviews of Carbonite on CNET shows an even split between 4 or 5 star ratings or 1 & 2 star ratings with the 1 & 2 star reviews coming from very angry users who assert that Carbonite fails to live up to even its basic promises and hogs computer resources. The average is 3 stars.

That usually tells me that the positive reviews are probably fake.

So does anyone gave any suggested online back-ups -- or a reason not to use them? (like privacy issues)?

 

read the T&Cs for anything online, espec those you intend to trust data to.

Once you boil out all of the leagalese, you will find that their service is one of 'best effort' only. This means that if they lose or leak your data, all you are entitled to is a big 'oops, sorry' and you'll have no recourse.

Have fun in the cloud.....

 

Thanks for the heads up on that... You have probably dampened my interest considerably.

 

But the one thing you can do, at least for important individual files, is email them to yourself. So long as you have a web-based email service, like Yahoo, MSN (Hotmail), etc. you can email important files to yourself and know that they will be safe from anything that happens to your computer. I just did that, after a near computer catastrophe, during which time I couldn't access any of my 'how to' data. Once the problem was solved, I immediately attached about 20 'how to' files to a couple of different emails, and sent them to myself. Next time I have a problem with my computer, at least I'll know that I will have access to vital information that I can access from any other computer I go to.

PS And, of course, back up all your personal files regularly on a a travel drive or other external hardware. . .

 

Big waste of money IMO especially if you're using Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate.
Even if you aren't you can download for free a backup image utility that allows for backup of a full image or specified files or folders. http://www.comodo.com/home/data-storage-encryption/comodo-backup.php

I recently bought an external USB 2.0 drive for the cheap at Dell.com and recently I saw an even better deal at Newegg.com

Use that as your backup and store it in a safe place.

 

You might try Mozy. Seems reputable and you get a nice discount if you use promo code "sean" (or is it "hannity"?).

Anyway, here's the site: http://mozy.com/

 

i've also heard of other using Mozy but can't personally recommend it as i havent used it