Re: Back up plan Light room and photos

[Karl Shah-Jenner <shahjen@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark writes:

> The computer is one I have that is JUST for digital imaging and maybe some 
> really basic word processing, but its not and never will be hooked to the 
> internet.  Part of the reason is that virus protection would slow it way 
> down, and anything running in the background its easy to forget to turn it 
> off.  They can also sap computer performance and that I didn't want to do. 
> I know some people use backup software, and Matt K of Kelby Training 
> recommends this approach.  The software he uses archives essentially a copy 
> of the hard drive and its a bootable disk.  I didn't go that way because 
> its running in the background and the limited uses for this computer.  It 
> also introduces another possible way to have a problem.

I really can't consider redundancy like that as a possible problem Mark, 
background backup routines have saved many a person's bacon.
In regards the concept of backups there's a few distinctions:  mirroring and 
backing up both have their merits and can be used at the same time.

disk 'mirrroring' is a fantastic way of ensuring a perfect system restore 
(clone the main disk), as you said it copies the whole disk and is bootable, 
but better yet it is a pull-and-replace method.  Western Digital offer a 
free program that works on any WinPC as long as you have at least one WD 
drive connected http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp?swid=119. 
But to take full advantage of it you need to set yourself up well.- I set up 
new machines for people, install *all* the software they plan to use, set up 
the shortcuts within windows so the default save locations are elsewhere on 
another disk within the PC .. then when the machine is perfect, I create the 
mirror image.  Sometimes given drives are cheap I create a cloned disk as 
well so they can swap the drive immedialy should they ever have a problem 
without even having to restore the cloned image.   From there any major 
software updates or additions demand a new mirror image be created, but at 
any stage should the drive go South a new disk can be restored to precisely 
the same state it was in when freshly mirrored.  Backup routines then just 
backup the other drive's contents - documents, images, music - whatever. 
All these folders along with the mirror(s) can be saved on an auxillary 
external backup drive.

>IF you count on the backup software and it has a problem, you are at the 
mercy of a company that might not even want to talk to you on the phone.  I 
decided self reliance was a better choice for me.  My workflow includes 
backing up anyway.

There's not many backup programs I've heard others recommend that cause 
faults, it generally lies with the drive or opportunistically obtained, 
un-recommended software.  Wikipedia has plenty to say about backup software. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_backup_software


> The multiple hard drives was an issue I just couldn't figure out how to 
> practically solve.  Some of the smaller hard drives were getting on up 
> there in years anyway, and rather than try to figure out how to make them 
> work in Lightroom it became far more practical to see that they were 
> retained as a rebuild of last resort.

I'd do a simple trial, move a small specially named folder then point 
lightroom to it and see how it responds - if it goes wobbly on you then seek 
more advice on appropriate forms.  If it all goes OK, then I'd be copying 
everything off the old small drives onto a large one inside your PC (your 
second internal disk - most PCs can handle heaps of internal disks space 
permitting) , tucked neatly all in one place you'll make backing up easier, 
and managing everything easier.

> I bought another USB external hard drive that is as large or a bit larger 
> than my work drive.  I can copy my entire work drive onto this drive and 
> have everything on 2 hard drives.  If one fails, the other is good to go 
> and ready.

as long as you've a mirrored disk, otherwise it's reinstall everything from 
scratch :/


> Windows has a bad habit of renaming drives, and that keeps Lightroom from 
> finding them.

As others have said newer version of Windows may do this, I don't know - but 
older ones only ever rearanged drives when drive listings before a drive 
couldn't be read.  i.e.  If a DVD RAM was registered in the system it'd come 
after the DVD drive (so it would be 'E') but if no DVDRAM disk is inserted, 
the next removable drive attached would list as E, adding a DVDRAM disk 
would result in it being called 'F'.  Similar things happen if card readers 
are attached or drives are plugged in and unplugged and letting windows 
manage things as it sees fit.  I don't like letting any OS manage things.. 
I want to manage things thank you very much (!) .  This can be solved easily 
by 'assigning' drive letters. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307844  .. 
another annoying way people "assign" drive letters is to give them names, 
but this causes more problems than it solves unless it's set up that way 
from the get-go, in which case it works fine.


> It was a big concern going in, but Lightroom has a find files command so 
> you can relink them.  It will solve the problem of replacing a drive, or if 
> I have to unplug it.  It would be a pain, but not nearly the pain of re 
> doing the keywords of 25,000 images.  Leaving them plugged in should solve 
> that.

I am personally wary of leaving loose drives plugged in.  I've had many a 
job recovering such drives when the owner has inadvertantly knocked the 
drive off the desk or the cat's unplugged the power cord mid-write.  I tend 
to tuck them aside and only plug them in when accessing them  - any disks I 
want permanently on stay safely within the confines of the PC case..


> I don't put any work on the computer hard drive.  It seems when a drive 
> starts to fill it slows down.  Keeping it clean I hope will keep the speed 
> up.  IF the computer fails, reload Lightroom, Photoshop and Open Office and 
> the next one is working.

Full drives really shouldn't cause much noticeable slowing unless the files 
are fragmented or the registry is messed up 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCleaner.  The post-windows 2000 versions of 
Windows have truly awful defrag routines too, Ultradefrag is an 
exceptionally good defragger and it makes files contiguous - windows 
abandonned that idea as well as they didn't like paying royalties to those 
who had better routines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UltraDefrag


> Some of my images will also be backed up on Photo Shelter for off site. 
> Probably will not do them all, but it seems practical to do some of the 
> most important.

There's been a few massive businesses stung badly by relying on off site 
(uncontrolled) backups that have gone wrong.  Smaller folks don't have the 
$$ to sue them when they lose everything you hold dear .. they are a 
resourse worth using, but spread those backups around.  Disk drives are 
cheap!

my 2c

k