Best backup practices and recovering lost data.
Backup and Recovery
What's the best external hard drive for backing up my Mac?
Episode 1055
Joe from
Joe just got a new iMac and wants to know what external hard drive would be best use as a back up, USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt? Leo says that Thunderbolt drives are few and very expensive. He doesn't really need that. USB 3 is more than fast enough and very affordable. And they're formatted to be read on Mac and PC.
Could I use RAID 0 for backup?
Episode 1052
Tom bought an iMac and a GTech RAID drive, but he realized it runs RAID 0. Leo says RAID 0 means it has two discs linked for performance and speed. It's also known as "scary RAID" because it's twice as likely to fail. If he's using it just for basic backup, then it's fine. Drobo does a simulated RAID 5, but Leo isn't sure Tom needs all that.
Will restoring a hard drive include recovery partitions?
Episode 1052
Lynella brought her sister's laptop in to get fixed, but she didn't make a copy of the hard drive before she did. Leo says techs usually wipe the drive or replace it and then restore the OS from a backup recovery disc. But that may not include the restore partitions that originally came with it. If they claim they restore to manufacturer specs, then it should have the recovery partition. If they refuse to restore that for her, then Lynella may be able to get recovery discs from the laptop manufacturer. Recovery discs are better anyway because then she still has it if the drive dies.
How can I find out which drive in my RAID has failed?
Episode 1051
Ed from
Ed has a custom built Windows 7 computer with 4 1TB hard drives in RAID 1+0 configuration. He rebooted it and now the operating system is missing. RAID 1+0 is striped and mirrored, meaning that if one dies, then he can swap it out, recover the data, and continue. He's using the RAID that's in the Asus motherboard BIOS. Can he recover the data without rebuilding the RAID? The key is to find out what drive has failed. There is a RAID tool which can help, but he can't get the computer to boot.
Why is my file sharing so slow?
Episode 1049
Jim had a hard drive crash and now that he's restored his data, his file sharing is horribly slow. Leo says that could be due to a problem with the file sharing servers, but if they're working OK with other computers, it may be a bad restore. Leo says it could also be a security issue in Windows or even the router itself. Jim should try bypassing the router to see if it works better. If so, a reset of the router may fix the issue.
How can I get my email in Mozilla Thunderbird backed up to Carbonite?
Episode 1048
Chris uses Carbonite and wants to know if there's a better email program than Outlook. He also wants to know if that would make it better for backing up. Leo says that Outlook puts everything in one giant .pst file, but Mozilla Thunderbird breaks it out into individual files. Carbonite or any backup company just will backup whatever files he has, it won't care what program he's using. It's up to him to have it backup the right files. So as long as he backs up his Thunderbird Profile, he should be OK.
What's the best off site backup option?
Episode 1044
Ben has been following Leo's advice of 3-2-1 backup: Three backups, two different forms of media, and one off site. He uses IBM's Tivoli and backs up to an external hard drive, which he keeps in his car. He's been looking at Carbonite and CrashPlan's Code 42 as alternatives. Leo says it's interesting that Crashplan will let him send a hard drive to them and it's nice that it's free to use as well. Leo says that a lot of options are out there with similar services, including RSync and JungleDisk.
What's the best way to back up my music?
Episode 1043
Dwayne has 20,000 songs on iTunes and spent hundreds of hours collecting songs. But he isn't sure Carbonite is the best place to store his music. Leo says it isn't. It would take too long to upload: 100GB would take about 3 months. So Leo recommends Google Music. It's free and he'll be able to keep 25,000 there.
How can I transfer settings from one Android phone to another?
Episode 1042
Peter has a Samsung Galaxy SIII and a new Samsung Galaxy Note III, and is trying to transfer over all his settings and apps. How should he go about doing this?
How can I recover data from a crashed hard drive?
Episode 1041
Jim's computer drive can't be read by Windows, but it can be seen by a Mac as read only. He can see it on a friend's windows machine, too. If he plugs it in, it asks if he wants to format the drive. Leo says there's a software error that is preventing the computer to read it. The good news is that it can be fixed, but it's often too expensive to go to a specialist. GRC's SpinRite is a good utility but it's also not cheap. It does work if he absolutely needs the data.
