BACK UP YOUR PHOTO DATA NOW!

A couple enjoys the sunset view from Crown Point in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon.

It looks like my new 1.5 TB disk drive may be damaged beyond repair. It was the primary storage for images form my most recent trips, and on the road I rarely have access to three power plugs for several hours to perform the backups that I should have been performing, so I may have lost months of work, including the first 9 days of my current trip to national parks with my kids.

I was just about to back it up...

I'll try a data recover service when I determine which ones are most likely to be able to work on physically damaged drives, but the drive was dropped, so it's most likely damaged beyond repair.

I'll only know the extent of the loss when I swing back by Northern California and see what data I have on my next most recent backup drive (I have another 1TB with me, but it contains mostly older files up to 2007).

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Comments

~ Aaron Reed ~ says:

Ouch. That sucks. I am very sorry to hear that Jeff!
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

Bill Wight CA says:

Jeff,

What a shame if you lost all those images. Just another reminder that one copy is never a good bet. Hopefully, a data recovery service can remove the platters from your damaged drive and place them into another drive unit and get your images back.

I am paranoid about backing up my images. I like the method that James Neeley uses, the 320 to 500 GB pocket hard drives from Seagate and Western Digital. I carry two on trips and make two backup sets plus the set on my laptop. The nice thing about these drives is they do not need 120V AC power. When I get home, I copy all my trip RAW files to DVD's.

In addition to data corruption and physical damage to a hard disk, there is also the threat of theft. Some years back, I had a break-in to my old RV at a trail head. The theives stole my camera bag and I lost my telephoto lens and a bunch of filters. So I keep one of my WD Passport backup drives separate from my camera and computer, hidden. If you store your backup drives together with your laptop, it makes it easy for a thief to get them all in one grab.
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

Mike Hornblade says:

Really sorry to hear that Jeff :(. I hope the data recovery service is able to recover some of your images.
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

Tom Lowe @ Timescapes says:

Jeff, really sorry to hear this! There may be a chance that data can be recovered, so don't give up hope.

I also travel with a 1.5TB drive. But before my cards ever reach the 1.5TB drive, they get downloaded to a small Nexto harddrive, which can read and copy the CF cards directly. Then later, I copy from the Nexto to the 1.5TB harddrive. You might look into a Nexto or Hyperspace, etc.

Good luck. man.
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

Synapped says:

Very cool shot! Yikes! I'm so sorry 'bout your HD problems, and thanks for the reminder. It made my heart thump! It's so hard to keep everything backed up properly. Aarrgghh!
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

Jeff Sullivan says:

I try to keep all files backed up on 2 external drives, but I ahd a number of projects to complete before this trip (building a platform for the back of my van, etc), so I might not have pulled off the backup of all files (it can take the better part of a day or two).

When I travel I have one copy on my laptop and a second on the external drive, but this trip was too long and I filled the 250GB drive on my laptop within the first 2 weeks, so I had to go with one external copy temporarily in order to accomodate new shots. Big mistake.

The external drive might not be recoverable if the read head crashed into the surface fo the disk. It dropped from 4 feet (from that platform to the parking lot), while powered up and spinning, so the disk surface could be pretty badly gouged.
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

Jill Clardy says:

sweet silhouette - the loss of your HD is sickening ... I'm an obsessive backer-upper of my work-related files, since I have had the laptop stolen, corrupted, h/w failures, virus-infected, etc... but not so rigorous about my photos. Lesson learned !
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

SARhounds says:

I don't know how much good this will do you now or while you're traveling, but I use www.carbonite.com to back up most of my files, in addition to several hard drives. It's all done in the background, so it doesn't take any of my time, and it's certainly worth the $50/year that it costs. I've only recovered a few files from it, so far, but I would have gladly paid that much just for them.
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

loves the country says:

Owieeeeeee. I'm sorry for your misfortune, Jeff. Good luck recovering all those files. This shot is fantastic, the couple silhouetted in the arched light is superb.
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

dnarich says:

Wow! This is a beautiful photo, and the as "loves the country" said, the silhouette of the couple makes this photo great! Perfect exposure!
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

VWSelburn says:

Fantastic shot Jeff. So sorry to hear of your misfortune. I hope you manage to retrieve some of your images - if not all.
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

birdgal5 says:

Jeff, that is a shame! You need to get a RAID drive....it's basically two drives that are mirrored; so, when you save to the drive, it goes to both....that way, if one drive bails, you still have your photos. I am a worrier, when it comes to photos, and I have my family photos on a third drive at a different location....just in case of fire or theft.

I have always worried about the digital revolution....I inherited B&W negatives, stored in a metal matchbox, that were taken by my grandparents....5 generations of my family! I know that some of these negatives are over 80 years old....think about your digital photos, and where they might be 80+ years from now!

Gorgeous capture, Jeff!
Posted 6 months ago. ( permalink )

raineys says:

This is beautiful!!! So sorry to hear about your hard drive..sure hope they can retrieve the data for you!
Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

Jeff Sullivan says:

I priced data recovery, and it starts at $1000-1500!

Since the issue was physical damage, having a RAID setup would have simply involved two spinning disks crashing to the pavement.in one enclosure!

I'll buy a new drive, repopulate it to the extent that I can to assess what I do and don't have, and maybe recover the data if/when I get a project that might require those shots and help recoup the expense.
Posted 5 months ago. ( permalink )

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BACK UP YOUR PHOTO DATA NOW!

Comments

~ Aaron Reed ~ says:

Bill Wight CA says:

Mike Hornblade says:

Tom Lowe @ Timescapes says:

Synapped says:

Jeff Sullivan says:

Jill Clardy says:

SARhounds says:

loves the country says:

dnarich says:

VWSelburn says:

birdgal5 says:

raineys says:

Jeff Sullivan says:

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