Backup techniques for writing?

[dgackst]

You're very welcome. As other people have mentioned it's always good to have backups in different places

I have a backup to an external hard-drive and I also backup the really important stuff to my personal website.

I don't, as yet, have a third backup that is kept in a separate physical location, but USB sticks seem to be the easiest option

I don't have an external hard-drive at the moment, but I took the time today to back up my work on Google Drive to a dedicated USB stick. I already feel much better about not suddenly losing years worth of work.

 

[sknox]

What format are the files? If they are RTF or some other generic format, then fine. I don't think there's an issue with Google Docs, but some other documents -- a timeline created with Aeon, for example, or indeed everything in Scrivener -- means you need to have that software in order to read the files. So make sure you have that software or can reinstall it readily.

 

[dgackst]

That is a good point, and is definitely important to note. Downloading a file with an unreadable extension is a painful experience to go through.

When I downloaded the files from my Google Drive it automatically saved the Google Docs files as Word documents (.docx) and the Google Sheets files as Excel documents (.xlsx). I believe Google Drive defaults to .docx and .xlsx when downloading/ exporting the files. But I know there are other file types you can export to.

What format are the files? If they are RTF or some other generic format, then fine. I don't think there's an issue with Google Docs, but some other documents -- a timeline created with Aeon, for example, or indeed everything in Scrivener -- means you need to have that software in order to read the files. So make sure you have that software or can reinstall it readily.

 

[Oligonicella]

Two on-board discs in my computer ( C: and I: ) and two desk top ( E: and N: ). The on-board discs are my active writing disc and an immediate backup. The two desk tops are a snatch and go variety. I back up my entire writing folder - old and new files - every time I do backup. And, thanks to this post, I just backed up . Only took minute and a half or so.

 

[Dragonlady]

i back up scrivener files to google drive with free file sync, and every so often save as a word format too.

 

[sknox]

One other factor to keep in mind is physical catastrophe. When I was writing my dissertation, I always kept one copy at my office (dissertation work was at home). A tornado could destroy my home but there was no way I was going to start that dissertation over from scratch!

I carried this habit with me when I started writing fiction. Now the off-site backup is in the cloud, which arguably is even more secure. As a friend once commented, if something happens that wrecks my home and wrecks Kansas City, then I've got a bigger problem. <g>

 

[Rafellin]

Disclaimer: 25 years in I.T. (programmer > project management > system design) and more than a little paranoid...

I run a minimum 3-2-1 backup strategy for my core backups: 3 backups, 2 different media types, 1 offsite.

In addition, while I'm working on story, I do incremental backups to a dedicated USB drive whenever I'm going to be away from my computer for more than a couple of hours.

None of my backups use devices that are not mine, nor do I use backup software - you cannot guarantee access to the former, and it's just another software layer between you and your files with the latter. I also classify email as 'devices that are not mine' and thus never use it for backups.

I regularly check my backups, and bring older proprietary files to compatible versions wherever possible, or switch them to plain text/basic .jpeg images.

All offsite backups are encrypted using high grade (industrial level, not military) software that I own lifetime rights to, and all encrypted backups have an installer image of the encryption software (package, no keys) somewhere on the same device.

Finally, I never use authoring packages. Word, Excel, and Notepad are it.

Keep it simple. Do it regularly.

The last time a computer died unrecoverably on me and I had to rebuild from the ground up, I only lost twenty hours email. Since then, I've switched email strategies so that loss will never occur (unless someone nukes three countries across two continents - if that happens, I have bigger problems than retrieving my emails. )

 

[tde44]

Disclaimer: 25 years in I.T. (programmer > project management > system design) and more than a little paranoid...

I run a minimum 3-2-1 backup strategy for my core backups: 3 backups, 2 different media types, 1 offsite.

In addition, while I'm working on story, I do incremental backups to a dedicated USB drive whenever I'm going to be away from my computer for more than a couple of hours.

None of my backups use devices that are not mine, nor do I use backup software - you cannot guarantee access to the former, and it's just another software layer between you and your files with the latter. I also classify email as 'devices that are not mine' and thus never use it for backups.

I regularly check my backups, and bring older proprietary files to compatible versions wherever possible, or switch them to plain text/basic .jpeg images.

All offsite backups are encrypted using high grade (industrial level, not military) software that I own lifetime rights to, and all encrypted backups have an installer image of the encryption software (package, no keys) somewhere on the same device.

Finally, I never use authoring packages. Word, Excel, and Notepad are it.

Keep it simple. Do it regularly.

The last time a computer died unrecoverably on me and I had to rebuild from the ground up, I only lost twenty hours email. Since then, I've switched email strategies so that loss will never occur (unless someone nukes three countries across two continents - if that happens, I have bigger problems than retrieving my emails. )

I do something very similar (also IT background ).

I handwrite everything and enter into the computer at the end of each day (word and onenote for research). My paper notebook stays around until after my first draft is done and printed.

The folder where I store my work is automatically backed up to OneDrive. In addition, I use windows filehistory to backup all changes every 3 hours to an external flash drive. Once a month I backup my entire computer, onedrive, and external flash drive to an external drive (which is stored offsite) in folders by backup date. I use 5 drives which I rotate each month, each containing several months of backups. Right now I have backups going back 3+ years.

While it may seem paranoid, last year I ran into a problem which required me to re-image my computer. I lost none of my writing and only had to recreate other work I did on my computer during the hour or so before the problem.