Free Mozy Home Backup at capacity: What to do next?

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Just notified that my free cloud backup, Mozy Home, is at its limit, 2 GB. I use it daily for auto backups of files.

I agree that it’s only fair to pay for a service I use, but right now, dollars are tight. Upgrading to the next level of 50 GB would cost 5.99 a month … and we all know how these small monthly fees add up.

Any suggestions on best way forward?

I do have an external HD, but use it for monthly image backups of both PC and laptop (both running Windows 7, SP1, by the way).

Thanks for any input from Loungers with more backup experience than I!

Linda

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Well if you don’t have sensitive information (Microsoft occasionally scans SkyDrive accounts looking for illegal content, Google may as well), just need off site backup and still keep it almost automated, you might try either SkyDrive (7GB for free) or GoogleDrive (15GB for free). The only un-automated part is that you need to save your data in the respective data folder (either SkyDrive or GoogleDrive) which can be in your documents folder I believe, in order for it to sync up with the online folders.

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Linda:

Why not get a 2nd external hard drive, and use it for continual autobackup of files.

If you don’t have software for that (I am assuming that you do), you could get Memeo. I have used Memeo, and it does a great job for continuous autobackups.

http://memeo.com/en/premium-backup/features/?affChecked=1

Jim

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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There are alternative services that offer more free storage space. Skydrive is an option, but Cubby is a bit easier to use and will allow you 5 GB free.

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Wow, thanks to all.

The external drive is one I’ve considered and it’s still a possibility, just wanted a cloud service as well.

With the various suggested services, what happens to what is currently stored in Mozy? Do I just open a new service, have it backup everything; then, close Mozy since files are now backed up in a different service?

The only un-automated part is that you need to save your data in the respective data folder (either SkyDrive or GoogleDrive) which can be in your documents folder I believe, in order for it to sync up with the online folders.

Not quite sure I understand this, but am sure it would come clear in the set up instructions for these services. Correct?

Cubby is totally new to me, but I will check it out. Thanks.

Linda

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Linda:

Whatever service you select, it is good to have a service that will be around for a long time. If you start doing backups to their service, and they go out of business next month, whatever backups you have done will be “out of business” as well.

I would therefore go with a well-known service.

Also, read their policies on encryption and data security. See if they appear to have your interests in mind in these policies.

Personally, I’m not sure I’d want to trust my data to a free service. In all honesty, however, I haven’t ever explored the free services, so I can’t honestly advise along these lines.

Actually, I do backups to an external hard drive, so that I totally control the data, and so that I paid only one time, up front, for the hard drive.

Jim

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Linda:

Whatever service you select, it is good to have a service that will be around for a long time. If you start doing backups to their service, and they go out of business next month, whatever backups you have done will be “out of business” as well.

I would therefore go with a well-known service.

Also, read their policies on encryption and data security. See if they appear to have your interests in mind in these policies.

Personally, I’m not sure I’d want to trust my data to a free service. In all honesty, however, I haven’t ever explored the free services, so I can’t honestly advise along these lines.

Actually, I do backups to an external hard drive, so that I totally control the data, and so that I paid only one time, up front, for the hard drive.

Jim

Most free services can be upgraded to paid services as well. I do agree with the advice to go with a service that has a known provider behind, it probably will ensure service longevity. Cubby, which I advised, is a service provided by LogMeIn, which a known provider of remote access services. It has a paid service, which I use.

With a small set of data, you can easily switch providers, anyway. It doesn’t take that much time or effort to upload just a few GB, so the issue of having to find alternative providers is less relevant.

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A simpler (maybe) way of explaining is that wherever you put the local SkyDrive or GoogleDrive folder, if you want data to be backed up online, it has to be saved in that folder or sub-folder therein.

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Thanks, Jim and Rui. Great advice. I’ve found free services from companies with, as Rui said, a history and reputation to work well for us and, as soon as it’s possible, we upgrade to their paid versions. That said, I also keep on site backups for any critical data.

I am impressed with what I’m reading about Cubby so far and am looking at it and SkyDrive, which seems to get positive reviews as well, as replacements. Appreciate the heads up that it’s not difficult to switch providers if your data is limited.

Will do more researching and post back. Really appreciate your thoughts and insights!

Linda

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You’re welcome :).

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Okay, read a lot about both and think I’ve decided on SkyDrive, mostly because I have Windows everything (well, except for an iPhone!) and because of its 7 GB free limit.

Not totally clear on whether I need to have both “SkyDrive on the Web” and “SkyDrive on my PC”. Hope that will come clear as I work with it.

A simpler (maybe) way of explaining is that wherever you put the local SkyDrive or GoogleDrive folder, if you want data to be backed up online, it has to be saved in that folder or sub-folder therein.

UPDATE BELOW QUESTIONS: Now that I’ve read a bit about SkyDrive, couple of questions re. having all my “stuff” backed up in the cloud:
1. Is this SkyDrive folder created in My Documents automatically?
2. Do I then need to put ALL my folders currently in My Documents, as well as any in Pictures, Videos, etc. into a “master” SkyDrive folder under My Documents or Documents?
Maybe this is what Rui meant when he said Cubby was a little easier to use! I’ll hold off on going ahead until I hear back.

UPDATE: Oops, just read a little further on the SkyDrive web page (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/skydrive/computer) and see that the answer to #2 is “yes”, but it looks fairly straightforward.

And I guess, instead of “restoring” files as I do with Mozy, I “fetch” them from the cloud. Correct?

Thanks for helping through this!

Linda

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Yes, SkyDrive merely syncs the local SkyDrive folder contents with the cloud SkyDrive folder contents, it does not have provisions to set folders outside of the SkyDrive folder to be synced, so by default, all content (data) to be synced goes in the SkyDrive folder hierarchy.
You’ll get a default or prompt as to where to put the SkyDrive folder, it is easy to move if need be, mine is on a secondary drive.

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Linda,

If you install the Desktop client (which I recommend, since you are going to use SkyDrive) and another utility, you can share any other folders more easily. Have a look here: http://janhannemann.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/sync-any-folder-to-skydrive-reloaded/

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Yes definitely use the desktop client. Not so sure about the SkyShellEx though, it physically moves the folder and data to the SkyDrive folder and leaves a junction surrogate at the original location, which had to be done in order for new data to be updated (instead of leaving the data where it was and creating the junction surrogate in the SkyDrive folder).

As long as you understand exactly what it’s doing, that your data is not where you originally put it if you use SkyShellEx on a folder, then it’s ok.

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Yikes! I read the link re. SkyShellEx and mostly got confused!

What I’d like to be able to do with a cloud backup service is this:
1. keep copies of all my files in the cloud as extra data loss protection
2. find and restore individual files from the cloud to my PC if needed

That’s really all I need right now. Syncing between computers, having the files on my phone, etc. are features I don’t need at the moment. So, 2 questions:

1. Will the SkyDrive desktop app do this?
2. Do I need the extra SkyShellEx?

Sorry to be a bit dense about this!

Linda

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Yikes! I read the link re. SkyShellEx and mostly got confused!

What I’d like to be able to do with a cloud backup service is this:
1. keep copies of all my files in the cloud as extra data loss protection
2. find and restore individual files from the cloud to my PC if needed

That’s really all I need right now. Syncing between computers, having the files on my phone, etc. are features I don’t need at the moment. So, 2 questions:

1. Will the SkyDrive desktop app do this?
2. Do I need the extra SkyShellEx?

Sorry to be a bit dense about this!

Linda

SkyDrive will allow you both, but you will need to change your folder organization, since everything you sync will have to be under the SkyDrive folder. That’s the reason I don’t use SkyDrive for my own backups, I don’t want to organize my files to suit SkyDrive’s folder scheme.

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Linda:

If you had a continuous autobackup program which would backup the desired files on your computer, and it used your Skydrive folder as the backup location, then you would have the result that you want. In fact, you would have two copies of the backup — the Skydrive folder on your computer, and the Skydrive folder in the cloud.

I have mentioned Memeo. There are others.

Jim

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Jim, I understand, but am trying not to purchase a program and it looks as if Memeo is not free. Trying to determine if SkyDrive alone will give me automated backup.

Linda

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Jim, I understand, but am trying not to purchase a program and it looks as if Memeo is not free. Trying to determine if SkyDrive alone will give me automated backup.

Linda

You’re right. Memeo is not free.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Linda,

I think the free Cubby version will be your best bet. You need to change nothing, just specify the folders you wanted backed up and it will be done automatically. Works very well, it’s what SkyDrive should have been.

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Linda,

Works very well, it’s what SkyDrive should have been.

Oh goodness yes, yet another example of the latest Microsoft offerings not coming close to their former greatness. I know you liked Mesh and I loved it’s predecessor, Live Sync.

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Oh goodness yes, yet another example of the latest Microsoft offerings not coming close to their former greatness. I know you liked Mesh and I loved it’s predecessor, Live Sync.

Yes, absolutely. I loved it so much that now I am paying $50 / year to have “it”. It’s still hard for me to accept the diminished level of functionality of the SkyDrive desktop app.

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Thanks again to both of you for your replies and patient assistance. Will go back to Cubby, given the automatic feature will make things much easier. Will do the deed tomorrow (want to be fresh for any new software!) and post back results.

Appreciate you sticking with me through the twists and turns – not to mention saving me hours of reading and further research!

Linda:cheers:

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Linda, you’re not the only one who learn a lot here. :rolleyes:

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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You’re welcome, Linda.

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I undrrstand that you are not looking for a paid service, but have a look at SugarSync. They are discontinuing their free service but are offering 60GB for $18.75 for a year.

A nice feature about SugarSync is that you can select whuch folders you want backed up without them all being within the same root structure.
I have had a couple of cases where SS generated a lot of traffic. This can be a problem if you are on a capped internet connection.

Another option with free storage is SpiderOak.

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IreneLinda I have been using SkyDrive (or whatever else MS has called it over the years) from the start and have never had any issue with it, it is very easy to use, if you down load the pc client like many folks have said to it makes it even easier to work with. I you have MS office installed it will even install save locations for you, so when you want to save it can be local or sky drive or both! As for security i will take MS over a lot of other company’s today simply because MS has already claimed the learning curve and put the money and people connections into making it work. Yes there are other company’s out there but you said you have a windows computer and a iPhone if you want with sky drive and apps on the iPhone you can save and should be able to sync but you also have external drive which i also have for my main backup and that has worked perfect for well over 10 yrs. So all these choices are good one is free one will cost you, you need to choose.

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As always in technology, you hope for black and white but can get only gray! Both SkyDrive and Cubby sound great. The challenge for those of us who are not particularly technical (and don’t want to be) is that making a decision usually comes down to examining tech specifics, not something I’m comfortable doing.

For now, I’m going with Cubby and monitoring how it goes. The positive things from all these great posts is knowing how many options there are out there. If a user isn’t happy with one, just try another.

By the way, Sugar Sync’s cost is super reasonable.

Thanks for everyone’s input and help. Posting back re. Cubby once it’s up and running.

Linda

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SugarSync is running a special this week at 75% off for a year. 60 GB for less than $20.00. It is not really a “backup’ service as it’s focus is on synching between devices and sharing.
Another alternative is Crashplan. Crashplan’s cloud backup costs but it offers a free automatic backup locally. You could get a USB stick and backup to that. Or you and a friend could agree to use Crashplan to backup to each other’s PCs. Still not cloud but provides offsite backup and still free. Neither method has a data limit as far as I can tell. It has 128 bit encryption.

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Keep us posted :).

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AGH!! New software … new headaches. I’m stumped. Think I’d better leave it for today as I’m totally confused.

Got it downloaded and set up; planned to put everything in one My Cubby folder. Trying to drag My Docs or My Pictures folders into My Cubby gives me an error message that “the folder is shared with another and that won’t work if you do this”. So I tried copying the whole My Documents folder and that worked but surely that’s not the correct way to proceed.

Am almost at the point of somehow biting the dollars bullet and increasing my limit with Mozy. At least I can make it work! Backup and Sync – confusing terms for me.

Tomorrow is another day … will keep you posted.

Linda:confused:

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No data limit, I’m up to 2.37 terabytes of off site backup, and growing. You forgot the cost of the drives but if they last 5 years then it averages about $30 a year.

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Linda,

I have used Google Drive since it started and only have about 2.5 Gb stored there. But I do a bit more to secure my data and my programs. As you will obviously know, I can also get my 2.5 Gb Cloud data on a standard DVD which I do very often (and date them) since a DVD is so cheap. I also have two spare drives which I only connect to my computer when I want to clone the only drive on my computer. I clone it one month to one of the spare drives and then the next month I clone it to the second spare drive. And I repeat this procedure every month so I always have a recent clone and also a clone that is up to two months old. Both spare drives are cheap 500 Gb drives. Fortunately, I have never had a reason to use any of my backed up resources. The only way I could lose everything would be if I had a fire and failed to grab one of the spare drives to carry with me, or I was not at home. So the cloud in this case would only save a bit of data.

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..The only way I could lose everything would be if I had a fire and failed to grab one of the spare drives to carry with me, or I was not at home. So the cloud in this case would only save a bit of data.

I backup personal files on a network drive every day (Western Digital MyBookLive has live backup), then monthly image files of my system and personal drives (Acronis True Image). A copy of the images on a 64-GB thumb drive is always with me. I copy my photos to DVDs once a year. I feel comfortable with this. Everyone’s needs are different. Prices of drives are amazing if you snag one on sale. Best money I ever spent.

I use Dropbox (currently 6GB) for files I want to sync across several devices as well as the cloud. I put sensitive text in the cloud only in encrypted files (fSekrit). I have a Copy account (20GB) but haven’t used it yet. I gave up on Skydrive (25GB) trying to copy photo folders – it not only ignored the folders it stopped far short of storage claimed! If 2 GB isn’t enough, keep looking. There’s lots of free clouds out there.

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I’ll put in my vote for CrashPlan. The free version can backup to a local Hard Drive (USB or otherwise) and can also backup to a Friend over the internet for free.

They have paid plans that are reasonable, I use the unlimited one for $60.00 a year. That comes out to $5 a month for unlimited cloud backup and local too, which is what I recommend. If you want to be protected from all possible dangers, CrashPlan covers you pretty good.
Fire, Theft, Natural Disaster, Mechanical Failure, Electrical surge damage or user error.

3-2-1 Backup is the best approach. 3 copies, 2 different media and 1 off-site.

One of the only things it doesn’t cover is an Image Backup of your Operating System. There are a variety of programs that can do that, some free.
Windows 7 and probably 8 offer that for free.

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Just an update report: I learned about a lot of possible solutions here and for that I thank all posters!

What I ended up doing was taking advantage of a year end promotion offered by Mozy and upgrading to a paid from a free plan. Not before, unfortunately, I’d tried to lessen the size of my backup by painstakingly going through the list of files and unchecking those I thought didn’t need to be backed up. After about an hour of this with not much of an effect on the backup size, I decided that my patience was gone and my frustration was high … it then became worth it to pay!

I always seem to forget that any new program, no matter how user friendly, requires time to master. If you have the time to invest, it’s worth it; if it is off focus at that particular time, it is not. Think I’ll post that on the top of my PC screen to remind myself!

Happy New Year!:fanfare:

Linda

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