iDisk has lost my data!

[Nick Jinks]

I keep my recent documents on iDisk not my harddrive, so most of my harddrive documents are very old.

This morning iCloud reared its ugly head and now my iDisk only contains stuff from the harddrive. I don't know why, but it seems iDisk wiped itself, then restored itself from the harddrive.

I've lost over 2 months of academic and professional work, and I want it back. How do I restore my documents from a backup of iDisk?

 

[Fishrrman]

"I've lost over 2 months of academic and professional work, and I want it back. How do I restore my documents from a backup of iDisk?"

Well, so much for the "cloud" as a secure place to store one's data, eh?

In the future, get yourself a real, down-to-earth (and not "in the clouds") backup drive, and some good backup software like CarbonCopyCloner (which is free).

If you'd been maintaining a _real_ backup, and not dependent on the good graces of keeping it stored on someone else's drive, you wouldn't be where you are now.

Just sayin'....

 

[Nick Jinks]

Just sayin'....

Cheeky person.

I use Time Machine, but it was suggested that storing the information "off-site" would be more secure.

I don't think I'll be paying for Apple's "secure" service again. There's got to be an alternative solution.

 

[Nightarchaon]

As always,

If you have data you absolute cannot live without,

1 keep live data locally on your hard disk,

Keep a copy on a flash drive ,
Keep a copy as part of a time machine backup,
Keep a copy in Dropbox or some other auto syncing off site cloud based backup.

And

Keep a spare flash-drive copy off site somewhere.

Its what i do with my "Cannot function if they are lost" files.
(I also keep a copy of them on my Phone on my person at all times (Thank you samsung for having a MicroSD card slot)

Not that I'm paranoid, but I've been suffering hard drive failures on and off for two and a half decades now, I've learnt that data storage is a case of WHEN your going to lose the device your data is on (theft or failure) not IF your going to lose the device to failure (or theft). And thats without counting the number of times I've done something stupid and accidentally deleted or corrupted a file.

 

[Ratatapa]

Always keep redundant stuff 1 insite 1 outsite

Your fault yes it sucks

 

[jsm4182]

I use Time Machine, but it was suggested that storing the information "off-site" would be more secure.

Whoever told you this probably meant to keep a backup offsite, not only have the file off site.

All my important files are on my computer, a time machine drive, another external drive a periodically clone my computer to withCarbon Copy Cloner and on Dropbox.

 

[Fishrrman]

"I use Time Machine, but it was suggested that storing the information "off-site" would be more secure.
I don't think I'll be paying for Apple's "secure" service again. There's got to be an alternative solution."

Like the saying goes, "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on ME."

I'll offer "an alternative solution" that's cheap and easy:

Get yourself one of these gadgets:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock&x=0&y=0
They are CHEAP (some only about $20-25), all work the same, easy to use (did I say "EASY"?).
If you want to spend more, Other World Computing has their "Voyager Quad" docking station with Firewire 400 & 800 and USB3 (I think this one only is bootable via USB, however).

Next, get one or more (at least two suggested) "bare drives" from any vendor of your choice (I like newegg.com as a supplier). They can be either 3.5" or 2.5" drives. You may prefer a 2.5" for "portability" (such as storing a backup off-site, read on).

Then, download the FREE CarbonCopyCloner from:
http://bombich.com/
It's one of the best pieces of software you'll ever use.

When you've got this stuff, attach the dock to the Mac and put a drive into it. Turn it on and initialize it.

Then use CCC to do a "full clone" of your main drive. It will be BOOTABLE and an EXACT COPY of everything on your original. You CAN'T BOOT from Time Machine in a moment of extreme need. The files on the CCC clone will be in POFF (plain ol' finder format). Just mount the drive (in the dock) and navigate to where you need to be, then copy what you wish. No fooling with trying to "restore" from a TM backup.

You can also set up CCC to copy only certain folders (or to exclude certain folders). The developer continually improves his product. CCC can also "archive" old, changed files (stuff that would be deleted when you do an incremental backup to maintain your clone so it's the same as your main drive). This preserves "older versions" of files, as would TM.

If you buy two drives, do TWO backups. Keep one at home (close to the computer). Take the other and store it SOMEWHERE ELSE (different building than the computer is in). If the house (or office) burns down or is burglarized, just get a new computer, hook up your off-site backup, and you're back in business.

A dock and single bare drive will run you less than $80-100. And you'll find that the USB/SATA dock comes in handy for other things, as well.

Hope this helps....