As any IT expert will tell you, if your data doesn’t exist in at least 3 locations it doesn’t exit at all. Which is a good strategy to live by if you value the things you store on your computer.
Now, backups can be a complicated and mundane task, having to remember to put DVD’sCD’s in the drive and running scheduled backup tasks can be a bore. However, don’t doubt just how important these can be. I have lost count the amount of times I have been saved by a backup of some description.
Unsurprisingly enough they don’t actually have to be such a task, and there are ways and means around making it almost completely automated. Ensuring you sleep well at night, knowing your data is safe from hardware failure or accidental loss.
I am in the process of converting my friends and family (who seem to believe their laptopPC hard drives are indestructible) from their current ‘no backup’ method to a complete solution. So I decided it was about time I put something together, that even the least tech savvy person can understand.
First of all, it’s always good to have your data stored on a second removable media device, something like an external hard drive or USB pen is good for this. You can pick up Terabyte hard drives now from almost anywhere for as little as £60. To put this into context I am a heavy user of computers and have thousands of music and picture files. I am barely even filling half of my hard drive with backups! So a terabyte will more then suffice the average household.
Network attached storage devices are a good option, but can be costly. You can generally only get wired solutions for £150. However using an external hard drive along with an Iomega iConnect can provide you with a wireless Nas solution for less then £130.
Once you have sourced your hard drive, and hooked it up to your PC you will need some backup software. Products such as Norton Ghost not only backup your data, but can also take complete images of your PC in its current state. Which makes reinstalling a breeze! Obviously if you’re lucky enough to use a Mac, then the built in ‘Time Machine‘ will detect the external hard drive or Nas unit and backup to it.
However, using this method is not fool proof, and will require manual connection of the drive and the loss of your computer whilst it does it’s thing. No matter how fast your PC is, your backup will be governed by the volume of data you have and the speed of data transfer.
Your second option, perhaps the most obvious one is to use a backup application such as Norton Ghost to burn data to DVD’s or CD’s. Again, this can be a slow and painful process.
Which is where my third and personal favourite solution comes in. Cloud based backups… Which essentially are web based backups of your files and media!
Using applications such as Microsoft’s Live Mesh you can create synchronised folders, so as soon as you make a change or save a document it’s automatically and seamlessly backed up to the web. Without you doing a thing, and without even disturbing you. I am a big fan of mesh – if not just because it’s so easy to use but for the fact you can use it to ‘sync’ files between several computers. So not only is it a backup solution, but it could be used for teamwork on files etc.
Once you data has synced to your mesh desktop, you are then also able to access it from anywhere.
I currently have several mesh accounts for the devices around my home. Even my parents use Mesh to backup their computers. It’s so simple, there’s no excuse not to use it!
So what are you waiting for? Get backing up!
Luscious is able to extract SMS message folder contents including your Inbox, Drafts, Outbox, Sent and Trash folders direct from your mobile phone using either bluetooth or a cable connection. It even supports Apple iPhones, and they don’t even have to be jail broken!
Luscious is capable of sending SMS messages direct through connected mobile phones….. UNLESS of course you have an iPhone, for which SMS sending does not work! Which is a major pain. However Luscious offers a solution to that issue, it’s capable of sending SMS messages through one of several free online SMS services, or through it’s own professional SMS gateway.
Luscious has an ‘in-app’ store allowing you to purchase SMS packages of 100 SMS messages at €10 each. Enabling easy cost control over your mobile messaging.
The application integrates seamlessly with the native OS X address book, even providing autocompletion of names. Allowing the fastest possible solution for text messaging! It also contains a built in mini address book where you can store contact groups for batch messaging.
Luscious has a feature rich and very liquid GUI interface, which doesn’t look out of place running next to my many other native Mac applications. Not only does it download all of the SMS folder contents, it also displays the senders name and not just the number. (unlike many similar applications)
The app is currently capable of supporting
Apple iPhone – SMS Receive
Sony Ericson Phones – SMS Send & Receive
Sagen Phones – SMS Send & Receive
With Nokia phone support coming soon!
If you are a Mac lover, and heavy SMS user then this app would be perfect for you!
To use Luscious you will need to be running Mac OS X 10.4 or later, and have either an active internet connection of a phone capable of supporting both send & receive from the list above.
You can download a 15 day trial version of Luscious from their website, and for a full version visit the ‘in-app’ store and purchase a license for €19.90
Which means it makes perfect sense to copy all the DVD’s you own to image files, which you can mount directly on your laptop and watch without hassle. Not only does this save on what you have to carry, but also the amount of battery power you laptop consumes as there are less moving parts. Over the many years of laptop use I have been exposed to many different flavours of DVD extraction applications, all with their own different benefits. However MakeMKV is pretty special. In the way that you only need two clicks on you mousetrackpadtablet screen in order to initiate the ‘ripping’ of your DVD and even your Blu-ray movie!
Yes! That’s right, I did say Blu-ray…. This perhaps has to be one of the first ever free applications with Blu-ray capabilities! Obviously there are some prerequisites to this.. In that your laptop will need a Blu-ray drive, and you will need a shed load of storage space! I am not able to test the Blu-ray functions, as I have not yet made the leap to Blu-ray but I’ve heard its functions are faultless.
All you need to do is download MakeMKV for your operating system:
Windows XP, Vista or 7 (32bit or 64bit) – MakeMKV 1.5.2
X86 Mac OS X 10.4 or later – MakeMKV 1.5.2
Once you have done installing, pop in the DVD hit the ‘Make MKV’ button, and go put the kettle on!
Now, to play back your MKV file, you are going to need and advanced player.. Something like VLC from VideoLan will do the job nicely.
