A New Year brings a process I like to call, “Hard Drive Hell Week”.
It takes me about one week to back everything up on all of my hard drives and transfer ‘old’ items into storage and free up space for my hard drives that get regular use.
Ok, maybe my digital storage process is little over the top. ….I’ve got 10 hard drives.
I have a main hard drive that holds everything. EVERYTHING. Then I have a back up for that.
Next, I’ve got hard drives for all my personal photos and home videos. And a back up for that.
Of course, I’ve got hard drives for my client’s current photo projects, a back up for that, and a hard drive for clients from previous years.
Now, keep in mind that I have a business to run so I am extra careful with my clients photos…. but I also care just as much about my personal memories ….Shouldn’t you care very much about your own?
I once heard “If your photos do not exist in 2 places, they don’t exist at all.”
This scared me so much that decided that is was imperative to put a system into place STAT. I shudder to think that your precious digital photos only exist on your single computer and no where else. I thought I’d share with you a few concepts and ideas that I’ve come up with.
You don’t have to buy 10 hard drives to secure and back up your memories. But I would suggest to have one hard drive as a back up if possible.
Other ways to secure your photos: You can store them online or burn them onto a disc or print them. ANYTHING that gives you a duplicate copy of your photos will be better than nothing.
Another tip: do not format or erase your photos off of your memory card UNTIL you’ve secured your backup. I do this with my personal and professional photos. Those lovely faces stay on that memory card until I have all files transferred onto the computer, then onto a hard drive and then also burned onto a CD.
And label everything! With 10 hard drives, I even label the cords that connect to each one.
And finally, if you can, keep your back up in a different place. You can put it in a separate part of your home (I keep my ‘extra hard drives’ in a fireproof safe) or even keep it somewhere totally different (like a relatives’ house or a storage unit). I know that can sound extreme but you would find yourself very grateful to know your memories are not lost in case of a disaster.
You can tell how important photos are to me. I’m sure most of you feel the same way. Yes, there’s a balance between being secure and being paranoid. I’m sure I can often walk that line. But my thoughts are “Better safe, than sorry.” 🙂
Any other great storage ideas? Share them, please!
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There is nothing wrong with having so many back-ups! I love how you label everything…I just fill them up and put them in my safe!
I have all of my pictures (and I take alot!) on my computer, on discs, on duplicate discs and in photo albums. I keep my duplicate discs in my fire safe box. I have photo albums because they're more fun to look at than a computer screen. I have my duplicate discs for "in case of disaster" purposes and because I have two kids…they can each have a set of their childhood pics when they're older I, too, label all of my cords. We have a couple different cameras with usb cords and charging cords and a video camera with all kinds of cords…each and every one is labeled. I am happy to know that I am not the only person with this form of OCD! : )
Great post Donna. I back everything up on a external hard drive, they stay on my computer for one full year (clients only) and I burn everything to DVD's. I love the idea of keeping at least one back up at a relative's home. I never thought of that. I am going to call my mom and have her clear a space for 500 CD's 😉
I really enjoyed this post…. not because I'm your husband, but because it as nice to see you share with your readers the things you have leanred about storage over the last couple of years. Some of those things were learned the hard way, but I think you have a good system (albeit, lots of transfers- the computer sure gets used in our house).
Thanks for this Donna! I can't wait for Adam to read this so he knows…I'M NOT CRAZY! hahaha. But seriously I really appreciate helpful posts such as this one!