Poll: When was the last time you made a backup of your work files?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Mar 9, 2020

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "When was the last time you made a backup of your work files?".

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Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Germany
Local time: 23:57
English to German
In memoriam
Last month Mar 9, 2020

Backups of work files are often not necessary. For smaller projects that are finished on the same day, no backup is needed (normally, I would be able to find the source and target files in my email system if really needed). However, most of my projects are for agencies where I work online with centralized CATs, so that the agency will be responsible for any backups.

Liena Vijupe
Romeo Baldovino
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:57
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Regularly Mar 9, 2020

I have a Dropbox account (backups automatically every time I save) + a pen drive for the current translation (backups every two or three hours) + an external HD (backups once a month). Before I bought my external HD I used to copy my files to a CD-RW disk. I still have these disks stored in a box somewhere in my basement.

Anne-Sophie Cardinal
 
Robin LEPLUMEY
Robin LEPLUMEY
France
Local time: 23:57
English to French
+ ...
About 10 seconds ago Mar 9, 2020

I have a Google One account (€1,99/month for 100 GB of cloud storage) + the Backup and Sync from Google app, so my files are automatically saved on the cloud. I find it very convenient and it gives me a peace of mind!

 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Every day Mar 9, 2020

Every day I not only back up my work files; I clone my entire hard drive to an external drive. It's part of my everyday routine. Takes about 10 minutes.

"Regular backup is one of the Buddha's Threefold Paths to Wisdom".

[Edited at 2020-03-09 09:45 GMT]


 
Jan Truper
Jan Truper  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 23:57
Member (2016)
English to German
Never Mar 9, 2020

Most of my work takes place either in online systems or via client servers, and often NDAs actually forbid me from keeping project-related materials on my hard drives.

Kaisa I
Wilsonn Perez Reyes
 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 19:57
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Weekly, despite the automatic Mar 9, 2020

Despite the automatic backups by OneDrive, I still have weekly backups done in two clouds and in my second internal drive, and once a month in an external drive. The automatic backup does not cover all the files, such as the Outlook databases and documents/folders outside your "documents" folder, so they are not complete.
And I can't believe there are people who still do not do backups. I have learned my lessons several times. The worst ones were once when my hard drive burned out, and I
... See more
Despite the automatic backups by OneDrive, I still have weekly backups done in two clouds and in my second internal drive, and once a month in an external drive. The automatic backup does not cover all the files, such as the Outlook databases and documents/folders outside your "documents" folder, so they are not complete.
And I can't believe there are people who still do not do backups. I have learned my lessons several times. The worst ones were once when my hard drive burned out, and I lost a lot of stuff, and once when I client didn't pay me for a while, adding up to more than USD 3000. I filed a complaint against it, and the only evidence I had was the backups. If I didn't have these files to prove I had done the jobs, I'd have lost all that money. Thanks to the backups, I received all the money, plus attorney fees, plus fine and monetary restatement.
Not doing backups is only for those lucky people who never had a problem like this, but there is no excuse for not learning with other people's experiences and recommendations.
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Yetta Jensen Bogarde
 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 23:57
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
Yesterday Mar 9, 2020

I do it manually to an external harddisc every Sunday night.

[Edited at 2020-03-09 11:39 GMT]


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
CLone Mar 9, 2020

I've just cloned my HD to one of two external HDs . The other clone is stored off-site, away from my home. I swap them over weekly. Keeping a clone off-site means that if a disaster happens at home (fire, for example) I still have a complete clone of my computer.

Noura Tawil
 
Wout Van den Broeck (X)
Wout Van den Broeck (X)
Belgium
Local time: 23:57
English to Dutch
+ ...
Mostly automatically Mar 9, 2020

I use OneDrive and Gmail to sync my work files and e-mails automatically.

There's one important (and inconvenient) exception: as I had some issues with memoQ files stored on OneDrive, they are now stored on my local drive and backed-up daily to OneDrive.


 
Aline Amorim
Aline Amorim  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 19:57
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Daily Mar 10, 2020

I always do backup my files.

 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:57
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
It's automatic Mar 11, 2020

I have a program that backs up daily. If I'm working on something important, I will also put it on OneDrive.

 


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Poll: When was the last time you made a backup of your work files?






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