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General discussion (archive)Backing up for Christmas(15 posts)(15 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted December 26, 2012
Finally I have some merry little time left to fill my new external disk and start a backup. I have postponed it for many a time but now I finally want to see it through before the next year.

I will obviously start with all the gog games here, although I believe they are perfectly save where they are now. By the time that finishes, I will figure out how to back up my system files among other things.

Any useful tipps?
How are you doing back ups?
Posted December 26, 2012
Optical media is still the most stable option for most home users. Home pictures can probably go into the cloud somewhere as well. You really need off-site, a cheap safe deposit box for 40 dollars per year should fit quite a pile of burned DVDs and USB keys (as well as a passport, handgun, and bills in various currencies if you ever find yourself in a spy movie situation).
Posted December 26, 2012
I pay a polish company to back up all my GOGs on the internet. Their servers are fast and always available. Also, there is a community project backing up all the GOGs via a torrent network (those are without extras however).

Really no need to clock up my HDs with that.
Posted December 26, 2012
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Khadgar42: Finally I have some merry little time left to fill my new external disk and start a backup. I have postponed it for many a time but now I finally want to see it through before the next year.

I will obviously start with all the gog games here, although I believe they are perfectly save where they are now. By the time that finishes, I will figure out how to back up my system files among other things.

Any useful tipps?
How are you doing back ups?
Ive been backing up all my games on all the digital sites for a few months now. Anything 4Gb or under, i put on DVD-Rs. Between 4Gb and 8Gb, i usually backup on my external HD. Anything over 8Gb, i dont bother backing up and just finish it twice and then delete from my HD. Most of my games are on Steam, so they should be around for a long time and if they go under, then all the large games ive already finished twice, so not much of a loss.
Posted December 26, 2012
I got sick of burning DVDs long ago and went with the external hard drive solution. I was scared when the hard drive shortage happened and prices skyrocketed that I'd have to go back to burning discs if a backup drive died on me.

I generally sort stuff in the correct folders on my data drive then use Fastcopy to copy them all to an external drive. Not the easiest solution, but it works well enough for me.
Posted December 27, 2012
My GOG games are all safely stored on my external Harddisk. Maybe I start burning some DVDs sometime.



Now I can finally insult all forum members here and get banned... MUhaarharharharharharharharharhararrrr

*ähem* Sorry...

Back to buisness.
Now I finally can sort out and backup my porn collection...
Posted December 27, 2012
I am a computer moron and because of this post I am now a paranoid computer moron. I totally understand backing up things that you could otherwise never get back, like my porn, but is GOG going somewhere? I'm actually kind of comforted knowing that if god forbid lightning were to hit my hard drive my GOG stuff is one of the few things I DON'T need to worry about because I can just log on and redownload them. Is this NOT the case?
Posted December 27, 2012
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tinyE: I am a computer moron and because of this post I am now a paranoid computer moron. [...]
Digital Paranoia is good paranoia...
You certainly followed the "I hate google thread"
While we all might agree that google, ebay and amazon will become our new overlord-triumvirate soon you certainly have nothing to fear from gog.
Well execept that they might be bought off or shut down, or suffer bancrupcy or fail spectacularly due to some other human error.
Or maybe, just maybe your internet provider doesn't like your porn collection so it shuts down your internet leaving your precious little account here unaccessable for a various amount of reasons.
So since gog actively encourage you to make backups (they are DRM free) I glady comply and download each game and save it on my new backup HDD.
Posted December 27, 2012
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tinyE: I am a computer moron and because of this post I am now a paranoid computer moron. I totally understand backing up things that you could otherwise never get back, like my porn, but is GOG going somewhere? I'm actually kind of comforted knowing that if god forbid lightning were to hit my hard drive my GOG stuff is one of the few things I DON'T need to worry about because I can just log on and redownload them. Is this NOT the case?
GOG is secure and you'll be able to redownload form them.
That being said those of us who've had to work with computers for awhile tend to get into the habit of backing things up if we want to keep them regardless of their external situation (as an example, I don't trust anything on a "cloud" to be there when I need it. Odds are it will be, but I still don't trust it.)

The most direct functional benefit of backing up a GOG installer is simply that it's faster/easier to reinstall from a backup than to download the installer again and then reinstall. Pop an archive disk (or link and external HDD) into your computer and you're running in moments, rather than minutes.

Hope that addresses your question :)

Cheers,
Legion
Posted December 27, 2012
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tinyE: I am a computer moron and because of this post I am now a paranoid computer moron. I totally understand backing up things that you could otherwise never get back, like my porn, but is GOG going somewhere? I'm actually kind of comforted knowing that if god forbid lightning were to hit my hard drive my GOG stuff is one of the few things I DON'T need to worry about because I can just log on and redownload them. Is this NOT the case?
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RoseLegion: GOG is secure and you'll be able to redownload form them.
That being said those of us who've had to work with computers for awhile tend to get into the habit of backing things up if we want to keep them regardless of their external situation (as an example, I don't trust anything on a "cloud" to be there when I need it. Odds are it will be, but I still don't trust it.)

The most direct functional benefit of backing up a GOG installer is simply that it's faster/easier to reinstall from a backup than to download the installer again and then reinstall. Pop an archive disk (or link and external HDD) into your computer and you're running in moments, rather than minutes.

Hope that addresses your question :)

Cheers,
Legion
Thanks but another stupid question. I decided to try putting one of my installers on a disc and it said the disc wasn't big enough. Do I need to zip them?
Posted December 27, 2012
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RoseLegion: GOG is secure and you'll be able to redownload form them.
That being said those of us who've had to work with computers for awhile tend to get into the habit of backing things up if we want to keep them regardless of their external situation (as an example, I don't trust anything on a "cloud" to be there when I need it. Odds are it will be, but I still don't trust it.)

The most direct functional benefit of backing up a GOG installer is simply that it's faster/easier to reinstall from a backup than to download the installer again and then reinstall. Pop an archive disk (or link and external HDD) into your computer and you're running in moments, rather than minutes.

Hope that addresses your question :)

Cheers,
Legion
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tinyE: Thanks but another stupid question. I decided to try putting one of my installers on a disc and it said the disc wasn't big enough. Do I need to zip them?
Depends on the size of the installer and the size of the disk.
Zipping will make it smaller but not knowing the space or size you're working with I couldn't say if it'll be small enough. A DVD is often all you'll need to archive several installers, if your rig doesn't possess a DVD burner then an external hard drive (or for smaller installers a "thumb drive") will do the trick nicely as well.

Your GOG collection page will list the size of the installer and your disk should have its space printed on it so just compare them and make sure the disk space is greater than the installer size.

Cheers,
Legion
Posted December 27, 2012
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tinyE: [...]
Thanks but another stupid question. I decided to try putting one of my installers on a disc and it said the disc wasn't big enough. Do I need to zip them?
You might try, though chances are that the installer is already compressed so you won't squeeze out enough space that it will fit on the disc either.
Posted December 27, 2012
You guys are the best thanks.
Posted December 27, 2012
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tinyE: You guys are the best thanks.
Don't know if this still holds true or not, but I understood back in the day that you should burn at a slightly lower speed to avoid errors and have the burning program do a disc check to verify it before you pack the disc away.

Also if your virtual bookshelf isn't good enough, there is a DVD case label thread around here somewhere to make your own real bookshelf collection.

Here you go.
Post edited December 27, 2012 by Fictionvision
Posted December 27, 2012
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Fictionvision: [...]
Also if your virtual bookshelf isn't good enough, there is a DVD case label thread around here somewhere to make your own real bookshelf collection.

Here you go.
VEERY NICE

maybe I burn through those old dvds I stop using some years ago, just for fun...
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General discussion (archive)Backing up for Christmas(15 posts)(15 posts)
(15 posts)