Following a recent scare and wake-up call, I'm wondering how often do you back up your work and other files? So which phrase in my wee poll below relates to you most?

Hi Cheekybint,

I back up onto a pen drive whenever I stop working, and intermitently whenever I remember when I am working too. I also try to remember to email my work to myself at the end of each working day, to two or three diferent email accounts, but I don't always remember, especially since I've been working in my hall where I don't have any internet connection - I tend to just finish up and swtch the laptop off, after saving to pen drive etc.

I simply attach my work to an email and send it to my other email account (in case I am incredibly unlucky and both my laptop breaks and something happens to one of my email accounts).

I occasionally back-up onto a USB drive, but mainly I use Dropbox. My last USB stick failed completely, so I am rather wary of them now!

https://www.dropbox.com/

I have a big external HD connected to my PC. When I had a leak in my flat it was the first thing I went to save after the cat. More important than the PC as far as I am concerned. I also have a USB stick to back up written work etc. You can't be too careful when it comes to this type of thing.

I have two 1tb external drives which I back up to, but my friend recently had hers completely wiped, paid a fortune for clever people to recover the data, which they couldn't. She has no idea why, the only thing we could think of was that she may have left her phone near it???

Anyway, that's scared me, I tend to back up finished pieces of writing to googledocs, so its always out there - I have the fear that a burglar (probably burglar bill) will come in and physically take my computer and my 1tb drives - so the online option eases my anxiousness.

Although I think i might start using dropbox - this wasn't an option earlier in my PhD because my data is very sensitive cos I work with an organisation, but now I've anonymised it all i think its ok.

Hi Cheekybint! I save on my laptop and USB at the end of each day, and save all the sent mails with the chapters I've been sending to my sups. I also save on my external hard drive when I remember, and I have a copy of everything saved on my mum and dads computer and external hard drive at home. I also have a copy of everything saved on my computer at work. Plus I have scanned copies of all my lab notebooks so I have all the raw data that's not on computer backed up too.

Bit of an overkill now that I think about it, but you never know! :-)

people who use dropbox - do you pay for more storage? or just stick with the 2gb option?

I have HUGE problems with my computer, my windows explorer isn't working, so the only thing that I can do is to email things out to save them, I can't backup onto my external hardrive that is sitting here and daren't use a USB stick as I lose them!! Backup is a big worry as I'm horribly aware that my work since Christmas isn't properly backed up and is floating around in the computer that's threatening to die any minute (its been declared terminal) and in email attachments :-/

I use the free 2gb storage, but I am generally only saving Word files, so that's ample space. Apparently you can get extra 250mb increments of space by doing things like getting a friend to sign up, if you needed it.

It's pretty good, but I don't think there's an automatic 'sync' function, so you need to remember to save your work to the dropbox every time you want to back up.

Can you use dropbox if your windows explorer isn't working?

I use dropbox too - I've only started using it recently and am nearing the limit at 1.5 GB already. I think I'll have to start inviting some friends!

sorry I'm thick, I've just joined dropbox, but I should have got someone some free space and got them to invite me - sowweeee (down) (sprout)

No worries Sneaks! p.s. if you have more than one e-mail address you can invite yourself and get free space too which I may have done :$

Scandalous!