Cloud based computer backup

[Bean Counter]

Seems like a silly question to ask in an era of never ending data breaches and foreign hacking operations. But I my Crapple Macintrash computer is dying a slow death and has decided not to play nicely with my external backup drive. I am typing from it right now and obviously connected to the Net, so I'm thinking I should also pay for a year of storage or so. I have about 300GB to backup--mostly photo and video. Security, or as best as it can be, is premium. Willing to pay more for better quality. Thanks.

[Knocker of rocks]

I sure like my Airport.

But again, I've had nothing but good luck with my Mac

[Johnb317]

Go to costco and buy a jump drive.  Think $65 for 1tb?
Faster, no monthly payments.

[Knocker of rocks]

I'm interested in why the hate and the problems with Mac.  You hear very little hate for Apple.

[Fl0und3rz]

It's the kool aid re: why you don't hear about problems.

I am interested in why the problems with attaching a backup drive.  If you have a network you could try backing up to another computer or a network connected backup drive. 

Another option may be the bootable CDs or thumb drives and imaging the drive, but I don't know how locked down Apples are.  I don't apple and I would not pay for a backup service.  If you are on the west side, I have a spare 500 GB network/USB backup drive you could borrow to see it through.

[Bean Counter]

I'm interested in why the hate and the problems with Mac.  You hear very little hate for Apple.

Apple definitely has its cult like following. Not much reason to hate--I'll just never buy a product from them again. I think most people are good to not spend 50% more for a product when a comprable PC can be had. Why hate or argue with foolish economics?

My complaint stems from my experience with a MacBook "pro." And I use that term loosely. In their quest to become more Green, which in and of itself is a problem, they moved to a lot of lead free products. This includes the thermal paste used to connect the discrete graphics card to the logic board(aka"the motherboard"). After 1-3 years of use, the paste tends to brittle, crack, and cause widespread, unpredictable graphics problems for the machine. Some are never able to start up their MBP. I am fortunate that the problem leaves my computer at least somewhat usable. It seems to object to booting upwhen I have a bunch of friends crowded around my rotten Apple and I need to show them something. Nice negative PR for them i guess.

This is NOT an isolated case of a clumsy customer who dropped his p hone in his toilet and is now blaming the insuing electronics failure on the manufacturer. In fact, on Apple's own website, a discussion of the topic has grown to more than 500 pages of discussion.not 500 comments, or 500 views--500 PAGES worth of comments. This is a widespread problem and apple has chosen to tell their customers to go pound sand.When paying a premium price for a supposed premium product, I expect premium longevity as well as premium customer service. I'll acknowlege that its nice that Apple has retail stores and will run many diagnosis' for free, and that's not something you can get at many other manufacturers. However, Had I purchased a PC laptop from Costco, the warranty would have been TWOyears, and it would have been a lot cheaper.

 If a customer had Crapple [doesn't] Care, they would get the problem fixed for free so long as it occured within the three year window that AC covers. But who the heck wants to pay $350 to cover a machine for three years when  you've already spent 50%+ more than what a comprable PC would cost?Further, Crapple [doesn't] Care doesnt' cover liquid damage. Its far cheaper to add the machine to your personal articles insurance policy,which usually DOES cover liquid damage (check with your insurer).

Here is thediscussion:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4766577?start=7545&tstart=0


Not all was lost for me. I am fortunate my problems started popping up less than two years after the purchase. The original manufacturers warranty is 1 year, but since I used my Visa to buy it, Visa doubles the warranty so i was able to get a significant chunk of cash to repair it. I sure as hell am not going to give the money to Apple to fix it, so I'm either going to repair it third party or just save the cash for purchase of a new machine.not a Crapple Macintrash.

[Bean Counter]

It's the kool aid re: why you don't hear about problems.

Boy you can say that again. I first investigated the problem by asking about it on Mac Rumors discussion forums. I was subsequently flammed by the Fan Boy f@gs for not sheepishly crawling to Apple with another $300-500 in hand for them to fix a crappy product with a design flaw. Other tool bags suggested that Radeon (the manufacturer of the discrete graphics card) deserves the blame. By the way, a few customers who have paid Apple for a new logic board have had the same problem return

I am interested in why the problems with attaching a backup drive.  If you have a network you could try backing up to another computer or a network connected backup drive. 

I first just used Time Machine, and I encrypted the drive. As the problem became worse, I decided it would be best to also create a folder on the backup drive with just the files manually copied and pasted from the laptop. As I continued to get more disgruntled with Crapple Customer Disservice, I decided there is no way in hck that I'm going to ever give money to that Gawd awful company again. So I figured I'd better unencrypt the backup drive.The drive was plugged into the laptop and in the several-hours-long process of unencrypting and at some point it just disconnected. When I tried unplugging it and plugging it back in  the backup drive doesn't seem to want to start up.

Another option may be the bootable CDs or thumb drives and imaging the drive, but I don't know how locked down Apples are.  I don't apple and I would not pay for a backup service.  If you are on the west side, I have a spare 500 GB network/USB backup drive you could borrow to see it through.

I'm about 1,500 miles from Seattle(Peoples' Republic of) so I wont be able to take you up on your very kind offer. Thanks anyway though.

[Alchase]

If you are looking a the best option for backing up an Mac Book Pro/air/iMac get a Time Capsule, you won't find better backup options for a Mac.
If you want to use a Cloud based storage, there are lots of options depending on how you wish to access your data. I use Drop Box for temporary sharing, Microsoft One Drive for One Note and Office integration between phone and home laptop. If you want the safest most secure use Certain Safe for critical data.
You may be better off with a combination of a couple depending on your needs.
Ensure which ever you decide has good encryption. Obvious if you are using it for quick shares like I use Drop Box you don't need to worry about encryption.

Things to look for, good up load and down load speed.
Encryption
Easy file level recovery (some are not very good at letting you do instant file level recovery)
If needed, active backup (backs few up as you work them)
Do they look at you data? (Google and Microsoft both do)

A USB drive is an easy solution as well.

I use a Barracuda/Seagate hot swappable USB/wireless backup with two 2 TB, and one 4TB drives.

I would use a couple different options for redundancy. Does not make much sense to store your backup in the same vicinity as your laptop, lol.

[Bean Counter]

If you are looking a the best option for backing up an Mac Book Pro/air/iMac get a Time Capsule, you won't find better backup options for a Mac..

Time Capsule--is that the same thing as Time Machine? Also, remember that I want to escape the Mac format. I'd rather have a more primitive raw catalogue of all my files. Time Machine seems to be geared towards restoring to another Mac.

[Alchase]

True, they just have a very elevent backup and recovery. I have to found anything that works as well as a Airport Time Capsule (for Mac) to work with PC or laptop.

A combination cloud / USB works well if you organize what you need to access and how often. For example if you want to backup all your .raw files you probably already have a .jpeg so you could archive the .raw on a USB drive and put it somewhere safe.
Then use you Cloud options for stuff you need to work with.
I use one drive with a full mirror of my setup, another for .raw and tax stuff etc... The. Use the third for active backups and drag and drop copies.

[Bean Counter]

Some of you guys sound like you know what you're talking about (unlike me), so I'm wondering if you can help me. I tried plugging the drive in today. the power light comes on and it sounds like things are moving inside the drive, but I still can't see it displayed in the Finder window. neither will Time Machine recognize that its plugged in.... HOWEVER, Disk Utility DOES recognize it, so the computer does seem to know that its plugged in and works. Help! How can I get it to show up in Finder so I can copy files over as well as run Time Machine??

Thanks 

[Alchase]

Is this a USB drive?

Does your cable have a "Y" end with two USB connectors?
If so, try flipping the cable so the "y" end is towards the hard drive and the single towards the PC/Laptop. Then connect the "main connector" into the hard drive (not the shorter end) see if that works.
Sometimes USB cables have bad power connectors, "y" cables are notorious for one supplying more power the other not enough.

If no "y" cable, try a different USB cable

[Bean Counter]

Its a Seagate 3.0TB HD. It connects to the computer via a USB, but has some weird, funky non-USB proprietary-looking thing connecting to the external drive.

I think it may be the SATA, whatever that is. I found this with some searching. Apparently its a common problem.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6121

[Alchase]

SATA and USB cables especially generic brands are both common problems. I would definitely suspect the cable before the hard drive.
Hope you find the problem

[MacAttack]

I have used Fibercloud in the past, they are a part of Whidbey Telecom. I liked them when I had them, just don't need them anymore. Their security standards are great and held up for the Fortune 100 financial services company I worked with.