Why Networking Matters
I am in the process of waiting, for the fourth day, for my files to download from Carbonite. I’m not a happy camper since the process, supposedly the “easiest on the internet” is a complex and confusing process for we tech dummies. This has been the week from hell…no, the month from hell. I’ve encountered provider after provider who had no idea what REAL customer service means.
So I emailed Jodi Kaplan, someone I know from a social media group I belong to. I got the awesome-est answer from her. Jodi owns Kaplan Copy in NYC. Forget all you’ve heard about brusk New Yorkers. Jodi’s friendly as any any southerner I’ve ever known! She has been consistently helpful, knowledgeable and brilliant for years, not just to me, but to hundreds of folks. She speaks geek, but understands dummies too. I asked her what model or brand of external hard drive to buy and pissed and moaned about backing up files. She listened and she said:
An Iomega Prestige 1TB. I think there’s a newer model now.
Look for a longer warranty (over a year), and beware of junk software a lot of manufacturers add. You don’t need their backup, or their Windows anti-virus, and that stuff takes up space.
Some just plug into a USB port, but this can suck too much power from your other devices (mouse, keyboard, camera). I got one that draws most power from the wall (and then just plugs into the computer)
Get one that’s at least twice as much memory as your computer hard drive.
Firewire is faster (and saves a USB port), but costs more.
Some of the drives have USB 3.0 now, but it won’t help much unless you have a USB 3.0 port.
You can get it pre-formatted for Mac (costs more) or get a standard windows one and reformat it (less money).
To use time machine, connect the drive. Time Machine will pop up and ask if you’d like to use it as a backup. Say yes. If it’s a Mac format, just set your preferences (backup frequency) and you’re finished.
If it’s a windows formatted drive, Time Machine will prompt you to reformat the disk (pick Mac OS Extended Journaled format). Once that’s done, set the drive as your backup and you’re good to go. The first one may take a while, but after that, it will just “remember” whatever changes. It’s also good if you erase something by mistake or want to go back to an older version of a document.
(If Time Machine doesn’t pop up, go to Apple Menu >System Preferences >Time Machine and slide the switch to ON. Then keep going as above.)
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Wow! Is that not great stuff to know? I didn’t even know I didn’t know all that! All she HAD to really do was tell me what model/brand. But she went ABOVE and BEYOND! Like she always does. She volunteered it because it would be helpful to know. She does this with ALL her clients, friends and social network folks. The stuff you pay for from her is even better! If you get a chance, go to her website, http://kaplancopy.com, and sign up for her newsletter - also filled with great stuff. She doesn’t know I’m promoting her, and there are no affiliate links in this post. Jodi just rocks. Plain and simple. She’s excellent at what she does. And today, when everything is going wrong, Jodi is the only thing going right.
