Dungeons and Dragons Exploring a New Edition

[Pragmatic]

I dread the day that my computers die, and my backups don't work. I have bought hundreds of the Basic/AD&D/AD&D2 books on PDF when they were available. If I lose the stored files (and they do seem to corrupt after awhile..., and I've been through three computer deaths since I bought them), I'm S.O.L. :-(

[ak_aramis]

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

I dread the day that my computers die, and my backups don't work. I have bought hundreds of the Basic/AD&D/AD&D2 books on PDF when they were available. If I lose the stored files (and they do seem to corrupt after awhile..., and I've been through three computer deaths since I bought them), I'm S.O.L. :-(

Back them up to CD. Back them up on a memory stick, too.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by ak_aramis

Back them up to CD. Back them up on a memory stick, too.

Carve them into pottery and store them in the Arabian desert for future gamers.

Seriously though, I did lose stuff, when my computer died, and both of my backups corrupted just the data I wanted.

[Mylon]

I'm particularly fond of Crashplan for my backup solution. Get a friend to get the program, exchange your ID numbers, and then back up data to one another. I find this much more agreeable than shuffling tons of DVDs around. Or risking say, a fire that can consume the computer and the backup HD as well. Plus it's automated so the backup is updated every day.

[Pragmatic]

I actually have two mil-spec shock-proof external hard drives, to which I back up my data on both my laptop and my desktop. (I got the "shock-proof" after a six inch drop, stopped by reaching the end of the data cable, resulted in my PREVIOUS backup drive dying... and I replaced it with the shock-proof backup drive, and backed up my data, about two days before the hard drive on my PREVIOUS laptop died; talk about good timing, I almost lost everything there!)

[robertsconley]

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

I dread the day that my computers die, and my backups don't work. I have bought hundreds of the Basic/AD&D/AD&D2 books on PDF when they were available. If I lose the stored files (and they do seem to corrupt after awhile..., and I've been through three computer deaths since I bought them), I'm S.O.L. :-(

Buy a $20 USB Stick, copy the pdfs, and put it way. Burn CD/DVD for good measure, but that is more inconvenient.

Which reminds me I need to look at doing my yearly major backup.

[Kuroshima]

Originally Posted by robertsconley

Buy a $20 USB Stick, copy the pdfs, and put it way. Burn CD/DVD for good measure, but that is more inconvenient.

Which reminds me I need to look at doing my yearly major backup.

Sign in into any free cloud storage provider, and upload your books there. Hell, sign in into multiple ones, and keep a copy of them in all of them.

Options:

• Dropbox
• Box.com
• Asus Webstorage
• Skydrive
• UbuntuOne
• Google Docs
• Wuala
• Minus

I'm pretty sure there are others out there. I'm not providing links, because a simple google search will find them anyway, and I don't want to provide link juice or more advertisement or endorsement than simply mentioning them.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Carve them into pottery and store them in the Arabian desert for future gamers.

I use the related method -- print out PDFs periodically, so that I have the hard copy. Nothing against memory sticks, discs, or the rest, but the archival medium for computers does seem to change every so often. There's stuff I have on 3.5 inch floppies that is just a little hard to retrieve these days ...

[robertsconley]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

I use the related method -- print out PDFs periodically, so that I have the hard copy. Nothing against memory sticks, discs, or the rest, but the archival medium for computers does seem to change every so often. There's stuff I have on 3.5 inch floppies that is just a little hard to retrieve these days ...

Problem solved USB 1.44 Floppy Drives.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...+drive&x=0&y=0

Interesting they have a usb controller for 5.25" floppy drive although you will need a working drive mechanism

http://www.deviceside.com/fc5025.html

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by robertsconley

Problem solved USB 1.44 Floppy Drives.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...+drive&x=0&y=0

Interesting they have a usb controller for 5.25" floppy drive although you will need a working drive mechanism

http://www.deviceside.com/fc5025.html

Thank you! This may be a gamesaver for some of my old stuff.