Max Riffner

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Awww Freak Out!

Man, nothing like a bit of computer weirdness to get your butt in gear for a backup drive. Ever since I read that my method of backing up data to internal hard drives with PsyncX was harmful, I’ve been itching to try out SuperDuper and an external hard drive (especially after the glowing review the previous article gave it).

I had sat down for work tonight, and my computer shut down as soon as I logged in. I tried turning it back on only to have the Apple LCD power button flash at me three times in a row. Finally, I shut down, restarted but held the power button in this time until I got the familiar firmware “bong” and was prompted to load up mac-boot. Ever since that, I’ve been able to start up and shut down fine.

But then I had the fear…

I rushed out to CompUSA, purchased a LaCie Porsche Drive, bought SuperDuper, and I am currently doing a full backup. The peace of mind on these purchases is extraordinary. Normally, I do a little freak out everytime I leave town, fearful that a tornado or some other Act of God will wipe out my data (and the house, but I can replace the house – my data sadly cannot be replaced). Now I can take this drive to a safety deposit box or some other safe location and feel secure.

It’s a bit anal, but when you think about how my entire first graphic novel is completely digital (you know, the one with the publishing deal), it becomes no laughing matter.

Update: Damn it all. Damn backup didn’t finish because the system crashed. Again. Something is seriously wrong with my machine. I’m thinking it may be time to just back up my Documents and Music and do a clean install. I want to install a new primary hard drive anyway since I’m at capacity with my current one.

Update 2: Dave Nanian, the creator of SuperDuper, wrote in to see if I needed any help, and that is where I realized that my previous update made it sound as if SuperDuper was the cause of the crash. I believe my system was already hosed and that SuperDuper had nothing to do with the crash. In fact, over lunch, I was able to continue my backup where I left off last night with the Smart Update feature of SuperDuper and it worked great.

That is some good goddamn customer service though if you needed convincing before whether or not to get SuperDuper. Dave is like a software superhero, patrolling the web and listening for cries of help. Awesome.

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