I recently experienced two PC computer crashes. A laptop became infected due to a lapse of protective software (this is a long story) and a desk top became corrupted to the point of no return. I told Frank Ariano that I am seriously considering his Mac alternatives to a PC given my present luck with PCs. The reason for this article is to explain how neither of the crashes caused any heart ache. Everything from all my computers was in the cloud waiting for me to download it to a new computer.

Several years ago, I researched back up plans. I came to the conclusion that an automatic back up to the cloud was best for me. I did not want to rely on my having to originate the back up and I did not want to rely on an external piece of equipment that could also fail. Next, I had to decide on what software to use. There are many good programs available, but I chose CrashPlan. First of all, I was impressed with many of the companies using CrashPlan; for example, Intuit, Adobe, Mayo Clinic, Stanford University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, SanDisk, Yelp and the list goes on. Secondly, I called a friend whose business is computers and everything related to them and he recommended CrashPlan. So off I went to purchase the product (CrashPlan.com).

I purchased the Family Plan which covers 10 computers and has UNLIMITED storage. I do not know if this will be the case forever, but I have owned it for several years and it still is unlimited storage. Why the need for 10 computers? I have one lap top and two desk top computers presently. But I have three other dead computers that still have all their data, pictures etc. in the cloud for me to access at any time.

Now the best part. If you purchase a new computer, you can move everything from an old computer to the new computer by “adopting” the new computer with the push of a button. Your new computer now has everything in it that was in the old computer. If you only want some files, or some pictures, all you do is go into CrashPlan and find the computer that has what you want, then mark those individual files or pictures and move them into your new computer. This is really helpful for me even when I do not experience a crash. I work on a desk top in Rockford and a desk top in Florida. I could transfer files with a thumb drive between the computers, but that takes planning and hoping that you get all the files you want. With CrashPlan while in Florida, I open my desk top in Rockford on CrashPlan and mark the documents, files or pictures I want and copy them into my desk top or lap top in Florida. Nothing could be easier or more convenient.

If you are not presently backing up your computers to an external hard drive or to the cloud, I guarantee you will be after you experience a crash and lose all your data. Once on CrashPlan, they run certain promotions. I took advantage of the last promotion and got two years for the price of one.

CrashPlan works for Macs as well as PCs. My desk top in Rockford runs on Windows 7 and my desk top in Florida, as well as my lap top, run on Windows 10. There is no problem taking the files from my Windows 7 and copying them into my computers with Windows 10. I have no idea if I could copy files from a Mac into a PC. Perhaps I will be learning this in the near future and will let you know.

If you are not backing up your computers, do so now. There are business plans for CrashPlan as well as the personal plans. You will never have to worry about losing data again. It’s a small price to pay for a good night’s sleep. 

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This article was originally published in the February 2016 issue of the ISBA's Senior Lawyers newsletter.