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backup etc

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brewer

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so, I have lightroom set up to backup on exit. This will back up to my EHD. Since I am a complete non computer type I get kind of lost from this point. On my EHD there is a folder called backups and when I look at that folder there is a long list of all the backups - date & time. First - can I delete the olderbackups? Secondly - the photos that get imported from my camera card to lightroom - as I understand the actual photos are not in lightroom. Where are they? How can I also copy them( the raw files) to a second EHD to ensure a backup of those in case EHD #1 were to fail? Can I simply copy a folder that contains the photos that have been imported? What folder? Thanks
 
There is no housekeeping in LR for backups. You can delete nay that you do not need. The question becomes, "Which backup will have the correct data for my last stupid user mistake?" I have gone back as far as 6 months to get a catalog to correct a mistake that I made and did not discover right away.

Your master photos are stored on your disk drive in the folder(s) that you chose on import. You can right click on any folder in the folder panel and choose "Show in Explorer/Finder" from the contest menu. This will open up a system window showing the folders on your disk drive that contain your cataloged images. This folder hierarchy should be a part of your regular system backup that should include all of your critical user data not just photos, but settings and other important document files. I would recommend a dedicated backup app like CrashPlan that will run continuously in the background to backup all of your critical user data and versions off those files so that you can recover when you make mistakes or when (not if) disaster strikes.
 
I right click on the folder and it shows that the photo is on drive F which is my EHD. If the EHD fails - so goes my photos correct? My computer has nothing on it but LR and PSE. So, again I ask, can I copy the folder on my EHD to another EHD that contains the RAW files that have been imported to LR? I am not a big fan of "the cloud" world.
 
I right click on the folder and it shows that the photo is on drive F which is my EHD. If the EHD fails - so goes my photos correct? My computer has nothing on it but LR and PSE. So, again I ask, can I copy the folder on my EHD to another EHD that contains the RAW files that have been imported to LR? I am not a big fan of "the cloud" world.
Copying files (when you remember) is not really a backup. There is no version control. So if you write over a good file with bad data, you can't recover the good file. Yes, you can do that, but remember, it is a copy not a backup and is only as good as the last time you remember to do it.
Offsite back up is the only way to protect your data. If your home is destroyed by fire, flood or tornado, you lose both the original dusk and the back up disk.

Apps like CrashPlan do offer protection as a free local backup or for an annual fee unlimited backup to some remote computer OR both.
So, my recommendation is to Download CrashPlan and start backing up your important data to a local EHD and don't mess around with file copies and trying to manually make sure everything is duplicated when you need it (which you will eventually).
If you don't like CrashPlan's free app, then shop around for one that will give you bulletproof protection for both Hardware failures and stupid user mistakes. Here's a Link: 34 Free Backup Software Tools: Ranked and Reviewed
 
Yes it is important to remember that backing up your photos is a separate matter from backing up your LR catalogues. For my photos and catalogues I have a number of back-ups on external hard drives. I do not use any off site back-up. My external drives are stored in a different room in the house.

For LR catalogues I set to back-up upon exit but if I have not done anything significant I will press the skip button. I usually keep the most recent 5 or so back-ups and also a back-up from a a few months ago. LR writes these LR catalogue back-ups to a separate internal hard drive on my desktop and I will copy these to external drives on roughly a weekly basis.
 
There is no housekeeping in LR for backups. You can delete nay that you do not need. The question becomes, "Which backup will have the correct data for my last stupid user mistake?" I have gone back as far as 6 months to get a catalog to correct a mistake that I made and did not discover right away.
Well, the backups can become quite large... I still wish Lightroom would offer options to restrict either the number of backups or delete them after a user-defined period.
 
Well, the backups can become quite large... I still wish Lightroom would offer options to restrict either the number of backups or delete them after a user-defined period.

Yeah, that is a common complaint. I use a small utility on MacOS X called 'Hazel'. It can watch a folder, and perform actions based on what happens in that folder. I can tell it to delete the oldest backup whenever the number of backups exeeds 10 (or any other number, if course). Perhaps you can find a similar utility for Windows...
 
Call me paranoid, but I have several backups; external (2), CD, and the "Cloud". If backing up to external drives, storing in the other room only, and God forbid your house burns down, well, your photos are gone. If you're not using the Cloud, burn to CD and/or a second external drive and store those at a friends house (or in a fireproof safe).

Amazon has an inexpensive service called; Amazon Drive Cloud. Unlimited storage for $60 per month. A lot less than some big drives. I currently have 2TB of data uploaded. Also, you can have another service, Odrive, automate the backup to Amazon for you (instantly). One more thing, if you're an Amazon Prime member, it's included with your membership for free (read that somewhere).
 
Amazon has an inexpensive service called; Amazon Drive Cloud. Unlimited storage for $60 per month.

I believe this was a typo - it is actually 60 USD (or 70 EUR) per year. I am also using Amazon Cloud Drive as part of my tiered backup strategy:
  1. My desktop PC syncs to my main NAS device (with versioning)
  2. The main NAS syncs to Amazon Drive Cloud
  3. In addition, the main NAS syncs weekly to a smaller backup NAS, which is otherwise inaccessible from the network (to protect against those nasty Crypto-Lockers).
You are right, compared to other cloud backup services, Amazon Cloud Drive is relatively inexpensive - but it would not be the first time that Amazon offers a great product for a low price only to increase it later.
 
Once upon a time, I used Backblaze. It never really worked for me. However, I'm looking into it in case Amazon raises their prices (which @Robert Reiser pointed out they might do). Backblaze is only $5 per month for unlimited storage.
 
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