online backup for those who format/re-install frequently

[Davegod75]

Are services like Carbonite and mozy compatible with those of use who like to format and reinstall OSes every few months?

It seems to be their software might get confused.


Does anyone have experience with this?

THanks

 

[Zap]

How much data would you be backing up? I would not want to download a backup of all my data. With my 15Mbit cable connection I'd be downloading for weeks. :Q Guess it is okay if I just back up My Documents, as that is only 960MB or so.

 

[skyking]

A second hard drive is by far the fastest way to do it and not very expensive these days. You can take it off site for that extra security.

 

[Blain]

The read/write heads will never scratch the platters of cloud backup.

 

[Davegod75]

guys, thanks for the comments but I'm really looking for someone who knows how carbonite handles OS reinstalls.

 

[Blain]

The whole idea of cloud backup is to protect your data in case something happens to your PC.
Reinstalling an OS would fall into that category.
I'm not sure why you would think Carbonite would have any issues with that.

You'd simply reinstall the Carbonite app and be on your way.

 

[Rubycon]

As long as the folders you're backing up are NOT on the drive that's getting formatted it should be OK.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
As long as the folders you're backing up are NOT on the drive that's getting formatted it should be OK.

Even at that, Carbonite would have a backup that can be restored after the install.

How It Works
"Everything is automatic

When your computer is idle, Carbonite automatically backs up new and changed files.
You don?t have to do anything! When you?re using your computer, Carbonite goes to sleep so it will never slow down your computer or internet connection."



For a free trial offer plus two free months of purchase... "go to carbonite.com, offer code TWiT"

 

[taltamir]

its called PARTITIONING!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_partitioning

For example, my computer is partitioned with a 60GB OS and App drive and the rest of the WD640 as a scratch file.
If I need to reinstall windows, the only things on the 60GB os "drive" (partition) are my appdata files (Settings, favorites, etc)... I relocated everything else to drive D (partition D) so its there in case of a reformat.

 

[RebateMonger]

Carbonite isn't designed to do a full restore of a PC (including the OS). It's made to restore data files.

You have to re-install the OS and then re-install Carbonite and enter the license Key to restore your data files to the "new" computer.

If you want to restore an entire computer (including OS and applications), consider a local image-based backup program.