First off, let me say that I love Carbonite and have it installed on both of our computers. It’s a great way to really have a “set it and forget it” offsite backup. I’m a big believer in having redundant backup processes, so Carbonite as my “stored elsewhere” backup is a great comfort to me.
However, recently I was the victim of a very complex virus attack. Despite having every precaution in place, I caught an insidious virus that basically copied all of my important files (including a .doc file of passwords, my Roboform data folder, all of my photos, etc) and placed them in a separate user account where they were accessed remotely.
Excuse my language, but this past month has been hell on Earth for me computing-wise. Nearly 400 passwords needed to be changed (imagine doing THAT for a two weeks straight) and I still don’t know the extent to what was stolen.
Whew! Anyway, back to Carbonite. I wasn’t too concerned at first when my computer was basically haunted by this virus, would freeze up and shut down on it’s own. My theory was, “Hey, I have Carbonite so all of my files are safe!”
Well, ALMOST all of them were.
Remember how I called Carbonite a “set it and forget it” process? Not exactly….as much as I love Carbonite and religiously make sure it’s updated and working for me, I was not aware of a very important piece of fine print regarding file types that Carbonite will and more importantly, WON’T backup by default unless you specifically tell it to.
See, I was under the impression, as I think many people are, that if you select a folder for backup, then all of the sub-folders and files are automatically selected as well.
That actually is the case, UNLESS you have files of different file types (extensions) which Carbonite does NOT automatically backup. Among these, to my great surprise, VIDEO FILES!
How many of you have video files mixed into your Pictures sub-directory in your Documents and Settings folder? Probably many of you. I would imagine that most people who have a digital camera with a video mode have probably dozens or even hundreds of these files on their computers.
The kicker is….Carbonite doesn’t automatically back them up, even if they are in a “backed up” folder. It just skips over them. So you may THINK your video files are backed up along with your regular photos, but they aren’t…unless you tell Carbonite specifically to do so.
Luckily, I caught this before there was a major disaster. But how many people still don’t have their file types setup to include video files? Probably most. So here’s how to tell Carbonite to back up video files:
1. Go into a folder on your computer where video files are located.
2. Right-click on a video file and select, “Properties” and then select the “Carbonite” tab. Then select, “Back up files of this type within folders selected for backup”.
3. Then, make sure your upper-most level folders that have video files are selected for backup. By default, Documents and Settings in Windows is backed up, but if you are storing files elsewhere on your main drive, be sure to select a top-level folder to make sure everything below it is being backed up.
4. Check your folders and make sure there is an orange dot next to your video files. If you’re really in a panic over this, right-click on the video files individually and selected “back up this file as soon as possible” to push it up in queue.
Think you have Carbonite figured out now? Guess what? There’s more….I have two more SUPER IMPORTANT things you probably don’t know about Carbonite that I need to tell you in my next post so be sure to stay tuned for it. They both highlight two MORE exclusions that most Carbonite users don’t know about that could make or break your backup.
Come back in the next day or so for more….and pass this on because so many people use Carbonite and love it, but I think you can only truly trust your backup system when you know it inside and out.
P.S. For a “heads up” on my next Carbonite warning post, why not follow me on Twitter?
http://www.twitter.com/jenknox
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Jen, Your post really freaked me out!!! My husband’s laptop just got it’s 3rd hijacking virus in 18 months. (there goes $185 to the computer guy to fix it!). I am definitely going to check out carbonite. Thanks
Thanks for the tip, I was aware of the limitation of Carbonite, but you saved me a LOT of time with a client’s file structure that had videos scattered all over! Much easier this way, thanks for the tip!
THANK YOU!!!! I’ve used Carbonite for several years and did not know this until my computer crashed. Low and behold no video files to restore to my new computer! I was bummed….. so I spent days trying to get my old hard drive running. Was successful so I was able to save all those years of videos, but I still didn’t know how to manage Carbonite to back up these type of files. Their website is so lame with the instructions…. so THANK YOU!! You saved me hours of selecting each file for backup!
So glad that this was useful to you! I know I sure was surprised when I learned that some files were ignored unless you specifically request they be backed up!
Thanks for stopping by!
I just learned the hard way today that video files, programs (EXE), and other types weren’t “automatically” backed up when – after a restore that took more than 7 days for 24 GB of data – I found that all the videos I made during the past 1 year of our 11 month daughter are now gone.
In my opinion, this is a serious failure from the part of Carbonite on several levels – design, disclosure, user interface, and perhaps business model. Consider this:
1) The video exclusion is so much concealed in minor text, that it’s unnoticeable. Given that the main purpose of any data backup service is to preserve data, any deviations (i.e. not preserving, which will result in data loss) should be super vocal, should specify exactly what will be lost, and how to prevent it (and I mean a reasonable way, not “right-click 1000 files and select backup”).
2) Carbonite phrase it that videos won’t be “automatically” backed up, suggesting that manually right-clicking each excluded file and selecting “back up” is a viable alternative. This is a ludicrous idea for anyone who has more than a dozen files to back up. The convenience of backing up is being able to right click the one or two folders where I keep my important stuff and say “back this all up”.
3) Carbonite shouldn’t be in the business of deciding what to back up or not (i.e. they shouldn’t decide what may be important for me and what isn’t) – I am paying them to back up what _I_ myself decide is important.
4) If their reasons for not backing up videos is that it will break their business model of “all you can back up for $59.99”, then they should rethink their model. I am sure most of us are willing to pay by the GB if needed just to be sure that what _we_ chose to back up is safely backed up.
5) When it comes to data backup services, there is only one cardinal sin – losing data. Everything else (including slow restore) can somehow be worked around. But once data is gone, it’s gone. Based on reading the comments above and on numerous other sites that almost all users have missed the small print about the video (and other file types) not being backed up, and as a result, Carbonite have set themselves up by their design to fail their customers at the worst time – when the customers need to restore the data.
The only hope in my case is that the disk that failed may be repairable. It spins fine and doesn’t make funny noises – it’s just that BIOS doesn’t recognize it. So perhaps some wiring inside it went bad. If so, a “clean room” procedure (opening it up and moving the plates to another enclosure, then sealing it) could fix it, and I’ll have my data back. “Clean room” procedures start at $600 and can go to a few thousand, which is a far cry from $59, but in a few years time I’ll miss my daughter’s videos much more than the money I will need to spend right now, so I’ll try that route.