[Paisleychick-lj] Protection against (what seems like to me the inevitable) theft

[Beatrice M's blog]

[![][1]][2]   
[Hacker kitten in training][3]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

I've been putting the pieces of my life (aka computer) back together since Monday night when my laptop was stolen. It sucks big time and I'm feeling better, but god d*mn it sucks. Fortunately, my brother has given me a long-term loaner and it runs Aperture, so I'm happy about that. I have reconstructed things from a two-month old backup - so there are missing files and such, but it's not the end of the world. Most of my photos are up on flickr - I no longer have the raw files, but I do have the images as jpgs. I want to serve as a lesson and give people some tips.  
  
1 - back up your stuff. Get an external hard drive and back your files up. Then, get another external hard drive, or cds or dvds or whatever and back up super duper important things. This is the scary bit - my backup drive was able to survive the copying over of my data, but was dying as I did that this week. For my mac, I use a program called ["SuperDuper"][5] and it's wonderful. For PC users, do internet searches to find a program that does something similar ([Casper][6] looks good). The best thing about superduper is that it makes a BOOTABLE backup drive. meaning, you can plug it in and use it. I used to use Retrospect, but the thing about that is that the backup is in this funky format, you have to reinstall the system on a new hard-drive, then install retrospect software on the hard-drive and *then* you can see your backups. So stay away from proprietary backup systems and use ones that make bootable drives. Once you have a backup system in place backup as often as you think is important. My father backs up every day. I should have followed his protocol, but didn't do it.   
  
2 - Sign up for [logmein.com][7] or some other similar service. If you have a mac and have a .mac account and are using Leopard, you can configure your computer so you can remotely log in - very handy, but I don't have a .mac account.  
  
3 - password protect your computer and even have a password to come back from sleep/screen saver. It's annoying, but it might just be annoying enough that the thieves then cannot get to your data.  
  
4 - if you're really paranoid turn on encryption on your hard-drive. In mac it's called ["FileVault"][8] and on windows it's called ["Encrypting File System"][9].  
  
5 - since we're on the topic of tips against theft - photocopy the contents of your wallet front and back and leave a copy at home and also offsite - with a trusted friend or family member. I've learned to keep some money stashed on me that is not in my wallet or purse so that I'm not stranded if my wallet goes missing. Also, write down the phone numbers in your cell phone. I know i don't know friend's phone numbers because I just call their contact listing in my phone.  


   [1]: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/2363672007_aca5c7e7f1_m.jpg
   [2]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/2363672007/ (photo sharing)
   [3]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/2363672007/
   [4]: http://www.flickr.com/people/blmurch/
   [5]: http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
   [6]: http://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/
   [7]: https://secure.logmein.com/home.asp?lang=en
   [8]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Vault
   [9]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encrypting_File_System

URL: http://paisleychick.livejournal.com/340092.html