Keith Shirley

Just as a short reminder to everyone – please remember to use the Windows XP/Vista options to disconnect a USB hard disk or key before unplugging it. While it’s good for my Online Backup business when people get corrupted data – I’d rather it just didn’t happen. I’ve been reminded of this again with a client who had accounts data corrupted by transporting it between sites via a USB key. Luckily the procedures in place meant that the corrupted data was not imported and the backups were safely online.

Basically  -if you are using USB sticks or portable hard disks to store data then please ensure you have proper independent backups. They are not suitable for a backup solution unless you are very careful and have mechanisms in place to help prevent corruption. (CRC check-sums etc). As well as unplugging them without properly disconnecting them in the operating system – the other problem I see is how roughly people treat portable hard disks. Just because they are portable – does not be they are not sensitive.

<Rant Over>