Although I concentrate more on businesses nowadays I have helped hundreds of consumers in the past with computer related problems or advice.
The amount of time I encountered people thinking they had a backup when in fact they had not is uncountable.
Plenty of times it was too late and I had to tell people that there family photo's and documents were all gone because of a crash.
And it could have been so easily avoided.
Why you lose your data, the simple version:
In your computer, there is a little piece of hardware. It's called the hard drive and it looks like this (or like the thing I'm holding in my hand):
On this little piece of hardware is all the data that is stored on your computer. Everything!
When this thing breaks and it happens pretty often, all the data becomes inaccessible.
There are companies that can restore the data for you (if you're lucky, there is no guarantee) but they are not cheap. Think hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
Much better to prevent all that and make a backup of your important files. (Example: copying to another hard drive or store your data in the cloud).
If you don't know how to make a good backup I would suggest hiring someone you trust to explain it to you.
Trust me, It's worth the money.
(I know this because after a crash an owner of a crashed laptop would have given me $500, right then and there, easy, just to have everything back the way it was. Losing all your data is a very painful experience.)
Rule of thumb: If you don't know where and how your data is stored you don't have a backup.
Backup your owner key on STEEM.
We are on STEEM after all and the owner key or master password is the most important password on here. If you lose it or forget it you won't be able to change your account anymore. And, you won't be able to ask for a new password like on other websites.
Please remember that.
Even if your account holds little Steem right now. It might be worth a lot more someday. Make sure you have the password stored somewhere safe.
I don't know where anyone else stores their master password. Maybe it's in the email you got when you registered. Maybe it's in your password manager. It's not my job to know, it's yours.
Question?
If your hard drive would fail today, would you still be able to find your master password? Give it a small think.
If the answer is no.
Make a backup today.
I know I might sound a bit doom and gloom today. I am not really. It's just something that worries me. Especially for new users. Steemit is a website that runs on the Steem blockchain.
The steem blockchain is decentralized, which means you are responsible for your passwords and no one else.
If you have any questions let me know.
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Thank you @exyle for such reminders. We normally don't care about it
Great article brother about a very important topic. This is one thing many new users don't really think about. Heck, most people period don't give it much thought until it's too late. I had a bad experience with this in my younger years and now back up all files on an external hard drive and keep a hard copy of all passwords.
Having a hard drive go down is one of the those things that you never think can happen until it does.
Great article again man. Resteemed. Have a great night!
Do you recommend any cloud service? I know safety is the key here. What about trezor ? ledger nano s?
Anything else from what you mention?
Thanks anyway.
I don't think i backed up my master password but it is save on google chrome. How do i back it up now?
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/manage-view-saved-passwords-chrome
Hopefully this will help.
If you can find your (master) password here, take a copy (to paper AT LEAST)!
Thank you very much. I appreciate it. You a life saver.
My pleasure man :D
Thanks for helping, Ash!
@exyle thank you too for making this post, if not i would have been lost has to what to do to recover my password.
A welcome reminder for backups in general , super important for this scenario, thanks Exyle.
@exyle once again just like @jerrybanfield a simple reminder to back UP your Computer. It will save you so much grief and headaches in the future............
Ditto @stokjockey and a ton of cash too. What I do is save on PC, cloud email, take a pic on my phone as well as a hard copy printed.. haha. Nice post @exyle Cheer$;)
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Paranoia is starting to set in now after reading your post!
Totally agree with you @exyle, storing data on the hard disk has always been a risky business, because it can not only break down, but the computer can also be hacked by hackers. Since the password for Steemit is long, then remembering it is not realistic, so it's better to use the cloud, you can also throw it on a flash card and a very simple method, write it on a piece of paper and hide it somewhere.
fantastic post my friend and what a wonderful suggestion you gave to us, well to be honest i never think about it but after reading your post i think it's no doubt so important so it's time to backup my passwords and important information, you are right hard disk is a very sensitive even sometime a little shock destroy the hard disk and we loose all our work, so it is good to save important information outside to your pc, what your advice my friend if i write my data on dvd or usb and then hide it in a very safe place, is it works even if i use it after years or not, Stay blessed my friend and thanks for sharing
The way to backup up your data is all up to you and you can get as crazy as you want :). Extra USB drive and sticks, cloud, different physical locations, encrypted, non encrypted ect ect. I like the cloud because it gets my data offsite in case of a fire. I also use physical media. But they can indeed break down.
thanks a lot for your response my friend, yah i agree in order to stay 100% secure cloud storage is the best option, i should also try it soon.
Backups on DVD/CD are tricky. I think of them as pretty unreliable. If you got a bad batch or if it's exposed to sunlight it may deteriorate and data may get impossible to read.
I use combination of disks, flash drives and in some cases even printed out things.
Good discussion. :)
Thank you again for this post though i have kept all my backups but i haven't saved my master password anywhere but on my Laptop until now :D
Thank you reminded, I kept putting it off for later, and if anything happens I'll be very sorry. I have to do it immediately.
Thanks for this reminder. We should endeavor to save our password for steemit Because the whales nevrr though of getting there, what if they lost their passwrd long ago?
Even a second back up is nice to have. like a back up of the backup :D
Because everything hapens and that's why evrything on my computer is backed up 2 times and we lost every photo that was on my dads computer XD
Very good advice! See you soon. Resteemed
I have my backups online with double password encrypted, one of the passwords is extremely long random generated. And in two hard disks with same security plus Windows encryption. Also, no one knows the email or username I am using in that online services.
You have a very important point here, most of us including myself cannot boost of our backups anywhere. Many too, have the so called backup saved within the same system hence its availability during the needed time becomes another issue.
I've had a hard drive die before, so I do have backups of everything important now. I use Google Drive to sync all my documents and photos. Passwords are in Lastpass, so they are encrypted in the cloud. I may look at other options too.
Thanks for this share. Last time I lost my all data because of hard drive failure :( I lost around 200 GB like data that I collected from so many years.
$ Follow Upvote Comment Resteem $
Thanks for sharing, backup is really very important. I backed up my data only on my pc before, but from what I read I would also backup in other hard drives, thanks.
@exyle - Oh Sir, I never trust my hard disk. It failed me few times. Now I'm backuping somewhere else ;) Very useful article for all :)
+W+ [UpVoted & ReSteemed]
I've saved my master password on 2 places. I feel it's safe. What you wrote makes sense and readers should take it very seriously because at the end of the day, whatever you're doing at Steemit is primarily for making some earnings. Your password is the door to enter Steemit account. If the door is closed, you will never get your earnings.
Keep posting the valuable content dear @exyle and stay awesome. I like your posts.
Steem On!
Thank you so much for your valuable post which is most important for the protection of one's personal property. We should know the secret how to settle things orderly and safly. You are so sweet and honest with everything you think not only for you but also other fellow bloggers. Thanks, god bless you both friends.
@exyle,
We should backup backups in another backup :D And also we need to use cloud technology as well! Personally I won't keep all my data in one hard drive! It must be the biggest mistake (If I think it's the best way)! Yeah as an IT guys we know it, but most people don't know it! So, this is a great article!
Cheers~
Security first! Noticed that in the end of the day you still need a Password or certain backup (Applies to some Crypto) instead of buying expensive Hardware Wallet you could get multiple Hardrives or USB
Thanks a lot @exyle, for sharing such a informative and valuable articles, your advices and suggessions about BackUp are worth, we should follow your instructions to avoid any problems. I already stored another place my backup so i have no problem, any how i appreciated you for your effort to point out that important issue,,, Thanks a Lot..
yes, great advice.. we all are thinking that nothing will happened to our hard dish or to the computer and take it lightly. But when it really happens it's too late.. Happens to me several times in work and personal computer.
Thank you @exyle reminding the importance of back up.
Cheers!
I print em out as a hardcopy and store em; as with the rest of the digital assets.
Do you keep them in different locations in case of fire?
Actually you made a very good point, I kept them in the same vicinity as my digital media storage.
What good alternatives do you propose ? A second location like the car ?
I wrote my Steemit password down (grueling task) in case my computer failed. means I could still access it and get my master password etc. I need to do a backup though, now is a good time while on holidays.
I wrote my steemit passwords and keys down on 3 separate sheets of paper and have each of them hidden around my house. I also have them stored in a secret folder on my external harddrive
What will you do in case of a fire? I know it's not fun to think about but consider it.
put them in a cloud file
you are so right... this is on my to do list for tonight
Might make a "paper steem wallet" to put with paper myetherwallet in a safe place. I have just kept putting it off... thanks for the reminder
That's my practice. I always make atleast 3 back up in diffirent medium. I cant afford a lost data. It mean a lot to me.
looks like i too need to take backup right now :) thanks for the post
Great post. A lot of people do not back anything up. I like the 3-2-1 rule of 3 backups, 2 mediums, 1 off-site.
Excellent advice. Fortunately the price of storage has dropped so much over the past couple decades that having everything you need to backup your computer quickly and easily is very low cost. To be exact:
For fellow readers who use MacOS you'll find the backup software is built-in and super-simple.
Just go to: System Preferences and select Time Machine. Switch it "ON" and select your preferred disk for storage. I use a Western Digital My Passport USB drive.
After that the only thing you need to do is periodically connect your USB drive and Time Machine will automatically backup any recent changes to your MacOS device. It will also remind you if too much time passes without a backup.
For users of Windows 8 or later File History is the tool you'll want to find. I also recommend creating a complete system image which gives you a complete snapshot of your system on the date you create it.
Later you can restore the image so that even if you experience complete data loss or hard drive failure you can simply replace the failed drive, restore the image and you have your baseline system back.
In other words: Create a system image as a baseline and use File History (for Windows) or Time Machine (for MacOS) to keep up with day-to-day, week-to-week changes to your files.
This is what I try to explain to my family members and friends. Usually everyone agrees but not all of them follows the advise. Liked your post. Upvoted and resteemed.
Everything need to be back up and at the right time time to make it back up right now !!
Answer: yes I would :) I have backup (in fact I have several backups)
Hahahaaa! I must have heard that one from people hundreds of times and I can't help myself but laugh and ask:
You didn't create backup? Why? Was it too expensive to buy extra or external disk and create a copy of those files? Is it worth those 20-30 minutes you would have spend on copying those files?
Getting those files back is possible and slim. It's also expensive and there is always a chance of files being corrupted.
Just my opinion on that.
First thing I did when creating a Steemit account (and for that matter any other crypto wallet) is writing it down on paper... This should be mandatory for anyone.
Very good advise, I agree with you. Backup is essential because failure can occur anytime. I have to write down my steemit password and keys and save the doc in relevant locations.
What's your opinion on password managers? They are convenient at least.
Good idea I bought my backup here it is small and with 2TB is a great option
Thanks @exyle good share and nice thinking of you,I respect for your work
I have my password in my email, facebook messenger and in my usb...and I also wrote it down as if I already have Millions Steem in my wallet...
very useful, unfortunately our relatives who are rich in Steemit are still many who do not know of an accident like this.
One of the great post. Thank you for sharing.
Very interesting and valuable blog you share @exyle. I respect it,
Have a nice day...
LEt me do a bAckup now lol ! :D
where the hell is my usb lol ! :D
Great story. Thanks for sharing. i like your post and upvoted.
I agree.
I've made an extra backup on a USB-stick.
Thanks!