This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carbonite for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
A year and a half ago, my computer crashed. There were no warning signs– one minute it worked, and the next, it refused to charge. Thinking it was a charger/battery issue, I took it to the {well-known fruit-named} computer store hoping they’d quickly fix it. As you can guess by now, it wasn’t a problem with the battery. The computer had crashed, kaput. They said they’d try to get my data and files from it before sending it out for repair. The cost to get the data (IF they could get the data) was $100.
After a stressful day thinking about all I had lost if they couldn’t retrieve my files (including most of my photos of Noodle’s first year and half of life, can you imagine?!) they called and said they were able to recover most of them- to the tune of $100. As I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing how close I came to losing it alI, and vowed not to let that happen again.
Easier said than done. As a busy mom, I didn’t have time to backup my files on a regular basis (or, sadly, on any basis. I never once did it). Then, I discovered Carbonite. Carbonite is a service that makes computer backup simple and easy by securely and automatically backing up the files on your computer– whether it’s a PC or Mac. Your files are automatically uploaded to one of Carbonite’s secure, state-of-the-art data centers. Best yet, this is all done any time your computer is connected to the internet. I have no idea what I was waiting for; Carbonite was beyond easy to use and now I have peace of mind knowing my irreplaceable files on my computer are automatically backed up daily!
What happens if your computer does crash? Once your files are backed up by Carbonite, you can access them anytime, anywhere, from virtually any Internet connected device– without hassle at all. Have a mobile device? Carbonite offers free mobile apps so you can access, enjoy and share your files from your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android or Blackberry Smartphone. I could at this very moment go online and retrieve my files with the click of a button.
Now, the price. An annual subscription is only $59. That’s quite a bit less than my computer store wanted to charge for a one-time fee, IF they could retrieve your files. You can get 2 months free by using the code BLOGAD at check-out. Still not sure? Try it free for 15 days, no strings attached, no credit card required.
What’s not to love? Continual, automatic backup of your irreplaceable computer files that you can access from anywhere, all for $59 a year (with 2 free months). Remember, I don’t advertise businesses I wouldn’t use and love myself, and I can say without hesitation this is one of the best.
Do you backup your files regularly? What’s on your computer that you would lose if it wasn’t backed up? Has your computer ever crashed, and if so, did you lose anything irreplaceable?
My husband and I own our own computer repair business. This is one of the things we see a lot of. The sad part is if you don’t catch it early on the plates can rub up against each other inside and scratch causing you to lose even more date. There are companies that will pull the plates out and go through them but it MUST be done in a clean room and is over $1000. My husband couldn’t remember so you’ll have to check with Carbonite but some of the better online backups will send you an external hard drive with everything on it in the case of a crash. While it is nice to be able to download the files straight from online, the more years that goes by, the more pictures and stuff that you will have and unless you have super fast internet, it will take a while to download everything. Just a thought I’d share!