Why don't people keep backups?

obsidianclock

...Also why do they blame the computer for their own stupidity?

Discuss.

Mr. G

"Couldnt be arsed" is usually the response. I set them up to use dropbox or one drive and that sorts them out.

timmywex

obsidianclock wrote: »

...Also why do they blame the computer for their own stupidity?

Discuss.

Because most people are idiots!

Computer users are numpties and never back things up or consider the possibility that anything could go wrong - and generally suffer and panic in the longer term!

Mr. G

A lot of people tend to copy and paste their word documents to their emails as a backup too... Not the best way to do that.

AnCatDubh

obsidianclock wrote: »

Why don't people keep backups? ...Also why do they blame the computer for their own stupidity?

Discuss.

Hassle.

Human nature doesn't like hassle. Even setting up something automatic is hassle. So what you get are only the disciplined, those that recognise the actual value of what they've created or stored, those that have been stung before, or those that are actually interested enough in tech to research/learn/do. This accounts for not very many in proportion stakes.

Tech hasn't yet done backup for the masses terribly well.

Why do they blame the computer? We rarely blame ourselves (for anything). Again, human nature.

In essence, human nature is your answer.

syklops

But windows restore...

pah

Photos backed up to Dropbox automatically and important files to Google drive.

I even backup my comments on boards.ie

pah

Photos backed up to Dropbox automatically and important files to Google drive.

I even backup my comments on boards.ie

D'Agger

I think you backed up that comment to the wrong location pah :pac:

People don't backup files because they lack foresight, they lack the ability to plan for potential problems and when these problems arise they are found wanting.

I think my main issue as somebody who works in IT - when you're asked to retrieve files, work your magic etc. to help somebody out, you may have to spend a large amount of time on it etc.

But if you find the file, if you succeed in helping this person - they do zero to help themselves to avoid a similar issue in the future despite multiple reminders.

Teach a man to fish and all that....

tricky D

Hassle and stupidity. Mind you there's no more hassle than not having them when needed and boy can some one look stupid when the data is gone.

As for Windows Restore, that doesn't work so well for the likes of corrupted media or fire damage.

obsidianclock

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Hassle.

Human nature doesn't like hassle. Even setting up something automatic is hassle. So what you get are only the disciplined, those that recognise the actual value of what they've created or stored, those that have been stung before, or those that are actually interested enough in tech to research/learn/do. This accounts for not very many in proportion stakes.

Tech hasn't yet done backup for the masses terribly well.

Why do they blame the computer? We rarely blame ourselves (for anything). Again, human nature.

In essence, human nature is your answer.

I suppose so.

I just wonder considering how much hassle it is to lose the data, people might choose the lesser of two evils..!

obsidianclock

D'Agger wrote: »

I think you backed up that comment to the wrong location pah :pac:

People don't backup files because they lack foresight, they lack the ability to plan for potential problems and when these problems arise they are found wanting.

I think my main issue as somebody who works in IT - when you're asked to retrieve files, work your magic etc. to help somebody out, you may have to spend a large amount of time on it etc.

But if you find the file, if you succeed in helping this person - they do zero to help themselves to avoid a similar issue in the future despite multiple reminders.

Teach a man to fish and all that....

You said it buddy, I have to continually ask people to back up and they don't, even in one case when they had to pay hundreds to have the data retrieved by a forensic specialist!

syklops

As for Windows Restore, that doesn't work so well for the likes of corrupted media or fire damage.

Not looked at it on Windows 7, but when it came out in Windows XP a lot of people assumed it was a back up facility. Anytime I used it it only backed up the registry, not the files, and half the time you'd be fixing someones computer only to find it handn't even been doing that and the only possible restore point was the day they brought the computer home, before they had installed AV and other essential software.

jmcc

As technology improved, people began to assume that failure was a thing of the past and they didn't need to back up data. Over time, since the launch of personal computers and the current generation of computer users, the clue factor, as a whole, dropped as the market moved from one consisting mainly of hobbyists and professionals with a clue who depended on removable media (floppies and magnetic tapes) to a mass market of varying knowledge and abilities. The reliance on removable media also declined as CDs replaced floppies and were, in turn, replaced by DVDs and Bluerays. But you probably knew this already.

Regards...jmcc

obsidianclock

jmcc wrote: »

As technology improved, people began to assume that failure was a thing of the past and they didn't need to back up data. Over time, since the launch of personal computers and the current generation of computer users, the clue factor, as a whole, dropped as the market moved from one consisting mainly of hobbyists and professionals with a clue who depended on removable media (floppies and magnetic tapes) to a mass market of varying knowledge and abilities. The reliance on removable media also declined as CDs replaced floppies and were, in turn, replaced by DVDs and Bluerays. But you probably knew this already.

Regards...jmcc

You're right jmcc,

Still in this day and age it's easier than ever to back up your data, what with cloud storage and dirt cheap external drives...!

Vangel

I once knew a guy who fully encrypted his hard drive with TrueCrypt, a few weeks later the drive failed, it never occurred to him that keeping daily/weekly backups would be a smart idea.

I assumed someone who thought there was enough of a reason to TC his drive would know enough to keep daily backups on perhaps an encrypted external drive.

Then again he also tried to do a DoD Long (7 pass) wipe on an SSD thinking it was infallible so maybe I should have seen it coming.

Like everyone else is saying, people are lazy/ignorant/careless and there is nothing you can do about it.

[ For those wondering what I mean about the SSD wiping; zdnet (.) com/article/ssd-security-the-worst-of-all-worlds/ ]

Manach

I being lazy, unless there was push factor I did not do them.
Having loss several months of data then provided that said momentum.

syklops

Few people back stuff up until they lose something truly irreplaceable. Even then they have to lose some things a few times before they get the message.

Truestory: A girl got her email via IMAP. In case you're not aware, with IMAP, messages downloaded are stored in RAM and then flushed from RAM unless you tell it to save or archive them somewhere. She lost access to her mail server and now had no emails.

"Don't worry" said a man. "I know a forensics genius who can lift your emails right off the disk". Forensics genius arrived. Forensics genius left about 10 minutes later after discovering it was IMAP, and they never got stored on the drive.

Girl gets access to her mails again. Forensics genius rings her to discuss future backup solutions. Girl says "I dont have time to talk about that now, I've a business to run".

biko

obsidianclock wrote: »

Discuss.

Nah

liamo

Some of the responses in this thread that label users as "stupid" or their reasons for lack of backups as "couldn't be arsed" are a little lacking in insight and perception (and do unfortunately seem a little smug).

I don't believe it's down to laziness or being stupid. If a user knew that his non-backed-up PC was going to blow up the next day, don't you think that he'd back up his files before that event?

If we accept that, then a reasonable conclusion is that users don't think it will happen to them. "Why is that?" is the question that should be asked.

D'Agger nailed it in his post when he noted that they "lack foresight", "lack the ability to plan for potential problems". As did syklops when he noted that "Even then they have to lose some things a few times before they get the message"

There are plenty of articles on humans being poor at estimating risk. Bruce Shneier has a good one here. (It's an old one but still valid).

Why do people continue to smoke when they know it will probably kill them? Why do some drivers not wear seat-belts? These, to my mind, are other good examples of people demonstrating a similar lack of judgement when it comes to risk.

Similarly, users are (probably justifiably) estimating the likelihood of a disk failure to be pretty low. But they're not really thinking about the impact of a disk failure, how many years of family photos they'd lose, how much it could cost to recover those valuable accounts files, etc.

Many years ago I read that "There are two types of computer user : those who back up their data and those who haven't lost all their data yet". It's a little glib but probably not that far off the mark.

I suppose the easy answer might be education. Teach the user about the likelihood of a failure and the consequences of a failure (before MTBF does). Another (and probably equally important) factor is ease of use. A backup has to be either automated or so easy to use that it's not a chore for a user to perform. Because, if the user doesn't believe that a failure is likely, then where's the incentive to click on that backup icon?

Of course, having been educated on the subject and having had a backup process set up and a nice shiny icon created on the desktop, there will still probably be users that won't do their backups.

I'm not sure that the "stupid" or "lazy" labels should really be used even in those cases. But I'd probably have a difficult time arguing that point

AndyBoBandy

Being a user now for over 11 years, I simply could not afford to lose my data, namely music/photo's

my iMac & mac mini both back up to a time capsule. my iPhoto library is shared/synced over both machines
I also run a separate back up onto another HD about once a month in the unlikely event that a mac & the time capsule would both fail at the same time!

my first computer (a 2004 Dell Inspiron 5150, which I still have running fine) decided to fail after only a few months and needed the HD replaced, luckily I didn't lose anything as photo's were still on camera SD cards etc.. and it was just a case of burning my CD collection back on, but once bitten, twice shy.

syklops

Andybobandy wrote: »

my first computer (a 2004 Dell Inspiron 5150, which I still have running fine) decided to fail after only a few months and needed the HD replaced, luckily I didn't lose anything as photo's were still on camera SD cards etc.. and it was just a case of burning my CD collection back on, but once bitten, twice shy.

Even having daily redundant backups can lead to dataloss. Unless you are really lucky like this guy:

Tip: Skip to about 3.05 because I dont get the point or humour of his story at the start

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4oB28ksiIo

dbit

Even in Enterprise i have seen it countless times IT staff paid to ensure data integrity and still after considerable loss you ask the question ok can we pull this DB server or whatever from backup and you hear the dreaded words "What backup, we don't have a backup".

I have seen this in the corporate world so many times often costing into the hundreds of thousands in damages and as others in here point out human nature , its the weakest link in IT. Needless to say in these cases the person usually ended up getting a garden walk.

Off to ontrack(Or the likes) with you and take a tube of lube and credit card with you.

seamus

It's not something that's culturally ingrained in us. This concept of having backups of anything is exceptionally new for the ordinary person.

Businesses have been doing it for a long time, but people haven't. You never got two copies of your holiday pictures unless you were giving one copy to someone else. You didn't photocopy your bank statements and send one copy into storage.

You kept all of your files and your pictures at home and if your home burned down, you lost everything. But thankfully this is an occurrence that most people never have to deal with.

I don't think it's as simple as blaming laziness; keeping copies and backups is simply something that people have never done before and have never had a need for.