Will Mozy back up my external hard drive?

The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question. To maintain the integrity of the original question, we do not edit or change reader questions in any way.

Q: Will Mozy, or any of the online backup offerings, allow me to back up my external drive along with my desktop drive? Thanks.

A: Yes, they will. Mozy can backup any drive that Windows recognizes as "fixed." Operating systems consider hard drives "fixed," regardless of whether they are internal or external. DVD/CD-ROMs, media cards and some thumb or flash drives are not considered "fixed," and cannot be backed up.

You can tell if your drive is "fixed" by doing the following: Click Start Menu, then click My Computer. "Fixed" drives appear under Hard Disk Drives, while unfixed drives appear under Devices with Removable Storage. If you do not see these sections, click View > Arrange Icons by > Show in Groups. If your external drive is not "fixed," first copy the data onto one of your "fixed" drives, then select the data for back up.

To learn more about Mozy or other online backup services, see our reviews and comparison chart.

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HP Upline to close in March; Research alternatives on NextAdvisor.com

Hewlett Packard announced in an email to subscribers today that the company's online backup service, HP Upline, will be discontinued effective March 31, 2009. The service will stopped backing-up subscriber data this morning at 8am PST.

In a very pro-consumer move, HP will be providing full refunds to all subscribers in an amount equal to the fees they paid while they were an active paid member of the service.

We would strongly suggest that former Upline subscribers invest their refunds in a new online backup service such as Carbonite or Mozy. You can compare online backup services at NextAdvisor.com.

We never included HP Upline in our comparison of online backup services because of the various issues that plagued the service during it's short lifespan such as an extended downtime last April that left subscribers without file backups for days.

Below is the full text of the email sent to subscribers today:

Thank you for your interest in HP Upline.

HP continually evaluates product lines and has decided to discontinue the HP Upline service on March 31, 2009.

HP will no longer be backing up your files to the HP Upline servers as of Feb 26, 2009 at 8 am Pacific time. HP will keep the file restore feature of the Upline service operational through March 31, 2009 Pacific time in order for you to download any files you have backed up to Upline.

If you have a paid subscription to HP Upline, you will be refunded the full amount of the fees you paid for the service. That refund will be credited to the credit card account or PayPal account that you used to subscribe to the Upline service. If you do not receive the refund prior to March 31, 2009, please contact our customer service team at https://www.upline.com/support/email.aspx.

HP looks forward to offering you additional technology products and services in the future.

Thank you.

HP Upline team

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Google "G Drive" online backup service rumored to be launching soon

Several online sources are reporting the imminent release of a new online file storage service from Google. The service, dubbed "G Drive" after the common naming system of other Google products like Gmail and G Docs, will presumably allow users to store large amounts of data online for free.

So, how will Google's G Drive stack up against services like other top rated online backup services Carbonite or Mozy? Obviously, we won't know until the product actually materializes. However, our impression is that this service will be more appropriate for remote storage for files that you may need to access from multiple location or computers rather than for scheduled backups of all your important files.

Google has not confirmed any pending release date for the G Drive (or even the existence of the G Drive) at this point. However, we will continue to follow related news and developments in an effort to keep our readers informed about key changes in the online backup space.

In the meantime, you can read our reviews and comparison of online backup services at NextAdvisor.com.

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15% Mozy discount promo code for NextAdvisor.com readers

Mozy, one of our top rated online backup services, has just increased the exclusive discount for NextAdvisor.com readers to 15%. Mozy had previously provided a 10% to all users that signed up for Mozy through NextAdvisor.com.

This new 15% discount on Mozy's online backup service is available by clicking on the Mozy "Go to Site" link on NextAdvisor.com and entering the promo code NEXT when prompted during the check out process.

You can read our full review of Mozy and other online backup services on NextAdvisor.com.

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Will online backup services also backup a virus or spyware?

The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question. To maintain the integrity of the original question, we do not edit or change reader questions in any way.

Q:  My question about on-line backup is, if you somehow get a virus, or spyware, is this passed along w/ the regular backups and can they contaminate previous entries that make backups worthless?

A: This is an excellent question and one that we have seen come up very frequently.  The short answer is- no, you will not contaminate previous backups if your computer is attacked by a virus or spyware.  Here is the long answer:

Online backup services typically only backup files and program data and not the associated programs.  For example, online backup services like Carbonite and Mozy will backup your Microsoft Office documents and settings, but not the actual Microsoft programs.  So, spyware and virus programs will not be backed up by most online backup services.

It is possible that a document that you backup could include a virus, but viruses in documents are typically only activated when the file is opened.  This is where having an Internet security software program, including anti-virus protection, on your computer is important.  Most security software programs will scan files as you open them and alert you to any potential threats.

If your computer does become contaminated by a virus, we recommend following these steps provided by Len from Carbonite's customer support team:

When recovering from a virus infection, my recommendation would be to reinstall your operating system and applications, and in particular a good anti-virus program. Be sure to get the latest virus definition files from the manufacturer of the anti-virus program. (This is usually included as part of your subscription, and the latest definition files can be downloaded via the Internet.) After reinstalling your operating system and anti-virus program, restore your backup, but be careful not to open your restored documents until after scanning them for viruses.

You can learn more about online backup services by visiting our comparison and reviews of online backup services.

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Mozy launches detailed knowledge base to help answer user questions

Mozy has just launched an extensive "knowledge base", which is a combination of FAQs, error code descriptions and resolutions, and online versions of how to guides.

While the new knowledge base is primarily targeted towards existing Mozy subscribers, it could also be a great resource for those consumers that have specific questions about the Mozy service that they would like to have answered before they buy.

The Mozy knowledge can be accessed by visiting http://www.support.mozy.com.

You can learn more about Mozy and other online back services by visiting the NextAdvisor.com guide to online backup services.

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Mozy 10% discount promotional from July 2008

NextAdvisor.com readers can receive a special 10% discount on one or two year subscriptions of Mozy's online backup service in August. To take advantage of the limited time discount simply click on this link to sign up for Mozy and enter the promotional code AUGUST when prompted during the sign-up process.

You can learn more by reading our full review of Mozy or by viewing our reviews and comparison of online backup services.

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Mozy 10% discount promotion code for July 2008

While we realize July is quickly coming to end, there is still time for NextAdvisor.com visitors to save 10% on Mozy's one or two year memberships.  Mozy is one of our top rated online backup services and offers low prices, a simple to use interface and unlimited storage.

To save 10% on Mozy, simply click on this link and enter the promo code JUNE when prompted during the check out process.

To learn more about Mozy or other online backup services, please visit our online backup service reviews and comparison.

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Lifehacker names Mozy and Carbonite among five best backup tools

Lifehacker recently published a list of the five best Windows backup tools, based on votes from commenters. After sifting through nearly 350 comments, they came up with five popular favorites. Mozy and Carbonite, two of the online backup services we review at NextAdvisor.com, were both included in the top five. Lifehacker also included a poll in which readers could vote on their favorite of the five services highlighted in the post. Carbonite is currently in the lead, with 41% of the votes, but Mozy is only a few percentage points behind, with 37%. Based on the user response, it seems quite clear that Carbonite and Mozy are the favorite backup utilities for Lifehacker readers. To learn more about Mozy, Carbonite and other online backup services, view our comparison and reviews.

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USA Today says online backup services a good way to pinch pennies on the web

A USA Today article encouraged readers to look toward the web based software applications as a way to save money during the current economic downturn. One of the highlighted software products was Mozy's online backup service.

Mozy offers 2GB of free online storage and ElephantDrive offers 1GB for free. While most people will run through those smaller amounts of storage pretty quickly, it does give consumers an option to try a fully functional version of these services with the option to upgrade if they need more storage. Additionally, most of the online backup services we reviewed offer some form of free trial (such as 14 days free from Carbonite).

Free storage is just one of the key that we have benefits of online backup that we have previously covered. You can learn more about online backup by visiting our guide to online backup services.

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